pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 41
1.04M
| source
stringlengths 37
43
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__cc
| 0.722926
| 0.277074
|
Home > 33 1/3 > Announcing: The Fall 2018 33 1/3s!
Announcing: The Fall 2018 33 1/3s!
July 3, 2018 333admin
We’re excited to bring you the Fall 2018 lineup of 33 1/3s! This batch is one of our most eclectic yet – from fan favorites like Tori Amos to the religious-secular stylings of Jesus Freak, with feminist and film studies readings, there is a lot to look forward to with these books. We can’t wait to bring you these come Fall ’18! We promise, they’ll be worth the wait.
Drive-By Trucker’s Southern Rock Opera
The Drive-By Truckers’ Southern Rock Opera takes listeners on a road trip through the American South, with stops along mean old highways and soul-sucking swamps, iconic recording studios and doomed chartered jets, and even Heaven and Hell. Along the way, the Truckers attempt to untangle the mess that is southern history by exploring the contradictory, dualistic nature of the region.
Siouxsie and the Banshees’ Peepshow
Samantha Bennett takes a film studies approach to analyzing Peepshow, an album from UK cult favorite Siouxsie and the Banshees, drawing on more than one hundred films and film scores to reveal a panoply of cinematic influences woven into the music. Bennett proves that, ultimately, Peepshow can be read as a soundtrack to all the films Siouxsie and the Banshees ever saw. Or perhaps it was the soundtrack to the greatest film they never made.
Tori Amos’s Boys for Pele
Over her career, Tori Amos has drawn a range of intense reactions to her music and performances. Boys for Pele demonstrates that reactions to women’s art is often organized around disgust, as if women can’t be expressive without drawing a strong reaction. Using Boys for Pele as a jumping off point, Amy Gentry illustrates women’s participation in art among this “aesthetic of disgust”.
dc Talk’s Jesus Freak
dc Talk’s Jesus Freak explores a rare moment of cultural convergence between Christian and secular music in the series’ first Christian hip hop entry. Written by two queer scholars with evangelical pasts, Jesus Freak presents a unique perspective on a variety of topics, including race, sexuality, gender, and politics.
So there you have it! Which ones are you most excited about? Give us a shout on Twitter @333books and continue to follow along for more updates.
— The 33 1/3 team
33 1/3, Article33 1/3, 333, 333books, music books, new books, new music, Popular Music, reading now
The Rolling Stones and Some Girls – The Difference 40 Years Makes
Rest in power Aretha Franklin
June 25, 2019 333admin 0
Steve Matteo, author of The Beatles’ Let It Be, is taking over the blog today to...
Pride Month is here, and we want to highlight some LGBTQIA musicians and authors featured in...
Have you ever wondered, if given another chance to write for 33 1/3, which albums past...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line9
|
__label__wiki
| 0.93937
| 0.93937
|
The legendary producer/songwriter George Brown (founding member of Kool and the Gang) created Astana Music, a new record company and production company that will focus on dance pop and pop releases. Astana is based at Brown’s studio complex in Woodland Hills. Brown has already signed six artists to the label.
Astana’s roster has a distinctly international flavor: Chelsea was born in the Philippines, Dominique (Canadian American), Jonna (Denmark) Tlia, Chiyumba (Kenya) , Jordan (Israel), Mychelle Nychole (US). The label also has a stable of staff songwriters, sound engineers, producers, singers and musicians including the acclaimed Keri Lewis, Leon Silvers and Rick Marcel.
George Brown is a founding member of Kool and the Gang which became one of the most inspired and influential funk units during the '70s, and one of the most popular R&B groups of the '80s after their breakout #1 hit "Celebration" in 1979. They released 7 Gold and Platinum albums.
The first release from the label is the infectious dance club track KING SIZE from the sultry vocal powerhouse CHELSEA. “King Size” was produced by Brown produced who also co-wrote the track. Acclaimed producer Alessandro Calemme and his DJ team created four REMIXES and the original radio mix.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line12
|
__label__wiki
| 0.581883
| 0.581883
|
Wilson's Creek
Author Bookstand is proud to offer Wilson's Creek by Bookstand Publishing. Bookstand Publishing offers books by the best indie authors throughout North America and the world. Bookstand Publishing is dedicated to offering original content to a broad audience and promoting great authors, literacy, and freedom of expression. Wilson's Creek has generated a lot of interest and excitement and we think it would be an excellent addition to your library.
"Dr. Bob" Ridgway graduated from Kansas State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California-Davis. After graduation, he worked at a veterinary hospital in Topeka, Kansas. He entered the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps and became Director of the Animal Medicine Division on Okinawa. He later completed a Comparative Medicine residency at the Madigan Army Medical Center. He graduated from Officer Candidate School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He was Treasurer of the District of Columbia Academy of Veterinary Medicine for 14 years. He served as Secretary-Treasurer and President of the District of Columbia Veterinary Medical Association. He was the first Army officer to be in charge of the Department of Defense Military Dog Veterinary Service at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He completed a Master's of International Management degree at the University of Maryland, University College. After retiring from the Army, he worked at Covance Laboratories, Banfield Pet Hospital, and Orange County Animal Services in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Ridgway is a diplomate in the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine and the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.
Mayflower Arab: A Memoir
Growing Up Aleluya
From These Roots
Gays Are Earthlings and Very Human
Blessings and Betrayals: A True Story of...
My Years on the Radio - 1996 - 2000
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line13
|
__label__cc
| 0.733178
| 0.266822
|
Chrysoskalitissa Monastery
Gonia Monastery
The Monastery of Chrysoskalitissa is built on a rock at the south-west end of Crete. The church of the monastery is dedicated to Mother Mary and the Holy Trinity and its feast is held on August 15 (Dekapendavgoustos).
The Monastery was built during Venetian rule on the site of St. Nicholas monastery and, according to tradition, it took its name from a golden step, the final of the original ninety-eight that led to it when it was first built.
Before the Monastery of Chrysoskalitissa was built, there was another church of the Dormition of Mother Mary. The church seen today started being built before 1894.
In 1900, the Monastery was dissolved along with other ones on the island and was re-established as a convent in 1940. After the Nazi occupation of Crete, several resistance fighters were given refuge here and this is why German soldiers came to live at the premises in 1943, after they chased the monks. When the Nazi forces left, the monks returned to the monastery.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line16
|
__label__cc
| 0.62732
| 0.37268
|
USDA Seeks Ideas to Help SNAP Participants Become Independent
Jessica Szilagyi - March 4, 2018
HUD and Census Bureau Release New American Housing Survey
FBI Releases 2017 Crime Statistics, Violent Crimes Down
Border Patrol agents called to assist Florida law enforcement during Hurricane Michael recovery
AllOnGeorgia - October 13, 2018
Border Patrol agents assist Florida police during the recovery from Hurricane Michael.
Civil War Era Site Camp Nelson Designated as a National Monument
Secretary Zinke celebrates designation with Camp Nelson family and activists U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke applauded President Donald J. Trump’s designation of Kentucky’s Camp...
U.S. Department of Labor Continues to Provide Support in Areas Hardest Hit by Hurricane...
AllOnGeorgia - November 20, 2018
Returns to Normal Enforcement in Most of Florida and Georgia The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) continues to provide technical...
Former Non-Profit President Pleads Guilty to Scheme to Conceal Foreign Funding of 2013 Congressional...
AllOnGeorgia - December 11, 2018
The former president of a Texas-based non-profit pleaded guilty today for his role in a scheme to conceal the fact that a 2013 Congressional...
Dept. of Energy Announces $16 Million for Improving Climate Models
AllOnGeorgia - January 8, 2019
Data is Aimed at Improving Accuracy of Earth System Models This week, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a plan to provide $16 million for new...
US Dept. of State Issues Additional Payments Under Holocaust Deportation Claims Program
AllOnGeorgia - February 7, 2019
The program was established in connection with the U.S.-France Agreement on Compensation for Certain Victims of Holocaust-Related Deportation from France Who Are Not Covered by French Program.
Justice Department Coordinates Largest-Ever Nationwide Elder Fraud Sweep
Since President Trump signed the bipartisan Elder Abuse Prevention and Prosecution Act (EAPPA) into law, the Department of Justice has participated in hundreds of enforcement actions in criminal and civil cases that targeted or disproportionately affected seniors.
United States Wins Dispute Finding China’s Administration of Grain Tariff-Rate Quotas Breaches WTO Commitments
This panel report is the second significant victory for U.S. agriculture this year, and, together with the victory against China’s excessive domestic support for grains, will help American farmers compete on a more level playing field.
DOJ Launches New Partnership with Local & State Law Enforcement
"This new Section will have primary responsibility for maintaining relationships with law enforcement throughout the country and will ensure that Department leadership maintains an active and ongoing dialogue with our law enforcement partners as we work together to develop policies designed to keep our country safe and secure.”
Libyan National Found Guilty of Terrorism Charges in 2012 Attack on U.S. Facilities in...
AllOnGeorgia - June 19, 2019
Mustafa al-Imam, a Libyan national approximately 48 years old, was found guilty of terrorism charges for his participation in the Sept. 11, 2012, attack...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line17
|
__label__cc
| 0.629942
| 0.370058
|
Geschreven door Electrive
Shell is starting to build high power chargers at its gas stations in Germany. This year, the oil company plans to build 50 charging stations across the country, with a total of 100 charging points and a capacity of at least 150 kilowatts. Further charging stations are to follow.
Shell has brought EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg, an utility in Germany’s south, on board as a partner for the charging network initiative. They plan to install high power charging stations with CCS, CHAdeMO and an AC connection (type 2), which will each provide up to 150 kW for up to two vehicles charging simultaneously and up to 300 kW when only one car is charging. According to the media reports, locations in Cologne, Oberhausen and Munich are planned.
“The importance of electric mobility will undoubtedly increase in the passenger car sector,” says Jan Toschka, head of Shell’s filling station business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The cooperation with EnBW will give Shell direct access to the know-how and years of experience of the energy company and charging infrastructure operator. “We have a holistic view of the subject of electromobility and bring comprehensive expertise in the area-wide expansion and operation of charging infrastructure to the project,” confirms Marc Burgstahler, who is responsible for electromobility at EnBW.
Tags: Vehicle
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line20
|
__label__cc
| 0.60468
| 0.39532
|
A Talk with Bobby Long – Part Two
Spotlight on Anderson East
The Dead’s First “Best Of” Re-Vinylized at Last on New Audio Fidelity 180-Gram LP Available Today
French Camp’s Self-Titled Debut Is Intense and Inventive
The New Standard by Which All Other Albums Will Be Judged – Maple Ridge by Swear and Shake
Cold War Kids "Loyalty to Loyalty" Downtown Records
Heyrocco’s DARK SUMMER: EP Review
Fuzz Face and Granny Whites CD Release Party Set for February 28th
Blackmore’s Night Singer Candice Night Releases Debut Solo Album, “Reflections”
Great American Taxi “Reckless Habits” Thirty Tigers
Album Reviews, Features — By Kyle McCraw on April 7, 2010 8:07 pm
Listening to the band’s second release, it is no wonder why Great American Taxi has become a favorite on the jam band circuit, and it’s not because they happen to be led by Leftover Salmon frontman Vince Herman (Although, I’m sure that doesn’t hurt.). These guys play with skill and an infectious energy that deserves to be heard. It’s an eclectic sound with elements of blues, bluegrass, boogie, gospel, honky tonk, rock, and some New Orleans flavor thrown in for good measure. They cover some bluegrass here (John Hartford’s “Get No Better” and Bill Monroe/Kenny Baker’s “Big Sandy River”), as well as Uncle Tupelo (“New Madrid”).
With lyrical references to the Grateful Dead (“American Beauty”) and Gram Parsons (title track) and comparisons to bands like Little Feat, Wilco, New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Byrds, country rock is probably the best tag to give them. The music never feels forced, and that relaxed vibe blends perfectly with Herman’s seasoned vocal. However, Herman doesn’t handle all the lead vocals here, which does make the album a little uneven. Chad Staehly and Jim Lewin’s lead vocal work is by no means bad, but Herman’s vocals always sound more at ease and confident – and just fun.
In an album or two, it may be a totally different story. It’s really about the music anyway, and there’s a lot to love here. The band (which consists of guitars, piano, bass, and drums) manages to make room for pedal steel, washboard, fiddle and even an impressive horn section in the mix. Staehly’s calls the band a “true democracy,” and I’m inclined to believe him. It never feels like it’s about one player more than another. There might be a guitar solo after the first chorus, but the piano may get some time after the second one. And anyone who loves hearing some great piano or Hammond B-3 will be well pleased. As big as the sound is, it all works, never feeling overdone. It’ll make your head bob, your feet tap – might even make you dance. Hopefully, you like that sort of thing.
Tags: album, honky tonk, Listening, listening to the band, music, new riders of the purple sage, piano, riders of the purple sage, rock, uncle tupelo
Their version of “New Madrid” is gorgeous. I agree, though, they seem to be channeling so many different iconic bands/sounds that their own musical personality gets a bit lost in the mix.
Funny, too, that their name refers to Herman’s snow skiing style: a large lumbering object hurtling out of countrol down the mountain like a great American taxi.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line22
|
__label__wiki
| 0.50584
| 0.50584
|
Georgia Couple Gets Years In Prison For Terrorizing Children’s Party With Confederate Flag
by Keith Reid-Cleveland
A group of terrorists – because that’s exactly what they are – are now seeing the consequences of their actions after targeting a child’s birthday party with Confederate flags, threats and firearms.
Jose “Joe” Torres was sentenced to 13 years in prison on three counts of aggravated assault, one count of making terroristic threats and one count of violating of Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act on Monday, according to CNN.
Kayla Norton, Torres’ partner, was sentenced to six years in prison on one count of making terroristic threats and one count of violation of the Street Gang Act.
“Many people tried to make the case about simply flying the Confederate Battle Flag,” Douglas County District Attorney Brian Fortner said in a statement. “This case was about a group of people riding around our community, drinking alcohol, harassing and intimidating our citizens because of the color of their skin.”
RELATED: Why I’m not surprised there was a violent KKK rally down the street from Disneyland
Torres and Norton reportedly joined a convoy of about a dozen vehicles that drove around Douglas County on July 25, 2015 when they came across a group of people celebrating. The group, which included members of an organization called “Respect the Flag,” reportedly drove past yelling a series of racial slurs. Things then escalated as Torres and others confronted the citizens.
“Torres, who had retrieved a shotgun from his vehicle, pointed his shotgun at the group of African American party-goers and stated he was going to kill them while his co-defendants stated that ‘the little ones can get one too,’ referring to the young children at the party,” read a statement posted on the district attorney’s Facebook.
Norton allegedly made similar threats and Torres claimed that he grabbed the shotgun to protect his companions as he feared for their safety.
During the sentencing, Torres and Norton both broke down and took time to apologize to the victims. However, they continued to claim they weren’t the ones responsible for the racist, completely unprovoked threat on the lives of children.
couple, georgia, Jose Torres, Kayla Norton, racist
Keith Reid-Cleveland
Keith Reid-Cleveland is a proud product of Chicago's Southside and the Missouri School of Journalism. The Black Youth Project News Editor has written about politics, race and entertainment for multiple publications, such as Uproxx, The Undefeated, Black Nerd Problems, Comic Book Resources and more.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line31
|
__label__wiki
| 0.535058
| 0.535058
|
4/1/2015 - At Steelpointe Harbor, construction season kicks into high gear
“Starbucks, Bass Pro Shops, and Chipotle will all open this fall. Once complete, this waterfront development will be home to apartments, retail, hotels, a grocery store, and more. It will create thousands of jobs and add tens of millions of dollars to our tax rolls. This is yet another great example of how Bridgeport is getting better every day.” – Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch
Bridgeport, Conn. (April 1, 2015) -- Today, Mayor Bill Finch kicked off the construction season at Steelpointe Harbor, which is a waterfront development in the state's largest city, representing the biggest economic development project in Park City since the Industrial Revolution.
Click here for photos: http://bit.ly/1NKcLGQ
“After decades of broken promises, construction is finally happening at Steel Point,” said Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch. “Starbucks, Bass Pro Shops, and Chipotle will all open this fall. Once complete, this waterfront development will be home to apartments, retail, hotels, a grocery store, and more. It will create thousands of jobs and add tens of millions of dollars to our tax rolls. This is yet another great example of how Bridgeport is getting better every day.”
Regarding the history of developing Steelpointe Harbor, the Wall Street Journal reported (SOURCE: Wall Street Journal. “Bridgeport’s Steel Point Redevelopment Nears Launch.” April 7, 2014. By Joseph de Avila.):
Former Mayor Leonard Paoletta was the first to try to remake Steel Point in the early 1980s, though the project failed to advance for years. One of the biggest setbacks was a scandal involving former Mayor Joseph Ganim, who was convicted in 2003 on 16 charges that included receiving about $500,000 in bribes and kickbacks.
According to federal prosecutors, a group of developers promised to raise $500,000 for Mr. Ganim's anticipated gubernatorial campaign in exchange for allowing them to develop Steel Point. But that deal fell apart when the developers came under the scrutiny of federal law enforcement, and no money ever changed hands.
"People lost their sense of trust in the political community," said Paul Timpanelli, chief executive of the Bridgeport Regional Business Council. Getting the project started will help change the perception that nothing ever happens in Bridgeport, Mr. Timpanelli added.
But because of the leadership of Mayor Bill Finch, things have changed. The Bass Pro Shops currently being constructed at Steelpointe Harbor will be the only Bass Pro in the entire state. And, the Starbucks and Chipotle represent firsts in the state’s largest city.
Once complete, Steelpointe Harbor will serve as a 2 million square foot super regional waterfront project located adjacent to I-95 in Bridgeport Connecticut. Spanning 82 acres, the project will feature more than 750,000 square feet of retail, restaurants and entertainment, a 12-screen premium theater, two hotels, 1,100 mid-and-high rise residential units, 30,000 square feet of office and a 200-slip full service deep water marina.
Mayor Finch was joined at today’s press conference by City Council members Lydia Martinez, Milta Feliciano, AmyMarie Vizzo-Paniccia and Melanie Jackson, along with Director of Public Facilities Jorge Garcia and City Engineer Jon Urquidi.
Click here for a rendering of Bass Pro Shops: http://bit.ly/1Fiqqko
Click here for a rendering of Chipotle and Starbucks: http://bit.ly/1NBZvlM
For more information on recent developments at Steelpointe Harbor, click here: http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/New-tenants-announced-for-Steel-Point-5888790.php.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line33
|
__label__cc
| 0.531606
| 0.468394
|
West Nile Virus: An example of needed cooperation between developed and developing countries
Nicola Gorsuch 27 Dec 2012
Written by George Valiakos, DVM, MSc in Public Health and Environmental Hygiene.
During the last decade, West Nile virus (WNV) has emerged as one of the most highly-concerning zoonotic pathogens worldwide. In 2012 a total of 237 WNV cases were reported in the EU/EEA countries and 669 more in neighboring countries. In the USA, reported cases of WNV in humans has hit an all time high since 1999 when the virus was first introduced in the region. There were more than 260 cases of neuroinvasive disease confirmed in 2012. These statistics create major concerns about the future impact of WNV disease worldwide and how it may worsen through viral evolution, and changes in viral transmission and pathogenicity dynamics.
Avian species are considered the primary hosts of WNV, and in an endemic region, the virus is maintained in an enzootic cycle between mosquitoes and birds. The disease can manifest in humans and other mammals, with the main cause of contagion coming from the bite of infected mosquitoes. WNV was first isolated in Uganda (West Nile district) in 1937 from the blood of a native Ugandan woman, and up until the end of the 20th century, it was considered a cause of viral encephalitis limited only in the continents of Africa and Asia. The introduction of WNV in Europe and America has been mainly attributed to the migration routes of various avian species from Africa to these continents.
So far there are two major genetic lineages of WNV. Lineage 1 is the most widespread, containing isolates found in Western and Central Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and Australia. Strains of lineage 2 were mainly found in South Africa and Madagascar, but in the last decade they have been introduced to Central and Eastern Europe. It is interesting to examine the distribution of both lineages in relation to the migration routes of wild birds (Figure 1) as this helps us to understand how WNV is spread to affected countries.
Figure 1. Main migration flyways of wild birds in Europe. The Southeastern migration flyway in red. (Source: SEEN)
Our research team conducted a study investigating the impact of wild birds in relation to the current WNV disease outbreak in Greece (with more than 524 laboratory confirmed human cases and 60 human deaths). It was found that human exposure to sedentary birds could have occurred at least 8 months before the first human reports of WNV disease. This stresses the importance of a One Health approach in surveillance programs of zoonotic pathogens. If we could examine samples of animals and their origin, it could provide timely information regarding local circulation of otherwise neglected pathogens, and allow public health authorities the time to prepare and implement appropriate control measures.
Moreover, these facts show the importance of parallel research and surveillance for pathogens, like WNV, within countries and organizations of the developed and developing world. It is very difficult to come to a definite conclusion in regards to pathogen dispersion and evolution dynamics, when the data collected is sparse and limited to local research in EU countries. Yet the possible origin of the pathogen (i.e. a flavivirus) is from a developing country where information is limited, genetic monitoring is incomplete, conclusions regarding pathogen evolution are not solid.
The strengthening of research facilities and relevant knowledge transfer should be a top priority for developed countries in their plans to help countries of lower income that are in need. Public Health can be protected only through a universal cooperative approach regarding important emerging pathogens.
For more information on this study please read the paper,“Serological and molecular investigation into the role of wild birds in the epidemiology of West Nile virus in Greece.”
Algal biofuels? Think bigger
2012: that was the Genome Biology year that was
View the latest posts on the On Biology homepage
Nicola Gorsuch
Latest posts by Nicola Gorsuch (see all)
Home gardens for food security - 17th June 2013
The extent of arsenic pollution in contaminated groundwater - 31st May 2013
Mosquito survey identifies reservoir of disease - 10th May 2013
Popular On Biology tags
How multilingualism alters multisensory perception
Undocumented biodiversity of marine Oomycota is found in the Arctic
Red de Institutos Nacionales de Cancer de Latinoamérica RINC-ALC
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line35
|
__label__wiki
| 0.858752
| 0.858752
|
JENKINS LEARNS NEW LEVEL LESSONS
Cwmgors’ Chris Jenkins (13-0, 5KO) won his first career title on Saturday with a shut-out points victory over ten rounds against France’s Christopher Sebire (22-7, 9KO) for the WBC International title and he has learned plenty of lessons. The 24-year-old had to overcome an ear injury at the midway stage of the fight and it, along with his opponents efforts, altered his tactics on Matchroom Sport’s ‘Reloaded’ show but it was an experience he believes benefited his development. Analysing the fight, Jenkins said, “I didn’t box to the game plan but I knew what I was doing in the fight was right because I could just feel how it was going in there. At the end of the fight, the scorecards showed that, the way I was fighting won me the fight and I can adapt. “I knew my ear was cut straight away, the ref told me too and in the corner it didn’t bother us. It’s a professional game and you have to stick to what you have to do no matter what happens, you still have to go win the fight. “I think I flew it, the fitness is there. To be honest, I think it was in round eight and I had so much more in the tank, when I come out for it I wasn’t breathing heavy and I know I can step it up again next time.” Sibere, a switch hitter who has won the French light-welterweight title, did begin well but soon entered his shell and there were stages of the fight where both boxers were cagey and Jenkins was mindful of it. He said, “I know I couldn’t really catch him as clean as I’d like, he’s an awkward fighter. I was too afraid to throw silly shots in case he countered me, so I just stuck to the jab and it worked all night, it made him look like a mug at times. “He was slick. As soon as I caught him in the third round with a body shot, I knew it hurt him and he just covered up from then. I’ve got the win over him though, job done and I want to go onwards now on to the next one against another good guy.” In the main event, Barry’s Lee Selby shone by adding the European title to his collection in front of a sold out Motorpoint Arena and Jenkins hopes to follow in his fellow Welshman’s footsteps but it won’t include the Welsh title. He said, “I look up to Selby because he did it the right way, I want to go a similar route. He won a WBC International title, the British title and everything else. If I can do half of what Selby’s doing, I’ll be well happy and I’ll be going in the right direction. “There’s no point going back now. I’ve taken two steps forward now and fighting for the Welsh title would be like a step back. It’s all about levels and I think I’ve passed that level now, I’m a level above the Welsh title and those opponents. I’d love to have won it but I was offered a bigger title, I’ve taken it, won it and I move on.”
Category Chris Jenkins, Interviews, Latest News
BoxingWales’ two year birthday: Ten top stories since 2012
‘The Kid’ Kennedy comes of age with Camacho KO
Alex ‘Good News’ Hughes back with confident shut-out of Harry Matthews
Lee Selby – Professional Boxer of the Year
Anthony Joshua won’t be fighting at the Principality Stadium for now and Hearn signals the end of Selby relationship
Davies & Turley ready for Repeat Or Revenge
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line38
|
__label__wiki
| 0.978088
| 0.978088
|
The History of the Electric Car
Since the advent of the automobile, car makers have struggled to build mainstream electric vehicles. Here are their best and worst attempts
Green Motors
By Bryan WalshThursday, Oct. 11, 2007
2007 Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell Car.
No one would mistake Chris Paine for a General Motors shill. In his 2006 documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?, the filmmaker laid out a damning case against GM for unplugging the EV1, the electric vehicle it manufactured in the 1990s and then discontinued in 2003, preferring instead to produce high-margin but gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs. "They were a technological leader, and they fumbled that leadership away," Paine says. Ask him about the U.S. carmaker now, though, and Paine sounds almost admiring. "Their new hybrids are making a difference, and their plug-in technology is a real advance," he says. "GM is making some really good moves now."
It's been some time since anyone accused GM of making a good move. The company surrendered its title as the world's top-selling carmaker to Toyota this year, in part because GM underestimated drivers' appetite for leaner, greener cars a desire filled spectacularly by Toyota's Prius. GM is still weighed down by health-care costs and other legacy issues, but the Detroit giant is finally getting serious about hybrids. After dismissing them for years as a niche unworthy of attention, GM will release an average of one new hybrid model every three months for the next two years, beginning with the industry's first full-size hybrid SUVs late this year. "GM has really stepped up to be the standard bearer for the industry," says Philip Gott, director of automotive consulting for the research group Global Insight. "Toyota stole the limelight the first time with nice technology and a brilliant marketing strategy, but I think GM will take the ball back."
In a way, GM never really lost the ball; it just forgot how to play. For all its recent struggles in the marketplace, GM has always been a leader in pure research and development, spending $6.6 billion in the field in 2006. "They've dwarfed the rest of the industry in what they can put into it," says Dan Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California at Davis. In the late 1980s, GM produced concept cars like the Sunracer, a sleek solar vehicle that can still inspire wistful sighs in green geeks of a certain age. But too often the good stuff stalled between the lab and the showroom. "There is a myth out there that GM is a technological laggard, but that's not true," says John DeCicco, senior fellow for automotive strategies at the advocacy group Environmental Defense. "They just chose not to emphasize those kinds of products in their corporate strategy." Nevertheless, GM's cautious approach stranded its brands in the past while its competitors positioned themselves as smarter and greener.
Nowhere was that clearer than in GM's foot-dragging on hybrids, which use combination gas-electric engines to reduce fuel usage an average of 45%, according to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "Hybrids are an interesting curiosity," said Robert Lutz, GM's vice chairman of product development, in early 2004. "But do they make sense at $1.50 a gallon? No, they do not." Lutz was right then, and even with gas prices closer to $3, midsize hybrids are expensive and may not save most drivers much money. But to consumers, the equation was simple: hybrids = environmentalism.
GM just didn't get it. "GM took a gamble that hybrids weren't going to be important," says Eric Noble, president of Car Labs, an auto consulting firm. "That turned out to be a very bad bet."
Even while its image became defined by Paleolithic SUVs, GM was quietly making green investments. The company began producing hybrid buses in 2004, using the technology to boost fuel economy on those big, inefficient vehicles where it would have a big, immediate impact. By the same logic, GM has put its first real hybrid engines not in a midsize sedan like the Toyota Prius but in its jumbo suvs, the GMC Yukon and the Chevrolet Tahoe. The 5,000-lb. (2,300 kg) vehicles will run on a new two-mode hybrid system developed by GM with Chrysler and BMW. The power train will use two electric motors one to assist city driving, one for highways giving it up to 40% better fuel rates than conventional models' for city driving. "It's a piece of art," says Mickey Bly, GM's director of engineering for hybrid vehicles. And with a towing capacity of 6,000 lbs. (2,700 kg), the fuel economy doesn't come at the expense of power.
GM hasn't won over all the skeptics. Sticking a hybrid engine in a jumbo SUV is "putting lipstick on a pig," says Ronald Hwang, vehicle policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, who argues that if GM is green serious, it should give up SUVs and build more efficient cars. But other activists welcome the effort. "I'm an equal-opportunity environmentalist, and I'll take carbon reductions where I can get them," says DeCicco. They agree, however, that GM passed up a chance to cement its green rep by failing to support efforts to tighten the federal corporate average-fuel-economy standards. Green darling Toyota has also opposed the proposed new rules, which call for a 35 mpg. (6.7 L/100 km) standard by 2020.
The best way for GM to answer its critics is with a green leap forward and the company is working with every available technology. GM presented the Chevrolet Volt a plug-in hybrid that can run on battery power, biodiesel or gasoline as a 2007 concept car. The company will soon roll out Project Driveway, a consumer test of more than 100 hydrogen-fuel-cell cars, which convert hydrogen to energy and produce no harmful emissions. "No other company has such a broad array of green technology," says Tom Stephens, GM's vice president for global power train. "I intend to lead on this."
Chris Paine will be watching. His next film is titled Who Saved the Electric Car?, but there's one obstacle. "We have to find out if someone actually is saving it," he says. It might just be GM. What better hero than a reformed villain?
Bryan Walsh
Next 1903 Columbia Mark LX Electric Runabout
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line41
|
__label__cc
| 0.70083
| 0.29917
|
Supreme Court Nomination Battles
The Senate Judiciary Committee began confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan on June 28, 2010. TIME takes a look at some of fiercest Supreme Court nomination battles in history
Bench Battles
Clement Haynsworth and G. Harrold Carswell
l. to r.: AP; Henry Griffin / AP
Richard Nixon had two high-profile Supreme Court nomination strikeouts. First, in 1969, he put forth judge Clement Haynsworth (left) a Southerner reviled by labor and civil rights groups for rulings related to union representation and school desegregation. Labor activists, hoping to derail the Haynsworth nomination, disclosed that the judge had a possible financial stake in a case he decided while on the Fourth Circuit. The Senate voted 55-45 against his nomination. The next year, Nixon tried again, nominating another Southerner, G. Harrold Carswell (right), reviled by civil rights groups for his earlier support for segregation. He went down in flames as well, with one Senator infamously arguing unsuccessfully for his confirmation by saying, "Even if he is mediocre, there are a lot of mediocre judges and people and lawyers, and they are entitled to a little representation, aren't they?"
Next Robert Bork
Four Enduring Myths About Supreme Court Nominees
Who is John Roberts?
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line42
|
__label__wiki
| 0.524023
| 0.524023
|
Top Selling Albums and Singles 1989
Twenty years on, the likes of Madonna, Janet Jackson and even New Kids On The Block are still ahem Hangin' Tough. Bobby Brown and Debbie Gibson? Not so much. Here's a look at the top five selling albums and singles in the last year of the '80s
Top 5 Albums & Top 5 Singles
4. New Jersey by Bon Jovi
By GLEN LEVYThursday, June 18, 2009
Bon Jovi was already an established part of the rock landscape by the time of their fourth album, unimaginatively named after the group's home state.
New Jersey did not disappoint, in so much that it holds the record for a "hard rock" album spawning the most Top 10 singles ever: five. The group even caused a slight stir when their video for "Living In Sin" was banned by MTV because it was too risqué. Shocking, right, to find out that MTV once played actual music videos?
TIME's Take: "The success of such currently hot groups as Bon Jovi and Poison is largely traceable to the saturation airplay given their videos on MTV."
Next 5. Appetite For Destruction by Guns N' Roses
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line43
|
__label__wiki
| 0.6693
| 0.6693
|
Thursday, Apr. 30, 2009
Amory Lovins
By Carl Pope
Amory Lovins had the solution to the energy problem in 1976. It's taken the rest of us 33 years to catch up. In the wake of the 1973 Arab oil embargo, Lovins wrote his seminal piece in Foreign Affairs comparing what he called "the hard" and "the soft" energy paths.
The hard path, which most people advocated, involved securing more and more fossil fuel at any price. The soft path involved looking for new and renewable energy sources. In 1982, Lovins, who had studied physics and the arts at Harvard and Oxford, founded the Rocky Mountain Institute, where he kept his green drumbeat going, calling for cars that hacked away at the inefficiencies of the postwar era. Now 61, he is watching as his arguments become accepted wisdom and is even helping in the transition away from fossil fuels, as when he taught Wal-Mart how to make its trucks more efficient. It's been a long wait more than three decades but Lovins' patience has clearly paid off.
Pope is executive director of the Sierra Club
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1894410_1893209_1893457,00.html
Copyright © 2014 Time Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Privacy Policy|Add TIME Headlines to your Site|Contact Us|Customer Service
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line44
|
__label__wiki
| 0.725523
| 0.725523
|
Conflict Urbanism Aleppo
The Memory of Destruction
Urban Damage
"The Destruction of Memory"
Investigation from a Distance
Conflict Urbanism: Aleppo is a project in two stages.
First, we have built an open-source, interactive, layered map of Aleppo, at the neighborhood scale. Users can navigate the city, with the aid of high resolution satellite imagery from before and during the current civil war, and explore geo-located data about cultural sites, neighborhoods, and urban damage.
Second, the map is a platform for storytelling with data. We are inviting collaborators and students to bring new perspectives and analyses into the map to broaden our understanding of what's happening in Aleppo. Case studies will document and narrate urban damage — at the infrastructural, neighborhood, building, social, and cultural scales — and will be added to the website over time.
We invite ideas and propositions, and hope to build on the data we have compiled here to create an active archive of the memory of destruction in Aleppo through investigation and interpretation, up close and from a distance.
Since 2012, the people of Aleppo have been exposed to catastrophic violence. Many thousands have been injured, died, or fled. Millions of people have been displaced. Our work focuses on what has happened in their city, the largest city in Syria before the war and one of the oldest cities in the world, and what might happen to it in the future. Aleppo has suffered extensive physical damage: to its symbolic centre, the Citadel; its surrounding heritage sites, which mark ancient empires, diverse religions, and multiple cultures and trade routes; and to its eastern and southern neighborhoods which housed many ‘informal’ neighborhoods before the war. The city has been remapped by conflict. Both the old city and the neighborhoods to its east and south have evolved into opposition territory during the war, and come under siege. But beyond the military logic, Aleppo’s cultural and urban history, as well as its cultural memory and identity, appears to have been directly targeted.
“The Destruction of Memory”
Raphael Lemkin’s conception of vandalism serves as a motivating rationale and a theoretical frame for our work here. The Polish-Jewish lawyer Lemkin coined the term 'genocide' during World War II. The category was codified in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 1948 and entered into force in January 1951 after twenty states had ratified it. But, as we learn in Robert Bevan’s book, The Destruction of Memory, already in 1933 Lemkin had described genocide in terms of two interlinked concepts: barbarity and vandalism. He understood barbarity primarily as "acts of extermination" targeting "ethnic, religious or social collectivities," and vandalism as the "systematic and organized destruction of the art and cultural heritage."
What he called barbarity became the core of the notion of genocide, but vandalism did not make it into the Convention.
Vandalism is, however, reflected in the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, which became effective in 1956. And although recent developments in international criminal law have incorporated the destruction of cultural heritage into the understanding of genocide – the UN Tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia noted, in one decision, that "where there is physical or biological destruction there are often simultaneous attacks on the cultural and religious property and symbols of the targeted group as well, attacks which may legitimately be considered as evidence of an intent to physically destroy the group" – it was only recently that such attacks themselves were found to constitute a war crime. In September 2016,
judges at the International Criminal Court in the Hague sentenced Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi to serve nine years in prison for his role in demolishing historic Muslim shrines in Timbuktu. The case marks the first time an international court has convicted a defendant for the destruction of cultural heritage as a war crime.
Although trials for crimes of war against people and buildings might be far in the future for Syria, evidence is being collected by multiple organizations, including the Violations Documentation Center, as well as local residents, journalists, and activists. Hundreds of thousands of videos, photographs, and accounts of destruction and violence have been uploaded and distributed on social media platforms. But for what tribunal?
One of the ways of challenging the destruction of memory, the physical destruction of the urban fabric and its tangible and intangible heritage, is the preservation of the multiple forms of what might be called a memory of destruction.
Over the five years of civil war in Syria, many buildings and neighborhoods in Aleppo have been destroyed. Craters and rubble mark the building, streets, and parks that have come under attack. The four satellite images layered into our map tell some of the stories of this ongoing erasure and its varied aftermaths – deaths, departures, and the reorganization of the urban landscape. You can see its traces not only in the images of destruction but also in the green growth of vegetation, that has come to cover (and identify) the damaged spaces, and the water from that broken pipes that fills the craters.
It is our hope that this aerial imagery, and the investigations developed to ask questions with it, will can be linked with social media and other perspectives from the ground, and contribute to an ongoing preservation of the memory of destruction in Aleppo.
Different approaches to conflict and struggle require different temporalities, rhythms, and modes of representation. Journalists work on specific stories in the moment or over time; human rights work involves patient documentation and urgent calls to action; humanitarian work necessitates emergency responses as well as long-term commitments. Practitioners of all these forms of responses, though, often worry about the lack of opportunity to reflect, to analyze critically what they are doing, to appreciate the larger frames and forces that affect the situations in which they are trying to report and intervene. We hope that this project will allow both the on going documentation and registration of the struggle of Aleppo and its people -- and provide a space for reflection and critical understanding.
It' s for this reason that we made a map that can collect, assemble, and curate data resources from multiple perspectives, and evolve over time. The map is a resource for looking at Aleppo, as well a prototype of investigative and analytic methods for other cities in conflict.
Each case study deploys a variety of ways of embedding our map into a narrative or analytic story, and each time adds to it through a unique story window. The following list will evolve:
Patterns of Damage: Aleppo
Using UNOSAT damage data, some former planning documents produced by GIZ are overlaid onto a 2015 image of Aleppo to investigate patterns of disproportionate damage in informal parts of Aleppo.
Remote Sensing Urban Damage
Using free low resolution Landsat imagery, in collaboration with a remote sensing analyst we have made "change maps" in Aleppo for every two weeks of the war, as a means of navigating the city and the news, looking for evidence of damage on high resolution imagery.
Spatializing the Youtube War in Aleppo
Our team has analyzed five youtube channels for their spatial patterns as well as creating a browsable interface for viewing the video by neighborhood.
Conflict Urbanism: Aleppo Seminar
In the Spring of 2016, Columbia Students used the map as a resource and starting point for research about the Civil War. The results of their work is documented here.
Center for Spatial Research, Columbia University
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line60
|
__label__cc
| 0.661907
| 0.338093
|
One small step for a man
One Giant leap for the mankind
There is no wealth like Knowledge
No Poverty like Ignorance
Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences >> Call for Papers Vol. 8 No. 7, July 2017
Abstracting / Indexing
Publication Charge
Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences
Publications Standards Policy
Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences supports the highest standards of intellectual discourse in its publications.
All members of the publication process -- authors, editors and reviewers -- should be treated with fairness and balance, and adhere to the principles in Section of “PUBLICATION PRINCIPLES”. The principles in this document represent a minimum set of requirements. Individual publications may have additional requirements.
A publication with additional requirements shall have a publicly available statement of publication policies and procedures. Publication are based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines and COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors and Publishers.
Publication Principles
Responsibilities of Menuscript Authors
Referees of Menuscripts
Editors of CIS Journals
A. Authorship
Authorship credit should be based on a substantial intellectual contribution. It is assumed that all authors have had a significant role in the creation of a manuscript that bears their names. Therefore, the list of authors on an article serves multiple purposes; it indicates who is responsible for the work and to whom questions regarding the work should be addressed. Moreover, the credit implied by authorship is often used as a measure of the contributors’ productivity when they are evaluated for employment, promotions, grants, and prizes.
The CIS Journal affirm that authorship credit must be reserved for individuals who have met each of the following conditions: Made a significant intellectual contribution to the theoretical development, system or experimental design, prototype development, and/or the analysis and interpretation of data associated with the work contained in the manuscript. Contributed to drafting the article or reviewing and/or revising it for intellectual content. Approved the final version of the manuscript, including references. (Deceased persons deemed appropriate as authors should be so included with a footnote).
In papers with multiple authorship, the order of the authors shall be at the discretion of the authors.
Once the list and order of authors has been established, the list and order of authors should not be altered without permission of all living authors.
Any part of an article essential to its main conclusions must be the responsibility of at least one author.
In the case of papers with multiple authors, a “corresponding” author must be designated as having responsibility for overseeing the publication process and ensuring the integrity of the final document. The corresponding author accepts the responsibility for: Including as co-authors all persons appropriate and none inappropriate; Obtaining from all co-authors their assent to be designated as such, as well as their approval of the final version of the manuscript; and Keeping all co-authors apprised of the current status of a manuscript submitted for publication, including furnishing all co-authors with copies of the reviewers’ comments and a copy of the published version, as appropriate.
Co-authors have responsibility for work submitted under their names. They should remain knowledgeable in so far as possible regarding the status of the manuscript, including the nature of any revisions.
If a manuscript is revised and resubmitted to the same journal, co-authors should be asked by the corresponding author to reaffirm their assent to be listed as co-authors and to approve the revised version. In addition, if the manuscript is rejected or withdrawn from a journal and then submitted to a different Journal, the co-authors should be asked again by the corresponding author to affirm their assent to authorship even if no substantive changes have been made.
Co-authors have the right to withdraw their names from a manuscript at any time before acceptance of the manuscript by the editor. However, an author’s or co-author’s name should not be removed from a manuscript without his or her permission. The responsible editor shall be notified of any change in authorship.
B. Responsibilities of Manuscript Authors
Peer review is essential to scientific and technical discourse. Authors are encouraged to have the first formal publication of their results be a peer-reviewed paper.
Financial support of the work being reported and of the authors should be clearly acknowledged, as should any potential conflict of interest.
Methods and materials should be described in sufficient detail to permit evaluation and replication.
All data should be presented upon request by the editor, to facilitate the review process.
Authors have an obligation to correct errors promptly.
CIS journal define plagiarism as the use of someone else’s prior ideas, processes, results, or words without explicitly acknowledging the original author and source. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable and is considered a serious breach of professional conduct, with potentially severe ethical and legal consequences.
Fabrication and falsification are unacceptable.
Authors should only submit original work that has neither appeared elsewhere for publication, nor which is under review for another refereed publication. If authors have used their own previously published work(s) as a basis for a new submission, they are required to cite the previous work(s) and very briefly indicate how the new submission offers substantively novel contributions beyond those of the previously published work(s).
Note: Authors should not discuss any aspect of a manuscript under evaluation with reviewers of the submitted manuscript. Manuscript evaluation with reviewers of the submitted manuscript.
Only those articles of a researcher’s publication record that are directly relevant to the subject matter of the paper under consideration should be included in the bibliography. Furthermore, an article should be appropriately labeled as "submitted" when still in the review process or "in press" when it has been accepted for publication but has not yet appeared in print
The CIS assumes that the material submitted to its journals for publications is properly available for general dissemination to the readership of those journals. It is the responsibility of the authors, not the CIS, to determine whether disclosure of their material requires the prior consent of other parties and, if so, to obtain it. If authors make use of charts, photographs, or other graphical or textual material from previously published material, the authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to use the material in the manuscript.
C. Referees of Manuscripts
Referees should be chosen for their high qualifications and objectivity regarding a particular manuscript.
Reviews should be prompt and thorough.
Anonymity of referees should be preserved to the extent possible.
Information contain in a manuscript under review is confidential and must not be shared with others, nor should referees use non-public information contained in a manuscript to advance their own research or financial interests.
D. Editors of CIS Journals
The sole responsibility for acceptance or rejection of a manuscript rests with the editor.
Editors should generally grant the request of an author who asks that particular individual(s) be excluded from the review of a particular manuscript.
Editors should establish a review process that minimizes bias.
Editors should subject all manuscripts of a given type to equivalent and unprejudiced reviews. Decisions about acceptance for publication should occur in a reasonable time frame, and (except for issues devoted to special topics) manuscripts should, to the editor’s best ability, be published in the chronological order of acceptance.
Editors should provide to the authors a written rationale for editorial decisions regarding a manuscript submitted for publication. This is especially important if the manuscript is being rejected.
Unpublished manuscripts must be treated as confidential documents by all individuals involved in the editorial process.
Editors should correct errors in a manuscript if the errors are detected or reported before publication, or publish corrections if they are detected afterward.
Editors should handle cases of alleged misconduct at the lowest possible organizational level, and should usually involve the institutions at which the research in question was performed.
Papers submitted by an editor or associate editor should be handled by another member of the editorial board.
Rejected manuscripts must not be use in any purpose by the editorial staff, and must be kept confidential from the third parties.
New Editors should not overturn decisions to publish submissions made by the previous Editor unless serious problems are identified.
Editors should respond promptly to complaints and should ensure there is a way for dissatisfied complainants to take complaints further.
The editors will be guided by CORE's Guidelines for Retracting Articles and CORE’s advice on Cooperation between Research Institutions and Journals on Research Integrity Cases when considering retracting, issuing expressions of concern about, and issuing corrections pertaining to articles that have been published in CIS Journal
CIS Journal
Most Cited Articles (Last 2 Years)
An overview of Transform Domain Robust Digital Image Watermarking Algorithms (28 Citations)
Software Cost Estimation Methods: A Review (19 Citations)
Fruit Recognition using Color and Texture Features (20 Citations)
Journal of Computing | Call for Papers (CFP) | Journal Blog | Journal of Systems and Software | ARPN Journal of Science and Technology | International Journal of Health and Medical Sciences | International Journal of Economics, Finance and Management
Copyrights © 2015 Journal of Computing
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line68
|
__label__wiki
| 0.871551
| 0.871551
|
Critics’ Choice TV Award Nominations Spotlight JUSTIFIED, SILICON VALLEY, and More
by Allison Keene May 6, 2015
Or, "what the Emmys should look like."
COMMUNITY, HOMELAND, MODERN FAMILY, LOUIE and More Win Critics’ Choice Television Awards
by Ethan Anderton June 19, 2012
Last night the second annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards were revealed, and while fans usually gripe about these kinds of people being out of touch with the public, they’re usually more accurate than the Emmys when it comes to picking …
MODERN FAMILY, MAD MEN, and More Win at First Annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards
Earlier this month, we listed the nominees for the first Critics’ Choice Television Awards from the Broadcast Television Journalists Association. Now the awards have been handed out and we have the full list of winners which include Modern Family rightfully winning …
Nominations for First Critics’ Choice Television Awards Include MODERN FAMILY, THE WALKING DEAD, GAME OF THRONES and…
by Ethan Anderton June 6, 2011
You may know of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, but now there’s a new branch from that organization with The Broadcast Television Journalists Association, and they’ve just announced their nominations for the first Critics’ Choice Television Awards. Modern Family leads …
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line72
|
__label__cc
| 0.666982
| 0.333018
|
South Korean activists call to abolish abortion ban
July 24, 2018 by Anna KatzNo Comments
Earlier this month, activists rallied and marched in Seoul to demand an end to the laws that criminalized abortion in South Korea. Though the official crowd estimate was 1,500, organizers believe that over 5,000 people participated in the demonstration. Speakers included physicians, clergy, and young women who shared testimonies about their experiences struggling to end unwanted pregnancies or access reproductive information.
South Korea’s current law, originally passed in 1953, makes receiving abortion punishable by up to one year in prison or a fine of up to 2 million won (about $1,770). Physicians who perform the procedure could face even harsher punishments, serving up to two years in prison or losing their right to practice medicine.
Since 1973, another law has allowed for abortion up to 24 weeks of gestation in certain exceptional circumstances, including rape, incest, genetic impairment of the fetus, and endangerment of the health of the women. In addition, women must obtain their husband’s consent in order to undergo the procedure.
Yet abortion remains common in South Korea. “According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare,” write reporters Miliann Kang and Arum Yoon, “the estimated number of abortions in 2010, the most recent data available, was 169,000, which places Korea in the top 10 among OECD countries. Many researchers and advocates estimate that the actual rate is much higher, as much as 500,000 per year, which surpasses the number of births.”
The march, as well as a petition calling for an end to the abortion ban which circulated in late 2017 and received more than 235,000 signatures, suggest that individuals throughout South Korea are recognizing the need to change the antiquated law. South Korea’s Constitutional Court is reviewing the 1953 abortion ban.
What's Happening in Reproductive Health Around the World?Abortion, Legal Reform, South Korea
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line75
|
__label__wiki
| 0.970556
| 0.970556
|
/Authors/L/LEWIS, C. S.
lewis, c. s. (7)
Rare books by C. S. Lewis, including first editions, signed first editions and finely bound copies of the Narnia books.
C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) was a literary scholar, Christian apologetic, and the author of the Chronicles of Narnia. He spent a large part of his career as an English professor at Merton College, Oxford, where he was a member of the literary group The Inklings and a good friend of J. R. R. Tolkien.
Rehabilitations
First edition, first impression, in the very scarce jacket. This copy with the ownership inscription of "J. C. Parham, Magdalen College February 1950". John Carey Parham was one of Lewis's pupils at Magdalen. Learn More
Perelandra. A Novel.
First edition, first impression, in the first issue binding of blue cloth with gilt lettering. Perelandra (also titled Voyage to Venus in a later edition published by Pan Books) is the second book in Lewis's Space Trilogy. Learn More
That Hideous Strength.
First edition, first printing, of the third book in The Martian Chronicles trilogy. Learn More
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
First edition, first impression of the first book in the Narnia series. Learn More
The Silver Chair.
First edition, first impression. Learn More
Dante's Statius.
Cambridge: [1956]
Offprint. With the author's signed presentation inscription to the upper wrapper, "Reg Davies from Jack Lewis". Reginald Thorne Davies was the Reader in English at the University of Liverpool and the editor of several studies on Middle English literature. He had studied under Lewis at Magdalen College, Oxford. Rare. Learn More
LEWIS, C. S. Continued...
Lewis’s first two books, both begun when he was a teenager, were published under the pseudonym Clive Hamilton. The first was a collection of poetry titled Spirits in Bondage, which appeared in 1919 and received little notice. His second book, Dymer (1926), was a long narrative poem inspired by the medieval epics that he studied at Oxford. Both volumes were published in small numbers and are rare today.
Lewis’s first published prose work was also his first foray into Christian writing. The encouragement of religious friends at Oxford, including Tolkien, led Lewis to convert from atheism to Christianity. This spiritual journey was charted in The Pilgrim’s Regress, an allegorical novel published in 1933. Lewis would, in fact, become a household name for his Christian writings, with The Screwtape Letters (1942), his satirical account of a conversation between a devil and his subordinate, reaching a huge audience. Other Christian writings followed, including The Problem of Pain (1940), Miracles (1947), and the classic Mere Christianity (1952).
Lewis also published a number of important volumes of literary criticism. The Allegory of Love (1936) “combined a study of medieval allegory with a new account of courtly love” (ODNB); it won the Hawthornden prize and brought Lewis into demand as an academic speaker. His most substantial academic work was English Literature in the Sixteenth Century (1954), which earned him the Chair of Medieval and Renaissance Literature at Magdalene College, Cambridge.
But Lewis’s most famous books are the seven novels that comprise The Chronicles of Narnia. Set in a magical alternate universe in which Christ takes the form of a lion named Aslan, these children’s books have been described as “philosophical fairy tales” or Christian allegories, and the series remains one of the most popular in the fantasy genre. First editions are now difficult to find in collectible condition.
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (1950)
Prince Caspian (1951)
The Voyage of The Dawn Treader (1952)
The Silver Chair (1953)
The Horse and His Boy (1954)
The Magician’s Nephew (1955)
The Last Battle (1956)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line76
|
__label__wiki
| 0.546225
| 0.546225
|
The Most Seventies-Looking Seventies Stamps, Part Two
This 1971 stamp features the official logo for the nation's 200th birthday, designed by Chermayeff & Geismar.
The American Revolution Bicentennial Commission chose the logo from more than 100 submissions. The two stars symbolize the two centuries of the country's existence, and the free-flowing lines of the outer star, said the commission, "are intended to evoke a feeling of festivity and suggest the furled bunting traditionally used in times of celebration throughout the nation."
This is the logo Chermayeff & Geismar created for PBS around the same time.
This purple 1974 stamp pulsated as loudly as the disco music that the same year began to top the charts.
Flaunting bold Helvetica (then becoming the go-to type font), the stamp honored the year-one anniversary of the launch of the nation's first space station. In 1979, amid global Chicken Little-like anxiety if not hysteria, Skylab fell back to earth, raining debris into the Indian Ocean and onto Australia, where the municipality of Esperance fined the U.S. $400 for littering. (The fine has yet to be paid.)
Amnesia brought about by McMansions and SUVs eventually erased the effort initiated in the 1970s to conserve energy and implement cleaner ways to use it--solar being all the rage.
The stamp came out in 1977, shortly after President Carter created the Department of Energy.
The fun typeface known as Frankfurter--because the letters look like hot dogs--showed up everywhere in the '70s, including these stamps from 1974 to promote the code known as ZIP (Zone Improvement Program).
The cartoonish trains, planes and trucks mirror the Frankfurter type, which was created in 1970 by Bob Newman.
Newman also invented this popular font of the era--Data 70.
The down-home yet modern look of these 1978 stamps perfectly reflect the Peasant Chic look kicked off by Yves Saint Laurent in 1976.
The design the stamps was taken from a basket quilt made in New York City in 1875.
The '60s psychedelia of Peter Max spilled liberally into the '70s, as evidenced by this ten-cent stamp that commemorated the 1974 World's Fair in Spokane, Wash.
These stamps came out in 1973 . . .
. . .and were designed by husband-and-wife illustrators Naiad and Walter Einsel, whose work was very popular in the '70s.
This illustration by Naiad, also from the '70s, has the same palette as the stamp above.
To look at the first half of this post, visit: The Most Seventies-Looking Seventies Stamps, Part One
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line78
|
__label__wiki
| 0.555964
| 0.555964
|
[S. Juanita Williams, Courtesy Photo Lab, Houston]
[Unidentified Man]
[Alice Jones]
[Clara Everline]
[Elaine Williams, niece of Elnora Frazier]
Elnora Frazier
Date: American, 1924-2005
Biography: Elnora Williams Frazier, commercial and community photographer, was born January 10, 1924 in the Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas. Raised in Houston’s Second Ward, Frazier was educated in Houston schools and attended Houston Negro College. After high school, in 1942, Frazier attended the Teal School of Photography, taught by A. C. Teal of Houston, and was employed by Teal for fifteen years. Frazier left the Teal Studio after A. C. Teal’s death in 1956. During the late 1950s and through the
1960s and 1970s, Frazier worked in Houston for Courtesy Photo Supply, where she did black and white finishing. During the 1960s she also worked for Floyd Photo. In 1982, she began work for National Photographic Labs as a printer and remained there until her retirement in 1989. During her professional career Frazier also contracted work for friends and family. Elnora Williams married Marshall Frazier in 1948 and had one daughter, Marsha, born in 1951. An oral history with Frazier and examples of her work appear in Portraits of Community: African American Photography in Texas (Austin: Texas State Historical Association, 1996).
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line80
|
__label__wiki
| 0.890152
| 0.890152
|
Photo gallery May, 2014
Participants in the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting at a gala concert at the Astana Opera.
Vladimir Putin, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev (centre) and President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
Before the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in narrow format. With President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev (centre).
Arrival at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting. With President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.
Narrow format meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council.
Arrival in Astana.
At a meeting with Government members.
At the unveiling of a monument to Sergei Mikhalkov.
With the Russian national ice hockey team – 2014 World Champions.
At a ceremony presenting awards to Russian national ice hockey team.
Alexander Ovechkin, captain of the Russian national ice hockey team, presents Vladimir Putin with a T-shirt signed by the players.
Vladimir Putin returns the 1956 Olympic gold medal to Viktor Shuvalov, a player on the USSR national ice hockey team.
With captain of the Russian national ice hockey team Alexander Ovechkin.
With forward of the Russian national ice hockey team Yevgeny Malkin.
With Head Coach of the Russian national ice hockey team Oleg Znarok.
Vladimir Putin congratulates the Russian team on their victory in the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship.
At the Ice Hockey World Championship final between Russia and Finland.
Before the start of the Ice Hockey World Championship final between Russia and Finland. With President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
Concert of St Petersburg Combined Choir on the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture.
With participants of the concert of St Petersburg Combined Choir on the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture.
At the concert of St Petersburg Combined Choir on the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture.
Meeting with members of the Russian Direct Investment Fund international expert council and international investors.
At a meeting with participants in the CEO Global Summit.
Plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
On the phone talking to farmer Alexander Kuksenko.
Vladimir Putin inspects the construction of the Nizhne-Bureiskaya Hydroelectric Power Station.
With flood victims in Amur Region.
Meeting with flood victims in Amur Region.
Visit to the village of Volkovo in Blagoveshchensk District, where new housing is being built for victims of the 2013 flood.
With President of China Xi Jinping before the ceremony signing documents on natural gas supplies to China.
Fourth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.
Meeting with President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani.
With President of the Islamic Republic of Iran Hassan Rouhani.
Meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
With former President of China Jiang Zemin.
With President of China Xi Jinping at a command centre of the Usun Naval base in Shanghai.
At the opening ceremony of the Russia-China Naval Interaction 2014 joint exercises.
Following the talks, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping signed a Joint Declaration of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the new stage of comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between the two countries.
Official welcoming ceremony at the Xijiao state residence in Shanghai.
Opening ceremony of the Russia-China Naval Interaction 2014 joint exercises.
With President of China Xi Jinping during official welcoming ceremony at the Xijiao state residence in Shanghai.
During visit to the Russian Mir sail training ship.
During gala game of the National Amateur Ice Hockey Teams' Festival.
Visiting the Cathedral of St Prince Vladimir Equal to the Apostles.
Gala concert to mark the 69th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and 70th anniversary of the liberation of Sevastopol from Nazis.
With Sevastopol residents and guests.
With Great Patriotic War veterans.
Laying flowers at the Memorial to Heroic Defenders of Sevastopol in 1941-1942.
Visiting Sevastopol.
At the naval parade of Black Sea Fleet ships. With Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (left) and Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov.
At the naval parade of Black Sea Fleet ships.
At the naval parade of Black See Fleet ships.
Vladimir Putin and Acting Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov at Belbek airport before the celebrations marking the 69thanniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War and the 70th anniversary of Sevastopol’s liberation from the Nazis.
Parade in honour of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Before the parade in honour of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Speech at the reception in honour of the 69th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Before a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
Visit to the National Defence Centre.
During a visit to the National Defence Centre.
Vladimir Putin lays flowers at the monuments to Hero Cities and Cities of Military Glory by the Kremlin Wall.
Meeting with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon and President of Kyrgyzstan Almazbek Atambayev.
During a visit to the National Defence Centre. With Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, Russia's First Deputy Defence Minister and Army General Valery Gerasimov.
Laying flowers at the monument sign established in honour of the Hero City Kiev by the Kremlin Wall.
Before the ceremony presenting the Hero of Labour gold medals.
Photo with the President August, 2018
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line81
|
__label__wiki
| 0.987582
| 0.987582
|
Book by father of Serena, Venus Williams out 6 May
Written with Bart Davis, Richard Williams' 292-page book 'Black and White' reads part autobiography, part parenting guide
AP, Wednesday 30 Apr 2014
New Release: The Complete Works of Mansour Fahmy
Samer Soliman Institution hosts a discussion on the evolution in Egypt
Iraqi novelist Ahmed Saadawi wins Arabic Booker 2014
El-Saadawi and Hatata: Voyage of a lifetime
Serena Williams' father says he won't return to Indian Wells, California, the site of a tournament his daughter has skipped since 2001, when their family was booed — and subjected to racial epithets — according to his new book. "I would never go back," Richard Williams said in a telephone interview. But he added that it's up to Serena whether to play at Indian Wells again.
"She was taught to make terrific decisions," he said. "Any decision she makes, I would be behind, 1,000 percent."
His book, Black and White: The Way I See It, comes out 6 May. It goes into detail about how Indian Wells, in his words, "disgraced America."
Serena was on the entry list for the event this year but withdrew, citing a back injury.
The book covers plenty of other ground, although there is not much that is revelatory about the professional tennis careers of Williams' daughters, Serena and Venus. He said he has another book, focused more on them, in the works.
First taught the game by their father, the sisters have won a combined 24 Grand Slam singles titles and have both been ranked No 1.
"From the beginning, I decided that if people came to me later on and told me my daughters were great tennis players, I had failed," he writes. "Success would be if they came up to me and said my daughters were great people."
Written with Bart Davis, the 292-page Black and White reads part autobiography, part parenting guide ("I feel that we're way too soft on our children," Williams says in Chapter 19), part self-help book, part tennis instructional manual.
"I released the book because Serena kept telling me to," Williams said. "She thought it would help a lot of people."
It is dedicated to his mother, and much of the early chapters concerns lessons she imparted to him and her influence on his life — and, by extension, his children's lives.
There are meditations on the American dream, ambition, and above all racism. The latter is the prism through which he learned to see the world and, as he repeatedly hammers home, still does to this day.
"If a person doesn't know where they started from, they sure as heck don't know where they're going," he said in the interview. "As they read, they can kind of relate more to who you are and where you're from and where you're going to."
In the book, Williams explains how his worldview was shaped by growing up in Louisiana and during his time in Chicago as a young man.
There are tales upon tales of run-ins with the police and confrontations with strangers, often ending in violence.
"I could not embrace a turn-the-other-cheek philosophy," he writes.
At another point, he writes: "I became fascinated with stealing at the age of eight. I don't know if the thrill was being able to get away with a crime, or that the crime was against the white man. Either way, it was the start of a prosperous career."
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line82
|
__label__wiki
| 0.530545
| 0.530545
|
Cairo, Berlin set to sign new finance agreements worth 207 million euros: Minister Nasr
Ahram Online , Saturday 10 Jun 2017
Investment and international cooperation minister Sahar Nasr and transportation minister Hisham Refaat (R) during a meeting with representatives from Germany's Siemens and US General Electric (Photo Courtesy of MOIC website)
Cairo and Berlin are set to sign new finance agreements worth 207 million euros, Egypt's investment and international cooperation minister Sahar Nasr announced on Saturday.
In press statements reported by Al-Ahram Arabic news website, Nasr said that the inking of the agreements will take place soon during a joint investment forum in Berlin, which aims to bolster economic cooperation between the two countries.
The agreements will include projects related to renewable energy, agriculture, and entrepreneurship, with grants to represent 30 percent of the finance agreements.
The forum will be attended by a number of Egyptian and German investors.
The statements by the Egyptian minister come one day after she met with German conglomerate Siemens to discuss investments to develop Egypt's railway systems.
German investments in Egypt are estimated at €1.5 billion and provide around 22,000 jobs, according to statements by the German envoy in Egypt last February.
In February, Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel inaugurated the first stage of a Siemens megaproject to build three new power plants in Egypt.
The first phase of the project to bolster the country’s power capacity was completed in January, with 4.8 gigawatts of power connected to the national grid, according to the Siemens website.
In 2015, Siemens signed an €8 billion ($9 billion) deal with the Egyptian government to build three combined-cycle power plants and 12 wind power installations at a capacity of 16.4 gigawatts.
The project aims to boost Egypt’s power generation capacity by around 50 percent by May 2018.
El-Sisi
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line83
|
__label__wiki
| 0.767583
| 0.767583
|
UK House of Commons condemns killing of Palestinian medics in Gaza by IOF
Abu Kishek’s visit to Germany opens the door for further cooperation with German partners”.
PMH: Gaza facing unprecedented shortage of medical supplies
EU promotes positive Palestinian Identity, brings Palestinians closer to their culture
26/02/2019 Culture 564 Views
PCBS & Office of the Quartet to launch the Census Indicators website
ActionAid Palestine celebrates World Youth Skills Day by supporting youth
The European Union supports Palestinian and European civil society organisations working toward social cohesion and a unified Palestinian identity through culture and arts. The result brings a sense of inclusion in the world and its culture.
The Jerusalem-based Palestinian Vision (Palvision) Organisation and the Gaza-based Youth Without Borders Forum have identified cultural events and gatherings as a mean to fostering a positive and unified Palestinian identity. Together with a partner organisation from Slovenia, they designed the Habkeh project, a joint initiative between EU and Palestinian artists which aims at bringing culture and art to the streets of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
1. Maram Rajabi, the project manager, declares: “We targeted marginalised areas such as refugee camps and conservative towns rather than areas regularly exposed to cultural events and art performances.” Yasmin Assad, communications officer with Palvision, explains that by targeting marginalised communities, the project contributes to enforcing the Palestinian identity in those areas.
2. Assad adds that the joint activities with European artists helped expose those communities to the European culture and gave them a sense of inclusion in the world and its culture. “Those people cannot reach international performances so we brought such cultures and performances to them.”
The Habkeh project is comprised of an integrated set of activities including the Al-Sateh (Rooftop) festival; the street parade; the street museum; and the selfie studio. It is implemented in Hebron, Nablus, Dheishe Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, East Jerusalem and Gaza City with a total European Union grant of EUR 176,734, covering 80% of the project’s cost.
3. The Rooftop festival was a three-day celebration on the rooftop of a house. It resembled old-day celebrations in Palestine. “We wanted to show that holding festivals celebrating our culture and strengthening our identity does not require a lot of money,” affirms Assad. The Rooftop festival grouped Palestinian and European artists in joint performances reflecting total cohesion between the Palestinian and European music and voices.
4. In street parades, Palestinian and European performing artists joined each other in activities such as dabkeh, break dancing and artistic cycling. “We brought artists like Zeid Hilal band from Palestine, Sam, a saxophone player from England, Lina, a break dancer from France, a cycling group called BCX, which performed artistic cycling activities on the street, and Zaitouna Band for Dabkeh and Dance from Palestine,” Assad says.
5. Street parade activities were fun and drew wide audiences. “People enjoyed the parades and more people joined along the way until we reached the end point,” asserts project coordinator Amer Daraghmeh.
It was heart-warming to see happiness of the faces of the children of Gaza.” claims Assad.
6. Street museums were displays of Palestinian and European paintings launched at the end of street parades. They were an effort to display art on the street, to all people. “Our goal was not to reach people interested in art, but to get the museum out of the closed rooms to the streets. We wanted people to be exposed to art, even if not by choice,” says communication officer Assad. Eight artists—four Palestinians and four Europeans—participated in the museum. They displayed 24 paintings in four Palestinian cities—Nablus, Gaza, Hebron and Jerusalem. The museums lasted for one month in each city. The same paintings and same artists displayed their work. The European artists came from Slovenia, Italy, Holland and France.
7. Mahmoud Abu Daghash, 26, is a Palestinian artist from Tulkarem city north of the West Bank. He is a gifted painter who started painting at the age of six. He did not study art, but developed his gift by himself through practice and video tutorials. “I am driven by my love for painting. I paint every day,” tells the shy wheelchair bound artist as he introduces himself. Despite his gift, Mahmoud cannot make a living as an artist. “The life of a Palestinian artist is difficult. He cannot depend on art for living. All I can do is give art classes which do not bring enough money to live by,” he estimates.
8. Mahmoud participated in the Nablus parade and exhibition. While he could not go to Hebron, Gaza or Jerusalem, his paintings were exhibited there. He was especially thrilled when his paintings made it to his beloved city. “I love Jerusalem but I cannot go there because of the Israeli restrictions. I am so happy a part of me, my paintings, made it there,” he adds.
9. Participating in the street museums organised under the Habkeh project changed Mahmoud ’s perception about his own people. “I found that Palestinians like art and drawing, and have an artistic taste.” Only a few dozens of people attended previous exhibitions he had participated in. This observation and the fact that he struggled to sell his art gave him an impression that ordinary people did not care about art. “I don’t think so any more. I think Palestinians have an artistic taste, but a proper channel is needed to get art across to them.
10. Habkeh project contributed to this.” On the other hand, Habkeh contributed to more people knowing Mahmoud. “It was one of the most successful exhibitions I had taken part in, and had an influence on getting more people to know me.” Mahmoud dreams of participating in international exhibitions so as to demonstrate his art and convey his message beyond Palestine. His message is that Palestinians are like every other people on Earth. “We are human beings who have their own culture and art and who appreciate other people’s cultures and arts.”
11. Another artist participating in the street museum activity was Yazan Ghareeb, 32, from Dheishe Refugee Camp. Yazan started drawing when he was 8, and studied cinematography in Damascus, Syria. Yazan works with children with special needs, autism, and cancer patients using psychodrama and art therapy. “Drawing a smile on a child’s face means the world to me,” Yazan says of the children he works with. Yazan uses various drawing techniques, the latest of which revolves around using coffee as paint. He wants people to taste coffee with their eyes as well as with their tongues. He also wanted to drive the point that a person can create something meaningful using inexpensive materials such as coffee.
12. Yazan liked the idea of moving beyond the traditional framework of displaying artwork indoors to displaying it outdoors for everyone to see. “This way, artwork reaches the young and the old…the poor and the rich. It reaches the real world, whether people who are interested in art and know about it or not. It was a very nice experience,” he declares.
Yazan was appreciative of the interaction with other artists from other Palestinian cities, as well as with artists from Europe.
13. Additionally, Palestinians who attended the activity were intrigued by his paintings, their style and the material he used. “They are accustomed to coffee as a drink, and here it became an artistic painting. We drink coffee in all our social occasions, and now it is used to portray Palestinian cities, and other…”
Likewise, the Palestinian artist appreciated the paintings of the European artists who participated in the project. It was nice for him to see their work, to learn new ideas and to tap onto the experiences, styles and materials they utilised. Like Mahmoud , Yazan aspires to improve his art and to reach the whole world.
14. The fourth activity was producing a book called “Mind Your Gap: The Seeds of Palestine Future.” It was done by Slovenian journalists Barbara Vodopivec and Bojan Brecelj, who went to several Palestinian cities and asked participating artists about their dreams for the future. They took a portrait of each person they interviewed and ended up collecting 55 portraits with echoes about their dreams for the future. The answers were interesting and revealing of Palestinian aspirations. The book was launched during Christmas at Manger Square in Bethlehem. The thoughts expressed in the book created a debate within the Palestinian community on issues of immigration versus staying at home, and other issues.
15. The project manager, Maram Rajabi, noted that Palestinian officials were impressed with the Habkeh project and wanted it repeated annually. She recalled that at the end of the parade and opening of the museum in Nablus, the head of the Youth Affairs Department in the city affirmed that Palvision, in cooperation with the EU, had done a marvellous job and the city and civil society should adopt such activity and repeat it on an annual basis. “This was a testimony of the success of the project,” she boasted.
16. On the project’s contribution to increased mutual understanding between the Palestinian and European cultures, Rajabi discloses, “I think it went both ways. European artists were integrated with the Palestinian artists. Sam, for example, played his saxophone with Zeid Hilal band. It happened spontaneously. They were walking next to each other and ended up playing together. We believe art is a universal language that brings people together and this slogan was embodied on the ground.”
17. “I believe we have contributed to shedding light on Palestinian culture and exposed more Palestinians to their culture by reaching undeserved communities that never, or rarely, had such activities, and that were not fully opened to their own culture, let alone the European culture. Moreover, we opened a venue to many local artists and contributed to their popularity.”
The Habkeh project is implemented under the East Jerusalem Programme, which seeks to maintain the viability of the two-state solution with Jerusalem as the future capital of two states.
This article was sent to PNN by Wattan
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line84
|
__label__wiki
| 0.584444
| 0.584444
|
Thomas Family
The children of William “Sagebrush Bill” and Lusetta (Cleveland) “Bessie” Thomas were working cowboys and cowgirls who bridged the gap between the “Sunday Rodeos” of the early twentieth century Kittitas Valley and the world of the modern professional rodeo cowboy. The “Thomas Boys” and their descendants loom large in the history of the Ellensburg Rodeo.
William Thomas was born in 1860 in North Carolina and raised and educated (at Roan College) in Tennessee. He followed the carpenter’s trade through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio to Washington State, where he went to work for the Northern Pacific Railroad. He arrived in the Kittitas Valley in 1886 and, by 1893, had purchased the Naneum district ranch which he would turn into a substantial holding (3100 acres and 500 head) called Sunnybrook Farm. In 1895 “Sagebrush Bill” Thomas married Lesetta “Bessie” Cleveland. They produced eight children: Lillian, Wilburn (Bud), Emma (Babe), Harry (Hap), James (Jim), Veta, William (Howard), and Margie Mae.
The “Thomas Boys”—Bud, Hap, Jim, and Howard—grew up in the saddle, busting broncs and running steers in northeast Kittitas County. Family member Sandy Thomas writes, “the boys got busy learning to ride the ‘rough’ off their horse herd; often they rode with only a ‘mane and tail hold,’ a precarious riding experience.” When it came time to build the Ellensburg Rodeo grounds, the Thomas Boys stepped forward. Howard Thomas remembered:
I was riding for Cooke’s [Ranch]… ‘Can you spare me a few days to work on the Rodeo?,’ [I asked George Cooke. He said] ‘I can give you a week.’ So I brought four horses, plows, and a spring tooth harrow, and a scraper. I drove them in town…When it was light enough to see I was going to the grounds and when it was too dark to see I was coming home.
Meanwhile, Hap helped cull the rodeo’s roughstock, rounding up “every Columbia River Cayuse we could find” and “trying them out for the best buckers. The horses that “bucked us off we kept for bucking horses” in the ’23 rodeo. Howard remembered that first 1923 Ellensburg Rodeo “was a good one.” The Thomas Boys would see many more rodeos in the years to come.
Hap, Jim, and Howard Thomas all followed the rodeo road intermittently over the next two decades. Hap’s daughter, Judi Thomas Oehlerich, notes that Hap rode broncs throughout the first decade of the Ellensburg Rodeo. He competed until the early 1930s, when a broken leg and a metal pin sent him to back to a career in ranching and irrigation work. Jim Thomas hit the road as a bronc rider, traveling across the United States and Canada. Later, he gave up rodeo and married Edith Ferguson; they ranched while Jim became a noted local horseshoer. Every fall in the 50s and 60s Jim worked the ketch pen gate at the Ellensburg Rodeo. Like his brother Jim, Howard Thomas traveled around the United States and Canada as a rodeo cowboy, returning home in the late 1920s to marry Edith Christiansen and pursue a career in ranching and, later, the real estate business. Howard rode in the Ellensburg night show, performing a square dancing act on horseback with other local riders. He later rode with the Ellensburg Rodeo Posse and served on the Ellensburg Rodeo Board.
Today, Thomas children and grandchildren carry on the rodeo traditions of their forbearers. John Ludtka aptly entitled his 75-year history of the Ellensburg Rodeo, ‘The Tradition Lives’ and the Thomas family is proof of the role of rodeo in the history and traditions of the Kittitas Valley.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line87
|
__label__wiki
| 0.869013
| 0.869013
|
Archives for;
Yemenia Land of Sheba
Volcano erupted in Eritrea as expected breaking the Ethiopian Ocean, the mega dams are menaced
The volcano of the Horn of Africa are set in motion by exploding in Eritrea for the making of the most expected Ethiopian ocean. It set in action as we have foretold in this site in previous articles. Many geophysicist and seismologist thought it will take millions of years to split the horn of Africa. But we have explained in serious of articles that it is in the end of the millions of years phase, and even in our time we will see the opening of the new ocean.
It is very simple to give a reality description of events but the true prediction we have been making will save thousands of live if the government of the region start evacuating the population and stop damming the region.
In the evening of June 12 2011, a series of earthquakes struck the Afambo, Eritrea area. The earthquakes were followed by 2 strong 5.7 earthquakes. This pattern will continue till the final breaking of the Horn from the rest of the continent of Africa.
UPDATE 21:36 UTC : Some more information on the volcanic complex :
Mallahle is the central of three NE-SW-trending stratovolcanoes in the Danakil horst SW of Dubbi volcano, and lies SSW of Nabro volcano.
These two volcanoes, along with Bara Ale and Sork’Ale, form the Bidu volcanic complex. The complex Mallahle stratovolcano is truncated by a steep-walled 6-km-wide caldera. Mallahle is formed of rhyolitic lava flows and pyroclastics. Basaltic lava flows blanket the slopes of the
volcano. Recent obsidian flows are found on the NW flank of Mallahle and older obsidian flows were erupted on the northern caldera floor.
Flank spatter and scoria cones are most numerous on the western side of the volcano. Extensive ignimbrite deposits associated with the collapse of Mallahle and Nabro volcanoes blanket the countryside.
UPDATE 21:28 UTC : These magnitudes can lead to serious damage if the epicenter is below or very near to Afambo (which is very nearby based on the seismological data) . We do not think that there will be injured people as the series started with moderate earthquakes and as people will stay on the streets after so many earthquakes. The current situation tends to become very dangerous.
UPDATE 21:23 UTC : A Mw5.7 has been also recorded at depth 9km in around the same area. No record of damage has yet been recorded.
UPDATE 21:03 UTC : Lucas Tavares reports in our Facebook page : I was studying about this volcanoes past hours. Maybe the shakes surrounds the Mallahle or Nabro Caldera, there is’nt any known eruptions of these volcanoes! Shakes are becoming stronger!
UPDATE 20:58 UTC : We have still no trace (as expected) of what is really going on. This last 5.4 earthquake can be damaging at this shallow depth when the epicenter is located below a village or town. As we are unsure of the exact epicenter (the error margin may be 10 to 30 km different than reported by the USGS).
UPDATE 20:56 UTC : The earthquakes are continuing with the last one as the strongest so far with a magnitude of 5.4 at a depth of 10 km.
UPDATE 20:33 UTC : We are more and more convinced that one of the nearby volcanoes went into an active status as the distance to the ridge fault is to big to create this kind of earthquakes. Additionally almost all the earthquakes are occurring near the volcano complex on the picture (courtesy Google Earth)
UPDATE 19:37 UTC : This unusual series of moderate earthquakes have also occurred a couple of months ago in the Gulf of Aden. The earthquakes are typical for separating irregular tectonic plates. The series in the Gulf of Adenhad their epicenter in the immediate area of the ridge fault.
Due to the close-by volcanoes, an eruption pattern of the Dubbi volcano is still possible. The pre-eruption pattern of both the Icelandic and Chilean volcanoes from the last few weeks is also present here. Compared to Iceland and Chile, Eritrea has other concerns than looking to beautiful eruptions. We will follow up these events and will come back to you as soon as we can get more data ?
UPDATE 16:11 UTC : Other agencies are reporting totally different and less dangerous numbers : GFZ: 4.9 @ 43 km and EMSC 4.7 @ 200 km
Moderate shallow earthquake with an epicenter almost below Afambo.
Approx. 15 km from the Dubbi volcano. The peak of the Dubbi volcano is 1625 m. There have been four known eruptions. In 1400 lava was determined to have reached the Red Sea while in 1861 ash was thrown over 250 km from the volcano. Two further events were suspected between 1861 and the 20th century.
During the late afternoon and evening of June 12 2011 a series of moderate earthquake struck at first near Afambo in Eritrea and later 100 km more to the south in Ethiopia. At the moment of writing, we do not know whether these earthquake have a tectonic or a volcanic origin.
Other moderate earthquakes which occurred after the first earthquake which is described in detail
M 4.5 2011/06/12 21:37 Depth 15.0 km ERITREA – ETHIOPIA REGION
M 5.7 2011/06/12 21:03 Depth 9.9 km ERITREA – ETHIOPIA REGION
M 4.5 2011/06/12 18:01 Depth 10.1 km ETHIOPIA
M 4.7 2011/06/12 17:47:21 13.538 41.588 Depth 10.0 km ERITREA – ETHIOPIA REGION
M 4.8 2011/06/12 17:18:10 13.381 41.764 Depth 9.9 km ERITREA – ETHIOPIA REGION
Most important Earthquake Data:
Magnitude : 5.1
UTC Time : Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 15:37:05 UTC
Local time at epicenter : Sunday, June 12, 2011 at 06:37:05 PM at epicenter
Depth (Hypocenter) : 10 km
Geo-location(s) :
Almost below Afambo, Eritrea
128 km (79 miles) WNW of Assab, Eritrea
http://earthquake-report.com/2011/06/12/unusual-series-of-moderate-…
Name Elevation Location Last eruption
meters feet Coordinates
Alid 910 2966 14.88°N 39.92°E Holocene
Asseb 910 2986 12.85°N 42.43°E Holocene
Dubbi 987 5331 13.58°N 41.808°E 1861
Gufa 600 1969 12.55°N 42.53°E Holocene
Jalua 713 2339 15.042°N 39.62°E unknown
Mousa Ali 2028 6654 12.47°N 42.40°E Holocene
Nabro 2218 7277 13.37°N 41.70°E June 13, 2
Satellite images showed a large eruption occurring shortly after 2200 UTC June 12, close to 1 AM East Africa Time, in the Southern Red Sea Region. The eruption created a large ash cloud near the Eritrea-Ethiopia border region, eventually extending over 1,000 km (620 mi) into neighboring Sudan.[6]
Forecasters predicted that the ash plume may reach Israel.[7]
The erupting volcano is located within the Afar Triangle, in the larger Danakil Depression that holds many other active volcanoes. However, neither volcano thought potentially responsible for the eruption has seen activity in the past century, with Dubbi last erupting in 1861 and Nabro remaining quiet for thousands of years. No eruption of Nabro occurred in recorded history.
A series of earthquakes[8], including two at magnitude 5.7[9][10] struck the region in the hours preceeding the eruption. The tremors may be volcanic in origin.[11]
^ News, BNO (June 13, 2011). “VAAC: Eruption underway at Dubbi volcano in Eritrea”. Channel 6 news. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ News, BNO (June 13, 2011). “UPDATE 1 — Volcanic eruption in Eritrea sends plume into the air, …. WireUpdate. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ VAAC, Toulouse. “Toulouse VAAC – Volcanic Ash Advisories”. Meteo France. Toulouse Volcano Ash Advisory Centre. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ Vervaeck, Armand (June 13, 2011). “Eritrea volcano eruption : Ash cloud advisory extending further into Africa”. Earthquake – Report. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ Gubin, Anastasia (June 13, 2011). “Africa: Volcán Nabro erupciona lanzando cenizas hasta Sudán” (in Spanish). The Epoch Times. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ Duran, Jim; Warren Miller (June 13, 2011). “Dubbi volcanic ash cloud expands westward through Northern Africa”. The Weather Space. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ Masa, Israel. “ענן וולקני מהר געש באריתריאה מתקדם לעבר ישראל” (in Hebrew). Masa.co.il. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ A, Solomon (June 13, 2011). “Series of moderate earthquakes hit Eritrea – Ethiopia border region”. Ethiopian Journal. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ Earthquake, USGS. “Magnitude 5.7 – ERITREA – ETHIOPIA REGION”. United States Geological Survey. Earthquake Hazards Program. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
^ Stuff, NZ (June 13, 2011). “Quake swarm hits Ethiopia-Eritrea”. Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
posted on June 14, 2011 by Prof. Muse Tegegne
Gaddafi Grounded, UN voted for “Non Flay Zone” a new precedent against all dictators…
The New UN Security Council Resolution Set a New precedence to defend the civil society from the any reigning dictators, giving a new role for the UN as a protector of the people, if the same measure is applicable to all member states without double standard. The coming revolt against any dictators will use this model to defend themselves against the massacre by their own non elected leaders reigning with force like in Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, Burma etc… The Resolution authorizes UN members to take “all necessary measures” to protect civilians and civilian centers; Gaddafi tells rebels that armed forces plan on taking over Benghazi; regime vows retaliation for intervention. “Today the Security Council has responded to the Libyan people’s cry for help,” US Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said. “This Council’s purpose is clear: to protect innocent civilians.” The resolution demands the “immediate establishment of a cease-fire and a complete end to violence and all attacks, and abuses, of civilians.” The resolution stipulates that member states, upon notification to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, can “take all necessary measures…to protect civilians and civilian populated areas, including Benghazi, while excluding a foreign occupation force of any form on any part of Libyan territory.”
The Security Council’s authorization of the use of force also includes the enforcement of a no-fly zone to protect civilians, as well as an enforcement of the arms embargo, banning all international flights by Libyan owned or operated aircraft. The resolution also freezes the assets of certain individuals and five entities including critical state-owned Libyan companies. A newly established Libyan Sanctions Committee is empowered by the resolution to impose sanctions on those who violate the arms embargo, including by providing Gaddafi with mercenaries. “The future of Libya should be decided by the people of Libya,” Rice said in her remarks to the Security Council. “The United States stands with the Libyan people in support of their universal rights.” The resolution was backed strongly by France, the United Kingdom and Lebanon. Ten countries voted in favor of the resolution. Russia, China, Germany, India and Brazil abstained. “Our resolution is aimed to protect Libyan civilians,” Lebanon’s ambassador to the UN Nawaf Salam said. “It will not result in the occupation of even an inch of Libyan territory.” Such resolution send cold breeze to the reigning dictators around the world as a new model to follow to liberate the subjugated nations around the world …?
Security Council Approves ‘No-Fly Zone’ over Libya, Authorizing ‘All Necessary Measures’ to Protect Civilians,
by Vote of 10 in Favour with 5 Abstentions (17 March 2011)
posted on March 18, 2011 by Prof. Muse Tegegne
Yemen the End of the Road Blood and Bullet
The Yemen 32 years of dictator Security forces fired bullets and tear a nerve gas at protesters yesterday, wounding at least 100 people killing unknown number of protesters camping out near Sana University. The day’s violence was the latest evidence that month long protests demanding the resignation of Yemen’s longtime dictators were spiraling out of control.
Embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh has resorted to increasingly violent tactics to try to put down the burgeoning uprising against his dictatorial rule, deploying dozens of armed supporters on the streets in an attempt to intimidate protesters.
Wielding clubs and knifes, police and regime supporters — described by protesters as government-sponsored thugs — attacked activists. Yemen would go soon worst than Libya lading to the split of the country into north and South once more. Among the wounded yesterday, more than 20 suffered gas inhalation, and one was in critical condition after being struck with a bullet.
In the main square and in surrounding streets, people being beaten up and threatened, as well as disappearing. The violence came a day after security forces killed seven demonstrators in protests around the country.
Young activists camped out in the square near the university continued to expand the area of their sit-in and threatened to march on the presidential palace about 3 miles away. Rock-throwing battles between protesters and security troops broke out on the edges of the encampment.
Protesters said the authorities were trying to draw them into a cycle of violence to further justify a crackdown.
Pitched street battle in Yemeni capita
Yemen Arabian Flex the 3rd front:- “Al-Qaeda is back to its berceau ” while crossing Atlantic !!!
The package of the PETN explosive powder is seen in government photos obtained exclusively by ABC News, released to Reuters, December 28, 2009. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in Yemen, said it provided Nigerian suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, with an explosive device to blow upNorthwest Airlines flight 253, a Delta-owned Airbus330, as it approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam on Friday with almost 300 people on board
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Al-Qaeda fighters are said to have found sanctuary with tribesmen in the east of Yemen [File: EPA]
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the wing of al-Qaeda operating in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, is led by a Yemeni who was once a close aide to Osama bin Laden. The group, which has been gaining strength in recent years, represents units from the two neighbouring countries which merged under the leadership of Nasir Wuhaishi in January. Wuhaishi, who’s appointment was confirmed by Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the deputy al-Qaeda chief, in a video posted online, numbers among Saudi Arabia’s most-wanted. In 2006, he was one of 23 al-Qaeda figures who escaped from a Yemeni prison. The group’s deputy leader is believed to be Said Ali al-Shihri, a former prisoner at the United States’ Guantanamo Bay detention facility, who was released from Saudi custody in 2007. Abu al-Hareth Muhammad al-Oufi, another former Guantanamo detainee, has also been identified as a field commander for the group. Experts say that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula comprises several hundred fighters. The group is said to have found sanctuaries among a number of Yemeni tribes, particularly in the eastern provinces. ‘Strategic significance’ Analysts say Yemen is of huge significance to al-Qaeda.
“Weapons, training, crossing points and the launch of operations have all come from Yemen” Abd Alelah-Haidar, analyst
“Weapons, training, crossing points and the launch of operations have all come from Yemen,” Abd Alelah-Haidar, a “terrorism” specialist who has met Wuhaishi, told Al Jazeera. “This country is seen as having strategic significance, not only by al-Qaeda, but also by others. “[However,] their operations are not confined to the Arabian peninsula but also include Iraq, Afghanistan, Nahr al-Bared [in Lebanon], and Palestine.” Ali al-Ahmed, director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs based in Washington, said Yemen had become the third-largest haven for al-Qaeda, and the group there is perhaps the most stable when compared to units operating in Iraq, North Africa and South Asia. “The one in Yemen now is really the most comfortable … its probably the best funded,” he told Al Jazeera. “Its not the best trained [and] it doesn’t have the best talent – that’s why it hasn’t been able to mount successful attacks. But it will come around in the coming years, and it will become a major threat.” Detroit claim
The al-Qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility for an attempted attack on a US aircraft in Detroit on Christmas day, saying it was in response to raids in Yemen that it says were carried out by US jets, and had caused civilian deaths.
The Yemen-based al-Qaeda affiliate is said to be one of the best funded [AFP]
The Yemeni government has said that it carried out military raids on December 17 and 24, saying more than 30 al-Qaeda members had been killed. A New York Times newspaper report said Washington gave hardware, intelligence and other support to Yemeni forces for the raids. “We tell the American people that since you support the leaders who kill our women and children … we have come to slaughter you [and] will strike you with no previous [warning], our vengeance is near,” a statement released by the group said. “We call on all Muslims … to throw out all unbelievers from the Arabian Peninsula by killing crusaders who work in embassies or elsewhere … [in] a total war on all crusaders in the Peninsula of [Prophet] Muhammad.” The group has also claimed responsibility for attacks on the US embassy in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital. US presence Joseph Lieberman, chairman of the US senate homeland security committee, acknowledged on the “Fox News Sunday” television programme that the US has a “growing presence” in Yemen which included special operations, Green Beret special forces and intelligence. Before the merger of the two Saudi Arabian and Yemen based groups, previous al-Qaeda incarnations had carried out a number of attacks across the region. An emailed statement signed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for the 2004 attack on residential and office buildings in Khobar, Saudi Arabia whick left at least 22 people dead. A suicide attack on an Aramco oil complex in Eastern Province in 2006 was also claimed by al-Qaeda. In Yemen, seven Spanish tourists and their Yemeni guides were killed in a car bombing at an archaeological site in 2007. Also an attack on the USS Cole warship in the harbour in Aden in 2000, which killed 17 US soldier, was carried out by al-Qaeda ———————————
Airline Terror Mission Blessed by Radical Imam
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 The Nigerian accused of trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner had his suicide mission personally blessed in Yemen by Anwar al-Awlaki, the Muslim imam suspected of radicalizing the Fort Hood shooting suspect, a U.S. intelligence source has told The Washington Times. The intelligence official, who is familiar with the FBI’s interrogation of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, said the bombing suspect has boasted of his jihad training to the FBI and has said it included final exhortations by al-Awlaki. “It was Awlaki who indoctrinated him,” the official said. “He was told, ‘You are going to be the tip of the spear of the Muslim nation.'” Al-Awlaki, an American-born imam who once led a large Northern Virginia mosque but now lives in Yemen, has gained notoriety in recent months because of his influence on Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, a U.S.-born Muslim accused of killing 13 people at the Texas military base. Rep. Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, the top Republican on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said he has learned of personal ties between Abdulmutallab and al-Awlaki, though he said he could neither confirm nor deny that the two men had been in the same Yemeni prayer room. “From what I’ve heard, the relationship would have been closer than what Awlaki had with Hasan,” Hoekstra told The Times. “He trusted [Abdulmutallab] more.” Muhammad ud-Deen via AP ———————– US Opens Third Front Of War: Yemen Joe Weisenthal | Dec. 27, 2009, 11:14 PM | 1,450 | 4 The return of terrorism to the US — it really doesn’t matter that the attempt to blow up a DC-bound flight actually failed — is bringing us very close to the days of the so-called “war on terror”. Though the term has been banished by the Obama White House (and thus by extension the mainstream media outside of Fox News), tonight the New York Times is actually talking about the US widening the terror war, this time to Yemen, where Al-Qaeda remains strong. In the midst of two unfinished major wars, the United States has quietly opened a third, largely covert front against Al Qaeda in Yemen. A year ago, the Central Intelligence Agency sent many field operatives with counterterrorism experience to the country, according a former top agency official. At the same time, some of the most secretive Special Operations commandos have begun training Yemeni security forces in counterterrorism tactics, senior military officers said. Immediately after 9/11, everyone knew that the center of the terror world was Afghanistan, even if it took some time to put the pieces of the world together. While Afghanistan is a total mess, we’re pretty sure that there are few forces in the country organized to pull off an attack on US soil. But this time, after the Detroit attack, Yemen was the first country that was identified. The enemy is scattered and disorgnized in one place, and yet organized and capable of attacking (kind of) in another.
‘The US military is exhausted’
FOCUS: OPINION
By Sarah Lazare
The US army is overstretched and exhausted, says peace campaigner Sarah Lazare [AFP]
The call for over 30,000 more troops to be sent to Afghanistan is a travesty for the people of that country who have already suffered eight brutal years of occupation. It is also a harsh blow to the US soldiers facing imminent deployment. As Barack Obama, the US president, gears up for a further escalation that will bring the total number of troops in Afghanistan to over 100,000, he faces a military force that has been exhausted and overextended by fighting two wars. Many from within the ranks are openly declaring that they have had enough, allying with anti-war veterans and activists in calling for an end to the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with some active duty soldiers publicly refusing to deploy. This growing movement of military refusers is a voice of sanity in a country slipping deeper into unending war.
“They shifted me from one war to the next”
Eddie Falcon, Iraq and Afghanistan veteran
The architects of this war would be well-advised to listen to the concerns of the soldiers and veterans tasked with carrying out their war policies on the ground. Many of those being deployed have already faced multiple deployments to combat zones: the 101st Airborne Division, which will be deployed to Afghanistan in early 2010, faces its fifth combat tour since 2002. “They are just going to start moving the soldiers who already served in Iraq to Afghanistan, just like they shifted me from one war to the next,” said Eddie Falcon, a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Soldiers are going to start coming back with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), missing limbs, problems with alcohol, and depression.” Many of these troops are still suffering the mental and physical fallout from previous deployments. Rates of PTSD and traumatic brain injury among troops deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan have been disproportionately high, with a third of returning troops reporting mental problems and 18.5 per cent of all returning service members battling either PTSD or depression, according to a study by the Rand Corporation. Marine suicides doubled between 2006 and 2007, and army suicides are at the highest rate since records were kept in 1980. Resistance in the ranks US army soldiers are refusing to serve at the highest rate since 1980, with an 80 per cent increase in desertions since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, according to the Associated Press. These troops refuse deployment for a variety of reasons: some because they ethically oppose the wars, some because they have had a negative experience with the military, and some because they cannot psychologically survive another deployment, having fallen victim to what has been termed “Broken Joe” syndrome. Over 150 GIs have publicly refused service and spoken out against the wars, all risking prison and some serving long sentences, and an estimated 250 US war resisters are currently taking refuge in Canada. This resistance includes two Fort Hood, Texas, soldiers, Victor Agosto and Travis Bishop, who publicly resisted deployment to Afghanistan this year, facing prison sentences as a result, with Bishop still currently detained.
The war in Afghanistan is losing support in the US [AFP]
“There is no way I will deploy to Afghanistan,” wrote Agosto, upon refusing his service last May. “The occupation is immoral and unjust.” Within the US military, GI resisters and anti-war veterans have organised through broad networks of veteran and civilian alliances, as well as through IVAW, comprised of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. This organisation, which is over 1,700 strong, with members across the world, including active-duty members on military bases, is opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and openly supports GI resistance. “Iraq Veterans Against the War calls on Obama to end the war in Afghanistan (and Iraq) by withdrawing troops immediately and unconditionally,” wrote Jose Vasquez, the executive director of IVAW, in a December 2 open letter. “It’s not time for our brothers and sisters in arms to go to Afghanistan. It’s time for them to come home.” No clear progress GI coffee houses have sprung up at several military bases around the country. In the tradition of the GI coffee houses of the Vietnam war era, these cafes provide a space where active duty troops can speak freely and access resources about military refusal, PTSD, and veteran and GI movements against the war. “Here at Fort Lewis, we’ve lost 20 soldiers from the most recent round of deployments,” said Seth Menzel, an Iraq combat veteran and founding organiser of Coffee Strong, a GI coffee house at the sprawling Washington army base. “We’ve seen resistance to deployment, mainly based on the fact that soldiers have been deployed so many times they don’t have the patience to do it again.” As the occupation of Afghanistan passes its eighth year, with no clear progress, goals that remain elusive, and a high civilian death count, this war is coming to resemble the Iraq war that has been roundly condemned by world and US public opinion. The never-ending nature of this conflict belies the real project of establishing US dominance in the Middle East and control of the region’s resources, at the expense of the Afghan civilians and US soldiers being placed in harm’s way. The voices of refusal coming from within the US military send a powerful message that soldiers will not be fodder for an unjust and unnecessary war. By withdrawing their labour from a war that depends on their consent, these soldiers have the power to help bring this war to an end, as did their predecessors in the GI resistance movement against the Vietnam war. And the longer the war in Afghanistan drags on – the more lives that are lost and destroyed – the more resistance we will see coming from within the ranks. Sarah Lazare is an anti-militarist and GI resistance organiser with Dialogues Against Militarism and Courage to Resist. She is interested in connecting struggles for justice at home with global movements against war and empire. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.
———————- Yemen’s fight with rebels a regional concern Of course Iran denies it and warns us to mind our own business. Warns those in the region, do not pour oil on the fire ! Saudi combat jets hit rebel targets in Yemen ———————–
By James Joiner
————————— Yemen’s fight with rebels a regional concern Of course Iran denies it and warns us to mind our own business. Warns those in the region, do not pour oil on the fire ! Saudi combat jets hit rebel targets in Yemen Despite threats from Iran warning not to attack the Yemeni militants Iran is backing and supplying :Yemen, Saudi forces continue strikes on Shiite rebels Could this confrontation erupt in war between Iran and at the least US armed Saudi Arabia ? Iran is warningand threatening retribution but they are supplying the Yemeni Rebels who pushed into Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has fired well over a hundred missiles from their fighter jets as they pummel their hideouts. You can not blame them but I had no idea the dissention goes all the way back to the naming of the Gulf. Saudi’s know it as the Gulf of Arabia and I can remember that but Iran calls it the Persian Gulf as the rest of us seem to now. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia have been using Lebanon as their battlefront up to now able to avoid direct confrontation. Iran has pumped millions of dollars in supplies and arms much to the consternation of her suffering people while Saudi Arabia has been supporting the Palestinian Authority. While the world has been engrossed following events in Iran since the election was stolen to keep fascist Ahmadinejad and he fascist agenda in control Iran has been fueling a rebel war in Yemen and what a surprise it has extended into Saudi Arabia. The Hajj has even been threatened. The Hajj as you may know is known as the 5th Pillar of Islam and is associated with the life of Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years. Please read on and learn A propaganda war is also being waged. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have pulled the plug on Iran’s Arabic speaking TV. It makes me wonder why they did not do that during the height of the protests when Iran’s Government sanctioned channel was televising pure lies and propaganda ? I find it hard to believe that Iran is that vulnerable in that area ! So far there has been no direct confrontation. However I absolutely see what I have been warning about since Bush diverted from Afghanistan to attack Iraq and get back in the middle east to create a new middle east (dis)order ! I do not give a damn what anyone says. Bush Chaney and their Democratization program in an already historically unstable middle east set all of this and more in motion ! * The hell on earth Bush created for Iraqi’s will engulf the entire Middle East before it encompasses the entire world if we can not contain it. Under Bush we broke a long standing tradition of not adding fuel to the Middle East fire by supplying weapons. We are now, including advanced weaponry and missile defense systems. The Middle East breakdown Bush started armed and funded will continue under Obama. This up to now proxy war in the middle east is under way. Wait, watch, and listen, this is not good for the world and our future ! James Joiner Despite threats from Iran warning not to attack the Yemeni militants Iran is backing and supplying :Yemen, Saudi forces continue strikes on Shiite rebels Could this confrontation erupt in war between Iran and at the least US armed Saudi Arabia ? Iran is warningand threatening retribution but they are supplying the Yemeni Rebels who pushed into Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has fired well over a hundred missiles from their fighter jets as they pummel their hideouts. You can not blame them but I had no idea the dissention goes all the way back to the naming of the Gulf. Saudi’s know it as the Gulf of Arabia and I can remember that but Iran calls it the Persian Gulf as the rest of us seem to now. Both Iran and Saudi Arabia have been using Lebanon as their battlefront up to now able to avoid direct confrontation. Iran has pumped millions of dollars in supplies and arms much to the consternation of her suffering people while Saudi Arabia has been supporting the Palestinian Authority. While the world has been engrossed following events in Iran since the election was stolen to keep fascist Ahmadinejad and he fascist agenda in control Iran has been fueling a rebel war in Yemen and what a surprise it has extended into Saudi Arabia. The Hajj has even been threatened. The Hajj as you may know is known as the 5th Pillar of Islam and is associated with the life of Islamic prophet Muhammad from the 7th century, but the ritual of pilgrimage to Mecca is considered by Muslims to stretch back thousands of years. Please read on and learn A propaganda war is also being waged. Egypt and Saudi Arabia have pulled the plug on Iran’s Arabic speaking TV. It makes me wonder why they did not do that during the height of the protests when Iran’s Government sanctioned channel was televising pure lies and propaganda ? I find it hard to believe that Iran is that vulnerable in that area ! So far there has been no direct confrontation. However I absolutely see what I have been warning about since Bush diverted from Afghanistan to attack Iraq and get back in the middle east to create a new middle east (dis)order ! I do not give a damn what anyone says. Bush Chaney and their Democratization program in an already historically unstable middle east set all of this and more in motion ! * The hell on earth Bush created for Iraqi’s will engulf the entire Middle East before it encompasses the entire world if we can not contain it. Under Bush we broke a long standing tradition of not adding fuel to the Middle East fire by supplying weapons. We are now, including advanced weaponry and missile defense systems. The Middle East breakdown Bush started armed and funded will continue under Obama. This up to now proxy war in the middle east is under way. Wait, watch, and listen, this is not good for the world and our future ! James Joiner ————————————
Yemen rebel leader ‘may be dead’
The Yemeni military launched an offensive against the Houthi rebels in August [EPA/Yemeni army]
The leader of a rebel group fighting government forces in the north of Yemen may have died after being severely wounded in an air raid, a government website and local media have reported. The website of Yemen’s defence ministry said on Sunday that Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of the so-called Houthi fighters, may have already been buried. “There are increasing reports about the death of the terrorist Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, who was severely injured in an attack aimed at a gathering with a group of terrorist elements,” it said on Sunday. The Houthi declined to comment on the reports. A purported rebel spokesman had, however, described a defence ministry statement on December 20, which said that Abdul-Malik al-Houthi had been badly wounded, as “baseless”. Power vacuum Abdulghani al-Iryani, a political analyst based in Sanaa, said that if the reports of al-Houthis death were true they could extend the conflict. “It is a complication that comes at the worst possible time,” he told Al Jazeera. “The war in Saada [where Yemeni forces are battling Houthi fighters] could have been stopped by this time because Abdul-Malik al-Houthi had agreed to the five conditions set by the government for a ceasefire. “All he needed to do was make a public statement to that effect. If he is now dead, then there will be a power vacuum in the leadership of al-Houthis that will postpone that possibility.” The fighters, who launched a rebellion against the Yemeni government in 2004, belong to the minority Zaidi sect of Shia Islam and complain of social, economic and religious marginalisation. Government forces launched “Operation Scorched Earth” on August 11 in an attempt to crush the rebels in the mountainous northern region. —————————–
————————- ‘Fabricated lie’ The Yemeni government says the rebels are receiving support from Iran, although Tehran has denied any involvement in the fighting. Sanaa has also recently claimed that the Houthi are working with predominantly Sunni Muslim al-Qaeda fighters in Yemen, but the group has dismissed the allegations. “The allegation about our relationship with what is called the al-Qaeda group is a fabricated lie and defamation,” the group said in comments emailed to the Reuters news agency earlier this week. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said in comments posted on a website that it will take revenge against the US over air raids in Yemen that it claims killed about 50 people. “We will not let Muslim women and children’s blood be spilled without taking revenge,” a statement dated December 20 said. The group has said that the raids were carried out by five US warplanes, but the Yemeni government has said that it launched the attacks with aircraft and ground forces to foil planned suicide bombings. —————-
NEWS AMERICAS
Al-Qaeda group claims US plane plot
Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it provided Abdulmutallab with an explosive device [AFP]
A group calling itself Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has said it was behind the failed attempt by a Nigerian man to bomb a US aircraft on Christmas day. The group said in statements posted on the internet on Monday that the attempt had been carried out to avenge US operations in Yemen. “We tell the American people that since you support the leaders who kill our women and children … we have come to slaughter you [and] will strike you with no previous [warning],” the statement said. “Our vengeance is near.” The group had earlier said in comments posted on a website that it would take revenge against the US over air raids in Yemen that it claims killed about 50 people. Failed attack Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to to light an explosive device while on a flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. He was overpowered by passengers on the flight, which had nearly 300 people on board.
According to a charge sheet prepared by prosecutors, Abdulmutallab tried to bring down the aircraft using a device containing the explosive PETN, also known as pentaerythritol.————————————————
Al Jazeera talks to a former CIA agent about the growing threat facing air travel ————————————– The explosive material was allegedly sewn into his underwear. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula said it had provided Abdulmutallab with the device, but that a technical fault prevented it from detonating. Abdulmutallab, who suffered burns in the incident, was moved from a hospital to a federal prison west of Detroit on Monday. Janet Napolitano, Obama’s senior security official, said there was “no indication” Abdulmutallab was acting as part of a larger plot and warned against speculating that he had been trained by al-Qaeda. According to The New York Times, Abdulmutallab told FBI agents he was connected to an al-Qaeda affiliate, which operates largely in Yemen and Saudi Arabia, by a radical Yemeni cleric whom he contacted online. ‘Nothing suspicious’ The Yemeni government said on Monday that Abdulmutallab had lived in Yemen from August to December after obtaining a visa to study Arabic there, but that there was “nothing suspicious about his intentions” to visit the country. “Authorities are currently investigating who he was in contact with in Yemen and the results of the investigation will be delivered to those concerned with investigating the terror plot in the United States,” a statement from the Yemeni foreign ministry said. Ali al-Ahmed, the director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs in the US, said that the attack had similarities with other operations carried out by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a relatively new branch of al-Qaeda formed in 2008. “It has carried out several operations – about a year ago against the US embassy in Sanaa, a failed attempt on the Saudi assistant minister of the interior in September. “In this case, the age of the suicide bomber who tried to kill the Saudi assistant minister – 23 years old – [is] the same age as this young man, Abdulmutallab. And the same explosives [were used]. “In the first attack in Saudi Arabia, the attacker put the bomb inside his body to conceal it. This is very similar.” Security review Abdulmutallab, a former student in London, was added to a watch-list of about 550,000 names last month after his father told US embassy officials in Abuja that he was concerned by his son’s increasing radicalism.
Abdulmutallab is accused of trying to blow up a flight as it landed in Detroit [Reuters]
But he remained off a short-list of 18,000 names from which the no-fly list of 4,000 is selected and flew from Lagos to Amsterdam on Christmas Eve and on to Detroit the following day with a valid US visa. Barack Obama, the US president, has ordered a review of how travellers are placed on watch lists and the screening procedures of air passengers following the failed bid to blow up the airliner. Speaking while on vacation in Hawaii on Monday, Obama said: “We will not rest until we find all who were involved and hold them accountable.” Obama has also ordered a second review to examine how “an individual with the chemical explosive he had on him could get onto an airliner in Amsterdam and fly into this country,” Robert Gibbs, the White House press spokesman, said. Bob Baer, a former CIA agent who in 2006 warned that a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam could be the target of an attack, said the attempted bombing had shown that security checks are “not effective at all”. “It’s not a question of a gaping hole, it’s a question of the terrorist groups evolving their techniques very quickly,” he told Al Jazeera. “So they’re getting better and better and they’re much faster than our security measures.” Bruce Schneier, a writer on security issues and the author of “Beyond Fear”, said the epoisode illustrated that there were very few effective security measures on flights. He said on his blog: “For years I’ve been saying this: Only two things have made flying safer [since 9/11] – the reinforcement of cockpit doors, and the fact that passengers know now to resist hijackers. “This week, the second one worked over Detroit. Security succeeded.”
Profile: Yemen’s Houthi fighters
Yemen’s north, where the Houthi group is based, is inhabited by a number of tribes people [EPA]
Yemen, one of the world’s poorest countries and a crucial US ally in Washington’s fight against al-Qaeda, is in the midst of a series of conflicts that threaten its stability. As well as tackling al-Qaeda fighters and sealing with growing secessionist feeling from south Yemen, the government has for five-years waged a campaign against a group of Shia Muslim fighters in the country’s north. The conflict with the Houthi fighters, which has cost the lives of thousands of people, is a mix of local and tribal concerns stemming from historical roots. Although the current campaign is part of a fight that has been under way since 2004, its roots go back even further. Zaydi rulers toppled In 1962, a revolution in Yemen ended over 1,000 years of rule by Zaydi Hashemites, who claimed descendance from the Prophet Mohammed. Zaydism is a branch of Shia Islam, though its practices often appear closer to Sunni Islam than traditional Shia belief. Saada, in the north, was their main stonghold and since their fall from power the region was largely ignored economically and remains underdeveloped. During Yemen’s 1994 civil war, the Wahhabis, an Islamic group adhering to a strict version of Sunni Islam found in neighbouring Saudi Arabia, helped the government in its fight against the secessionist south. Zaydis complain the government has subsequently allowed the Wahabis too strong a voice in Yemen. Saudi Arabia, for its part, worries that strife instigated by the Shia sect so close to Yemen’s border with Saudi Arabia could stir up groups in Saudi itself. Although it has received little international coverage, the conflict essentially pits Yemen’s Sunni-majority government against Shia fighters, a conflict that has added significance for many Arab countries worried about the rising influence of Shia-ruled Iran. Yemeni officials have frequently accused Iran of funding the Houthi fighters. The last five years of fighting against the armed Houthi group were sparked in 2004 by the government’s attempt to arrest Hussein al-Houthi, a Zaydi religious leader and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty. Little authority The Yemeni government has little authority in the mountainous areas outside the major cities, but amid a sustained campaign, al-Houthi was killed in an attack on his hideout. The movement is now led by al-Houthi’s brothers, including Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. Fighting eased over the years and in 2007 a deal was signed between the government and the fighters, but never implemented. A year later, in 2008, Qatari mediators helped revive the deal and the two sides met in Doha to sign a document outlining procedures for the implementation of the earlier agreement. But on August 10, 2009, Ali Abdullah al-Saleh, the Yemeni president, said the fighters showed no intention of adhering to the peace process and accused them of destroying homes and farms and blocking food distribution. The campaign began again and Yemen’s Supreme Security Committee announced it would crush the fighters with an “iron fist”. ———————— 9 Saudi soldiers missing as Yemen fighting rages
Nine Saudi soldiers are missing in the kingdom’s borders with Yemen amid fighting between the country’s forces and Shia Houthi fighters. A Saudi defense ministry spokesman told the official SPA news agency on Thursday the Yemen-based fighters may have taken the soldiers prisoner, and that Houthis are ‘entirely responsible for their wellbeing.’ The source provided a list of Saudi soldiers reported missing: 1. Lt. Col. Sa’eed Bin Muhammad Bin Ma’toug Al-Amri 2. Corporal Ayidh Bin Ali Bin Sa’eed Al-Shehri 3. Sergeant Ahmad Bin Ali Bin Ali Madadi 4. Staff Sergeant Muhammad Bin Mohsin Bin Sultan Al-Amri 5. Sergeant Ahmad Bin Abdullah Bin Muhammad Al-Amri 6. Staff Sergeant Miflih Bin Jam’an Bin Miflih Al-Shahrani 7. Corporal Ali Bin Salman Bin Ali Al-Hiqwi 8. Sergeant Khalid Bin Saleh Bin Omar Al-Owdah 9. Private First Class Yahya Bin Abdullah Bin Amer Al-Khuza’iy The conflict in northern Yemen first began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters, but relative peace had returned to region until August 11, when the Yemeni army began a major offensive, dubbed Operation Scorched Earth, against the province of Sa’ada. The government claims that the fighters, who are named after their leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi, seek to restore the Shia Zaidi imamate system, which was overthrown in a 1962 coup. The Houthis, however, say they are defending their people against government marginalization policies which they believe have been adopted under pressure from Saudi-backed Wahhabi extremists, who consider Shias heretics. The Saudi Arabian government has aggravated the conflict even more by launching its own offensive against northern Yemen based on an allegation that Houthi fighters have killed two of its soldiers on the border. The fighters say Yemeni villages are being targeted with deadly phosphorous bombs, which cause massive injuries among the Shia civilian population. Saudi officials have not given any figures for soldiers or civilians killed in the fighting. Unofficial estimates, however, say at least nine Saudi soldiers and four civilians have been killed since Riyadh began targeting Houthi positions inside Yemen. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that since 2004 up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada to take refuge at overcrow —————————– Houthis seize full control of Saudi border post Tue, 29 Dec 2009 07:35:17 GMT Houthi fighters in northern Yemen say they have seized control of a Saudi military post along the border between the two countries where Saudi and Yemeni forces are waging a campaign to uproot them. According to a report released by Hezbollah’s al-Manar television network, Houthis have seized “full control of the Al-Jamrah Saudi military post” as well as weapons, communication material, military vehicles and surveillance equipment. The report added that the northern Yemen’s Shia fighters overran the Saudi post on Monday and forced soldiers to flee. The post is said to be located in close proximity to al-Khoba in Saudi Arabia’s southern province of Jizan. Meanwhile, Houthi fighters have managed to repulse Saudi forces trying to infiltrate into the rugged Sa’ada province in northern Yemen, after killing an unspecified number of Saudi soldiers. Houthis said they pushed back Saudi troops from Shada border region in northern Yemen on the border with oil-rich Saudi-Arabia, and also set four Saudi military vehicles ablaze. Houthi fighters also resisted a Yemeni military infiltration into Jebel Dhar al-Hamar region. The conflict in northern Yemen began in 2004 between Sana’a and Houthi fighters. The conflict intensified in August 2009 when the Yemeni army launched Operation Scorched Earth in an attempt to crush the fighters in the northern province of Sa’ada. The Houthis accuse the Yemeni government of violation of their civil rights, political, economic and religious marginalization as well as large-scale corruption. This is while in addition to the Yemeni government, Saudi Arabia also pounds the Houthis. The Houthis say that Saudi forces strike Yemeni villages and indiscriminately target civilians. According to the fighters, Saudis use toxic materials, including white phosphorus bombs, against civilians in northern Yemen. The US military is also said to be involved in bombing Yemen’s northern rugged regions of Amran, Hajjah and Sa’ada. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that since 2004, up to 175,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Sa’ada and take refuge at overcrowded camps set up by the United Nations. ————————————-
Yemen the first open battleground in the war for the new middle east order!
Yemen conflict worries the entire middle east __________________
___________ emen as you know is a strategic Middle East nation. where Osama Bin Laden’s father was born. I know that in 2000, al-Qaeda bombers attacked the USS Cole in the southern Yemini city of Aden killing 17 American sailors. Since, militants have attacked U.S. missionaries, foreign tourists and Yemeni security forces. Last year gunmen targeted the American embassy with a car bomb and rockets. The attack killed 16, including six assailants. There is a lot of activity there that has been attributed to Al Qaeda and their interests. I was surprised to learn that Yemen is Middle East nation, where Osama Bin Laden’s father was born. Knowing all that you know my focus has been on Iran’s interference in Yemen as they try to install Shiite dominance there and everywhere else in the middle East. Yemeni air strike kills 30, targets home of cleric linked to Ft. Hood attack Factbox: Who is Anwar al-Awlaki? As many of you know by now my prime concern in Yemen was the interference by Iran in trying to get Shiite dominance there. Bush freed Iran up to pursue her version of new middle East order by interfering wherever she could while Bush was doing the same thing with his Middle East Democratization program. The goal now absolutely is to be the country who decides which direction the new Middle East (dis)order will take. Bush started it by attacking Iraq to get into the middle east to destabilize it and start the new middle east order the idiot said God told him to do now it will be up to Iran and Saudi Arabia at least up front fight it out whether this goes the Iranian Shiite way or the Saudi Arabian Sunni way and do not forget Israel! In Yemen once again the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is the instigator. They are ferrying weapons through Eritrea to Yemen. They are now avoiding the Arabian Peninsula as Saudi Arabia has instituted a blockade along the coast of Yemen. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has also transported Lebanese Hezbollah fighters to fight with the rebels. As you know, Saudi Arabia is also there fighting the Iranian backed Houthi rebels. So far there has been no direct confrontation. However I absolutely see what I have been warning about since Bush diverted from Afghanistan to attack Iraq and get back in the middle east to create a new middle east (dis)order! This is going to bea total middle east war for a new midle east oirder like it or not, Sunni against Shiite. It is looking like Yemen is going to be the first country down! Please watch the video, the Middle East is right to be concerned. Yemen is going through severe domestic turmoil due to the violent activities of Al Qaeda, Houthi rebels in the north and the Southern Movement in the south. The remaining Jews are threatened with slaughter by the Shiite. How much longer can Yemen hold on? What is next? James Joiner ———————– Yemen’s Jews. The End!!! History will record that 2,500 years of Jewish life in Yemen is now over. As The Wall Street Journal reported October 31, the US State Department has completed a clandestine operation which brought 60 of the country’s remaining Jews to America. The newspaper quoted Yeshiva University’s Hayim Tawil, a Yemeni Jewry expert, as issuing the certificate of death: “This is the end of the Jewish Diaspora of Yemen. That’s it.” As Israelis and Jews we earnestly appreciate the efforts of the Obama administration on behalf of our Yemeni brethren. THE RESCUE illuminates an often overlooked aspect of the 60-year-plus Arab-Israel conflict. Whereas the Arab world has purposefully maintained the 700,000 or so Palestinian Arabs made homeless in the course of the 1948 war and their descendants as permanent refugees and political pawns, the State of Israel and world Jewry have worked hard to resettle a roughly equal number of Jewish refugees forced to flee Arab lands. The behavior of Arab leaders toward their Jewish subjects after the creation of Israelwas (with notable exceptions) characterized by scapegoating and marginalization culminating in mass exodus. In 1947, Arab rioters in Aden killed dozens of Jews to protest a two-state solution in Palestine. In 1949 and 1950 the bulk of Yemen’s Jews, some 49,000 souls, were airlifted here in “Operation Magic Carpet.” The broad Arab refusal to accept the legitimacy of Israel as a sovereign Jewish state is partly attributable to Arab attitudes toward their Jewish minorities. Coexistence was possible – so long as Jews knew their place. JEWISH life under Muslim rule was historically neither the utopia Arab propagandists claim nor the purgatory Jewish polemicists assert. As the doyen of Middle East studies Bernard Lewis wrote in The Jews of Islam, the actual state of affairs varied depending on the era, locale, political and economic conditions, the stability of the ruling Islamic regime, and on developments within the Jewish community. Jews were granted Dhimmi or tolerated status. They paid a special jizya tax to underscore their subordinate position in society. If they missed the point, Islamic tradition allowed for the local Muslim authority to deliver a ceremonial slap on the neck to the Jew upon payment of the levy. Jews were required to wear distinguishing clothes; they were expected to deport themselves deferentially in the presence of Muslims. And unlike everyone else, Jews were not permitted to carry weapons. On the other hand, Lewis wrote, Jews were not required to convert to Islam, and could enjoy a high degree of acculturation. (They were certainly better off than their coreligionists living under medieval Christendom.) At any rate, this social contract crumbled in part because the Zionist movement was a direct assault on the Dhimmi principle. The Yemen experience also reminds us that the Arab world’s antagonism to modern values has led it to extended periods of internal instability as well a visceral rejection of Israel for embodying the Western liberal idea. POLITICAL instability is always “bad for the Jews,” and Yemen has long been a volatile mess. The ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden is burdened by internal strife, poverty and a dysfunctional regime. The north and south (where the oil is) are at odds. The secular-oriented government of Ali Abdullah Saleh, a Shi’ite, is corrupt and undemocratic. He is battling an insurrection by Shi’ite religious extremists who were once his allies against fanatical Sunnis. Extremist Sunnis, supportive of al-Qaida, are also battling the regime and attacking Western targets. Yemen has a Sunni majority with a large Shi’ite minority. On top of all this, there are also tribal tensions; the president’s tribe dominates the security services. But the Yemeni masses were able to put some of these differences aside during Operation Cast Lead… and attack the Jews. With few friends, Yemen’s president sought to stay in Washington’s good graces by trying to protect the besieged remnants of Yemeni Jewry. AS THE saga of Yemen’s Jews now comes to a close, our thoughts are also drawn to Israel’s treatment of its Arab minority. Any one of 10 Arab Knesset members could persuasively argue, Jewish Israelis have nothing to be smug about. Yet if they were fair minded, they might grant that the Jewish state has done a comparatively decent job in bringing its minority citizens into the mainstream.
A family of Yemeni Jewish olim arrives at Ben Gurion International Airport. Photo: AP [file]
posted on December 29, 2009 by Prof. Muse Tegegne
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line88
|
__label__cc
| 0.5627
| 0.4373
|
EURIreland – Higher Education Authority, National Agency for Erasmus+ Higher Education in Ireland
European Higher Education Area (Bologna Process)
The overarching aim of the Bologna Process is to create a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) based on international co-operation and academic exchange that is attractive to European students and staff as well as to students and staff from other parts of the world.
The envisaged European Higher Education Area will
facilitate mobility of students, graduates and higher education staff;
prepare students for their future careers and for life as active citizens in democratic societies, and support their personal development;
offer broad access to high-quality higher education, based on democratic principles and academic freedom.
The Bologna Process is named after the Bologna Declaration, which was signed in the Italian city of Bologna on 19 June 1999 by ministers in charge of higher education from 29 European countries. Today, the Process unites 48 countries – all party to the European Cultural Convention and committed to the goals of the European Higher Education Area. An important characteristic of the Bologna Process – and key to its success – is that it also involves European Commission, Council of Europe and UNESCO-CEPES, as well as representatives of higher education institutions, students, staff, employers and quality assurance agencies.
Bologna (2010-2013)
With the Budapest-Vienna Declaration of March, 2010 came the creation of a European Higher Education Area, designed to ensure, pre comparable, compatible and coherent systems of higher education in Europe. The creation of the EHEA meant the culmination of the main aim of the Bologna Process. Consequently, since 2010, the next decade of the Process will be aimed at consolidating the EHEA and thus the current EHEA permanent website will play a key role in this process of intense internal and external communication.
Compendium of Projects 2011-13
The compendium of National Teams of Bologna experts’ projects (2011-2013) has been published on the Executive Agency.
Ireland: Progress to date
Irish Bologna Experts
The purpose of the National Teams of Bologna Experts is to provide a pool of expertise in certain areas (Bologna action lines; Lifelong learning strategy as part of the Lisbon strategy for growth and jobs) to promote and enhance progress toward higher education reform. The National Teams will make sure that the relevant actors involved in Higher Education on a national level will benefit from the pan-European nature of these reforms.
Irish Bologna Experts (July 2011-December 2013)
Dr. Eileen Buckley-Dhoot, Academic Director, Dublin Business School
Dr. Michael Hannon, Registrar, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
Dr. Frank McMahon, former Director of Academic Affairs, Dublin Institute of Technology
Professor Sarah Moore, Dean of Teaching and Learning, University of Limerick
Colm Murphy, Deputy President, Union of Students in Ireland
Professor Bairbre Redmond, Vice-Principal for Teaching and Learning, University College Dublin
Dr. Norma Ryan, Director, Quality Promotion Unit, University College Cork
International Seminar, London 18-19 November 2010
Ireland was one of six countries to participate in a UK organised seminar on the theme of “Recognition and the Bologna Process through engagement with Employers” held in Croydon, London in November 2010.
The Seminar is one of a series of Actions funded by the European Commission to bring together Erasmus National Agencies and Bologna Experts from a number of countries to discuss, in depth, themes arising from the Bologna Process, to increase understanding and to assist dissemination, not only in the Higher Education sector but in the wider community.
This Seminar focused on ‘Recognition’, which is a central theme within the Bologna Process. It explored relations and interaction between Higher Education and employers in order
to develop greater mutual understanding and more effective communication;
to identify significant differences as well as shared objectives in the development of curricula
to promote a more explicit approach to the articulation of learning outcomes, skills and competences
to improve the information provided about these to a wider public.
Participants came from six countries – Estonia, Germany, Finland, Ireland, Slovenia, and the UK – and consisted of Bologna Experts, employers’ organisations, students, representatives of National Agencies and NARICs. In total there were 28 participants.
The Europass Diploma Supplement is issued to graduates of higher education institutions along with their parchment and transcripts of results. The Diploma Supplement provides additional information regarding the award which is not available on the official certificate such as the skills and competences acquired, the level of the qualification and the results gained, and entry requirements and access opportunities to the next level of education etc. This makes it more easily understood, especially for employers and institutions outside the issuing country. The Europass Diploma Supplement was developed jointly by UNESCO and the Council of Europe.
EQF Newsletter
QQI
QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland) is a state agency established by the Quality Assurance and Qualifications (Education and Training) Act 2012 with a board appointed by the Minister for Education and Skills.
Its functions are an almagamation of those previously carried out by the Further Education and Training Awards Council (FETAC); the Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC); the Irish Universities Quality Board (IUQB) and the National Qualifications Authority of Ireland (NQAI).
These include, but are not limited to:
The maintainance of the ten-level NFQ (National Framework of Qualifications).
Functioning as the awarding body and set standards for awards we make in the NFQ.
Validating education and training programmes and making extensive awards in the Further Education and Training sector, including in the Education and Training Boards.
Providing advice on the recognition of foreign qualifications in Ireland and on the recognition of Irish qualifications abroad.
Reviewing the effectiveness of quality assurance in further and higher education providers in Ireland.
Acting as the authorising body for the use of an International Education Mark (IEM) for providers.
Weblink: Quality and Qualifications Ireland
Qualifications Frameworks
NAIRTL
NAIRTL – the National Academy for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning is a SIF funded collaborative project between University College Cork (lead partner), Cork Institute of Technology, National University of Ireland Galway, Trinity College Dublin and Waterford Institute of Technology
The National Academy works with Irish higher education institutions to develop and implement policy and practices aimed at enhancing the student learning experience at both undergraduate and graduate level. The Academy supports institutions through investigation and dissemination of national and international examples and models of good practice.
Show full menu
Higher Education Authority
EPlus 2014-2020
30+ Experiences
Erasmus for Business
Erasmus for Staff
Erasmus for Students
International Officer
Ireland International Agreements
ErasmusPlus – VET , school education, adult education and youth sectors
Government of Ireland
King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
LLP Programmes
Related International Co-Operation
Brazil Ireland Partners in Excellence – BIPEX
Universities Ireland Scholarships
International Scholarship Opportunities
US-Ireland R&D Programme
Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH)
Concluded Programmes
Search Platforms
Your First European Job
I am a(n)
Information on Erasmus+ 2018
Erasmus+ – All Application Forms For 2017
Erasmus+ Documentation 2018 KA103 (Programme Countries)
Erasmus+ Documentation 2018 KA107 (International Credit Mobility)
Erasmus University Charter
Erasmus Staff
Staff Teaching
Higher Education Institutions in Ireland with an Erasmus Charter
EU Emergency Phone Number
Supplementary Support for students with disabilities/special needs
Erasmus Student
Study periods
European Master Loan Guarantee Scheme
Erasmus+ Joint Masters Degrees
Key Action 1 – Student and Staff Mobility
Key Action 2 – Co-Operation Strategic Partnerships
European University-Business Forum
3 Shelbourne Buildings, Crampton Avenue,
Shelbourne Road, Ballsbridge,
DO4 C2Y6
Lo-Call Number: 1890 200 637
Email: info@hea.ie
Irish Research Council
Springboard+
DG Education and Culture
Re-Use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005
Design by New Graphic
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line89
|
__label__wiki
| 0.615094
| 0.615094
|
The Linguistic Metaphor
August 16, 2010 | By Erik Evens | 0 Comments
We have often heard that architecture is, in part, a language. It's certainly true that most of us want our buildings to have meaning and relevance, to somehow reflect our values, to say something about us and our society, to have purpose beyond the pragmatic, to "stand for something".
These desires say a lot about what we expect from our buildings. In order for our built environment to meet these goals, designers need to be able to encode meaning into their creations, and then the inhabitants must to be able to extract that meaning. What I'm describing here - the mapping of meaning into the built environment, and then the subsequent reading of that map - is an act of communication. Communication is a transfer of information, and that transfer requires a medium of exchange. A meaningful and articulate architecture therefore requires a language.
What I'm describing here - the mapping of meaning into the built environment, and then the subsequent reading of that map - is an act of communication. Communication is a transfer of information, and that transfer requires a medium of exchange. A meaningful and articulate architecture therefore requires a language.
Style as a Language
In verbal languages, words are symbols - abstractions that represent some aspect of reality. Grouped together, words create phrases, sentences, paragraphs, chapters and stories - all intended to communicate an underlying meaning.
It's not a big leap for us to take, then, to identify the elements of architectural style as the vocabulary, syntax and grammar of an environmental language that allows the creators of our buildings to communicate with those who experience those buildings. As designers, we should be aware that our buildings will speak to people, whether we choose to actively recognize it or not. It's important that we take care to deliberately craft the underlying message, and make sure that the language we are employing to facilitate the communication of that message is up to the task.
A look at some relevant concepts related to linguistic and semantic theory can help provide a framework for understanding the nature of the relationship between the medium and the message of architecture.
Alfred Korzybski and the Map-Territory Relation
figure 1. Alfred Korzybski
Alfred Korzybski was a Polish-American philosopher, teacher, semanticist and scientist who died in 1950. Korzybski's life's work was focused on the role of language in human psychology, and culminated in the founding of a discipline he called General Semantics.
Korzybski's General Semantics offered a view that human knowledge is limited by two main factors: the structure of the human nervous system, and the structure of human languages. He maintained that people cannot experience the world directly, but only through their "abstractions" - nonverbal impressions derived from data detected and transmitted by the senses and the nervous system, and verbal indicators derived from language.
Korzybski cautioned that the structure of our languages determines in no small part the way we think. For example, he taught that certain uses of the verb "to be" were faulty in structure. To illustrate, consider a statement such as, "Joe is a fool" (said of a person named 'Joe' who has done something that we regard as foolish). According to Korzybski, one's assessment of Joe belongs to a higher order of abstraction than Joe himself. We find Joe not in the verbal domain, the world of words, but in the nonverbal domain. These two domains represent two different orders of abstraction. Korzybski' maintained that the correct approach is a denial of identity; in this example, to be continually aware that what we call Joe is an abstraction, and that abstraction ought not to be confused with the entity "Joe" himself.
Korzybski stressed that a key goal of his philosophy, and a key aspect of a healthy mind, was what he called "consciousness of abstracting". By this he meant the act of constantly reminding one's self that one's perception and awareness of reality are abstractions, and not to be confused with reality itself.
Here's a story about Alfred Korzybski that's amusing, and worth repeating because it's illustrative of some of these ideas: One day, Korzybski was giving a lecture to a group of students, and he suddenly interrupted the lesson in order to retrieve a packet of biscuits, wrapped in white paper, from his briefcase. He muttered that he just had to eat something, and he asked the students on the seats in the front row, if they would also like a biscuit. A few students took a biscuit. "Nice biscuit, don't you think", said Korzybski, while he took a second one. The students were chewing vigorously. After a while he tore the white paper from the biscuits, in order to reveal the original packaging. On it was a big picture of a dog's head and the words "Dog Cookies". The students looked at the package, and were shocked. Two of them wanted to throw up, put their hands in front of their mouths, and ran out of the lecture hall to the bathroom.
"You see, ladies and gentlemen", Korzybski remarked, "I have just demonstrated that people don't just eat food, but they also eat words, and that the taste of the former is often outdone by the taste of the latter."[1] It seems his prank aimed to illustrate how some human suffering originates from the confusion or conflation of linguistic representations of reality, and reality itself.
"The Map Is Not The Territory"
His most influential premise, this remark by Korzybski encapsulates his view that an abstraction derived from something, or a reaction to it, is not the thing itself. For example, the feeling of joy one feels upon looking at a beautiful flower is not the flower; a metaphorical representation of a concept is not the concept itself. A specific representation or reaction cannot capture all aspects of its source, and this inability to know all aspects of reality may limit an individual's understanding and cognitive abilities, unless the two are distinguished. Korzybski held that many people do often confuse "maps" with "territories".
Thus, the map-territory relationship is the relationship between higher-order abstractions, such as beliefs derived from input from our nervous systems, or the structure of our languages, and the underlying reality. Korzybski stressed that some maps, some abstract representations of reality, are better that others, and what distinguishes a better map from a poorer one is the degree to which they have a structural similarity to the underlying reality.
The map/territory relation as a conceptual model has been important in many corners of culture and philosophy. Writers as diverse as Robert Anton Wilson, William S. Burroughs, and Buckminster Fuller have been influenced by this idea.
figure 2. La trahison des images, René Magritte, 1928–29A classic example of map-territory relation graphically displayed comes from the world of art. The Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte illustrated the concept of perception always interceding between reality and ourselves in a number of paintings including this famous work entitled "The Treachery Of Images" [figure 2], which consists of a drawing of a pipe with the caption in French, "This is not a pipe" - a statement which seems false but is actually true. Of course, the painting is not a pipe, but rather an image of a pipe. As Magritte himself commented: "The famous pipe. How people reproached me for it! And yet, could you smoke my pipe? No, it’s just a representation, is it not? So if I had written on my picture ‘This is a pipe,’ I’d have been lying!"[2]
Treachery indeed!
Style:Meaning = Map:Territory
An illuminating way to view the relationship between architectural style and the meaning of architecture is as a map-territory relationship. In the same way that the constructs of verbal languages serve as maps to guide us to an understanding of aspects of reality, of the world "as it is", so does the grammar of architectural style serve as the language with which we map meaning into our built environment.
When approaching the subject of style in architecture, it's important to carefully consider Korzybski's observation that good maps bear a close structural similarity with the underlying territory. As applied to architecture, this suggests that the selection and use of style should be carefully orchestrated so that the selected language (the map) bears a close structural similarity to the message that we want to convey (the territory).
We've all experienced buildings that just didn't feel right to us. Perhaps it was a feeling that a building didn't quite fit in its environment - a feeling that our experience of the place was inauthentic, or synthetic, that it lacked depth or relevance. Perhaps we had a vague feeling that the purpose of the building was somehow at odds with the way the building made us feel and react emotionally. Perhaps the building left us cold, unfulfilled, confused. I'd like to suggest that often the problem with these environments stems directly from the designer's inability or unwillingness to properly consider the relationship between the style map and the underlying territory of meaning. The only way we can experience the reality of meaning in our built environment is through the structure of style. Choose your languages with care, and use them thoughtfully.
We've all experienced buildings that just didn't feel right to us... often the problem with these environments stems directly from the designer's inability or unwillingness to properly consider the relationship between the style map and the underlying territory of meaning.
We believe these concepts are further foundation for a stance of style agnosticism - a reservation of belief in the righeousness or inferiority of particular styles of design (see my essay, "The Genealogy of Style" for further discussion). This is a point of view that regards style as a language, in precisely the same sense as English, or Japanese, Sanskrit or HTML. As languages, they are a higher order of abstraction than the underlying content. As such they are value neutral, and in some basic sense interchangeable.
The selection of an appropriate style for the task is of crucial importance, however. Just as Korzybski reminds us to make sure our maps have a structural similarity to the territory, so we must choose and tailor our language of style so that its structure is appropriate for the meaning we are trying to convey. To have too loose a fit between our style map and the underlying message is to risk faulty communication, and the potential of an inarticulate and unsatisfying architecture.
Wisdom Embedded Within Beauty
A perfect example of how the deep meaning of architecture can be mapped mapped by the language style can be seen through a biological metaphor. I'm grateful to my colleague Steve Mouzon for the following delightful insight. Mouzon is an architect from Miami, Florida, and one of the founders of the New Urban Guild. In his book, "The Original Green: Unlocking the Mystery of True Sustainability" (Guild Foundation Press, 2010), he identifies a similarity between the mechanism by which nature encodes meaning into the genetic structure, and the mechanism by which meaning in architecture is mapped stylistically.
Mouzon writes, "Nature has a better way of spreading great wisdom. The most complicated wisdom yet discovered by humanity is the human genome, which took legions of scientists many years to decode. Yet human genes are spread by billions of people with no genetic education and nothing but on-the-job training. How can this be?"
figure 3. from Mouzon"Nature’s way of spreading human genes begins with attraction of one person to another. If they’re attracted enough to each other, they mate, they breed (not necessarily in that order) and they pass down their genetic material. What is the secret?"
"Look at the young woman in the image, having lunch on the streets of Paris.[figure 3.] Judging by appearances, one would have to say that she is quite likely to spread her genes because she is attractive. But she likely would tell you immediately, “there’s much more to me than just my appearance.”
figure 4. The birds and the bees..."And she would be correct. Nature, you see, embeds wisdom (the genetic code) in beauty. People don’t have to know anything about the genetic code in order to spread it... they simply have to be attracted to a person with whom they want to spread it... and the code they are spreading is so much greater than the attraction that led them to that person to begin with."[3]
Think about that. Wisdom embedded within beauty. Of course, nature is full of examples of this phenomenon.
Mouzon continues, "Architecture once did something very similar. Someone might work for years to figure out the best possible eave for a region of the world, for example. They might do countless calculations of sun angles, storm winds, etc., and might do numerous experiments. But if they can then embed that wisdom in beauty by designing the eave in such a manner that the people of the region consider it to be beautiful, then nobody else needs to do the calculations, or the experiments, or show their work; they simply need to love the pattern." [3]
This is one of the most important and enduring virtues of traditions in architecture. This embedding of wisdom within beauty is a perfect example of meaning in architecture being directly mapped by the language of style. What a marvelous lesson to learn from the natural world!
Steps Towards an Articulate Architecture
How should we approach our work, then, if we're influenced by these ideas? I don't believe that it's enough for us simply to expertly craft buildings that observe the proper grammar and syntax of particular styles. Before the selection of a visual language, a style, we should begin our work with a deliberate process of message-crafting. We should consciously, actively guide our clients on a path of inquiry, exploring questions such as:
"What kind of experience do we want our building to produce?"
"What core values do we share and want to communicate to those that use our building?"
"What key words exemplify how we live our lives?"
"What wisdom do we want our building to convey?"
'What story do we want to tell?"
Before the selection of a visual language, we believe that we should begin our work with a deliberate process of message-crafting. We should consciously, actively guide our clients on a path of inquiry...
It's only after we craft a robust, authentic and engaging message that we can converge on the stylistic language that's appropriate to use as our medium of communication.
Experientially, we can only access the meaning of architecture through structure - the structure of style. Parsing the dialect of style can be a mesmerizing pursuit. Of course, some practitioners actually consider themselves to be "stylists", and have built careers around the deliberate and nuanced mastery of a particular language.
I understand the appeal of languages. Cultured persons around the world pride themselves in using their native verbal languages in a nuanced and beautiful way. Computer programmers find great satisfaction in constructing elegant assemblages of machine code. Poets labor long over the use of the language and revel in the pursuit of a perfect phrase, or words that make the perfect sound when uttered. So should architects rightfully find the examination and articulation of style a fulfilling pursuit.
But if our goal is an articulate architecture that has meaning to people, then it's particularly important that we not forget that style is a higher order of abstraction than the underlying meaning. It's a means to an end. I believe that a meaningful architecture must have a carefully crafted message, and that the selection of style should flow from the message we have crafted. As designers, we should be as concerned about what we are saying as we are about how we are saying it.
[1] R. Diekstra, Haarlemmer Dagblad, 1993, cited by L. Derks & J. Hollander, Essenties van NLP (Utrecht: Servire, 1996), p. 58.
[2] Torczyner, Harry. Magritte: Ideas and Images. p. 71.
[3] Mouzon, Stephen A. The Original Green: Unlocking the Mystery of True Sustainability (Guild Foundation Press, 2010)
Share Back to Top
What's your name?: *
What's your email address?: *
What's your comment?: *
What's your comment?
The Genealogy of Style: A Lesson from Biology The ...
by Erik Evens
Historic Preservation Today Ken Breisch, former Director of USC's Graduate Program in...
by Duan Tran
Hollywood Retreats May 4, 2010
Grant Kirkpatrick to participate on Legends of La Cienega pa
Join Erik Evens for "Advanced Shades and Shadows" May 16, 2011
Presented by the Institute of Classical Architecture and Art
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line90
|
__label__wiki
| 0.519473
| 0.519473
|
For Ecuador, currying favor with Washington is as simple as sacrificing Julian Assange
Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno has made no secret of his annoyance with the man he refers to a “hacker,” calling Assange “a stone in his shoe” as Ecuador seeks to restructure itself as a trusted ally of the United States.
by Elliott Gabriel
Part 5 - Correa defends his moves
Rafael Correa currently lives with his wife in her home country, Belgium. The former president has been locked in a struggle with his one-time vice president and handpicked successor, Moreno, since shortly after leaving office.
Correa dismissed the accusations as a “sensationalistic” story about routine affairs that only seeks to whip up further animus against his erstwhile administration rather than make “a serious report to find out the truth.” Speaking to The Intercept, Correa said: “Of course we provided security to Assange in the embassy … It was our duty under the law to do so. We had the U.K. government threatening to break into the embassy. We spent what amounts to a small amount of money to provide security.”
For Correa, Moreno’s sacrifice of Assange is a transparent attempt to prostrate the former “banana republic” at the feet of Washington, opening the door to imperialist “control, intervention, espionage” and the all-round submission of the country.
As Iliopoulos told Bloomberg: “Investors loved that Moreno broke with Correa the way he did, and that gave him a huge honeymoon at the start … The good will is there, but it’s not a blank check.”
Citing the Assange case and realignment of Ecuador with the U.S., Correa has no doubt: “Moreno is betraying the Citizen’s Revolution in terms of our foreign policy.”
https://www.mintpressnews.com/for-ecuador-favor-with-the-us-is-as-simple-as-sacrificing-julian-assange/242201/
Ecuador and Julian Assange in great danger as traitor Moreno is about to throw them into the hands of the US empire
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line92
|
__label__wiki
| 0.961485
| 0.961485
|
EU banking regulator calls City's Brexit plans 'inadequate'
EBA says banks cannot yet rely on transition period agreed in principle with Brussels.
Europe’s top banking regulator has warned the financial industry its preparations for Brexit are “inadequate” and urgently need pushing forward as Britain moves closer to leaving the EU.
Sounding the alarm two years after the Brexit vote, the European Banking Authority told City banks they needed to “rapidly advance” their planning for a hard Brexit – potentially putting the Bank of England at odds with the EU’s top regulator.
The EBA said banks could not yet rely on the transition period agreed in principle by Theresa May with Brussels, which extends Britain’s departure date from March next year to the end of 2020. While the deal should help maintain the status quo for City banks, it has yet to be formally adopted because it will form part of the wider Brexit divorce settlement.
In an opinion paper published on Monday, the top EU banking regulator said major banks should push ahead on the assumption that Britain crashes out without a Brexit deal in 10 months time.
Andrea Enria, the chairman of the EBA, said: “Firms cannot take for granted that they continue to operate as at present, nor can they rely on as yet unrealised political agreements or public policy interventions”
The comments are at odds with reassurances put forward by the Bank of England after May agreed to the terms of the transition deal in March, which was seen by the City as a key requirement for keeping jobs in London and helping banks to rearrange their operations to keep trading in Britain after Brexit.
Britain and Brussels have been at loggerheads over the future of the banking industry and matters of financial stability since the referendum two years ago, with City bank executives caught in the middle of the political tussle. Although London is the banking and financial hub of Europe, the City’s continental rivals such as Paris, Frankfurt and Dublin are vying to take business that becomes available in the wake of Brexit.
British banks, including HSBC, have warned they could move at least 1,000 jobs to the French capital after Brexit, while Barclays has picked Dublin as its new EU hub and Royal Bank of Scotland has said it could move more business to Amsterdam.
While the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned the fallout for the finance industry is the single issue that makes him most “nervous” from the number of potential problems a disorderly Brexit could cause for the UK economy, the Bank has previously argued that adequate steps in the UK have been taken to prepare the industry for Brexit.
There is growing frustration among senior British officials that European financial regulators have not gone far enough to prepare for Brexit. The UK government has said it will act to allow European firms to service financial contracts in Britain after Brexit, although no such reciprocal steps have been taken as yet by European authorities.
The Bank has said UK and EU legislation is needed to ensure continuity in contracts that span many years in some cases covering financial services such as banking and insurance. The EU has shown no willingness to legislate and the EBA said no public solution may be proposed or even agreed in time.
The EBA – itself in the process of moving from London to Paris because of Brexit – said banks needed to take greater steps to evaluate the risks to their balance sheets from cross-border contracts.
“It is imperative that financial institutions in the EU27 and in the UK identify potential exposures and risk channels that may be affected, and the possible implications of the potential departure of the UK without a ratified withdrawal agreement in place,” the EBA said.
Source: www.theguardian.com
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line94
|
__label__wiki
| 0.975118
| 0.975118
|
Patisserie Valerie: court dismisses winding-up case over £1m tax bill
Patisserie Holdings says it is investigating share bonuses that were cashed in this year
The owner of Patisserie Valerie has fought off a winding-up petition against its principal trading subsidiary as the cake shop and cafe group continues to battle for survival.
Separately, Patisserie Holdings, which has more than 200 cafes and nearly 3,000 staff, said it was investigating share bonuses that were cashed in this year by both its chief executive and its finance director.
The company’s statement did not suggest that any share options had been wrongly allocated or exercised, only that it was “seeking to understand” why the grant of options relating to 2015 and 2016 had not been “appropriately disclosed and accounted for”.
The Aim-listed company called in forensic accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers to trawl through its accounts after saying that “fraudulent activity” was uncovered that left the business close to collapse earlier this month.
Chris Marsh, the group’s finance director and company secretary, who joined the company in 2006, has since been arrested and bailed. Hertfordshire police, who declined to name the individual, said a 44-year-old man from St Albans, where Marsh lives, had been arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation.
The Serious Fraud Office has confirmed that it has opened a criminal investigation into an individual but has not given further information.
The group’s multi-millionaire chairman, Luke Johnson, was forced to use £20m of his own money to keep Patisserie Holdings in business after finding that it was nearly £10m in debt instead of having £28m in the bank, as it had last reported.
Directors have said they were unaware until 10 October that Patisserie Holdings’ main trading subsidiary, Stonebeach, faced a winding-up petition from HMRC over a £1m unpaid tax bill.
Only Marsh and Patisserie Holdings’ chief executive, Paul May, were on the board of Stonebeach until 11 October, when documents filed at Companies House this week show that Luke Johnson joined.
The winding up petition was filed on 14 September but the directors said they were unaware of its existence until earlier this month.
The case was due to be heard on 31 October, but on Wednesday morning, Patisserie Holdings told the stock market that the winding-up petition had been dismissed in the high court.
In a separate statement, the company said Marsh had been granted 666,666 bonus shares in 2014, 2015 and 2016. May was granted 1m shares in each of those years. Shares granted in the first two years have been exercised and sold this year.
The company’s latest annual report gives the correct information relating to share options granted in 2014, but says only 320,000 share options were granted to executives in both 2015 and 2016.
Over the period, Marsh made a profit of nearly £2m from the share sales, while May made more than £2.6m.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line95
|
__label__wiki
| 0.731931
| 0.731931
|
FEATURES|VIDEO|REVIEWS|PODCAST|| A.V. CLUB
Failed Literary Adaptations: The Lord Of The Rings: Volume 1 and Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth
Two games based on classic books were discontinued before the story ended.
By Drew Toal • October 10, 2012
In Decadent, we explore two games united by a common theme and separated by time—specifically, by a decade or so.
Have you ever seen 2010: Moby Dick? Of course you haven’t. I hope I’m not spoiling the plot for anyone, but as this perversion of the Herman Melville classic nears its end, the whale somehow overcomes evolutionary constraints and actually runs out of the sea and onto an island, terrorizing the surviving members of the Pequod, a nuclear submarine captained by Weekend At Bernie’s II’s Barry Bostwick. This is probably the least terrible part of the film.
To paraphrase Ahab, these mindless adaptations leave a white and turbid wake that often completely obscures the source material in all but the most superficial ways. Is it any easier to adapt literary works into quality games? The 1994 Super Nintendo version of Lord Of The Rings and 2005’s Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth suggest it is not.
An adaptation can also go wrong if too slavishly devoted to the original text. Few thought Peter Jackson’s film version of The Fellowship Of The Ring was worse for a lack of Tom Bombadil, Tolkien’s crazy, ageless hobo—“merry fellow, bright blue his jacket is, and his boots are yellow.” It was a judgment call on Jackson’s part, and he rightly decided old Tom’s unexplainable presence would have hurt the flow of the hobbits’ tale. On the other hand, the Super NES version—dubbed Volume 1, which proved overly optimistic—incorporates many of Tolkien’s more mundane creations, in the least creative ways possible.
For those few unfamiliar with J.R.R. Tolkien’s iconic tale of elves, Middle-Earth and talking trees, the story centers on a young hobbit named Frodo Baggins. Frodo, the nephew of a famous hobbit adventurer named Bilbo, comes into possession of a magic ring. This bauble is the property of a disembodied megalomaniac named Sauron who fancies himself dark lord of all creation and really wants his ring back. Sauron sends his minions after Frodo. At the urging of the wizard Gandalf, Frodo and his friends race to destroy the ring so that they might make the world safe for beer-drinking, weed-smoking halflings everywhere.
One of the first quests Frodo has to undertake in the Rings game is to search some nearby caves for the lost glasses of old Gaffer, the father of Frodo’s friend and manservant, Samwise Gamgee. Forget for a second how this little old hobbit ended up crossing wolf-infested land and misplacing his glasses in a dark, monster-infested grotto. The glasses are missing, and Sam can’t join your quest until you find and return them. This irritating find-the-missing-stuff task sets the tone for the entire game, which renders memorable chapters of the books as nonsensical annoyances.
This is an unbelievably boring game. Coming in the same era as some of the finest video game adventures ever made (Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past, among others), and mining what amounts to the Bible of fantasy literature, The Lord Of The Rings: Volume 1 belongs in the conversation for most disappointing game adaptation of all time.
Frodo and company wander around familiar settings like the misty, wight-haunted Barrow Downs (another spot wisely left out of the films by Jackson) and the mines of Moria, collecting a baffling array of silly, inconsequential items that are nonetheless necessary to advance the game. Terrible as it was, 2010: Moby Dick at least boasted moments of kitsch hilarity. The most colorful parts of The Lord Of The Rings: Volume 1 are the vibrant capes worn by the hobbits, which contrast against the game’s vast, resolutely bland background. It is a mercy that the world was never inflicted with a second volume.
Not all literary fantasy is doomed to mediocrity in video game form. H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories and novellas—specifically, his Cthulhu mythology—inspired generations of aspiring horror writers and adaptations from the likes of Metallica and South Park. Cthulhu is an ancient, tentacled god thing from beyond the stars, totally evil and all-powerful. According to Lovecraftian lore, Earth was home to advanced, terrible races millions of years before humans crawled out of the primordial ooze. The greatest of these, Cthulhu, still lives, and sleeps away the millennia beneath the ocean in R’lyeh, a city that is “abnormal, non-Euclidean, and loathsomely redolent of spheres and dimensions apart from ours.” His psychic alien brain waves, meanwhile, have inspired human cults around the globe. It’s now-standard “apocalypse by rampaging space monster” stuff, but Lovecraft does it better than anyone.
The 2005 game Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth makes heavy use of two Lovecraft stories—“The Shadow Over Innsmouth” and “The Shadow Out Of Time”—for its material. You play private detective Jack Walters. The game begins when Jack gets called in by the local police to act as a mediator with this armed cult. A shootout ensues, and Jack explores the cult’s hideout. Weirdly, the cultists appear to recognize Walters, even though he’s made it a general rule to not befriend insane Cthulhu worshippers.
Walters has a wry, Sam Spade-esque sense of humor about the whole thing. For instance, when one of the cultists takes a break from shooting at the police from out his window to tell Jack they’ve been expecting him, the cultist is killed by a stray bullet. Walters concludes that the bullet-ridden deceased died from “a bad case of lead poisoning.” Classic.
Despite his hardboiled one-liners, Walters doesn’t escape the house with his sanity intact. After uncovering hellish rites and strange creatures, he slips into a prolonged state of amnesia (a nod to “The Shadows Out Of Time”). He emerges back into his old self six years later, with few clues as to what happened during that blank chunk of his life.
But Walters is back on his old beat. After receiving a phone call about a missing person, he hops on a decrepit bus to the fishing village of Innsmouth—essentially the same idyllic fishing village described in the Lovecraft story—to investigate. Did I say idyllic? What I meant was even worse than Detroit. Innsmouth’s denizens are described in Lovecraft’s story as having “queer narrow heads with flat noses and bulgy, stary eyes that never seem to shut, and their skin ain’t quite right.” That’s the kindest description I could find.
Despite the obvious warning signs, Walters is trapped and hunted by Innsmouth’s homicidal fish people. They don’t appear that formidable—no more so than a species of aggressive hobo—but Walters is mostly helpless against them. Often you’re forced to sneak past these guys and then they lay down withering gunfire once you’re spotted. This desperate flight fosters an atmosphere of imminent, crushing doom that heightens as the game goes on.
Both games require you to fight, as Gandalf might say, demons of the ancient world. But where Jack Walters facing the amorphous Shoggoth—a being described in the story “At The Mountains Of Madness” as “a shapeless congeries of protoplasmic bubbles, faintly self-luminous, and with myriads of temporary eyes forming and un-forming as pustules of greenish light”—is a taut, visceral experience, the culminating battle of The Lord Of The Rings: Vol. 1 consumes 10 torturous minutes of your life.
That game’s ending truncates Tolkien’s own first volume, curtailing play after you face the mighty Balrog demon in the mines of Moria. This is one of the dullest final boss fights you’ll ever see. Members of your party that have managed to not be eaten by wolves or lost in caves run up to the edge of a precipice. The Balrog kind of floats back and forth, languidly swiping at you with his flaming sword. You dodge and stab. You can’t even kill the stupid thing if Gandalf is still alive and in your party—this is the game’s way of ensuring that he doesn’t make it out of the mines alive. Thanks for the literary fealty! But seriously, I dare you to watch this titanic clash and not fall immediately and willingly into a coma.
The Rings game never saw successive volumes for obvious reasons, but Dark Corners is an amazing game, and two sequels—tentatively titled Beyond The Mountains Of Madness and Destiny’s End—were being developed alongside it. Those follow-up projects never found a publisher due to poorer-than-expected sales. But while Dark Corners was a failure in box-office terms, its adroit translation of the text did show what could be done with the right mix of selective plot choices, original writing, and tentacled extra-dimensional nightmares.
Share this with your friends and enemies
Write a scintillating comment
1,618 Responses to “Failed Literary Adaptations: The Lord Of The Rings: Volume 1 and Call Of Cthulhu: Dark Corners Of The Earth”
caspiancomic says:
Man, a golden era RPG based on Lord of the Rings should have been a slam dunk, how could this have happened? Really, LotR deserves a better gaming legacy than it’s got. Surprisingly, the EA film tie-ins were pretty serviceable hack-n-slash games, but something more in the mould of Final Fantasy VI that covered the entirety of the story would have been excellent. The party members and their various skills are all there, there’s plenty of travelling through monster infested wastelands (read: random encounter infested dungeons), the characters collect new weapons and armour as they progress, there are memorable bosses in the Balrog and Shelob… actually, the more I think of it, the more RPGs seem to owe a lot to Tolkien. Not just in their standard middle-fantasy elves/dwarves/magic shit lying everywhere kind of mythologies, but the Lord of the Rings actually reads like a novelization of a golden age role playing game. Which is a bit odd, because I’m not sure how influential a force Tolkien was on the 1980’s Japanese studios who introduced many of the standard tropes to the genre.
Citric says:
Speaking of JRPGs owing a huge debt to Tolkien, I seem to remember something from that era which had a fantastic, highly atmospheric mine area, possibly even called Moria, but I can’t remember what the hell it was.
EDIT: And make no mistake, Square at a minimum had some Tolkien fans on staff, just look at their love of Mithril.
Kevin Irmiter says:
I think the influence is mostly indirect. First you have early D&D which was heavily influenced by Tolkien. Then you have early computer RPGs, which are heavily influenced by D&D, but also have some direct Tolkien influence here and there. Then you have the early Japanese RPGs, which are heavily influenced by computer RPGs, with some direct D&D influence and almost no Tolkien. So while the influence is there, it’s filtered through all the other stuff.
Rowan Kaiser says:
It’s worth noting that the 1990s LOTR games were initially PC games, with this one, I guess, ported over to the SNES. While they didn’t set the world on fire on PC, they weren’t terrible. I guess the port was. But that’s really to be expected from that era.
dreadguacamole says:
I played both of PC LotR games, and loved them to pieces. They were HARD (at least to my teen self,) and pretty pure hardcore, old-school RPGs. Loads of stats to manage, a pretty amazing (for its time) open world, complete with day/night cycle, very deadly, menu-based battles and a light text parser for things like conversations and some puzzles.
From the sound of it, looks like the SNES version was completely redone.
zebbart says:
I don’t know if they’d hold up now but I found both LOTR PC games for $5 at Walmart around 1996 and totally loved them.
Girard says:
The PC games were very, very different from the SNES game. The SNES game was an action RPG, with less fine-grained CRPG stat stuff going on, and more fetch-quest style gameplay. Graphically, also, everything was redone, with sprites based on/traced over digital photographs of actors (I remember them showing this process in Nintendo Power – due to the low resolution of the end product they could do things like have their ‘Gandalf’ just be some dude in a bathrobe wearing an ill-fitting fake beard).
The PC game is generally well-thought-of. I had a cool CD-ROM version that spliced in snippets of Bakshi’s animation.
The SNES game…is NOT generally well-thought of, for reasons detailed in the above article, among other.
Yeah, but that sort of difference-in-port was normal back then. Like Ultima 7 being put on SNES but you didn’t have a party to control, etc.
TheDunk says:
There were conversions of Ultima III, IV, and V to the NES before this and they were terrible.
Captain Internet says:
Which era was the ‘Golden Era’ exactly? Because some really great games have been put out recently, so…
I can see what you mean, but any story where someone has to go on a journey to get to a thing can be interpreted as an RPG, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo included.
It’s really the other way around. From what I understand, after The Lord of the Rings came out, people wanted more, and they wanted to live it. The early D&D games took some of the things in the book- the party of adventurers, the magic, the fighting, the treasure, the monsters- and turned them into things that could be used as part of a game. Over time these ideas have become the grammar of RPGs. It’s a way of telling a story and having some element of game along the way, but the two are not equivalent.
So, you can interpret Gandalf’s fight with the Balrog as a ‘boss battle’ if you want, but that’s not what’s in the book. He doesn’t really even fight it. Frodo doesn’t do anything RPG-like at all, apart from get stabbed.
I don’t think it’s too far off to say that 1993-2000 was the JRPG golden era. The graphics started getting pretty, the stories got ambitious, the gameplay went in new directions, and they got increasingly popular. The decline started probably post-Spirits Within, when Square – later Square-Enix – management kind of went to crap and the big-budget blockbuster JRPGs started to get thin on the ground. Which is not to say smaller studios didn’t do amazing work, and I’m sure some people will point that out in a reply, but it went from a big-selling genre to niche product.
I’m sure that there will be some disagree with my dates, but that seems to be about right to me.
The SNES era is probably a safe bet for the “golden era” of any console genre that doesn’t require 3D geometry.
rmyung says:
I think RPGs based on existing material face an uphill battle. A significant portion of the fun of the RPG is discovering the world and uncovering the plot. The book/movie already did this for you, so what’s left?
I think the best case scenario is when you’re set in the world of the book/movie, but not following the book itself.
The Knights of the Old Republic is a good example of how to set an RPG in an existing world, while not following the same plotline.
Similarly, a Tolkien RPG would be better if it was just based on the Middle-Earth world, while introducing new characters and stories. I’d play a game based on the Silmarion (which I’ve never read)
M_as_in_Mancy says:
LOTRO, for all its flaws, did do a good job with this with the “book” story questlines- there’s enough intersection with the Fellowship to feel like you’re part of the story, but still filling in some important gaps in what else had to have been going on in the world for things to turn out as they did. The writers did a fine job of bringing backstory to life in a vivid way, and creating new material that feels very true to the spirit of Tolkien’s original writing. It gets to the point where if I’m trying to recall bits about the history of Moria I can’t remember whether a piece of info came from Tolkien or from LOTRO. It doesn’t go to the trouble of blatantly stating Tolkien’s themes, but the chain of quests in Evendim, both the non-epic search for the Silithar and the epic chain weaving through Annúminas, did a good job of evoking themes of patience and respect for the losses of the past, and mercy and redemption as preferable to destruction.
SeanSandy says:
The pc version of LOTR is quite a bit different, you can recruit Pippen and Samwise right away (for example) and your first quest is not getting Gaffer’s glasses, in fact he doesn’t mention glasses at all.
Brian J. Wright says:
I found that Cthulhu game very difficult; I couldn’t believe there were end-of-game bonuses for using something like 5 saves throughout when I’d used, in all likelihood, a few hundred.
Still, it was a badass game.
Quentin Lewis says:
I liked it, but I found it extremely buggy–at one point, I had to write a forum to get a saved game past a point on the ship because it kept crashing. I think if it had made a few more bucks, bethesda would’ve patched it more regularly, and I would’ve been more immersed and less annoyed.
blue vodka lemonade says:
I think I hit a bug around the same spot, or a bit before. There was a car chase sequence, and right at the end of it my game always would crash. I recently re-bought the game through Steam, and that won’t run right at all.
I think it might be trying to protect me from things man was not meant to know, IE, the second half of the damn game.
James Slone says:
I love the game. The difficulty was a big part of my enjoyment. You kind of got to feel what crawling on a broken leg and firing blindly while undergoing a panic attack might actually feel like. It was survival horror done right.
PaganPoet says:
It may be that we’re discussing classic fantasy stories adapted as video games, or it may be that I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to bring it up, but this article remind me of the NES adaptation of Willow. It was a decent enough Zelda-alike game of its day that was only loosely tied to the movie it shared its name with. The reason I’m bringing it up? The music that played during the final castle/level: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1LsNH-tdzs
It may be that I was 4 years old. It may be that it’s some minor key neo-Baroque ditty, but all I’m gonn say about it is that song FREAKED. MY. SHIT. OUT.
How did you get to the final castle of Willow when you were four?! I really liked that game, but never got any appreciable distance into it.
Older brother.
Bad Horse says:
In the Genesis Sonic games, the music that plays when you’re about to drown was nerve-wracking enough for me that if I wasn’t already on top of a bubble spot, I was certain to die.
I set that as my older sister’s ringtone, once. I think I gave her a complex.
Pgoodso says:
The best Lovecrafian game is Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. Sure, it’s gimmicks don’t really work twice, and it’s not a direct adaptation of any actual Lovecraft story, but it’s still the best translation of the FEEL of the Cthulhu Mythos that I’ve ever experienced in a game
Logoboros says:
Anyone remember an old graphic adventure game, Prisoner of Ice? I played it years ago, and I can’t remember enough of it to compare, but I remember it being the first computer game I played to overtly use the Cthulhu mythos (the first Alone in the Dark was probably the earliest Lovecraftian game I encountered, but it’s not a direct attempt to represent his universe). I know there are a few earlier games actually licensed through Chaosium, but I never played those (or knew about them until trying to look up the title of Prisoner of Ice just now).
I loved Prisoner of Ice at the time, but I doubt it was actually good – or even particularly faithful to the Mythos; didn’t it have Nazis and time travel?
The previous game, Shadow of the Comet (IIRC) was much better Lovecraft adaptation, but it was a bit of a pain to actually play. I’ve never understood the fixation early adventure games (and text adventure games too, now that I think about it) had with mazes.
GaryX says:
That or one of the Penumbra games.
jarviscockblocker says:
Dark Corners scared the shit out me when I was playing it, I had to ask my girlfriend to sit next to me and calm me down, I remember telling her I don’t want to walk up to that door where something definitely awful will happen, but she kept insisting, of course something jumped out and I almost fell off my chair.
That’s right, I’m a pussy.
But the best thing about the game was that it didn’t use any display, you had no idea how many bullets you have loaded or in your pocket, there was no crosshair and all the guns were wildly inaccurate.
Effigy_Power says:
Don’t feel bad, especially in the beginning the game is pretty scary. Being chased by disgusting fish people through the rooms of other disgusting fish people in a town that’s been nothing but unsettling for hours… pretty damn scary.
Fyodor Douchetoevsky says:
You need to check out videos of people playing Amnesia, assuming you haven’t already.
This one is a classic.
I couldn’t play it. I just seriously couldn’t. Give me all the gore in the world, beheaded burning toddler impaled on giant spears, whatever, but this psychological horror of darkness and corners and having to open doors… no fucking way.
CNightwing says:
I only played Dark Corners of the Earth fairly recently, and I was very impressed with it right up to the point that it got too far ahead of itself in gameplay terms. These days we’re spoilt by well-designed set pieces that are just the right level of difficulty to give you time to think, but not to dawdle.
Specifically, the first night you stay in Innsmouth requires you to escape the locals via an exciting run through the hotel and across some rooftops. Unfortunately the way in which you do this is completely opaque, and so I, like many others I’m sure, viewed the initial cutscene tens of times before working out not only what I could do with furniture and where I could go, but exactly which order I had to do things in and with the correct timing for jumps and runs.
I’m an avid Call of Cthulhu fan, the literature and the roleplaying games. We are at the point now where the high-concept gameplay they had in mind for DCotE can be properly imagined, and no doubt improved upon. In fact, a few cases into LA Noire I thought to myself, damn, this would be the perfect way to implement a Cthulhu game – the clues, the interrogations, the attention to detail. In my head I was always hopeful that the story might take a twist away from mundane corruption into the occult, but alas not. Make it happen Rockstar!
The hotel escape is just brutal, and I think one of the most flawed parts of the game because the trial-and-error nature of making your way through the sequence meant that by the time I finally made it through in one piece, I was not at all scared but very much annoyed and frustrated. Dark Corners is not particularly generous with the save-spots.
Mercenary_Security_number_4 says:
I don’t really see the reason between comparing these two games. The SNES game is neither the best (that goes to Battle for Middle Earth) nor the worst (several contenders but possibly the 2002 FOTR travesty that was, despite the suspicious timing, only licensed to be based on the book and not the movie).
The SNES version of LOTR was in itself a horrible attempt to remake the flawed but ambitious 1990 PC game. The 1990 PC game was a top-down RPG that was, for its time, absolutely sprawling in its depiction of a relatively free-range middle earth. The game’s large map succeeded, for perhaps the only time, in making the players truly feel like they were striking their own path from the Shire to Rivendell. Crossing Brandywine bridge was, expectedly, a very bad idea — but if you somehow managed to cross it, the game simply let you keep going on that route rather than freak out on you and either crash or magically move you back (like many games of the time would’ve). The world becomes a little more claustrophobic after Rivendell (they didn’t want you wandering down into Isengard yet), but there was a glitch you could use that let you (if your endurance was strong enough) survive the pass of Cahadras and bypass Moria entirely. And again, even though it was a path not intended by the game developers, it doesn’t break anything and you can walk right into Lorien with Gandalf still alive. Meanwhile, the Shire, the Old Forest, the Barrow Downs, Bree, Rivendell, Moria, Lorien, and even Mirkwood (complete with Radagast) are all full of side missions and treasure.
The biggest downside to the game is that the corny 1990 sound blaster music and contrived boss battles (the game ends fighting the witch king in Dol Guldor) strip the story of its inherent poetic beauty or more subtle developments (Boromir’s betrayal and repentance, for instance, happens off screens between the end of this game and the beginning of the sequel). But for sheer exploration and a feeling of no limits, the PC version was among the best.
nattyish says:
I have fairly fond memories of the first volume of the PC game. IIRC, you could fully customize who was in the Fellowship. Trading out Sam for this badass elf guy was a no-brainer (10 year old me totally knew his name, and could identify the place where that minor character appeared in one line in the book, but fuck if I remember now), and trading Merry for Bill the Pony was just awesome.
The game ended with this side quest to Dol Guidur in Mirkwood, which I thought was totally lame since a) it wasn’t in the book, and b) if the fellowship really went up against the Necromancer (i.e. Sauron in disguise) he would totally kill their asses. Pedantry aside, it makes sense that they’d need to tack on another boss battle, since the Balrog was at like 75% trough.
I did have the second game, but I remember giving up somewhere in Fangorn, so I have no idea how far into the storyline it got. The hobbit parts were always hard because they were fucking worthless at combat.
Electric Dragon says:
Few thought Peter Jackson’s film version of The Fellowship Of The Ring was worse for a lack of Tom Bombadil
You would be surprised. I was around on the BBC film/tv forums that existed at the time. It had a board devoted to all things Tolkien, and there were some rather heated discussions about the changes the Jackson films had made to the novels. And, yes, the omission of Tom Bombadil was one of the most controversial amongst the hardcore. The other most controversial changes: the omission of the Scouring of the Shire chapter (because apparently 6 different endings weren’t enough) and the presence of elves at Helm’s Deep.
I was very active in the now defunct ringbearer . org messageboards leading up to the first films, so had a lot of the same discussions.
I have the most thoughts on the scouring issue because I think the argument that it should have been included is the strongest. The scouring of the shire was a way of showing that the hobbits had become capable of controlling their own destiny in both the larger outside world and at home. It serves to tie LOTR into the epic tradition, in which such a coda is almost universally present (the most famous example is the slaying of the suitors at the end of the Odyssey). The “I saw the world, now I re-establish the right to rule my home” coda exists because of primitive literature’s instinct that character growth is best demonstrated through action, and using the trials of your journeying to beat up your next door neighbor is proof that the journey made you potent and powerful (see, for instance, the end of The Neverending Story for more on the concept that saving the universe is fine and all, but the story’s really not over until those bullies get whats coming to them!).
However, the visceral and visual nature of a film means we can literally see how the hobbits have changed over the course of the films so a final exhibition of their prowess is not as important.
The Bombadil chapters are beautiful but entirely unneeded and would serve more to confuse than to enlighten if they tried to be included. I point to the cinematic depiction of Galadriel for comparison. A lot of people didn’t understand her or her motivations at all on first viewing, and she’s downright conventional compared to Bombadil. The Elves at Helm’s Deep was a decent choice. A movie has to be economic in how many different factions it introduces. Their presence also serves to keep in perspective the idea that its not just men at war but the entire realm, which is a thread Tolkien himself kind of dropped in the second book before picking it up at the end of ROTK by basically hanging a lantern on it and saying “hey look, I know we didn’t talk about the battles in the north but they were important too, k?” It was a good way to bring the Elves back on screen and show the audience that this was a story where huge populations weren’t forgotten about just because our main characters had left their territory.
As you can see, I’ve thought about this a lot over the years.
HobbesMkii says:
Interesting, I never saw the Scouring as a coda before, but as a way for Tolkien to point out that wars generally don’t leave anyone unscathed. The Hobbits come home to discover that the Shire, just as everywhere else, has been deeply affected by the war.
It also contains some of his most rabidly anti-industrialist tracts, so there’s that.
Arthur Chu says:
It’s both. From a Campbellian Monomyth perspective, to demonstrate that one is the Master of Two Worlds requires that there be a threat that exists in both worlds, either literally — the dark storybook realm bleeds over into normal life — or figuratively — it turns out that the storybook monsters are, in a sense, a metaphor for everyday schoolyard bullies.
As a practical matter I just don’t see how, from a filmmaking perspective, you can include the Scouring and not basically ruin the pacing of a film that’s already pretty damn bloated in a trilogy that’s already pretty damn bloated.
Even for the “extended edition”, having the Scouring of the Shire as a coda essentially turns Return of the King into two movies.
And this is just a consequence of the fact that films are not as long, in terms of content, as novels and can’t be paced like novels — a film script has about the same amount of plot content as a novella and to turn a novel into a film there is no way not to cut things.
People who think this can’t or shouldn’t be done to a set of novels like LotR — and that’s a respectable argument — are arguing that LotR is unfilmable and shouldn’t be filmed, and I do in fact respect that point of view while still being a fan of Jackson’s films. The question of whether the films are “true” to Tolkien’s original vision is less important to me than whether they stand as quality movies on their own — and the biggest surprise for me was the shocking degree to which they *were* true to the books while still being decent films, while I had been convinced that any film adaptation would have to make cuts and alterations even more radical than they made.
(The fact that The Hobbit is being extended into three whole damn movies is actually a very troubling sign that this lesson has been forgotten and they really are going to try to put every damn thing into those movies, turning them into the same mess the Harry Potter films were.)
lokimotive says:
My friend came home from Two Towers absolutely incensed. He hated the depiction of Faramir, and was tremendously disappointed about Jackson ending the film where he did. In fact, he was just generally pissed about the whole Frodo story line as it completely displaced Frodo from where he should’ve been and screwed things up in terms of the narrative.
I can understand his disappointment, and, really, his complaint makes a lot more sense to me than people’s complaints about things like a lack of Bombadil or details like no elves in Helm’s Deep. I heard several people complain about Faramir, as he had been one of their favorite characters and his depiction was rather drastically altered. Since I’ve never read the books, I can’t comment, but it seemed like Faramir was one of the few humans who somewhat instinctually understood the dangers of the ring and placed himself above it, or at least his arc was more complex. In the films, though, he was more of a mustache twirling villain initially, who comes to understand Frodo by nearly fucking everything up. In deed, he outright says, “I think we’ve come to understand each other,” which is kind of hanging a lattern on it.
Any way, for my part I absolutely loved the trilogy, but I think that had more to do with the fact that they were indisputably movie events, and I feel like we often forget how much fun it is to all simultaneously anticipate something and then allow ourselves to be impressed by it. At least I know, I’m more likely to leave a film saying, well that was pretty good but… rather than Holy Crap That was amazing! Now, I recognize a lot of flaws in the films far beyond anything having to do with adaptation problems.
Faramir actually makes sense because in the book he’s a bland hero with no arc. He’s resilience against the Ring also diminishes Aragorn’s own resolve at the end of Fellowship. By actually making him conflicted over what to do with the Ring due to his own relationship with his father (they really should’ve left the Boromir/Faramir flashback in the film), it adds complexity to the character and human cause by making him something beyond the “I’M A PALADIN!” character he was in the novels, and it creates a better foil to his brother: both were tested but only one passed.
Frodo’s changes don’t really mess things up narratively because of how the book treats the stories as happening in tandem rather than alternating as in the books. The Osgiliath detour does feel like unnecessary padding, but you can tell it had to be added for the third film’s sake. If you had them encounter Shelob during the film, they would have had nothing to do for the third. Plus the book The Return of the King leans on the cliffhanger ending of the previous novel to make it seem like the entire quest might be lost. That would have been impossible in the films.
I think worst missteps were having Sam leave Frodo or having Saruman be an outright lackey. At least they didn’t have Arwen bring the elves to Helm’s Deep as they originally planned.
Despite all the complaining, I love the films immensely and the first thing I do when I get a new TV is tear through the extended Blu-Rays.
I actually agree with this assessment, and will add that Tolkien saw Faramir as a kind of self-insert character — someone who saw world events with a kind of meditative distance, the way a reclusive scholar who was into research and books and weird hobbies would be, and was able to see through the nonsense of power-hungry kings and warriors who think the weight of history rests entirely on their choices (and therefore that they should be empowered as much as possible).
The thing is, though, that from a realistic perspective as you say this makes no sense — sure, Faramir could be someone like that but someone like that would not end up a fucking war leader embroiled in battle against dark forces in command of thousands of troops. Just as the real J.R.R. Tolkien with his pacifist bent and his scholarly mien and his tendency to try to empathize with every culture would never in a million years have become a highly decorated war hero in WWI as opposed to serving out his term, being disgusted and horrified by everything he saw and staying away from the military for the rest of his life.
The_Misanthrope says:
Yeah, there’s a reason the new Hobbit adaptation–besides the desire to make more money anyway–has become a trilogy. There are ardent fans who want every possible bit of the book to get up on the screen. Personally, I would rather that it stayed the simple one-and-done deal it was initially; Not every fantasy story needs to be some big important work. In fact, I would venture to guess that is what puts me off the genre: too many multi-volume tomes, not enough shorter works.
Travis Stewart says:
May I be the first (and hopefully last) to pointlessly complain that the Cthulhu Mythos as depicted by Lovecraft does not contain all-powerful, all-evil beings, but rather merely significantly powerful ones to whom humans are as insects, and therefore below moral consideration? I don’t think I’ve made a persnickety post like this before, and it sounds like fun.
True, “evil’ usually isn’t their outlook (it is often the outlook of their followers, though); “Indifference” would be a better approxomation.
Then again you could consider indifference as seeming pretty evil to those subjected to it. If someone walks past me without so much as a glance while I am bleeding out on the sidewalk, I’d be prone to consider that person evil.
Probably why a lot of homeless people are pretty angry, if you see it from their side. While we may be mostly indifferent to them, they might well see us spending $600 on a phone while outside the store a fellow human being is starving as downright demonic.
That’s not meant to be preachy, even though it sounds like it, I just needed an example why indifference can be evil.
Ah, Vogons destroying earth for a galactic highway. Indifference towards us, definitely considered pretty evil by humankind for the few seconds they had to think about it. Much better example, much less depressing.
Next time lead with the Vogons. I prefer fictional depression over real depression any day.
Yeah, in hindsight I could have deleted the first example. It is a downer.
But the evil in the first and second situations is contingent upon the nature of sufferer, and the ability of the indifferent one to observe the status of said sufferer, isn’t it? I’m not sure we’d put the same weight on a blind man ignoring a starving raccoon when he goes to dispose of his leftovers.
Same thing with the Vogons, really: The evil is not only in destroying the Earth and consequently the humans who live upon it, but that both know about the humans and actively refuse to care.
Am I mistaking your point? It seems like it starts with simply asserting that indifference can seem evil but ends up with a strong statement in conclusion.
I guess that depends on if Cthulhu is aware of our presence. Is he… it? I don’t know.
@google-51e69d88a29e1efd2d880564090ed43c:disqus : It may be less analogous to absent-mindedly stepping on an ant-hill and more analogous to the kind of banal, matter-of-fact evil that takes place every day we wear clothes and use electronics produced by slave labor overseas. Rather than an actual rancor, there’s an ignorance, sometimes willful, sometimes not, of the conscious suffering involved in the machinations we participate in. Or in a fictional analog, maybe something like Galactus, whose existence is predicated on not acknowledging the sentience/humanity of the denizens of the worlds he eats, seeing them as insects/whatever, when in fact he is intelligent to reason that they are not.
Girard: It’s not a bad suggestion, but it relies upon a certain level of choice and decision-making which I’m not sure is always present in Mythos work.
To take an element which I’m not sure originated in Lovecraft, but has become common to the character of Cthulhu, Cthulhu’s mere waking is often described as devastating for mankind due to the aforementioned psychic waves, resulting in widespread death and insanity. This is clearly an immoral result, but Cthulhu’s waking is rarely depicted as something he has control over. I feel like for your shirt example, or even your Galactus example, have a greater level of control than this. Galactus could choose some kind of suicide over eating inhabited planets, for example.
And then there’s the whole thing about how much these creatures are capable of thought and comprehension, as Effigy_Power pointed out. They sort of run the gambit.
For the record, I recall that Marvel specifically established that Galactus’ existence is somehow necessary for the survival of the universe — that if Galactus is ever successfully destroyed, he is instantly replaced by something infinitely worse.
(This happened once, and Galactus went away and was replaced by Abraxas, who was actively malicious and wanted to eat the ENTIRE UNIVERSE ALL AT ONCE and he was so powerful there was no solution but to bring Galactus back and go back to having planets eaten one at a time.)
Which, okay, cosmic forces and all, but it still feels contrived in the same way the somewhat nebulous circumstances of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Omelas is.
I think this also depends on the specific setting, though, but it is established that Galactus does not specifically need to eat inhabited planets; whatever condition makes a planet have the “energy” he needs to survive seems to correlate quite often with the planet being populated with sentient life, but he is capable of picking uninhabited planets that also have that “energy”, and this is what he does after he gets driven off from Earth.
He just can’t be arsed most of the time to make that effort, and his total indifference in this regard is what makes him chilling and, yes, arguably evil. It would almost be preferable if he specifically needed to eat sentient beings to live because then you’d feel like he was making a choice between his own life and yours, not that he was killing you because it was just more convenient than not doing so.
As far as the Vogons go: The actual thing they say in response to some unheard “desperate plea” from some unknown human transmission facility is along the lines of “Look, the plans have been available at the office in Alpha Centauri for years; it’s your own fault if you can’t be bothered to take an interest in politics”.
Which is pretty much a pitch-perfect zinger at what goes down IRL when impoverished people get fucked over by some big destructive project that was, technically, democratically voted on at some point.
Moonside_Malcontent says:
Beyond indifference, maybe even “inscrutability” would be a more precise term. Lovecraft emphasizes in his best works (At the Mountains of Madness and The Call of Cthulhu, for example) that the creatures of the cosmos have desires and plans in which humanity is involved, but which we are incapable of understanding. That might be one of the reasons why good Cthulhu games are a tough nut to crack in the video game format; it’s tough to express the incomprehensible through such an intrinsically visual medium. Maybe that’s why the Call of Cthulhu tabletop game enjoys such praise.
Zack Handlen says:
“That might be one of the reasons why good Cthulhu games are a tough nut to crack in the video game format”
The biggest reason, I think, is that Lovecraft’s stories gain a large part of their power from their utter helplessness. The whole point of a large portion of his fiction that there is nothing humanity can do to stop the monstrous forces that lurk beyond the rim of the cosmos; Lovecraft extrapolated the “fear of the Other or unknown” to its natural root–the terror that we are meaningless, without agency in a universe driven by mad engines we are forever incapable of grasping. At root, this lack of agency, combined with the awfulness of titanic calamities waiting for their hour to come round at last, is what makes his work so powerful. Lovecraft’s tales don’t have “heroes.” They barely have “protagonists”–“observers” might be a better word. Gaming usually requires some sort of agency for the player; to make the Lovecraftian narrator capable of accomplishing anything beyond simply describing (or failing to describe) the horror they see is to start off on a very wrong foot indeed. (Admittedly, not every game does this, but it seems like the starting point of most of the ones I’ve played.)
Perhaps dipping into the “losing is fun” philosophy could provide some benefits? Games like Dwarf Fortress and FTL produce some very enjoyable results despite being fairly difficult, to the point where most accounts I have run into focus on just how the game is delightfully lost, very much like the Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPG sessions I’ve heard described. You’d probably lose a bit of the grim spirit, but so long as the game provides a sense that it is taking the material seriously, it seems like it should be able to provide both the absurd calamities (which make something like Dwarf Fortress entertaining) as well as the concept of helplessness you outline.
Isn’t there a quickform for the Call of Cthulhu tabletop?
Roll D20.
1-19: You die of insanity.
20: Roll again.
@Effigy_Power To be fair, you can also die of Shoggoth.
I’d like to see more games that aren’t about winning/having agency and more about exploration and deduction; Lovecraft would be a good fit. Look around a spooky mansion, read things, solve some puzzles, have some secret areas–something like a very low-stakes adventure game, more about atmosphere and discovery. With enough little events and maybe a few “end states” you could have your own personal haunted house to poke around, and that would be fun.
@green_gin_rickey:disqus I played a game on my iPad that sort of got around this; it’s a puzzle game called The Room, and it does a good job combining the freakiness of a Lovecraft story (lots of imagery implying something horrible is going on just out of your view) while still being a satisfying gaming experience. I think the trick is that, as a puzzle game, your only real goal is to uncover more and more information, which makes you active, but not in anyway influential on the events of the game world. Basically, it turns the “I found this awful story in my late uncle’s papers, and then I combined it with an article I saw in the newspaper” set-up of something like “Call of Cthulhu” into the actual mechanism of the game itself. Which is pretty cool.
Well, he uses the word “evil” pretty liberally. Their actions and motivations are always said to be inscrutable, but also EEEEEEEVVVILLL. What morality giant space-chimera have, we may never know.
The fact that as an atheist humanist I believe that morality can only exist subjective and there is no such thing as objective cosmic morality that just Is is why I don’t see any problem with calling Cthulhu evil.
He’s “only” evil by our standards, but any evil is only evil by the standards of the people doing the judging at the time. Cthulhu’s actions might make perfect moral sense from his own perspective, but the exact same is true of Hitler, or of potentially any other evil human being that the rest of us have a hard time empathizing with.
I shouldn’t have to understand exactly what someone’s motivations are to be able to judge them as evil; in my book (which is the only book I can use) all that matters is that the action caused unjust harm and that the person can be held responsible for that action, and I don’t really see a good reason Cthulhu doesn’t fit either one.
(The truly horrifying thing is to posit that Cthulhu can’t be held responsible because he’s not even aware of what he’s doing, like positing that maybe there’s a highly advanced sentient civilization of microbes in my stomach and I’m murdering them all just by unconsciously excreting stomach acid.
But that’s the thing, while I hold this possibility to be unlikely I do think that if it were to somehow turn out to be true the microbes would be morally justified in trying to kill me. In any case the actual Great Old Ones in Lovecraft don’t actually seem to fit this that closely in his own works — they do receive worship from human beings and seem to be aware of it and capable of accepting it, and Nyarlathotep is an Old One who looks and acts very human and specifically exists as a go-between for the Old Ones, so the idea that they’re totally unaware of humanity and the effects they have on us doesn’t hold much water.)
JokersNuts says:
I love Lovecraft and in theory I should really like Dark Corners of the Earth. I bought it when it first came out and it ended up being way too hard for this noob. It was great and then they started chasing me and the game became too difficult for me to get very far. Still, cool game I wish there were more Lovecraft games like that.
Over the weekend I found myself replaying Eternal Darkness after almost 10 years.
I got through half the game by abusing walkthroughs for the trial-and-error chases/stealth bits. It was still a pretty good time.
Dark Corners, for all its low-res textury ugliness (which actually helped sell the look of the game) was a pretty awesome game considering that it didn’t start you out with a gun. Especially back then gamers were very spoiled in terms of firepower and to be pitted against a clearly growing threat without the means to defends themselves was a real shock, one that so far only HL2’s intro has managed to replicate.
That said, the game eventually devolved into a shooter with mildly entertaining levels (the big factory was a big pain in the ass) and a strange and often seemingly random fear mechanic.
Other than that, great game.
As much as I love LotR, it hasn’t exactly spawned a lot of great games. “War in the North” from two years ago was the poorest example I can think of that I played, which was another in a slew of mildly related, ugly and banal games barely attached to the popular license. Only Battle for Middle Earth has thus far really been its own game using the license, whereas the direct movie tie-ins were fun enough, but really only aped the success and memorable scenes of the movies.
Aaron Castleberry says:
This is exactly how I feel about Dark Corners. My friend and I played through it and were ultra excited about it after the intro to the game, which was legitimately pretty scary and felt kind of like an adventure game. Then the game gave you a gun, and it was only a matter of time before the game became an incredibly bad shooter with great potential. The game had lost all of the awesomeness that was promised in the first part in the village by the time you got a rifle.
rvb1023 says:
I still think Dark Corners of the Earth is one of the best horror games ever made and really only lost interest in it when they gave you a gun. In particular two scenes from that game are some of the scariest from any game ever.
George_Liquor says:
From what people describe, Dark Corners of the Earth sound a bit like Clive Barker’s Undying. Similar themes and gameplay, anyway.
Chris Holly says:
Similar, but DCOTE puts the player at far more of a disadvantage in terms of fragility and weaponry.
EDIT: Thanks for reminding me about Undying. Great scary game. Might have to trot that one out for Halloween.
I still play Dark Corners of the Earth about once a year – it’s certainly got its flaws (uneven characterization by the main character, the Marsh Refinery level that nearly brings the game to a dead stop halfway through, over-reliance on scripted sequences) – but damn is it one of my favorite FPSes.
It absolutely nails the powerless dread of Lovecraft’s world, and the Innsmouth folk are still creepy as hell to look at.
Still for my money the best Lovecraft-themed game (although Amnesia makes a solid case).
Luc Tremblay says:
Yeah, I used to try to play it at least once a year, but eventually I sold my original xbox and now only have a 360. I can’t remember if that game is playable on it or not, but I think I replaced it with Jade Empire for my yearly playthrough (in addition to the playthroughs for Earthbound, Crusader of Centy, The Haunting, and Link to the Past).
Return_of_the_Max says:
Cyclopean charnel-house.
Other Chris says:
That Lord of the Rings game was the first RPG I’d ever played. A friend and I picked it up from Blockbuster, thinking that it couldn’t be possibly be bad.
We returned it just a few hours later, and swapped it out for Chrono Trigger. My life took on brand new meaning from that point.
I’m glad the story had a happy ending. I was afraid that a story starting with “That Lord of the Rings game was the first RPG I’d ever played” was going to end with something depressing like “and to this day I hate RPGs.”
ItsTheShadsy says:
Great article. I never would’ve thought to compare the two, but you drew some good parallels between them. Really let down by the SNES LotR though. It looks visually interesting (especially the Balrog), but the video sucked all the life out of that.
chaddeus says:
I was initially very disappointed with DCotE, mostly because of high expectations from the early development videos on youtube of what they were trying to do (an insanity system that promised to do what Amnesia really nailed years later; actual hallucinations that would result in you mistaking a friend for an enemy and killing him).
It seemed ok, but it really lacked polish. Just two quick examples: The large fish-like creatures that galloped after you on the boat didn’t even make audible footfalls, yet they were supposed to scarily chasing you. More damningly, one night I was playing and my girlfriend was behind the monitor on the bed ignoring me and the game. Jack Walters was gasping and breathing heavily in frightened/insanity mode as he looked through desk drawers and said “No, nothing there.” Without looking up, she said “isn’t it weird that his inner monologue doesn’t even come to sounding like what he’s going through?” of course, she was right. and simply recording a second set of barks would have sidestepped that completely.
So anyway, it was those kinds of issues that had me more than a little disappointed but a funny thing happened on the way to disliking the game: I played the whole damn thing, warts and all, and on the whole i still think of it rather fondly. I loved the “getting chased through the hotel” part, which i found was really the only super tense part of the game. and it always seemed to do just enough to keep me plugging away, which is more than you can say for a lot of games.
a friend recently sold his old original xbox and a bunch of games at a local store and the only game the guy gave him anything for was the DCotE i made him buy right when it came out. let’s hope the cult following gives someone another crack at making it work. it seems to have already inspired some good games since.
Speaking of Lovecraft, I’ve always thought his Dream-world stories would be a great inspiration for a Lovecraft game that focused more on adventure and less on horror.
toudon612 says:
http://al.ly/t2W
STOP_RIGHT_THERE_CRIMINAL_SCUM says:
I actually have Dark Corners of The Earth on Steam, but I can’t figure out how to run it in 16:9
Cornell_University says:
My brother and I were ecstatic to find a JRR Tolkien game existing for SNES at our local Kaybee toys, and one of us, probably him as he was older, ponied up the dough.
The first few minutes were okay, the Hobbiton cave section was a little repetitive but not to bad, but oh man, by the time you reach the Barrow Downs good luck not being disgusted by how boring (and confusing, since every screen looks the fucking same) the game gets. The password system was ridiculously time consuming too, so likely you would just turn off the system without writing it down, having to start from the beginning each time.
I never made it much further (and I suffered longer than my brother by a mile). Years later I watched someone actually complete it on youtube. there but for the grace of god… the Moria section looked 1000X worse than the Barrow Downs.
The only real positive I can think of is that the music is very nice. And some of the overworld screens aren’t completely terrible.
Oh, and it is totally possible to kill the ringwraiths that are guarding the bridge. It takes like ten minutes and you have to be incredibly lucky to not get hit by them, but it can be done.
Come to think of it, as I was about to castigate Interplay for going so far off script, it occurs to me that it’s the ONLY adaptation of the books to date that actually keeps Tom Bombadil. So uhh… great job? When’s Vol. 2 due?
The Battle for Middle-Earth games were surprisingly fun to play, you know, and I will stick up for them as worth having.
As an LotR geek I think taking them as any kind of “canon” for the LotR “universe” is an utter travesty, but I just chose to see them as a fun wacky goof on the LotR franchise rather than as anything serious. The game designers seem to have shared my attitude with the inclusion of Tom Bombadil as a special summon ability in the second game, which is to this day one of the most hilariously awesome/awesomely hilarious things you can do in a video game.
asdfmnbv says:
Did anyone play the terrible Fellowship of the Ring fake movie tie in game. Like half the game was set in the shire/bree, with awkward bits like the time Tom Bombadil sent the hobbits to get some flowers from spiders inserted to give you stuff to hack and slash.
10 year old me thought it was hilarious that the game never cleared the arrows from your allies. So if you shot them with 100 arrows, they’d walk around with 100 arrows sticking out of them. I spent way more time then I should have shooting Gimli with arrows at the beginning of the last level.
sidebarad mediumrect1
Our Many Tendrils
The Gameological Society is an Onion Media Network Partner.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line99
|
__label__cc
| 0.537314
| 0.462686
|
Death’s men
History No Responses »
Leaving for the Front
Before I die I must find this rhyme.
Be quiet, my friends, and do not waste my time.
We’re marching off in company with death.
I only wish my girl would hold her breath.
There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m glad to leave.
Now mother’s crying too. There’s no reprieve.
And now look how the sun’s begun to set.
A nice mass-grave is all that I shall get.
Once more the good old sunset’s glowing red.
In thirteen day’s I’ll probably be dead.
(Alfred Lichtenstein was killed seven weeks later)
Posted by at 8:14 pm Tagged with: Alfred, Lichtenstein, poet, war
Two months in a coffin – and he came out smiling
It was a cold wet day. Typical weather for a funeral.
However, many of the graveside mourners were smiling as the coffin was lowered into the ground at the back of a house in Malvern Mews, north London.
There was also a brass band on hand as Michael Meany was laid to rest. But Michael was far from dead.
The 33 year-old barman was starting the first in a toe-curling 61 day internment in his attempt to enter the Guinness Book of Records for being buried alive.
The thought is enough to make most of us break into a cold sweat but Michael was well prepared.
The lid of his foam-lined coffin was fitted with books, magazines and a torch, while two pipelines provided him with air, food and a means to communicate with the world above.
A doctor provided him with a high calorie diet and friends kept a round-the-clock vigil nine feet above ground in case of trouble. He even had his favourite tipple, stout, piped down to him.
Michael bide farewell to well-wishers in February, 1968, wearing his favourite green pyjamas and clutching a crucifix.
Two months later an expectant crowd waited outside as the coffin was exhumed and Michael emerged to roars of congratulations.
The Irishman and his coffin were paraded in triumph through Kilburn’s crowded streets on the way to a reception at the Admiral Duncan pub where he was met by blonde actress Diana Dors.
Doctors were amazed he’d suffered no ill effects from his internment, but the coffin man from Kilburn took success in his stride.
“It was no problem, he said. “I could have stayed down there another hundred days.”
The current record is 150 days held by Geoff Smith from Mansfield, England.
Posted by at 12:39 pm Tagged with: alive, buried, Meany, michael
Hello.Is there anybody out there?
History, Uncategorized No Responses »
‘The new in history always comes when people least believe it. But, certainly, it only comes in the moment when the old become visible as old and tragic and dying and when no way out is seen. We live in such a moment: such a moment is our situation.’ Paul Tillich
Posted by at 5:19 am Tagged with: Tillich
History, Inspiration No Responses »
Conquistador Hernando Cortez had a novel way of focusing the minds of his six hundred strong army that landed in Santa Cruz in 1519.
The small band of soldiers had come with the intention of plundering the wealth of the Aztec Empire but knew they were heavily outnumbered and isolated.
Once his men and supplies were on land Cortez ordered all the boats to be burnt cutting off any possibility of retreat.
Losing wasn’t an option if they wanted to see home again and their lives depended on focusing their collective will on what lay before them.
Cortez went on to conquer the Aztecs, despite seemingly insurmountable odds.
We can’t go around invading countries these days – unless you are the US – but what if you focused all your effort and commitment on a single goal? That you refused to entertain the thought of failure, burned your personal boats, and committed yourself to success? Powerful idea.
Posted by at 5:05 pm Tagged with: Aztecs, boata, burn, Cortes, Cortez
Rex Edwards is never short of loose change.
The Stanmore coin collector, who is president of Harrow Coin Club in north London, has amassed an impressive collection during the past 30 years.
The club is one of the oldest numismatic societies in the country and is somewhere that enthusiasts can exchange coins and listen to guest speakers extolling the benefits of anything from metal detecting to Japanese military currency.
So what’s the attraction of putting your hand in your pocket for money that has lost its value?
“Coins have a way of reflecting significant times and events,” says the retired civil engineer who spent much of his career in far-flung parts of the world like Papua New Guinea and Brazil.
“It’s a fascinating subject. Once you start reading about the history surrounding a coin, one thing leads to another.”
Rex’s globe trotting career has allowed him to build an extensive collection of several thousand coins along with paper money and tokens.
His oldest coin dates back to the reign of Alfred the Great more than 1,000 years ago when Britain’s shores were under siege from Viking raiders.
Surprisingly, older currency is not as rare or expensive as you might imagine. And much of that is down to the work of metal detector enthusiasts.
A silver drachma from the reign of Alexander the Great can cost as little as £30, while a silver denarius from one of the early Roman emperors can cost just £15.
Not that some coins don’t cost a pretty penny.
The most expensive tend to be limited issues that never make it into public circulation such as an 1933 American double eagle, which sold at auction for £4.1m.
Nearly half-a-million were produced during the height of the Depression but a dispute over the design led to them being scrapped and melted down.
US Treasury officers later discovered that ten of the coins had disappeared. Nine were recovered but the tenth eluded their grasp and later turned up in a private collection owned by the King of Egypt.
It disappeared again in the mid-1950s before resurfacing in 1996 when a British coin dealer attempted to sell it to Government undercover agents in New York.
Things are decidedly less racy at Harrow Coin Club but Rex puts his monetary talents to good use by helping sell coin collections donated to local charities.
He said: “I usually manage to raise about £10,000 a year on their behalf. The collections are often donated when someone dies and no-one else in the family is interested in the hobby.”
Harrow Coin Club meets bi-monthly throughout the year except in July and August. Anyone with an interest is welcome to attend. For details, ring Rex Edwards on 020 8952 8765.
Posted by at 7:06 am Tagged with: coin, collector, double, eagle
The man with a passion for cats
Artists find inspiration in many things. Vincent van Gogh loved the intense colours of the Provencal countryside, Paul Gaughin the exotic beauty of the South Sea Islands and Monet his beloved gardens which inspired his famous water lily paintings.
Louis Wain’s passion was cats.
The London-born artist produced tens of thousands of drawings and illustrations of cats in a variety of human poses and occupation. His caricatures gently poked fun at the absurdity of everyday life but his humour hid a lifelong struggle with mental illness.
At his height of his fame, Wain was one of the world’s most popular artists but tragically died alone in a mental hospital in 1939.
His unique talent would have gone undiscovered but for his wife’s encouragement.
The couple had received a kitten as a wedding gifts and, when his wife fell ill with cancer, Wain spent hours at her bedside sketching the cat as it played among the covers
Louis already worked as a newspaper artist and his dying wife suggested he show his boss the cat drawings.
His efforts were snubbed until several years later when the editor of the Illustrated London News discovered them gathering dust in a drawer.
He suggested that Wain draw a double-page illustration for s festive edition of the magazine showing a cats’ Christmas party. Wain responded with a picture containing more than 100 cats.
It might have seemed a Herculean task but Wain could draw with either hand with equal deftness and often amused his fellow workers by drawing with both at the same time.
The illustration was a huge success and he spent the next 15 years drawing up to 1,500 cats a year for newspapers and periodicals. Wain’s cats played across nursery walls of the world and appeared on postcards, posters and playing cards.
They played golf, drove cars and went fishing and reflected the various fads and fashions of their owners. When Europe went to war in 1914 the cats donned khaki and nursing uniforms.
The author H.G Wells said: ‘He made the cat his own. He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world. Any British cats that don’t look and live like Louis Wain cats should be ashamed of themselves.”
Louis won a place in the hearts of a nation of animal lovers and suddenly found himself regarded as a world authority on felines. He was elected President of the National Cat Club, attended jamborees and fetes and was often quoted on the subject.
His success spread to America where he was on the verge of pioneering the film cartoon about a character called Pussyfoot.
Pussyfoot was later acknowledged as an inspiration for Felix the Cat and several Walt Disney characters.
Unfortunately, Wain was hit by a bus and seriously hurt just before he could sign a film contract and spent several weeks in hospital.
It marked a turning point in the artist’s fortunes.
He had never recovered from death of his beloved wife Emily and a series of bad investments and bad luck – a ship transporting a container full of his china cats was torpedoed and sunk during the war – left him with little money. His mental health began to unravel
Wain had always been a generous man lending freely and rarely quibbling over the cost of commissions.
He didn’t want to trouble his friends with his problems and stopped visiting his old haunts to avoid them.
He became a recluse preferring the company of his 17 cats. His mental condition worsened and he was committed to Middlesex County Asylum suffering from schizophrenia.
Hardly anyone realised what had happened to the reclusive genius until a journalist recognised him during an unrelated visit.
A number of public figures including Prime Minister Ramsey McDonald and H.G Wells launched a public appeal and Wain was transferred to a hospital where he had a private room and could continue painting.
His illness was mirrored in a series of cat paintings that become progressively more abstract as his grasp on reality loosened.
The colours became increasingly vivid, the images blurring and disintegrating into a vortex of kaleidoscopic patterns during the worst bouts of his illness. The paintings are today regarded one of the most important and graphic representations of mental illness recorded.
Louis Wain died in Bethlam Hospital in 1939.
If you happen visit his final resting place in St Mary’s Cemetery, Kensal Green, tread carefully.
Local legend says that, for years, a cat was seen playing by the graveside of its master.
Posted by at 6:59 am Tagged with: artist, cats, Disnet, illness, Louis, mental, wain, Walt
War poet’s last words
A medical orderly found the last words of Leslie Coulson carefully folded inside the dead soldier’s tunic.
They were stained in the poet’s blood and described the horror of life in the trenches during World War One.
Coulson, born the son of a warehouseman in north London, is not as well known as some of the major war poets like Wilfred Own, Rupert Brooke and Siegfried Sassoon.
But his poems continue to haunt readers several generations later.
The Times described him as ‘the most brilliant of our younger writers’ and his most famous work, Who Made the Law? and But a Short Time to Live, rank among the finest war poems written.
Coulson’s two great passions were Nature and writing, and the dreamy youngster often spent his weekends wandering the countryside surrounding London penning verse.
His ambitions as a writer led him to Fleet Street where he became an assistant editor of the Morning Post before enlisting at the outbreak of ware in 1914.
Coulson turned down the opportunity of being an officer and set sail in a troopship bound for Malta on Christmas Eve.
He would never see home again.
The 25 year-old private’s short military career got off to an inglorious start when he went down with mumps and wrote his first war poem, A Soldier in Hospital, followed by The Ebb.
A year later Coulson went into action on the beaches of Gallipoli
It was a bloody introduction to the reality of war and thousands of soldiers were slaughtered before retreating in disarray.
Coulson was wounded but promoted and then sent to France. There he found it hard to reconcile his love of Nature with the carnage of the Western Front
The landscape had become a featureless mass of mud and crater holes. Few trees were left in a countryside pounded by incessant shellfire.
The slaughter of millions of soldiers on both sides inspired Coulson to pen Who Made the Law? and But a Short Time to Live in the claustrophobic confines of the trenches.
He managed to survive nearly a year including the Battle of the Somme were some 60,000 soldiers were injured or killed on the first day.
But time was already running out.
Weeks later he was among the first wave of soldiers advancing on a fortified German position Called De-Drop Trench.
He was hit by machine gun fire and dragged back to a casualty clearing station where he died the next day.
His grief stricken father later honoured his memory by publishing a posthumous collection of his son’s poetry called From an Outpost.
Nowadays, his poetry rarely appears but the Londoner’s words continue to echo the futility of war more than 90 years after his death.
Who Made the Law? (extract)
Who spake the word that blood should splash in the lanes?
Who gave it forth that gardens should be boneyards?
Who spread the hills with flesh, and blood and brains?
Who made the law?
Who made the Law that death should stalk the village?
Who spake the word to kill among the sheaves?
Who gave it forth that death should lurk in the hedgerows?
Who flung the dead among the fallen leaves
Posted by at 10:44 am Tagged with: coulson, leslie, poet, Somme, war
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line107
|
__label__wiki
| 0.961249
| 0.961249
|
Conlon believes young talent can propel Meath further
Meath's James Conlon in action against Dublin's Michael Fitzsimons. ©INPHO/Ken Sutton.
by Daragh Small
Meath youngster James Conlon says the influx of underage talent has changed the dynamic in Andy McEntee’s team.
Meath will face Donegal in their first ever Super 8 game at Ballybofey on Sunday after a 2-16 to 1-18 victory over Clare last weekend as they bounced back from their thumping defeat in the Leinster final.
In doing so, they became the first beaten Leinster finalist to win their subsequent qualifier in ten years.
The St Colmcille’s attacker scored 0-3 last Sunday, and he believes this team are capable of more.
“It was a tough two weeks after the Leinster final. We had to dig deep,” said the 21-year old.
“In the last couple of years Meath haven’t been at that. Digging deep is something we have brought into the group this year.
“It’s huge for Meath football. We have progressed. Underage is coming on. Even the likes of myself coming into the squad this year.
“A good few of us have added to it.”
Meath only managed 0-4 in their 16-point Leinster final defeat at Croke Park on 23 June.
But Conlon has now brought his personal tally to 0-12 since his championship debut against Offaly earlier this year.
The only team he failed to raise a white flag against was Dublin and as he prepares for their opening game in the Super 8s, that provincial final still frustrates.
“Within the group we thought we weren’t far away, we just didn’t show up on the day, or take our chances,” said Conlon.
“It is tough especially after getting such a drilling, but we are resilient enough to get back at it.
“We are delighted to be in the Super 8s. That was the goal at the start of the year.”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line110
|
__label__wiki
| 0.671389
| 0.671389
|
Guests quicker than hoteliers to seize on media passion
I expected a panel I attended last week would take on labor difficulties, Brexit, business rates and indecision, but rather we were entertained by tales of TV, movies and fantasy. Hoteliers should still listen (or watch) carefully.
By Terence Baker
tbaker@hotelnewsnow.com
@terencebakerhnn
Last week, I attended a half-day seminar on the state of British tourism organized by Westminster Media Forum.
It was refreshing to hear a set of new voices, as the only person I knew there was Sir James Devitt, managing director of hotel-purchasing advisory company Herald Hotels, who told me he came for that same reason.
The event was held at The Royal Over-Seas League Club, which sits next door to the St. James’s Hotel & Club and The Royal Ocean Racing Club and is reached from Piccadilly by finding some half-hidden stairs that drop down from Arlington Street onto Park Place.
Turn right after emerging from the steps, and a building—previously unknown to me, and myself a Londoner—sits grandly at the end of the close with meeting space, bars, a restaurant and accommodation.
Membership clubs like these abound in London (I tend to think of P.G. Wodehouse’s fictional character Bertram “Bertie” Wilberforce Wooster’s Drones Club, but I am sure they all do sterling things).
Another “club” I do not have any knowledge of is the TV-series boxset-binging set, but these two worlds came together at the WMF seminar when several speakers spoke of hoteliers not being able to afford to delay on capitalizing on entertainment excitement.
The Right Honourable Lord Shutt of Greetland, a life peer and member of the House of Lords and on its Regenerating Seaside Towns & Communities Select Committee, spoke of something called “Gentleman Jack,” which he said is filmed at a stately home near where he lives (Greetland is a place in Yorkshire) called Shibden Hall, in Halifax.
Lord Shutt said hoteliers needed to be “fleet of foot” and underlined his point with a tale from TV Land.
“Have you seen ‘Gentleman Jack?’” he asked attendees.
“What many do not know, though, is that the program was shown in Japan three weeks earlier than it was in the U.K., so (the Japanese) have already arrived in Halifax. No one from the BBC (which co-created the series) called hoteliers.”
Keep your ears and eyes open, and do not dilly dally. That is Lord Shutt’s message.
I doubt it comes as a surprise to any that travelers always have loved seeing the places their favorite films and TV programs are made.
The morning’s other chair, Baroness Valentine, also a member of the House of Lords and also on that same seaside committee, said she works a great deal in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, famous for its lights and music-hall entertainment, although much of that entertainment style is not so much clamored for today.
Baroness Valentine said one of the regeneration projects in the city is The Chariots of Gods theme park, based on the sensationalist books of Erich von Däniken.
I have not read any.
Baroness Valentine said the project is a £300 million ($381.7 million) undertaking, the largest the city will have ever known, and added the only business currently on the proposed site not agreeing to vacate is the Courts of Justice, which I imagine sits rather more in the world of reality, not that of aliens with intergalactic spaceship runways in the Andes Mountains, which seems to be the stuff of Von Däniken’s quill.
No construction is due until 2024, but the message here is that hoteliers should get their plans together to capitalize on this as soon as possible.
John McGrillen, CEO of Tourism Northern Ireland, spoke of the novels and TV series “Game of Thrones.”
(No, do not ask me if I have seen this. I have not.)
McGrillen said “360,000 tourists have come to Northern Ireland because of the series,” which I know is a sensation as anything crossing my eyes related to it is stamped with a “spoiler alert.”
McGrillen is planning, though, but got in deep water because of it.
“We advertised the ease of reaching Northern Ireland from Dublin’s international airport. It is 90 minutes away, but that rather angered the airports in Northern Ireland,” McGrillen said. He hinted he’d been accused of something close to treachery but defended himself by stating that there are no flights to Northern Ireland from the Americas, but there are 30 or so a day to Dublin.
Meanwhile, I am reading the autobiography of Orkney Islands’ writer George Mackay Brown, whose writing is full of sagas, mystery and fable.
As for the main thrust of the forum, the points and arguments made by speakers and attendees, an article will be published on Hotel News Now on Thursday. And given the current state of politics and Brexit here, my copy might be even more fantastical than the TV series described above.
After all, fact is always more fanciful than fiction.
Email Terence Baker or find him on Twitter.
The opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Hotel News Now or its parent company, STR and its affiliated companies. Bloggers published on this site are given the freedom to express views that may be controversial, but our goal is to provoke thought and constructive discussion within our reader community. Please feel free to comment or contact an editor with any questions or concerns.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line115
|
__label__cc
| 0.601663
| 0.398337
|
Home > Economy > José Ramon Rivero: “In Venezuela, we are going against the tide of (...)
About Venezuela, read also
Venezuela: coup d’État scenario too perfect Confronting the crisis of imperialist globalisation A vote for renewed peace and national dialogue in Venezuela Venezuela – opting for the worst right wing policies. Venezuela Up Against the Strategy Of a Permanent Coup Hugo Chavez: a light has gone out Chavez and Lula Go On The Road Venezuala and Iran: Chavez and Ahmadinejad Pressuring OPEC Venezuela: 60% for Chavez, the Popular Choice United Nations: When Washington Dictates its Law A Walk for Peace
About Latin America, read also
Apocalypse Brazil Fidel Castro, thorn in the side of United States’ hegemony At the end of 2015 the figures are astounding: "Bringing Markets Into Line with Social Needs" “Reyes’s Murder Aimed at Triggering a Regional Crisis” Latin America Heads For Socialism
THE RUNOFF FOR THE RICH. THE RICE GRAIN POLICY Resources: In Vittel, Water no longer Flows from the Spring Laurent Brun says: “the next phase is privatisation of the SNCF” Diplomacy from Atlanticism to Gaullism, Macron Embodies all the Lines Alternatives to uberization of labour in the making Free Trade. The Left unite against CETA Denis Durand: "To change the behavior of banks, we must take control of them" A Toxic Law, Poisonous to Health Unemployment: 84 percent of French people do not believe in the drop Taxation: Bercy softer on the definition of tax havens than Brussels Agreement on fishing in Brussels The 32 hour week, the best defence against unemployment
ORIGINAL FRENCH ARTICLE: « Au Venezuela, nous allons à contresens du néolibéralisme »
by Cathy Ceïbe
José Ramon Rivero: “In Venezuela, we are going against the tide of neo-liberalism”
Translated Friday 10 August 2007, by Patrick Bolland
Latin America: An interview with the Venezuelan labour minister, José Ramon Rivero, who describes the reform of working hours in Venezuela, recalling also the tensions between the Government and the Venezuelan Employers’ Confederation (Fedecamaras).
Huma: The working-time reform should start in 2010: six hours a day or 36 hours a week. In what way is this a “socialist proposal”, which is how you have refered to it?
José Ramon Rivero: In these times when capitalist governments are dismantling the historic gains won by the workers, reforming working time is obviously off-limits, out-of-order. In Venezuela, we are going against the tide of neo-liberalism. While the advocates of neo-liberalism plan to privatize social security, we are offering guarantees that this will remain public, universal and based on solidarity. They are advocating fragmentation of the role of the State, which, they say, should outsource its functions. As for us, we believe that to answer the numerous problems that we will be facing, the State has to be solid, strong, united, with clear policies. So this is a socialist programme with its origins in the labour movement. This proposal had also been supported by the professional and bourgeois sectors of the society, but they have gradually abandoned it after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Since then, social rights have been lost.
Huma: Won’t this proposal also lead to higher levels of unemployment and encourage the informal economy?
José Ramon Rivero: The latest statistics indicate an unemployment level of 8.8%. The reform will above all change work practices. Companies will have to change their labour practices. We also hope that workers will benefit from their free time, by regenerating culture and art, through more university studies, sports, more family activities.
Huma: You see wage policy as one of the most important aspects of the government …
José Ramon Rivero: The minimum wage is now about $286 a month. It has gone up regularly over the last eight years, above the average inflation rate. Except the years of the coup d’Etat and the sabotaging of the petrol industry by the Confederation of Venezuelan Workers (CTV) (in 2002 and 2003 respectively - editor’s note). This indicator is critical, since the minimum salary also determines pension payments. Every time the minimum wage goes up, we index pensions by the same amount. When President Chavez formed his first government in 1998, there were 356,000 pensioners (in a population of 26 million – editor’s note). Today there are 1,740,000. We were able to adopt this pension policy through the social security programme, which, in 1998, was about to be privatized.
Huma: How does the mixed economy function in Venezuela – with the private sector, the public sector, but also the cooperative sector?
José Ramon Rivero: Allow me to say that this has not been easy. The principle representative of the private sector, the Employers’ Confederation (Fedecamaras) has in the last few years conspired to overturn the government. Through a real and direct social dialogue, the government and the managers of cooperatives are looking for ways of establishing productive structures to solve the problems. Some sectors, such as car assembly plants, have direct links to the government, for lack of intermediaries. We have taken over 1,114 companies that closed down or were facing serious difficulties, with an overall budget for this of $520 million. Up to today, we have distributed half of this amount. Transnational corporations have also been nationalized. Others have been taken over because they had ceased production. GNP has increased by 7% over the last few years. We have now experienced 14 consecutive trimesters of growth. I want to insist that, in terms of growth, it is the private sector that has grown most. It’s unfortunate that the Fedecamaras doesn’t just represent employers but also operates as a political party.
Huma: At the International Labour Organisation, you have attacked the IMF’s responsibility in fomenting Latin American crises. Is this a confirmation that that Venezuela will be withdrawing from the IMF and move ahead with creating the so-called “Bank of the South” (Banco del Sur)?
José Ramon Rivero: The IMF’s policies and neo-liberal “economic packages” are at the root of impoverishment of new sectors of the population, of selling off nearly all state corporations in some Latin American countries … The least we can do is to denounce this mistaken policy. These institutions are in a critical phase. This “Bank of the South” will support States that promote political sovereignty. The bank is based on economic integration pacts, placing more emphasis on solidarity than profitability. Complementarity and multipolarity are essential to be able to counter the notion that there is one and only one hegemonic block, led by Washington, that believes it can make and unmake the world according to its own wishes.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line116
|
__label__wiki
| 0.541075
| 0.541075
|
Arts and Film
International & Cultural
Philosophy and Faith
Professionally written papers on this topic:
Karl Marx and Alienation
This 5 page report discusses the ideas and ideals of Karl Marx as they relate to alienation. Karl Marx spent his entire life working for revolution, in t...
A Review of W.E.B. DuBois' "The Souls of Black Folks"
A 5 page discussion of the cultural environment in which "The Souls of Black Folk" was written and the message which the author sought to convey....
Changing Five Unhappy People
A 3 page paper. Anyone who has been in the position of having to make changes in an organization or any other group will find that some people are going t...
Dominican Republic, Its History and People
This 3 page research paper reports on the history of the Dominican Republic. The writer discusses the history of its settlement, its association with pirat...
Cults And Why People Join Them
A 5 page paper. The fate of so many cults, i.e., mass suicides, armed stand-offs with law enforcement, has been highly publicized and yet, cults still fin...
Click here to view more papers...
alienated people
Alienated People The Oxford dictionary defines alienation as; to estrange, isolate, detach, distance, to put a distance, to turn away from another person. Alienation, like a lot of other social attitudes and concepts, can give a wide variety of interests. I have found six main points in The Encyclopedia of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Psychoanalysis that have gotten the most attention and things written about alienation; A) Powerlessness: The feeling, belief, or expectancy that a persons behavior can't control some events whether positive or negative, B) Meaninglessness: The person feels incomprehensive in his/her social life and feels the "absurdity of life", C) Normlessness: High expectancies for, or commitment to socially unapproved ways to achieving a goal, one will go about achieving a goal in a not normally excepted way, D) Cultural Estrangement: person's individual values rejected by society, the image that the alienated value's not being standard to that of the environment around him/her, E) Social Isolation: The individuals low expectancy for inclusion and social exceptance, being lonely and commonly found a member of a minority or physically disabled, F) Self Estrangement: This focuses on the discrepancy or differences between one's ideal self and one's actual self. In the novel, The Metamorphosis, Gregor wakes up one morning as a giant insect and feels out of place. When Gregor sees his father and his attitude to him, Gregor feels alienated in that fact that his father yells and shows his anger and frustration to his son and throws an apple which gets stuck in his slimy backside. His father feels Gregor has not become successful and a failure. He probably also feels that he has let his sister down along with his mother for not being supportive enough as the father was not. Continuing with the same concept of Mr. Samsa not being a good father, Gregor felt alienated again by his mother and sister by not filling in the father role while his father was out or doing whatever. His mom and sister took things out of his room and the only thing left was a picture of a woman who he probably felt was the only thing close to him. His boss surely wasn't and his family was sure not there either. In I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya gets an incredible toothache and is taken to the dentist who refuses to work on her because of her race. Because of Dr. Lincoln and his nurses, Maya feels distrusted, hated, and these things prevent her from receiving her share of community respect. She remains unacknowledged except by her black neighbors. Towards the end of the novel, Maya lacks parental support and runs away. Sleeping in old cars and meeting other run away children as independent as she is. She feels abandoned by family but gains trust in the gang members and enjoy the illusion of freedom. She has nowhere to go and has no choice but to go with these hoodlums and try to survive, she's lost on the inside. Looking at my workbook and the notes I have taken, I find some interesting points on alienation. The modernist growing sense of self-fragmentation, alienation, and self-violence in the name of trying to find some comprehensive vision of human purpose (the CD-ROM to workbook) has become completely impossible for some humans. The media and new technologies are disrupting the way we want to live and corrupting our everyday lives. There is no perfect way to live but these things are blocking us and trying to pursue us into believing that these are the things that will make life better. In the same light as the media, these people have constructed the truth. They have twisted some forms of it making the interviewed seem more demented and pre-mediated in the things they do. Doing articles to get paid and not all truly into the article or having any interest in it at all. I feel most reporters want to get the dirt on people because the story will sell or people want to only see the nasty things about people which I also believe is very true. We need to stop looking at the bad things as interesting and focus on the good things people are doing today and acknowledge them. The media really separates the two ideas. Urban life and huge cities have alienated us from the real American way of living compared to a small town or country. Driving through small cities we don't see large buildings and bright lights, but average farmers putting in a decent days work to provide us big wigs with food everyday. Fields and roadside markets with the old American style. We probably sometimes feel different entering these places but we are not use to seeing it and it makes us believe in something but we don't exactly know what that something is. Whether it's the way we live or the way we want to live, urbanized life has changed our society as a whole. The density of our population has come to be so great that we feel alienated even in our own community. I feel alienated in college because of the enormous amount of people and the way people treat each other. Only knowing a small amount of people compared to the population is hard and can sometimes be mentally tiring on a person especially if they have one or two friends. Moving to another city is another great example of being alienated because you don't know anybody. When I first came here to Arizona State I felt weird because I didn't know anyone and it took me some time to get know the people and the professors teaching me. Life can be much easier I feel if you meet new people everyday and get to know the diversity around you.
972 wds
Home FAQ Info Contact Us Advertising
Just Free Papers © 2019 Intuitive Products International, all rights reserved. Disclaimer
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line119
|
__label__cc
| 0.725738
| 0.274262
|
Work from Cages (my title, his works are various cages in the series), Botanical World Archive, and Swimming Pool.
“Since the nineties Wesley Meuris(*Lier,1977) has been fascinated by our relationship with architecture, and more especially by the way we convert particular patterns of thought, needs and desires into functions and codes of behaviour, which we then translate literally into architectural rules and forms. Meuris extracts these forms from their original contexts and reconstructs them, not as a faithful imitation, but as dazzling creations. For example, he distils the form and colour of changing cubicles (Kulak, 2005) and reduces them to a series of parameters, measurements and materials. These give rise to sculptures which he then transposes to ‘another’ context. This leads to powerful, refined and monumental forms often commended for their aesthetic beauty and perfection. (2)
Meuris recently commenced a thoroughgoing analysis and deconstruction of animal cages and aquaria and this led to a new development in his work, called ‘Zoological Classification System’. (3)
Meuris devised two large ‘cage sculptures’ for his ‘Artificially Deconstructed’ exhibition at De Bond, an art exhibition space in Bruges. (4)
The exhibition circuit starts at the back, on the right, at the glass home of a dwarf hippopotamus and then goes to the left, where we see an open cage intended for an okapi. It is striking that Meuris actively involves the entire space and its existing functions, including the toilets and emergency exits, in his sculptures, and vice versa. As a consequence we do not experience art objects standing detached in the space, but rather an ‘all-inclusive installation’ within which the spectator moves with apparent freedom.
As in previous works, the artist is in this case by no means imitating existing animal cages. He bases his cage sculptures on a sort of common denominator from which he designs his own form. He continues his analysis of the architectural form, unlike previous works, which acted as formal and functional statements. Examples of the latter are the Urinal (NICC, 2004), the marvellous Swimming Pool (Eclips, 2004), the mediaeval Trench Latrine 2 x 34L (Ename, 2004) and the 17 1-Person Cabins (swimming pool changing cubicles, Kulak, 2005).
These works are examples of an exploration of isolated objects, whereas the cages can be said to be a systematic analysis of various types and applications. In addition to the incisive study of the architectural aspects, Meuris turns his gaze beyond the physical boundaries and typology of the animal cage. Just as in a zoo or other scientific institution, he hangs extremely credible information panels above the caged animals next to his sculptures. They give the Latin name for the animal, various items of scientific data and a map of the world showing the original habitat.
Where is Meuris taking us? It is in any case doubtful whether all he wants to share with us in the present animal cage series is just the visual splendour or sculptural qualities of these forms. One can interpret this attention to taxonomy and geography in various ways. Some critics opt for a mainly aesthetic analysis and associate this focus mainly with Meuris’ interest in classification, coding, etc. However, in the present article we have opted for another angle.
Whichever way we look at it, the function and origin of an animal cage is far removed from swimming pools, latrines and sports fields, which we can classify as forms of utility or recreational architecture. (5) Historically speaking, the cage lies at the intersection of several customs and cultures that placed great importance on observing, collecting and then exhibiting other people and other things, meaning foreign people and animals. (6)
Human history shows us that there is only a very small gap between seeing, the ‘scientific’ observation of other people, and domination, even appropriation and exhibition. We encounter this desire to dominate in language too. When we communicate with or about someone or something, forms of coding are of course indispensable. In this sense we are obliged to name the other person, and include them in a system of meaning. However, the question is whether we can do this in a non-normative whole and what our actual intentions are. It is perhaps simplistic to say that the wish and above all the ability to name, classify and ultimately to colonise those things or people who are external to ourselves is a matter not only of practical and intellectual interest, but above all of the analyst’s position of or hunger for power, but there is something to be said for it. It should come as no surprise that the first time we come across animal collections and zoos in the course of human history, they are the possession of kings and other powerful people. It was only in the 18th century that the general public was given access to the European menageries of the time. Nor is it at all astonishing that the mainly Western urge for colonial conquest and the birth of the natural sciences made the number of zoos increase exponentially. Of course there is nothing essentially wrong with such things as zoology, the theory of biological classification and taxonomy, or geography, etc. But we can hardly separate the history of these scientific methods and thinking from their anthropocentric and ethnocentric backgrounds. In this series of human discourses the desire for discoveries and scientific research went hand in hand with the occupation and exploitation of regions and all their inhabitants. This in its turn led to the birth of a more extensive cartography and taxonomy and the invention of a set of new buildings and constructions. The zoo and its collection of cages is one of the physical exponents of this. We cannot therefore consider the zoo as separate from other institutions, practices or art forms such as the wunderkammer (collection of curios) and the ethnographic museum, or from the often dubious colonial photography, certain types of travel literature, exotic painting, etc. They are all part of a complex process of interpretation, distortion and ultimately capture of the other, people and animals, which are seen implicitly as inferior.
Fortunately the zoos distanced themselves from this damaging colonial past, but then, despite their scientific aspirations, they opted for a shaky position as part of the ever-expanding leisure industry. Although the present-day zoo often has educational activities and in some cases the conservation of certain endangered species is a policy option, it remains above all an institution where one can satisfy one’s thirst for exoticism, curiosity and sensations. They hold the promise of a reconstruction of the most inaccessible habitats and their occupants, some of whom are dangerous to man. These animals are seized, neutralised and put on show. Both in the cage, and also in the world map and the Latin name, we shut them up in a territory which we ourselves have devised. This process is part of our construction of and relation to reality, but it is at the same time a reflection of an inner mental fact, which is our compelling desire for a strict separation from and the necessary remote control of the other. This may perhaps only have been an incidental intention, but in his combined study of the cage and the taxonomic and geographical description, Meuris touches on one of the cores of our spatial occupation and urge to possess. He rationally deconstructs these architectural forms and their related meaning systems, but at the same time exposes these buildings’ inherent cruelty, but without pedantry, pamphleteering or intending to convey a message.
In his cage sculptures, Meuris puts the emphasis mainly on the perceptibility of the object and the comfort in which we can view it. The animals can be seen from several angles; the sculptures mainly emphasise the position of the spectator. We are forced to consider the question of ‘what, or whom, is Meuris essentially putting on show here?’ Here too one can opt for a purely aesthetic analysis, but can one simply close one’s eyes to so much looking?
In the case of these cages, the viewer’s pleasure comes not only from the experience of the aesthetic brilliance of the sculpture, but is also, almost unnoticed, perfidious.
After all, the spectator can delight in the spectacle of an imprisonment and domination that is perfectly pure because it is cleansed and painless.
The artist accentuates the visibility of a non-image, the absence of the animal, and in precisely this way turns the spotlight on the ubiquitous architectural context, its hidden background and the true protagonist. (7) We saw that an overpowering looking goes hand in hand with forms of literal dominance. The artist is here imprisoning us, shutting us up with our gaze in an animal cage, an emptied stage.
At De Bond, Meuris guides the visitor through a series of changing scales. On the one hand there are the ‘life-sized’ cages, which are themselves miniature versions of the animal’s natural environment, and on the other hand there are the signs with their world maps and the scientific data he makes use of. Finally, he literally absorbs us into the greater overall installation.
This time we wander around in his world. How do we get out of this cage system?
1. Foucault, Michel; Surveiller et punir, Paris, 1975, p. 234.
2. We here refer, among other things, to Herman Parret’s article in Kunst Nu (October 2005) and various reviews.
3. The first cage sculpture was shown at ARCO in Madrid (February 2005).
4. Meuris’ interest in the deconstructive methods of Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) is apparent not only from the title of this exhibition, but also, and above all, in his artistic practices.
5. Although there can be no doubt that looking at captured animals is for many people a form of leisure.
6. We should not forget that various African peoples were exhibited live, alongside or together with animals. One notorious example is the Khoi-San woman ‘Saartje’, who was displayed all over Europe, often shut up in a cage (see, among other things, Hall, Stuart: The Spectacle of the Other, London, 1997, pp. 264-269). This case turned out not to be unique, and this practice lasted at least until the world exhibition in Brussels in 1958. See, among others, Corbey, Raymond, Wildheid en beschaving, Nijmegen, 1989, including ills. 99, 103, 104, 107 & 108.
7. In this sense, Meuris turns Jeremy Bentham’s renowned panopticon inside out. The guard/spectator is now in the spotlight, and not the prisoner.” – Michel Dewilde
Tags: architecture, artifical, conceptual, control, installation, mimicry, sculpture
The entry 'Wesley Meuris' was posted on June 7th, 2009 at 4:33 pm and is filed under architecture, artifical, conceptual, control, installation, mimicry, sculpture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
« Jonathan Dankenbring
Tom Sachs »
Location : Wesley Meuris | i like this art
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line120
|
__label__wiki
| 0.981659
| 0.981659
|
ITV 1963 – from Transdiffusion
The ITA’s guide to Independent Television in 1963
Tag: North-East England and Border Regions
ITV’s Regional Pattern
London: The ITA’s transmitter at Croydon was opened on 22nd September 1955. It serves a population of 13 million in and around London. Programmes are provided by Associated-Rediffusion Ltd. (A-R) from Mondays to Fridays and by Associated TeleVision Ltd. (ATV) on Saturdays and Sundays.
The Midlands: The ITA’s transmitter at Lichfield was opened on 17th February 1956. It serves a population of 8¾ million. Programmes are provided by Associated TeleVision Ltd. (ATV) from Mondays to Fridays and by ABC Television Ltd. on Saturdays and Sundays.
The North: A population of 12½ million in Lancashire and Yorkshire is served by the ITA’s transmitters at Winter Hill and Emley Moor, opened in 1956. Programmes are provided by Granada TV Network Ltd. from Mondays to Fridays and by ABC Television Ltd. on Saturdays and Sundays. ITA Regional Officer: S. D. Murphy, Astley House, Quay Street, Manchester 3. Manchester Blackfriars 2707.
Scotland: THE ITA SCOTTISH COMMITTEE: Professor David Talbot Rice, M.B.E. (Chairman); Mr. Frank Donachy, O.B.E. 3 Mr. ]ohh Fergus, F.I.P.A.; The Rev. Arthur H. Gray; Dr. H. Stewart Mackintosh, C.B.E.; Sir William MacTaggart, P.R.S.A.; Mrs. T. N. Morgan; Miss Barbara L. Napier, J.P.; The Rev. Dr. W. A. Smellie.
Scotland is served by five of the ITA’s transmitters. A population of 4 million in Central Scotland is reached by the Black Hill station opened in 1957, the first after the three main areas had been covered. Programmes are provided by Scottish Television Ltd. (STV). North-East Scotland, with a population of 1.4 million, is served by the transmitters at Durris and Mounteagle, opened in 1961. Programmes are provided by Grampian Television Ltd. The southern borders of Scotland are served by the Caldbeck and Selkirk transmitters with programmes provided by Border Television Ltd. ITA Regional Officer for Scotland: John Lindsay, 147 West Regent Street, Glasgow C.2. Glasgow City 3130. (The Regional Officer for North-East England deals with the Border area.)
Wales and the West of England: THE ITA WELSH COMMITTEE: Mr. Jenkin Alban Davies, J.P. (Chairman); Dr. Ivor Davies; Miss Norah Isaac; Mrs. Enid Watkin ]ones; Mr. Thomas Ieuan Jeffrys Jones, M.A.; Major General Lewis Owain Pugh; Mr. Leslie Richards; The Rev. D. R. Thomas, M.A.
Two companies, TWW Ltd. and Wales (West & North) Ltd. (WWN), provide programmes for the Authority to broadcast to Welsh viewers. In addition to its responsibilities in South Wales, TWW also covers a wide area in the West of England; it provides programmes for the ITA’s transmitter at St. Hilary, opened in 1958, serving a population of 3.3 million. The technical difficulties of the area covered by Wales (West & North) Ltd. are indicated by the fact that three transmitters are needed in South-West, North-West and North-East Wales to broadcast its programmes to a population of about 1 million. These transmitters opened during 1962-63. ITA Regional Officer: L. J. Evans, Arlbee House, Greyfriars Place, Greyfriars Road, Cardiff. Cardiff 28759.
Southern England: Southern Television Ltd. provides programmes for Southern England from Kent to Dorset, an area which is not easily defined geographically or technically. The ITA’s transmitters at Chillerton Down on the Isle of Wight (opened in 1958) and at Dover (opened in 196O) serve a population of 4.3 million. ITA Regional Officer: Cmdr. G. W. Alcock, O.B.E., R.N. (Rtd.), 3o Portland Street, Southampton. Southampton 29115.
North-East England and Border Regions: The North-East of England, with programmes provided by Tyne Tees Television Ltd., is geographically, technically and socially well defined, consisting basically of the main part of the counties of Northumberland, Durham and the North Riding of Yorkshire. A population of 2.7 million is served from the ITAs transmitter at Burnhope, opened in 1959. Border Television Ltd. serves two nationalities as its area straddles the Anglo-Scottish border, its programmes being broadcast by one transmitter at Caldbeck and another at Selkirk in Scotland (opened 1961) to a population of nearly half a million. ITA Regional Officer: R. J. F. Larimer 32-4 Mosley Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Newcastle 61-0148.
East Anglia: This was the first predominantly rural area in which the Independent Television Authority appointed a programme contractor, Anglia Television Ltd. This area is again both historically and geographically well defined. The topography of the area necessitated the first 1,000 ft. mast erected for the Authority, to serve a population of 2½ million. Programme operation commenced in 1959. ITA Regional Officer: Major General D. A. L. Wade, C.B., O.B.E., M.C., Century Insurance Building, 24 Castle Meadow, Norwich. Norwich 23533.
Northern Ireland: THE ITA ULSTER COMMITTEE: Sir Lucius O’Brien (Chairman); Mr. John G. Colhoun; Rev. Dr. C. B. Daly; Mr. G. B. Newe, O.B.E.; Mrs. G. Seth; Professor C. L. Wilson; The Rev. J. H. Withers.
The Province of Northern Ireland is served by two transmitters. The major one near the principal centre of population, the Belfast area, opened in 1959. The second, at Strabane in the west of the Province, opened early in 1963. Programmes are provided by Ulster Television Ltd. The population served is 1.4 million. ITA Regional Officer: W. H. Wilson, 5 Donegall Square South, Belfast. Belfast 3o818.
South-West England and the Channel Islands: Another geographically well-defined area is the South-West of England, consisting of the peninsula of Cornwall, Devon and parts of Somerset and Dorset. Westward Television Ltd. serves a population of 1.6 million from the ITA’s transmitters at Caradon Hill and Stockland Hill (opened in 1961). Programmes for the Channel Islands are provided by the smallest of all the fifteen ITV programme companies, Channel Television Ltd. Programme operation commenced during 1962. ITA Regional Officer: W. A. C. Collingwood, O.B.E., Royal London House, Armada Way, Plymouth. Plymouth 63031.
Author Eric CrostonPosted on 1963 2016 Categories The ITV SystemTags East Anglia, London, North-East England and Border Regions, Northern Ireland, Regional Officers, regional pattern, regions, Scotland, South-West England and the Channel Islands, Southern England, The Midlands, The North, Wales and the West of EnglandLeave a comment on ITV’s Regional Pattern
Advertising Control
Children and Television
Light Entertainment
News and News Magazines
Programme Policy
Rhaglenni Cymreig
Staff and Organisation
Talks, Discussions, Documentaries
Technical Achievements
Hints for Better Reception
Running an ITA Station
Transmitting Stations and Coverage Maps
North-East Scotland
South and South-East England
South Wales and West of England
South-West England
West and North Wales
Television Act 1954, Sections 3, 4, 5 and 6
The Independent Television Authority
The ITV Audience
The ITV System
The Programme Companies
Anglia Television
Associated TeleVision
Associated-Rediffusion
Border Television
Channel Television
Grampian Television
Granada TV Network
Independent Television Companies Association
Independent Television News
Scottish Television
Tyne Tees Television
Ulster Television
Wales (West and North) Television – Teledu Cymru
Westward Television
Cite this site
Wikipedia: {{cite book |last=Croston |first=Eric |date=March 1963 |title=ITV 1963 |url=http://itv1963.retropia.co.uk/ |location=London |publisher=Independent Broadcasting Authority}}
Print: Croston, Eric. "ITV 1963". 1963. Web. http://itv1963.retropia.co.uk/
The Transdiffusion Network
Transdiffusion Broadcasting System
ABC at Large
Rediffusion, London
Televault
Retropia
my1960s.com
ITV 1963 – from Transdiffusion Proudly powered by WordPress
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line125
|
__label__wiki
| 0.872407
| 0.872407
|
Barbara Weakens to a Tropical Storm
Former Hurricane Barbara weakened to a tropical storm on Friday. At 5:00 p.m. EDT on Friday the center of Tropical Storm Barbara was located at latitude 18.6°N and longitude 134.7°W which put it about 1330 miles (2145 km) east of Hilo, Hawaii. Barbara was moving toward the west-northwest at 13 m.p.h. (20 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 60 m.p.h. (95 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 75 m.p.h. (120 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 997 mb.
The effects of vertical wind shear and cooler Sea Surface Temperatures caused former Hurricane Barbara to weaken quickly to a tropical storm on Friday. An upper level trough northeast of Hawaii produced strong southwesterly winds which blew the upper portion of the circulation north of the remainder of the tropical storm. In addition, Tropical Storm Barbara moved over water where the Sea Surface Temperature was near 25°C which meant there was less energy to support the development of taller thunderstorms. Tropical Storm Barbara still had a well formed circulation in the lower levels of the atmosphere. However, as a result of the strong shear and cooler water, bands consisted primarily of showers and lower clouds. Winds to tropical storm force extended out about 140 miles (220 km) from the center of circulation.
Tropical Storm Barbara will continue to move over cooler water and through a region of strong vertical wind shear during the next several days. Barbara will continue to weaken and it could be a tropical depression on Saturday.
Since Tropical Storm Barbara contains few tall thunderstorms, it is being steered by winds closer to the surface. A subtropical high pressure system north of Barbara will steer the tropical storm toward the west. On its anticipated track Tropical Storm Barbara will move toward Hawaii.
This entry was posted in Eastern and Central Pacific, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 02E, Baja California, Barbara, EP02, Hawaii, Hilo, Mexico, Tropical Storm Barbara on July 5, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
Hurricane Barbara Starts to Weaken
Hurricane Barbara started to weaken on Wednesday when it moved over cooler water well to the east of Hawaii. At 5:00 p.m. EDT on Wednesday the center of Hurricane Barbara was located at latitude 14.3°N and longitude 127.5°W which put it about 1860 miles (2990 km) east of Hilo, Hawaii. Barbara was moving toward the west-northwest at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 140 m.p.h. (220 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 170 m.p.h. (275 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 941 mb.
The circulation around Hurricane Barbara remained very well organized. There was a circular eye at the center of circulation. The eye was surrounded by a ring of strong thunderstorms and the strongest winds were occurring in that ring of storms. Several bands of showers and thunderstorms were revolving around the core of Hurricane Barbara. Storms near the core of the circulation were generating strong upper level divergence which was pumping mass away from the hurricane. Winds to hurricane force extended out about 45 miles (75 km) from the center of circulation. Winds to tropical storm force extended out about 185 miles (295 km) from the center.
Hurricane Barbara still rated at Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The Hurricane Intensity Index (HII) for Barbara was 28.3. The Hurricane Size Index (HSI) was 16.5 and the Hurricane Wind Intensity Size Index (HWISI) was 44.8.
Hurricane Barbara will gradually move into an environment less capable of supporting a strong hurricane during the next few days. Barbara will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 26°C. As a result, Hurricane Barbara will extract less energy from the upper ocean and it will gradually weaken. Barbara will move closer to an upper level trough located northeast of Hawaii. When Hurricane Barbara gets closer to the trough later this week, stronger upper level southwesterly winds will create more vertical wind shear and the hurricane will weaken more quickly.
Hurricane Barbara will move south of a subtropical ridge over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. The ridge will steer Barbara toward the west-northwest during the next 24 to 36 hours. The ridge is forecast to strengthen on Friday and it will steer Hurricane Barbara more toward the west when that happens. On its anticipated track Barbara could approach Hawaii in about five days. It will be much weaker by that time.
This entry was posted in Eastern and Central Pacific, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 02E, Baja California, Barbara, EP02, Hawaii, Hilo, Hurricane Barbara, HWISI, Mexico on July 3, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
Tropical Storm Mun Develops Near Hainan Island
Tropical Storm Mun developed near Hainan Island on Tuesday when the Japan Meteorological Agency designated an area of low pressure as a tropical storm. At 5:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday the center of Tropical Storm Mun was located at latitude 19.4°N and longitude 109.8°E which put the center over Hainan Island and it was about 225 miles (365 km) east-southeast of Hai Phong, Vietnam. Mun was moving toward the west at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 40 m.p.h. (65 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 50 m.p.h. (80 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 994 mb.
The circulation around Tropical Storm Mun was very large but it did not have a well developed inner core. Winds to tropical storm force extended out several hundred miles from the center of circulation. However, there were few thunderstorms near the center. The strongest thunderstorms were in two bands in the western periphery of the circulation. Other bands around Tropical Storm Mun consisted primarily of showers and lower clouds.
Tropical Storm Mun will move through an environment that is not favorable for intensification. After Mun moves west of Hainan Island the tropical storm will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 30°C. So, there is plenty of energy in the upper ocean to support intensification. However, Tropical Storm Mun will move south of an upper level ridge over eastern Asia. The ridge will produce strong northeasterly winds which will cause strong vertical wind shear. The wind shear will prevent significant intensification of Tropical Storm Mun.
Since Tropical Storm Mun does not have a well developed inner core with tall thunderstorms, it will be steered by the winds at lower levels in the atmosphere. Southeasterly winds blowing as part of the monsoonal circulation will push Mun toward the border between Vietnam and China. On its anticipated track the center of Tropical Storm Mun will move inland within 24 hours. Mun will bring some gusty winds and locally heavy rain to portions of northeastern Vietnam and southeastern China. Heavy rain could cause flash floods in some locations.
This entry was posted in Tropical Cyclones, Western North Pacific and tagged 96W, China, Hainan, Mun, Tropical Storm Mun, Vietnam, WP96 on July 2, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
Barbara Rapidly Intensifies Into a Major Hurricane
Hurricane Barbara rapidly intensified into a major hurricane on Tuesday as it moved over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean between Baja California and Hawaii. At 11:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday the center of Hurricane Barbara was located at latitude 12.5°N and longitude 122.2°W which put it about 1080 miles (1740 km) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Barbara was moving toward the west-northwest at 14 m.p.h. (22 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 130 m.p.h. (215 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 150 m.p.h. (240 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 948 mb.
Hurricane Barbara continued to intensify rapidly on Tuesday. A circular eye became more evident on satellite imagery. The eye was surrounded by a ring of strong thunderstorms and the strongest winds were occurring in that ring of storms. Storms near the core of Barbara were generating strong upper level divergence which was pumping mass away from the hurricane in all directions. Multiple bands of showers and thunderstorms were revolving around the core of Hurricane Barbara. Winds to hurricane force extended out about 25 miles (40 km) from the center of circulation. Winds to tropical storm force extended out about 200 miles (320 km) in the southeastern quadrant of the circulation. Tropical storm force winds extended out about 120 miles (195 km) from the center in the other three quadrants.
Hurricane Barbara was at Category 4 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. The Hurricane Intensity Index (HII) for Barbara was 25.1. The Hurricane Size Index (HSI) was 11.0 and the Hurricane Wind Intensity Size Index (HWISI) was 36.1.
Hurricane Barbara will move through an environment very favorable for strong hurricanes for another 12 to 24 hours. Barbara will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 28°C. It will move through an area where the upper level winds are weak and there will be little vertical wind shear. Hurricane Barbara is likely to intensify further during the next 12 hours. If a rainband wraps around the existing eye and eyewall, then an eyewall replacement cycle could cause Barbara to weaken. Hurricane Barbara will approach cooler water on Wednesday and it is likely to start to weaken by that time. Barbara will move into an area where the upper level winds are stronger later this week and it could weaken more quickly when the wind shear increases.
Hurricane Barbara will move south of a subtropical ridge over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. The ridge will steer Barbara in a west-northwesterly direction during the next several days. On its anticipated track Hurricane Barbara will move in the general direction of Hawaii.
This entry was posted in Eastern and Central Pacific, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 02E, Baja California, Barbara, EP02, Hawaii, Hurricane Barbara, Mexico on July 2, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
Barbara Rapidly Intensifies Into a Hurricane
Former Tropical Storm Barbara rapidly intensified into a hurricane over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean on Monday. At 5:00 p.m. EDT on Monday the center of Hurricane Barbara was located at latitude 11.5°N and longitude 118.5°W which put it about 970 miles (1560 km) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Barbara was moving toward the west at 16 m.p.h. (26 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 85 m.p.h. (135 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 100 m.p.h. (160 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 983 mb.
Hurricane Barbara intensified rapidly on Monday. An eye formed at the center of circulation and a ring of strong thunderstorms surrounded the eye. The strongest winds were occurring in that ring of storms. Bands of showers and thunderstorms were revolving around the core of the circulation. Storm near the core of Barbara were generating strong upper level divergence which was pumping mass away from the hurricane. Winds to hurricane force extended out about 25 miles (40 km) from the center of circulation. Winds to tropical storm force extended out about 160 miles (260 km) from the center.
Hurricane Barbara will move through an environment very favorable for intensification during the next 36 to 48 hours. Barbara will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 29°C. It will move through a region where the upper level winds are weak and there will be little vertical wind shear. Hurricane Barbara will continue to intensify rapidly and it is expected to strengthen into a major hurricane on Tuesday.
Hurricane Barbara will move south of a subtropical ridge over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean during the next few days. The ridge will steer Barbara toward the west-northwest. On its anticipated track Hurricane Barbara will move farther away from Baja California and the rest of Mexico.
Tropical Storm Barbara Forms South of Baja California
Tropical Storm Barbara formed south of Baja California on Sunday as the remnants of former Hurricane Alvin were dissipating over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. At 11:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday the center of Tropical Storm Barbara was located at latitude 10.6°N and longitude 110.4°W which put it about 850 miles (1370 km) south of the southern tip of Baja California. Barbara was moving toward the west-northwest at 16 m.p.h. (26 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 40 m.p.h. (65 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 50 m.p.h. (80 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 1006 mb.
More thunderstorms developed near the center of a low pressure system south of Baja California on Sunday and the National Hurricane Center designated the system as Tropical Storm Barbara. Bands of showers and thunderstorms were revolving around the center of circulation. Storms near the center were generating upper level divergence which was pumping mass away from the tropical storm. Tropical Storm Barbara was larger than former Hurricane Alvin. Winds to tropical storms force extended out about 80 miles (130 km) from the center of circulation.
Tropical Storm Barbara will move through an environment favorable for intensification during the next several days. Barbara will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 29°C. It will move through an area where the upper level winds are weak and there will be little vertical wind shear. Tropical Storm Barbara will continue to intensify and it is likely to strengthen into a hurricane by the middle of the week. Barbara could intensify rapidly when the inner core is more developed.
Tropical Storm Barbara will move south of a subtropical ridge over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. The ridge will steer Barbara toward the west-northwest. On its anticipated track Tropical Storm Barbara will move away from Baja California and the rest of Mexico.
This entry was posted in Eastern and Central Pacific, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 02E, Baja California, Barbara, EP02, Hawaii, Mexico, Tropical Storm Barbara on June 30, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
Alvin Strengthens Into a Hurricane Southwest of Baja California
Former Tropical Storm Alvin strengthened into a hurricane southwest of Baja California on Thursday evening. At 11:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday the center of Hurricane Alvin was located at latitude 17.4°N and longitude 115.4°W which put it about 520 miles (840 km) southwest of the southern tip of Baja California. Alvin was moving toward the northwest at 16 m.p.h. (26 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 75 m.p.h. (120 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 90 m.p.h. (145 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 992 mb.
The circulation around Hurricane Alvin exhibited much greater organization on Wednesday. A small circular eye with a diameter of 10 miles (15 km) appeared at the center of circulation. The eye was surrounded by a ring of strong thunderstorms and the strongest winds were occurring in that ring of storms. The circulation around Hurricane Alvin was very small. Winds to hurricane force extended out only 10 miles (15 km) from the center of circulation. Winds to tropical storm force extended out about 50 miles (80 km) from the center.
Hurricane Alvin may be near its maximum intensity. Alvin was moving over water where the Sea Surface Temperature was near 27°C. However, it will move over cooler water on Friday. The small size of the circulation around Hurricane Alvin could allow it to weaken quickly once it moves over the cooler water.
Hurricane Alvin will move near the western end of a subtropical ridge over Eastern North Pacific Ocean. The ridge will steer Alvin toward the west-northwest during the next several days. On its anticipated track Hurricane Alvin is forecast to weaken when it moves over colder water between Baja California and Hawaii.
This entry was posted in Eastern and Central Pacific, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 01E, Alvin, Baja California, EP01, Hawaii, Hurricane Alvin, Mexico on June 28, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
Tropical Storm Sepat Forms Near Honshu
Tropical Storm Sepat formed near Honshu on Thursday. More thunderstorms formed near the center of a low pressure system near the southeast coast of Honshu on Thursday and the Japan Meteorological Agency designated the system as Tropical Storm Sepat. At 8:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday the center of Tropical Storm Sepat was located at latitude 32.6°N and longitude 134.7°E which put it about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Susami, Japan. Sepat was moving toward the northeast at 32 m.p.h. (50 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 40 m.p.h. (65 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 50 m.p.h. (80 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 998 mb.
The distribution of thunderstorms around Tropical Storm Sepat was asymmetrical. The strongest thunderstorms were in several bands south and east of the center of circulation. Bands in the other parts of the circulation consisted primarily of showers and lower clouds. Storms southeast of the center of Sepat were generating upper level divergence which was pumping mass away to the northeast of the tropical storm. Winds to tropical storm force extended out about 150 miles (240 km) to the east of the center of circulation.
Tropical Storm Sepat will move through an environment marginally favorable for intensification during the next 12 to 24 hours. Sepat will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 24°C. An upper level trough west of Japan will produce strong southwesterly winds which will blow toward the top of the circulation. Those winds will cause moderate vertical wind shear, which is the primary reason for the asymmetrical distribution of thunderstorms. Moderate vertical wind shear and cooler water will cause the structure of Tropical Storm Sepat to change to that of an extratropical cyclone. Sepat could strengthen during the extratropical transition because upper level divergence will cause the surface pressure to decrease.
The upper level trough will steer Tropical Storm Sepat rapidly toward the northeast. On its anticipated track the center of Tropical Storm Sepat will pass near the coast of Honshu. Sepat will bring gusty winds and it could drop locally heavy rain.
This entry was posted in Tropical Cyclones, Western North Pacific and tagged 94W, Honshu, Japan, Osaka, Sepat, Tokyo, Tropical Storm Sepat, WP94 on June 27, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
Tropical Storm Alvin Develops South of Baja California
Tropical Storm Alvin developed south of Baja California on Wednesday morning, when former Tropical Depression One-E strengthened to a tropical storm. At 11:00 a.m. EDT on Wednesday the center of Tropical Storm Alvin was located at latitude 14.7°N and longitude 109.4°W which put it about 565 miles (915 km) south of the southern tip of Baja California. Alvin was moving toward the west at 14 m.p.h. (22 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 40 m.p.h. (65 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 50 m.p.h. (80 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 1005 mb.
The circulation around Tropical Storm Alvin exhibited greater organization on Wednesday morning. A band of thunderstorms wrapped around the eastern side of the center of circulation. Other bands of showers and thunderstorms were organizing in the eastern half of the circulation. Winds to tropical storm force extended out about 35 miles (55 km) from the center on the eastern side of the circulation. Bands in the western half of the circulation consisted primarily of showers and lower clouds. Storms near the center were generating upper level divergence which was pumping mass away from the tropical storm.
Tropical Storm Alvin will move through an environment favorable for intensification during the next 24 to 36 hours. Alvin will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 28°C. Tropical Storm Alvin will move south of an upper level ridge. The ridge will produce northeasterly winds which will blow toward the top of the circulation. Those winds will cause some vertical wind shear, but the shear will not be strong enough to prevent intensification. Tropical Storm Alvin will intensify during the next day or two and it could strengthen into a hurricane.
The upper level ridge will steer Tropical Storm Alvin toward the west during the next several days. Alvin could move a little to the south of due west during the next 24 hours. On its anticipated track Tropical Storm Alvin will move steadily farther away from Mexico.
This entry was posted in Eastern and Central Pacific, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 01E, Alvin, Baja California, EP01, Hawaii, Mexico, Tropical Storm Alvin on June 26, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
Tropical Depression One-E Forms West of Mexico
Tropical Depression One-E formed west of Mexico on Tuesday afternoon. More thunderstorms developed close to the center of a low pressure system over the Eastern North Pacific Ocean and the National Hurricane Center designated the system as Tropical Depression One-E. At 5:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday the center of Tropical Depression One-E was located at latitude 15.2°N and longitude 105.7°W which put it about 280 miles (450 km) south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. The depression was moving toward the west-northwest at 15 m.p.h. (24 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 30 m.p.h. (50 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 40 m.p.h. (65 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 1007 mb.
The circulation around Tropical Depression One-E exhibited greater organization on Tuesday afternoon. Several short bands of showers and thunderstorms were developing near the center of circulation. One band was north of the center, another was west of the center and a third band was south of the center of circulation. Bands east of the center consisted primarily of showers and lower clouds. Thunderstorms near the center of circulation were beginning to generate upper level divergence which was pumping mass away from the tropical depression.
Tropical Depression One-E will move through an environment favorable for intensification during the next day or two. The depression will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 28°C. It will move south of an upper level ridge over Mexico and the Eastern North Pacific Ocean. The ridge will produce northeasterly winds which will blow toward the top of the circulation. Those winds will cause some vertical wind shear which will slow the rate of intensification, but the shear will not be strong enough to prevent intensification. Tropical Depression One-E is likely to intensify into a tropical storm during the next 24 to 36 hours.
A subtropical ridge north of Tropical Depression One-E will steer the depression toward the west-northwest. On its anticipated track Tropical Depression One-E will move away from Mexico. It is forecast to pass south of Baja California.
This entry was posted in Eastern and Central Pacific, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 01E, Baja California, EP01, Hawaii, Manzanillo, Mexico, One-E, Tropical Depression One-E on June 25, 2019 by jay_hobgood.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line127
|
__label__wiki
| 0.944493
| 0.944493
|
Tag Archives: New Orleans
Tropical Storm Gordon Makes Landfall on the Gulf Coast.
Tropical Storm Gordon made landfall on the Gulf Coast near Pascagoula, Mississippi on Tuesday night. At 11:30 p.m. EDT on Tuesday the center of Tropical Storm Gordon was located at latitude 30.4°N and longitude 88.4°W which put it about 30 miles (50 km) east of Biloxi, Mississippi. Gordon was moving toward the northwest at 14 m.p.h. (22 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 70 m.p.h. (110 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 85 m.p.h. (135 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 997 mb.
A Hurricane Warning was in effect for the portion of the coast from the Mouth of the Pearl River to the Alabama-Florida border. A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for the portion of the coast from the Okaloosa-Walton County line to the Alabama-Florida border.
The circulation of Tropical Storm Gordon was asymmetrical. The strongest bands of showers and thunderstorms were north and east of the center of circulation. The strongest winds were occurring in those bands. A C-MAN station on Dauphin Island, Alabama reported a sustained wind speed of 62 m.p.h. (100 km/h) and a wind gust of 72 m.p.h. (117 km/h). The winds were much weaker south and west of the center of Tropical Storm Gordon and there was little rain in those parts of the tropical storm.
Tropical Storm Gordon will start to weaken as the center moves inland. Gordon will continue to move around the western end of a high pressure system over the western Atlantic Ocean. The high will steer Tropical Storm Gordon toward the northwest during the next day or two. On its anticipated track Tropical Storm Gordon will move across southern Mississippi on Wednesday and over Arkansas on Thursday. The wind will be strong enough to cause minor damage and it will cause some power outages. Locally heavy rain and the potential for flash floods are the greater risks. Flash Flood Warnings were in effect for parts of West Florida and Southwest Alabama. Flash Flood Watches were in effect for Mississippi and Southeastern Arkansas.
Elsewhere over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, Hurricane Florence was continuing to intensify east of the northern Leeward Islands. At 11:00 p.m. EDT on Tuesday the center of Hurricane Florence was located at latitude 20.7°N and longitude 43.9°W which put it about 1515 miles (2440 km) east-southeast of Bermuda. Florence was moving toward the west-northwest at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 100 m.p.h (160 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 120 m.p.h. (195 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 976 mb.
This entry was posted in Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 06L, 07L, AL06, AL07, Alabama, Arkansas, Bermuda, Dauphin Island, Florence, Florida, Gordon, Gulf of Mexico, Gulfport, Hurricane Florence, Leeward Islands, Louisiana, Mississippi, Mobile, New Orleans, Pascagoula, Pensacola, Tropical Storm Gordon on September 5, 2018 by jay_hobgood.
Tropical Storm Gordon Nears Gulf Coast
Tropical Storm Gordon moved closer to the Gulf Coast of the U.S. on Tuesday morning. At 11:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday the center of Tropical Storm Gordon was located at latitude 28.5°N and longitude 86.8°W which put it about 145 miles (235 km) east-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Gordon was moving toward the northwest at 15 m.p.h. (24 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 65 m.p.h. (105 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 80 m.p.h. (130 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 1001 mb.
A Hurricane Warning was in effect for the portion of the coast from the mouth of the Pearl River to the Alabama-Florida border. Tropical Storm Warnings were in effect for the portions of the coast from Grand Isle, Louisiana to the mouth of the Pearl River including Lake Pontchartrain and from the Alabama-Florida border to the Okaloosa-Walton County line in Florida.
The circulation of Tropical Storm Gordon appeared to be getting more organized on Tuesday morning. More thunderstorms developed near the center of circulation. Storms near the center were generating upper level divergence which was pumping mass away to the east of the tropical storm. Several bands of showers and thunderstorms north and east of the center were moving toward the Gulf Coast. The bands southwest of the center consisted primarily of showers and lower clouds. Winds to tropical storm force extended out about 80 miles (130 km) from the center of circulation, but the winds were weaker in the southwestern quadrant of Tropical Storm Gordon.
Tropical Storm Gordon could strengthen into a hurricane before it makes landfall. Gordon will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 30°C. An upper level trough over the southeastern U.S. was producing southwesterly winds which were blowing toward the top of the circulation. Those winds were causing some vertical shear, but they will not be strong enough to prevent intensification. The surface pressure decreased slightly on Tuesday morning. Increased friction near the coast could cause the circulation to tighten around the center, when Tropical Storm Gordon gets closer to the Gulf Coast.
Tropical Storm Gordon will move around the southwestern end of a subtropical high pressure system over the western Atlantic Ocean. The high will steer Gordon in a general northwesterly direction during the next several days. On its anticipated track the center of Hurricane Gordon is likely to make landfall on the northern Gulf Coast on Tuesday night. Gordon will produce winds to near hurricane force at the coast. It could cause a storm surge of 5 to 8 feet (1.5 to 2.5 meters) east of the center where the wind blows water toward the coast. The highest storm surge will occur in bays and the mouths of streams and rivers where the shape of the coast funnels water into those areas. Tropical Storm Gordon will also drop heavy rain over portions of northwest Florida, southwest Alabama, Mississippi and eastern Louisiana. Locally heavy rain could create the potential for flash floods.
Elsewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, former Tropical Storm Florence strengthened into the third Atlantic hurricane of 2018. At 11:00 a.m. EDT on Tuesday the center of Hurricane Florence was located at latitude 19.7°N and longitude 42.5°W which put it about 1270 miles (2045 km) east-northeast of the Lesser Antilles. Florence was moving toward the west-northwest at 12 m.p.h. (19 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 75 m.p.h. (120 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 90 m.p.h. (145 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 990 mb.
This entry was posted in Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 06L, 07L, AL06, AL07, Alabama, Bermuda, Biloxi, Florence, Florida, Gordon, Gulf of Mexico, Gulfport, Hurricane Florence, Lake Pontchartrain, Lesser Antilles, Louisiana, Mississippi, Mobile, New Orleans, Pensacola, Tropical Storm Gordon on September 4, 2018 by jay_hobgood.
Tropical Storm Gordon Forms, Causes Warnings for South Florida
Former Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven developed a distinct center of circulation on Sunday morning and the National Hurricane Center upgraded the system to Tropical Storm Gordon. At 8:30 a.m. EDT on Sunday the center of Tropical Storm Gordon was located at latitude 25.1°N and longitude 80.6°W which put it about 10 miles (15 km) west of Key Largo, Florida. Gordon was moving toward the west-northwest at 16 m.p.h. (26 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 45 m.p.h. (75 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 60 m.p.h. (95 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 1009 mb.
A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for the portion of the coast from Golden Beach to Bonita Beach, Florida. A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for the Florida Keys from Craig Key to Ocean Reef including Florida bay. A Tropical Storm Warning was in effect for the portion of the coast from the Alabama-Florida border to Morgan City, Louisiana including Lake Pontchartrain.
The circulation of Tropical Storm Gordon became much better organized during the past 12 hours. A distinct low level center of circulation formed and many more thunderstorms developed. A C-MAN station on Fowey Rock, Florida reported sustained winds of 49 m.p.h. (80 km/h) supporting the designation as a tropical storm. The circulation of Tropical Storm Gordon was still organizing. More thunderstorms were developing in bands northeast of the center of circulation than in other parts of the tropical storm. Those storms were beginning to generate upper level divergence which was pumping mass away from the core of Gordon.
Tropical Storm Gordon will be moving through an environment favorable for intensification during the next 36 hours. Gordon will be moving over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 30°C. It will be moving through a region where the upper level winds will be weak and there will be little vertical wind shear. Tropical Storm Gordon will continue to intensify and it could intensify more rapidly once the inner core becomes better organized. There is a chance that Gordon could strengthen into a hurricane before it reaches the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Tropical Storm Gordon will move around the west end of a subtropical high pressure system over the western Atlantic Ocean. The ridge will steer Gordon in a general west-northwesterly direction. On its anticipated track Tropical Storm Gordon will move away from South Florida later today. Gordon could approach the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico late on Tuesday. Locally heavy rain could cause floods in South Florida. Tropical Storm Gordon could produce a storm surge of 6 to 9 feet (2 to 3 meters) along parts of the northern Gulf Coast.
This entry was posted in Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 07L, AL07, Alabama, Florida, Florida Keys, Gordon, Key Largo, Key West, Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Miami, Mississippi, Mobile, Morgan City, New Orleans, Pensacola, Tropcial Storm Gordon on September 3, 2018 by jay_hobgood.
Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven Causes Tropical Storm Watch for U.S. Gulf Coast
Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven caused the National Hurricane Center to issue a Tropical Storm Watch for a portion of the U.S. Gulf Coast on Sunday afternoon. A Tropical Storm Watch was in effect for the portion of the coast from the Alabama-Florida border to Morgan City, Louisiana including Lake Pontchartrain. At 5:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday the center of Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven was located at latitude 22.7°N and longitude 77.3°W which put it about 275 miles (445 km) east-southeast of Marathon, Florida. It was moving toward the west-northwest at 15 m.p.h (24 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 30 m.p.h. (50 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 40 m.p.h. (65 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 1012 mb.
Bands of showers and thunderstorms began to form in a tropical wave over the Bahamas and the National Hurricane Center designated the system as Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven in order to be able to issue the Tropical Storm Watch for the north coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The circulation of Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven was still organizing. A distinct low level center of circulation had not formed. Bands of showers and thunderstorms were developing and the bands were starting to revolve around the inner part of the weather system. Thunderstorms were beginning to generate some upper level divergence.
Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven will be moving into an environment favorable for intensification. It will move over water where the Sea Surface Temperature is near 30°C. An upper level ridge is forecast to develop over Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven. If that occurs, then the upper level winds would be weak and there would be little vertical wind shear. Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven is forecast to intensify into Tropical Storm Gordon. If the system moves slowly enough, there is a chance it could strengthen into a hurricane before it reaches the Gulf Coast.
Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven will move around the western end of a subtropical high pressure system over the western Atlantic Ocean. The high will steer Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven in a general west-northwesterly direction. On its anticipated track the system will move over the Florida Keys on Monday. It will be over the eastern Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday and the system could reach the northern Gulf Coast late on Tuesday or early on Wednesday.
Elsewhere over the tropical Atlantic, Tropical Storm Florence was moving quickly away from the Cabo Verde Islands. At 5:00 p.m. EDT on Sunday the center of Tropical Storm Florence was located at latitude 17.4°N and longitude 34.6°W which put it about 700 miles (1125 km) west of the Cabo Verde Islands. Florence was moving toward the west-northwest at 15 m.p.h. (24 km/h). The maximum sustained wind speed was 50 m.p.h. (80 km/h) and there were wind gusts to 65 m.p.h. (105 km/h). The minimum surface pressure was 1000 mb.
This entry was posted in Atlantic, Caribbean, and Gulf of Mexico, Tropical Cyclones and tagged 06L, 07L, AL06, AL07, Alabama, Bermuda, Cabo Verde Islands, Cuba, Florence, Florida, Florida Keys, Gulf of Mexico, Key West, Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana, Marathon, Mississippi, Mobile, Morgan City, New Orleans, Pensacola, Potential Tropical Cyclone Seven, the Bahamas, Tropical Storm Florence on September 2, 2018 by jay_hobgood.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line128
|
__label__wiki
| 0.608624
| 0.608624
|
Bush, Obama Take Two Different Approaches to Muslim Democracy »
Wrong, Mr. President — Jewish Settlements Expedited Peace Talks
Pajamas Media – by Joseph Puder
President Obama demands that Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) be completely frozen as a precondition to peace negotiations with the Palestinians. If Barack Obama considers the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria an obstacle to peace, let him study objectively the course of events that took place in the 1980s. He would surely learn that it was the expansion of the Jewish settlements that drove the Palestinians to the negotiating table, which ultimately led to the Oslo Accords.
In the mid-1980s, Palestinian Liberation Organization chairman Yasser Arafat boasted: “The womb of the Palestinian woman will defeat the Zionist.” Shortly thereafter, large waves of immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia arrived in Israel (some of them moved to the settlements) and defused the discussion in Israel over the demographic “time bomb.”
More significantly, in 1988, the Palestinian National Council (PNC) summit endorsed United Nations Resolution 242 and proceeded to declare an independent Palestinian state. The actions of the PNC came at least in part as a reaction to Ariel Sharon’s significant buildup of Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. The PNC called additionally for “the annulment of all expropriation and annexation measures and the removal of the settlements established by Israel in the Palestinian and Arab territories since 1967.”
A month later, at UN headquarters in Geneva, Arafat was promised a dialogue with the U.S. if he would “renounce terrorism, and recognize the State of Israel.” At a hastily arranged press conference, Arafat mumbled the words demanded by the Americans, words he was unable to bring himself to utter at the UN session the day before.
Arafat was ultimately driven to do so in recognition of Israel’s establishing facts on the ground and the realization that unless they began to negotiate — preferably with the Americans — there would be nothing left to negotiate over.
The Palestinians and their western sympathizers contend that the “Jewish settlements” are “illegal” according to the Fourth Geneva Convention, which sought to protect against future atrocities such as those committed by the Nazis.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention is often cited as the basis by which the settlements are deemed to be “illegal.” However, the wording, which prohibits “individual or mass forcible transfers” and contains a prohibition not to “deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population,” clearly contradicts the fact that those who settled in the land did so voluntarily. Furthermore, the land in question, which had been occupied by Egypt and Jordan since 1948, was captured by Israel in 1967 during a defensive war.
Eugene V. Rostow, former dean of Yale Law School and undersecretary of state for political affairs between 1966 and 1969, noted that “the government of Israel neither ‘deported’ Palestinians nor ‘transferred’ Israelis during or after 1967.” Jewish property owners began to return to their previous homes in Hebron in 1968, acting on their own volition without government authorization.
Rostow also pointed out that the Geneva Convention applied only to acts by one signatory “carried out on the territory of another.” The West Bank, however, did not belong to any signatory power, for Jordan had no sovereign rights or legal claims there. Its legal status was defined as “an unallocated part of the British Mandate.”
Unable to beat Israel on the battlefield, an attempt is being made to delegitimize the state by its actions regarding settlements. Interestingly, the Oslo Accords signed in 1993 by Yasser Arafat do not prohibit settlements.
The settlements have never been and never will be an obstacle to peace. If and when honest and frank negotiations resume and a territorial agreement with the Palestinians is signed, Israel may well dismantle additional settlements in Judea and Samaria. History shows, however, that dismantling settlements and making territorial concessions only makes the Palestinians more aggressive and obstinate.
Israel uprooted Jewish families from their homes in Gaza and Samaria in what became a national trauma. But abandoning the Jewish settlement and their economic assets did not bring peace or reconciliation — instead it brought more violence and more death. For the Palestinians, these unilateral Israeli concessions were a sign of weakness, causing them to launch even more terrorist attacks.
The endlessly repeated refrain about the “occupied territories” is sheer propaganda, since the territories never belonged to Palestinian Arabs. The Palestinian Authority was given control of the areas, and the only reason Israel continues to exert control is in reaction to Palestinian Arab violence.
The real obstacle to peace is the refusal of the Arab world to accept the existence of a Jewish state in their midst. Although it occupies one-thousandth of the combined size of Muslim states, Israel’s existence in the Middle East is, to most Arabs, unacceptable and should be fought to the last drop of (Israeli) blood. The Palestinian struggle is not so much for Palestinian self-determination as it is for the destruction of the Jewish, infidel state.
U.S. pressure on Israel to dismantle the settlements is therefore dangerous because it will bring more violence, more terrorism, and more Israeli deaths. By pressuring Israel on this issue the U.S. will contribute to the creation of an area that will become “Judenrein,” as Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and most of the rest of the Arab world are. And this action would certainly be in contravention to the precepts of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
If Yasser Arafat and his minions were able to negotiate with Israel while the Israeli settlements expanded through natural growth, why should Obama take this “holier than thou” approach? The Obama administration’s focus on the settlements is a ploy to appease the Arabs, especially the Saudis.
A genuine Arab-Palestinian acceptance of peace with the Jewish state is what should be the prerequisite for Obama’s demands.
Tags: israel, jewis, obama, palestine, palestinian, peace, president, settlements
This entry was posted on Friday, June 26th, 2009 at 8:51 PM and is filed under Articles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
One Response to “Wrong, Mr. President — Jewish Settlements Expedited Peace Talks”
public adjuster says:
Getting tougher with Israel will not matter. Israel shows restraint sometimes but they always do what they want. They also always win. Gods chosen people. Don’t mess with the chosen ones!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line131
|
__label__cc
| 0.695464
| 0.304536
|
News From External Sources Operating System News Mac OS News Apple's New 2018 MacBook Air vs. Old MacBook Air
Apple's New 2018 MacBook Air vs. Old MacBook Air
November 14, 2018 Juli Clover
Apple in October gave us a major surprise with the launch of an entirely revamped, updated version of the MacBook Air, its most popular and affordable notebook option.
We went hands-on with the MacBook Air last week, and this week, we picked up an older MacBook Air to compare the new model to see just what’s different and whether it’s still worth buying the old version, which sells for $200 less than the current model.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
The previous-generation MacBook Air is a 2015 design, but in 2017, Apple introduced 1.8GHz Broadwell-generation chips that were a slight upgrade from the 1.6GHz chips the machine had previously used. No other changes were made, so technically, Apple’s old MacBook Air is outdated by several years.
Design wise, the new MacBook Air features a smaller, slimmer body that weighs a bit less, and the slimmer design is noticeable. It continues to feature the same tapered design as the previous models, and we didn’t think the weight difference of a quarter of a pound stood out.
Along with a slimmed down body, the new MacBook Air comes in three color options: Space Gray, Gold, and the traditional Silver. Space Gray and Gold are colors that are new to the MacBook Air lineup.
The biggest change to the 2018 MacBook Air models is the display, which is now Retina and a huge improvement over the low resolution display in the previous MacBook Air. The MacBook Air used to be the sole Apple device sans Retina display, but now Apple uses higher-resolution displays across its entire product lineup.
We thought the MacBook Air’s new display offered a significant improvement over the previous MacBook Air’s display, but it doesn’t quite measure up to the display of the MacBook Pro because it’s just not that bright. Brightness can be an issue outdoors in sunlight, so that’s something to be aware of.
Design wise, the front of the MacBook Air has been overhauled. Those thick silver bezels from the previous version have been replaced with sleek, slim MacBook Pro-style black bezels that look much, much nicer.
Several other MacBook Pro features have been brought to the new MacBook Air and are upgrades over the previous model. There’s a larger Force Touch trackpad, a third-generation butterfly keyboard, better speakers, a Touch ID button for authentication purposes, and a T2 chip for improved security.
Inside, the new MacBook Air is sporting a 7W 8th-generation 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor, and unsurprisingly, it’s much speedier than the three-year-old processors used in the prior MacBook Air. Apple used to use 15W chips in the MacBook Air models, but this new, lower power 7W chip is both fast and efficient, allowing for longer battery life than ever.
The last super notable change is to the port setup. The new MacBook Air has two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack, with Apple eliminating the USB-A ports and the SD card slot from the older model. The addition of Thunderbolt 3 brings the MacBook Air in line with the rest of the Mac lineup and allows it to connect to 4K and 5K displays, faster Thunderbolt 3 storage, eGPUs, and more.
All of these changes have raised the base price of the MacBook Air. Prior to the October update, the MacBook Air sold for $999, but now the base model sells for $1,199, a $200 premium. Given the scope of the revamp, the $200 upgrade fee is well worth paying for anyone thinking of purchasing a MacBook Air.
Apple is still selling the older model at the same $999 price point, but it’s just not worth purchasing because the components are so outdated at this point.
What do you think of Apple’s new MacBook Air? Let us know in the comments.
Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Buyer’s Guide: MacBook Air (Buy Now)
Original article title: Apple’s New 2018 MacBook Air vs. Old MacBook Air.
This full article can be read at: Apple’s New 2018 MacBook Air vs. Old MacBook Air.
'Panic! At The Disco' to Headline Apple's Annual WWDC Bash
Apple’s annual WWDC Bash will be headlined this year by rock band Panic! At The Disco. The almost-end-of-WWDC party will […]
Fedora Community Blog: Flock interviews: Discussing Kubernetes & Origin Deployment Options
As you probably know, there is annual convention called Flock. This year’s is happening in Cape Cod, Hyannis, MA and […]
Twitter Working on 24/7 Live Streaming Network of TV Shows to Rival Current News Outlets
Twitter is gearing up to launch an always-on, live-streaming video section of its apps and desktop site, which would run […]
Mandy Wang: GSoC2017 (Fedora) — Week 3&4
I went to Guizhou and Hunan in China for my after-graduation trip last week. I walked on the glass skywalk […]
Fedora Community Blog: Elections nominations now open
USN-3820-1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities
Join Toluna.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line132
|
__label__wiki
| 0.901268
| 0.901268
|
VIXEN In New Bedford, MA
By Jay Roberts, Massachusetts Contributor
Monday, May 13, 2019 @ 8:50 AM
At The Vault Music Hall & Pub May 3rd, 2019
I was flying solo as I headed to the VIXEN show in New Bedford, MA on a Friday evening that saw me very happy that the work week was over. While my friend George wasn't really into VIXEN, it was also the same weekend as the M3 Festival in Maryland so some of my other musical friends were off having a ball there.
A pass had been arranged and confirmed for me via KNAC.COM and I was looking forward to rocking the night away with VIXEN. Of course, there was one small hiccup to that. When I got to the venue, my name wasn't on the list. I had planned to leave because I wasn't going to pay for a ticket to get in. I went to say goodbye to my friend Roger and let him know that my pass wasn't there. But he ended up getting me in and the night of rock and roll was back on. Thanks, Roger! (Editor's Note: I had confirmed that Jay would be taken care of 2 weeks prior to the show. I sent a reminder message 2 days before the show and it showed to be read but no reply was forthcoming)
Local rockers PAYBACK opened the show and while I'd never heard them before I came away pretty impressed. They are billed as playing hard rock and metal covers with an edge. They certainly seemed to live up to that billing during their highly entertaining 11-song set.
I missed the majority of their opening cover of WHITESNAKE's "Still Of The Night" but what I did see was damn good. Fronted by Shonna Lee, the band had quite an eclectic mix in their set list. Lee's vocals are powerful but she also gives a pretty interesting twist to the songs. Roger had told me that guitarist Adam Amaral was one of the best guitarists in the area and from what I saw, it certainly wasn't an oversell on his part. Regardless of the song, Amaral's fretwork sounded just like it was "supposed" to and he seemed to do it almost effortlessly. During the solo on Ozzy's "Bark At The Moon", he came out onto the floor to play it.
The band as a whole was a very tight unit and it only made their music that much stronger. And they had some real versatility as well. Drummer Joseph Nunes took the lead vocal on DOKKEN's "Into The Fire" and sounded fantastic. Their cover of THE CULT's "Fire Woman" was superb and that was really driven home to me because I'd been listening to that very song over at Roger's record shop just before the show. In fact, I'd say PAYBACK's performance of the song was better than when I saw THE CULT perform it back in the day because unlike Ian Astbury, Shonna Lee actually sang the entire set of lyrics. Of course, my highest praise for the band would be for their cover of the DIO song "The Last in Line". Given my love for Ronnie James Dio, I'm pretty fickle about bands covering his songs but PAYBACK more than did justice to Ronnie's work and it needed to be said. In all, PAYBACK put on a great show to warm up the crowd and I'd love to see them again!
"In The Still of the Night" (Whitesnake)
"Modern Day Cowboy" (Tesla)
"Hell Is For Children" (Pat Benatar)
"I Miss The Misery" (Halestorm)
"Into The Fire" (Dokken)
"The Trooper" (Iron Maiden)
"Bark At The Moon" (Ozzy Osbourne)
"Fire Woman" (The Cult)
"Don't Tell Me You Love Me" (Night Ranger)
"The Last In Line" (Dio)
"Cryin' In The Rain" (Whitesnake)
https://www.facebook.com/PayBackNE/
With the relatively recent lineup change that VIXEN has experienced (original singer Janet Gardner leaving to pursue a solo career and the hiring of ex-FEMME FATALE singer Lorraine Lewis in her place), I was really interested to see how the band sounded now.
While I never got to see VIXEN live back during their original run, I'd had an idea in my head forever on how they sounded. Of course, there was a slight delay in seeing how the reality compared to the "fantasy" because as each member took the stage, guitarist Britt Lightning went to play her guitar and nothing happened. This caused the brief pause as keyboardist Tyson Leslie and the stagehands tried to figure out what was wrong. Crisis solved, Britt ripped into the guitar and the band opened the show with a cover of the FEMME FATALE song "Waiting For The Big One". While the song started the show off in rousing fashion, I found that despite loving the track when it was originally released, I didn't quite remember it as much as I thought. In a random kind of way, I got to experience it as almost a new song.
Of course, what really struck me the most aside from getting to see the band at long last was how taken I was with Britt Lightning. And I'm talking about her playing here folks. I know that for the most part, she's playing material that has been around for decades, but she does such an amazing job that it had me thinking, "I want to see VIXEN do a new album so I can see what she does when the material is her own stuff". Her soloing on "Rev It Up" was outstanding.
Of course, part of the draw of the show was seeing Share Ross and Roxy Petrucci laying down the foundation for each song. And they didn't disappoint. With Roxy just killing it behind the kit and the sunglasses wearing Share (more on that later) right in front of me all night, I definitely felt like I was back in the 80's.
The individual performances blended into a whole quite nicely. Singer Lorraine Lewis gives the VIXEN songs a different vibe vocally, making them her own while at the same time keeping the original spirit of the songs intact. And when the band played the FEMME FATALE song "Falling In and Out of Love", their seeming cohesion as a unit made me love the song all over again.
In fact, the concert gave me a new or perhaps renewed love of some of their best known songs. They dedicated "Love Is A Killer" to founding member/guitarist Jan Kuehnemund and the song really struck a chord with me for some reason. And while I have to admit that I didn't really remember much about "Love Made Me", the inclusion of the song made me wonder how it didn't make more of an impression on me before. It was flat out great to hear and made me want to go back and listen to the studio version again.
I mentioned Share Ross wearing sunglasses throughout the performance. There was an explanation for that. She took the lead vocal on the cover of "I Don't Need No Doctor" and in the lead up she said that she doesn't normally wear sunglasses on stage during performances (this led to Tyson Leslie playing the intro to the Corey Hart song "Sunglasses At Night", to great comedic effect) but that she had an eye infection and was wearing them to cover her eyes.
I loved their rendition of "I Want You To Rock Me" but what really struck me was how they threw in a cover of DEEP PURPLE's "Perfect Strangers" in the middle of the song. The band sounded great with both sides of that performance and the vocals from Lewis were great. It was a surprise to hear them do the cover because of my lack of prior concert experience with them. Their live release Live Fire has the same song medley with Janet Gardner on vocals but I didn't own the album before the show.
I found that my favorite song of the night was an absolutely blazing version of "Cruisin'". VIXEN crushed it on that song and when you combine that with getting to hear "Edge of a Broken Heart" to close out their show, it was a pretty entertaining night to behold and the future looks bright as they continue onward.
A few days after the show, there was an announcement that VIXEN would be working on a new studio album. Judging from what I saw at the Vault Music Hall & Pub, VIXEN is in fine stead and I can't wait to see what they come up with next.
"Waiting For The Big One" (Femme Fatale)
"Rev It Up"
"How Much Love"
"Cruisin"
"Cryin'"
"I Want You To Rock Me" / "Perfect Strangers" (Deep Purple)
"Falling In and Out of Love" (Femme Fatale)
"I Don't Need No Doctor"
"Love Is A Killer"
"You Oughta Know By Now"
"Love Made Me
"Edge Of A Broken Heart"
http://www.vixenofficial.com
CONCERT FUN FACT: After their show was over, and despite the venue's seeming attempt to bum rush them and the audience out the door, VIXEN did a brief free meet and greet. I picked up a copy of the Live Fire album and all four members signed it. Lorraine Lewis signed my vinyl copy of the first FEMME FATALE album as well.
Drummer Roxy Petrucci saw the Leather Leone shirt I was wearing and exclaimed, "Leather Leone! Is she still out there? She's so good!" I told her that Leather had released an album last year and in a bit of shameless self-promotion added that I had interviewed her for KNAC.COM. You know that when I got home I messaged Leather Leone to tell her the story. Oh, and I briefly spoke with Share Ross who asked if I'd seen the band back in the day and when I said that I'd never gotten the chance, she thanked me for coming out "tonight" and gave me a high five/handshake at the same time.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line134
|
__label__wiki
| 0.78806
| 0.78806
|
The Free Hugs Campaign is a social movement involving individuals who offer hugs to strangers in public places. The campaign in its present form was started in 2004 by an Australian man known only by the pseudonym "Juan Mann".
The campaign became famous internationally in 2006 as the result of a music video by the Australian band Sick Puppies, which is one of the most popular on the site, having been viewed over 69,000,000 times. The hugs are meant to be random acts of kindness - selfless acts performed just to make others feel better. International Free Hugs Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of July.
The Free Hugs campaign in its present form was started by Juan Mann on June 30, 2004, when he began giving out hugs in the Pitt Street Mall in central Sydney. In the months prior to this, Mann had been feeling depressed and lonely as a result of numerous personal difficulties. However, a random hug from a stranger made an enormous difference, with Mann stating that "...I went out to a party one night and a completely random person came up to me and gave me a hug. I felt like a king! It was greatest thing that ever happened. Now, his sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives.
"I'd been living in London when my world turned upside down and I'd had to come home. By the time my plane landed back in Sydney, all I had left was a carry on bag full of clothes and a world of troubles. No one to welcome me back, no place to call home. I was a tourist in my hometown.
Standing there in the arrivals terminal, watching other passengers meeting their waiting friends and family, with open arms and smiling faces, hugging and laughing together, I wanted someone out there to be waiting for me. To be happy to see me. To smile at me. To hug me.
So I got some cardboard and a marker and made a sign. I found the busiest pedestrian intersection in the city and held that sign aloft, with the words "Free Hugs" on both sides.
And for 15 minutes, people just stared right through me. The first person who stopped, tapped me on the shoulder and told me how her dog had just died that morning. How that morning had been the one year anniversary of her only daughter dying in a car accident. How what she needed now, when she felt most alone in the world, was a hug. I got down on one knee, we put our arms around each other and when we parted, she was smiling.
Everyone has problems and for sure mine haven't compared. But to see someone who was once frowning, smile even for a moment, is worth it every time." Juan Mann
In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal. As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign banned. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring. Mann carried the now iconic "FREE HUGS" sign from the outset. However on his first attempt in his hometown, where he returned to find that he was the only person he knew, as his friends and family had moved away, he had to wait fifteen minutes before an elderly lady came up to him and gave him a hug.
Initial distrust of Juan Mann's motives eventually gave way to a gradual increase of people willing to be hugged, with other huggers (male and female) helping distribute them. In October 2004 police told them they must stop, as Mann had not obtained public liability insurance worth $25 million for his actions. Mann and his companions used a petition to attempt to convince authorities that his campaign should be allowed to continue without the insurance. His petition reached 10,000 signatures. He submitted it and was allowed to continue giving free hugs.
Mann befriended Shimon Moore, lead singer for Sick Puppies, shortly after commencing his campaign, and over a two-month period in late 2004 Moore recorded video footage of Mann and his fellow huggers. Moore and his band moved to Los Angeles in March 2005 and nothing was immediately done with the footage. Meanwhile Mann continued his campaign throughout 2005 and 2006 by appearing in Pitt Street Mall in Sydney most Thursday afternoons.
In mid 2006 Mann's grandmother died, and in consolation Moore made the music video using the footage he had shot in 2004 to send to Mann as a gift, stating in an interview that, "I sent it to him on a disc as a present and I wrote down 'This is who you are'." The video was later uploaded onto YouTube where it is now one of the most viewed videos on the site, with over 69 million views as of June 2011.
On October 30, 2006, Mann was invited by Oprah Winfrey to appear on her show Oprah after her producer's doctor saw the Free Hugs video on YouTube. Juan Mann made an appearance outside her studio that morning, offering free hugs to the crowd waiting to see the taping of that day's episode. Oprah's camera crews caught several people in the audience hugging Mann as the morning progressed.
On October 23, 2007, Juan Mann announced his residential address online and offered an open invitation to anyone to come over and chat on-camera as part of his 'open-house project'. Mann hosted 80 guests over 36 days. On November 25, 2007, Mann's landlord threatened him with eviction, so he launched an online appeal.
On December 25, 2007, Juan Mann made his e-book "The Illustrated Guide to Free Hugs" available as a free download. On November 22, 2008, at YouTube Live Sick Puppies did a performance of "All the Same" while Juan Mann gave hugs to crowd members. On February 13, 2009 a Free Hug Day took place.
On August 23, 2009, "Juan Mann" announced via his Facebook page linking to an article on his blog that he is "retiring" from Free Hugs, and has invited any interested party to take over the role – though he stresses that he does not own any rights relating to the Free Hugs concept, nor any income, and that there is nothing stopping anyone from undertaking the activity at any time, any place in the world. The successful applicant will take over the responsibilities of maintaining the Free Hugs website and forum, as well as any other "official" Free Hugs presence Juan presently maintains online.
Publicado por Zuich Kreis en 18:47
Brett Novak
Dakotalapse
Dame una D
Deutsch zu lernen
El Viñetódromo
Funblogging
Ilustración II
Imitation world
Indie art
Jason De Graaf
Kunst Berlin
Palabras de dos
Perdidos en ...
Street art London
Unurth
Warholian
Wien Stadtplan
Cube Rubik
Zuich Kreis
"Nadie pudo ver el cielo sin elevar la mirada."
"No necesitas una espada para cortar dos flores." John Lennon
"Hay dos maneras de difundir la luz. Ser la lámpara que la emite o el espejo que la refleja." Lin Yutang
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes." Marcel Proust
"Por muy larga que sea la tormenta, el Sol siempre vuelve a brillar entre las nubes." Khalil Gibran
"The best and the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." Helen Keller
Zuich Kreis. Tema Fantástico, S.A.. Imágenes del tema: fpm. Con la tecnología de Blogger.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line138
|
__label__wiki
| 0.713345
| 0.713345
|
Sri Lanka assumes the Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament
Sri Lanka has called on member states of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) to seek to bring back the necessary attention at the highest political levels to the CD, in order to maintain the integrity and credibility of the Conference, as well as to create forward movement and momentum.
Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha made this call today (23rd January) on the occasion of Sri Lanka assuming the responsibility of the CD as its first President of the 2018 session. Sri Lanka assumes the Presidency of the CD after 11 years.
Addressing the plenary, Ambassador Aryasinha noted that Sri Lanka assumes the Presidency of the Conference "at a time this august body has critical challenges and some opportunities before it". He said the challenges include the prevailing complex global security environment, the increasing threat posed by non state actors - with global anxieties about nuclear weapons at their highest since the end of the Cold War, the advancement in military technology, as well as parallel discussions and deliberations that are taking place outside the Conference. The Ambassador observed that it is imperative that the Conference "gives due recognition to the contributions from civil society, the academia and entrepreneurs in the field of disarmament".
The Ambassador said though presently facing a two decade long impasse in the CD, there also are reasons to be hopeful. The CD had made progress at times when the international security environment was even more complex and challenging, it is the forum where all key stakeholders are available to engage, and with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and the entire UN architecture reformulating it’s work programmes to better respond to the realization of the SDGs within its respective mandates, the CD could also contemplate as to how its work could contribute to the collective realization of the 2030 Agenda, given the importance of durable peace for sustainable development, and vice versa.
Ambassador Aryasinha said to enhance international security, the pace of multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation must be accelerated, "taking into account the security interests of all States and on the basis of the principle of undiminished security for all". He noted that “the CD’s continued inaction sets a negative precedent by not measuring up to effectively preventing or responding to new and emerging security challenges through the adoption of appropriate international instruments”. He urged all Members States "to avoid the temptation of subjecting the work of this Conference to the vagaries of the ever changing international strategic landscape, and instead to endeavor to harness it's potential to build common ground to achieve collective security”
In this context, he emphasized that the ultimate burden rests on all Members of the Conference, "to remain engaged in trying to build mutual trust and confidence as well as to find common ground in order to reach consensus". He urged delegations in Geneva, to "while defending respective national positions in the CD, to communicate and advice the respective capitals on where flexibilities and new thinking could pave the way to positive developments and to deliver tangible results". "We should also seek to bring back the necessary attention at the highest political levels to the CD, in order to maintain the integrity and credibility of the Conference, as well as to create forward movement and momentum", he added.
Ambassador Aryasinha who recalled Sri Lanka's steadfast contribution and consistent engagement in the field of disarmament over several decades, reiterated Sri Lanka’s commitment and dedication to work closely with all members of the CD, in an open and transparent manner in discharging its duty as the President of the Conference.
Addressing the opening session of the CD, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Ms. Izumi Nakamitsu said, the time had come to ask once again what the CD and the entire United Nations disarmament machinery was prepared and able to do to effectively address the challenges posed by the present state of affairs. She went on to reiterate the commitment of the UN Secretary-General to the Conference on Disarmament and to considering how to give new momentum and impetus to global disarmament efforts.
Speaking in the general discussion today were Peru, Bulgaria on behalf of European Union, Germany, Norway, Brazil, Sweden, Mexico, Turkey, Romania, Canada, Australia, Spain, Belgium, Japan, Italy, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, France, United Kingdom, Belarus, Netherlands, Indonesia, Chile, and China.
Sri Lanka delegation to the CD included Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Mrs. Samantha Jayasuriya, Minister Counsellor Ms. Sashika Somaratne and First Secretary Mrs. Mafusa Lafir.
Opening Remarks by Ambassador Ravinatha Aryasinha
Sri Lanka Permanent Mission
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line139
|
__label__cc
| 0.719258
| 0.280742
|
Global Medical Tourism
Michael Czinkota
Nittaya Wongtada
Medical tourism can be traced to 4000 B.C. – when Greek pilgrims would sail abroad to seek the healing power of hot springs and baths. Over the past two decades, the industry encountered dramatic shifts.
Once wealthy patients from emerging economies sought treatments not available in their home countries. Since the new millennium, however, the flow of patients goes in the other direction. Rising health care costs prompt travelers from advanced economies to seek international destinations offering lower-cost or timelier alternatives to domestic care.
For instance, a spinal fusion in the United States costs an average of $110,000 in 2016. The same procedure was $6,150 in Vietnam. Heart bypass surgery, which costs $123,000 in the U.S. in 2016, is $12,100 in Malaysia. For many patients from high-priced countries, the solution is clear – it pays to seek medical care abroad!
The size of such tourism has ballooned since the late 1990s. Its value ranges between US $45.5 billion and $72 billion in 2017, with approximately 14 to 16 million patients seeking medical care beyond their countries’ borders.
Modern medical tourism is a global phenomenon. Traditional models emphasized internationalization as an incremental procedure. But the industry surged after the Asian financial crisis of 1997, which drove hospitals in Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand to seek patients from abroad. They had already undergone substantial modernization, catering to a domestic middle class that demanded medical services commensurate with their newly acquired wealth. With the economic downturn, however, a shrinking middle class could no longer afford these superior facilities. International clients, provided a ready solution to an excess supply of private medical facilities..
The success of hospitals in Southeast Asia inspired other countries towards medical tourism. Regional hubs emerged due to advantages of geographical proximity and specialization. Malaysia and Singapore, for instance, received an influx of patients from Indonesia, while many patients in India came from Africa and the Middle East. Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico all benefitted from their proximity to the United States.
A clear pattern has emerged in the lifecycle of medical industries. First, countries in the developing world begin to offer services similar to those found in advanced economies. As new segments of international healthcare populations emerge, just like sun flowers, new medical tourism destinations grow towards the new opportunity. Close proximity to wealthy consumers constitute a competitive edge. To retain their market share, leading destinations formulate new strategies and options.
In order to survive growing competition, hospitals in emerging nations tend to implement two strategies. Since technologies stem from post-industrialized countries, most can only imitate. Their novelty comes from specialization in specific medical procedures. Doing few tasks very often improves capability, capacity, and efficiency, and thus improves reputational success.
However, this tactic may be ineffective as other hospitals develop similar capabilities. Consumer preferences will hinge on how closely services comply with their own cultural preferences and norms. Hospitals attract patients based on familiarity with local approaches and usages. Such an approach gives room for the increasingly recognized component of holistic healing.
It is important to understand how the lifecycle of hospitals continues to evolve. Different stakeholders – from governments to accreditation services to healthcare providers to patients themselves – will be affected by the expansion of the industry. For example, to date, there is still much unfounded reluctance to accept health care services offered by international sources. Once the industry manages to break out of restrictive domestic silos, a fundamental reconfiguration of service and cost will be the consequence. Let’s look forward to that!
Nittaya Wongtada is a Professor at the NIDA Business School of the National Institute of Development Administration, in Bangkok, Thailand.
Michael Czinkota teaches international business and trade at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business and the University of Kent. His key book (with Ilkka Ronkainen) is “International Marketing” (10th ed., CENGAGE).
This comment is based on the article “Transformation in the Global Medical Tourism Industry”, Transylvania Review, Vol. 25, 2017.
This entry was posted in International Business, Misc., Research Insights, Trade & Policies and tagged Georgetown Univerisity, Georgetown University, Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, global, healthcare, medical tourism, Michael Czinkota, spring break, Top international business blog, top international marketing blog, top international trade blog, trade policy by Michael Czinkota. Bookmark the permalink.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line147
|
__label__wiki
| 0.859439
| 0.859439
|
Black Sabbath Compilation CD (2010 release) CD Review
Incredible and intriguing compilation highlights "The Secret Musical History Of Black-Jewish Relations."
Black Sabbath is one of the most interesting and intriguing compilations of music to come out in many years. It features black artists performing Jewish songs. The recordings mostly come from the 1930s through the 1960s (the Alberta Hunter song being the one exception). There is a lot of great music included here, and what's more, there is a lot of important music included here.
The album opens with Billie Holiday singing "My Yiddishe Momme." This recording is just piano and Billie Holiday's wonderful voice. The recording is from 1956, but sounds much older, mostly due to the background noise. This was a private recording, made at a friend's home. It even has a couple of guys talking at the end. The song was written by Jack Yellen and Lew Pollack. It's a cool tune with which to start the album.
Cab Calloway's version of "Utt Da Zay" begins with some nice backing vocals. And then Cab begins singing, "My mother used to sing to me/A haunting little melody/Nobody knows where it came from/Or where it was composed." From there the song takes off, with that wild Cab Calloway vocal energy. The man could do anything with his voice, and there is of course some wonderful scat. There is also a nice long big band instrumental section. This is a groovy jazzy tune, written by Buck Ram and Irving Mills, and recorded in 1939.
"That Old Black Magic"
"That Old Black Magic" is likely the most well known song on this compilation. And Johnny Hartman's version is a good version of it too. He mixes in a few other tunes, including one in Yiddish. He then stops, saying to the crowd, "What are you laughing at? Sammy Davis don't even know that song yet." This is a live track, recorded in 1966. The song was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer.
"Baby, Baby"
"Baby, Baby" is a nice old blues/folk song done by Libby Holman with Josh White - just vocals and guitar. It sounds like a terrifically old record, though it was recorded in 1942. It's wonderful that the sound hasn't been cleaned up any more than it has. Enjoy the character of the recording. Even if this song isn't familiar, many of the lines will be. For example, the line "The sun's going to shine on my back door someday" has popped up in quite a few other songs. This song was written by Rainer Limpinsel and Christopher Heimer.
Eartha Kitt provides the most fun song on this compilation, "Sholem," a traditional song recorded in 1959. Some of the music will be familiar to Dick Dale and surf guitar fans. Yes, seriously. A lively and wonderful tune, and at less than two minutes, it's over way too soon.
"Where Can I Go?"
Marlena Shaw's version of "Where Can I Go?" is groovy and hip, with a definite 1960s feel. It also features incredible vocals, especially on these lines: "To the left and to the right/It's the same in every land/There's no place to go." There is also cool work on guitar and drums. "Where Can I Go?" was written by Sigmunt Berland, Leo Fuld and Sonny Miller.
"Sabbath Prayer"
Cannonball Adderley's "Sabbath Prayer" is an instrumental track. It's a slow, methodical jazzy tune punctuated by crash cymbals. This song was from Fiddler On The Roof, and was recorded in 1964.
"Swanee" is a jazzy song with rock piano. Aretha belts it out with joy and exuberance. Holy moly, can that woman sing! "Swanee" was written by George Gershwin and Irving Caesar in 1919, and recorded by Aretha Franklin in 1966. (Al Jolson's version remained at the #1 spot for nine weeks.)
"Dunkin' Bagel"
"Dunkin' Bagel" is a silly and fun tune, with a steady drumbeat and some cool work on piano. It was recorded in 1945 by Slim Gaillard Quartet.
The Temptations' "Fiddler On The Roof Medley" appeared on the album On Broadway. It of course features those cool Temptations vocals, and it's got a fun 1960s groove. The medley begins with "If I Were A Rich Man." It then stops momentarily before going into an almost eery version of "Sunrise, Sunset." They then do "Matchmaker, Matchmaker," before going back to that initial cool groove. This track is nearly ten minutes long. Written by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock, this version was recorded in 1969.
This compilation concludes with a gorgeous rendition of "Kol Nidre" by crooner Johnny Mathis. "Kol Nidre" is traditionally intoned at the beginning of Yom Kippur. In the liner notes for this CD, Mathis talks about visiting the temples with his Jewish friends when growing up and how he loved listening to the cantors. This song was originally released as a European single from his 1958 album, Good Night, Sweet Lord. Mathis was only 23 when he recorded it.
My Yiddishe Momme - Billie Holiday
Utt Da Zay - Cab Calloway
That Old Black Magic - Johnny Hartman
Baby, Baby - Libby Holman With Josh White
Ich Hob Dich Tzufil Lieba - Alberta Hunter
Sholem - Eartha Kitt
Where Can I Go? - Marlena Shaw
Exodus - Jimmy Scott
Sabbath Prayer - Cannonball Adderley
Swanee - Aretha Franklin
Now! - Lena Horne
Dunkin' Bagel - Slim Gaillard Quartet
Eretz Zavat Chalav - Nina Simone
Fiddler On The Roof Medley - The Temptations
Kol Nidre - Johnny Mathis
The Idelsohn Society For Musical Preservation
Black Sabbath was produced by The Idelsohn Society For Musical Preservation, a non-profit organization dedicated to illuminating Jewish history through the music that has been loved and lost. This CD is scheduled to be released September 14, 2010.
(This review was originally posted on July 29, 2010 on another site that no longer exists.)
Marshall Chapman: "Big Lonesome" (2010) CD Review
Cake Gives Away Tree During Concert
Blue Oyster Cult at Warner Park Concert Review
Richard Barone: "Glow" (2010) CD Review
Aviatik: "Reconstruction/Deconstruction" (2010) CD...
7 Walkers: "7 Walkers" (2010 Release) CD Review
Judy Collins: "Running For My Life" (1980/2010 re-...
Judy Collins: "In My Life" (2010 re-issue) CD Rev...
Leonard Cohen: "Feels So Good"
Ellis Paul at McCabe's in Santa Monica 1-23-11 Con...
Greg Brown: "One More Goodnight Kiss" (1988) CD Re...
Greg Brown: "One Big Town" (1989) CD Review
Adam Aijala & Ben Kaufmann: "Live At The Old Town ...
Andy Friedman: "Laserbeams And Dreams" (2011) CD R...
Richard X. Heyman: "Tiers/And Other Stories" (2011...
James McMurtry: "Childish Things" (2005/2011 re-is...
3 Leg Torso: "Animals & Cannibals" (2010) CD Revie...
Marley's Ghost: "Ghost Town" (2010) CD Review
Hot Club Of Cowtown: "What Makes Bob Holler" (2011...
Clint Eastwood: "Sings Cowboy Favorites" (2010) CD...
Lucky Peterson: "You Can Always Turn Around" (2010...
Albert King With Stevie Ray Vaughan: "In Session" ...
Big Head Blues Club: "100 Years Of Robert Johnson"...
The Grateful Dread: "The Grateful Dread" (2010) CD...
Black Sabbath Compilation CD (2010 release) CD Rev...
Sinatra/Jobim: "The Complete Reprise Recordings" (...
Wes Montgomery: "Boss Guitar" (2010 re-issue) CD R...
The Brian Kinler Band: "Stories From The Quarter" ...
The Brian Kinler Band Performs at M Bar in Hollywo...
The Brian Kinler Band at Vitello's 4-24-10 - Conce...
Vince Guaraldi Trio: "Jazz Impressions Of Black Or...
Bill Evans Trio: "Waltz For Debby" (2010 re-issue)...
Miles Davis Featuring Sonny Rollins: "Dig" (2010 r...
Dave Brubeck: "The Definitive Dave Brubeck" (2010 ...
Holland Greco 2-13-11 Set List
Chet Baker: "Sings - It Could Happen To You" (2010...
February 2011 Concert Calendar
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line148
|
__label__wiki
| 0.900158
| 0.900158
|
The Dramatics: “Greatest Slow Jams” (2014) CD Review
The new compilation from The Dramatics, Greatest Slow Jams, is an interesting collection of mellow tracks. Obviously it’s not a greatest hits album, for it doesn’t include the band’s biggest hit, “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get.” But there are some great tunes included here. And as the title promises, these are slow jams, mellow make-out tunes. This is a great album to listen to while curled up with your lover. All but one of these tracks were originally released between 1972 and 1977 (with the majority from 1972 and 1973). The one exception is “Tomorrow,” which was released in 1985, and not on available CD until now.
The Dramatics feature several distinct voices, with each taking the lead at different times. I love the way their several voices interact, particularly on a song like “Toast To The Fool.”
“Just Shopping (Not Buying Anything)”
This collection eases us in with “Just Shopping (Not Buying Anything),” a tune that feels like morning at its start. It feels to me like waking up with a lover when you’re too relaxed to say anything other than “Ooh, baby,” a line that opens the song, a line that is repeated many times before the actual lyrics start. And then later we’re treated to lines like, “You’re looking so good to me, all I can do is tremble.” This song was written by Michael Henderson, and was originally included on Drama V (1975).
“In The Rain”
“In The Rain” opens with rain sound effects. I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: I hate rain sound effects. Fortunately they stop before the song really begins (though they then return halfway through the song). Other than that, it’s a really good tune from Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get (1972), with smooth vocals. Here is a taste of the lyrics: “I want to go outside in the rain/Because I think I’m gonna cry/And I don’t want you to see my cry.” This song reached #1 on the R&B chart, and #5 on the pop chart. It was written by Tony Hester.
“I Can’t Get Over You”
“I Can’t Get Over You” begins with a spoken word section, one side of a telephone conversation, in which he tells the woman, “You see, I know you’ve been going through some changes/But I’ve been going through some changes myself.” It’s told from the perspective of a man who has tried to get a woman out of his mind, out of his heart, but failed. “I can’t get over you/I’ve tried and I’ve tried.” This one features an impassioned lead vocal performance. This song was originally included on Joy Ride.
“I Dedicate My Life To You”
“I Dedicate My Life To You” is one of my favorites. It’s an unabashed love song that is sweet and sexy. Sure, some of the lyrics might seem a bit cheesy, like “You’re more precious than the breath of spring/And you’re my hopes and all of my dreams/For you I laugh and for you I cry.” But that is quite all right, because they’re still effective. And the song has a nice, slow groove. It was written by Robert Holmes and Roger Hatcher, and was originally included on Dramatically Yours.
“And I Panicked”
In "And I Panicked," he’s in trouble. He calls a woman three times in the morning, and when she doesn’t answer, he goes to her place. Romantic, or just sad? It’s up to you. But the way these guys sing it, you’ll probably think of this song as romantic. I love the anguish and passion in his voice when he admits, “And I cried and I…” He can’t finish the line and simply cries out, nearly howling in pain. It's a great touch.
“Tomorrow” CD Debut
This compilation marks the CD debut of “Tomorrow,” a track released by L.J. Reynolds on vinyl in 1985. The music certainly has 1980s cheesy pop touches, but the vocal performance is excellent and heartfelt. “You'd better give your love today/For tomorrow very well might be too late." And then at the end he sings, "Your tomorrow could very well begin today.”
This collection concludes with "Hey You, Get Off My Mountain," a song originally included on A Dramatic Experience (1973). The song’s second line is “Hey you, get off my cloud” (which must be a nod to the Rolling Stones song).
Toast To The Fool
I Was The Life Of The Party
Thank You For Your Love
Fall In Love, Lady Love
I Made Myself Lonely
Hey You, Get Off My Mountain
Greatest Slow Jams is scheduled to be released April 29, 2014 through Stax and Concord Music Group.
Carleton Stone: “Draws Blood” (2014) CD Review
The Dramatics: “Greatest Slow Jams” (2014) CD Revi...
Okapi Sun at The Silverlake Lounge, 4-25-14 Concer...
Patrolled By Radar at Three Clubs, 4-24-14 Concert...
David Ruffin: “David Ruffin/Me ‘N Rock ‘N Roll Are...
David Ruffin: “My Whole World Ended/Feelin’ Good” ...
Record Store Day, 2014
Ellis Paul at Thousand Oaks Library 4-18-14 Concer...
Patrolled By Radar: “Cool Your Jets” (2014) CD Rev...
Record Store Day 2014 Wish List
David Wilcox: “Blaze” (2014) CD Review
The Howlin’ Brothers: “Trouble” (2014) CD Review
The Rise And Fall Of The Clash (2014) DVD Review
The Dream Syndicate: “The Day Before Wine And Rose...
Guns No Roses?
Irma Thomas: “Full Time Woman: The Lost Cotillion ...
Dreaming Bull at Lexington Social House, 4-1-14 (P...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line149
|
__label__wiki
| 0.648978
| 0.648978
|
Words & Music
Submitted by rodfrasers on July 5, 2011 - 7:04am
I used to scoff when songwriters like Bob Dylan and John Lennon were described as poets. When the lyrics of even their most famous songs went on the page, they seemed to me thin, ragged, and diffuse. Great phrases, even lines, got lost in windy rhetoric. Of course, I remembered songs that indubitably were poems: some of the English border ballads; Robert Burns’s “Ae Fond Kiss, And Then We Sever”; Hank Williams’s “May You Never Be Alone,” with its wonderful opening line, “Like a bird that’s lost its mate in flight.” But even in cases like these, I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t remembering the music as much as the words. Then I finally twigged: yes, the lyrics of popular songs can be poems, but to make them complete poems they require the tunes that go with them.
Not long ago I started thinking about this in connection with the Toronto rock band The Lowest of the Low. John Pepall introduced their work to me. Pepall is the author of the recent Against Reform, a book that denounces, among other things, a favourite liberal cause, proportional representation, and a favourite conservative cause, Senate reform. He became an aficionado of The Lowest of the Low on the strength of their debut album, Shakespeare My Butt. (That title alone was enough to endear the band to me.) I looked at the lyrics of their "Bleed A Little While Tonight." It’s got a driving, hard-rhyming line in it, “Damn, damn the circumstance,” that’s just made for pounding out. But the real poetry arrives in the last verse:
My mistakes are taunting me
And I'm hanging around in my old haunts
And I remember you telling me that
Alex never gets what she wants
But you've got someone
And it ain't me
I've got myself again but I just can't let this be
This seven-line verse has the rhyme scheme:
The first and sixth lines repeat the end-word “me,” consummated, like the couplet of a sonnet, in the final line’s “be.” In the first line, the internal half-rhyme, “taunting,” anticipates the full end-rhyme “haunts” of the second line and the clinching “wants” of the fourth.
The verse’s speaker laments the loss of Alex, apparently a girlfriend, addressing her as “you.” This Alex is a little odd, because she plaintively refers to herself in the third person: “Alex never gets what she wants.” She never gets what she wants, but the speaker is quick to inform us that she did get someone — and it isn’t him. What he’s left with is the incompleteness, the desolation, of his own self. Even with the false bravado of “I just can't let this be,” it’s an existential statement that transcends self-pity.
Taken overall, these lines have considerable technical sophistication and far from contemptible substance. And the music doesn’t sound bad, either.
rodfrasers's blog
Karen Shenfeld on July 9, 2011 - 7:11pm said:
Hint: It's one of the most popular rock bands of all time.
rodfrasers on July 8, 2011 - 11:04am said:
Karen, pardon my ignorance. Is this The Lowest of the Low? If so, what's the song?
When I'm drivin' in my car
and a man comes on the radio
he's tellin' me more and more
about some useless information
supposed to fire my imagination.
I can't get no, oh no no no.
Hey hey hey, that's what I say.
Mon November 29, 2010
View more items filed under “Poetry” in our Open Book Archives.
Submitted by jround on November 29, 2010 - 1:17am
John Barton (Brick Books, 2009)
Writer and editor John Barton’s ninth volume of poetry is loaded with memorable moments as it examines how we love and how we live. It dares us to embrace both the exquisite and the squalid.
For more information about Hymn, please visit the Brick Books website.
Fraser Sutherland
At last count, Fraser Sutherland has published fifteen books: one of them short fiction, four nonfiction and ten poetry, His most recent poetry collection is The Philosophy of As If. A freelance editor, he may be the only Canadian poet who is also a lexicographer. Born and raised in Nova Scotia, he lives in Toronto.
Go to Fraser Sutherland’s Author Page
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line152
|
__label__wiki
| 0.895026
| 0.895026
|
Home \ News \ U.S. ambassador in Berlin warns Germans about Russian gas pipeline, triggering applause elsewhere
U.S. ambassador in Berlin warns Germans about Russian gas pipeline, triggering applause elsewhere
15.01.2019 THE WASHINGTON POST
By Rick Noack
American ire over German reliance on Russian natural gas imports shows no signs of letting up, and over the weekend, Richard Grenell, the U.S. ambassador in Berlin, issued a warning to German companies involved in a controversial new pipeline to Russia. Writing to several corporations over the weekend, he said, “We emphasize that companies involved in Russian energy exports are taking part in something that could prompt a significant risk of sanctions,” according to the German weekly Bild am Sonntag and other German news outlets.
In a statement, embassy spokesman Joseph Giordono-Schultz said on Monday, “The U.S. Government has been clear that we agree with the European Parliament, the U.S. House and nearly 20 European countries in opposition to the Russian Nord Stream 2 project.” He added that “companies are free to work on [Nord Stream 2], and we are free to make clear that working on it could disqualify them from also working on U.S. projects.” the spokesman said.
He said the ambassador’s letter was not supposed to be a threat, but German lawmakers disagreed. The foreign policy spokesman of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union party and the Christian Social Union in the Bundestag called it “unacceptable.”
President Trump said in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly in September that Germany would become “totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course” on its energy policy.
Within Europe, however, the Trump administration is not as isolated as its German critics would like it to be, as WorldViews explained earlier:
What is Nord Stream 2 and why is it so controversial?
Russia is building its own pipeline, called Nord Stream 2, that could double the amount of natural gas it exports to Germany. For the European Union, natural gas is critical: It generates more than one-fourth of the European Union’s electricity needs, which are only growing.
(The Washington Post)
A third of the European Union’s gas comes from Russia, and Moscow is hoping to boost its market share further. To ensure it does, the Russian natural gas company Gazprom is building two new pipelines into Europe. One of them, called Turkish Stream, will serve southern European markets via Turkey and Greece. But the far more controversial project is Nord Stream 2, which ends in northern Germany and is slated to supply major Western European nations, among others.
Western European countries hope more gas trade with Russia will reduce tensions and give them common economic interests with Moscow. But critics of Nord Stream 2 fear that the project will make Europe even more dependent on Russia and vulnerable to its political whims.
With Washington on the offensive, Eastern and Central European nations have also felt emboldened to ramp up their own criticism. Polish President Andrzej Duda called Nord Stream 2 “a huge threat” when he visited the White House in mid-September. In the Baltics, Estonian Foreign Minister Sven Mikser voiced similar skepticism in July, saying that the pipeline was “in contradiction with the principles of the E.U.’s energy policy” and warning that it would give Russia leverage “to intervene in European politics.”
Without mentioning the U.S. ambassador’s name, Ukraine’s national oil and gas company, Naftogaz, jumped to Grenell’s support on Monday, writing on Twitter: “Nord Stream 2 is a real threat to the Baltic states.”
Why is Europe so divided on this issue?
Many of those countries still remember a dispute between Ukraine and Russia that began in March 2005. At the time, Moscow accused Kiev of diverting gas meant for E.U. nations and redirecting it to its own storage sites, thus avoiding paying for its own energy consumption.
The dispute escalated in 2009, when Russia stopped piping gas through Ukraine to force Kiev to end its alleged practices, which hit the nations that depend largely or completely on Russian gas hardest.
Russia and Germany concluded that new pipelines were needed to avoid the fraught route through Ukraine.
Things became even more complicated in June 2014, following a pro-European revolt in Ukraine that triggered Russia’s annexation of Crimea. As Russian-backed rebels fought Ukrainian soldiers, Moscow turned up the pressure by cutting off Ukraine’s gas supplies once again.
European pressure on Russia eventually ended the blockade, but Ukraine and other Eastern European countries fear that their Western European partners will be less inclined to help them once they receive gas through the new pipelines.
“It would increase Russia’s leverage: All of the sudden they would have another route and option to stranglehold Ukraine and to demand better transit conditions,” Nolan Theisen, head of the Globsec Policy Institute’s Energy Program, told The Washington Post last year.
In Germany itself, Nord Stream 2 has faced mounting resistance in reaction to Russian military operations in Georgia, Ukraine and Syria.
Still, there is — at least as of now — little chance the pressure will work. Widespread anti-Trump sentiment in Germany would make any change in policy, in response to the latest letter, a hard sell for Merkel and her allies. And then, there simply isn’t a real alternative.
“Germany has long been among the E.U. countries with the most friendly attitudes toward Russia — but they also simply wouldn’t be able to go without Russian gas deliveries,” said Andreas Heinrich, an Eastern Europe researcher at the University of Bremen.
What’s in it for the U.S.?
Britain, Norway and the Netherlands are Western and Northern Europe’s biggest gas producers, primarily relying on natural gas fields in the North Sea. But over the next few decades, Europe’s own resources — which accounted for more than a third of its supplies in 2016 — are expected to gradually disappear.
accounted for more than a third of its supplies in 2016 — are expected to gradually disappear.
(Rick Noack)
The supplies could be replaced either by Russian natural gas or by liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is natural gas that has been cooled to become liquid and loaded into shipping tanks. New fracking and drilling technology has already made the United States the world’s biggest natural-gas producer. It is now trying to become the top LNG exporter as well, with Europe its biggest potential market.
Only 4 percent of American LNG goes to Europe, compared with the 59 percent that is exported to Asian markets. That could change when the construction of six new European LNG port terminals is completed, most of them in former Soviet republics.
That is why key German business groups believe that American export interests, rather than security concerns, are behind Trump’s recent attacks on Nord Stream 2.
Dieter Kempf, president of Germany’s industrial association, told the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper in a recent interview that LNG would probably never constitute a real alternative to Russian gas. He argued that shipping LNG across the Atlantic Ocean is too expensive — a conclusion shared by a number of energy experts, including Theisen. Shipping LNG across the Atlantic can take weeks, and constructing the terminals where the gas would be unloaded is expensive.
“LNG and Russian gas will compete, but LNG won’t replace Russian exports,” Theisen predicted.
Still, Merkel agreed to speed up the construction of an LNG terminal in Germany in November, trying to calm U.S. concerns about the country’s energy dependence on Russia. That effort, last weekend’s letter by the U.S. ambassador showed, clearly has not worked the way it was probably intended to.
Parts of this post were first published on Oct. 17, 2018. The piece was updated Jan 14, 2019.
European gas suppliers keen on supplying Ukraine via Slovakia: Naftogaz
03.07.2014 Platts
Around 20 European gas suppliers, including the region's key gas traders, have expressed an interest in supplying gas to Ukraine via Slovakia, Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz Ukrayiny said in a statement late Wednesday.
Gazprom employs risky tactics in dispute with Ukraine
15.03.2018 FINANCIAL TIMES
Russia’s natural gas giant refusing to pay $2.6bn awarded in arbitration case
Ukraine Wants to Halt Russian Gas Imports For Good
18.11.2014 International Business Times
Ukraine wants to put an end to its reliance on Russian gas imports by establishing better connections with the European Union, according to the state-run gas firm Naftogaz.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line154
|
__label__cc
| 0.523938
| 0.476062
|
Terrorism: Face? Race? Place?
Yvonne Sam — June 29, 2015
The massacre at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina reminds us all that racism is deeply ingrained in the history of the USA
The re cent killings of nine congregants at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, once more typifies a well-known fact: “mass shootings have become a banal fact of death in America.”
A young 21- year-old white man who allegedly declared shot nine Black worshippers to death during a community prayer service: “You rape our women and take away our jobs.”
For many Black people it is blatantly apparent that the killer’s actions were an act of terror, which makes him a terror suspect and not a shooting suspect.
Sadly, so far, most media outlets have been labeling him a shooting suspect. This refusal by mainstream America to use the language that is typically assigned to terrorist attacks further calls into question how terrorism and race are dealt with in America by authorities.
Consciously or unconsciously, the attempt to limit what has happened to one “unhinged” individual, when in a Black church with a storied past nine Black bodies have been laid low, only plays into the hands of the shooter; this, in my opinion, is problematic.
In addition, note how the media have already found ways to legitimize his alleged crimes, a courtesy which, unfortunately, is never extended to suspects of color. Strangely enough, when I heard that the suspect was white, I already had an excuse for his behaviour, in fact a plethora of excuses, drawn up for him. Mental illness will be the go-to explanation, and here he will be humanized and called sick.
He being a victim of parental disaffection, mistreatment, early parental separation, product of a broken home will follow this and last but not least he slipped through the cracks and was the victim of inadequate mental health resources.
At this juncture I lay no claim to being a savant. On ABC and Fox News during discussion of his motivations for committing such an act, the anchor carefully and clearly said, “We do not know his mental condition.”
Sad but true that is the power of whiteness in current day America.
While being of a sound mind in a sound body, after the Boston Marathon bombings I watched and listened to several American television and radio stations as they brought in expert after expert, and even a convert, to qualify what had taken place as terrorism. There was absolutely no discussion of whether the Tsarnaev brothers could have experienced psychological difficulties.
Such behavior and attitude leaves open the question of whether or not there’s a disconnect between how Black and white people view violence against Black bodies. Note the grand difference – white suspects are seen as lone wolves; the act by Charleston shooter Dylan Roof was emphasized in the media as the act of one hateful person. Violence for example by Black and Muslim people is systemic and warrants response and action from all who are of the same race and religion.
Although the subject of a police manhunt, Roof was brought in alive, others such as ex LAPD agent Christopher Dorner was not as lucky when he was being hunted by the FBI. It should also be pointed out that even Black victims are vilified and every part of their lives is fine-tooth combed for any infraction or the slightest hint of justification for the attacks and murders that may have brought about their demise.
On this point I recall contacting CNN Anderson Cooper (360 Degrees) during the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman saga, requesting that he take a balanced view on profile reporting of the two individuals involved. In less than 24 hours, following the tragic altercation, the public had been treated to the private, public and even school life of the victim. The disparity was so obvious.
All that was known of the killer, Zimmerman, were the facts that he was an aspiring law officer and a neighbourhood watch volunteer licensed to carry a gun. None of his past brushes with the law were made known by media outlets, or the fact that his father was a retired magistrate/judge. Trayvon’s parents were separated; he lived with his mother, father lived in a gated community elsewhere, had been suspended from school, illicit drug possession, etc., etc. What a disparity! And here’s another harsh reality, nearly 80% of newsrooms in America (and Canada) are staffed by white reporters.
We still live in a very segregated society, and in addition we do not interact on deep enough levels to see the humanity in each other. Some newsroom personnel may simply feel uncomfortable labeling people who look like them terrorists. However, when it comes to attaching those labels to nonwhite people, then it’s the norm. There is no surprise, then, that this Black person or this Arab person is like this because that’s what they are, so it is only natural for us to assign those labels to them. It is apparent that when white people commit mass shootings their ideology isn’t brought as often to the fore.
The Klan Control Act or the Enforcement Act of 1871 was the first anti-terrorism law in U. S history, after the federal Government under the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant decided it needed to step in to protect order in the South and keep the political system from being overwhelmed by terrorist intimidation, and stamp out acts of violence against Black people.
The Charleston shootings clearly fit the definition of terror. I guess that was then, this is now, where a spade is strangely and automatically being called a horticultural implement and not a spade.
In the 21st century terrorism is typically associated with Muslim extremism. The Charleston killings have brought in its wake the call for renewed discussion about definition of terrorism. Is the term terrorist colored by the act or the fact?
Dylan Roof committed a hateful act of domestic terrorism in a church filled with Black people. That’s plainly and simply put, and there should be no other spin on it. As those who have lost their lives are eventually laid to rest, victims of yet another senseless killing.
I wish that media coverage from here on would not fall back on the typical narrative that is so readily attributed to white male shooters: a lone mentally disturbed young man failed by society.
It is the manifestation of the racial hatred and the white supremacy so prevalent in American society, and we should be calling him what he is: a terrorist.
Racism is not dead. We all know it’s alive because it keeps victimizing Black people.
With each well-publicized account of racial violence, all claims that the arrival and imminent departure of a Black president heralded the arrival of a “post-racial era” have collapsed under the very weight of its own delusion.
Since 9/11, America has become fixated on the threat of Jihadi terrorism, but the horrific tragedy at the Emmanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina reminds us all that the threat of homegrown domestic terrorism is very real.
Racism is deeply ingrained in the history of America, the success of Anglo-American capitalism owes itself to slavery and the prosperity of America itself rests on the sectoral oppression of Black labor. Sadly, it does not look as if Dyllan Roof will be charged with terrorism, but we must insist that this was an act of terrorism, part of an ongoing pattern.
Aleuta — The struggle continues.
Next post 7 Signs That It’s Time To Talk To a financial Planner
Previous post IMPACT: DO you know the condition of your foundation?
About the Author Yvonne Sam
Yvonne’s columns always provoke reaction. Her folksy take on everyday issues is refreshing. With degrees in Education and Nursing, she continues to work in both fields.
IS UNION NOW UNITED?
Novel Thomas, July 15, 2019
How Are You Coping?
We are all helpers in need of help
Pastor Julianna, July 15, 2019
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line156
|
__label__wiki
| 0.938883
| 0.938883
|
Courtesy of Netflix
See It Big! 70mm
August 1September 8
See It Big! 70mm, the Museum's annual celebration of large-format films, returns this August. Widescreen films for wide-eyed audiences, these seven titles demand to be seen as big as possible, and on the enduring 70mm format that offers astonishing detail and vibrancy. The series opens, as it long has, with Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, presented again in the unrestored 70mm print overseen in 2018 by Christopher Nolan, whose own Dunkirk will also screen in the series. Three films return to MoMI after several years off screen: Kenneth Branagh's ambitious and underseen Hamlet; Brainstorm, the sci-fi thriller directed by special effects legend Douglas Trumbull, best known for his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey; and Stanley Kramer's beloved madcap epic It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World; and two recent standouts screen in the series for the first time: Alfonso Cuarón's Academy Award–winning Roma and Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One.
Tickets: $15 ($5 Museum members at Standard through MoMI Kids Premium levels / free for Silver Screen members and above). Ticket prices reflect the added expense of shipping and preparing large format films.
Thursday, August 1, 7:00 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Friday, August 2, 7:00 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Saturday, August 3, 3:30 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Sunday, August 4, 3:30 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Saturday, August 10, 3:30 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Sunday, August 11, 3:30 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Thursday, August 15, 7:00 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Friday, August 16, 7:00 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World
Sunday, September 1, 2:00 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Friday, September 6, 7:00 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Saturday, September 7, 2:00 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater Screening
Sunday, September 8, 5:00 p.m. Museum of the Moving Image - Redstone Theater
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line157
|
__label__wiki
| 0.826195
| 0.826195
|
Index>Articles>Article
The Advertiser-News (south) - March 22, 2001 issue
Ski Train Could Come to Area
Vernon-It's likely a ski train may be bringing visitors to Mountain Creek in the not too distant future.
Hamburg Councilwoman Marge Morreale spearheaded the idea for the rail service to the county at a meeting of area officials about the future Intrawest Ski village proposal.
Sussex County Transportation Planner Tom Drabic said an excursion train bringing ski visitors to the resort is quite possible and could start as early as 2002.
The train proposal is seen as helping to alleviate traffic concerns for the proposed ski village.
Traffic was the main issue for area elected officials at last Thursday's meeting to discuss the Intrawest proposed development. The meeting, sponsored by Vernon Mayor John Logan and Mountain Creek officials, drew about 35 elected officials from surrounding municipalities and the county at Mountain Creek's Discovery Center.
The Vernon Township Planning Board approved the ski village's general development plan, that is a conceptual overview of the project expected to span 13 years, in December.
The development has been a source of controversy sparking opposition from environmental groups. These groups have lobbied governmental officials to pass resolutions against the proposed development of 1,613 resort residential units, 170,000 square feet of commercial/retail space, a hotel, a conference center and a mountain top golf course.
"It's a win/win situation. It can be implemented relatively quickly at relatively low cost," said Drabic.
Drabic said the existing New York Susquehanna and Western Railway lines which run along the back side of the South Lodge parking lot off Route 94 could carry the trains from Hoboken directly to the resort. The only trains that use the rails are freight trains.
Drabic said the venture would involve the partnering the New York Susquehanna and Western railroad, New Jersey Transit and the resort.
Drabic said there is already existing precedent for the rail service as New Jersey Transit runs excursion trains to the Jersey shore during summer months to promote tourism in the southern portion of the state.
"There's an opportunity to run for the winter. It's important for the region's economy," said Drabic. "(Mountain Creek would--[Missing text-DR]
Once the impact of the resort is determined, methods of remediation by the developer will be discussed and implemented at the expense of the developer.
Hamburg Council members were concerned about the intersection of Routes 94 and 23. Ogdensburg Councilman Robert Peist expressed concerns about increased traffic along Route 517. He said the tiny borough has seen increased traffic on the two-lane roadway as resort goers cut across the county from Route 15 to Route 23.
Ross said that the developer would take concerns of neighboring municipalities under consideration; however, he did not know if traffic studies would be extended beyond township limits.
The meeting was scheduled by Vernon and Mountain Creek officials to dispel inaccuracies and distortions about the development plan.
Environmental lobbyists have persuaded Hamburg along with the Passaic and Bergen County Freeholders to pass resolutions in opposition to the development.
"Some government bodies reached conclusions by information fed to them by our opponents," said Ross.
To set the record straight Ross said that the entire development will provide that 92 percent of Mountain Creek's lands will remain as open space. He added that the previously approved 27-hole golf course has been scaled down by Mountain Creek to an 18-hole golf course.
He also noted that of the 1613 resort units, only 859 units will be located on the mountaintop and those will be clustered in the style of lodges of the Grand Adirondacks. There will be no significant commercial development at the mountaintop. Commercial/retail space will be limited to ground levels shops in the village located at the base of the mountain.
The development is expected to provide a major economic boost to not only Vernon and the county but also the entire region. By 2010 Mountain Creek estimates they will be a $540,000,000 ratable.
"This will be a jewel not only for Sussex County but for the entire region," said Logan, "It's a challenge. We're going into this with our eyes open."
[In case you're wondering what the heck this has to do with the Sussex Branch, I put it in because if it comes to pass, it will be the first regularly scheduled passenger service on the 'South Vernon Branch' in a long time. -DR]
[The South Vernon Branch was the 4 miles from Hamburg to McAfee that the SRR built to get to the mines/quarries in McAfee. It was later sold to the Lehigh & Hudson River Railroad.]
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line158
|
__label__wiki
| 0.972674
| 0.972674
|
WATCH: 89-year-old New Jersey man still plays ice hockey
Tuesday, September 4, 2018 8:13 PM EDT
RANDOLPH -
A Morris County octogenarian says that he never misses playing in his weekly ice hockey games.
George Bianchi recently turned 89 years old and says that he has been playing the sport for around 40 years. He says that he started playing ice hockey when he was 42 years old.
“I broke my nose after the first month, I loved it after that,” Bianchi says.
Bianchi is a Korean War veteran with 10 grandchildren – who is nearly four times older than some of the players. But they all say that they have a lot of learn from him.
Christopher Tomlin is himself a veteran of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
“It's great to be able to sit down with somebody as a veteran myself and be able to talk about that stuff. The greatest joy is the conversations we have on the bench,” Tomlin says.
Bianchi plays alongside his grandson Matt.
His teammates gave him a helmet signed by the team for his 89th birthday.
Pros vs. Heroes: Police battle former NFL players in charity football game
The sixth annual Pros vs. Heroes charity flag football game took place Wednesday at Funtown Beach in Seaside Park.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line161
|
__label__wiki
| 0.954023
| 0.954023
|
Spartan Newsroom (http://news.jrn.msu.edu/2011/09/state-cuts-investment-in-brownfield-redevelopment-local-agencies-compete-for-diminishing-funds/)
State cuts investment in brownfield redevelopment, local agencies compete for diminishing funds
By reclaim | September 30, 2011
More on Business & Economy
Subscribe to Business & Economy
By JACOB KANCLERZ
LANSING – Despite attracting $14.4 billion in investments for developing contaminated properties the past 11 years, Michigan’s brownfield redevelopment program faces a $100 million cut.
The $150 million program coordinated by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality will be cut to $50 million this upcoming fiscal year.
The funding provides tax credits for developing brownfield sites – parcels of land contaminated above residential standards, said Daniel Wells, a brownfield program specialist with the Michigan Economic Development Corp.
Until now, brownfield funding was provided as a Michigan Business Tax credit. But the Legislature repealed that provision last spring, prompting the need for replacement funding.
The new Michigan Community Revitalization Program partially fills the void, doling out loans and grants rather than tax credits for brownfield redevelopment. The program has $50 million to split between brownfield projects, the historic preservation program and the Michigan Economic Growth Authority tax credit. Wells said it’s the first time that brownfield redevelopment hasn’t had its own funding.
The return on the state’s investment in brownfield redevelopment has been substantial, considering developers take up most of the costs, Wells said. The state has approved $1.1 billion in tax credits since 2000 compared to $14.4 billion pledged by developers.
Gov. Rick Snyder’s administration set out to level the business playing field by repealing most Michigan Business Tax credits. Critics said they were unfair because not every business was eligible for them.
But the brownfield cuts will lessen the availability of funds for local redevelopment efforts, said Carol Vining Moore, the chair of Marquette’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority.
“I do feel it will be harder to find people who are interested in taking the risk of putting the additional dollars into developing sites without incentive money,” she said. “Because of the way the state is going to put the money that is available into a bigger pool, we’re all going to try to go after it.”
The brownfield program is intended for redeveloping Michigan communities that were once dominated by industry. Marquette has an extensive manufacturing past, with the coal industry and railroads dominating the Lake Superior shoreline, Vining Moore said.
One stretch, once known as the Bum’s Jungle, is developing into new condominiums and a hotel thanks to brownfield funds, she said. Even in the early phases of construction the project is attracting outsiders – and their money – to Marquette.
“The condos are selling to people from outside the area, as a result of that, we’re bringing new people into the area, which will benefit our economy,” she said.
In Cadillac, brownfield redevelopment funding has helped pay for downtown construction of a Chemical Bank and Dollar General, said Jerry Adams, the city’s director of community development.
“It’s been very important to us, particularly the redevelopment of sites in or near the downtown area,” he said.
Since 2000, the state has approved 1,005 brownfield projects for funding. They are intended to benefit downtown areas and to fight urban sprawl.
“We had this tremendous move out to the suburbs back in the ‘60s,” Wells said. “What we’re trying to do is bring the focus back on the cities, make them more livable, provide better services for people.”
With less money to distribute, fewer projects will be approved, Wells said. The state tracks the number of projects approved, but not the ones actually completed. He said the state will try to approve projects with better chances of success.
In the past, the agency wasn’t thorough in verifying developers’ finances before giving approval, Wells said. “Some of the projects we’ve approved for credits have not gone forward.”
In fact, Michigan’s auditor general reported in June 2011 that the Treasury Department did not collect financial status reports of brownfield redevelopment authorities and report them to the Legislature, which is required by law. As a result, there wasn’t enough information to evaluate the program’s effectiveness. The report stated the Treasury was working to correct the problem.
Treasury officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
© 2011, Capital News Service, Michigan State University School of Journalism. Nonmembers cannot reproduce CNS articles without written permission.
Driver license bill targets legal immigrants
By SHANNAN O’NEIL
LANSING- A driver license bill recently passed by the Legislature has a provision that could impede legal immigrants from obtaining a license or state ID. The bill, sent to the governor, makes some changes that are not controversial, such as allocating of the revenue from renewed driver licenses to Michigan’s Department of Transportation.
Capital News Services articles may be reprinted exclusively by subscribing media organizations. CNS correspondents cover all aspects of Michigan state government. They come in contact with the important newsmakers of the day, from the Supreme Court justices and the governor to members of the Legislature and the people who run the state government departments, to lobbyists and public-interest organizations. Then they also talk with “real people” — the individual citizens and businesses in communities to get their reactions to what’s happening in Lansing.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line163
|
__label__wiki
| 0.501828
| 0.501828
|
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS:
Nuclear power, ethanol can cut CO2 emissions
by Colin Teese
How could Australia slash its carbon emissions with minimum adverse effect? Colin Teese looks at the options.
The debate about climate change and its causes isn't so much raging as plodding along. Meanwhile, a certain scepticism remains in the minds of some, including, that of the Prime Minister John Howard, notwithstanding his apparent conversion. Not that the views of prime ministers - or, for that matter, opposition leaders - matter much any more.
Circumstances and responsible opinion seem to have taken over the issue, not merely here in Australia, but also abroad. In Australia, the prestigious CSIRO has linked arms of conviction with perhaps the best-informed body in the United States, the space research organisation, NASA.
What remains is to decide what, if anything, might be done about it - "if anything" being the operative words.
Material prosperity goes hand in hand with economic and industrial development; and we know that the most developed and prosperous industrialised society, the United States, is the largest generator of carbon emissions, both per capita and in total.
We also know that, following in its wake, are the industrialising economies of China and India. And we know, further, that these two nations, each with populations many times larger than that of the US, aspire to reach the same standards of living.
We also know that they do not believe they should be held back in order to help fix a problem they consider, rightly or wrongly, to be of others' making.
So is the problem of dealing with carbon emissions insoluble? Maybe. Most of the international community obviously believes otherwise. Its collective response has been to conclude an international treaty, the Kyoto Protocol, based on the underlying idea of buying and selling the rights to generate and eliminate carbon emissions.
The US and Australia are the only significant non-signatories to that agreement. Despite this, many US state governments are going it alone in their efforts to deal with carbon emissions. And their actions have crossed party-political lines. California's Republican Governor is among the most active in intervening to cut back carbon emissions in his state.
Strongly-based political opposition by supporters of the Republican Party in Washington DC may be a major factor behind the opposition of President George W. Bush to any form of international cooperation - market-based or otherwise - for containing carbon emissions. It is also true that in any concerted international action, the US has most to lose.
The position in Australia is less clear. Until recently, the Prime Minister appeared to be opposed to international cooperation because he did not believe there to be a problem. Whatever his beliefs, he continues to hold out against Kyoto.
Meanwhile, others - including some on Mr Howard's side of politics - continue their efforts to find ways around the problem.
While the value of an international approach remains questionable, such a search is probably worthwhile. Nevertheless, it remains likely that the problems associated with carbon emissions in the United States, China, Europe and the rest of the world, require their own separate approaches.
International cooperation could help in defining the problem, but countries may have to tailor make their own solutions. Perhaps, given what is happening within its individual states, the US is already coming to this realisation.
What then might be appropriate for Australia? This writer has discussed possibilities with an Australian businessman friend whose mind is finely tuned to this and other policy considerations from a distinctly Australian perspective. He is specifically concerned what Australia might develop and how it might implement its own policies to contain and ultimately drastically cut back on its carbon emissions.
They are based on a careful analysis, both scientific and political, of the nature of the problem in Australia.
But first, consider the facts. Per capita, Australia is high on the list of carbon emissions. This is hardly surprising. Ours is a well-developed and prosperous economy - and our habits relating to power generation are based upon the limitless availability of cheaply-produced, though polluting, coal. We are also a huge coal-exporter. Thus we contribute, directly and indirectly, to carbon emissions worldwide.
Whether the importers of our coal - either directly or indirectly - will continue to accept the pollutant effects of all this is a matter for our trading partners and our coal industry to resolve.
But the problems at home are within our capacity to solve, independently of the world. As a matter of fact, our domestically-generated carbon emissions contribute in an insignificant degree to a worldwide problem. Accordingly, if we were to cut our emissions to zero, it would have virtually no effect on the world's pollution problems.
So why do anything? Some here in Australia think that we should be setting an example to the rest of the world. Standing alone, that argument does not seem to have much to recommend it.
But consider this: with the right policy approach, it is perfectly possible - with little adverse effects on us - to cut our carbon emissions to extremely low levels, perhaps close to zero.
That would be an example worth setting. We could keep our air-conditioners and our motor vehicles, without the need to have partly electrically-driven cars - the downsides of which are already being uncovered.
A combination of gas-fired and nuclear power generation to replace coal would reduce emissions from power generation to extremely low levels and is the obvious starting place.
As for cars, we are well placed to embrace the ethanol option - better, perhaps, than almost any other country on earth. While it is well established that ethanol is capable of being produced from a number of crops, it is also true that sugar is regarded as among the best sources of ethanol. We already have a well-developed sugar industry and, given the right kind of policy framework, it could be developed further, based on ethanol.
Sugar, it will be recalled, is the basis of the ethanol program in Brazil and is a vital part of that country's energy production and use policy. We could, and should, integrate sugar and ethanol into our energy production policy mix in the same way.
But that should not be the end of it. We have the acreage to plant other crops for extremely large-scale ethanol production, given the right policy approach. The boost this would give to agriculture is, of itself, a great incentive for such an approach.
If these simple changes are so obvious, why have they not already been advanced and implemented? Well, for a start, they raise a number of important and difficult policy dilemmas for any ideologically-driven government - and for any of its media and academic fellow-travellers - who remain committed to free-market economic solutions.
Quite how policy and ideology come into conflict needs perhaps some explanation. So far as ethanol production is concerned, on the scale which is being suggested, both production and distribution would need to be coordinated by government.
It would make no sense for such a program to be developed and for the output to find its way into markets - both here and abroad - by normal commercial processes. To solve our carbon-emission problems, most, if not all, would need to be reserved for domestic consumption - and even, (perish the thought!) for the sake of the wider economy, its price regulated in time of shortage.
The position with power-generation is no less complicated. Obviously a bipartisan approach to nuclear power would have to be developed. If cheap polluting coal were replaced with gas and nuclear power, unit prices to the consumer would need to rise. But the effect of this on households' regular accounts needs not be catastrophic. Less wasteful use of domestic power could result in offsetting savings, providing it was not the commercial suppliers' purpose to encourage as much use of electricity as possible.
As to the coal industry, its future should be left in its own hands. It could remain in the game if it could compete on price with clean coal against the alternative power-generators. This is its future anyway, unless the government chooses to confer upon it a preferred position as an energy supplier through taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Whatever may be the Government's wish, even this may not be possible. Trading partners who are cleaning up their own pollution have already suggested they may impose a tax on our exports to the extent that they have been processed with cheap polluting coal. In future, to make it saleable, the raw product itself may need to be supplied in a clean form.
Apart from any of this, there is another gain available, and it concerns renewable energy. Much has been made of the virtues of wind and wave power by environmentalists. Nevertheless, it does not seem feasible to consider this as a realistic alternative to the other sources for power generation. But it could be the major source of energy for desalinisation. It seems to have a vast number of advantages over all other sources for this purpose.
So there it is - an entirely practicable solution to the specific problems of Australia without any of the artificiality of so-called market-based solutions, such as carbon-trading, which in any event does not seem to have worked very well up to now. The result could be a huge cut in our emissions with minimum adverse effect.
All that stands in its way are politics and ideology. For now, we can expect they will continue as road-blocks.
The more likely outcome for the moment is that we will attach ourselves to some kind of market-driven solution, which is inappropriate to our needs and which will advantage others more than us. But who knows? If things get desperate enough, we might be forced into considering something sensible.
- Colin Teese is a former deputy secretary of the Department of Trade.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line167
|
__label__wiki
| 0.769158
| 0.769158
|
Tanzimat
History of the
Gaza Thesis
Interregnum (1402–1413)
Fall of Constantinople
Classical Age
Sultanate of Women
Köprülü Era (1656–1703)
Old Regime
Tulip Era (1718–1730)
Decline and modernization
Nizam-i Djedid
Tanzimat Era (1839–1876)
1st Constitutional Era (1876–1878)
Defeat and dissolution
2nd Constitutional Era (1908–1920)
World War I (1914–1918)
The Tanzimât (Turkish: [tɑnziˈmɑːt]; Ottoman Turkish: تنظيمات, translit. Tanẓīmāt, lit. 'reorganization', see Nizam) was a period of reform in the Ottoman Empire that began in 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876.[1]
The Tanzimat era began with the purpose, not of radical transformation, but of modernization, desiring to consolidate the social and political foundations of the Ottoman Empire.[2] It was characterised by various attempts to modernise the Ottoman Empire and to secure its territorial integrity against internal nationalist movements and external aggressive powers. The reforms encouraged Ottomanism among the diverse ethnic groups of the Empire and attempted to stem the tide of nationalist movements within the Ottoman Empire.
The reforms sought to emancipate the empire's non-Muslim subjects and more thoroughly integrate non-Turks into Ottoman society by enhancing their civil liberties and granting them equality throughout the empire. In the midst of being forced to recognize the supremacy of Western power, the Ottoman elite intellectuals attempted to bring reconciliation between the West and the East within the framework of Islam.[2]
Many changes were made to improve civil liberties, but many Muslims saw them as foreign influence on the world of Islam. That perception complicated reformist efforts made by the state.[3]
During the Tanzimat period, the government's series of constitutional reforms led to a fairly modern conscripted army, banking system reforms, the decriminalization of homosexuality, the replacement of religious law with secular law[4] and guilds with modern factories. The Ottoman Ministry of Post was established in Constantinople on 23 October 1840.[5][6]
The reforms emerged from the minds of reformist sultans like Mahmud II, his son Abdulmejid I and prominent, often European-educated bureaucrats, who recognised that the old religious and military institutions no longer met the needs of the empire. Most of the symbolic changes, such as uniforms, were aimed at changing the mindset of imperial administrators. Many of the officials affiliated with the government were encouraged to wear a more western style of dress. Many of the reforms were attempts to adopt successful European practices. The reforms were heavily influenced by the Napoleonic Code and French law under the Second French Empire as a direct result of the increasing number of Ottoman students being educated in France. Changes included the elimination of the devshirme system of conscription in favour of universal conscription; educational, institutional and legal reforms; and systematic attempts at eliminating political corruption.
Also, a policy called Ottomanism was meant to unite all the different peoples living in Ottoman territories, "Muslim and non-Muslim, Turkish and Greek, Armenian and Jewish, Kurd and Arab". The policy officially began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839, declaring equality before the law for both Muslim and non-Muslim Ottomans.[7]
Examples of dress reform
Diplomat Mehmed Cemil Bey wearing a frock coat and a bow tie.
Necip Ahmed Pasha, career officer and composer in French-inspired uniform.
Governor Rahmi Bey.
Mehmed Galip Bey Efendi.
Gülüstü Hanım.
Şayeste Hanım.
The ambitious project was launched to combat the slow decline of the empire that had seen its borders shrink and its strength weaken in comparison to the European powers. There were both internal and external reasons for the reforms.
Internally, the Ottoman Empire hoped that getting rid of the millet system would lead to direct control of all of its citizens by the creation of a more-centralized government and an increase of the legitimacy of Ottoman rule. Another major hope was that by being more open to various demographics, more people would be attracted into the empire. There was fear of internal strife between Muslims and non-Muslims, and allowing more religious freedom to all was supposed to diminish this threat. Giving more rights to the Christians was considered likely to reduce the danger of outside intervention on their behalf.
The Ottomans became worried of an escalating intervention of the European powers in Ottoman affairs, another reason for the reforms. After the Crimean War, caused by Russia's incursion into the Ottoman Empire in the 1850s, Ottoman leaders tried to avoid a repeat. They thought that the Great Powers would accept the Tanzimat as long as the reforms were ongoing.
Although the motives for the implementation of Tanzimât were bureaucratic, it was impulsed by liberal ministers and intellectuals like Kabuli Mehmed Pasha, the secret society the Young Ottomans,[8][9] and liberal minded like Midhat Pasha who is also often considered as one of the founders of the Ottoman Parliament.[10][11][12][13] Thanks to the emerging internal, financial and diplomatic crises of 1875–1876, Midhat Pasha introduced the constitution of 1876, ending the Tanzimat.[14]
Known for his liberal ideals, Midhat Pasha is often considered to be one of the founders of the Ottoman Parliament.
Cenap Sabahaddin was known for his liberal ideals and poetry influenced by French Symbolism.
Kabuli Mehmed Pasha, one of the first liberal ministers during the early stages of the Tanzimat period.
Taxation in the Ottoman Empire
Adet-i Ağnam
Adet-i deştbani
Ashar
Avarız
Bac-i pazar
Bedl-i askeri
Cizye
Cürm-ü cinayet
Damga resmi
Gümrük resmi
Ihtisab
Ispendje
Istira
Maktu
Mururiye resmi
Muskirat resmi
Nüzül
Otlak resmi
Rav akçesi
Resm-i arusane
Resm-i bennâk
Resm-i bostan
Resm-i çift
Resm-i dönüm
Resm-i filori
Resm-i ganem
Resm-i hınzır
Resm-i mücerred
Resm-i sicill
Rusum-e-eflak
Selamet isni
Tapu resmi
Tekalif-i orfiye
Temettu
Tuz resmi
Ahidnâme
Evkaf-i Hümayun Nezareti
Hazine-i Hassa
Hazine-i Amire
Iltizam
Kadı
Kanun-i Raya
Kanunname
Merdiban
Muafiyet
Muhassil
Muqata'ah
Mütesellim
Ottoman Public Debt Administration
Regie Company
Siyakat
Sürsat
Waqf
The Tanzimât reforms began under Sultan Mahmud II. On November 3, 1839, Sultan Abdulmejid I issued a hatt-i sharif or imperial edict called the Edict of Gülhane or Tanzimât (تنظيمات) Fermânı. This was followed by several statutes enacting its policies.
In the edict the Sultan stated that he wished "to bring the benefits of a good administration to the provinces of the Ottoman Empire through new institutions". Among the reforms were:[15]
guarantees to ensure the Ottoman subjects perfect security for their lives, honour, and property (1839, see Edict of Gülhane below for details);
the introduction of the first Ottoman paper banknotes (1840);
the opening of the first post offices of the empire (1840);
the reorganization of the finance system (1840);
the reorganization of the Civil and Criminal Code (1840);
the establishment of the Meclis-i Maarif-i Umumiye (1841) which was the prototype of the First Ottoman Parliament (1876);
the reorganization of the army and a regular method of recruiting, levying the army, and fixing the duration of military service (1843–44);
the adoption of an Ottoman national anthem and Ottoman national flag (1844);
the first nationwide Ottoman census in 1844 (only male citizens were counted);
the first national identity cards (officially named the Mecidiye identity papers, or informally kafa kağıdı (head paper) documents, 1844);
the institution of a Council of Public Instruction (1845) and the Ministry of Education (Mekatib-i Umumiye Nezareti, 1847, which later became the Maarif Nezareti, 1857);
the abolition of slavery and slave trade (1847);
the establishment of the first modern universities (darülfünun, 1848), academies (1848) and teacher schools (darülmuallimin, 1848);
the establishment of the Ministry of Healthcare (Tıbbiye Nezareti, 1850);
the Commerce and Trade Code (1850);
the establishment of the Academy of Sciences (Encümen-i Daniş, 1851);
the establishment of the Şirket-i Hayriye (tr) which operated the first steam-powered commuter ferries (1851);
the establishment of the modern Municipality of Constantinople (Şehremaneti, 1854) and the City Planning Council (İntizam-ı Şehir Komisyonu, 1855);
the Hatt-ı Hümayun of 1856 (called Islahat meaning improvement) promising full legal equality for citizens of all religions (1856);
the abolition of the devshirme system of military conscription, allowing adult non-Muslims to become soldiers (1856);
various provisions for the better administration of the public service and advancement of commerce;
the establishment of the first telegraph networks (1847–1855) and railway networks (1856);
the replacement of guilds with factories;
the establishment of the Ottoman Central Bank (originally established as the Bank-ı Osmanî in 1856, and later reorganized as the Bank-ı Osmanî-i Şahane in 1863)[16] and the Ottoman Stock Exchange (Dersaadet Tahvilat Borsası, established in 1866);[17]
the Land Code (Arazi Kanunnamesi (1857);
the permission for private sector publishers and printing firms with the Serbesti-i Kürşad Nizamnamesi (1857);
the decriminalization of homosexuality (1858);
the establishment of the Civil Service School, an institution of higher learning for civilians (1859)[18]
the establishment of the School of Economical and Political Sciences (Mekteb-i Mülkiye, 1859);
the Press and Journalism Regulation Code (Matbuat Nizamnamesi, 1864); among others.[15]
the establishment of the Imperial Ottoman Lycée at Galatasaray, another institution of higher learning for civilians (1868)[18]
the Nationality Law of 1869 creating a common Ottoman citizenship irrespective of religious or ethnic divisions (1869).
Edict of Gülhane of 1839
Main article: Edict of Gülhane
The Hatt-ı Şerif, lit. Noble Decree or Imperial Rescript of Gülhane, was the first major reform in the Tanzimat reforms under the government of sultan Abdulmecid and a crucial event in the movement towards secularization. The decree, named after the rosehouse (gülhane) on the grounds of the Topkapi Palace, abolished tax farming. It also created a bureaucratic system of taxation with salaried tax collectors. This reflects the centralizing effects of the Tanzimat reforms. Additionally, the Edict of Gülhane imposed forced military conscription within the administrative districts based on their population size.
However, the most significant clause of the Gülhane decree is the one enforcing the rule of law for all subjects, including non-Muslims, by guaranteeing the right to life and property for all. This put an end to the kul system, which allowed the ruler's servants to be executed or have their property confiscated at his desire. These reforms sought to establish legal and social equality for all Ottoman citizens. The reforms eliminated the millet system in the Ottoman Empire. The millet system created religiously based communities that operated autonomously, so people were organized into societies, some of them often receiving privileges. This clause terminated the privileges of these communities and constructed a society where all followed the same law.
The new reforms called for an almost complete reconstruction of public life in the Ottoman Empire. Under the reconstruction, a system of state schools was established to produce government clerics. Ottomans were encouraged to enroll. Each province was organized so that each governor would have an advisory council and specified duties in order to better serve the territory. The new reforms also called for a modern financial system with a central bank, treasury bonds and a decimal currency. Finally, the reforms implemented the expansion of roads, canals and rail lines for better communication and transportation.
The reaction to the edict was not entirely positive. Christians in the Balkans refused to support the reforms because they wanted an autonomy that became more difficult to achieve under centralized power. In fact, its adoption spurred some provinces to seek independence by rebelling. It took strong British backing in maintaining Ottoman territory to ensure that the reforms were instated.
Edict of 1856 and religious freedom
Main article: Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856
The Reform Edict of 1856 was intended to carry out the promises of the Tanzimat. The Edict is very specific about the status of non-Muslims, making it possible "to see it as the outcome of a period of religious restlessness that followed the Edict of 1839". Officially, part of the Tanzimat's goal was to make the state intolerant to forced conversion to Islam, also making the execution of apostates from Islam illegal. Despite the official position of the state in the midst of the Tanzimat reforms, this tolerance of non-Muslims seems to have been seriously curtailed, at least until the Reform Edict of 1856. The Ottoman Empire had tried many different ways to reach out to non-Muslims. First they tried to reach out to them by giving all non-Muslims an option to apply for Dhimmi status. Having Dhimmi status gave non-Muslims the ability to live in the Ottoman Empire and own property but this ability was not without special taxes (jizya).
For the "Ottoman ruling elite, 'freedom of religion' meant 'freedom to defend their religion'".[19]
Although the Edict of Gülhane and the Tanzimat provided strong guidelines for society, it was not a constitution and did not replace the authority of the sultan.
Still, the Tanzimat reforms had far-reaching effects overall. Those educated in the schools established during the Tanzimat period included major personalities of the nation states that would develop from the Ottoman Empire, such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and other progressive leaders and thinkers of the Republic of Turkey and many other personalities from the Balkans, the Middle East and North Africa. The system was ultimately undone by negotiations with the Great Powers following the Crimean War. As part of the Charter of 1856, European powers demanded a much stronger sovereignty for ethnic communities within the empire, differing from the Ottomans, who envisioned equality meaning identical treatment under the law for all citizens. That served to strengthen the Christian middle class, increasing their economic and political power.
Arab notables generally opposed the Tanzimat. They could see that positions of administrative authority in the changing Ottoman state were going to young men trained in the government schools. Beginning in the 1870s, many of the leading Arab families adopted the practice of enrolling their sons in the higher academies of Constantinople. Upon completing their studies, these young Arabs obtained positions in the Ottoman bureaucracy and thus gave their families access to the government. Indeed, throughout the Tanzimat, the Arab urban elite managed to preserve their privileges and to make themselves indispensable to the Ottoman officials sent out from Constantinople. The politics of the notables survived the centralizing reforms.[20]
The reforms peaked in 1876 with the implementation of an Ottoman constitution checking the autocratic powers of the Sultan. The details of this period are covered under the First Constitutional Era. Although the new Sultan Abdul Hamid II signed the first constitution, he quickly turned against it.
State institutions were reorganized; laws were updated according to the needs of the changing world; modern education, clothing, architecture, arts, and lifestyle were encouraged. This reorganization and addition of state institutions resulted in an enormous increase in the number of bureaucrats in the Ottoman Empire.
Some scholars argue that from the Muslim population's traditional Islamic view, the Tanzimat's fundamental change regarding the non-Muslims, from a status of a subjugated population (dhimmi) to that of equal subjects, was in part responsible for the Hamidian massacres and subsequent Armenian Genocide. In their view, these were inevitable backlashes from the Muslim community to the legal changes, as the Tanzimat's values were imposed from above and did not reflect those of society.[21]
Effects in different provinces
In Lebanon, the Tanzimat reforms were intended to return to the tradition of equality for all subjects before the law. However, the Sublime Porte assumed that the underlying hierarchical social order would remain unchanged. Instead, the upheavals of reform would allow for different understandings of the goals of the Tanzimat. The elites in Mount Lebanon, in fact, interpreted the Tanzimat far differently from one another, leading to ethno-religious uprisings among newly emancipated Maronites. As a result, "European and Ottoman officials engaged in a contest to win the loyalty of the local inhabitants — the French by claiming to protect the Maronites; the British, the Druze; and the Ottomans by proclaiming the sultan's benevolence toward all his religiously equal subjects."[22]
In Palestine, land reforms, especially the change in land ownership structure via the Ottoman Land Law of 1858, allowed Russian Jews to buy land, thus enabling them to immigrate there under the first Aliya. In order to boost its tax base, the Ottoman state required Arabs in Palestine, as elsewhere, to register their lands for the first time. As a rule the fellahin didn't trust the ailing regime, fearing that registration would only lead to higher taxation and conscription. Prevailing illiteracy among the fellahin meant in the end that many local mukhtars were able to collectively register village lands under their own name. Thus, they were able to later claim ownership and to sell the local peasants' lands out from under their feet to the new Jewish immigrants, as they themselves relocated permanently to Syria or Turkey.[23] Alternately, rich Christian or Muslim families, the class of the 'Effendis', were able to accumulate large amounts of land which they exploited by themselves or sold on.
In Armenia, the Armenian National Constitution (Ottoman Turkish: "Nizâmnâme−i Millet−i Ermeniyân") of 1863 was approved by the Ottoman government. The "Code of Regulations" consisted of 150 articles drafted by the Armenian intelligentsia and defined the powers of the Armenian Patriarch under the Ottoman millet system and the newly formed "Armenian National Assembly".[24]
Opening of the first Ottoman Parliament (Meclis-i Umumî), 1877.
1877, Meeting of the Parliament.
Members of the Committee of Union and Progress proclaiming the Second Constitutional Era.
An old photograph of the Parliament during the Second Constitutional Era.
Building of the Ottoman Parliament.
The Imperial Ottoman Bank Headquarters, 1896.
Personnel of a branch in Konya, 1889.
Naum Theatre in Constantinople.
Tobacco factory in Samsun, 1910.
Bomonti brewery of Constantinople.
Albanian Revolt of 1847
Decline of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman military reforms
Edict of Gülhane or Tanzimât (تنظيمات) Fermânı (3 November 1839)
Ottoman Reform Edict of 1856 or Islâhat Fermânı / Islâhat Hatt-ı Hümâyûn-u (18 February 1856) - خط همايون
Young Ottomans
Court uniform and dress in the Ottoman Empire
↑ Cleveland, William L & Martin Bunton, A History of the Modern Middle East: 4th Edition, Westview Press: 2009, p. 82.
1 2 Guler, Emre. Masculinities In Early Turkish Republican Novels (1924-1951). MA History Thesis. Istanbul Bilgi University, 2014. Web. 5 Mar 2018.
↑ Roderic. H. Davison, Essays in Ottoman and Turkish History, 1774-1923 – The Impact of West, Texas 1990, pp. 115-116.
↑ Ishtiaq, Hussain. "The Tanzimat: Secular reforms in the Ottoman Empire" (PDF). Faith Matters.
↑ "PTT Chronology" (in Turkish). PTT Genel Müdürlüğü. 13 September 2008. Archived from the original on 13 September 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
↑ "History of the Turkish Postal Service". Ptt.gov.tr. Retrieved 6 November 2011.
↑ The Invention of Tradition as Public Image in the Late Ottoman Empire, 1808 to 1908, Selim Deringil, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jan. 1993), pp. 3-29
↑ Lindgren, Allana; Ross, Stephen (2015). The Modernist World. Routledge. ISBN 1317696166. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
↑ Yapp, Malcolm (9 January 2014). The Making of the Modern Near East 1792-1923. Routledge. p. 119. ISBN 1317871073. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
↑ Hanioğlu, M. Şükrü (1995). The Young Turks in Opposition. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195358023. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
↑ The Syrian Land: Processes of Integration and Fragmentation : Bilād Al-Shām from the 18th to the 20th Century. Franz Steiner Verlag. 1998. p. 260. ISBN 3515073094. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
↑ Zvi Yehuda Hershlag (1980). Introduction to the Modern Economic History of the Middle East. Brill Archive. pp. 36–37. ISBN 978-90-04-06061-6. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
↑ Caroline Finkel (19 July 2012). Osman's Dream: The Story of the Ottoman Empire 1300-1923. John Murray. pp. 6–7. ISBN 978-1-84854-785-8. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
↑ Selçuk Akşin Somel (2010). The A to Z of the Ottoman Empire. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-8108-7579-1. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
1 2 NTV Tarih Archived 2013-02-12 at the Wayback Machine. history magazine, issue of July 2011. '"Sultan Abdülmecid: İlklerin Padişahı", pages 46–50. (Turkish)
↑ Ottoman Bank Museum: History of the Ottoman Bank Archived 2012-06-14 at the Wayback Machine.
↑ Istanbul Stock Exchange: History of the Istanbul Stock Exchange Archived 2012-02-25 at the Wayback Machine.
1 2 Cleveland & Bunton, A History of the Modern Middle East, Chapter 5 pg.84 of 4th edition
↑ Selim Deringil. "'There Is No Compulsion in Religion': On Conversion and Apostasy in the Late Ottoman Empire: 1839–1856", Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 42, No. 3 (Jul., 2000), pp. 547–575
↑ Cleveland, William (2013). A History of the Modern Middle East. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0813340489.
↑ Movsesian, Mark L., Elusive Equality: The Armenian Genocide and the Failure of Ottoman Legal Reform (May 5, 2010). St. John's Legal Studies Research Paper No. 1600745; Islamic Law and Law of the Muslim World Paper, Forthcoming. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1600745
↑ Corrupting the Sublime Sultanate: The Revolt of Tanyus Shahin in Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Lebanon, Ussama Makdisi, Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 42, No. 1 (Jan., 2000), pp. 180-208
↑ Gershon Shafir, Land, Labor and the Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict 1882-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
↑ Richard G. (EDT) Hovannisian "The Armenian People from Ancient to Modern Times" p. 198.oo
Edward Shepherd Creasy, History of Ottoman Turks; From the beginning of their empire to the present time, London, Richard Bentley (1854); (1878).
Maurizio Costanza, La Mezzaluna sul filo - La riforma ottomana di Mahmûd II, Marcianum Press, Venezia, 2010
Nora Lafi, "The Ottoman Municipal Reforms between Old Regime and Modernity: Towards a New Interpretative Paradigm", Istanbul, 2007
http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/14/62/10/PDF/LafiEminonuOttomanReforms.pdf
LAFI (Nora), Une ville du Maghreb entre ancien régime et réformes ottomanes. Genèse des institutions municipales à Tripoli de Barbarie (1795–1911), Paris: L'Harmattan, (2002).
LAFI (Nora), Municipalités méditerranéennes. Les réformes municipales ottomanes au miroir d'une histoire comparée, Berlin: K. Schwarz, (2005).
Gelvin, James L. (2008). The Modern Middle East: A History (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-532759-5.
Hussain, Ishtiaq. "The Tanzimat: Secular reforms in the Ottoman Empire]", Faith Matters 2011
Cleveland, William L., and Martin P. Bunton (2012). A History of the Modern Middle East (Fifth ed.). Routledge. Print. ISBN 978-0813348339.
Turkey articles
Pre-Turkish era
Prehistory of Anatolia & Thrace
Classical Anatolia & Thrace
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Byzantine Anatolia
Seljuq era
Sultanate of Rum
Mongol invasions of Anatolia
Ilkhanate
Ottoman era
Interregnum
Conquest of Constantinople
Köprülü era
Tulip period
First Constitutional Era
Second Constitutional Era
Republican era
One-party period
Multi-party period
Anatolian peoples
Thracians
Timeline of Turkish history
Turkic migration
Gulfs and bays
Metropolitan municipalities
Peninsulas
Thrace (Eastern)
Turkish Riviera
Conspiracy theories in Turkey
EU accession
Kemalism
Neo-Ottomanism
Northern Syria Security Belt
Borsa Istanbul (stock exchange)
EU Customs Union
Lira (currency)
Southeastern Anatolia Project
Ottoman architecture
Turkish people
Muhacir
Bosniaks
Circassians
Presidential seal
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line170
|
__label__wiki
| 0.924137
| 0.924137
|
CPA Leads List
Are you looking to reach a large group of , ’s, or bookkeepers? Let us help! We have a variety of that can be catered to fit your needs.
of today’s top performing CPI mobile app installs and offers in the generation industry for PPC advertisers. Offers are ranked using the collective impression, click…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAN
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPanel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Canada
Cost per action – Wikipedia
Physician CPA for Medical Practices – Physician CPA …
Yoonla CPA Affiliate Program Review – Tips from Lori
Unlimited Sales Leads | Business & Consumer for $29/mo 5 …
CPA Email Leads List
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_AustraliaCPA List | CPA Email List | CPA Marketing List | CPA …Cost per action…
VideosIn Progress. Need 100 . Budget $30 USD. Need Legit that will accumulate $200 in…
CPA Email List Leads
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPANhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPanelCPA List | CPA Email List | CPA Marketing List | CPA …List of CPA…
CPA Sales Leads List
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPANhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPanelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_CanadaLead generation – WikipediaAICPA – American Institute of Certified Public AccountantsLedger Leads | Accounting leads…
Purchase CPA Leads List
Videos, & Bookkeeper . Are you looking to reach a large group of , ’s,…
CPA List
VideosDirectory of Accounting Professionals. Find an , , or Tax Professionals faster and easier. Enter…
CPA Sales Leads
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_AustraliaAccountant/CPA Leads – Sales Leads Plus
CPA List UK
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPANHome | CPA Australia
CPA Leads Usa
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_AustraliaAICPA – American Institute of Certified Public AccountantsTerraLeads
List CPA
Videos”High Quality , Best Prices….” Download: Offering Direct Mail and Email marketing targeting since 2003.…
CPA List Builder
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAAlan Switzer, CPA: Splash Page
CPA Database List
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPACPA List | CPA Email List | CPA Marketing List | CPA …CPA Verify
Accountantss Leads List
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accountanthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accountant_Sergeant_Majorhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Accountants
CPA Contact List
VideosForeign Account (continued). . . Audit Confirmation . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPANhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPanelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_CanadaCPA List | CPA Email List |…
CPA Leads Lists
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPANhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPanelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_CanadaAICPA – American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
CPA Phone List
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPANCPA List | CPA Email List | CPA Marketing List | CPA …List of CPA…
CPA Marketing Leads
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPANCPA Marketing for Beginners (Full Detail Guide of 2018)AICPA – American Institute of Certified Public…
Florida CPA List
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floridahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_State_Universityhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Gators_footballCPA List | CPA Email List | CPA Marketing List | CPA …List of Certified…
CPA List Florida
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPA_Australiahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPANCPA List | CPA Email List | CPA Marketing List | CPA …
CPA Mail List
Videoshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPACPA Email List, Canada Chartered Accountants Email List …CPA List | CPA Email List |…
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line172
|
__label__wiki
| 0.589023
| 0.589023
|
Riverside Yacht Club
Stories from the Riverside Yacht Club
102 Club Road
Riverside, CT 06878
Website: www.riversideyc.org
Located on Cos Cob Harbor in Riverside, Connecticut, RYC is one of the oldest yacht clubs in America, founded in 1888. Their racing heritage includes the Annual Stratford Shoal Race, which celebrated its 80th race in 2011.
RIVERSIDE YACHT CLUB BECOMES NSHOF FOUNDING MEMBER
From the Commodore:
"Members of Riverside Yacht Club take pride in our sailing tradition dating to 1888 and are happy to be part of the National Sailing Hall of Fame's effort to bring recognition to those who have excelled at the sport and set markers that bring out the best in sailors today," said RYC Commodore.
Walton W. Alder, Commodore
On the evening of May 25, 1888 George I. Tyson, a prominent summer resident of Riverside and an enthusiastic yachtsman, invited 10 of his friends to meet with him at his home to consider and act upon his plan to establish a yacht club in the community. George Tyson provided an acre or so of waterfront land, and he offered to finance the construction and equipping of a clubhouse. In return for this, a token rental was charged. According to the Lloyd's Registry of American Yachts, Riverside Yacht Club (RYC) became the second yacht club to be established in the state of Connecticut and the eighth on Long Island Sound in order of seniority among those that have survived to the present day.
George Tyson served as Commodore for eight consecutive years. With his yacht, Nirvana , he led the cruising fleet on its annual runs to the eastern end of Long Island Sound.
Commodore Tyson was a self-made man, and a captain in New York's famed Seventh Regiment during the Civil War. It is Commodore Tyson's history with the Civil War and his regiment's flag, that led to the design of the RYC burgee.
The original clubhouse was built in 1889. By 1893 additional room was needed and an adjacent structure, called the "spar loft" was built on the property. The spar house contained bowling alleys, rooms for shuffleboard and billiards. When the furniture was cleared, it also served a ball room for summer dances.
During the winter of 1892-93, some of the members conceived the idea of establishing winter quarters in New York City. William Bagg, became an enthusiastic supporter of the idea and generously offered the use of his rooms at 39 West 31st Street for this purpose. The RYC annual meetings were held here up until 1895 after which they were then held back in Riverside.
Around 1927, the RYC membership bought the property from the Tyson estate. The Club's membership had grown and the harbor was filling with yachts. Inter-club racing on Long Island Sound was well underway. In 1 929 a new clubhouse was completed, being improved and expanded over the years.
BACK TO YACHT CLUB STORIES PAGE
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line174
|
__label__cc
| 0.737563
| 0.262437
|
Pheromones - The Effects of Pheromones - An Introduction
The Effects of Pheromones - An Introduction
The term pheromone comes from two Greek words: pherein ("to transfer") and hormon, which means "to stimulate". Pheromones are aromatic chemical compounds released by one individual that affect the sexual physiology and behavior of another individual.
Since 1870 scientists have known about pheromones and recorded the effects of pheromones on mating in insects and other animal species. In 1986 the scientists proved the existence of human pheromones and began to document their effects on humans.
Humans cannot consciously detect another person's pheromones, i.e. we can't "smell" them in the traditional sense. But, if pheromones are undetectable by the human sense of smell, how can people be influenced by pheromones? The answer is that pheromones are detected by an organ inside the nose called the vomeronasal organ (VNO). The VNO passes the signals that pheromones send, on to the part of the brain which governs some basic human sensations, like love, hate, anger and, of course, sexual arousal.
Male pheromones play a role in maintaining the health of women, especially the health of the female reproductive system. Researchers have found that women who have sex with men at least once a week are more likely to have normal menstrual cycles, fewer infertility troubles and a milder menopause than women who have sporadic sex.
If you're looking for the woman or man of your dreams, remember that pheromones in your body scent are playing a large role in mate attraction. People who use commercial pheromone products claim that the product (pheromone perfume, cologne or oil) they use increases their attractiveness to members of the opposite sex. But it's not just sexual attraction that is increased by wearing pheromones. Users of pheromone perfumes report that people pay more attention to them and are generally more friendly to them.
Discover the secrets of seducing women using the power of pheromone oil at SeducingWomen.info
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line186
|
__label__wiki
| 0.503618
| 0.503618
|
Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger slides safe at home and beats the tag by catcher Buster Posey on a hit by Clayton Kershaw in the 2nd inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Clayton Kershaw pitches for the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Pitcher Clayton Kershaw reacts after giving up a solo homer to Giants’ Buster Posey in the 3rd inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Giants’ Hunter Pence hits a 2-run homer in the 1st inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Giants’ Christian Arroyo rounds third as pitcher Clayton Kershaw head backs to the mound on a 2-run homer by Hunter Pence in the 1st inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Giants’s Hunter Pence celebrates his 2-run homer with teammates in the dugout in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Giants’s pitcher Johnny Cueto checks a runner on first base in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Dodgers’ shortstop Corey Seager is unable to stop a ball hit by Giants’ Joe Panik in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Dodgers’ shortstop Corey Seager is unable to catch a ball hit by Giants’ Joe Panik in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Cody Bellinger hits a double in the 2nd inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Clayton Kershaw pitches in the 3rd inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. Dodgers vs San Francisco Giants. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
A ball hit by Eduardo Nunez bounces over the head the head of Cody Bellinger and over the wall for a ground rule double in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Sergio Romo pitches in relief for the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
From his knees, Justin Turner throws Drew Stubbs out at first in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Giants’ Eduardo Nunez slams his glove to the ground after beting bobbling the ball on an Adrian Gonzalez hit in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
A Dodger fan in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Cody Bellinger lays down a successful bunt single in the 7th inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
From 2nd base, Adrian Gonzalez points to Cody Bellinger after Bellinger hit a successful bunt in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger scores on a Chris Taylor hit in the 7th inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy has a chat with his starter, Johnny Cueto in the 7th inning in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Yasiel Puig strikes out swinging to end the game with a loss in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. San Francisco Giants beat the Dodgers 4-3. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
Giants players celebrate their 4-3 win over the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Monday, May 1, 2017. (Photo by Scott Varley, Southern California News Group)
PHOTOS: Giants beat Kershaw and the Dodgers 4-3
Posted by svarley on 05/01/2017 10:28pm PDT tags: photo
The San Francisco Giants scored early off pitcher Clayton Kershaw and beat the Dodgers 4-3. Follow on Twitter @varleyphoto
PHOTOS: Met Gala 2017 – Red Carpet Arrivals
PHOTOS: Need mortarboard fashion ideas? Check out our 2016 graduations gallery
PHOTOS: 2017 Emmy Awards Show
Photos: Redskins Defeat Rams 27-20
Photos: 2017, 69th Emmy Awards fashion on the red carpet at the Microsoft Theater in LA
Photos: USC defeats Texas 27-24 in Double Over Time NCAA Football
PHOTOS: Selena Gomez undergoes kidney transplant due to lupus, donor is BFF
PHOTOS: It’s official: Olympics are returning to Los Angeles in 2028
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line187
|
__label__wiki
| 0.632149
| 0.632149
|
Home Biography Merritt Patterson
Merritt Patterson is an actress well known for her roles in television series and films. She was Olivia for Ravenswood and she stared in the Royals of E! Network where she was Ophelia. She appeared on the screen for the first time in the year 2006 and it was in Kyle XY TV series. She was Olivia Brunker, a daughter of the character of Dennis Quaid. It was in the second seasons for Crackle television drama named The Art of More. Because of her acting, she had got a number of fans.
Don't Miss: Leslie Lopez
From her biography, Merritt Patterson was born in the year 1990 and it was in Whistler in the British Columbia of Canada. What she did before her career is not known to the public and she does not talk about her education.
Her interest in acting started when she was still young and it was only when she was 11 when she decided to get involved into dance competition and other theatrical production and this continued up to high school. She got the first job when she appeared in the commercial of the UNO when she was 15 years old. She then appeared in the TV commercial of Roger Touch Phones.
During the year 2006, she won the Canadian Herbal Essence Teen Model Search and she won over 10,000 competitors. She was not too tall to the height of other models so she had some difficulty in getting someone to represent her in this career path. Even if she was not able to get the headway in the modeling, it has not deterred her against pursuing other passion which is acting. She decided that appearing on the silver screen is the right thing and she never stopped from that day. She started the career in the city of Vancouver but she then moved to the city of Los Angeles in California and it is where she continues to live up to now.
After her first role, Merritt Patterson got other roles in different movies and tv shows. The television credits do include Radio Rebel of Disney Channels, Pregnant Project, Iron Invader, The Troop, Live Unexpected and Supernatural. She also appeared in Chronique Des Rendez Vous Desastreux , The Christmas Cottage, Bad Date Chronicles, A Royal Winter and Motive.
Merritt Patterson appeared in films like Wolves, Revel, Next Door Nightmare and Olympians the Lightning Thief.
Merritt Patterson does not talk too much about her family and little is known about her family. Her father is called Dave Patterson, and she has a sister called Mackenzie Patterson. She is active on the social media and she has a twitter and Instagram accounts.
According to her wiki pages, Merritt Patterson is not yet married and had never a divorce. She is in relationship with a boyfriend called Jr Ringer but they do not want to talk too much about it on the media.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line189
|
__label__wiki
| 0.897722
| 0.897722
|
The Rachel Forster Hospital
by John York
Purchase Read the Preface
John York is a Consultant Emeritus to the Department of Rheumatology at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and a retired Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney.
When the Arthritis Clinic moved to the Rachel Forster Hospital in 1972 he began a 28 year association with this historically unique institution with its initial charter of service to women and children by woman doctors.
The story of the evolving role of the hospital within the frame work of an ever changing medical and social environment is fascinating and is a tribute to the vision of the founding women doctors and their successors as gender barriers were overcome.
A tradition of excellence and “Service Above self” is the legacy for those who follow to emulate.
$25 Hardcover
$10 Shipping (Within Australia)
Author's Preface
“There is a time for everything...
...a time to tear down and a time to build”
(ECCLESIASTES 3:1-3)
The existence of the of the New Hospital for Women and Children later the Rachel Forster Hospital spanned 78 eventful years and was preceded and followed by significant milestones in health care in New south Wales.
The seeds of the concept were sown at The Sydney Medical Mission established in 1900 in Riley St Surry hills where women doctors were given the opportunity to practice medicine despite the prevailing opposition from a male dominated academic and clinical medical profession. The outbreak of World War 1 resulted in its closure and the founding doctors of the New Hospital sought other opportunities to expand their horizons.
The second milestone was the establishment of the Institute of Rheumatology and Orthopaedics in the QE 11 Building at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where expertise in the medical and surgical management of rheumatic diseases was continued but sadly without the title of its historic patron or the recognition of all past staff members and supporters of the Rachel Forster Hospital over its eight decades.
For me the photo of the crowd at the “Carols by Candlelight” in Hyde Park is a timely reminder of the esteem in which the community held “Rachel Forster“ hospital.
Many people have contributed invaluable assistance in the production of this book, and I’m deeply indebted to the curator of the RPAH Museum Kathryn Hillier who encouraged me to write, to Vanessa Witton for her practical help, historical perspective and for hunting down photo sources from the Mitchell Library, to Audio Visual Services at RPAH for their technical expertise, to past and present staff members of the Department of Rheumatology, particularly John Hassall. James Phillips and Alice Fuller, from Weir Phillips Heritage, the authors of the Heritage Impact Study on Rachel Forster Hospital have been enthusiastic and generous and have permitted me to use some of their irreplaceable photographic records of the hospital.
Finally my thanks to my publisher Phillip Mathews, and to my long suffering wife Helen who foolishly thought that long lonely evenings with me sequested in my study were over when I retired!
Book Review by Dr Vanessa Witton
In 2016, the recently demolished Rachel Forster Hospital in Pitt Street Redfern lies in a desolate mass of rubble, the latest victim of the rampant property development that continues to obsess Sydney. Despite years-long protests from Sydneysiders, this site of considerable historical significance will soon be filled with high-density residential apartments, its proud history physically annihilated. Consequently, the release of this dainty book by John York is timely.
York is Consultant Emeritus to the Department of Rheumatology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and a retired Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney. In 1972 he began a 28-year association with the Rachel Forster Hospital when the Arthritis Clinic moved there from Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and from 1974 he headed the combined RFH/RPAH Arthritis Unit. He documents the history of the hospital up to his retirement in 2000, when it was quietly and unceremoniously ‘closed’ by the New South Wales State government. York saw this as a profound stimulus to honour in writing the immense contribution to the health and wellbeing of Sydney residents that the Rachel Forster Hospital had made over 78 years.
Several short histories of the Rachel Forster Hospital have been penned since its establishment in 1922 as a Surry Hills outpatient dispensary run by women for women. In this book York also acknowledges the significant role the unique institution and its pioneer women doctors played in ministering initially to the health of the poorest women and children, and later to the men and women of Sydney. However he covers new ground by revealing the medical aspects of the development of rheumatology at the hospital, and this is where his volume sparkles. He provides thoughtful insights into the unit’s origins and mergers, and shines a light on its highly skilled and committed staff. York writes protectively about the small hospital’s struggle to survive during the later turbulent years of rationalisation of medical services and budgets within the New South Wales Department of Health in the 1970s and 80s.
The author effortlessly imparts the strong sense of community that was nurtured from the time of the hospital’s inception, and as we turn the pages we can slowly feel this slipping away as parts of the institution are disbanded and incorporated into another hospital over time. York’s writing is eloquent and frequently personal, and his recollections are fascinating for this reason. His memory of a traumatic fire in 1985 when a neighbouring warehouse went up in flames is retold from the perspective of Rachel Forster surgical patients, whose anaesthetic was induced in the theatres of Rachel Forster but who woke up in a completely different hospital!
Glossy colour, black and white, and sepia photographs of staff and buildings strongly support the six chapters, including several irreplaceable images. One of these is a section of the 1940s sea mural by Australian hospital artist and author Pixie O’Harris, whose burnt orange goldfish and tentacled seaweed once brightened the walls of the original Children’s Ward. Mercifully, in 2007 a photographer captured a precious peeling fragment during the hospital’s Heritage Impact Study, and York’s publication ensures a valuable permanent record of a portion of this mural, now forever lost. Another important inclusion is the painted portrait of breast cancer pioneer Dr Kathleen Cuningham by portraitist Reginald Jerrold-Nathan, which once hung in the Rachel Forster Hospital boardroom. The author recently rediscovered it in the archives of Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Museum, and reproduces it here in colour in all its regal glory. This 64-page labour of love, which includes a generous pictorial accompaniment, is inspiring and warmly recommended.
John York. The Rachel Forster Hospital: 1922-2000, (Willoughby, NSW: Phillip Mathews Book Publishers, 2015). ISBN 9780646934723 (HB). 64pp, colour and b+w photographs.
The Rachel Forster Hospital Crest
Lady Rachel Forster
Dr William Redfern
Rachel Forster Hospital
150 Pitt St, Redfern
Dr Selwyn Nelson
Dr John Hassall
Dr Harry Tyer
Royal Prince Alfred Hosptial Crest
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line194
|
__label__wiki
| 0.586369
| 0.586369
|
Provincetown Cares
SUPPORTING THE COMMUNITIES WE LIVE IN
Since its founding in 2008, Provincetown Cares has become a recognized community leader in the fight for women’s health. Proceeds from the annual live performance, VIP event and silent auction directly benefit local, regional and national organizations committed to research, education and treatment of women’s health issues.…
Published in Beneficiaries
OUTER CAPE HEALTH SERVICES is a federally funded not-for-profit community health center. Our mission is to provide high quality primary healthcare to those living in or visiting the eight towns of Lower and Outer Cape Cod, regardless of their financial circumstances. Our vision is to ensure that all people on Lower and Outer Cape Cod have access to high quality, affordable primary healthcare. HELPING OUR WOMEN A resource center for women with chronic,life threatening…
Published in Resources
2014 Play Selection: “The Secretaries” – 7th Annual Benefit for Women’s Health Services
Provincetown Women's Week October 17 & 18, 2014 at Town Hall Provincetown, MA
The proceeds will be distributed to Army of Women Foundation, The Fenway Community Health Center-Women Services, Outer Cape Health and Provincetown’s H.O.W. (Helping Our Women).
Published in General
2013 Play Selection: “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche” – 6th Annual Benefit for Women’s Health Services
5 Lesbians Eating Quiche by Evan Linder & Andrew Hobgood directed by Lynn d'Angona Set in the thick of 1956 McCarthyism, the play opens at the local community center where five women preside over their members gathered for their annual quiche breakfast in honor of the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein. Innuendos, suppressed sexual feelings, shocking revelations and political humor abound as the women compete for best quiche, and cope…
2013 5 Lesbians Eating Quiche
Published in The Plays
2012 The Women
2012 The Women The Provincetown Cares presentation of Clare Booth Luce’s social satire, The Women promises to bring a fresh look at the high society high jinks of these original Housewives of New York as they navigate marriage and divorce, friendship, gossip and revenge over cocktails and cigarettes. Clare Booth Luce’s social satire, The Women is a witty look at the high society high jinks of these original Housewives of New York as they navigate…
2011 Pulp
Time: Late July 1956
Setting: The Well – a tasteful, cocktail lounge, circa 1956, for “people of a certain ilk.” A small stage is visible, as is a bar. Cocktail tables fill out the rest of the space.
“people of a certain ilk.” A small stage is visible, as is a bar. Cocktail tables fill out the rest of the space.
2010 Memorial
Set in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina at Memorial Hospital this searing drama is imspired by true events.
At the heart: a young lesbian couple whose baby is at risk and the doctor who shocked a nation.
About the Playwrite: Anna Renée Pattison is pursuing her MFA in Playwriting at Boston University under Kate Snodgrass and Melinda Lopez. She is the recipient of the Robert Pinsky Global Fellowship, and the DeLuise Family Scholarship given by the California Alliance for Arts Education in recognition of being an “emerging artist.”
Some of her plays include Mirabai (Self-Realization Fellowship), Ogunquit, Absence of Light, Break the Horse’s Back, Family Home Evening, Treading on Sacred Ground and Goddesses (Loyola Marymount University). She is currently developing a new play on California’s Proposition 8, and this winter she will travel to Varanasi, India to write a play on the AIDS crisis.
2008 – LAST SUMMER AT BLUEFISH COVE
LAST SUMMER AT BLUEFISH COVE evolves around a woman spending her last summer with her family of friends, at the same time having unexpectedly fallen in love. Chambers wrote LAST SUMMER AT BLUEFISH COVE in 1980 for The Glines First Gay American Arts Festival, audiences and critical raves soon moved this ground breaking play to Off-Broadway. The choice of play and playwright has significant meaning as Provincetown Cares inaugural performance because of Jane Chambers personal…
Outside Provincetown
FENWAY COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER For more than thirty-five years, Fenway Community Health has been working to improve the physical and mental health of our community, especially those who are traditionally underserved like lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people, women, those living with HIV/AIDS, and people from communities of color. The Fenway Institute works to increase the health of the larger community through research, education, outreach and health policy advocacy.…
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line198
|
__label__wiki
| 0.520067
| 0.520067
|
Vassar College, New York
Vassar College is a private, liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York. The school was founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar as the first degree-granting institution of higher learning for women in the United States. Long one of the “Seven Sisters,” a group of elite colleges for women, Vassar became co-educational in 1969. From its earliest days and continuing into the present, the college has promoted learning by “going to the source,” i.e. by using primary sources and a direct approach in the quest for truth.
The Vassar College Libraries play an important role in the educational mission of the college. They include the Main Library, an Art Library, a Music Library, a Digital Library, and the Archives & Special Collections Library. Together they form one of the largest undergraduate library collections in the United States. There are more than one million printed volumes and 7,500 periodical and newspaper titles, in addition to a wide selection of electronic databases and digital resources.
Because of Vassar’s pedagogical orientation and interest in primary sources, unique and rare materials have long been collected in the Libraries. A Special Collections Department was organized in 1982 (as part of the Main Library), and in 2007 it became the Archives & Special Collections Library. Three groupings of materials are maintained here: the college archives; manuscripts; and rare books. The college archives document the history of Vassar and its unique role in American history. The manuscripts focus on the personal papers of Vassar faculty and alumni/ae, and others connected with the college; they include collections on Elizabeth Bishop, Mary McCarthy, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Ruth Benedict, John Burroughs, Albert Einstein, and Mark Twain.
The rare book holdings consist of approximately 75,000 items. Though not as extensive as some university libraries, there are nevertheless many significant and rare titles. Particular strengths exist in women’s history, first editions of English and American literary and historical works, bibles, the book arts and fine printing, natural history, gardening and herbals, children’s books, cookery and household books, children’s books, travel literature, and rare maps and atlases. There are also important examples of early printing, including multiple leaves of the Gutenberg Bible; incunabula printed in Germany, Italy and France; works of the humanists; Reformation tracts and texts; literary and political titles; and 17th-century folios of Shakespeare. Early printed works account for some of the rarest items in the library.
The Archives & Special Collections Library strives to be a key partner to students, faculty, administrators, alumnae/i, and outside researchers. It has an active program of teaching, exhibitions, and programming geared toward its constituencies. Books are cataloged and searchable through the Library’s online catalogue, and Worldcat.
Website: http://library.vassar.edu/
⟵The Tresoar, Leeuwarden
German Historical Museum⟶
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line200
|
__label__wiki
| 0.868909
| 0.868909
|
Highlands Hospital, North London, 1960. A seven year old Mike is having his tonsils out.
"Is there something you'd like," says his mother, "to cheer you up a bit?"
"Dynamite by Cliff Richard and Please Mr Custer by Ted Lune. And I'll have a rifle, if you're buying."
When he was eight, he wanted to play like Hank Marvin and did the tennis racket thing in front of a mirror, inexplicably playing along to Apache in the nude. On The David Frost Show he saw Julie Felix singing Going To The Zoo. He liked the acoustic guitar and the voice but mostly he liked Julie. Around this time Mike also discovered a live Peter Paul and Mary album. He memorised all the songs and chat. "The song asks nine questions," one of them said, "the answers to which may determine what will happen to us in the next generation…Ladies and gentlemen, Blowing In The Wind."
And then in 1965, of course, he wanted to be Bob Dylan. So Mike got a guitar and a teacher: Miss Percy. She was kind, elderly and a bit deaf and charged six shillings a lesson. They began with classical pieces but Mike wanted to play My Generation so they warbled their way through it at the dining room table. Eventually he took the guitar to parties and sang to the guests whether they wanted to hear Daydream or not. Once, half way through, Mike was nearly hit by a brick, thrown through the window by a recently ejected gate-crasher (or possibly a fan of John Sebastian's).
His teenage years were split into factions. The lines were drawn roughly like this: on one side there were the mods and skinheads who liked soul, reggae and pop and on the other were the hairies who went for prog rock, guitar solos and concepts. Mike didn't belong to either camp – there seemed to be no identifiable coiffure that associated itself with Simon and Garfunkel, Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman or Harry Nilsson. He was a one boy faction…
His first performances beyond the sitting rooms at parties were at Trent Park Teacher Training College in the early seventies. There, Mike co-founded Doris, a six-piece acoustic band that had an imaginative agent who accepted any gig as long as it paid. Thus did Doris become a reggae band, a Victorian duo and Doris and the Morris Men.
The group split after college but Mike continued to write songs and perform. During the day he delivered false teeth and decorated short-life properties whilst listening to Elvis Costello, Otis Redding and Bonnie Raitt on his Walkman. A spell of freelancing as a reviewer for Melody Maker and City Limits was a sad and often sadistic detour.
The teaching certificate, in the end, was a useful fall-back when Robbie Robertson failed to call. Supply teaching, at first, was the plan: a no-ties day job, then write and gig in the evenings. It didn't work out as Mike was easily wilted by the work. Then a full-time post as a teacher at a Special Needs School triggered a creative burst of song writing for children. This led to The Tommy Tomato Songbook (see elsewhere on the site) and a continuing love of composing songs for kids. The follow-up, The Blewdle, was released in the summer 2012.
Mike is married to the novelist Reina James and lives in Sussex.
And then, in 2010, he started to do floor spots at the Hove Folk Club. Robb Johnson, who runs the club, suggested that Mike might like to record an album for his label, Irregular Records.
More To Be Revealed was released 2012. A Long March Home in 2015 and Acts of Love in 2018. All CDs are on the Irregular Records label.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line203
|
__label__cc
| 0.500541
| 0.499459
|
The Great Place the Ball Swindle. It was a complicated but seemingly perfect scam, until threats and fear got out of hand.
Drugs marked as “not for human consumption” span a legal gray area between legal and illegal. Some are making a killing selling them to people who, not surprisingly, consume them. (via Metafilter)
7 Tragic SNL Deaths. Each was devastating as we felt like we lost a close friend, one who was too young to die.
Aiden is a 5-year-old leukemia patient who has been selling his drawings to pay for medical treatment. (via Metafilter)
It's hard to believe today, but less than 100 years ago, there was a great debate about whether women should be able to vote. The anti-suffragettes declared that voting women would abandon their families, turn ugly and mean, and society would collapse.
In the Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling, the explanation for how the elephant got its trunk involved a crocodile that pulled on a baby elephant's nose until it stretched out. That same scene was photographed recently in South Africa. (via Fark)
A blogger reminisced about the wonderful tree that was the center of the Disney film The Swiss Family Robinson. One of his readers responded by not only tracking down the location of the tree in Tobago, but taking pictures of it as well! (via Metafilter)
The “Black Death” Bacterium Began Its Rampage in China. What impresses me is how they can figure that out 700 years later.
Rapture is a time-lapse video of the night sky. You have to get far, far away from town to see stars like this -and then you wouldn’t have the music.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line204
|
__label__wiki
| 0.730427
| 0.730427
|
Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey
The title of Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey is somewhat misleading. An indulgently apportioned look at the classic rock band Journey and their recent reinvention with Arnel Pineda, a Filipino lead singer found through YouTube, director Ramona Diaz’s film takes what could and by all rights should be a fun, engaging fairytale story and stretches it out to near interminable lengths. Two parts shambling tour document and self-congratulatory biography for every one part cross-cultural coming-of-age story, the sporadically lively Don’t Stop Believin’ is all mic-ed up, but also all mixed up.
This is essentially a glad-handing fan project all the way, which certainly isn’t the worst thing in the world with a bit of clarity of vision. But Diaz’s film — which at 105 minutes could use more than just a little haircut — has no strong editorial point-of-view, and as such it drags and fumbles away one’s attention, like a song on repeat. Truly hardcore Journey fans may well greet it with open arms, but others will stop believin’ in its meaningfulness less than halfway through. (See what I did there?) For the full, original review, from ShockYa, click here. In addition to its various, rolling theatrical engagements, Don’t Stop Believin’ is also available on VOD beginning today; for more information on both methods of viewing, click here to visit the movie’s website. (Cinedigm/Docurama Films, unrated, 105 minutes)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line206
|
__label__cc
| 0.721505
| 0.278495
|
South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Vol 26 No 3 (2013) /
Adaptation of the RenalSmart<sup>®</sup> web-based application for the dietary management of patients with diabetic nephropathy
Nazeema Esau Tygerberg Hospital
Nelene Koen Stellenbosch University
Marietjie G Herselman Stellenbosch University
Keywords: web-based prgramme, diabetic nephropathy, renal
Objectives: The aim of this study was to develop and test a web-based application for the dietary management of patients with diabetic nephropathy. Design: Observational descriptive study. Settings and subjects: RenalSmart® is a web-based application used to assist dietitians in clinical practice, from tertiary to primary care, to manage patients with chronic renal failure. The application was adapted and enhanced to include functions for the nutritional assessment of a patient with diabetic nephropathy, the formulation of a dietary prescription and the development of a meal plan and sample menu. It includes a graphical display of anthropometric and biochemical measurements. Quality assurance testing was undertaken throughout the development process by the project team in a pilot study involving generalist dietitians and dietitians who specialise in diabetic and renal nutrition. Nonrandom purposive sampling, including snowball sampling, was used to recruit them. Outcome measures: The application was finally tested for accuracy and acceptability by registered dietitians in South Africa. Results: Thirty-seven dietitians completed the final testing of the application. The mean age of the respondents was 33 years. Thirty-five per cent resided in the Western Cape. The overall acceptability of the application was rated as good to excellent by 81% of respondents. There was a significant difference between dietitians who usually consulted renal patients, compared to those who did not, in their rating of the accuracy of the data-saving function (p-value = 0.02) and the fluid requirements (p-value = 0.03). In this regard, the former group of dietitians was dissatisfied with these functions. Conclusion: The web-based application developed in this study was rated as accurate and acceptable by the majority of respondents. Identified problem areas were addressed in the final version.
Nazeema Esau, Tygerberg Hospital
BSc, MNutr Chief Dietitian Department of Human Nutrition Tygerberg Hospital Cape Town
Nelene Koen, Stellenbosch University
BSc, MNutr Lecturer Division of Human Nutrition Stellenbosch University Cape Town
Marietjie G Herselman, Stellenbosch University
BSc, MNutr, PhD Emeritus Professor Division of Human Nutrition Faculty of Health Sciences Stellenbosch University Cape Town
Esau, N., Koen, N., & Herselman, M. (2013). Adaptation of the RenalSmart<sup>®</sup> web-based application for the dietary management of patients with diabetic nephropathy. South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 26(3), 132-140. Retrieved from http://sajcn.co.za/index.php/SAJCN/article/view/668
Vol 26 No 3 (2013)
Material submitted for publication in the South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition (SAJCN) is accepted provided it has not been published elsewhere. Copyright forms will be sent with acknowledgement of receipt and the SAJCN reserves copyright of the material published.
The SAJCN does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line209
|
__label__cc
| 0.520943
| 0.479057
|
Race and History and the Attack on Our Civilisation from Within
Science is supposed be objective and free of the scientist's values, but Franz Boaz turned Anthropology into an ideology: an ideology is a set of ideas that incorporate value judgements. In the Soviet Union everything was presented as they wished it was and not a reflection of reality. All policies were introduced ostensibly for the workers but the elites were rich and lived in exclusive areas like our elites; it explained everything in economic or material terms and other aspects of life are left out.
Ideology is reasoning from the orthodox belief rather than from empirical evidence and the subjects are slotted into it. There are two sides good and bad people like the war with The Devil in Christianity.
Boas changed the object of the racial bias in anthropology from tribes onto Europeans. He taught that theories should be treated as works in progress, until proven beyond doubt. His grounding in the natural sciences made him aware that the difference in the study of humans from geography or zoology was the study of "culture." He did not see culture as linear progression, until it reached the level European civilisation and rejected the attendant notion that those who were behind were inferior.
Boas was the first scientist to state that the White and the Negro were fundamentally equal and he actively supported African American organizations. (1) As an anthropologist he sought to use science, including his studies of tribal peoples, to seek out and document the truth about the significance of race. It was his hope that people could learn to be tolerant of difference, and to see so-called primitives not as inferior or less developed, but as a source of diversity that had much to offer.
Researchers had noted differences in height, cranial measurements, and other physical features between Americans and people from different parts of Europe and to many this showed innate biological difference between races. Boas's primary interest was the study of processes of change; he set out to determine whether bodily forms are also subject to processes of change. This was in his mind when he studied 17,821 people, divided into seven ethno-national groups. The problem with that is diet: the cranials of Japanese immigrants grew bigger because of nutrition. People grow bigger now and there are fewer bandy-legged people because of less rickets.
His 1912, study on the plastic nature of the human body in response to changes in the environment has for the past 90 years been taken as evidence of cranial plasticity but never seriously examined for statistical and biological validity. By using pedigree information in Boas' data, narrow sense heritabilities are estimated by the method of maximum likelihood. In addition, a series of tests and regression analyses are performed to determine the statistical validity of Boas' original findings on differentiation between American and European-born children and the prolonged effect of the environment on cranial form. Results show the relatively high genetic component of the head and face diameters despite the environmental differences during development.
In 2002, anthropologists Corey S. Sparks and Richard L. Jantz, claimed that differences between children born to the same parents in Europe and America were insignificant, and that there was no detectable effect of exposure to the American environment on the cranial index in children. Their results contradicted Boas's findings and showed they could not be used to support arguments of plasticity in cranial morphology.
The ideological approach led to massive damage to our way of life when Margaret Mead adapted her findings to her ideology. Her book Coming of Age in Samoa(1928) undermined Western civilisation. The book is based on nine months of anthropological fieldwork in which she claimed that Samoan teenage girls experienced neither the sexual restrictions nor the psychological problems of Western women. The claim was presented, and widely accepted, as significant evidence in the debate between biological determinism and cultural relativism. Published in 1928, it is one of the most influential books of the twentieth-century.
The book influenced Dr. Benjamin Spock and Bertrand Russell and changed people's attitudes on adolescence and its crises, free love, feminism, sexual diversity, child rearing and libertarian education. The media loved pictures of this young woman scientist and the cover of the first edition had a half-naked couple gamboling hand in hand among palm trees. She used her research as propaganda and following a suggestion by her publisher added chapters on "what all this means to Americans". The result was a change in Western society's self-perception and attitudes to sexuality. She ignored and played down data that did not fit the ideology she wanted. (4)
A follower of Boas was one of the most influential people of the twentieth-century, Claude Levi-Strauss. After the Second War the UN set up a cultural and scientific body, UNESCO. They held a series of conferences to get away from Nazism and return to the values of The Enlightenment. Never again must a people be imprisoned within their culture. (5)
He presented a paper to the UNESCO meeting in London in 1951 and claimed that “a tribe” was no less sophisticated than Westerners. To present them as equal the content of culture must be disregarded and only the structure considered. To explain: a folk story from Africa or anywhere, is equal to our cultural productions like Hamlet because it can be shown that they have similar structures. As someone who has studied scriptwriting, play writing and is familiar with the mythological writings of Joseph Campbell, I am well aware that the enjoyment of a film or play, needs things to occur in the right order. The simplest order is beginning, middle and end. You can not omit the content because then you would not be watching anything. It is the content of Hamlet or Pride and Prejudice that we enjoy. How often do you hear one say: “Wasn't it marvellous the way the film got the chase scene in the right place?”
Levi-Strauss also criticised the way we see everything from our point of view - “Ethnocentrism.” This is seeing our own culture as best and prejudiced to regard other cultures as less advanced than European: yet, it is self-destructive to see other cultures as better than ours. Prejudice had to be destroyed and the method was, not to advocate our reason to others but to adopt their reason.
In Race and History Levi-Srauss denied that the concept of race explains anything and the differences between human groups were because of “ geography and society, not to aptitudes having any clear link with the anatomy or physiology of blacks, yellows or whites.”
“It was not enough to distinguish social heritage from biological, to separate life-styles from all genetic determinism, or biological explanations of culture. One had also to fight against ranking cultural differences hierarchically. The multiple variations of the human race in time and space must not be classified in terms of a sequential movement towards perfection. They were not, as it were, so many markers of a triumphal progression.”
Again, if we read or watch Hamlet or Pride and Prejudice, the vocabulary, dress and manners are strange to us but not the basic human nature of falling in love, wanting status and money. This is not the "one Race" of Progressives, but a common humanity, common to all peoples The difference is not in the structure of their minds but in the content: the propensity to common traits like belonging, loyalty, enmity, grudges etc are directed to their own respective peoples, not all people.
If we go back far enough, everyone came from somewhere else. Such kinship instincts are straight-forward in wild animals but become confused in domesticated animals and humans.
Richard Dawkins argues that altruism towards non-kin is a misfiring of a genetic urge to help bodies that contain a high proportion of our own alleles. Hamilton's rule implies that such misfiring (insufficiently discriminating altruism) on a large scale will cause the very allele for altruism itself to be phased out of the gene pool - and make it genetically advantageous to be an exploiter of others' generosity until such "goodness" disappears as a trait in the population.(6)
That scientific statement is similar to Edmund Burke's definition of a nation as involving a shared identity, history and ancestry, and continuity: “… it becomes a partnership not only between those who are living and those who are dead, but between those who are living and those who are dead, and those who are to be born.”
I see no reason why we should need to demonstrate scientific evidence of our being a race. This our White British country(ies) We have possession by long occupation which is sanctified by time and emotional bonding. We have the opposite imposed on us and it has been discovered that increasing genetic diversity in a population causes altruism to become proportionately less common (Professor Putnam).
Our would-be disposessors use a trick to de-humanise us as "mongrels", "no such thing as the British" or "were all immigrants." It is to reduce us to an "unpeople" and to dispossess us of our country and communities. It prevents the elites having to feel any conscience at their wicked behaviour because we don't really exist and therefore have no claim to the territory. It belongs to anyone and everyone.
The fact that scientists have refrained for decades from describing, defining or categorising people by their morphological characteristics is a reflection of the flight from Hitler that has been imposed than it is a demonstration that race is not a scientific concept. (7)
If we consider the peoples of the world in their native settings, it is easy to define those peoples who are distinctly 'European' or of 'white race'. In doing so, we should not worry that no-one has absolutely white skin, because the term 'white' when used in the context of race is simply a taxonomic term. This taxonomic term refers to the paleness of the skin of people people of white race, it is not a literal chromatological description in the same way that when we refer to negros ('negro' being derived from the root word meaning 'black'), we are describing people who fall into a taxonomic group characterised in part by the darkness of their skin colour. The term 'negro' is again a taxonomic term in this context, and again, not a literal chromatological description.
The defining or racial groups is therefore a matter of taxonomy, i.e. based upon a process of classification, and the discussion of race should not be clouded by the disingenuous use of semantics.
In Race(1974)J.R.Baker classifies human races as animal subspecies are classified. He looked at the nature of civilisation and gave 23 criteria by which civilizations may be identified. He explores the relationship between the biological traits and the cultures of five civilizations. Based on these criteria, Baker declared no indigenous civilisations ever appeared in Africa. He rejected the methodological relivatis used in anthropology since Boas and reverted to hereditarianism and cultural evolution. He used the Latin term stirps for a line of descendants from an ancestor; stock or strain.
When people refer to the 'white race', they usually mean the bulk of the people who form the Caucasian group, but excluding those that have significantly altered characteristics as a result of racial admixture. Albeit that these excluded groups might still fall within the 'Caucasian' group for taxonomic purposes, they would not normally be regarded as 'white' from an ethnic, social or political perspective.
It is not possible for most people to trace each ancestral line back beyond the 1800s, as the first census of England, Wales and Scotland was not conducted until 1801. Beyond this there are only parish records which are very laborious and time consuming to research and which are often incomplete or inconclusive and which can result in a 'dead end' where there was illegitimacy in the family, when a mother's name may be recorded in a birth certificate, but not the father's.
Genealogical records only record genealogy and genealogy should not be confused with genetics.
We should not confuse geography with race. For example the E1b1b1 Haplogroup does originate in North East Africa (Egypt), but that was c. 20,000 years ago during the height of the last ice age, when the climate of Egypt would have been much more temperate than at present and when North Africa was inhabited by people of Cro-Magnon or Proto-European.
As the ice age subsided and the ice sheets retreated northwards, so people from southern Europe migrated northwards and people from North Africa migrated up through the Middle East into the Balkans. The presence of the E1b1b1 Haplogroup therefore provides no conclusive evidence of non-European ancestry, it simply shows that one of a person's ancestral lines originated in Egypt 20,000 years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnicity
(1) Boas talk on racial equality was delivered in 1911
http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5069/
http://science.jrank.org/pages/9228/Ethnicity-Race-in-Anthropology-FRANZ-BOAS-ETHNICITY-CONTEMPORARY-PHYSICAL-ANTHROPOLOGY-CONTINUING-TENSIONS.html
http://www.anthro.fsu.edu/people/faculty/CG_pubs/gravlee03b.pdf
(2). http://classes.yale.edu/02-03/anth500a/projects/project_sites/99_Zheng/kelly1.html
(3) UNESCO http://www.comminit.com/en/node/2471/36
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=13161&URL_DO=DO_PRINTPAGE&URL_SECTION=201.html
(4) http://imponderabilia.socanth.cam.ac.uk/articles/article.php?articleid=34
(5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Race_Question
(6) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._D._Hamilton
(7) http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/fury-at-dna-pioneers-theory-africans-are-less-intelligent-than-westerners-394898.html
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kslga1MfT1gC&printsec=frontcover&dq=frank+salter+on+genetic+interests&source=bl&ots=yJMz1C7DN6&sig=eYYboaR-f5bUGd6YO2x3wwt78lw&hl=en&ei=FSPlTK8PzIWFB9mBsdsM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://www.opensourcebuddhism.org/matcphilosophy-group6-relativism-abe-paper.htm
Labels: Mister Fox
Curt said...
An exceedingly good essay!
"I see no reason why we should need to demonstrate scientific evidence of our being a race" -Neither do I, but the whole argument that "race does not exist" is predicated upon getting the populace to accept a nonsensical proposition. Repetition of (that is "conditioning", usually accomplished in school) a catchphrase such as this, heard often enough, is eventually adopted by the average person as truth. This psychological trick works well even if the postulated "truth" is complete nonsense.
An obvious example of this is the prevalence of blacks im competitive sports. In the back of his/her mind everyone KNOWS that a long distance runner whose origin is Jamaica is likely to outrun any white involved in the sport. Yet if the average white sports fan were asked if there is any "difference" between white and black athletes he/she will answer in the appropriately sanctioned PC manner that "race does not exist".
To get us to accept this ludicrous idea of racial equality they must get us to disbelieve our own senses. Amazingly, the psychological trick works,and people will spout the dictum that they have had implanted. I always ask such persons "look in the mirror- are you white or black? Is your nose broad and flat? Is your hair kinky? Don't you trust your own senses?"
"Richard Dawkins argues that altruism towards non-kin is a misfiring of a genetic urge to help bodies that contain a high proportion of our own alleles. Hamilton's rule implies that such misfiring (insufficiently discriminating altruism) on a large scale will cause the very allele for altruism itself to be phased out of the gene pool - and make it genetically advantageous to be an exploiter of others' generosity until such "goodness" disappears as a trait in the population" : and that very altruism is then actually a maladaptive behavior with respect to our own race because it is then exploited and used against us.
As an aside that still does dovetail with the theme of this article; while in college during the early 1970's a elderly professor of Human Anatomy was presenting the class with information on various physical differences between the races. He informed us that the Negroes, alone among the races posessed relatively light bones while simultaneously being heavily muscled. There were several blacks among the class who were incensed that this information was being disseminated and were complaining that the professor was of course, "racist". I am quite certain that if I were taking that same course at a college today, that information would never be imparted to the students. Times have changed and whites need to use their minds and not be lulled by PC propaganda designed to make us eventually dispossesed and dissapear from the earth.
Sarah;
If I might, I would like to ask your permission to link to a series of articles that pertain to the topic on hand. Your readers might find this information very enlightening and derive a sense of precisely what mechanisms were used in order to manipulate whites over the past 60 years to arrive at our present political and cultural dilemma, and what they might do about it as well. It begins with the first segment of a series of 4 articles, and part one can be found here; http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2010/08/what-will-work/
I don't know if it will work as a direct link or not-I hope it does. And I hope everyone finds it as useful as I did. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Science today isn't about fact, but about political correct fact.
Look at this scientific study.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7118/full/nature05329.html
Look at the huge number of scientists and institutions that took part in this scientific study.
Here is an extract from the study above:
"We have constructed a first-generation CNV map of the human genome through the study of 270 individuals from FOUR POPULATIONS with ANCESTRY in EUROPE, AFRICA and ASIA (the HAPMAP collection). DNA from these individuals was screened for CNV using two complementary technologies: single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping arrays, and clone-based comparative genomic hybridization. A total of 1,447 copy number VARIABLE REGIONS (CNVRs), which can encompass overlapping or adjacent gains or losses, covering 360 megabases (12% OF THE GENOME) were identified in these populations."
MODERN GENETICS have proved that we are all very much less alike than the Human genome project initially thought back in the year 2001. The HGP never even looked at COPY NUMBER VARIATIONS (CNV) because back then it did not even know that CNV's existed.
Here is an easy example.
If one man has a banana and another man has 10 bananas, then the HGP claimed that the bananas between them were 99.9% identical. This was the logic of the human genome project, when it concluded that all humans are 99.9% identical.
BUT one man has more bananas than the other.
This is a single "Copy number variation." CNV
As you can see CNV differences are very important.
Now modern science tells us that 12% CNV exists between the races.
Here it is presented in graphical form.
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v444/n7118/fig_tab/nature05329_F7.html
Then look at this scientific study.
Go to the Hapmap here...
http://hapmap.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
Then click on the publication entitled:
"A SECOND GENERATION HUMAN HAPMAP with over 3.1mil SNP's"
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7164/abs/nature06258.html
Look at the huge number of institutions that took part (72) All the major genetic institutions from all over the world.
AND HERE are their findings:
"We describe the Phase II HapMap, which characterizes over 3.1 million human single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotyped in 270 individuals from four geographically diverse populations and includes 25–35% of common SNP variation in the populations surveyed."
So we know that
1) CNV differences between the races are 12%
2) SNP differences between the races are 25-35%.
Note that this is a second generation Hapmap study. The first was the Human genome project.
The human genome project concluded that all humans are 99.9% identical based on SNP analysis.
How they did this considering that they only had the genome of one person goes beyond the realm of the scientific method. This one genomes was also spliced together from multiple donors, so effectively it could not be used for any science apart to say that they had mapped the first human genome.
The second generation study as linked above proved that the real SNP difference is 25-35%. HUGE....
If the human genome is likened to a book, then a single SNP difference is a single word spelt wrong and a single CNV is a whole page that is different.
Genetics have proved huge genetic differences between the races.
This is SCIENCE fact. Some people have become aware of the fact that only science that supports the PC agenda of cultural Marxism or political correctness gets exposure.
Don't liberals always claim that we have to celebrate our diversity?
continued....
hohne_willi said...
Be true - do not hide it -
Sig Hael!
This is a very useful assessment of Boas and Liberal injustice to Whites over Race. It forms part of our developing worldview. Curt it should be reproduced in TOO.
http://thegreenarrow.co.uk/writers/others/1711-the-reality-of-race-and-the-injustice-of-left-liberal-equality
Mr. Fox;
Thank you very much for this link. I am afraid that I am a bit late in expressing my thanks (today being December 27th) but I just now discovered your comment. I will read the info at this link, and I agree that it looks good and should be reproduced at TOO, but I have no influence there, I am just another occasional commenter on that site, as I am here, still, I will write in and suggest it to them.
I just received a link to this book and it looks very enlightening. A must see, as they say.
Elazar Barkan’s The Retreat of Scientific Racism
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=-c8aSO-gnwMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Elazar+Barkan%E2%80%99s+The+Retreat+of+Scientific+Racism&source=bl&ots=9BTt5kal6v&sig=Sg5sbvKDARk8VHofvPd6X#v=onepage&q&f=false
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line210
|
__label__wiki
| 0.51376
| 0.51376
|
Home » Find Laws » Real Estate Laws » Surveys » Land Description » What are Metes and Bounds?
Land Description Defined
Metes and Bounds is derived from the original system of land description employed by the English government in the pre-colonial era. The system traveled to the continental United States by way of the original colonies, and was the basis of the earliest land survey conducted stateside.
The foundation of the system lies in the geography and topography of the locality being surveyed. Much like the PLSS used in the United States today, the surveying process has a point of origin where the land description begins and ends. The surveyor begins at the point of origin and conducts straight runs to the boundaries of the property, forming a running description of the property based on the natural boundaries and monuments.
Common natural boundaries include rivers, cliffs, rock formations, etc. In addition to these boundaries, surveyors would take note of natural "monuments" in the area, which would help denote the boundary line between the surveyed property and the adjacent land. In the event that no such natural monuments were observed, man-made structures such as posts and flags were used to demarcate boundary lines. Such is the origin of the term "metes and bounds". Metes refers to the measure and direction of the straight runs taken from the point of origin. Likewise Bounds refers to the natural topography of the region which borders and sections the property. Its unlikely that would one own land on both sides of a river or at the top and bottom of a steep cliff.
The system of Metes and Bounds was widely used in England and in the colonies for many centuries, but was eventually relinquished by the United States government in favor of the Rectangular survey, which does not face the same restrictions of natural obstacles. Besides those restrictions, other weaknesses of the Metes and Bounds survey system were consistency and maintenance. In early times, unpaved roads and trails (both of which were used as man made monuments for demarcation) often changed location and direction without public registry.
This was especially true on large parcels of private land. A change in the description of a boundary threw off the entire survey description. This was because Metes and Bounds surveys were summarized in prose, taking an "as-you-go" approach to the land description. One out-of-place boundary could create drastic irregularities when it came time to create a plat or visual representation of the land.
Petty disputes between neighbors also arose from the placement of man-made monuments on boundary lines. Many neighbors in Elizabeth I's court accused one another of moving the markers to alter the size of the property, or to claim more favorable topography. As the surveys were written with directions centered around the monuments, this made it very difficult to settle these disputes in court or provide a verdict.
The weaknesses of this system led the United States government to pass the Land Ordinance of 1785, which began conducting new surveys and revising older ones under the guidelines of the rectangular system of land descriptions.
NEXT: A Brief Overview to Titles
<a href="http://real-estate.islaws.com/surveys/land-description/metes-and-bounds">What are Metes and Bounds?</a>
Understanding Stock Futures Market
Know The Purpose Of Environmental Law
What You Should Know About Pro Se Divorce Kits
Rhode Island Attorney General
Columbus Law Firms
Future of the Domestic Violence Awareness Project
What You Need to Know About Withdrawing Acceptance
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line213
|
__label__cc
| 0.538817
| 0.461183
|
New Target Could Eliminate Lurking Cancer Stem Cells
"We are now excited about using this new knowledge to develop a strategy to target cancer stem cells by knocking them out of their dormant state, thereby making them more amenable to standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy." –Dr. Adrian Bracken.
Scientists from Trinity College Dublin have identified a novel target that could help to identify 'cancer stem cells' while they are in their inactive state. The scientists could then jolt these cells into action so that they could be eliminated by radio or chemotherapeutic approaches.
The team discovered that a specific protein (PCL1) kicks a famous cancer-associated protein (p53) into action in our bodies. The p53 protein suspends cells in a dormant, non-dividing state called 'quiescence'. When cells are in this state, they are much harder to target therapeutically.
As a result, the scientists hope that blocking PCL1 will set a chain of events in motion that will cause cancer cells to leave the cover of quiescence so that they can be targeted and eliminated.
Assistant Professor in Medical Molecular Genetics at Trinity, Dr. Adrian Bracken (pictured), led the team whose work has just been published.
He said: "Often, treating a cancer patient with chemotherapy or radiation doesn't work out as planned. The tumor shrinks at first, but the cancer stem cells within can survive and eventually seed the growth of new, more aggressive cancers. When cancer stem cells are in this state of 'cellular quiescence,' the treatments can really only be partially effective."
Therefore, a key challenge in medicine has been to develop a means to target cancer stem cells and knock them out of their dormant, quiescent state, so they can then be killed by standard cancer therapies.
The team's research encompasses multiple disciplines including cancer cell biology, computer-predictive chemistry, and evolutionary genetics.
The study's lead author, Dr. Gerard Brien, demonstrated that PCL1 binds to – and boosts – the function of the p53 protein, and that this is required for p53 to activate cellular quiescence.
Dr. Elisa Fadda, in NUI Maynooth's Department of Chemistry, was then instrumental in pin-pointing the structural basis of how PCL1 and p53 interact. Then, with Professor Aoife McLysaght, also at Trinity's Smurfit Institute of Genetics, the team determined that minor differences in PCL1 compared to its sister proteins, PCL2 and PCL3, only emerged during the recent evolution of mammals.
Dr. Bracken added: "Our discovery that PCL1 has acquired a new function during the relatively recent evolution of mammals was very interesting, while the realization that it teams up with the famous p53 protein represented an important breakthrough in the field of cancer biology."
"We are now excited about using this new knowledge to develop a strategy to target cancer stem cells by knocking them out of their dormant state, thereby making them more amenable to standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy."
Illustration: Trinity College Dublin.
Trinity College Dublin News Release (11/27/15)
Abstract (Genes & Development; 29, 2231-2243 (10/22/15))
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line215
|
__label__cc
| 0.615854
| 0.384146
|
No New Heart Muscle Cells in Mice after the Newborn Period
"The next step is to understand why most heart muscle cells stop dividing so early in life," says Dr. Olaf Bergmann. "Our aim is to help the adult heart to generate new muscle cells to replace lost heart tissue after injuries."
A new study from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet shows that new heart muscle cells in mice are mainly formed directly after birth. After the neonatal period the number of heart muscle cells does not change, and a new study from Sweden's Karolinska Institutet shows that new heart muscle cells in mice are mainly formed directly after birth. After the neonatal period the number of heart muscle cells does not change, and heart growth occurs only by cell size increase, similar to the human heart.
Cardiovascular disease is one of the main causes of the death in the developed world. During a heart attack many heart muscle cells die and the heart loses its ability to work efficiently. The key to restore the lost heart function after injuries is to gain a better understanding of the physiological renewal of muscle cells, but due to technical challenges this has been difficult.
In a study published earlier this year headed by Dr. Olaf Bergmann (pictured) and Professor Jonas Frisén at Karolinska Institutet's Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, it was shown that the human heart generates most heart muscle cells during early childhood, and that their number is already defined in the perinatal period. However, it has been disputed whether these findings also apply to the mouse heart, which is an important model for studying heart disease.
In this new study, researchers showed that the mouse heart generates a substantial number of muscle cells early in life, as does the human heart. The generation of new heart muscle cells is limited to the neonatal period, and is followed by two waves of DNA synthesis that does not lead to cell division during the second and third postnatal week.
"In other words, after the neonatal period most muscle cells lose their ability to divide but not to synthesize DNA. This makes the cells end up with different amounts of genetic material," says Olaf Bergmann, who headed the recent study. "After the third postnatal week DNA synthesis is barely detectable, and the mouse heart growth is mainly by size increase of muscle cells."
To examine the generation of heart muscle cells, the research team used a combination of methods. One of such was an advanced technique to detect division of cells using the non-radioactive, non-toxic stable isotope nitrogen-15 that was given to the animals and remains in the cell's DNA of newly-generated cells. This was combined with a technique to estimate the total number of cells so that the growth potential could be studied. In that way this study found that the generation of heart muscle cells is restricted to the neonatal period and does not continue in the juvenile animal.
"The next step is to understand why most heart muscle cells stop dividing so early in life," says Olaf Bergmann. "Our aim is to help the adult heart to generate new muscle cells to replace lost heart tissue after injuries."
Illustration: Karolinska Institutet.
Karolinska Institutet News Release (11/05/15)
Abstract (Cell; Vol. 163, Issue 4, 1026-1036 (11/05/15))
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line216
|
__label__wiki
| 0.611961
| 0.611961
|
St. Louis Live Steamers
Public Menu
St. Louis Live Steamers The SLLS was offered a site in Kircher Park by the City of Eureka Parks and Recreation Department. After many months devoted to legal matters, planning and surveys, track construction began in August, 2005. First the roadbed for a dual gauge track layout was graded and graveled. The first phase of construction in what is eventually to be a more elaborate layout, consists of a thousand foot main line, a reverse loop, passing sidings, a service area for locomotives, and two storage/workshop structures. Using shovels, wheelbarrows, small tractors, and a lot of muscle, over 600 hundred tons of gravel have been spread in since 2005. Crews continue to work every Saturday, and on some weekdays, in every season no matter how hot or cold the weather. The very highest standards of design and construction are employed to assure that the resulting track is durable and safe for many years of operation. Thousands of feet of aluminum rail and tens of thousands of screws, bolts, and nuts have been used in track construction. Many dual gauge track switches have been fabricated and more are to come. Additionally, thousands of feet of recycled plastic lumber were purchased to provide environmentally friendly, rot resistant stock, for ties onto which the rails can be "spiked". The track is built in ten-foot dual gauge sections on a workbench and assembled on the ground. The SLLS uses rails spaced 7.5 inches apart for 1.5 inch scale model steam and diesel railroad locomotives and trains. A narrower rail spacing of 4.75 inches is used to accommodate one-inch scale equipment. In addition to track laying, the SLLS did the digging and pouring for substantial concrete piers, and placed on them two forty foot "international shipping containers". These, after cleaning and painting, provide workshop and storage facilities for the SLLS. A large lift/transfer table able to accommodate locomotive up to 14 feet in length has been constructed to assist in unloaded locomotives and rolling stock brought out to Kircher Park. The St. Louis Live Steamers, Inc. (SLLS) is a tax-exempt organization under IRS Code, Section 501 (c) (3). Contributions to the SLLS are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Contributions, sorely needed and much appreciated, can be sent to the SLLS Treasurer, Robert Richardson, 1210 Deer Ridge Drive, St. Louis, MO 63135-1258.
Anyone interested in the activities of the SLLS is urged to come out to Kircher Park, Williams Road at I-44 in Eureka, on any Saturday morning for a visit, or to contact the SLLS at: info@stlouislivesteamers.org.
New members are always welcome to join us!
Copyright St. Louis Live Steamers, Inc. (SLLS) The St. Louis Live Steamers, Inc., are an IRS Code Section 501(c)(3) tax exempt, tax deductible, not-for-profit, educational organization.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line231
|
__label__wiki
| 0.592147
| 0.592147
|
Tag Archive | "portfolio"
CLEAN UP ISLE 1 | BofA Sells Part of Mortgage Portfolio to Fannie Mae
Posted on 09 August 2011. Tags: bank of america, fannie mae, foreclosure fraud, mortgage, portfolio, toxic loans
Taxpayers CONTINUE TO GET RAPED!
Once more… it was just last week that Fannie Mae seeks $5.1 billion more from taxpayers, now we see her buying questionable TOXIC ASSETS!
Bank of America Corp. has agreed to sell part of its home-loan portfolio to government-controlled housing giant Fannie Mae, as the bank looks to shed assets and pare its exposure to an array of mortgage woes.
The deal, finalized last Friday, will deliver the rights to process and collect payments on a pool of 400,000 loans with an unpaid principal balance of $73 billion, people familiar with the deal said. The purchase price is more than $500 million, one of these people said.
[WALL STREET JOURNAL]
Posted in STOP FORECLOSURE FRAUDComments (0)
GUEST POST | “Affidavits Do Tell Dead Tales” Portfolio’s Martha Kunkle
Posted on 11 February 2011. Tags: affidavit, CV-08-036-GF, dead, deceased, fair debt collection practices act, fdcpa, Jeanie Cole, Martha Kunkle, Montana, Notary, notary fraud, portfolio, Portfolio Recovery Associates, wamu
Dear folks:
I would review a case that has surfaced in Montana Federal District Court (Great Falls Div), Cole v. Portfolio Recovery Associates”, docket no CV-08-036-GF. This is a case here the debt collector/debt buyer “Portfolio” filed suit against Cole on a credit card debt, and inserted an “Affidavit” of one Martha Kunkle in a Motion for Summary Judgment in an effort to steamroll the Case to Judgment. The Affidavit was dated May 24, 2007.
Unfortunately for both the debt collector [Portfolio] AND their collection attorneys, Cole did some checking, found other examples of the signature, and Motioned the State Court that the affidavit was dubious. The State Court Judge ORDERED that Portfolio produce Kunkle, whose signature was notarized in Texas [see attached pdf], to appear in Montana for deposition. Kunkle never showed up. Turns out Martha Kunkle was dead, having died 12 years earlier, in 1995. (Sanctions are pending in the State Court case).
Cole by counsel filed a FDCPA suit in USDC [above cite], in which Portfolio in essence denied they were bad boys, and as an affirmative defense claimed that Cole had not done act to “mitigate her damages.” How a consumer mitigates damages when confronted with the Affidavit of a dead person is not explained.
In the USDC Final Order and Judgment, a class-action settlement was approved by the Court roughly $178,000 was paid to identified members of the Classes [3 classes of claimants] and $212,500 in attorneys’ fees, costs and expenses.
An expensive affidavit of a dead person.
While these are not directly “mortgage debt” controversies, the affidavit was furnished by agents of our friends at WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK, from which the moral: do not assume any signature of any “affidavit” [or anything else]. the affiant may well have been dead for over a decade!
Jan van Eck
[ipaper docId=48646502 access_key=key-1tk158nr94txc0rfc4t3 height=600 width=600 /]
Small Foreclosure Firm’s Big Bucks: Back Office Grossed $260M in 2009: ABAJOURNAL
Posted on 20 April 2010. Tags: 10b-5, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, 360, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), anderson cooper, assignment, bank fraud, cdo, Cheryl Samons, clouded title, cnn, concealment, conspiracy, corruption, criminal, david J. stern, dinsfla, dinsfls, discovery, DOCX, Ernest E. Harpster, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, fidelity, fight the banks, FIS, flip book, foreclosure, foreclosure defense, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, forensic mortgage investigation audit | Tagged: angela j. taylor, forgery, Former Fidelity National Information Services, fraud, fraud digest, Freddie Mac, goldman sachs, HERS, hsbc bank, investment banks, lender processing services, Lender Processing Services Inc., linda green, LPS, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, lynn tepper, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, matt taibbi, matt weidner, max gardener III, MERS, mortgage electronic registration system, Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud, Mortgage Fraud, moss codalis, newtrak, niles and angela taylor, niles c. taylor, O. Max Gardner, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), pennsylvania bankruptcy court, portfolio, produce the note, recordings, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, rolling stone, sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Stop foreclosure, subprime, term sheet, the udren firm, theft, Tourre, trustee, Tywanna Thomas, us bank, wrongful foreclosure
Posted Apr 20, 2010 11:59 AM CDT
The Law Offices of David J. Stern has only about 15 attorneys, according to legal directories.
However, it’s the biggest filer of mortgage foreclosure suits in Florida, reports the Tampa Tribune. Aided by a back office that dwarfs the law firm, with a staff of nearly 1,000, the Miami area firm files some 5,800 foreclosure actions monthly.
The back-office operation, DJSP Enterprises, is publicly traded and hence must file financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It netted almost $45 million in 2009 on a little over $260 million in gross revenue that year. The mortgage meltdown of recent years apparently has been good to the company: In 2006, it earned a profit of $8.6 million on $40.4 million in revenue.
Stern, who is the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, could not be reached for comment, the newspaper says.
His law firm has been in the news lately, after one Florida judge dismissed a foreclosure case due to what he described as a “fraudulently backdated” mortgage document, and another said, in a hearing earlier this month concerning another of the Stern firm’s foreclosure cases, “I don’t have any confidence that any of the documents the court’s receiving on these mass foreclosures are valid.”
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Judge Dismisses Mortgage Foreclosure Over ‘Fraudulently Backdated’ Doc”
Posted in Law Offices Of David J. Stern P.A.Comments (1)
Close watch on the US…UK regulator begins Goldman Sachs probe
Posted on 20 April 2010. Tags: 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, 360, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), anderson cooper, britain, cdo, cnn, concealment, conspiracy, corruption, dinsfla, dinsfls, discovery, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, flip book, fraud, fraud digest, goldman sachs, goldman sachs | Tagged: 10b-5, GSI, HERS, investment banks, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, matt taibbi, obama, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), politico, portfolio, Prime minister gordon brown, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, rolling stone, S.E.C., sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, subprime, term sheet, the white house, Tourre
I think it is donzo for GS. They might try to get away with it here but UK…is another story. There is no White House.
Jane Wardell, AP Business Writer, On Tuesday April 20, 2010, 6:40 am EDT
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s financial regulator launched a full-blown investigation into Goldman Sachs International on Tuesday after U.S. authorities filed civil fraud charges against its parent bank.
The announcement from the Financial Services Authority follows pressure for the probe from Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who expressed shock over the weekend at Goldman’s “moral bankruptcy.”
The British regulator said it would liaise closely with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which alleges that the bank sold risky mortgage-based investments without telling buyers that the securities were crafted in part by a billionaire hedge fund manager who was betting on them to fail.
The London-headquartered Goldman Sachs International, a principal subsidiary of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said that “the SEC’s charges are completely unfounded in law and fact.” It said it looks “forward to cooperating with the FSA.”
British interest in the case is likely to focus on the Royal Bank of Scotland, which paid $841 million to Goldman Sachs in 2007 to unwind its position in a fund acquired in the takeover of Dutch Bank ABN Amro, according to the complaint filed in the United States.
The possibility that RBS might be able to recoup some money from Goldman Sachs helped boost the government-controlled bank’s shares, which were up 2.8 percent at midday.
The government holds an 84 percent stake in the bank, which nearly collapsed in large part because of its leadership of the consortium which took over the Dutch bank.
Fabrice Tourre, the Goldman Sachs executive named in the SEC lawsuit filed on Friday was moved to the bank’s London office at the end of 2008.
Analysts warn that damage from the case could hit other big banks as well, as the Goldman lawsuit puts the spotlight on the sector’s activities in the wake of the financial crisis.
Brown’s anger was fueled by reports over the weekend that Goldman Sachs still intended to pay out 3.5 billion pounds ($5.4 billion) in bonuses.
The British leader, who is facing a tough general election on May 6, said that the activities of banks “are still an issue.”
“They are a risk to the economy,” he said. “We have got to make sure they behave in a proper way.”
The opposition Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, meanwhile, called on Brown to suspend Goldman from government work until the investigations are completed.
AP reporter Robert Barr in London contributed to this statement.
Posted in concealment, conspiracy, corruption, goldman sachsComments (0)
Goldman Sachs taps ex-W.H. counsel: SCAM THICKENS!
Posted on 19 April 2010. Tags: 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, 360, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), anderson cooper, cdo, cnn, concealment, conspiracy, corruption, dinsfla, dinsfls, discovery, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, flip book, fraud, fraud digest, goldman sachs, goldman sachs | Tagged: 10b-5, HERS, investment banks, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, matt taibbi, obama, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), politico, portfolio, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, rolling stone, S.E.C., sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, subprime, term sheet, the white house, Tourre
By EAMON JAVERS & MIKE ALLEN | 4/19/10 8:14 PM EDT
Updated: 4/19/10 10:03 PM by POLITICO
Goldman Sachs is launching an aggressive response to its political and legal challenges with an unlikely ally at its side — President Barack Obama’s former White House counsel, Gregory Craig.
The beleaguered Wall Street bank hired Craig — now in private practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom — in recent weeks to help in navigate the halls of power in Washington, a source familiar with the firm told POLITICO.
“He is clearly an attorney of eminence and has a deep understanding of the legal process and the world of Washington,” the source said. “And those are important worlds for everybody in finance right now.”
They’re particularly important for Goldman.
On Friday, the SEC charged the firm with securities fraud in a convoluted subprime mortgage deal that took place before the collapse of the housing market. Next week, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein will face questions from the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, which is looking into the causes of the housing meltdown, the source said.
In Craig, Goldman Sachs will have help from a lawyer with deep connections in Democratic circles.
Craig served as White House counsel during the first year of Obama’s presidency, but is seen as having been pushed out for his role in advocating a strict timeline for the closing of the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay. His departure frustrated many liberal Obama supporters who saw Craig as a strong advocate for undoing some of what they saw as the worst excesses of the Bush era.
But the source familiar with Goldman’s operations said Craig wasn’t hired just because he’s well-connected.
“It’s about advice and process,” the source said. “People will always leap to the conclusion that it’s about somebody’s Rolodex.”
Skadden declined to comment on Craig’s role with Goldman.
“A former White House employee cannot appear before any unit of the Executive Office of the President on behalf of any client for 2 years—one year under federal law and another year under the pledge pursuant to the January 2009 ethics E0,” said a White House official.
The official also said that the White House had no contact with the SEC on the Goldman Sachs case. “The SEC by law is an independent agency that does not coordinate with the White House any part of their enforcement actions.”
Whatever the reason for his hiring, Craig will presumably be a key player in the intricate counterattack Goldman Sachs officials in Washington and Manhattan improvised during the weekend — a plan that took clearer shape Monday as Britain and Germany announced that they might conduct their own investigations of the firm.
For three weeks, Goldman had planned to hold a conference call Tuesday to unveil its first-quarter earnings for shareholders. Shifting into campaign mode after the SEC’s surprise fraud filing, Goldman has moved the call up from 11 a.m. to 8 a.m. to try to get ahead of the day’s buzz. In an unusual addition, the firm’s chief counsel will be on the line to answer questions about the case, and Goldman is inviting policymakers and clients to listen to the earnings call themselves rather than rely on news reports.
Industry officials said the conference call — which will include, as originally planned, Chief Financial Officer David Viniar — will amount to a public unveiling of Goldman’s crisis strategy.
But the linchpin of that plan is already clear: An attempt to discredit the Securities and Exchange Commission by painting the case as tainted by politics because it was announced just as President Barack Obama was ramping up his push for financial regulatory reform, including a planned trip to New York on Thursday.
“The charges were brought in a manner calculated to achieve maximum impact at point of penetration,” a Goldman executive said.
Among the points Greg Palm, co-general counsel, plans to emphasize on the call is “how out of the ordinary the process was with the SEC,” the executive said. The SEC usually gives firms a chance to settle such charges before they are made public. Goldman executives say they had no such chance,and learned about the filing while watching CNBC.
With a monstrous problem and mammoth resources, the iconic firm is paying for advice from a huge array of outside consultants, including such top Washington advisers as Ken Duberstein and Jack Martin, founder of Public Strategies.
The basic plan: Make a tough, factual case without coming off as arrogant or combative and without souring the firm’s image even further.
Partly because of the firm’s belief that it has become an easy target, no Goldman officials have appeared on television since the SEC announced its case.
The firm thinks it can be more effective if others make its case. On CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Monday, Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times, who gets special attention from Goldman spinners, raised questions about the substance of the SEC’s case. Shortly thereafter, Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee, said he is “a little interested in the timing” of the case.
Reflecting a high-stakes balance for the unpopular investment bank, Goldman plans to stop short of a frontal attack. Instead, it is raising questions and feeding ammunition to allies.
“We don’t want to come across as being arrogant and above it all,” said a Goldman executive who insisted on anonymity. “The SEC is the major regulator of several of our businesses. Being at war with them is not the goal.”
Therefore, an official said, a key Goldman message in the days ahead will be, “We’re not against regulation. We’re for regulation. We partner with regulators.”
Goldman said its most important audience is its client base, from CEOs all over the world to pension-fund managers to entrepreneurs who use the firm’s private wealth-management services. The firm sent its staff two pages of talking points giving basic facts — and the official line — about the SEC case: “Goldman Sachs Lost Money on the Transaction … Objective Disclosure Was Provided.”
The less official message, according to one executive: “Don’t believe everything you read in the complaint. Don’t believe everything you read in the press.”
The official said clients have been sympathetic.
Other audiences include the news media and governments around the world, with Goldman reaching out Tuesday to politicians in Europe, Japan, the U.S. and everywhere in between.
Goldman pays extraordinary attention to its alumni network because so many of its former officials are in visible, powerful positions. An official said the firm tries “to empower them with information,” so that when they’re put on the spot about the Goldman case, they can say, “I’m not there, but let me tell you a few things I’ve been told.”
Posted in foreclosure fraudComments (0)
Is the SEC Case Against Goldman Sachs Being Staged for Political Advantage?
Posted on 19 April 2010. Tags: 10b-5, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, 360, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), anderson cooper, cdo, cnn, dinsfla, dinsfls, discovery, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, flip book, fraud, fraud digest, goldman sachs, HERS, investment banks, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, matt taibbi, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), portfolio, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, rolling stone, sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, subprime, term sheet, Tourre
Recently by Bill Sardi: Preparations Being Made To Move Fort Knox Gold Into Your Bank Account
What just happened to Wall Street, with the announcement that the Securities Exchange Commission has filed fraud charges against Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., is so damning that its impact had to be blunted by its late Friday afternoon release. It’s what government does when it doesn’t want the stock market to plunge. But government DOES want to play up to the public’s infuriation over continuing revelations of greed and fraud on Wall Street.
A Monday morning release of this story might have sent the entire stock market into a crash (Goldman Sachs Group Inc, stock is down 23.57 points, erasing ~$12 billion of market capitalization), and that’s because there are likely more fraudulent billion-dollar investments to be revealed.
The American public needs to first grasp a broader view of this event. The Administration in Washington DC, heading for an election in November that will surely be fueled with voter outrage, has decided to strike a seeming blow to Wall Street to strengthen its hand in pushing for financial reform. Yet it is so odd that politicians were the ones who allowed all this to happen (more on this below). Does anyone have an explanation why the SEC has only now decided to file charges involving a 2007 billion-dollar investment? Or why the investor who most benefited financially and who assembled this mortgage-backed investment, John Paulson, has yet to be charged with any wrongdoing?
The smoking gun: an e-mail
John Paulson, the billionaire
Another piece of the intrigue here is that the primary provider of evidence in the case is a star Goldman Sachs trader, a Frenchman by birth, who has suddenly left the U.S. for Europe as this story hits the news outlets. Fabrice Tourre, a GS vice president, wrote an email in 2007 that is the smoking gun in this case. Did he leave the U.S. in fear for his life?
Mr. Tourre’s 2007 email, which said “the whole building is about to collapse now,” shortly before the bonds were sold, and which said he would be the only potential survivor, provides foreknowledge of the billion-dollar investment that was sure to fail. Tourre was “principally responsible” for piecing together this novel and new type of investment at GS. He was the point man for Paulson.
When Tourre produced a 65-page “flip book” that contained details of the billion-dollar investment, to be provided to potential investors, this provided the evidence that SEC needed for its case.
Fabrice Tourre, 31-year-old Goldman Sachs vice president, who is reported to have fled the country with the announcement that a 2007 email he wrote is the “smoking gun” in the SECs case against GS.
Don’t get the false impression that Mr. Tourre is a whistleblower here. The SEC alleges Mr. Tourre misled investors about Paulson’s role, saying Paulson had invested millions of dollars in hopes the packaged mortgage bonds would rise in value. Of course, Mr. Tourre is not the target of the SEC complaint, Goldman Sachs is. Its senior management had full knowledge of this deal. From 2004 to 2007, Goldman Sachs had arranged about two dozen similar deals.
Nor should anyone get the false notion that Paulson let others do all his bidding. He was actively raising funds and selling investment groups on this kind of instrument for some time, going back to 2006. Paulson wanted to invent the invincible wager.
An article in The Wall Street Journal documents that a senior banker at Bear Stearns Companies turned down this trade, questioning the propriety of selling deals to investors that a bearish client had assembled. (Bear market traders bet that an investment will fall in value, while bull-market traders bet than an investment will rise in value.)
Throw the book at them
Believe it or not, an entire book was written of this now infamous investment before the SEC took action.
Of interest is Greg Zuckerman, The Wall Street Journal’s senior reporter in this case, who wrote The Greatest Trade Ever, about this trade and others like it, long before the SEC took action. The jacket on this book says: “The behind-the-scenes story of how John Paulson defied Wall Street and made financial history.” The book, published in November of 2009, hardly made ripples on Wall Street or in the financial news press. The SEC was sitting on all this information for over two years and did nothing. It was waiting for the right political moment to strike.
Zuckerman’s book outlines how John Paulson assembled risky mortgage investments with another party, Goldman Sachs, investments that were sure to fail, and then bet against them. Goldman Sachs used its reputation to promote the packaged mortgage investment to an overseas investor without revealing it was in cahoots with Paulson. In fact, the overseas bank involved specifically said it would not proceed if the packaged mortgages had been assembled by Paulson.
Paulson made a killing – a billion dollars, and Goldman Sachs made millions assembling the deal from both sides. Paulson’s defense is that he made no misrepresentations, only Goldman Sachs did, but what of the ethics of this deal?
Yves Smith, author of Naked Capitalism, and head of Aurora Advisors, a management consulting group, and the author of the new book, Econned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism, calls the investment that John Paulson sponsored a “Trojan horse for Mr. Paulson to take a short position, betting against the very same investment he was creating, but his intent was not disclosed…. at the expense of investors who had been kept in the dark and would almost certainly have turned down the deal if they had had the full picture.”
Goldman Sachs living up to its now infamous reputation
It’s obvious now that Goldman Sachs will be the pin cushion for the Administration’s attempt to regain public credibility before the November election. Goldman Sachs is the villain, and it is doing a good job of playing this role.
Just prior to the revelations about the alleged Paulson/Goldman Sachs scandal, the SEC launched other charges against a Goldman Sachs director. Various news sources reported that Rajat Gupta of GS is being investigated on suspicion that he provided inside information to the Galleon Group, a hedge fund founded by Raj Rajaratnam that has now become the biggest insider-trading probe in many years. So the SEC could mire Goldman Sachs with even more allegations in an effort to bring the billion-dollar company to its knees.
This publicly-staged legal action resembles that of President Bill Clinton’s 1995 assault against the tobacco companies, which was launched under the guise of a threat to public health, but really had a political agenda – that of taking away millions of dollars of campaign funds that the tobacco industry was donating to the Republican Party at the time.
If you are as confused as everyone else what the SEC is fussing about, you might click here to take a peek at a graphic created by The Wall Street Journal which visually displays how the deal between John Paulson and Goldman Sachs was prearranged and marketed.
Of course, GS sees nothing wrong with this trade, which should ignite even further public outrage. GS needs a good public relations man at the moment as it digs an even deeper hole every time it attempts to defend its own actions. (Recall GS’ CEO Lloyd Blankfein who recently said he’s “doing God’s work.”)
Congress opened the door
To return to the government’s culpability in this case, the Commodities Futures Modernization Act which Congress passed a decade ago, opened the door for trades like John Paulson’s. This legislation eliminated the long-standing rule that derivatives bets made outside regulated exchanges are legally enforceable only if one the parties involved in the bet were hedging against a pre-existing risk. Prior regulations said the only people who can bet against an investment actually have to own shares in it. Here is Paulson betting against an investment he had no ownership in.
The Commodities Futures Modernization Act is akin to allowing unscrupulous investors to buy fire insurance on other people’s houses, says Lynn A. Stout, Paul Hastings Professor of corporate and securities law at UCLA. A rise in arson would surely occur to collect on the investment.
Or like Rick Edelson, an online blogger speaking out in the New York Times, says: “Like the arsonist who buys insurance on another man’s house, Goldman and Paulson did everything they could to burn down the American economy, because it was only by destroying others’ wealth that they could maximize their own profit.”
Good God, do these men see in their greed they have scuttled the American economy, as well as faith in Wall Street investments that fund most pension plans?
When Paulson made billions, Wall Street was not quick to condemn. He got away with it, and that was to be applauded. Some investment bloggers said “well done.” Another said Paulson is “an investing stud. He is to be hailed for his moxie and superior forecasting.”
Other defenders of Wall Street claim Paulson didn’t create a real estate market with collapsing home values. But to package non-performing mortgages and then bet against them is like a rigged horse race.
Scripting for a thrilling end
For sure, the Administration in Washington DC will be portrayed in coming months as the hero, rescuing the public from the blood-suckers on Wall Street. Be it government to save us all from problems it created and then pin a badge of honor on itself. The current and former administrations in Washington DC are, and have been, so tightly controlled and managed by Wall Street, even with its ex-CEOs strategically implanted within the Executive Branch, as to call all alleged reforms and sanctions into question. These are just for show.
Goldman Sachs and its billions will face off against the might of US prosecutors with the President’s credibility on the line. Will a publicized trial be showcased on TV? It could become the high drama that the government wants to keep before the public’s eyes, all the way up to the November election.
Will Paulson squirm out of any legal consequences in the same manner as O.J. Simpson when he was asked to put an ill-fitting glove on his hand in a televised hearing? Will the President be able to control himself and not chime in like he did when he said Cambridge, Massachusetts police officers “acted stupidly” when they arrested a renowned black scholar at his home?
Goldman Sachs knows it has to make the President look good or there will be unending SEC prosecution. The public wants to know whose side is the President is on, the financial titans on Wall Street or the unemployed on Main Street? It will be scripted from the beginning.
And now a final question – will Goldman Sachs be the fall guy in exchange for future favors from the government? If fines are handed out and nobody goes to jail, you will know this was likely preplanned. Will Fabrice Tourre serve as the scapegoat? He’s sure to stay outside the country for his own good. Don’t be so naïve as to not believe much of what you see happening is being staged. That’s how politics works. It’s all about political advantage, not law and order, not right and wrong.
Bill Sardi [send him mail] is a frequent writer on health and political topics. His health writings can be found at www.naturalhealthlibrarian.com. He is the author of You Don’t Have To Be Afraid Of Cancer Anymore. His latest book is Downsizing Your Body.
Copyright © 2010 Bill Sardi Word of Knowledge Agency, San Dimas, California. This article has been written exclusively for www.LewRockwell.com and other parties who wish to refer to it should link rather than post at other URLs.
The Best of Bill Sardi
Posted in concealment, conspiracy, corruption, goldman sachs, S.E.C.Comments (0)
For those of you who like "irony": LPS meets Goldman
Posted on 19 April 2010. Tags: 10b-5, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, 360, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), anderson cooper, cdo, clouded title, cnn, concealment, conspiracy, corruption, criminal, dinsfla, dinsfls, discovery, DOCX, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, fidelity, FIS, flip book, foreclosure, foreclosure fraud, foreclosure mills, forensic mortgage investigation audit | Tagged: angela j. taylor, forgery, Former Fidelity National Information Services, fraud, fraud digest, Freddie Mac, goldman sachs, HERS, hsbc bank, investment banks, lender processing services, Lender Processing Services Inc., linda green, LPS, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, matt taibbi, max gardener III, MERS, mortgage electronic registration system, Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud, Mortgage Fraud, moss codalis, newtrak, niles and angela taylor, niles c. taylor, O. Max Gardner, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), pennsylvania bankruptcy court, portfolio, produce the note, recordings, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, rolling stone, sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, subprime, term sheet, the udren firm, Tourre, Tywanna Thomas, wrongful foreclosure
Anytime you have the word “FRAUD” involved in an on-going investigation, It makes you wonder when corps go at it together even more…click the links below to see what I mean.
Lender Processing Services, Inc. (NYSE: LPS) climbed 1.16% to $37.42 after Goldman Sachs upgraded the company’s share from Neutral to Buy with an one year price target of $48.
Merrill Lynch Accused of Same Fraud as Goldman Sachs; House of Cards are beginning to fall: Bloomberg
Posted on 18 April 2010. Tags: 10b-5, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, 360, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), anderson cooper, bloomberg, cdo, cnn, dinsfla, dinsfls, discovery, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, flip book, fraud, fraud digest, goldman sachs, HERS, investment banks, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, matt taibbi, merrill lynch & co, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), portfolio, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, rolling stone, sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, subprime, term sheet, Tourre
This is going to unleash a domino effect! Come one, Come all! Anyone buying these CDO’s from these fraudsters need to get examined!
Interested to see their stock this week??
Merrill Used Same Alleged Fraud as Goldman, Bank Says (Update1)
By William McQuillen
April 17 (Bloomberg) — Merrill Lynch & Co. engaged in the same investor fraud that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of committing, according to a bank that sued the firm in New York last year.
Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank BA, known as Rabobank, claims Merrill, now a unit of Bank of America Corp., failed to tell it a key fact in advising on a synthetic collateralized debt obligation. Omitted was Merrill’s relationship with another client betting against the investment, which resulted in a loss of $45 million, Rabobank claims.
Merrill’s handling of the CDO, a security tied to the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities, mirrors Goldman Sachs conduct that the SEC details in the civil complaint the agency filed yesterday. It claimed Goldman omitted the same key fact about a financial product tied to subprime mortgages as the U.S. housing market was starting to falter.
“This is the tip of the iceberg in regard to Goldman Sachs and certain other banks who were stacking the deck against CDO investors,” said Jon Pickhardt, an attorney with Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges, who is representing Netherlands-based Rabobank.
“The two matters are unrelated and the claims today are not only unfounded but weren’t included in the Rabobank lawsuit filed nearly a year ago,” Bill Halldin, a Merrill spokesman, said yesterday of the Dutch bank’s claims.
Kenneth Lench, head of the SEC’s Structured and New Products unit, said yesterday that the agency “continues to investigate the practices of investment banks and others involved in the securitization of complex financial products tied to the U.S. housing market as it was beginning to show signs of distress.”
Failed to Disclose
In its complaint, the SEC said New York-based Goldman Sachs, which had a record $13.4 billion profit last year, failed to disclose to investors that hedge fund Paulson & Co. was betting against the CDO, known as Abacus, and influenced the selection of securities for the portfolio. Paulson, which oversees $32 billion and didn’t market the CDO, wasn’t accused of wrongdoing by the SEC.
Goldman Sachs, the most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history, created and sold CDOs tied to subprime mortgages in early 2007, as the U.S. housing market faltered, without disclosing that Paulson helped pick the underlying securities and bet against them, the SEC said in a statement yesterday.
The SEC allegations are “unfounded in law and fact, and we will vigorously contest them,” Goldman said in a statement.
Merrill Lynch’s arrangement involved Magnetar, a hedge fund that bet against a CDO known as Norma, Rabobank claimed.
Effort to Replicate
“When one major firm becomes aware of the creative instrument of others, there is historically an effort to replicate them,” said Jacob Frenkel, a former SEC lawyer now in private practice in Potomac, Maryland.
SEC spokesman John Heine declined to comment on whether it is investigating Merrill’s actions.
Norma’s largest investor was investment bank Cohen & Co, with more than $100 million in notes, according to Rabobank’s complaint.
Merrill loaded the Norma CDO with bad assets, Rabobank claims. Rabobank seeks $45 million in damages, according to a complaint filed in state court in June 2009. Rabobank initially provided a secured loan of almost $60 million to Merrill, according to its complaint.
Risks Disclosed
Merrill countered in court papers that Rabobank was aware of the risks, which were disclosed in the transaction documents. The bank should have been responsible for conducting its own due diligence, and shouldn’t have relied on Merrill, it said in a court filing last year seeking to dismiss the case.
Steve Lipin, an outside spokesman for Magnetar, didn’t immediately comment.
The case is Cooperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen- Boerenleenbank, B.A. v. Merrill Lynch & Co, 09-601832, New York State Supreme Court (New York County).
To contact the reporter on this story: William McQuillen in Washington at bmcquillen@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: April 16, 2010 23:03 EDT
Posted in concealment, conspiracy, corruption, goldman sachs, hank paulson, john paulson, Merrill Lynch, S.E.C.Comments (0)
MATT TAIBBI: Goldman Sachs "VAMPIRE SQUID"
The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it’s everywhere. The world’s most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beb2jBijo-s]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsRtjYWNZQ8]
TYX91101 Taibbi’s excellent articles alone are worth the price of the magazine. There have been several. He’s doing a commendable? job of putting Wall Street monkey business into the public consciousness. You never get that kind of reporting on CNBC. Great work Matt! 6 hours ago
overseachininadoll Those who greatly benefited from the? crash must hand back the money. (Paulson company) 14 hours ago
Relugus Alot more than the sycophantic financial journalists who kiss Wall Street’s ass.? Wall Street has been screwing people, stealing taxpayers money, stealing wealth from the people, for decades. People are slowly waking up to what Wall Street is, a bunch of criminals and gangsters. 18 hours ago
Goldman Sachs Busted
No sacred cows anymore: SEC sues Goldman Sachs for fraud
Goldman Sachs, fraud, and the tip of iceberg
Goldman’s fraud charge and financial reform
SEC’s Goldman Sachs fraud suit amounts to nibbling at the Great Vampire Squid’s tentacle
SEC charges Goldman Sachs with defrauding investors
Posted in concealment, conspiracy, corruption, goldman sachs, hank paulson, john paulson, matt taibbiComments (0)
Securities and Investments: FRAUD DIGEST by Lynn Szmoniak ESQ.
Posted on 17 April 2010. Tags: 10b-5, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), cdo, dinsfls, discovery, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, flip book, fraud, fraud digest, goldman sachs, HERS, investment banks, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), portfolio, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, subprime, term sheet, Tourre
Securities and Investments
Abacus 2007-AC1
Goldman, Sachs & Co.
Fabrice Tourre
Action Date: April 16, 2010
On April 16, 2010, the SEC filed securities fraud charges against Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“GS&Co”) and a GS&Co employee, Fabrice Tourre (“Tourre”), for making material misstatements and omissions in connection with a collateralized debt obligation (“CDO”) GS&Co made and marketed to investors. ABACUS 2007-AC1, a mortgage-backed trust, was tied to the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities. Abacus was made and marketed in early 2007 when the United States housing market was beginning to show signs of distress. Mortgage-backed trusts like ABACUS 2007-AC1 contributed to the financial crisis. According to the Commission’s complaint, the marketing materials for ABACUS 2007-AC1 all represented that the reference portfolio of RMBS underlying the CDO was selected by ACA Management LLC (“ACA”), a third party with expertise in analyzing credit risk in RMBS. Undisclosed in the marketing materials and unbeknownst to investors, a large hedge fund, Paulson & Co. Inc. (“Paulson”), with economic interests directly adverse to investors in the ABACUS 2007-AC1 CDO played a significant role in the portfolio selection process. After participating in the selection of the reference portfolio, Paulson effectively shorted the RMBS portfolio it helped select by entering into credit default swaps (“CDS”) with GS&Co to buy protection on specific layers of the ABACUS 2007-AC1 capital structure. Given its financial short interest, Paulson had an economic incentive to choose RMBS that it expected to experience credit events in the near future. GS&Co did not disclose Paulson’s adverse economic interest or its role in the portfolio selection process in the term sheet, flip book, offering memorandum or other marketing materials. The Commission alleges that Tourre was principally responsible for ABACUS 2007-AC1. According to the Commission’s complaint, Tourre devised the transaction, prepared the marketing materials and communicated directly with investors. Tourre is alleged to have known of Paulson’s undisclosed short interest and its role in the collateral selection process. He is also alleged to have misled ACA into believing that Paulson invested approximately $200 million in the equity of ABACUS 2007-AC1 (a long position) and, accordingly, that Paulson’s interests in the collateral section process were aligned with ACA’s when in reality Paulson’s interests were sharply conflicting. The deal closed on April 26, 2007. Paulson paid GS&Co approximately $15 million for structuring and marketing ABACUS 2007-AC1. By October 24, 2007, 83% of the RMBS in the ABACUS 2007-AC1 portfolio had been downgraded and 17% was on negative watch. By January 29, 2008, 99% of the portfolio had allegedly been downgraded. Investors in the liabilities of ABACUS 2007-AC1 are alleged to have lost over $1 billion. Paulson’s opposite CDS positions yielded a profit of approximately $1 billion. The Commission’s complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges GS&Co and Tourre with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5. The Commission seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, prejudgment interest and civil penalties from both defendants.
Posted in concealment, conspiracy, corruption, FED FRAUD, federal reserve board, fraud digest, goldman sachs, Lynn Szymoniak ESQ, S.E.C., scamComments (0)
Dylan Ratigan does a great job explaining the con: GOLDMAN SACHS
Posted on 17 April 2010. Tags: 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), cdo, concealment, conspiracy, corruption, dinsfla, discovery, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, flip book, fraud, goldman sachs, hank paulson, HERS, investment banks, john paulson, livinglies, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, neil garfield, offering memorandum, onewest, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), portfolio
The SEC’s complaint charges Goldman Sachs and Tourre with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5. The Commission seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, prejudgment interest, and financial penalties.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4_v2kREE-o]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=copoiSMihL8]
Many recall this post below:
Move over GOLDMAN SACHS…WE have a New Player to this Housing “Betting” Crisis…NASDAQ Presenting the Law Offices of David J. Stern, P.A. (“DJS”)
Posted in concealment, conspiracy, corruption, geithner, goldman sachs, hank paulson, john paulson, S.E.C., scamComments (0)
SEC Charges Goldman Sachs With Fraud: Complaint Reveals Discovery Tips
Posted on 16 April 2010. Tags: 10b-5, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, ABACUS 2007-AC1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), cdo, dinsfla, discovery, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, flip book, fraud, goldman sachs, HERS, investment banks, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), portfolio, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, subprime, term sheet, Tourre
Posted on April 16, 2010 by Neil Garfield
“The Commission seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, prejudgment interest and civil penalties from both defendants.” Editor’s Note: Here is where the rubber meets the road. This same pool of illegal fraudulent profit is also subject to being defined as an undisclosed yield spread premium due to the borrowers. Some enterprising class action lawyer has some low hanging fruit here — the class is already defined for you by the SEC — all those homeowners subject to loan documents that were pledged or transferred into a pool which was received or incorporated by reference into this Abacus vehicle)
Litigation Release No. 21489 / April 16, 2010
Securities and Exchange Commission v. Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Fabrice Tourre, 10 Civ. 3229 (BJ) (S.D.N.Y. filed April 16, 2010)
The SEC Charges Goldman Sachs With Fraud In Connection With The Structuring And Marketing of A Synthetic CDO
The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed securities fraud charges against Goldman, Sachs & Co. (“GS&Co”) and a GS&Co employee, Fabrice Tourre (“Tourre”), for making material misstatements and omissions in connection with a synthetic collateralized debt obligation (“CDO”) GS&Co structured and marketed to investors. This synthetic CDO, ABACUS 2007-AC1, was tied to the performance of subprime residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) and was structured and marketed in early 2007 when the United States housing market and the securities referencing it were beginning to show signs of distress. Synthetic CDOs like ABACUS 2007-AC1 contributed to the recent financial crisis by magnifying losses associated with the downturn in the United States housing market.
According to the Commission’s complaint, the marketing materials for ABACUS 2007-AC1 — including the term sheet, flip book and offering memorandum for the CDO — all represented that the reference portfolio of RMBS underlying the CDO was selected by ACA Management LLC (“ACA”), a third party with expertise in analyzing credit risk in RMBS. Undisclosed in the marketing materials and unbeknownst to investors, a large hedge fund, Paulson & Co. Inc. (“Paulson”) [Editor’s Note: Brad Keiser in his forensic analyses has reported that Paulson may have been a principal in OneWest which took over Indymac and may have ties with former Secretary of Treasury Henry Paulson, former GS CEO], with economic interests directly adverse to investors in the ABACUS 2007-AC1 CDO played a significant role in the portfolio selection process. After participating in the selection of the reference portfolio, Paulson effectively shorted the RMBS portfolio it helped select by entering into credit default swaps (“CDS”) with GS&Co to buy protection on specific layers of the ABACUS 2007-AC1 capital structure. Given its financial short interest, Paulson had an economic incentive to choose RMBS that it expected to experience credit events in the near future. GS&Co did not disclose Paulson’s adverse economic interest or its role in the portfolio selection process in the term sheet, flip book, offering memorandum or other marketing materials.
The Commission alleges that Tourre was principally responsible for ABACUS 2007-AC1. According to the Commission’s complaint, Tourre devised the transaction, prepared the marketing materials and communicated directly with investors. Tourre is alleged to have known of Paulson’s undisclosed short interest and its role in the collateral selection process. He is also alleged to have misled ACA into believing that Paulson invested approximately $200 million in the equity of ABACUS 2007-AC1 (a long position) and, accordingly, that Paulson’s interests in the collateral section process were aligned with ACA’s when in reality Paulson’s interests were sharply conflicting. The deal closed on April 26, 2007. Paulson paid GS&Co approximately $15 million for structuring and marketing ABACUS 2007-AC1. By October 24, 2007, 83% of the RMBS in the ABACUS 2007-AC1 portfolio had been downgraded and 17% was on negative watch. By January 29, 2008, 99% of the portfolio had allegedly been downgraded. Investors in the liabilities of ABACUS 2007-AC1 are alleged to have lost over $1 billion. Paulson’s opposite CDS positions yielded a profit of approximately $1 billion.
The Commission’s complaint, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, charges GS&Co and Tourre with violations of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5. The Commission seeks injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, prejudgment interest and civil penalties from both defendants.
The Commission’s investigation is continuing into the practices of investment banks and others that purchased and securitized pools of subprime mortgages and the resecuritized CDO market with a focus on products structured and marketed in late 2006 and early 2007 as the U.S. housing market was beginning to show signs of distress.
Posted in concealment, conspiracy, corruption, goldman sachs, hank paulson, john paulson, livinglies, neil garfield, onewest, S.E.C., scamComments (0)
U.S. Accuses Goldman Sachs of Fraud: THE NEW YORK TIMES
Posted on 16 April 2010. Tags: 10b-5, 15 U.S.C. §77q(a), 15 U.S.C. §78j(b) and Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, 17 C.F.R. §240.10b-5, ABACUS 2007-AC1, abacus 2007ac1, ACA, ACA Management LLC ("ACA"), aig, bank fraud, bankruptcy, cdo, cds, clouded title, concealment, conspiracy, criminal, dinsfla, discovery, dow jones, Exchange Act Rule 10b-5, Fabrice Tourre, fannie mae, flip book, foreclosure, foreclosure defense, foreclosure fraud, fraud, goldman sachs, HERS, investment banks, john paulson, livinglies, marketing material, material misstatements and omissions, ny, offering memorandum, Paulson & Co. Inc. ("Paulson"), portfolio, resecuritized CDO market, residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS"), rmbs, sec, Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, stock, subprime, term sheet, Tourre, Treasury, wall street
U.S. Accuses Goldman Sachs of Fraud
Brendan McDermid/Reuters The new Goldman Sachs global headquarters in Manhattan.
By LOUISE STORY and GRETCHEN MORGENSON “GOTTA LOVE THESE TWO FOR THEIR EXCELLENT WORK”
Goldman Sachs, which emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis, was accused of securities fraud in a civil suit filed Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which claims the bank created and sold a mortgage investment that was secretly devised to fail.
The move marks the first time that regulators have taken action against a Wall Street deal that helped investors capitalize on the collapse of the housing market. Goldman itself profited by betting against the very mortgage investments that it sold to its customers.
The suit also named Fabrice Tourre, a vice president at Goldman who helped create and sell the investment.
The instrument in the S.E.C. case, called Abacus 2007-AC1, was one of 25 deals that Goldman created so the bank and select clients could bet against the housing market. Those deals, which were the subject of an article in The New York Times in December, initially protected Goldman from losses when the mortgage market disintegrated and later yielded profits for the bank.
As the Abacus deals plunged in value, Goldman and certain hedge funds made money on their negative bets, while the Goldman clients who bought the $10.9 billion in investments lost billions of dollars.
According to the complaint, Goldman created Abacus 2007-AC1 in February 2007, at the request of John A. Paulson, a prominent hedge fund manager who earned an estimated $3.7 billion in 2007 by correctly wagering that the housing bubble would burst.
Goldman let Mr. Paulson select mortgage bonds that he wanted to bet against — the ones he believed were most likely to lose value — and packaged those bonds into Abacus 2007-AC1, according to the S.E.C. complaint. Goldman then sold the Abacus deal to investors like foreign banks, pension funds, insurance companies and other hedge funds.
But the deck was stacked against the Abacus investors, the complaint contends, because the investment was filled with bonds chosen by Mr. Paulson as likely to default. Goldman told investors in Abacus marketing materials reviewed by The Times that the bonds would be chosen by an independent manager.
“The product was new and complex, but the deception and conflicts are old and simple,” Robert Khuzami, the director of the S.E.C.’s division of enforcement, said in a statement. “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party.”
Mr. Paulson is not being named in the lawsuit. In the half-hour after the suit was announced, Goldman Sachs’s stock fell by more than 10 percent.
In recent months, Goldman has repeatedly defended its actions in the mortgage market, including its own bets against it. In a letter published last week in Goldman’s annual report, the bank rebutted criticism that it had created, and sold to its clients, mortgage-linked securities that it had little confidence in.
“We certainly did not know the future of the residential housing market in the first half of 2007 anymore than we can predict the future of markets today,” Goldman wrote. “We also did not know whether the value of the instruments we sold would increase or decrease.”
The letter continued: “Although Goldman Sachs held various positions in residential mortgage-related products in 2007, our short positions were not a ‘bet against our clients.’ ” Instead, the trades were used to hedge other trading positions, the bank said.
In a statement provided in December to The Times as it prepared the article on the Abacus deals, Goldman said that it had sold the instruments to sophisticated investors and that these securities “were popular with many investors prior to the financial crisis because they gave investors the ability to work with banks to design tailored securities which met their particular criteria, whether it be ratings, leverage or other aspects of the transaction.”
Goldman was one of many Wall Street firms that created complex mortgage securities — known as synthetic collateralized debt obligations — as the housing wave was cresting. At the time, traders like Mr. Paulson, as well as those within Goldman, were looking for ways to short the overheated market.
Such investments consisted of insurance-like policies written on mortgage bonds. If the mortgage market held up and those bonds did well, investors who bought Abacus notes would have made money from the insurance premiums paid by investors like Mr. Paulson, who were negative on housing and had bought insurance on mortgage bonds. Instead, defaults spread and the bonds plunged, generating billion of dollars in losses for Abacus investors and billions in profits for Mr. Paulson.
For months, S.E.C. officials have been examining mortgage bundles like Abacus that were created across Wall Street. The commission has been interviewing people who structured Goldman mortgage deals about Abacus and other, similar instruments. The S.E.C. advised Goldman that it was likely to face a civil suit in the matter, sending the bank what is known as a Wells notice.
Mr. Tourre was one of Goldman’s top workers running the Abacus deal, peddling the investment to investors across Europe. Raised in France, Mr. Tourre moved to the United States in 2000 to earn his master’s in operations at Stanford. The next year, he began working at Goldman, according to his profile in LinkedIn.
He rose to prominence working on the Abacus deals under a trader named Jonathan M. Egol. Now a managing director at Goldman, Mr. Egol is not being named in the S.E.C. suit.
Goldman structured the Abacus deals with a sharp eye on the credit ratings assigned to the mortgage bonds associated with the instrument, the S.E.C. said. In the Abacus deal in the S.E.C. complaint, Mr. Paulson pinpointed those mortgage bonds that he believed carried higher ratings than the underlying loans deserved. Goldman placed insurance on those bonds — called credit-default swaps — inside Abacus, allowing Mr. Paulson to short them while clients on the other side of the trade wagered that they would not fail.
But when Goldman sold shares in Abacus to investors, the bank and Mr. Tourre only disclosed the ratings of those bonds and did not disclose that Mr. Paulson was on other side, betting those ratings were wrong.
Mr. Tourre at one point complained to an investor who was buying shares in Abacus that he was having trouble persuading Moody’s to give the deal the rating he desired, according to the investor’s notes, which were provided to The Times by a colleague who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to release them.
In seven of Goldman’s Abacus deals, the bank went to the American International Group for insurance on the bonds. Those deals have led to billions of dollars in losses at A.I.G., which was the subject of an $180 billion taxpayer rescue. The Abacus deal in the S.E.C. complaint was not one of them.
That deal was managed by ACA Management, a part of ACA Capital Holdings, which changed its name in 2008 to Manifold Capital Holdings.
Goldman at first intended for the deal to contain $2 billion of mortgage exposure, according to the deal’s marketing documents, which were given to The Times by an Abacus investor.
On the cover of that flip-book, it says that the mortgage bond portfolio would be “selected by ACA Management.”
In that flip-book, it says that Goldman may have long or short positions in the bonds. It does not mention Mr. Paulson or say that Goldman was in fact short.
The Abacus deals deteriorated rapidly when the housing market hit trouble. For instance, in the Abacus deal in the S.E.C. complaint, 84 percent of the mortgage bonds underlying it were downgraded by rating agencies just five months later, according to a UBS report.
It takes time for such mortgage investments to pay out for investors who short them, like Mr. Paulson. Each deal is structured differently, but generally, the bonds underlying the investment must deteriorate to a certain point before short-sellers get paid. By the end of 2007, Mr. Paulson’s credit hedge fund was up 590 percent.
Mr. Paulson’s firm, Paulson & Company, is paid a management fee and 20 percent of the annual profits that its funds generate, according to a Paulson investor document from late 2008 titled “Navigating Through the Crisis.”
Posted in concealment, conspiracy, corruption, goldman sachs, john paulsonComments (2)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line233
|
__label__wiki
| 0.526244
| 0.526244
|
Veterans Florida and Lockheed Martin Partner to Increase Employment Opportunities for Veterans
Veterans Florida, a nonprofit corporation created by the State of Florida that provides veteran and transitioning service members with career opportunities and entrepreneurship resources, recently announced they have partnered with Lockheed Martin, a global security and aerospace company, to launch new initiatives and further aid the organization with its growth and long term vision.
Lockheed Martin currently employs approximately 100,000 individuals worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacturing, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The company aims to assist in expanding the ongoing initiatives of the Veterans Workforce Training Programs by providing new services meant to maximize veteran employment opportunities in Florida.
“Veterans bring valuable leadership, skills, and a mission-focused mindset that are fundamental to fulfilling our commitment to customer success,” said Michael Williamson, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Vice President. “Lockheed Martin is excited to partner with Veterans Florida and build a strong workforce that can compete in today’s modern economy, and reflects our dedication to creating economic opportunity for veterans in communities across Florida and the United States.”
“We are excited to work with Lockheed Martin to provide veterans who are interested in the high-tech field of aerospace the opportunity to succeed in Florida,” said Joe Marino, Executive Director of Veterans Florida. “We are committed to enabling transitioning veterans and their families to connect with veteran friendly employers who value their talent and experience.”
Through the Veterans Florida Career Service Programs, veterans are able to connect with employers who are eager to hire them for careers that align with their skill sets. For more
information regarding Veterans Florida and its programs, please visit http://www.veteransflorida.org.
SWFBT’S Trade Show in Print and Online
No Responses to “Veterans Florida and Lockheed Martin Partner to Increase Employment Opportunities for Veterans”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line235
|
__label__cc
| 0.705344
| 0.294656
|
The Pragmatist’s Guide to Table Tennis Cardio Training
This is a true story. The names have been withheld to protect both the arrogant and the defeated. A 2200 level player unexpectedly shows up at a local club where most of the players are playing at about a 1700 level. As one might expect, the higher-rated player pretty easily wins all of his matches. …
Continue reading “The Pragmatist’s Guide to Table Tennis Cardio Training”
What About Bob? A Table Tennis Story with a Moral
The man in this picture is Bob Bowlander. If you live and play in the southeastern United States, it is likely you have seen him at a tournament or while playing at any number of clubs. Bob has some disabilities. The last tournament I saw him play in, he was using a cane. He has …
Continue reading “What About Bob? A Table Tennis Story with a Moral”
What Makes a Great Table Tennis Club?
While preparing for this post, I realized that I had played at four different table tennis clubs in the last few weeks. One of them is my own home training center, Jon’s Table Tennis Training, which is a USATT sanctioned club. The other ones are The Atlanta International Table Tennis Academy, Atlanta Georgia Table Tennis …
Continue reading “What Makes a Great Table Tennis Club?”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line236
|
__label__cc
| 0.630848
| 0.369152
|
HomeFeaturesFEPPS brings visibility to importance of prison education
Finn Dobkin October 31, 2018 no commentFEPPSprison education
FEPPS students walk in their graduation ceremony — Photo courtesy of FEPPS
Over the past two decades, prison education has proven to be an effective tool for criminal justice reform. The Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS) is an important part of the prison education movement, bringing a liberal arts education to local inmates.
FEPPS was founded in 2009 to provide a college level education to incarcerated women at the Washington Corrections Center for Women. Currently, the program holds seven classroom-based courses per quarter at the Gig Harbor facility. The program culminates in an Associate of Arts degree from Tacoma Community College. In addition to formal courses, the program also facilitates a study hall, a monthly lecture series and a library.
Thusfar, the results of the project have been impressive. The program has brought 102 different professors in to teach regularly and has awarded 34 degrees thus far. Though the program has made leaps and bounds since it took off, FEPPS had more humble beginnings.
The original idea was conceived of in 2011 by Dr. Tanya Erzen of the Puget Sound Religious Studies department. Dr. Erzen, who was on a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, was invited by the inmates to teach at the prison. Many of the inmates at the prison were serving long-term sentences. Due to the length of their sentences, they wanted to build a community atmosphere in the prison. The inmates saw education as an important tenet of community-building.
A major grant allowed the program to take off and since then, FEPPS has been sponsored by individual donations and grants from larger foundations.
Though FEPPS operates through local universities, this is not the norm for prison education programs.
Normally, prison education programs focus on vocational training for inmates. FEPPS takes a different approach. Instead of focusing on specific training with a set career path, FEPPS “offers education and connections to other students with the idea that you will figure out what you want to do with your education,” Dr. Erzen said.
This idea is intended to give students greater freedom that they would experience should they be learning on a campus like the University of Puget Sound. By providing this freedom, FEPPS is striving to rewrite the narratives surrounding incarcerated individuals from being social outcasts to being normal people.
Beyond changing the discussion surrounding prisons, FEPPS students also get a sense of empowerment through the program. “FEPPS has aided me … by offering classes, getting my AA, but most importantly, in building my confidence that I can be more than I was and do better than I ever have before,” a class of 2017 student said.
This sentiment is common throughout FEPPS. “With every class I take, there is a sense of added distance between who I was and the person I am now,” another student said.
Programs like FEPPS have benefits that extend beyond the inmates. Studies show that inmates who don’t partake in college education programs have a 60 percent recidivism rate while inmates who complete a degree in prison have a 5.6 percent recidivism rate. This means that there is less money spent on law enforcement, all while ensuring that ex-inmates can become included in society.
Despite the benefits of programs like FEPPS and others like it, prison education faces substantial barriers, both in its implementation and funding.
Historically, Pell grants could be used to help fund prison education. However, under the Clinton administration, welfare reforms eliminated accessibility of Pell grants for prisoners. As a result, prison education took a huge cut. Within prison itself, FEPPS students lack internet access and there is limited technological capacity that is typical of most college classrooms. This means that students frequently have to write their essays by hand and use books instead of the internet for research.
Despite these challenges, FEPPS presents unique opportunities for both student-inmates, faculty and non-inmate students. For one, students in FEPPS aren’t motivated by social pressures to get degrees. Instead, it is a path of their own choosing, creating an engaged classroom dynamic.
Faculty have been attuned to this. Many members “report how teaching in prison energized them as scholars and teachers when they taught on campus,” Dr. Erzen said.
Additionally, there are several avenues through which University of Puget Sound students are getting involved. Gender and queer studies students have helped to organize workshops on gender identity within the prison while Spanish majors have worked as conversation partners with FEPPS students.
FEPPS is part of a broader trend that is bringing visibility to the issues of our corrections system and the approach we ought to take to help those caught within the system. By including students in the discussion, FEPPS is helping support the school’s mission of access, diversity and inclusion, all while providing an educational experience for inmates and University of Puget Sound students alike.
Tags :FEPPSprison education
Lecture and documentary engage students in discussion of bioethics and disability
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line245
|
__label__wiki
| 0.72981
| 0.72981
|
EP 131: Lion Hearted + album reviews for Suicide Boys & Russ + Music from All Hail Y.T.
This week's topics: Mac Miller's passing, Meek Mill & Drake reunion, Cardi B vs Nicki Minaj, Watch The Throne 2, new Lebron James & Kevin Durant music + album reviews for Suicide Boys & Russ.
What it dew Trillions! Back again with episode 131 of the Truth Be Told Podcast from Trillmatic.com hosted by Riffa & Bigg UU from Killeen. Thanks for supporting your favorite Hip Hop podcast! Be sure to leave a 5 star review!
Show support for the podcast!
Merch: https://www.trillmatic.com/merch
Patreon: http://www.trillmatic.com/patreon
PayPal: http://www.trillmatic.com/paypal
PodBean: https://patron.podbean.com/truthbetold
Check out more music from Killeen rapper All Hail Y.T. and 80s Baby's new album 'How To Be A Player Vol. 1' which you can download here http://contactup.io/_u5533/
And check out his clothing line here: https://bullionluccini.com/
In this episode, we kick off speaking about the death of Hip Hop artist Mac Miller. We talked about what he meant to the community.
(13:50) Meek Mill and Drake linked back up and are friends again. (17:30) Kanye West and Lil Pump are taking over the airwaves. We also talk about Kanye West linking up with Tekashi 6ix9ine and being the creative director for PornHub's porn awards. (25:30) Watch The Throne 2 might be on the way! But will it be with JAY-Z?
(31:00) Cardi B and Nicki Minaj finally come to fisticuffs but is any of this actually going to be a beef on wax? We also talk about who would win in a battle.
(46:30) Lebron James and Kevin Durant's Hip Hop track finally came out to the masses. (54:26) Joe Budden let loose on Eminem during his podcast and spoke on Em's non-promotion of his artists. While that is going on, Lupe Fiasco says he would destroy Eminem and Joe Budden, jokingly of course. But not really?
(1:14:00) Russ - Zoo
TIDAL: https://tidal.com/album/94585301
Apple Music: https://apple.co/2QnIkh9
(1:36:23) Suicide Boys - I Want To Die In New Orleans
Apple Music: https://apple.co/2QaHi8c
Subscribe to our channel on YouTube: https://www.trillmatic.com/youtube
PODCAST LINKS
Website: http://www.trillmatic.com/truthbetold
iTunes: https://itun.es/i67d6Qk
Google Podcasts: https://goo.gl/z7hsHH
Android: https://goo.gl/kbJdDe
Stitcher: http://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=92400
Libsyn: http://trillmatic.libsyn.com/
SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/beentrillmatic
Website: https://www.trillmatic.com
Mixtapes: https://www.trillmatic.com/mixtapes
Audio: https://www.trillmatic.com/audio
Videos: https://www.trillmatic.com/videos
Riffa on Twitter - http://twitter.com/Riffa254
Bigg UU on Twitter - http://twitter.com/BiggUU254
Instagram: http://instagram.com/beentrillmatic
Twitter: http://twitter.com/beentrillmatic
Facebook: http://facebook.com/beentrillmatic
Tumblr: http://realtrillmatic.tumblr.com
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/beentrillmatic
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line246
|
__label__cc
| 0.695291
| 0.304709
|
Sugar, Jesus, and My Cat Misty
God, reveal yourself to me! I want to know what your will for my life is!" she prayed as she hoisted her large backpack onto her back. Today was going to be different, she determined. She was going to witness for Christ today. She walked to the bus stop, praying for a divine encounter. She sat next to a woman on the bus who was reading her Bible. Confirmation! God does love me! She gently inquired about what church she went to, but after two more sentences, she had to get off and go her own way.
A twinge of loneliness crept up to Melissa's heart, but she tried to remind herself that Jesus was with her. Plus, youth group was the following night and they were going to have a late night worship time. Just as she awoke from daydreaming, her stop came.
She waited for her next bus, trying to not inhale the smoke wafting towards her. She was street smart. No one can hurt me... except, if she was honest, she would tell you that some people did make her uncomfortable. She pulled out her "Now-and-Laters" that she just got upstairs and chomped down on one. Yum. A small nervous habit? If it was, she didn't know it. I don't have any cavities... right now, and I have sealants, so it's fine.
Climbing onto the strangely empty bus, she realizes it will be a quiet ride. She would have read her Bible... maybe, but she hadn't finished her homework. With a little pit in her stomach, she tried to speed-read through the chapter and whip out a couple of paragraphs in response... Not the best, but it's ok.
Off the bus, she hoisted her bag and walked briskly through the park and over the bridge. She prayed as best as she could as she looked up at the trees. Fears were gone as she saw the rose bushes and the squirrels scurrying about. But then, once she reached the big metal doors of her high school, dread silenced her joy. It always felt as if she left Jesus outside... no matter how hard she tried. "I just want to be a 'bulldog for God' and witness for Him." But when she tried, she'd always end up isolating herself, and so from time to time, she'd just give in to all that peer pressure and do what felt good. As long as it wasn't a big sin, you know, like drugs and stuff.
At youth group, they'd dim the lights low and the worship team would play electric guitar and drums so no one had to see or hear each other. They could just worship to their heart's content. Sometimes she'd feel awkward but she never told her youth group leader.
Melissa felt led to skip lunch sometimes (not knowing it was also anorexia tempting her bones). She'd either make pottery up on the third floor, for which Ms. B praised her exceedingly, or go out under a tree and pray. Peace would cover her like a baby's blanket. Standing up, hoping to not be late, her peace fled away like the wind. The leaves swirled around her. She almost cried, but she didn't have time for that.
The flyers went up. "I'm really doing it! A Bible Study in the most liberal school around!" She made it sound inviting. "Come, make friends!" It was called "Circle." She didn't know why. She just wanted to live a more open life, having heart-to-heart conversations with a group of people with the same mind. Well, like-minded they were not. One was a Catholic, one was a Pentecostal, and she was a middle-of-the-road Protestant. The other girl was "Non-Denominational."
It only lasted a couple of weeks. Melissa was a senior and she wasn't interested in learning about the myriad of "Christian" faiths. She put four sugars in her coffee as she went on the Internet again to search for scholarships. Such a rat race!
Nicholas College or bust! She stuffed way too many possessions into the trunk of her parent's rented van. After the roller coaster ride of two years in school, she was headed for Indonesia to study abroad. No, it wasn't a missionary trip. (She later found out that most of the people there were already converted.) She was going to live in the mountains along with some locals, have classes, hike, and, to some extent, live like a Papuan. She'd been to other foreign countries before, so it wasn't a surprise for her to see poverty, disease, or even hear of witch-doctors, but what struck her, making a long-lasting impression, was the gatherings they had. They'd meet in a circle, talk and sing and she didn't feel that feeling of having to keep up appearances, as she had in church growing up. (Her father would always stop the arguing right before they went in.) It felt like a big family. Oh, did the tears roll down when it was time to say goodbye... There it goes again, the peace and security, left in Papua this time.
Back in America, materialism was reaching its annual peak. It was Christmas time. "Oh, no," she thought, "I want nothing to do with this." She held her breath until the season passed. Her possessions, far less this time, soon went into the trunk of her parent's car. Her cat, Misty, hesitantly rubbed up against her legs, but then quickly scampered away. She wasn't used to Melissa anymore, and her luggage still smelled like Papuan grass.
Four hours later, she kissed her mother goodbye. The school looked a little different. She went to chapel the next morning. Row by row, all the students looked up and sang, not caring whether there was love or hate in their hearts for the person two rows back. One heart and one mind? She thought. She started only going because she had to.
The little house church she began going to was nice for a while, until the self-condemnation started turning her hair gray. She didn't sleep well at night. She felt like a dud of a Christian. Eventually, she found excuses to slip away from their "fellowship."
The next Christmas break, her mother eagerly brought her to her newly found treasure -- the Common Ground Cafe! Golden upside-down basket lamps lit up all the angles of wood. It was beautiful, but Melissa was there for another reason. Her mother had told her these people were Christians who lived together. She privately confided in a couple having their lunch break. "I know that I don't love Jesus enough," she said. She went on, spilling out how she felt paranoid about overeating, with a zip-locked half of a sandwich sitting on the table in front of her.
They did not preach at her. Actually, she hardly remembered what they said; all she felt was compassion and acceptance and she knew she'd never felt that before in all her young life. She'd never seen such sweet smiles and such a life that backed up the words of the Bible. The couple handed her a folded invitation to their house for a Sabbath Celebration. She dared to consider moving in with them, but her friends told her not to do anything stupid. College life swallowed her back up again.
Her last semester was filled with vigorous studying, anxiety, and too many cookies. She only had one friend, who was soon to be lost, too.
She graduated and was forced to return home to Boston. Receiving your Bachelor's degree does not guarantee you a job better than Brueggers Bagels, so she chose not to work. Pottery! She'd revert to her old idol. All she met was misery and despondency. One night, she stayed up late searching the Internet for "How to live the true Christian life." Misty jumped up onto the desk. "Not now," she whispered, "Go away. I have to get to the bottom of this," swatting her away.
Scarfing down a piece of banana bread slathered in peanut butter and honey, it hit her. Those people at the cafe! She looked up
twelvetribes.com and rapidly read their FAQ. She wanted to decide for herself. She was filled with life as she read, each explanation causing her heart to leap. She was no longer interested in her mother's unfounded concerns. She opened up the well-worn invitation. It tore in her hands as she read for the last time. "I'm going," she said to herself, and went to bed.
The next night came quickly. "Bye, Mom! Don't worry!" she called out as she left, taking the bus and then the train to their house. The whole time, it had only been fifteen minutes away from where she grew up. She immediately noticed how impeccably clean the house was. The children were kind and happy. Every new find drove her love deeper. She made friends that night.
Had it really only been one night? In their gatherings, where they met in a circle, they spoke openly about the deep things they were learning. They were actually being healed and sanctified by their heavenly Father!
They had a lovely meal together and she told them she'd be back. A few days later she moved in. No, her family did not understand. Her brother tried to deprogram her, and his wife screamed at her. Melissa's sister wept. None of her family knew anything about them, though.
A sacrifice is something you give up for something that is greater. Melissa cared for her family, but she would not deny the chance to live a life that was pleasing to God. She chose to follow Yahshua.
Yes, this story is about me. Now, my friends call me Amtsah Tamiymah, which means "determined and sincere." I'm thankful to be enrolled in the "University of Yahshua," where I'm learning how to be pleasing to God. I've been a disciple now for nearly seven years, and like peeling away the layers of an onion, the Creator of the universe is taking His time, healing me more and more deeply.
I want to bring honor to Him, and I would never have been able to do it without my faithful brothers and sisters!
We learn a lot, every day!
Come and visit us!
--Amtsah
‹ Why This Waste? up Christianity Today - A Light to the World? ›
You May Like These Articles:
1st John May Cause You Trouble
The Great Omission
The Pearl of Great Price
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line249
|
__label__cc
| 0.648807
| 0.351193
|
Project Report:
National Wildlife Federation Wildlife Conflict Resolution Project 2013-14
- Investigates the causes of economic imbalances.
- Investigates causes tending to destroy or impair the free-market system.
- Explores and develops market-based solutions.
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) resolves conflict between wildlife and livestock through the market approach of compensating ranchers for retiring problematic grazing leases on federal land. Restoring wildlife populations has been linked to recovering healthy, functioning ecosystems in the Northern Rockies. Thanks to the Walker Foundation and other funders, NWF has been able to retire 34 grazing allotments in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, totaling approximately 600,000 acres. NWF has also retired nearly 65,000 acres of important wildlife habitat on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (CMR). This approach establishes an important new national model for resolving chronic conflicts between wildlife and livestock.
Bighorn sheep, photo by Robin Poole
Since 2002, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) has been retiring livestock grazing allotments that experience chronic conflict with wildlife. These problems most frequently have involved large carnivores such as grizzly bears and wolves, but have also included issues with bighorn sheep, bison and elk. During the last decade, NWF has retired nearly thirty allotments totaling more than 650,000 acres. These retirements, which are completely voluntary, have received strong support from livestock producers who typically use the payments to secure grazing in new locations without wildlife conflicts.
The National Wildlife Federation’s most recent retirements involve two domestic sheep allotments on the Beaverhead – Deerlodge National Forest in southwestern Montana. The conflict arises because domestic sheep are known to transmit diseases that can cause mass die-offs of wild sheep. Bear Canyon (4,586 acres) and Indian Creek (7,483 acres) lie in the headwaters of the Beaverhead River, a blue-ribbon trout stream about forty miles southwest of Dillon. This area houses two separate bands of wild sheep.
For the last several decades, the Forest Service has permitted domestic sheep (1200 ewes and lambs) to use these areas in the summer. Much of this area is dry, high-elevation grassland with aspen groves and conifer stands. The conflicts have been serious. A die-off in 1993 killed 75% of the herd, which then numbered close to 100. The herd began to build back up again, only to experience another devastating reduction in 1999, when 75% of the herd was again lost to disease.
The National Wildlife Federation initiated a conversation with the grazing permittee that led to an agreement to retire the permit for sheep grazing, while allowing limited use by a small number of bull cattle. NWF paid the permittee $50,000 for this retirement -- a very reasonable price for protecting two important herds of bighorn sheep.
Because wildlife conservation interests are not allowed to compete with livestock producers for grazing leases on public lands, the market system is constrained from finding an appropriate balance between the need for livestock grazing and the need for wildlife. Our approach recognizes the economic value of grazing permits and compensates livestock producers fairly for giving them up. NWF's approach of paying ranchers to retire grazing leases where there is chronic conflict between livestock and wildlife provides a market-based solution for resolving these conflicts. To the extent ranchers typically use the payments provided to them by NWF to secure new grazing in an area without wildlife conflicts, this approach provides benefits for both parties.
Conflicts between livestock and wildlife on public lands have been ongoing for several decades. The tactic favored by most environmental groups has been to compel federal agencies to administratively cancel troublesome leases. This approach has generated a great deal of controversy, but only a small amount of change. Using a market approach, during the last ten years the National Wildlife Federation has been able to retire 34 grazing allotments in the Yellowstone Ecosystem, totaling approximately 600,000 acres. In our first three years of work on the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, NWF has been able to retire nearly 65,000 acres. These retirements have been accomplished with minimal controversy. We believe this approach begins to establish an important new national model for resolving conflicts between livestock and wildlife.
Amount Approved
$30,000.00 on 6/10/2013 (Check sent: 7/1/2013)
Bighorn sheep photo by Robin Poole for Walker Foundation
240 N. Higgins Avenue
less than 100 feet from Missoula's main intersection, Broadway and Higgins
Kit Fischer
Wildlife Conflict Resolution Program Manager, National Wildlife Federation
Posted 3/25/2013 1:28 PM
Updated 12/20/2013 10:36 AM
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line254
|
__label__cc
| 0.737419
| 0.262581
|
“Charitable” Foundations: ATMs for the Left
March 2, 2004 By Ben Johnson
One of the unlamented developments of this election year is the Democratic Party’s retreat to the Left. Although the media claim the party's voters have learned their lesson by settling for the “electable” John F. Kerry, a cursory examination of the Democrats shows they remain animated by anti-Bush furor. The party rank-and-file may have decided they prefer the sing-song cadences of John … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Abortion, Affirmative Action/Race, AFL-CIO, Conspiracy theories, Feminism, Foreign policy, FrontPage Magazine, George Soros/Shadow Party, Homeland Security, Labor Unions, Left-wing Philanthropy, Missile Defense, Radical Left, SEIU, Teresa Heinz Kerry Tagged With: 527 groups, Abortion, AFL-CIO, America Votes, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Research Institute, Americans Coming Together (ACT), Andrew Stern, Ann Richards, anti-white conspiracy theories, Aryan Nations, Aspen Institute, Aspen Institute’s Global Interdependence Initiative, Baba Odinga, Barbara Ehrenreich, Ben Johnson, Bill Clinton, Bill Moyers, Black Liberation Army, Black Panthers, Carl Pope, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Cecile Richards, Center for American Progress (CAP), Center for Constitutional Rights, Center for Defense Information (CDI), Che Guevara, CIA, Citizen Action, Communist Party USA, cop-killers, Cornel West, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Cuba, Cuban Committee for Democracy, Daniel Ellsberg, Delores Huerta, Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Dick Morris, Edward Kelly, Ellen Malcolm, EMILY's List, felon disenfranchisement, Feminism, Feminist Majority, Fidel Castro, Florence and John Schumann Foundation, Florence Fund, Ford Foundation, FrontPage Magazine, FrontPageMag.com, G-8, George Soros, Gina Glantz, Global Exchange, globalism, Gloria Steinem, Harold Ickes, Harold Meyerson, Herman Bell, Hillary Clinton, Ho Chi Minh, Howard Dean, human shields, Hussein Ibish, Ina Solomon, Institute for Global Communications, Institute for Policy Studies, Institute for Public Accuracy, International ANSWER, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, International Occupation Watch, Iran, Jalil Muntaquin, John Ashcroft, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Writer’s Fellowship, John Edwards, John Kerry, John Moyers, John Podesta, Lani Guinier, Left-wing Philanthropy, Les Aspin, Leslie Cagan, Link TV, Lynne Stewart, Maher Mofeid Hawash, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Mao Tse-tung, Medea Benjamin, Media Fund, Michael Dukakis, Mike Bauer, Million Mom March, minority racism, Minyon Moore, Missile Defense, Morton Halperin, MoveOn.org, Mumia Abu-Jamal, NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund (NAACP-LDEF), Nancy Pelosi, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Nation magazine, National Lawyers Guild, National Organization for Women (NOW), National Review, News, Norman Solomon, North Korea, NOW with Bill Moyers, Open Society Institute (OSI), PBS, People for the American Way (PAW), Peter Lewis, Phil Crane, Philip Agee, Phyllis Bennis, Planned Parenthood, Politics, Progressive Insurance, Public Citizen, Public Citizen Foundation, Ralph Nader, Robert Kuttner, Robert Reich, Robert Seth Hayes, Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, Ron Carey, Russell Maroon Shoats, Sami al-Arian, Schumann Foundation, Sean Penn, SEIU, Sierra Club, Soros Documentary Fund, Sundiata Acoli, Surdna Foundation, Teddy “Jah” Heath, Teresa Heinz Kerry, The American Prospect (TAP), The Sentencing Project, Thomas Ryan, Tides Center, Tides Foundation, TomPaine.com, U.S. Patriot Act, United for Peace and Justice, USPIRG, William Goodman, Win Without War, World Trade Organization (WTO), “Indonesia: Islands on Fire”
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line255
|
__label__wiki
| 0.669754
| 0.669754
|
Home/Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism, Conviction, Courage and Biblical Authority
At the end of December of 2000 I arrived in Albertville, France, with just enough French to identify myself and be courteous—bonjour, s'il vous plaît, et merci. I had enrolled for a twelve-month language course in an evangelical missionary language school about an hour and twenty minutes south of Geneva in the foothills of the [...]
Fundamentalism, Conviction, Courage and Biblical AuthorityAaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:37+03:00
A. W. Pink: The Pioneer of a Modern Reformation (Pt. 2: The Fruit of Faithful Study)
A. W. Pink (1886-1952) By all accounts the life of A. W. Pink is a phenomenon. John MacLeod, in his spiritual history of the Ilse of Lewis (Banner of the West, 2010), where the Pinks spent their last days and where they are both buried, is not at all favorable to Arthur Pink [...]
A. W. Pink: The Pioneer of a Modern Reformation (Pt. 2: The Fruit of Faithful Study)Aaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:37+03:00
A. W. Pink: The Pioneer of a Modern Reformation (Pt. 1: A String of Failures)
The past sixty years in the evangelical church has witnessed a deepening interest in reformed literature and a resurgence of reformed theology; it is, in some respects, a modern Reformation. Much of this has been attributed to the ministry of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899–1981) of Westminster Chapel, London. There is no doubt that Dr. Lloyd-Jones [...]
A. W. Pink: The Pioneer of a Modern Reformation (Pt. 1: A String of Failures)Aaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:48+03:00
Fundamentalism and the New Conservative Evangelical Identity
In previous articles I have tried to address some of the problems with fundamentalism. I have not been—nor should anyone be—afraid to face these hard issues head-on, to admit the difficulties, and to attempt to correct them. Five of the seven churches in Asia Minor had rebuke-worthy faults mingled with virtues in Revelation 2 and [...]
Fundamentalism and the New Conservative Evangelical IdentityAaron Dunlop2017-03-10T03:24:22+03:00
Understanding the Powerful Personalities of Fundamentalism
On Easter Sunday evening in 1990 when I was a zealous seventeen year old, a few friends and I made the fifteen-minute drive to a more informal after-meeting for the youth in Dr. Paisley’s church in east Belfast, Northern Ireland. That was a big year for us young fundamentalists. In July the World Congress of [...]
Understanding the Powerful Personalities of FundamentalismAaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:58+03:00
Fundamentalism’s Silent Moderate Majority
In the first article in this series I spoke of the legacy that the early fundamentalist movement has left to the evangelical church and suggested that conservative evangelicals enjoy better days today because of the fundamentalist struggle. I still believe that, and in later articles I will show the benefits and blessings of fundamentalism [...]
Fundamentalism’s Silent Moderate MajorityAaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:58+03:00
Is Fundamentalism Chasing Its Own Tail?
For the past forty years or more fundamentalism has struggled with its own existence. During that time fundamentalists have been discussing the nature and the future of a movement that was intended to defend the truth, but that has—some would argue—developed into a cold, impotent, and isolated subdivision of the evangelical church. This might [...]
Is Fundamentalism Chasing Its Own Tail?Aaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:59+03:00
The Fly in the Fundamentalist Ointment
A few years ago, when Dr. Paisley made, what some saw as uncharacteristic political choices, the whole of Britain and Ireland, indeed the world media, buzzed with the news. I also was surprised, and, like a good Ulsterman and expat, I had my opinions. Ironically, I was in Northern Ireland at the time doing [...]
The Fly in the Fundamentalist OintmentAaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:59+03:00
The Dangers of the Fundamentalist Mentality
A number of years ago I was speaking in a church on the subject of salvation. I made the point, as a side note, that salvation is not a one-time event, but that it is a process. In fact, the New Testament speaks of salvation using all of the tenses---past, present/continuous, and future, “I [...]
The Dangers of the Fundamentalist MentalityAaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:59+03:00
The Achilles Heel of Fundamentalism
Fundamentalism never wavered from its original purpose to defend the faith. This was its greatest virtue and the reason for its success in leaving us “better days.” Despite the merits of fundamentalism, however, and its evident success, the movement developed quite a prominent Achilles heel. As I said at the beginning, fundamentalism was an [...]
The Achilles Heel of FundamentalismAaron Dunlop2017-02-23T18:07:59+03:00
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line257
|
__label__wiki
| 0.913825
| 0.913825
|
Who"s puny now? Jonas Armstrong vowed to beef up after his 10st Robin Hood was ridiculed and now he"s landed a role as the hunk in a new…
Who's puny now Jonas Armstrong vowed to beef up after his 10st Robin Hood was ridiculed and now he's landed a role as the hunk in a new drama
Lisa Sewards
He’s the devilishly handsome actor who shot to fame playing the lead in the BBC’s multi-million pound hit series Robin Hood six years ago.
But it was a baptism of fire for Jonas Armstrong, who was stung by critics who said that, with his slight frame and lack of presence, he was as believable as a ‘chocolate teapot’.
Not any more. Not only did he beef up in time for the second series but, since leaving the show, Jonas has thrown himself into gritty roles that showcase his acting talents.
Bulked up: Jonas with Hit & Miss co-star Chlo Sevigny
His latest, as landscape gardener Ben in Sky Atlantic’s new series Hit & Miss, alongside Chlo Sevigny’s transgender contract killer Mia, couldn’t be more complex. It’s a dark, compelling story about how Mia’s life is turned upside down when she discovers she’s fathered an 11-year-old son, while Ben’s is thrown into similar turmoil when he falls for Mia, unaware of her transgender status.
‘When I read the script I thought, “Are they actually going to be able to get away with this” It was so off-the-wall but I couldn’t stop reading,’ says Jonas. ‘I was proud of Robin Hood, even though critics wrote negative things. But I had to laugh when this big, shaven-headed Hungarian stunt guy first saw me. He said, “You Jonas You playing Robin Hood You need to go to the gym today.”’ So I thought, “I’m going to show people.”’
Jonas in the first series of Robin Hood
Jonas had beaten actors like James McAvoy to the role. ‘I couldn’t believe it when my agent asked me to audition for the part. I was just ten stone but they couldn’t see that from the screen takes which were just my top half. They wanted me to fly back to meet the producers but I couldn’t as I was filming a crime drama, Losing Gemma with Jason Flemyng, in India. If I’d flown back I don’t think I’d have got the part as they’d have seen I was a slip of a lad, even at 6ft.
'I knew I needed to put on muscle. I thought, “Right, I’m going to go to town here and come back a different shape.” By the time the second series came round I’d put on two stone and looked ready to fight. I drank protein shakes, hired a personal trainer and went to the gym five times a week. The stunt guys were so pleased with me and said, “Now you’re one of us.” They called me Arnie. The last thing I wanted to do was to finish at 7pm and go to the gym, but it’s a regime I still keep up today and now it’s not a chore.’ It’s just as well as in Hit & Miss Jonas plays an ex-rugby player whose torso is often on display. ‘I’m wearing a vest in every other scene so I had to keep it up,’ he laughs.
Jonas is 31 now and has been employed back-to-back since leaving RADA and swiftly landing roles in Channel 4’s Teachers and crime series The Ghost Squad. ‘Even so, leaving Robin Hood at the end of the three-year contract was really daunting. I thought, “What happens if I don’t work for another year”
Then a part in Jimmy McGovern’s award-winning BBC1 drama The Street came along. Jonas played a soldier who’d been horrifically disfigured in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan and was finding it hard to readjust, turning to drink for comfort.
I drank protein shakes, hired a personal trainer and went to the gym five times a week.
‘I’m not saying I’ve got any issues with drink, but I know what it can do to people so I drew on that,’ says Jonas. ‘That and my family relations. My mum and I are really close but we used to have screaming rows and would want to kill each other. I think that part was the one of which I’m most proud.’
He is the first to admit he put his parents through the mill as a roguish boy growing up in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire. The family had moved from Dublin when Jonas was six and though they were strapped for cash his father insisted on giving the eldest of his three children a good education at the fee-paying Arnold School in Blackpool.
Were they pleased with their investment ‘Well, they were very worried about me in school as I was quite problematic. I was only ten when I head-butted a boy and broke his cheekbone in retaliation for him kneeing me in the groin. In secondary school I was also a bit of a lad – I had no direction or discipline.’
That changed when Jonas was 15 and six of his friends got expelled for smoking cannabis. ‘It was a wake-up call. I thought, “I’ve got a year until my GCSEs and Mum and Dad have put in all this money and sweat, so I’m going to make a go of this.”’ Passing his exams and going to sixth form was another turning point. It was there he met his drama teacher, Colin Snell. ‘When he first met me, I had a shaven head and was angry. He got me back on track and showed me the discipline an actor needs. Teachers before him had written me off but Colin was the reason I got to RADA and why I finally found something I was good at.’
Hit & Miss, Tuesday, 10pm, Sky Atlantic.
Delta Goodrem looks amazing as she arrives in U.S. to see new beau Nick Jonas
Delta Goodrem sips on cocktail… but her underage toyboy Nick Jonas has to settle for iced tea
Delta Goodrem, 26, enjoys romantic Mexican break with toyboy lover Nick Jonas, 18
Delta Goodrem, 26, holding hands with Nick Jonas, 18, but where is his purity ring?
Joe Jonas looks mortified as Britney Spears wraps her legs around him during lap dance
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line261
|
__label__wiki
| 0.782816
| 0.782816
|
Archive | July, 2017
Ditzenberger excited to play for Kansas baseball team
Posted on 20 July 2017 by admin
Every year, thousands of high school seniors visit college campuses in hopes of finding the perfect fit.
Dylan Ditzenberger found his with his glove, arm and swing.
The Allen third baseman committed to play baseball for the Kansas Jayhawks last fall, and as the school year approaches, he is becoming more and more excited.
“I’m looking forward to living on my own,” Ditzenberger said.
Ditzenberger played his high school ball at Allen, where he maintained a .436 batting average and a .500 on-base percentage. Although he will play infield in college, he really shone as a pitcher in his senior year. He kept a minuscule 0.247 earned-run average, which included a no-hitter in his final district start to clinch the district championship. The District 6-6A MVP helped the Eagles make the playoffs for the first time since Ditzenberger had played for the team.
“We made it all the way to the third round,” he said. “That was great.”
Because of his success, Ditzenberger was selected to play in the Metroplex and Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association all-star games.
Paul Coe, Allen’s baseball coach, told the Dallas Morning News how important Ditzenberger was to his club.
“He’s such a great third baseman it’s hard for us to pull him off there and let him start. He’s a competitor.”
Ditzenberger picked Kansas for its academics, competition in the Big 12 and its legendary basketball program. The infielder played varsity basketball at Allen and competed in the 2015 JCC Maccabi Games in Dallas, and said it had “a really awesome impact” on his recruiting. He chose Kansas over New Mexico, Arkansas, up-and-coming baseball program Dallas Baptist and Texas-Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville.
Before Ditzenberger heads to the Sunflower State, he’ll play in the American Amateur Baseball Congress (AABC) Connie Mack World Series July 28-Aug. 6. His summer team qualified for the tournament by winning a tournament earlier this summer.
Ditzenberger understands that playing time is limited, but expects to compete for an infield position next spring.
“Talking to the coaches, I have just as much chance as anyone else,” he said.
Around the Town: WWI exhibit
Compiled by Sharon Wisch-Ray
sharon@tjpnews.com
Have a Fort Worth story tip? The Texas Jewish Post is always looking for good leads on stories.
Email sharon@tjpnews.com.
Fort Worth Central Library hosts WWI centennial exhibit
Susie Hyman, Kim Factor, and Hollace Weiner were part of the North Texas WWI Centennial Commemoration Committee, which on July 9 kicked off an exhibit at the Fort Worth Central Library.
Susie, wearing a cloche hat from the period, is program director of Imagination Fort Worth, which will be bringing student groups to the library exhibit, which runs through Oct. 19.
Imagination Fort Worth has created a curriculum to go with the exhibit, which is titled “From Cowboy to Doughboy: North Texas in WWI.”
At the opening reception, Kim sounded the bugle with a call to the colors.
She wore a World War I campaign hat and her father’s World War II uniform. Kim, an attorney, is the official bugler for Jewish War Veterans Martin Hochster Post 755.
Hollace, who directs the Fort Worth Jewish Archives, created four colorful panels about local Jewish participation in the Great War. She also filled an exhibit case with artifacts that include a soldier’s World War I siddur, a tallit, and a photo of a 1919 Passover seder for American soldiers in Luxembourg. The World War I exhibit includes a film and lecture series.
Hollace will speak at 1 p.m. Sept. 17 about “Monuments & Memory.”
— Submitted by
Hollace Weiner
— Submitted by Hollace Weiner
Do your part to improve world
Dear Families,
All of us who work with families hope that children will realize that each of us has the power to make the world a better place. Tikkun olam is one area of action where you don’t have to be perfect.
Sometimes just doing anything is a step in the right direction. The responsible actions to take are those that will help others when they are in need. When we don’t act when others need help, we close our eyes to the world. We must not say that someone else will do what is needed — we must do our part to make the world a better place.
Text of the Week: Hillel was accustomed to say: If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am for myself alone, what am I? And if not now, when? — Pirke Avot 1:14
Why does Hillel focus first on taking care of yourself? Why is that the responsible thing to do? What happens if you do not take care of yourself?
Hillel goes to the next step and wonders what kind of a person we are if we only care about ourselves. What kind of person cares only for themselves?
The last phrase of this mishnah tells us to act now and not wait. Why is that important?
An important way to fix the world is by being responsible — in Hebrew the word is achrayut. Being responsible means that others can depend on you. It means you are willing to be accountable for what you do or not do — you accept credit when you do things right and you accept corrections when things go wrong. When you take responsibility, others can count on you. Making excuses is not something a responsible person does — you want to be trustworthy.
There are simple and easy ways to demonstrate that you are a responsible person. However, simple and easy is not always simple and easy. To be considered a responsible person is a quality that is earned by actions such as these:
When someone asks you to do something, do it to the best of your ability.
Focus on your own part, not someone else’s.
Be willing to accept credit or correction when you do something.
Admit mistakes without making excuses.
Shalom…from the Shabbat Lady.
Military’s expanded recognized religions list worthwhile challenge
I vaguely recall in filling out my Army enlistment papers in the 1950s, being asked to either check one of the six or so religions shown, check no preference, or to write one in on the blank line provided.
Fast-forward to the present, when I recently received a government news release announcing the Department of Defense increasing its list of recognized faiths and belief systems from a little over 100 to an expanded list of 221.
Some of the faiths I had never heard of included; Eckankar, Heathen, Church of the Spiral Tree, Troth, Wicca, Pagan, Deism and Asatru.
What a shocker! Obviously I have not been following developments in this area. It seems that there have been growing numbers of military enlistees whose faiths and belief systems were not among the mainstream and not officially recognized.
So, how does this recognition of religious belief systems outside the traditional mainstream faiths help the military and its members?
The Chaplains Corps believes that by being all-inclusive, service members of the non-mainstream faiths will now feel more accepted and will be more willing to approach Chaplains of any faith with the expectation that they will be heard and helped.
For incoming Jewish military, they can still choose “Jewish” or one of the three (Orthodox, Conservative or Reform), bringing the number of Jewish choices to four.
Before one criticizes our military leaders for possibly making things more complicated and confusing than they need to be, consider the following.
There is a rational justification for developing a more accurate, complete list of faith groups to which a military member may belong.
This change means that servicemen and -women who are members of small faith groups will now have the same rights and protections granted to service members of the larger, traditional faith groups.
Before the faith group list was expanded, there were some military who were refused time off for religious observances because their faith was not listed. Some service-members were even punished and given extra duty for requesting time off.
Our military now recognizes the 200-plus listed faiths, allowing all service-members to attend and/or observe legitimate holidays, if possible. Of course, the needs of the military always come first, no matter what the religion or holiday.
On one hand, this expanded list of recognized faiths by the U.S. Military sounds fair, democratic and inclusive, but at the same time it must present a challenge to the Chaplain Corps who are generally not members of those sects.
Let us wish them well. Hopefully this expansion of faith acceptance will serve to further strengthen the unity of the men and women of our military.
Bless them all, whatever their faith.
Rabbis with Texas ties on ‘blacklist’
Israel’s Chief Rabbinate doesn’t trust list to vouch for engaged couples’ Jewishness
By Rick Press
Special to TJP
In 2017, the notion of a “blacklist” — particularly one involving rabbis — seems almost unthinkable.
And that may explain the howls of complaint surrounding last week’s revelation that Israel’s Chief Rabbinate had compiled a list of 160 rabbis — 66 from the United States and at least one from Texas — who, essentially, would not be trusted to vouch for the Jewishness of immigrants wishing to get married in Israel.
Ken Roseman
Itim, the immigrant advocacy group that filed a freedom of information request to acquire the names, dubbed it a “blacklist,” and the group’s leader, Rabbi Seth Farber, said it reflects the ultra-Orthodox Rabbinate’s distrust of Jewish communities beyond Israel’s borders.
“It’s telling 160 Jewish communities around the world ….your rabbi is not a rabbi,” Farber told the Associated Press. “The baseline assumption is that no one can be trusted.”
Kobi Alter, a spokesman for the Chief Rabbinate, was in full damage-control mode Wednesday, insisting that the list was not an attempt to delegitimize the rabbis but rather was a reflection of requests that were rejected in 2016 because of missing documents or technicalities.
“Every case has a different explanation,” he told NPR.
Reactions from rabbis who made the list were mixed: some were perplexed, some defiant, others outraged.
Rabbi Kenneth D. Roseman, rabbi emeritus at Beth Israel Congregation in Corpus Christi, said he was unsure why he made the list but he viewed his inclusion with “a wry smile” and “contempt for the corruption in the Haredi,” the ultra-Orthodox sector of Israeli society that controls the rabbinate.
“The publication of this list will only alienate even more diaspora Jews who want to support Israel,” said Roseman, who served as senior rabbi at Temple Shalom in Dallas for 17 years before moving to Corpus Christi. “Too often, they go through traditional motions, but ignore the essential ethical values of Judaism.”
Roseman was in prominent company. Rabbi Adam Scheier of Montreal, who is close with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was on the list. So was Daniel Krauss of Kehilath Yeshurun Synagogue in New York, where U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, were congregants. (Another former Texas rabbi, Alberto Zeilicovich, was also on the list. The Argentine-born leader of Congregation Beth Shalom in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, was formerly rabbi at Congregation Ahavath Sholom in Fort Worth.) Also, on the list was Houston’s beloved Rabbi Joseph Radinsky of United Orthodox Synagogue.
“I have received a number of congratulatory letters from colleagues, many asking how they could have the ‘honor’ of being on the list,” said Roseman in an email. “When I announced my listing to the congregation (Friday) night, there was applause and approbation.”
A group of 13 California rabbis even sent a letter to the Rabbinate asking that their names be added to the list, as a show of solidarity.
Rabbi Alberto Zeilicovich of Congregation Ahavath Shalom in Fort Worth photographed July 1, 2008. (Photo/ Richard W. Rodriguez)
Rabbi Brian Zimmerman of Beth El Congregation in Fort Worth was not on the “blacklist,” but he believes the fallout surrounding it should be a cautionary tale.
“We’ve always known that our decisions would be challenged by a very small group in Israel. But ultimately this is about power. It’s not about religion,” said Zimmerman. “This is why you should separate synagogue and state.”
The Chief Rabbinate has sole jurisdiction over many aspects of Jewish life in Israel, including marriage, divorce and burials. And the ultra-Orthodox group has rejected thousands of requests from international rabbis in recent years.
Israeli Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau said in a letter of apology that “the list’s intention was not to invalidate rabbis, God forbid, but rather to invalidate letters that raised doubts and questions.”
But Roseman and many others weren’t buying that explanation.
He said, if asked, he wouldn’t hesitate to write another letter on behalf of a congregant.
“I’ll tell the truth,” he said, “and if some Haredi in Israel doesn’t like the way I dot my “I” or cross my “t,” that’s too bad.
“The Chief Rabbinate may want to hold the line in opposition to the modern world,” he added, “but that strikes me as effective as if a peewee football team were to play the Dallas Cowboys. They will eventually disappear from power; their days are numbered. as they should be.”
Zeilicovich had an opinion on the matter as well.
“It’s clearly a dividing policy, and it’s very, very sad that the State of Israel is telling a huge part of the Jewish people you are not recognized here,” said Zeilicovich. “I have more religious rights in a non-Jewish country, like the United States, than in my own Jewish country.”
Zeilicovich returned from Israel on Monday and he said tensions were running high iafter the blacklist was released. Conservative and Reform Jews were making their voices heard.
“There was a huge outrage. The fact that rabbis are being discriminated against by the Rabbinate, it is very concerning. And it’s not just the rabbis it’s the Conservative movement. They disenfranchise Jews,” he said. “And who are they, who gave them the power to do that? They’ve got political power. This is a political problem, not a religious problem.”
Differences in big-T, little-T truths in Torah
Dear Rabbi Fried,
I’m curious if you can help clarify the concepts of personal (little “t”) truth and Torah (big “T”) Truth.
Within Judaism, we allow enough wiggle room to claim, for example, that both Ashkenazi and Sephardi traditions can be True. Similar examples touch all aspects of life and law, where multiple contradictory truths are considered True. Thus, the concept of Torah Truth seems to be more of a spectrum than a definitive (view-)point. It seems that as long as one’s approach to Torah study is genuine, then groups or even individuals can bring down different Truths.
How does this concept hold up outside of Judaism? If someone of another religion is also living a moral life, and is toiling genuinely in their religious texts, they will surely also report a genuine relationship with God, and access to Truth. From the Jewish perspective, can a non-Jew access (a piece of) the Truth?
— Michael
Dear Michael,
It is true that there is a spectrum of observance within the scope of Judaism and Torah, such as Sephardic, Chasidic, German, Hungarian and Lithuanian customs. These are not different versions of Truth, as you suggest, rather different approaches of how to approach the same Truth.
Let us look at an example of this. Imagine three people standing next to a large lake, discussing its beauty. One says that the water is blue, reflecting the sky; another feels it looks green, like its lily pads, and the third sees it as gray, like the clouds. Which one is correct? The answer is, all of them! There’s probably a smattering of all three colors in that lake and each feels more connected, from his or her perspective, to one of those hues. As long as all three agree upon the key axiomatic makeup of the lake that it is H2O, then there is a “gray area” which is up for interpretation and individual connection and all those viewpoints are equally valid.
So too with Torah; we have certain axioms both in belief and in practice. All of the above-mentioned sects, Ashkenazic and Sephardic, etc., believe in the same Torah from Sinai, the same 13 Principles as outlined by Maimonides which form the framework for our belief system, our definition of Truth. Even with regard to observance, take for example the observance of Shabbos, they are all basically the same. They all accept the same 39 categories of creative activity from which to refrain on the Shabbos; they all recite the same Kiddush over a cup of wine, enjoy the same three Shabbos meals, etc.
Then there are certain gray areas, such as, does one spend more time on Torah study or song and dance? When studying, does one spend more time on the Talmud and Jewish law, or on the Kabbalah and more esoteric subjects? Even within the actual laws of Shabbos, there are subtle nuances, gray areas that may differ, at times, between these sects based upon custom. All are equally valid because they are based upon a true understanding of the sources with the integrity of keeping within the axiomatic truths accepted and agreed upon by all.
They all take into account the H2O of Torah and differ in the gray areas, the subtle hues and nuances. If you look carefully, this is true of all arguments and disagreements throughout the Talmud; it’s not about the general axiomatic principles but about the details, the nuances, the gray undefined areas that are subject to interpretation.
This is the true definition of one’s approach to Torah being “genuine,” not only in intention, but with inherent integrity: playing by the rules defined by the Torah itself.
With regard to other religions, you are correct that according to the Torah a sincere Gentile can also connect to God and develop a genuine, meaningful relationship to Him. We are not a religion that believes that either you’re Jewish or doomed!
There is, however, one caveat. This is as long as that Gentile has not only good intentions, but also fulfills his or her minimum requirement of the service of God according to the Torah with regard to Gentile observance. This means a scrupulous observance of the Seven Noahide Laws. If their religion jibes with these Noahide laws then it is considered, by the Torah, to be consistent with the Truth, and its adherents will merit a portion in the World to Come.
Rabbi Yerachmiel Fried, noted scholar and author of numerous works on Jewish law, philosophy and Talmud, is founder and dean of DATA, the Dallas Kollel.
Questions can be sent to him at yfried@sbcglobal.net.
Around the Town: Fiddler on the Roof Jr., Daytimers
For one weekend only, Casa Mañana will be showing Fiddler on the Roof, Jr. Beth-El congregant Lauren Magee, daughter of Leslie and Alan Magee and granddaughter of Brigitte Altman, has been cast as Golde in this abbreviated children’s production directed by Noah Putterman.
Lauren Magee
Show times are 7 p.m. Friday, July 14; 1 and 5 p.m. Saturday, July 15; and 2 p.m. Sunday, July 16.
General admission tickets for these performances are $15 and can be purchased by contacting the Casa Mañana.
Daytimers head to Amon Carter July 26
Larry Steckler and the Daytimers crew have been busy preparing for the group’s Wednesday, July 26 trip to the Amon Carter Museum. The afternoon will begin with lunch at Beth-El.
You can bring your own, or order a Subway sandwich for $6.
Following lunch at approximately 12:45 p.m., folks will load up to carpool to the museum. Parking in the museum lot is free. In addition there are three handicapped spaces near the ramp on Camp Bowie, to the left of the entrance. Everyone should plan to arrive at the museum no later than 1:15 p.m. Maps of how to get to the museum will be available at Beth-El.
Depending on the size of the Daytimers group, the museum will provide one, or two docents if more than 20 are attending. In addition to the regular exhibits, Daytimers will get a look at the special Polaroid exhibit that has just opened.
Please let Larry know as early as possible if you will be attending, and if there is space in your vehicle for others. Photography without flash is permitted. There will be a few wheelchairs available and you may bring your own and walkers if they are needed.
The Subway lunch will include tea, coffee and cookies. Choices are the Italian BMT, Rotisserie Chicken, Tuna Salad or Meatball subs. You must call Larry Steckler, 817-927-2736, with your order and reservation.
Va. mayor to talk career, Congressional shooting
Allison Silberberg and her parents Barbara and Al, at the future mayor of Alexandria, Virgina’s graduation from American University. “I absolutely hear my parents belief in me,” said Mayor Silberberg. “They set the example for a life of doing good.”
Dallas native Silberberg guiding DC-suburb Alexandria
By Deb Silverthorn
Special to the TJP
Dallas native Allison Silberberg, the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia, recently made a comment that defines the translation of l’dor v’dor — from generation to generation.
“Only together can we preserve what our ancestors left to us,” she said. “We are all the temporary stewards of this national treasure called Alexandria.”
Silberberg will share her story at 3 p.m. Thursday, July 20, at The Legacy at Willow Bend.
“Life is all a mitzvah project, a chance to live the tenet of tikun olam, repairing the world,” said Dallas native Allison Silberberg, the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia, who will speak at The Legacy at Willow Bend July 20.
Silberberg’s city quickly gained the national spotlight after June 14, when a gunman shot Republican lawmakers at Eugene Simpson Stadium Park. Capitol Police Special Agent David Bailey, Congressional Aide Zachary Barth, Capitol Police Special Crystal Griner, Tyson Foods lobbyist Matt Mika and Representative Steve Scalise, the House Majority Whip, all were injured during the attack. The gunman, James Hodgkinson, died in a shootout with police.
“This has been a shocking time but Alexandria responded with action,” Silberberg said. “We continue to pray for the wounded. To our first responders, who saved the lives of many, there aren’t enough thanks, and to our strong residents, who came out for days offering cool drinks, baked goods and their hearts. You can’t manufacture ‘community,’ and Alexandria has it overflowing.”
Silberberg, a Hillcrest High School graduate with a B.A. from American University and a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of California, Los Angeles, is the daughter of the late Al and Barbara and sister of Dana and Susan. She grew up at Temple Emanu-El and was a second-generation member of BBYO’s Jennie Zesmer chapter.
(left to right) Dana, Susan, and Allison Silberbergs’ futures were in bloom long before their futures were known. Today, Allison is the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia.
Silberberg says her love for service was taught by her parents, rabbis and a caring community that she calls very special and it’s her parents’ encouraging voices that she feels in her heart. Her mother’s volunteering at her schools, working on political campaigns, including those of Adlene Harrison and Ann Richards, and her appointment to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission set the bar. Barbara Silberberg also shared her example through active membership in both National Council of Jewish Women and the family’s synagogue. Temple Emanu-El’s Rabbi Kimberly Herzog Cohen says Silberberg lives the heart of her heritage.
“Mayor Silberberg exemplifies that value of service we seek to cultivate as Jews, here at Temple and beyond,” said Rabbi Herzog Cohen. “We’re inspired by and grateful for the ways she pursues tzedakah, charity that helps those in need, and tzedek, justice, at the heart of systemic change.”
Silberberg’s career began as a writer and photographer — which could easily be the focus of a chapter in her book, Visionaries in Our Midst: Ordinary People Who Are Changing Our World. The Society for Women’s Health Research commissioned Silberberg to co-author a book and she created a bound legacy in her commissioned memoir And Life Will Be a Beautiful Dream: A Book about Peggy and Alvin Brown. Her writing appeared on PBS.org in conjunction with Ken Burns’ and Lynn Novick’s The War and David Grubin’s The Jewish Americans. Her talents broad, she’s written for politicians and an episode of Mama’s Family.
Silberberg’s career includes an internship with Senator Edward Kennedy; her role as chief editor and chief research assistant for Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen; being the founding leader of Lights, Camera, Action! — a nonprofit to mentor youth as well as grant making to nonprofits; serving on the World Bank’s community outreach grants committee; and serving on the City of Alexandria’s Economic Opportunities Commission, also as its chair.
While leading a monthly community service group called the Film Biz Happy Hour, which she founded to make contacts, have fun and make a difference all at once, more than $50,000 was raised for nonprofits. When she asked to run for office, it was an idea whose time had come. After being Alexandria’s vice-mayor, she was elected to lead Nov. 3, 2015. This April, she was a panelist at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, regarding vacant and abandoned properties and issues of aging.
“It’s about rolling up your sleeves and getting work done, and it’s the work that matters,” said Silberberg. “It’s an honor to see what’s possible, and to be a part of making the possible happen.”
For Bob Weinfeld, who has interviewed more than 50 guests at The Legacy, hosting Silberberg is an honor.
“It’s absolutely a genuine honor to interview Madame Mayor,” said Weinfeld, who will spend the day of Silberberg’s visit celebrating his 91st birthday. “She’s lived a fascinating life and it seems to be more so every day. Our community should be, and we are, so proud of her.”
Weinfeld’s daughter Brenda Bliss, one of many hometown friends with whom she’s close, echoes her father’s esteem of Silberberg.
“Allison is loyal, honest, objective and a good listener. She’s open to ideas while strong in her convictions and committed to the causes that matter to her,” said Bliss, whose friendship with Silberberg spans teenage tennis court matches and BBYO experiences, as well as the years they both attended graduate school in Southern California.
(left to right) Sally Waxler Oscherwitz, Caryn Statman Kboudi and Allison Silberberg, now Mayor of Alexandria, Virginia, when the threesome were BBYO best friends.
“Allison has been interested in politics for as long as I’ve known her and she is successful because she wants to fix things and make them better. She’s always wanted to problem solve,” said Bliss. “She’s always been a great friend and I’m so proud of all that she has accomplished.”
For Silberberg, what she’s accomplished, and what she continues to pursue, all of which her friends, family and supporters are proud of, is giving her heart, talent, expertise and dedication each day, serving in a life that she says “is all a mitzvah project, a chance to live the tenet of tikun olam, repairing the world.”
For more information about the July 20 program at The Legacy at Willow Bend, or to RSVP, email robert.weinfeld@tx.rr.com.
My birthday prayer at 83
This-coming Shabbat will mark my 83rd birthday. It might be an occasion to celebrate my second bat mitzvah — if I had had a first …
When I was a youngster, I went to Sunday School, of course, but I couldn’t attend weekday Hebrew school. And I couldn’t stand on the bimah of our shul, or hold a Torah.
I don’t say I was denied these experiences so much as brought up to recognize that they were meant only for males. I wasn’t resentful, just resigned. But I wasn’t happy with the restrictive roles that Judaism then assigned to women. I didn’t question the expectations: Certainly I would marry and have children. But I didn’t like the centerpieces of that life: I was totally un-fond of the kitchen, and hated dusting, sweeping, washing, ironing, and all the other routine chores that fell to my sex.
Years later, as my children still recall, I once told them that some mothers stay home and bake cookies, and other mothers do other things; like it or not, life had given them one of those “other mothers.” So I stepped outside my home, working even when that was frowned on by the traditionalists surrounding me. In this I was enabled by a neighbor woman who had sought help from her minister: Staying home and baking cookies caused severe depression. She was able to face down the local critics only because she’d received “permission” to take a paying job and hire some household help.
A journalist, she opened the local newspaper’s door for me. I compromised, working only when my children were at school; my understanding employer granted me the freedom to leave my office when those children were doing something at school that mothers should be attending. (How interesting: Nobody ever thought fathers had to attend those daytime functions …)
But look at all that’s happened since! Women not only learn Hebrew; in non-Orthodox congregations, they stand on their bimahs, holding Torahs, leading services — even as rabbis! And soon, after a struggle of years, I thought they would be able to worship openly and freely at the Western Wall, in an egalitarian venue created specifically for this purpose. Imagine a woman standing by her son for his bar mitzvah instead of having to peek at him over a barrier! Imagine her there, with a daughter or granddaughter becoming a bat mitzvah!
But the voices of dissent to all of this are loud ones. Not surprising, because Israel, with all its exciting freedoms, is still bound religiously by traditionalists who cling most closely to the old, women-restricting ways. The backlash has not been pretty, and even reasonable protest has been less effective than hoped for. However, although the Torah tells us that Eve was brought forth from Adam to be his helpmeet, it does not say that she or her female descendants should be relegated forever to kitchen duty and household chores. Yes, it says she will bear children for them both, in pain, while Adam sweats to earn a living for them. But nowhere does it specify that the Torah and its mandated reminders, those threads of blue, are altogether forbidden to her.
When all the women of my generation are gone, these dichotomies will have virtually disappeared in modern Diaspora Judaism. However, I continue now to straddle the issue, with one leg firmly planted in my traditional upbringing, the other steady in the camp of the more non-restrictive life my heart and soul long ago led me to pursue.
Today, I applaud each bat mitzvah of my congregation as her parents present her with her own tallit. I do not wear one myself. I do not carry a Torah. But maybe, just maybe, I will do both — if I am privileged, someday, to stand by the Wall in Jerusalem, in a place that our once-and-forever homeland will see fit to grant for women. This is my 83-year-old birthday prayer…
Dallas Doings: Babies blessed, charity, iftar dinner
Babies blessed at Temple Shalom
On Saturday, June 3, Temple Shalom members joined together with young families in the community for the second annual Blessing of the Babies. With guitar in hand, Ray Farris led the congregation in song and prayer. In honor of the children, the typical prayers and songs were mixed with childhood favorites: There’s a Dinosaur Knocking at My Door and I Was on My Way to Shul One Day.
After an informal morning of songs, prayer and Torah, it was time for the Blessing of the Babies. Rabbi Andrew Paley called up the families for the moment everyone had been waiting for! He explained the significance of the tallit and everyone gathered underneath for the special blessing. “Gathering our families together for a brief moment of blessing with their newborns and recently-borns is a sacred opportunity indeed.
“At Temple Shalom we value the experiences of families coming together with their community sharing prayer, Torah, music, laughter and each other. What an honor it is for us to bring God’s blessing to our newest members of our ever-growing Temple family!”
Cantor Devorah Avery was inspired to write an original song and blessing for the occasion. This song was a blessing for children and it incorporated the Priestly Benediction from our Torah as well. “It was a beautiful morning! Having the opportunity to give these families, especially their children, a blessing was an honor.”
Watching the congregation sing and pray while small children danced throughout the aisles made everyone realize that Temple Shalom truly is the perfect place for fun, friendship and learning for all ages.
Anshai sisterhood collecting bras for Mathilde’s Mentionables project
Through July 20, Congregation Anshai Torah’s Sisterhood is collecting new and nearly new bras (used garments must be washed), of all sizes, colors and types: nursing, training, sports, mastectomy bras. CAT Sisterhood leadership representatives Lisa Gerstenfeld, Paige Rothstein and Sherry Lynn Rubin will be attending the Women’s League of Conservative Judaism’s Convention, in Washington, D.C., celebrating 100 years of Sisterhood, at which they’ll donate all collected items.
The “Mathilde’s Mentionables” project, named for Sisterhood founder Mathilde Schechter, has been created in cooperation with the “Support the Girls” project to supply bras to women in need, homeless women, women in shelters and others. Please go through your closets and donate the bras that just don’t fit right, grab items to donate bras the next time you are at a store, and share this uplifting project with your friends and family.
Congregation Beth Torah hosts iftar dinner
Congregation Beth Torah hosted an iftar dinner, the evening meal that breaks each day’s fast during Ramadan, in cooperation with the Dialogue Institute of Dallas June 14.
Beth Torah and Dialogue Institute members prepared Mediterranean specialties at the synagogue before more than 100 Jews and Muslims gathered to share the meal and hold evening prayers.
Rabbi Elana Zelony of Beth Torah and Emrah Aktepe, executive director of the Dialogue Institute, led a discussion comparing Muslim and Jewish fast days and adding to understanding of Ramadan traditions.
Photos: David Duchin, DSPNphotos.com
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line263
|
__label__cc
| 0.639216
| 0.360784
|
Political Military Organization
The First Of March Organization was a clandestine movement created in Paraguay in the mid 70s to fight General Alfredo Stroessner’s dictatorship. It was the most serious attempt at creating an armed resistance to the dictator’s repressive government. Even though the organization was discovered before it was capable of attacking in the government in any way, the wave of repression which followed the discovery was enormous. During that period of repression, several leaders of the organization were captured, tortured and then executed, but the violence also extended to many regions of the country, affecting several agrarian movements and agrarian workers that had nothing to do with the OPM.Historical contextRuling the country since 1954, Stroessner had already avoided the few attempts of assassinate him in the past and had dealt with every single one of the opposition who represented a menace to him. During the 70’s, the country was in a period of economic growth, due to the construction of the hydroelectric Itaipu dam, on the Paraná River, on the border with Brazil, and also thanks to the exportation of soya and cotton.Da Costa, the leaderJuan Carlos Da Costa, who had been active in student movements and had collaborated in some literary magazines, was the main leader and the one who came up with the idea of creating a revolutionary clandestine movement. Da Costa was used to moving around, having visited Santiago de Chile and Corrientes where he met several leaders of the Argentine movement Montoneros. More than a thousand Paraguayans were studying in Corrientes at the time. Da Costa began making contact with some of the student’s leaders that were anxious to return to Paraguay to make the revolution through the means of violence due to the lack of political rights and the apathy of the traditional parties of the opposition.
Category: Interest
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line268
|
__label__wiki
| 0.733848
| 0.733848
|
WFDF Announces Updates for World Team Disc Golf Championships
The World Flying Disc Federation (“WFDF”) is pleased to announce that the Professional Disc Golf Association (PDGA) has confirmed that it will sanction the WFDF 2017 World Team Disc Golf Championships (WTDGC) at the XA tier level. In addition, team registration for the WTDGC has been extended to June 9th in the light of considerable interest from many countries that have asked for an extension to the registration process. WTDGC will be held August 23-26 in Colchester, England and it will be hosted by DiscZoo. Teams must be submitted by national disc sports federations who are World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) members, or by the national disc golf association for countries where disc golf is not part of a national disc sports body or a direct member of WFDF.
Read more: WFDF Announces Updates for World Team Disc Golf Championships
WFDF 2016 World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC) Final Standings
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) 2016 World Junior (Under-20) Ultimate Championships (WJUC) concluded Saturday, August 6 with the Canadian Women's and the USA Men's teams winning gold at the Polemarsowe Fields in Wroclaw in front of 1,500 enthusiastic local and international spectators. Silver was awarded to the USA Women's and Canadian Men's teams. Bronze medals went to the Colombian Women's team and the Great Britain Men's team who won the 3rd place game Friday. The Ireland Women's team and the Australian Men's team won the Spirit of the Game awards.
Read more: WFDF 2016 World Junior Ultimate Championships (WJUC) Final Standings
WFDF Launches a Development Grants Program to Support Projects by Member Associations or Individuals - Also establishes a Disc Missionary Program
The WFDF is pleased to announce that it has established two new programs to support the global development of flying disc sports.
Under the Development Grants Program, funding will be provided to support worthy ideas brought to the board by Member Associations or individuals. For the purposes of the program, “development” is defined broadly, and could include the introduction of disc sports into new countries, the expansion of disc sports activity in developing countries, gender inclusion projects, programs for spirit of the game education, youth programs, coaches training, anti-doping education, etc. Grants will be for amounts up to US$1,500 including the value of discs that may be a part of the request, with most grants expected to be in the range of US$250-400. WFDF is also making available a Disc Missionary Program, where flying disc athletes travelling to areas where disc sports are not actively practiced may receive a package of 10 discs to distribute. The applicant must provide information about the trip and explain how they intend to introduce disc sports to a new population. Discraft has generously agreed to contribute the discs being made available under these programs.
Read more: WFDF Launches a Development Grants Program to Support Projects by Member Associations or Individuals - Also establishes a Disc Missionary Program
WFDF announces creation of four new Commissions addressing Sport for All and Development, Athlete`s Entourage, Ethics, and Youth and Sport
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF), in an effort to enhance its governance procedures and to get input from leading disc sport experts from around the globe in several key areas, announced today the creation and composition of four new Commissions: Sport for All and Development, Athletes’ Entourage, Ethics, and Youth and Sport. Together with the Athletes’ Commission and Women in Sport Commission that were previously established, this brings WFDF into full compliance with the institutional framework for best practices outlined by the International Olympic Committee for international sports federations.
Read more: WFDF announces creation of four new Commissions addressing Sport for All and Development, Athlete`s Entourage, Ethics, and Youth and Sport
Spain to Host the 2013 BULA & WFDF European Championships of Beach Ultimate
The World Flying Disc Federation today announced that the BULA & WFDF 2013 European Championships of Beach Ultimate (ECBU2013) will be held on Calafell Beach, Tarragona (Spain) 27-30 June 2013. All European nations are invited to send national teams to participate in the Open, Women, Mixed, Masters, Women Masters, Mixed Masters, and Grand Masters divisions.
Read more: Spain to Host the 2013 BULA & WFDF European Championships of Beach Ultimate
WFDF 2013 World Under-23 Ultimate Championships to be held in Toronto, Canada
The World Flying Disc Federation today has announced that the WFDF 2013 World Under-23 Ultimate Championships will be hosted in the city of Toronto, Canada. The event will be held from July 22, 2013 to July 28, 2013 at the facilities at York University Toronto, Canada, with the finals being held on the main field at the York venue on July 28, 2013. WU23 2013 will welcome 40+ teams from over 20 nations in 3 divisions of competition: Open, Women's, and Mixed. The bid will be hosted by the Toronto Ultimate Club (TUC) who will serve as the WFDF 2013 World Under-23 Ultimate Championships Organising Committee (TOC).
Read more: WFDF 2013 World Under-23 Ultimate Championships to be held in Toronto, Canada
World Flying Disc Federation Call for Candidates: 2011 Elections
WFDF is seeking enthusiastic, skilled, and committed candidates for its 2011 Board of Directors and Ultimate Committee Elections.
Complete nominations must be received by the Nominating Committee by 9 November 2011, and the elections will run from 15 November 2011 to 15 December 2011, with results announced by 31 December 2011 subject to confirmation of acceptance by elected candidates.
The following positions are open for election to two-year terms to the Board of Directors commencing on 1 January 2012 and concluding 31 December 2013:
Read more: World Flying Disc Federation Call for Candidates: 2011 Elections
WFDF announces 2012 World Ultimate and Guts Championships to take place in Japan
The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) announced today that it has awarded the 2012 World Ultimate and Guts Championships (WUGC) to the Japan Flying Disc Association (JFDA). This quadrennial event will be hosted in the city of Sakai, Japan, 7 – 14 July 2012. Upon the recommendation of the Ultimate and Guts Committees, the WFDF Board of Directors approved the bid from the JFDA during their latest meeting, thus returning the World Championships to Japan for the first time since 1992.
Read more: WFDF announces 2012 World Ultimate and Guts Championships to take place in Japan
Harvey Brandt and Lori Daniels take Gold at 2011 WFDF World Overall Championships in Fort Collins
Harvey Brandt won the Open Division title with a total of 342.5 points and Lori Daniels took gold for the Women with 70 points in the 2011 WFDF World Overall Flying Disc Championships which were held in Fort Collins, Colorado, 18 - 23 July 2011. This was the 10th World Overall Championships sanctioned by WFDF (the first was held in 1987) and featured seven individual disc disciplines: accuracy, discathon, freestyle, disc golf, self-caught flight, double disc court, and distance.
WFDF Pan-American Ultimate Championships (PAUC) to be held in Medellín, Colombia, on 24 – 27 November
WFDF is pleased to announce that the WFDF 2011 Pan-American Ultimate Championships (PAUC) will be held in Medellín, Colombia, from 24 – 27 November 2011. Upon the recommendation of the Ultimate Committee, the WFDF Board of Directors approved the bid from the Asociacion de Jugadores de Ultimate en Colombia (AJUC, Ultimate Players Association in Colombia) during their last meeting, thus accepting the Colombian bid for the first event of this kind in the Americas. PAUC will be a club level championship, with up to two teams per country per division (open and womens) permitted.
“We are excited to announce the first ever Pan-American Ultimate Championship. It is a goal for WFDF to strengthen the Continental Ultimate Championship series to complement our World Championships”, stated WFDF President Robert L. “Nob” Rauch. “Of note, local organizer Mauricio Moore and his team view the event as a test run for the 2013 World Games and expect it to generate excitement for Ultimate in advance of those games. Further, the event will be run in conjunction with a social development project sponsored by the Institute of Sports and Recreation of Medellín INDER”.
Read more: WFDF Pan-American Ultimate Championships (PAUC) to be held in Medellín, Colombia, on 24 – 27 November
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line270
|
__label__wiki
| 0.5998
| 0.5998
|
Taxidermy is a very competitive sport and art. Taxidermists worldwide compete every year in various competitions around the globe. Josh Kelly has been competing since he was 11 years old and has won a number of awards for his fish reproductions, fish replicas, fish taxidermy, animal taxidermy, and even reptile taxidermy. He has achieved Texas state champion three times, National Champion in 2009, and has won three blue ribbons at the world competition. Please click the buttons below to view some of his award winning taxidermy.
State Competition Awards
National Competition Awards
World Competition Awards
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line275
|
__label__wiki
| 0.676759
| 0.676759
|
Against All Odds Productions
Rick Smolan is the CEO of Against All Odds Productions and a New York Times best selling author with more than five million copies of his books in print. A former Time, Life, and National Geographic photographer Smolan is best known as the co-creator of the "Day in the Life" book series. His global photography projects utilizing hundreds of the worlds leading journalists combine creative storytelling with state-of-the-art technology and are have been featured on the covers of Fortune, Time, GEO, and similar publications around the globe.
In June 2014 the Oscar Winning Producers of "The Kings Speech” released TRACKS, a feature film based on Smolan's National Geographic story about Robyn Davidson’s 2,000 mile camel trek across the Australian outback. In the movie Robyn is portrayed by Mia Wasikowska and Smolan is portrayed by Adam Driver.
Jennifer Erwitt, Principal of Against All Odds Productions was Co-Director of critically acclaimed projects including The Human Face of Big Data, Blue Planet Run, America at Home, UK at Home, Passage to Vietnam, 24 Hours in Cyberspace, and One Digital Day. Over the past two decades she has worked closely with the editors of Time Magazine, Fortune, Newsweek, National Geographic, The New York Times and numerous other publications during the production of Against All Odds' projects. Previous to founding Against All Odds productions, Erwitt played a wide variety of roles in the creation of the award-winning "Day in the Life" book series including project director, production director and general manager. She contributed to ten titles in that series and also oversaw the production of numerous other photographic projects, including The Power to Heal, Baseball in America, Christmas in America, The Jews in America and One Earth.
Katya Able is the Chief Operating Officer at Against All Odds Productions.
Contact: info (at) againstallodds (dot) com
All Rights Reserved, © 2016 Rick Smolan/Against All Odds Productions II
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line277
|
__label__cc
| 0.561811
| 0.438189
|
Letters by OCA National President, Raymond Wong – Shaquille O’Neal
Letters by OCA National President, Raymond Wong
1) Letter to Shaquille O’Neal
555 N. Nash Street
Dear Mr. O’Neal:
I am writing you in response to the complaints we have received from listeners of Fox Sports Radio’s Tony Bruno Morning Extravaganza, in which Bruno rebroadcast your racist taunts regarding Houston Rockets team member Yao Ming. I represent the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national Asian Pacific American (APA) civil rights and education group with over 80 chapters and affiliates nationwide, many of whom are fans of both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets.
On the show, you threatened Yao Ming with mock-Chinese gibberish, clearly intended to taunt not only Ming but any American of Asian descent. However, this was not an isolated incident. On June 28 of last year, on Fox Television’s Best Damn Sports Show Period, you again made mockery of the fact that Yao Ming is Asian, in your use of a fake Chinese accent and supposed kung-fu moves. You even combined these verbal comments with a threat to Yao Ming’s physical harm, announcing that you would like to take an elbow to Yao’s face.
Your remarks show extreme ignorance and lack of concern over our nation’s cultural diversity and how far we have all had to come to overcome dangerous stereotypes. Not only are these anti-Asian sentiments extremely offensive to the growing Asian Pacific American community, but they may incite anti-Asian sentiment that readily leads to racial violence. Chinese and Asian Pacific Americans make up over 11 percent of California’s population, many of which are concentrated in the Los Angeles area. We doubt that you would want to further alienate this growing population by future offensive antics.
Next time, you must think twice about making such comments again. As a celebrity, you need to take responsibility for your statements to the general public and your many fans.
Raymond Wong
OCA National President
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line279
|
__label__wiki
| 0.669268
| 0.669268
|
NANBPWC Donates Thousands of Sanitary Napkins to Sierra Leonean Girls
Posted by arnold in 121316.
The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs has collected and donated thousands of sanitary napkins to girls in Sierra Leone.
A young Maryland woman announced the launch of a special drive here in the United States this past summer. Francess Cole, a Sierra Leone native began collecting sanitary napkins for adolescent girls in Sierra Leone who cannot afford to purchase them. Cole told Global Woman Newsletter, “I remember when I was a young girl in Sierra Leone we could not afford sanitary napkins.” She continued, “I had to improvise by using cloth and making homemade napkins.”
The National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. has been around since it was founded in 1935 by the late Emma Odessa Young. She was a realtor from New York City and a member of the New York Club of Business and Professional Women. Their mission is to promote and protect the interests of African American business and professional women; to serve as a bridge for young people seeking to enter business and the professions; to improve the quality of life in the local and global communities; and to foster good fellowship.
When members of a local chapter of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs discovered that Francess Cole was collecting sanitary napkins for girls in Sierra Leone, they decided to help. Little did Francess know that NANBPWC would donate thousands of napkins to her “drive”.
According to Cole, many girls in Sierra Leone are forced to stay out of school during their menstrual periods because they cannot afford sanitary napkins during that time of the month. Some girls remain at home up to five days each month or as long as their periods last. Sierra Leone is listed as one of the poorest countries in the world; therefore their schools cannot afford to hand out sanitary napkins to female students.
“I know what I went through as a girl in Sierra Leone, and I don’t want to see anymore girls stay out of school every month only because of the lack of sanitary napkins, something we take for granted in the US.” Cole explained.
Cole also survived female genital mutilation at the age of ten in Sierra Leone. She continues to advocate against the practice, both here in the U.S. and in her country of origin. She insists that the Sanitary Napkin Drive is closely related to the practice of FGM; since majority of the same adolescent girls who are forced to remain out of school during their monthly periods were once subjected to the FGM procedure.
When asked how she feels about having so many napkins? Cole responded, “I am excited and so very grateful and thankful to Ms. Janet Ford and the other members of the National Association of Negro Business & Professional Women’s Clubs for their generous donation.” She continued, “Whatever we cannot afford to ship in a year, we will roll it over to the next year’s shipment. There cannot be too many napkins at this point.”
Cole has plans to return to Sierra Leone every year to distribute napkins in person and will also hold workshops for young girls and women.
Sierra Leone, Mali and Liberia are the three West African countries that have yet to put a ban on the practice of FGM.
If you would like to donate sanitary napkins for Sierra Leonean girls, please contact Global Woman P.E.A.C.E. Foundation at info@globalwomanpeacefoundation.org and put in the subject line, “Sanitary Napkins”. Thank you.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line283
|
__label__wiki
| 0.509636
| 0.509636
|
The most corrupt cities in the world
Category: Global
Published: - Jun 23, 2016
Tax havens, bribery and violence among what makes urban corruption.
After the Panama Papers leak cities around the world have seen the return of urban corruption to the public debate.
In the 20th century Chicago had a reputation for urban corruption which began with "King Mike," Michael Cassius McDonald, in 1870s and was followed by Al Capone and Rod Blagojevich decades later. Over the last 40 years the city has had more than 1,500 public corruption convictions, the highest in all US cities and is considered by a University of Illinois report as the "Capital of Corruption" in America.
But outside the US the windy city faces stiff competition. In Colombia more than 1,300 local mayors have been charged with corruption in the last 8 years. Bribery scandals and tax evasion are also common, and even cartels of dipper companies have been discovered in the last years.
In Spain, the Gürtel scandal, the alleged bribery of politicians and businessmen seeking construction contracts, has 95% of Valencia and Madrid citizens believing corruption is institutionalized. Yet no one has been found guilty.
In Brazil, Rio de Janeiro prosecutors are investigating the possible corruption in Olympic contracts as the investigation of Petrobras multibillion-dollar scheme continues.
But it isn't easy to define of rank the corruption in cities. According to Transparency International 2015 Corruption Perception Index, more than 6 billion people live in countries with serious corruption problems. Their index is made based on expert opinion and measures the perceived levels of public sector corruption worldwide.
They say no country in the world is corrupt-free, in fact 68% of the countries have corruption problems and half the G20 are among them.
Dieter Zinnbauer, research manager at Transparency International, explained to The Guardian, "A high-density and expanding population puts pressure on space, on water, on public services like health and education, and that causes shortages," and when shortages are present, there are big corruption risks.
This is of special concern as over the next 30 years there will be 2.5 billion more people living in cities, especially those where dishonest practices are common. The Index has ranked China, India and Nigeria below 40 point in their 100 point scale, and these states are set to absorb 1 billion new city-dwellers by 2050.
Despite urban corruption's relevance, global anti-corruption efforts have been focusing on countries as a whole. The urban dimension has been left aside and according to Anga Timilsina, programme manager at the UNDP's Global Anti-Corruption Initiative, macro focus won't filter down to the city level.
But there are several initiatives that help identify urban corruption hotspots around the world, like Indian ipaidabribe.com, which allows citizens to upload details of street-level extortion or the list of world most dangerous cities which identifies the extent to which organized crime or violence is widespread.
Guardian's Jack Shenker says to really root out corruption it is necessary to change the global economic infrastructure to avoid public corruption and the flow of money from public treasuries to the shadows.
In Latin America, this problem needs to be tackled from the root, possibly from teaching younger generations the importance of honesty and responsible measures instead of awarding those who commit to bad practices.
Copyright © 2016 Global Mass Media All Rights Reserved
Blue Red Green Pink Chartreuse Purple Brown Oranges
left-main-right left-right-main main-left-right
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line284
|
__label__cc
| 0.659609
| 0.340391
|
Beauty-industrial complex oppresses women
By Mia Valdez November 9, 2017
Beauty is a concept that everyone can get if they have money. | Julie Araica/The Cougar
The year was 2002. The dance was the Tooty Ta, and our teacher, Mrs. P, stood in the middle of our circle, imploring us to squat our legs, stick our bums out high and shake our bodies front to back singing a single refrain: A-tooty-ta, a-tooty-ta, a-tooty-ta-ta.
This was kindergarten. This was where I would meet Sharon Osbourne, the perky, thin blonde who, through no fault of her own, stood as a constant reminder of what I would never be: a perky, thin, blonde.
My 5-year-old mind was aware of what commodified beauty looked like and who it left out of the equation. This was the first of many times that I would be terrorized by beauty. Though beauty is naturally occurring and universally acknowledged in every facet of our lives, Western society has drawn borders around the people who we call beautiful.
Pre-business freshman Rahni Stewart said that she also dealt with the pressure to be what society said was beautiful.
“Historically in the U.S., the first tier of beauty is white skin with blond hair, blue eyes and a petite frame,” Stewart said.
Rahni is a black woman with natural hair. She said she is taller and bigger than most people. When she was younger, she said that she realized she would never be what most people considered beautiful, and she had to accept that.
“I should not have to put pressure on myself to become beautiful for someone who is more than likely also struggling to fit into this impossible mold of beauty,” Stewart said.
In her honors thesis for the University of New Hampshire, scholar Ann Marie Britton declared “unrealistic images of beauty [have] resulted in anxiety, low self-esteem, and low self-confidence in many women. Most of these negative emotions stem from unhappiness among body and appearance.”
But what is beauty?
“Beauty is a combination of physical traits that society says are ideal,” Stewart said. “What no one ever talks about is the concept of beauty revolves around a mold that was cast centuries before the modern woman and does little justice to what actual beauty is.”
Beauty is superficial. It is expensive, takes time and effort and causes many to lose an important sense of self and the integrity of their truth whenever they age. Moreover, due to the nature of beauty, the concept itself has become an industry in which people make money off of female insecurities and complexes that are often perpetuated by the industry itself.
As a result of this destructive industry, many girls spend crucial time during their development calculating how well they fit into the image of ideal beauty.
Girls are left with a callous, superficial image of themselves that bears no truth to who they really are or could be. When this happens, many girls and women lose precious time that could be spent developing themselves in positive, enriching ways.
Stewart found ways to enrich her life by working hard and getting a full ride to college as a Bauer Honors student. She plans to open an educational company and become a civil rights lawyer for the federal government.
She will make a difference in the world, because she understands that beauty should not be used a standard for success. Stewart made it out of the oppression of the beauty-industrial complex.
Despite Stewart’s success, the terror of beauty is that it can eat away at the precious time that we have to make something of ourselves. It is an obsession that halts the progression of life. Beauty is a single facet of life. Life should be lived outside of manufactured beauty and given the chance to blossom into its full potential — beautiful or not.
Assistant opinion editor Mia Valdez is a creative writing senior. She can be reached at [email protected].
Tags: Beauty, Feminism, oppression
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line285
|
__label__cc
| 0.748791
| 0.251209
|
Home The Investigative Russian Intelligence- Have they sent you a LinkedIn invitation?
Russian Intelligence- Have they sent you a LinkedIn invitation?
Posted about 4 years ago | Comments Off on Russian Intelligence- Have they sent you a LinkedIn invitation?
By Alan Malcher.
In my recent post, ‘Russian’s Increasing Intelligence Activities’, I listed 14 countries in western and eastern Europe where Russia’s intelligence services are making a concerted effort to obtain information. The official threat assessments from these countries clearly shows Russian intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover, illegals or NCO’s (non-official cover) and sleepers continue to operate at a level not seen since the height of the Cold War. Other well-placed commentators also suggest the number of Russian intelligence operations and the resources used to support of these operations far exceed the Soviet Union’s Cold War activities.
According to John Schindler, a retired intelligence analyst with the National Security Agency, the recent FBI success in arresting a Russian spy ring based in New York, “… is the tip of the iceberg…Since the demise of the Soviet Union Russian intelligence services have rebuilt their overseas networks, partly to wage economic war against the west…” (CNN Politics, 28 January 2015
The Russian Federation, even more so under President Putin, aspires to be a great power, not only through its possession of nuclear arms, but also being among the largest economies in the world. Recognition as a leading scientific nation also supports the claim of great power status.
Apart from those countries listed in my previous post (“Russia’s increasing Intelligence Activities”), in 2007 the British government announced that Russian and Chinese intelligence activities in Great Britain was forcing intelligence resources to be diverted away from fighting terrorism.
During the Cold War era the Soviet Union’s intelligence services supported large-scale efforts to obtain scientific, technological know-how through overseas operations, and this continues to this day. In order to compete with the west this search for technology is equally matched by Russia’s use of extensive intelligence sources and tools for long-term industrial espionage. Anything providing a military, scientific, political, technological or economic advantage over the western nations is firmly in the sights of Russia’s three main intelligence agencies which often work collectively to achieve this aim.
Russia’s attempt to win the information war by dominating the internet and controlling their domestic news corporations; their army of trolls who work 24/7 (See my post ‘Puppet and Puppeteers’) and various reports describing Russia’s aggressive intelligence initiatives, further support claims of an unprecedented level of Russian intelligence activities throughout the world.
After examining official reports and statements from various security services who have identified hostile Russian activities, which have greatly increased since Russia invaded Ukraine, we can clearly identify what information Moscow is seeking to obtain. For instance, all fourteen countries have reported attempts to target information on companies and research institutions that deal with energy, finance, media, dual-use technology and defence. There have also been accounts of Russian intelligence attempting to obtain information on military formations, military-civil infrastructures, and other information which may be used to undermine a countries political stability, defence and security; and other prime targets for sabotage in the event of hostilities.
Apart from career agents from the SVR (overseas intelligence), FSB (Security service) and GRU (military intelligence) directing operations and acting as agent handlers, success depends on the calibre and large numbers of willing, unwilling and often unaware participants for their operations. The recruitment of ‘clean skins’, individuals who are native to the target country; have no criminal record and are unknown to the authorities, continue to be a priority simply because they are extremely difficult for counter-intelligence officers to detect.
From what we know about those responsible for recruiting overseas assets and agent handlers, they are intelligent, sociable, extrovert, find it easy to build relationships and winning trust before turning their targets into informants. If using ‘natural charm’ is unsuccessful they revert to a more aggressive approach- blackmail, financial arm-twisting, threats and false promises. As we have seen in the case of Anna Chapman the ‘honey trap’ is still an effective tool! Although the procedures and resources are in place to recruit and ‘persuade’ suitable individuals, they first have to identify potential agents and then establish what can be used to make them spy against their country. The internet, and in particular social media, has made this easier than it was during the Cold War era.
Anna Chapman – SVR agent.
Have you ever wondered who those anonymous viewers of your profile are? The majority may be quite innocent: legitimate recruitment agencies or other members who just want to see if you have the required skills and experience before sending an invitation to connect. Others may have more sinister intentions, ranging from troll activities to recruiting intelligence assets. For instance, over two year ago a LinkedIn member openly looked at my profile on several occasions. This was at a time when Russia ‘was not’ invading Ukraine and I was posting real-time information and breaking news on LinkedIn. This information was originating from Twitter contacts inside eastern Ukraine at the time. The profile of this member claimed he was an IT specialist based in Moscow and he spoke fluent English.
During this period, when I was relatively new to LinkedIn and my network security was not as effective as it is now, my malware software detected an attempted attack which had been blocked. According to the report generated by this software the attack was from an IP address in Saint Petersburg! It would appear the IRS (internet Research Centre) were not using or had inadequate proxy servers. Several months later, whilst researching the internet for information on current Spetsnaz operations, I came across the photograph of a FSB officer who looked very familiar. According to the accompanying news reports he was a communications specialist who had recently been killed whilst operating with a small group of Spetsnaz troops in eastern Ukraine. Although still inconclusive, I immediately saw a resemblance to the profile picture of the Moscow based LinkedIn member who had looked at my profile several times.
Another example of ‘questionable’ LinkedIn activity occurred whilst writing this post. I was emailed by a contact in the USA who is known for their extensive activities against Russian trolls. This ‘troll slayer’ expressed concerns regarding the profile of someone who claimed to be living in England and was not sure whether to accept their connection request. After agreeing to look at this profile it became immediately apparent they had failed to do their research: this individual claims to be serving in the Royal Air force (RAF) but their profile picture is the cap badge of the British army’s Royal Engineers! Apart from having no military connections there are also several inconsistencies in his/her profile. Due to some of the expressions and terminology used, there is also the strong possibility this person is not British.
Due to LinkedIn being an extremely diverse professional network which spans almost every country, profiles and other open data relating to the usefulness and activities of members can be examined and, if considered relevant, may be recorded or acted upon. For example, what appears to be an innocent request to link to you may result in you pressing the accept button. Once connected, this new contact is in a position to poach your useful contacts, thus increasing their number of contacts which also results in increased credibility and influence across your network.
According to Bob O’Neill of ZDNet (6 May 2015) an organisation which claims to be actively investigating ‘surveillance and human rights Issues’ have developed a piece of software called ‘Transparency Tool kit’ which mines LinkedIn by searching for useful information contained within profiles. According to O’Neill, “people post all sorts of interesting information in their resumes on LinkedIn… This LinkedIn crawler automatically collects public profiles which are matched to various search requirements… It also collects information from ‘people also viewed lists’.”
Also, according to his article, “Over 27,000 people working in the US intelligence community… are listed within a database which has been created simply through ‘mining LinkedIn’.” O’Neill also claims this database, using open data, includes the resumes of people working for intelligence contractors, the military and intelligence agencies. It’s a sure bet this database also contains information about individuals from other countries. Although he does not suggest any Russian involvement, these allegations are interesting because they support many earlier claims that Moscow uses similar software tools to examine Facebook. Consequently, it appears extremely unlikely that Moscow has not recognised the plethora of useful information available on LinkedIn.
Apart from potential targets working for government and private industries, there are also undergraduates studying various disciples ranging from history to the sciences, who may be identified as potential long-term assets (see Russia’s Increasing Intelligence Activities).
As Russia continues to devote massive resources to support their information war and their army of trolls, it is also likely the FSB are interested in the LinkedIn ‘troll slayers’ in order to see how they may counter their comments and activities. Unlike Facebook and other social media platforms, the trolls using LinkedIn continue to fight a losing battle.
‘Illegals’ arrested in the United States (Anna Chapman- top row third from the left)
Many of us now recognise the tell-tale signs of the many bogus profiles appearing on LinkedIn and a quick internet search often confirms our suspicions. This is particularly true when it comes to identifying Russian propagandists.
The problems starts when you come across profiles which pass close scrutiny and that individual wishes to connect to you and your network. For instance, I don’t see anything wrong with the following profile. He has locked his contacts so we can’t see his connections, that’s fair enough. He does not have a profile picture of himself, again that’s not a problem; many members, including myself don’t have a personal profile picture and I don’t consider this to be a problem.
If you work in banking or an industry associated with this member’s skills and experience, would you accept his connection request?
Alan Malcher
Social-Cultural Analysis. Government Service, Freelance Researcher and Writer, Freelancer Printed Press Birkbeck College, University of London
View all posts by Alan Malcher →
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line286
|
__label__cc
| 0.724939
| 0.275061
|
I Am Not A Serial Killer Movie
Sixteen-year-old John Wayne Cleaver (Max Records, Where the Wild Things Are) is not a serial killer–but he has all the makings of one. Keeping his homicidal tendencies and morbid obsessions with death and murder in check is a constant struggle that only gets harder when a real serial killer begins terrorizing his sleepy Midwestern town. Now, in order to track down a psychopath and protect those around him, John must unleash his darkest inner demons. Based on the cult novel by Dan Wells, this twisted genre-bending thriller co-stars Back to the Future’s Christopher Lloyd and Breaking Bad’s Laura Fraser.
“Breathtakingly innovative, delightfully ghoulish, and insightfully unconventional.” –Austin Chronicle
Actors: Max Records, Christopher Lloyd, Laura Fraser
Directors: Billy O’Brien
Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
Rated: Unrated, Not Rated
DVD Release Date: December 13, 2016
ASIN: B01LRCDZ4M
Buy your copy here:
“I Am Not A Serial Killer is unmistakably a drama, but it’s a strangely cheerful one given its dark subject matter. The menacing and the absurd co-exist in a very funny, very matter-of-fact way . . .” –Katie Rife, A.V. Club
Dan Wells | Powered by Mantra & WordPress.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line287
|
__label__cc
| 0.722227
| 0.277773
|
Sep 2, 2016 11:03 AMPublication: The Southampton Press
Special Needs Student Will Be Able To Attend Westhampton Beach Middle School Under Agreement
> Westhampton Beach School District Ordered To Apply For Age Variance To Include Aiden Killoran In Special Education Classes Aug 7, 2018 4:17 PM
> Parents To Take New Legal Action Against District After Son Is Rejected From Volunteer Position Jun 12, 2018 2:57 PM
> Killorans File New Lawsuit Against Westhampton Beach School District Over Son's Education Jun 13, 2017 4:04 PM
> Westhampton Beach Hires Consultant To Evaluate Special Education Programming Feb 8, 2017 12:53 PM
> Hearing Officer Rules That Westhampton Beach Must Hire Inclusion Specialist For Student With Down Syndrome Feb 2, 2017 12:04 PM
> Hearing To Decide Educational Fate Of Student With Down Syndrome Begins Monday In Westhampton Beach Aug 29, 2016 5:39 PM
> Father Of Remsenburg Teen With Down Syndrome Warned To Stay Off School Grounds Or Face Arrest Aug 24, 2016 8:38 AM
> Hearing Officer Expected To Decide Fate Of Remsenburg Teen With Down Syndrome Soon Aug 10, 2016 11:33 AM
> Remsenburg Family Still Pursuing Legal Options To Have Their Son Attend Westhampton Beach Schools Jun 15, 2016 8:47 AM
> Family Protests Outside Westhampton Beach School Over Controversial Special Needs Decision Sep 2, 2015 11:16 AM
> UPDATE: No Restraining Order Issued Between Westhampton Beach School And Killoran Family Aug 31, 2015 10:13 PM
> Parents Say They Will File Discrimination Suit Against Westhampton Beach School District Aug 5, 2015 10:56 AM
> Killorans Say Change Will Allow Their Son To Attend Westhampton Beach Middle School This Fall Jun 24, 2015 11:20 AM
> Killorans Threaten Legal Action Against Remsenburg-Speonk School District Jun 10, 2015 1:05 PM
> Parents Challenge Westhampton Beach School Board To Create More Special Needs Programs May 13, 2015 10:33 AM
> Remsenburg Parents Ready To Fight For Child's Right To Attend Westhampton Beach Schools May 12, 2015 2:32 PM
By Erin McKinley
A temporary accord has been reached between the Killoran family of Remsenburg and the Westhampton Beach School District that allows 14-year-old Aiden Killoran, who has Down syndrome, to be at least partially integrated into the Westhampton Beach Middle School while a permanent education plan for him is developed.
As part of the agreement struck last Thursday, September 1—following the second day of a two-day trial of sorts overseen by an independent hearing officer—Aiden will continue to be home-schooled for his core subjects, like math and English, but will be allowed to attend the middle school for other services, like occupational and speech therapy, as well as physical education.
In the meantime, the Westhampton Beach Committee on Special Education will convene to create a plan for Aiden’s middle and high school education, according to Aiden’s father, Christian Killoran.
On Friday morning, Mr. Killoran said the agreement was a big step in the right direction for his oldest son. Mr. Killoran explained that if he and his wife, Terri, are pleased with the plan created for their son, there will be no need to reconvene the hearing presided over by officer Nancy Lieberman. If they are unhappy with the plan, the Killorans can request that the hearing resume in mid-October.
“We are cautiously optimistic,” Mr. Killoran said this week. “There are a lot of emotions and this is kind of surreal, but we are hopeful that things can work out.”
The school district’s attorney, Kevin Seaman, was not immediately available for comment.
The Killorans have been engaged in a fight with administrators in both the Westhampton Beach and Remsenburg-Speonk school districts for nearly two years in an effort to enroll Aiden in Westhampton Beach schools for his middle and high school years. They’ve argued that it is important for Aiden to be with his classmates from the Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School rather than attend another district to continue his education. The family has also argued that, although they live in Remsenburg, the family spends a considerable amount of time in Westhampton Beach and feel it is their community, too.
The district has argued that it does not have the required programming to educate Aiden, and that he would be better off at another district, such as Eastport South Manor, which already has the necessary classes in place. The district has also argued that it should not have to create a specialized program for an out-of-district student.
The temporary agreement is similar to a program that was created at Remsenburg-Speonk Elementary School for Aiden’s grade school education. As part of that program—which was customized for Aiden as he was the first student with Down Syndrome to the enter the one-school district—Aiden was with his classmates for art and gym classes, but moved to a separate room for his one-on-one instruction for subjects like math and reading. He did not receive any home schooling during his elementary school years.
According to Mr. Killoran, Aiden will take the school bus every morning, starting yesterday, Tuesday, September 6, for his classes at the Westhampton Beach Middle School. After about three hours, Aiden, who turned 14 on Wednesday, September 7, will be bused back to his home to continue his eduction.
> State Audit Finds Faults With East Quogue School District's Purchasing Policy Jul 10, 2019 10:12 AM
> Amagansett Chimes In Against Hither Hills As Wind Farm Cable Landing Site Jul 9, 2019 4:24 PM
> National Charity Organization Donates $10,000 To Southampton’s Breakfast In The Classroom Initiative Jul 9, 2019 2:57 PM
YAY!!!! The parents are the ones who decide what's best for their son, not the school administrators!
By Taz (650), East Quogue on Sep 2, 16 12:24 PM
toes in the water
Maybe the school district deciding that treating Aiden as an outcast wasn't such a great idea. All the best to you Aiden, and I hope you make a lot of new friends.
By BruceB (142), Sag Harbor on Sep 2, 16 10:24 PM
Westhampton Beach MS will be better for it. Good luck Aidan.
And congratulations Aidan's mom and dad.
By jams (127), hampton bays on Sep 5, 16 8:06 AM
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line291
|
__label__cc
| 0.684563
| 0.315437
|
Tag: U Medvidku
U Medvídků’s 1466 Pale Lager
In Beer Tastings, News and Rumors
From the “Stories that Got Away” file: the great Prague pub U Medvídků is known for a couple of things. One is the never-ending supply of Budweiser Budvar rolling out in the cavernous beer hall downstairs. And for the past few years, the place has been hailed for its top-shelf — albeit tiny — brewpub upstairs, which makes limited amounts of a couple of great beers: the outstanding Oldgott lager and the extra-strong X-33 beer, a bottom-fermented beer that resembles a barley wine, both in its level of alcohol (12.6%) and its syrupy texture.
Both of those beers, however, are amber. If you wanted a pale lager — the country’s most popular style — or if you felt like a dark beer at U Medvídků, you could only have Budweiser Budvar. But that’s changed.
Beer on TV: How Stuff Works
In News and Rumors
This summer I helped a TV crew from the Discovery Channel film brewers and breweries around the Czech Republic. Along the way, we saw some interesting things at U Medvídků, Chodovar and Pilsner Urquell. And of course we got to try some excellent lagers.
Above is a shot of Pilsner Urquell’s senior trade brewmaster Václav Berka getting ready to talk on camera in front of the kettles. I’m not sure if that or anything else from the Czech Republic filming will make it into the final cut of the show, but I do know that the program is supposed to include Charlie Bamforth and Sam Calagione, and it has been given a title and theme that it didn’t have when we were working on it.
More importantly, it’s airing tonight, December 18, at 8 p.m. on the Discovery Channel, with further broadcasts at midnight tonight and January 2 at 6 p.m.
Beer News from the Market
If you missed the Prague Christmas Beer Markets, you missed out on more than just outstanding brews — you also didn’t hear the news. For starters, there was the announcement of the forthcoming brewery at the eastern edge of Ústecký kraj, north of Prague and very near the German and Polish borders. Set to take off in early 2008, Pivovar Kocour Varnsdorf will brew classic Czech lagers as well as several top-fermenting beers, including an English pale ale, an IPA and a Rauchweizen.
This marks the arrival of more than just another outstanding Czech microbrewery (and no, it’s not a brewpub — these beers should actually be distributed well beyond where they’re made, at least in kegs).
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0045.json.gz/line304
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.