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Samsung Galaxy A50 review
Playdate is a unique handheld gaming device from the creators of Firewatch
Prasad 24 May 2019
Panic, known for creating quality Mac and iOS software, such as Coda and Transmit, as well as the popular game Firewatch, has announced a new handheld gaming system that will be released in 2020.
Called the Playdate, this portable console is possibly the most unique device of its kind that isn't meant to compete with other consoles but just to while away time between other activities.
Playdate design looks mostly similar to some of the other handheld consoles. It has a screen, some buttons and a… crank. But more on that later.
The display is 2.7-inch, black and white low power LCD from Sharp. It has a resolution of 400x240 and has no backlighting. Instead, it's highly reflective and uses ambient light. The display might seem archaic in today's world but the low resolution, black and white panel is part of the experience.
The controls are simple, consisting of a d-pad and two A B buttons. The crank is the most interesting bit. It's incorporated into gaming, and some game titles, such as Crankin's Time Travel Adventure, rely exclusively on the use of the crank for the gameplay.
Speaking of games, the way the games will be distributed is perhaps even more unique than the presence of a crank. Playdate will come with a 'season' of 12 games that are included in the price of the console.
When the console releases, it will come with one game, the aforementioned Crankin's Time Travel Adventure by the creator of Katamari Damacy. Then, every week after that, the console will get one new game.
Panic has not announced the titles or the developers of the other 11 games. They say that they are intended to be a surprise, and when the game is available you will get a notification on the console.
Regardless of when you buy the console, you will still get one game every week. However, let's say you buy the console a month after its release, then you could choose to get one games per week or get all the games that have been released so far. Once downloaded, the games are permanently part of the console.
As for more games, Panic says they will consider it based on the response and feedback from customers. If there's enough positive response, there could be another season of games from more developers.
Coming back to the device itself, the hardware specs other than the display are as yet unannounced, but the device does have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, with the latter used for downloading the games. The console is designed for single-player gaming and as of yet has no multi-player component. It also has USB-C for charging and the whole thing measures 74mm × 76mm × 9mm.
As for software, it runs on a custom OS designed by Panic, with a Mac-based SDK. Developers can use Lua or C to write their games.
The Playdate is priced at $149, which as mentioned before includes the cost of the first 12 games. The company will begin taking pre-orders in late 2019, with sales starting early 2020. Panic has yet to announce the regions where the device will be sold. More information will be made available closer to launch.
Nintendo releases slightly refreshed Switch with improved battery life
nubia to upgrade Red Magic 3 with Snapdragon 855 Plus
Asus ROG Phone 2 live images surface
Nintendo announces Switch Lite - a cheaper, handheld version of the original Switch
Vegetaholic
You need to guys realize, that Android games are pure harbage designed to eat your money, as domeone mentioned ps vita, psp, 3ds is way more better options to handheld gaming than any other android device, if you really only want to game, just get an...
U}}
you sure have lots of time keep expressing about games again and again and again. I have now lost interest NOT because I can't argue, but simply because YOUR reply is not important enough and already getting me bored. you can keep commenting a...
ProJames-CHM
45}
Your reply lacks any sense. YOU said those games are addicting. YOU said nobody wanted to name good Android games to me. I denied nothing. And you're twisting reality. Your point was that there are a lot of good Android games. You must prove...
Total reader comments: 38
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Home>Society> Watch: 97 Year-Old D-Day Veteran Reunites With Lost Love After 75 Years In Emotional Video
Watch: 97 Year-Old D-Day Veteran Reunites With Lost Love After 75 Years In Emotional Video
By Nada Mesh
Grab the box of tissues.
In 1944 during the Second World War, U.S. soldier K.T. Robbins met Jeannine Ganaye whilst stationed in northeastern France. The two quickly fell in love, but their romance was sadly cut short when Robbins was reassigned to the Eastern Front. When the war was over, Robbins returned to United States where he got married to another woman, Lillian. Despite remaining loyal to his wife, Robbins always carried around with him (til this day a black-and-white photograph of Ganaye from when she was 18 years-old and he was 24.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images
Robbins had been married to Lillian for 70 years when she tragically died in 2015. Meanwhile, Ganaye got married in 1949 and had five children prior to her husband's death. Last week, a French television station coordinated their reunion for the first time in 75 years, and for our viewing pleasure, it was captured on video. As they embraced for the first time in over 7 decades, Robbins made the heart-wrenching statement: "I always loved you. You never got out of my heart." To which Ganaye (a French speaker) responded, telling reporters: "he said he loves me. I understood that much."
As the two recounted their whirlwind romance, Pierson recalled their last interaction as Robbins left in a truck, telling Today, "I cried, of course, I was very sad. I wish, after the war, he hadn’t returned to America." Robbins added, "I told her maybe I'll come back and take you, but it did not happen like that."
Society News Lifestyle lost love adorable reuinited war veteran heartwarming emotional tear jerker
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Lakers Reportedly Eyeing Kawhi Leonard Following Anthony Davis Acquisition
SOCIETY Watch: 97 Year-Old D-Day Veteran Reunites With Lost Love After 75 Years In Emotional Video
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Is globalisation a threat to the environment?
Essay submitted as assessment for POL2001: Politics and International Business
Can economic and political pursuits of corporations and governments be harmonious with citizens’ concerns for the health of our planet? Perhaps famed author Aldous Huxley articulated the sentiment best regarding globalisation’s capacity to serve the environment, in his penned letter to brother Julian (then Director General of UNESCO and co-founder of the World Conservation Union):
I come to feel more and more that no systems of morals is adequate that does not include within the sphere of moral relationships, not only other human beings, but animals, plants and even things… If we don’t do something about it pretty soon we shall find that, even if we escape atomic warfare, we shall destroy our civilization by destroying the cosmic capital on which we live. Our relationship with earth is not that of mutual beneficial symbiosis; we have become the kind of parasite that kills its host, even at risk of killing itself. (Huxley 1948, cited in Bosselmann 2008, p. 2)
Swelling from $3.5 trillion in 1990 to $18.9 trillion in 2014 (United Nations 2015a, p. 2), global trade is booming. Yet, despite growing interconnectedness, the world is seemingly suffering policy paralysis with heated disagreements over best methods to combat globalisation’s environmental harm. Have any been effective? The consensus is not considerably – at least not in significant, provable or measureable terms. However, in considering globalisation’s permanence, is it globalisation itself that threatens the environment, or is it only through its channels that the world can unite to fend for our planet’s health?
This essay will thus analyse arguments positing globalisation threatens the environment, and its counter-arguments. Foci supporting arguments include: globalisation causes environmental exploitation including the pollution haven hypothesis; globalisation nurtures unsustainable consumerist drives and food-diets, and lastly, the implicit structure of sovereign states causes global sustainability efforts succumbing to policy paralysis.
The counter-argument claims globalisation is the only solution to halting future deterioration of the planet, through mechanisms such as innovation through competition, progressive weaning off fossil fuels and harmful substances, and lastly, through coordinated sustainability efforts.
Prudently, we first examine the globe’s health, in correlation with globalisation’s evolution. Expansionary ideologies have existed for many centuries (i.e. imperialist Europe and the Ottoman Empire); however, it was industrialisation that catapulted the world into unprecedented expansion, trade, and immigration across sovereign borders. The 1900s witnessed global GDP grow 23-fold and material extractions grow by a factor of eight – but the population only quadruple (UN 2015c). At current trends, material extraction will increase annually by 140 billion tons until 2050 (UN 2015c) – the same time when the global population will reach 10 billion people (IUCN 2016). Accordingly, waste outputs are experiencing thunderous growth; in 1992, each urban resident produced 0.64kg of municipal solid waste. Today it is 1.2kg, and by 2025, 1.42kg – outpacing the rate of urbanization itself (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata 2012).
To date, humankinds’ growth and globalisation has contributed to the following manifesto: the degradation of 2 million hectares since the 50s (Elliott 2004), the loss of 17% of the Amazon Rainforest (WWF 2017), and 60% degradation of the Earth’s ecosystems (United Nations 2015b, p. 1) over the last 50 years, 26 countries achieving official water scarce designation (with an additional 54 facing water shortages)(Elliott 2004), a 40% rise in global carbon emissions since 1990 (United Nations 2015b, p. 1), a 52% decline in wildlife populations in the last 40 years (100-1000 times higher than the natural rate (WWF 2017)), up to 50 species becoming extinct every day (Elliott 2004) – food systems as the second largest driver of such (International Union for the Conservation of Nature [IUCN] 2016), 30% of fish stocks depleted or overexploited (Greenpeace 2017b), thousands of invasive pests and weeds infiltrating sovereign borders through movement of people and goods – threatening biodiversity (including 3000 weeds and 650 species of land-based animals into Australia) (New South Wale Environmental Protection Agency 2009), assignment of threatened-status to 33% of reef-building corals (IUCN 2015), 8 million tons of plastic entering the ocean each year (80% of all marine debris)(ICUN 2017), degradation of 25-35% of dry lands (an estimated 20 million hectares of fertile land degraded annually) (IUCN 2017), an increase of 0.13°C to the average global sea surface temperature per decade for the past century (IUCN 2017), a foot rise in sea levels, above-normal heat for 627 continuous months with CO2 surpassing the danger-point of 410pmm (not seen for a millennium)(Khan 2017), and an annual production of 300-500 million tons of hazardous waste (95% produced by developed nations) – including pesticide sludge, chemical wastes, uranium mining waste, and incinerator ash (Elliott 2004, p. 61).
The final diagnosis of earth’s health… not favourable!
Two cardinal foci have driven global economic trade: meeting consumerist demands, and securing food and energy supply. Rampant consumerism was traditionally detained to the developed nations – the world’s richest 20% accounting for 86% of the globe’s total private consumption and 58% energy expenditure, contrasting with the poorest 20% consuming only 5% of total resources (Elliott 2004, p. 3). Indeed, if China mirrored US levels of car ownership, the globe would require 850 million additional cars and double the oil output – with the associated CO2 out-polluting the entire world’s transport industry (Kenworthy, Murray-Leach & Townsend 2006, pp. 371-372).
However, a chasm is occurring with non-OECD countries trumping the OECD’s energy consumption for the first time in 2007, with global energy demands predicted to increase by 47% from 2012-40. Non-OECD countries will contribute 71% (50% of this by China (the title-holder of the world’s largest energy market for 16 consecutive years (BP 2017c) and India respectively) (U.S. Department of Energy 2016; BP 2017). Furthermore, non-OECD countries are using cheap coal to satiate mounting energy requirements in meeting economic and poverty reduction goals set by the UN (World Energy Council 2016b).
Inevitably, consumerism has enormous environmental impacts. For example, 42,534 kilotons of plastic enter the ocean annually from synthetic textiles (IUCN 2017), and unsustainable commercial logging (already surpassing the point of forests being able to regenerate) is responsible for 10-25% of annual forest loss (Elliott 2004, pp. 47-48). Furthermore, at current consumption rates, we will have exhausted 170% of earth’s bio-capacity by 2040 (United Nations 2015b). Unavoidably, consumerism’s lure is spreading to developing nations, as globalisation affords them economic growth (Robertson & Swinton 2005).
Globalisation has also drastically altered the food system. An input of 10 calories is required for every calorie of consumable food produced by the modern agricultural system (Cato 2009). The system occupies 40% of earth’s land surface, causes one-third of all soil degradation, over 70% of fresh-water withdrawal, and over 20-35% of GHG emissions. Yet, globally, 800 million people are undernourished whilst 30% of all food produced is lost or wasted in the process (IUCN 2016, p. 7; Clark & Tilman 2017; Robertson & Swinton 2005). Former forestland is cleared in poorer nations, such as in Latin America and Thailand, to grow crops like soybeans and cassava – yet they’re not for human consumption (Elliott 2004). To the contrary, they’re shipped overseas as 34% of all global crops become animal feed – and only 12% of those calories eventually consumed by humans (Cassify, West, Gerber & Foley 2013).
As global incomes rise, so do appetites for meat-based diets – global meat demand doubling from 1980-2004 (Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations [FAO] n.d.). Beef, goat and lamb require 20-100 times more energy than plants – milk, eggs, pork, poultry and seafood 2-25 times (Clark & Tilman 2017). Feeding nine billion people a meat-based diet requires double the current cultivated cropland, yet worldwide meat and dairy demands are expected to rise by 67% and 57% respectively by 2030 (Cassify et al. 2013).
Adding to this grossly inefficient system, global trade of food is big business with consequentially big pollution externalities. For a micro-synopsis, the UK from 1992 to 2002 increased food imports by 26% and more than doubled their food payment deficit to 9.8 billion pounds (Cato 2009, p. 62) – its food transportation system representing approximately 34% of UK’s total food and drinks industry (Cato 2009, p. 62). Worldwide, transportation accounts for 25-27% of all energy use, 63% of oil consumption, and 14% of all GHG emissions (with aviation’s GHG emissions increasing 865-fold between 1990-2004 (Huwart & Loïc Verdier 2013)) (partly attributed to improved living standards and increased personal travel and freighted goods (U.S. Department of Energy 2016; World Energy Council 2016)). In examining environmental benefits to not embracing global food trade, a case study is China’s localization project in the 50s and 60s that encouraged local self-sufficiency for environmental protection, and for each village to produce their own iron. As Wolf describes, it resulted in “mass starvation” and “ruined environments” (2004, p. 196).
Moving forward, we turn focus to the argument globalisation causes environmental exploitation. For context, between 1986-99, commodity exports in least developed countries [LDCs] increased by 43%, but its value only by 26%. Moreover, the purchasing power associated with these exports only increased by 3% (Cato, 2009, p. 126). From 1990 to 2012, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to developing countries increased by 1921% – from 34,762 to 702,825 million dollars (Neequaye & Oladi 2015, p. 47). Finally, in 1960, the income gap between the world’s richest and poorest 20% was 30:1, widening to 74:1 by 1990 (United Nations Development Programme 1999, in Elliott 2004, p. 3).
These relationships provide two key insights – first, LDCs are working harder with less benefit – akin to chasing one’s own tail, at behest of developed countries, and secondly, “this results not only in growing poverty in the poorer, weaker countries but also more pressure on the environment, which they are forced to exploit to provide commodities to sell on international markets” (Cato 2009, p. 126). (Conversely, there are growing movements towards fair trade aiming to address injustices between the LDCs and developed; from 2005 to 2006, worldwide consumption of fair trade products totaled 1.1 billion pounds, a 42% increase in one year (Cato 2009, p. 128)).
Corporations are accused of exploiting the environment for their self-benefit. In some instances, regulations are ignored – exemplified by multinationals’ Nigerian oil extraction. From 1976-1996, there were 4647 oil spill incidents equating to 2.4 million barrels of oil. Despite gas flaring outlawed by Nigeria in 2005 as a violation of human rights, and contributor to acid rain (Elum, Mopipi & Henri-Ukoha 2016) – corporations continue (Shell 2015; Exxon Mobil Corporation 2017) to the volume of 8 billion cubic metres annually (The World Bank 2017).
In other instances, governments expose the environment to harm by corporations. For example, in 2017, the Brazilian government published a decree abolishing environmental protection to an area of 47,000 square kilometres (equivalent to the area of Switzerland), covering nine protected areas including rainforest, ecological reserves and indigenous lands, in making way for mineral mining (WWF 2017). Japan’s government, alongside Norway and Iceland, has notoriety for supporting whaling – all three purporting it is for ‘scientific’ purposes, instead of economic benefit (Elliott 2004).
Even when international legislation is enforced, corporations find a back door – for example, with the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ), a proviso of the 1982 UN Convention of the Law of the Sea – giving sovereign states rights to 200 nautical miles of surrounding coastal waters (Elliott 2004). Transnational corporations fish over 208 species across 102 countries and territories (Österblom, Jouffray, Folke, Crona, Troell, Merrie, et al. 2015) – equating to 95 million tons valued at 84.9 billion USD through multilateral agreements, or circumvention such as hiring local companies (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2010).
The Pacific Island nations of the Kirabati people welcomed giant trawlers – such as the Albacora – catching more in three fishing expeditions than the Kirabati over twelve months (Greenpeace 2014). Annually, 250 tons of tuna are caught there (second only to Papua New Guinea) using purse-seine nets (by-catching juvenile tuna, sharks, rays and turtles from fish aggregating devices (FADs); trawled mothers’ stingray pups exhibit stress responses in their immune systems, are undersized, and are vulnerable to infection and disease (Guido 2017)). From 2012-2013, multinationals fished $2 billion USD of tuna, compared to Kirabati’s GDP of $169 million. Albacora’s 2012 revenues totaled 475 million euros, itself receiving millions of European taxpayer subsidies to fish in Kirabati – entirely legal from a deal with the EU.
Globally sourced seafood is a contentious issue; up to 16% of the total global catch is controlled by 13 companies, or 0.5% of the 2250 registered fishing and aquaculture companies (Österblom et al. 2015). Walmart, Mars, Whiskas, and Nestle all source their tuna from the Thai Union Group – the world’s largest canner with a 37% global share – that still uses FADs (Greenpeace 2016). Competitor Greenseas publicly committed to an “immediate” transition to FAD-free tuna (Heinz 2017, p. 1), but has evidently shown zero improvements since 2013 (Greenpeace 2017). For every kg of trawled prawns, there is between 2-3.4kg of by-catch – destroying marine ecosystems (OECD 2010). Even hundreds of miles from the Alaskan coast is non-immune to human reaping – 95% of Aleutian sea otters have disappeared since the 80s – attributed to whaling, and phyto-plankton depletion from global warming (Hargroves & Smith 2006, p. 40). Lastly, if China matched Japan’s seafood consumption, it would require 100 million tons – more than the world’s total catch (Ryan 2006).
Perhaps the most controversial argument of corporations’ exploiting the environment is the pollution haven hypothesis (PHP) – purporting corporations conduct operations in countries with laxer environmental regulations. Supported by the evidence of an ‘Environmental Kuznets Curve’ (EKC), PHP is both supported and rejected by the evidence. PHP was confirmed in Ghana from research on CO2 emissions over 1980-2012 (Solarin, Al-Mulali, Musah & Ozturk 2017). Neequaye and Oladi’s empirical data-analysis on FDI collected from 27 developing countries from 2002-08 similarly found proof of an EKC for CO2, but not for nitrous oxide – furthermore finding increased manufacturing levels resulted in declining emissions (2015, pp. 47-56). Managi, Hibiki and Tsurumi (2009) found trade caused detrimental emissions of CO2 and sulphur-dioxide in non-OECDs, yet trade improved the environment in OECDs. Another study on data from 99 countries between 1975-2012, examined the relationship between FDI, economic growth, CO2 emissions and energy consumption. EKC was confirmed with FDI linked to environmental degradation (Shahbaz, Nasreen, Abbas & Anis 2015). Again, PHP was confirmed with Chung’s examination of South Korean FDI outflow from 2000-2007 into 50 countries over 121 industries, establishing “polluting industries show a disproportionately higher tendency to establish their new foreign affiliates in environmentally laxer countries than non-polluting industries” (2014, p. 223). Findings remained robust even after excluding China to eliminate the “China effect’ (2014, p. 223), with 38% of foreign affiliates in Korea admitting, “rising environmental standards had negatively affected their traditional investment in Korea” (Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry, in Chung 2014, p. 225). In considering China, a panel data study from 2002-2009 on 287 Chinese cities again supported PHP – though peculiarly finding FDI from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan proved less economically productive, but manifested greater environmental commitment – possibly from ethnic links (Wang & Chen 2014, pp. 81-90).
Conversely, Zheng, Khan and Liu’s cross-panel data study of 35 major Chinese cities showed inverse relationships of FDI to air pollution; cities with higher per-capita FDI flows had lower pollution (2010). Notably, they indicated this might reflect a shifting economy from producers to consumers. Lastly, Eskeland and Harrison’s empirical analysis comparing FDI and environmental impacts suggested “no robust association between the pattern of pollution abatement costs and investment” (2003, p. 9) – instead showing FDI was attracted to sectors with large domestic markets and less competition.
Lawrence Summers, former Chief Economist at the World Bank, self-vilified corporations when signing a memo: “I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest-wage economy is impeccable and we should face up to that” (Summers 1991, cited in New York Times 1992). Whether it was meant in jest is still for debate. Evidently, the Guinea-Bissau government almost accepted 15 million tons of foreign toxic waste for $600 million US – four times its GDP and 35 times the value of its annual exports – before backtracking under international pressure from developing nations (Elliott 2004). Others claim waste is disguised and disposed of illegally, dumped in used mines or in landfill – sometimes seeping into soil and waterways causing cancer and birth defects (Elliott 2004).
With the private sector responsible for 70-85% of all global investments, the UN proclaims, “the integration of environmental costs and benefits into corporate decision-making has an enormous, but as yet unfulfilled, potential to promote sustainable development” (2015b, p.2). Evidently, global efforts towards ‘polluter-pays’ principles have been stifled, in spite of an estimated 8.9 million deaths in 2012 from polluted water, soil and air (UN 2015b, p. 3).
In Australia, 10 companies account for one-third of GHGs pollution (Om 2015), and in 2012, the UN calculated one-third of profits, or US$2.2 trillion, would be lost from the world’s top 3,000 corporations if forced to pay for environmental use and damage (Jowit 2010). Yet Germany, since 1992, has successfully managed a polluter-pays system in its industrialised Ruhr Valley, and similar systems exist in the Netherlands and France (Weidenbaum 2004). Netherland’s effluent charges resulted in an 86% reduction in cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc emissions from 1976-1994 (Weidenbaum 2004, p. 63).
When corporations do pay, it is often post-damage – for example, Exxon’s US$17+ billion bill from its 1991 oil spill (Hargroves & Smith 2017). Remarkably lenient considering England’s King Edward I imposed the death penalty for burning coal in 1306 (Brimblecombe 2012).
To mollify the pursuit of economic interests, a myriad of governments and states (considering half the world’s 100 biggest economic entities are companies (Hargroves & Smith 2006)), have debated on ideological fronts. In ratifying agreements left, right and centre – littered with catchphrases like protocols, action plans, programs, targets, and so forth – one could easily be forgiven for becoming befuddled among the medley. Furthermore, many argue the World Trade Organisation – by its very nature – is incompatible with sustainability (Hargroves & Smith 2006).
The world’s first and “largest environmental organisation” (Bosselmann 2008, p. 2), the World Conservation Union (IUCN), formed in 1948. Despite 1,300 member organisations from 163 countries (IUCN 2017), it acknowledges, “continued programmatic support” from only ten nation governments (IUCN 2016, p. 48). It claims, “actively contributing” to the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (p. 16)- which saw almost every country committing to limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels (The Climate Institute 2017). However, at current emission rates, we will have reached 1.5°C in 20 years (The Climate Institute 2016). The current Australian government’s target to reduce emissions by 26-28% on 2005 levels actually aligns with a global 3-4°C increase (The Climate Institute 2017). Others insist stabilisation of CO2 essentially requires an 80-90% reduction below current levels (United Kingdom 2006; Hargroves & Smith 2006).
Over 30 national councils form the EU, whom together, “acknowledge economic needs and social aspirations, but accept protection of the environment and natural resources as fundamental” (European Environmental Advisory Councils [EEAC], cited in Bosselmann 2008, pp. 192-193). Businesses are required to abide by its 450 environmental regulations, with 100 additions annually (Weidenbaum 2004, p. 77).
The UN’s 1992 Earth Summit resulted in the Rio Declaration and its Agenda 21 action plan – albeit, a non-binding agreement, rifled with diplomatic compromises arising from concerns of developing nations (Elliott 2004). Another result was the Convention on Biological Diversity – an international legally binding treaty that to date has 193 parties (United Nations n.d.). However critics lament it as ‘soft’ (Redgwell 1992, p. 265, cited in Elliott 2004, p. 39) – “just one of many typical examples where the concern for exponential destruction has been perverted into a preoccupation with new scientific and (bio-)technological developments to boost economic growth” (Chatterjee and Finger 1994, p. 2, cited in Elliott 2004, p. 39). The 2009 Copenhagen Conference failed to reach agreement between 180 governments, and similarly, its 2012 Rio+20 agreement has not made any notable progress (Huwart & Loïc Verdier 2013).
Demonstratively, despite globalisation’s 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and other Matter, it wasn’t until 1993 that ‘major dumpers’ France, the UK and the US agreed to an unconditional ban on dumping nuclear waste in the sea (Elliott 2004, p. 69). Furthermore, in a blatant disregard of the law, the Khian Sea (later renamed the Pelicano) carrying 28 million pounds of Philadelphia’s toxic incinerated ash waste – spent two years wandering the seas seeking to dump its cargo. Post refusal by 11 countries, Pelicano eventually returned home, empty of waste, with insufficient records showing where the waste ‘disappeared’ to (The New York Times 1988).
Seemingly, even with the aforementioned incomprehensive list of environmental commitments and policies, it appears globalisation’s efforts are unable to reach multilateral agreement, and furthermore, compliance. Elliott surmises there is “a crisis in capacity, a failure of governance, an apparent lack of political will” (2004, p. 4). In establishing why, some claim it is states’ self-protecting from economical disadvantage, as demonstrated by New Zealand’s hesitations to ratify Kyoto environmental protocols (Gumley & Daya-Winterbottom 2009), and the US’s flat-out refusal (Huwart & Loïc Verdier 2013). Developing nations also argue that as developed nations caused the majority of pollution, they should bear most responsibility. An example beckoning to these arguments was the proviso under the 1987 Montreal Protocol on substances that depilate the ozone layer (notably CFCs and halons) – developing nations were given a 10-year grace period (Elliott 2004, pp. 75-76).
There are certainly instances, however, where taking preemptive or voluntary sustainability measures create considerable economic benefit to corporations and governments – the key posit of globalisation’s defending camp. They contend globally concerted efforts is the only solution to abating environmental threats – claiming it is not necessarily trade that environmentalists oppose, but rather further economic growth, asserting, “Stopping growth is not an option. The challenge is managing it” (Wolf, 2004, p. 189). And thus, globalisation actually minimizes environmental harm as a result of capitalism’s tendency towards competition (Wolf 2004).
The apparel and textiles industry is an example of challenging exponential growth. Only 20% of clothing worldwide is reused or recycled, with annual consumption to 2030 forecasted to grow by 63% (having already doubled over the past decade), simultaneously with a 50% increase in water consumption, 63% in energy consumption and 62% in waste (Global Fashion Agenda & The Boston Consulting Group 2017). Currently, the UK disposes of 235 million items annually, almost half from order mistakes like incorrect colour (Siegle 2017).
In addressing apparel’s externalities, global corporations H&M, Adidas and Inditex collaborated on the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals Program (Global Fashion Agenda & The Boston Consulting Group 2017). (H&M – famous for ‘ready-made’ fashion – has a recycled clothing initiative, yet it would require 12 years to match the equivalent 1,000 tons of waste it produces in 48 hours (Kozlowski 2017)). As local innovators, Interface Ltd produces carpets made from renewable biomass like corn, replacing petrochemicals – the “first certified climate neutral-product in the world” (Hargroves & Smith 2006, p. 77).
The next argument clearing globalization’s environmental harm is the ‘weaning’ from fossil fuels and harmful substances. BP claims CO2 emissions from energy consumption only rose 0.1% in 2016, with 2014-2016 averages the lowest of any three-year period since 1981-1983 (2017a, p. 2). Coal’s global share of primary energy dropped to 28.1% in 2016, the lowest since 2004 (BP 2017a, p.2) – with China, accounting for 50% of that demand, making changes to clean coal technologies (World Energy Council 2016, p. 13). The same year witnessed China surpassing the US as the largest renewable energy consumer, accounting for 20.5% of the 33.4% growth worldwide – their CO2 emissions simultaneously declining 0.7%, (compared to decade-long annual growth of 4.2%) (BP 2017b, p.1). Globally, renewable energy is outpacing fossil fuels in annual growth at 2.6% and 0.6% respectively (U.S. Department of Energy 2016). However, in 2004, China also bypassed the US for municipal waste generation, expecting to double the US by 2050 – “inextricably linked” to urbanization, economic development, and consumer-based lifestyles” (Hoornweg & Bhada-Tata 2012, p. 2).
In addressing the aforementioned policy paralysis, evidence of the unscathed do exist – notably contributed to NGOs. For example, the IUCN insofar has assessed 77,340 species, with a goal of 160,000 – costing $60 million USD (IUCN 2015). Their focus on environmental economic analysis resulted in the $4.5 million USD rangeland restoration project in Jordan, Egypt and the League of Arab States (IUCN 2016, p. 26). Its partnership with UNEP and the Organisation of American States formed the Global Judicial Institute for the Environment – which aims to support courts and tribunals globally to enforce environmental laws (IUCN 2016, p. 28); and its Protected Planet Report shows an overall increase of almost 300% in marine protected areas over the last decade (IUCN 2016, p. 36).
Lastly, governments are spending big on sustainability; the UK government stresses global cooperation and innovation is essential for food security. Annually, it spends 400 million pounds on agricultural research and science, including exporting expertise – an exemplar being strawberries produced with 70% less water (the technology now being transferred to potatoes) (United Kingdom 2012). It also contributes 12 million pounds to the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases.
In evaluating the case studies and concrete evidence contributed in this essay, we could reach various conclusions. Politicians, corporations, environmentalists, and citizens mirror this ambivalence and uncertainty across the globe. Indeed, there is no definite consensus – nor is there agreed upon models that can give us the synopsis of our environment’s health or causations of such. We are instead left only with a myriad of predictions, commitments and possible solutions.
Arguably, there is only one thing for certain; the environment will continue to face enormous stains and pressure from globalisation as the world’s human population continues to grow, along with its consumerism and meat-appetite. Meeting the challenges, and subsequent ramifications from such, will require a globally concerted effort, and most certainly will prove impossible to be redressed only by individual sovereign or protectionist state attitudes. With globalisation here to stay, we must, out of urgency, find a way to overcome policy paralysis to further hamper globalisation’s impacts the environment. Our very wellbeing and lives depend on it.
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Newer Post Remembrance Day – Special Feature Radio Story – Brisbane Focus Older Post Will vegans outnumber meat-eaters?
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Barron’s | Not Quite Up, Up and Away
Not even a spectacular 11th-hour rally could get stock-market funds back up into the air in the second quarter. U.S. diversified equity funds dropped 0.35% in the three months, topping the Standard & Poor’s 500’s 0.39% loss in that time. Added to the familiar head winds–European debt problems, Middle Eastern violence and the aftermath of Japan’s natural- and man-made catastrophes–was the approaching conclusion of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s quantitative-easing program, which has bought billions and billions of dollars of government debt.
That didn’t, however, hurt bond performance much as long-term domestic fixed-income funds gained by 1.39%, an increase many thought impossible given the low level of rates at the start of the quarter. Some bond sectors really took off. General municipal debt, which was getting drubbed earlier in the year, provided a 4.03% return in the second quarter, a sign that the worst of the worries about state and municipal budgets may be receding. Taking on added credit risk paid off: High-yield muni funds rose by 5.16% and emerging-markets debt returned 3.26%, another strong showing.
And bonds continue to defy their critics. The domestic long-term funds gained 6.48% in the past 12 months while world-income funds, with a 2.54% second-quarter gain, have returned 11.56% in the past year. Although Pimco’s Bill Gross has been bearish about Treasuries, his $243 billion Pimco Total Return Fund (ticker: PTTRX) was up 1.86% for the period and 5.94% in the past year.
Still, stocks have come a long way, too, in the past year. After big outflows through 2009 and 2010, the U.S. diversified funds grew to $3.95 trillion in the second quarter, up from $3.87 trillion three months earlier. Since the midpoint of 2010, diversified equity funds have gained 31.66%. Among the stellar equity returns in that time are natural-resource funds, up 46.44%, science and technology, up 35.47% and telecommunications, up 33.33%.
Looking overseas has also been an effective strategy. The few types of stock funds in the black during the quarter were largely global and international. For instance, international large-cap core funds rose by 1.43% in the second quarter, putting their 12-month gains at 30.89%.
Not content with bonds’ steady gains or the dividends paid out by big foreign companies? Try volatility. It’s part of the recent onslaught of about 300 new exchange-traded products, some of them leveraged, that have arrived of late. Among them: the infant Velocity Shares Daily Inverse VIX Short Term (XIV), up a whopping 31% for the three-month period, and iPath Inverse January 2021 S&P 500 Short Term Futures VIX (IVO), up 22%. “These vehicles have attracted a lot of assets from institutions and financial advisors who want to short VIX futures,” according to Nick Cherney, co-founder and chief investment officer for VelocityShares, who used to develop iPath exchange-traded notes for Barclays Capital.
MORE-PROSAIC LONG-ONLY mutual funds that invest in large-, mid- and small-cap stocks didn’t do a lot during the quarter; most didn’t stray far from zero returns in one direction or another.
Growth held up better than value. Large-cap growth stocks climbed 0.29% during the quarter and 32.68% during the year. Large-cap value dropped 0.68% during the quarter but gained 28.33% for the year.
It was the same story for mid-caps. Growth eked out a 0.24% gain (41.15% over the past year) but value funds sank 0.96% although they were up 33.55% for the year. Small-cap value funds, which have been stars since the market started to rally in 2009, dropped 2.51% during the quarter but are up 32.03% since the middle of 2010. Small-cap growth funds were among the gainers, up 0.28% (43.77% for the year).
Virtus Small-Cap Sustainable Growth A (PSGAX), up 8.43%, excelled by concentrating on the highest-quality small-cap companies. Jon Christensen, one of the fund’s three portfolio managers, says they focus on companies with sustainable competitive advantages that are not capital intensive, have low debt, and can outgrow their markets in good and bad times. One refreshing example: Pool (POOL) makes up 5% of the fund’s assets. The wholesale distributor of swimming-pool supplies and related leisure products was able to grab a bigger share of the market during the recession since its revenue comes from the maintenance of existing pools rather than the construction of new ones.
Equity funds that specialize in a particular sector could not get off the ground; they fell 0.79%. The exceptions were health-care, real-estate and utility funds.
The top actively managed fund was Highland Long/Short Healthcare A (HHCAX), up 13.81% for the quarter and 26.6% for the last 12 months. Portfolio manager Michael Gregory says health care is undergoing the greatest structural change in 45 years, creating a new set of winners and losers The fund was short Community Health Systems (CYH), a hospital company whose stock has been under pressure because of its billing practices, and Almost Family (AFAM), a regional home-care provider, which has been hurt by concerns about possible reimbursement cuts that may used to reduce the federal deficit.
Gregory was long Caliper Life Sciences (CALP) because he believes the biotech and diagnostic company has some interesting lab automation and tissue-imaging products and that it could be an acquisition candidate in the rapidly consolidating life-science tools industry.
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What was the sword of Damocles?
Evan Andrews
The famed “sword of Damocles” dates back to an ancient moral parable popularized by the Roman philosopher Cicero in his 45 B.C. book “Tusculan Disputations.” Cicero’s version of the tale centers on Dionysius II, a tyrannical king who once ruled over the Sicilian city of Syracuse during the fourth and fifth centuries B.C. Though rich and powerful, Dionysius was supremely unhappy. His iron-fisted rule had made him many enemies, and he was tormented by fears of assassination—so much so that he slept in a bedchamber surrounded by a moat and only trusted his daughters to shave his beard with a razor.
As Cicero tells it, the king’s dissatisfaction came to a head one day after a court flatterer named Damocles showered him with compliments and remarked how blissful his life must be. “Since this life delights you,” an annoyed Dionysius replied, “do you wish to taste it yourself and make a trial of my good fortune?” When Damocles agreed, Dionysius seated him on a golden couch and ordered a host of servants wait on him. He was treated to succulent cuts of meat and lavished with scented perfumes and ointments. Damocles couldn’t believe his luck, but just as he was starting to enjoy the life of a king, he noticed that Dionysius had also hung a razor-sharp sword from the ceiling. It was positioned over Damocles’ head, suspended only by a single strand of horsehair. From then on, the courtier’s fear for his life made it impossible for him to savor the opulence of the feast or enjoy the servants. After casting several nervous glances at the blade dangling above him, he asked to be excused, saying he no longer wished to be so fortunate.
For Cicero, the tale of Dionysius and Damocles represented the idea that those in power always labor under the specter of anxiety and death, and that “there can be no happiness for one who is under constant apprehensions.” The parable later became a common motif in medieval literature, and the phrase “sword of Damocles” is now commonly used as a catchall term to describe a looming danger. Likewise, the saying “hanging by a thread” has become shorthand for a fraught or precarious situation. One of its more famous uses came in 1961 during the Cold War, when President John F. Kennedy gave a speech before the United Nations in which he said that “Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness.”
https://www.history.com/news/what-was-the-sword-of-damocles
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Making spirits bright: Holiday concerts abound in the Corridor
Merry melodies jingle all the way through holidays
Pianist Jim McDonough of Monticello kicks off his Holiday Grande concerts Nov. 25 in Manchester, and will swing through the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids on Dec. 11. The concert tour winds up Dec. 18 in Cedar Falls. (Jim McDonough)
Lynne Rothrock and husband Ron DeWitte are teaming up for their annual Christmas Cabaret from Dec. 8 to 10 at the Cedar Rapids Public Library. (Alisabeth Von Presley)
Tyler Stika, 11, of Iowa City is reflected in the bell of his tuba as he plays in the Collegium Tubum Holiday Concert Friday, December 8, 2006 on the steps of the Old Capitol building on the campus of the University of Iowa in Iowa City. According to UI Tuba and Euphonium professor John Manning the holiday tuba concert has been taking place at the UI for more than 25 years.
Kenny G will fill the air with his smooth saxophone stylings Dec. 16 in the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center in Cedar Falls.
2nd Floor Unconference Room
Nov 26, 2016 | 5:01 p.m. Nov 22, 2016 | 12:28 p.m.
Whether you like your carols with cocoa or straight up traditional, Eastern Iowa’s musical groups and venues will be blanketed with the sparkling sounds of the season, right up to Christmas. Here’s a guide to help make your spirits bright:
25: Irish Christmas in America, 8 p.m., CSPS Hall, 1103 Third St. SE, Cedar Rapids; $30 advance, $35 door, CSPS Box Office, (319) 364-1580 or Legionarts.org
26: Holiday Ramble, 8 p.m., Crisis Center benefit, The Mill, 120 E. Burlington St., Iowa City; $10, ages 19 and up after 10 p.m.; Icmill.com
26: White Lights: Iowa Accordion Club, 2 p.m., Whipple Auditorium, Cedar Rapids Public Library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE; free, Crlibrary.org
28: Cedar Valley Christmas, 6:30 p.m. preconcert in lobby, 7:30 p.m. main concert, Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, 8201 Dakota St., Cedar Falls; $5, Cedarvalleyclubs.com
29: Festival of Carols, 6:30 p.m., Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City; free, Englert.org
1: Joseph Hall: Elvis Rock ’n’ Remember Christmas Show, 7:30 p.m., Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth St., Coralville; $12 to $37, center box office, (319) 248-9370 or Coralvillearts.org
2: Christmas at Luther, 9:15 p.m., Center for Faith and Life, Luther College, Decorah; $25 to $35, Tickets.luther.edu All other performances sold out.
2: Christmas at Heritage Center: Salvation Unto Us has Come, 7:30 p.m., Heritage Center, University of Dubuque, 2255 Bennett St., Dubuque; UD ensembles; $5 to $10, Dbq.edu
2 & 3: Amy Stoner Christmas Cabaret: “Home for the Holidays,” cocktails 6:30 p.m., concert 7:30 p.m., Eastbank Venue & Lounge, 97 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids (formerly Smulekoff’s); with Cameron Sullenberger, Luke Viertel, John Hall and Tim Crumley; $35, includes coffee and dessert, (319) 366-8203 or Artsiowa.com
3: Heartland Marimba Festival: “Holiday Spectacular,” featuring Matthew Coley, 4 p.m., Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, 410 Third Ave. SE; $15 suggested donation; also Dec. 12, 6 p.m., Cedar Rapids Public Library and other dates in Davenport, Waterloo, Cedar Falls and Dubuque, Heartlandmarimbafestival.com/events
3: Holiday Harmonies, local men’s and women’s barbershop choruses, 1:30 p.m., Clarion Hotel, 2525 N. Dodge St., Iowa City, and 7:30 p.m., Scottish Rite Temple, 616 A Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids; donations benefit HACAP
3: John Tesh Big Band Christmas, 3 and 7 p.m., Mississippi Moon Bar, 301 Bell St., Dubuque; $25 to $45, (563) 690-4758, 1- (800) 582-5956 or Diamondjodubuque.com
3: White Lights: Merry TubaChristmas, 2 p.m., Whipple Auditorium, Cedar Rapids Public Library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE; free, Crlibrary.org
3: Handel’s “Messiah,” 7:30 p.m., King Chapel, Cornell College, 600 First St. SW, Mount Vernon; Cornell Choirs and Symphony; free
3: Sing-Along Messiah, 7:30 p.m., Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, 1301 Fifth St., Coralville; $8 to $12, center box office, (319) 248-9370 or Coralvillearts.org
3 & 4: Christmas With Wartburg, 3 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3, 3 p.m. Dec. 4, Neumann Auditorium, Wartburg College, 1 Wartburg Blvd., Waverly; $18, Wartburg.edu/christmas
4: Canadian Brass, “Classic Christmas,” 4 p.m., Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, 8201 Dakota St., Cedar Falls; $17.75 to $50.75, venue box office, (319) 273-4849 or Gbpac.com
4: Christmas in Faith, organist Barbara Ritchie and friends, 3 p.m., St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, 8300 C Ave. NE, Marion; free, Faith-life.org/events/upcoming-events
4: Christmas with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith, featuring the Des Moines Symphony and Jordan Smith, Season 9 winner of “The Voice,” 7 p.m., Wells Fargo Arena, 730 Third St., Des Moines; $27 to $77, (844) 554-9833 or Iowaeventscenter.com
4: Chorale Midwest: Holiday Voices, 2:30 p.m. (also 7:30 p.m. Dec. 5), Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 857 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids; $15 adults, $5 students, door or Choralemidwest.org
4: Mount Mercy Lessons and Carols, 2:30 p.m., Busse Center, Chapel of Mercy, Mount Mercy University, 1330 Elmhurst Dr. NE, Cedar Rapids; free
6: David Arkenstone’s Winter Fantasy, 7:30 p.m., Elkader Opera House, 207 N. Main St., Elkader; $15 advance $18 door, (563) 873-2378 or Elkaderoperahouse.com
6: Celebrate Christmas at Coe, 11 a.m. Convocation and 7:30 p.m. Vespers, Sinclair Auditorium, Coe College, 1220 First Ave. NE, Cedar Rapids; free, Coe.edu
6: Cocoa and Carols with Cedar Sounds Chorus, 7 p.m., Calvin Sinclair Church, 715 38th St. SE, Cedar Rapids; free
7: UI Old Gold Cocoa and Carols, 7:30 p.m., Old Brick, 26 E. Market St., Iowa City; free
7: Tribute, Kathy Donnelly, Carol Montag and Nina Swanson and friends, 7 to 9 p.m., Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids; $33 to $38, Paramount Ticket Office, (319) 366-8203 or Paramounttheatrecr.com
8: Lynne Rothrock Christmas Show, 7:30 p.m. (also 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9 and 10), Whipple Auditorium, Cedar Rapids Public Library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE; with Ron DeWitte, Julia West, Dave Ollinger, Greg Kanz, Cathy Koebrick & Heather Akers; $28, Lynnerothrock.com
8: Trans Siberian Orchestra, 7:30 p.m., iWireless Center, 1201 River Dr., Moline, Ill.; $32.50 to $63.50, arena box office, 1- (800) 745-3000 or Iwirelesscenter.com
9: Asleep at the Wheel, “Merry Texas Christmas Y’all!” 7:30 p.m., Hancher Auditorium, 141 E. Park Rd., Iowa City; $10 to $40, Hancher Box Office, (319) 335-1160, 1- (800) HANCHER or Hancher.uiowa.edu/20events/asleep-wheel
9: Laura Story, “The Glory of Christmas,” national contemporary Christian artist, 7 to 9 p.m., Stonebridge Church, 1829 Stoney Point Rd. SW, Cedar Rapids; $20 to $40, Stonebridge.church/laurastory
9: Scotty McCreery, 8 p.m., Meskwaki Veterans Convention Center, Meskwaki Casino, 1504 305th St., Tama, $37 to $47, 1- (800) 728-4263 or Meskwaki.com/live-entertainment
9: UI Holiday Tubas, 12:30 p.m., Old Capitol Building Steps, 1 N. Clinton St., Iowa City; free
10: Cedar Rapids Concert Chorale: Holiday Concert, 7:30 p.m., St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, 1224 Fifth St. SE, Cedar Rapids; $12 advance, $15 door or Crchorale.org
10: Eastern Iowa Brass Band, 7:30 p.m., District Auditorium, Mount Vernon Middle School, 525 Palisades Rd.; $4 to $10, Easterniowabrassband.com/store
10: Michael Bolton, “Greatest Hits and Holiday Favorites,” 8 p.m., Riverside Casino Event Center, 3184 Highway 22, Riverside; $40 to $75, Casino Gift Shop or Riversidecasinoandresort.com
10: UI Percussion Holiday Pops, 3 p.m., Voxman Music Building Concert Hall, 93 E. Burlington St., Iowa City; free
10: White Lights: Young at Harp, 2 p.m., Whipple Auditorium, Cedar Rapids Public Library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE; free, Crlibrary.org
11: A Classic Christmas Fantasy Concert, 2 p.m., Elkader Opera House, 207 N. Main St., Elkader; free, (563) 873-2378 or Elkaderoperahouse.com
11: Chamber Singers of Iowa City, “A Candlelight Christmas,” 3 p.m., First United Methodist Church, 214 E. Jefferson St., Iowa City; $14 to $17, Icchambersingers.org/tickets
11: Jim McDonough: “Holiday Grande,” 2:30 p.m., Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids; $29 to $45, Paramount Ticket Office, (319) 366-8203 or Paramounttheatrecr.com For more dates and locations, Nov. 25 to Dec. 18: Pianofavorites.com
11: Sandi Patty, 3 p.m., Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, 8201 Dakota St., Cedar Falls; $21.75 to $50.75, venue box office, (319) 273-4849 or Gbpac.com
11: Telemann: Cantatas for Christmastide, 3 p.m., Voxman Music Building, Organ Hall, 93 E. Burlington St., Iowa City; free
16: Kenny G, 7 p.m., Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, 8201 Dakota St., Cedar Falls; $30.75 to $80.75, venue box office, (319) 273-4849 or Gbpac.com
16 & 17: One Voice Cross Culture, 7 p.m., iWireless Center, 1201 River Dr., Moline, Ill.; $22 to $25, arena box office, 1- (800) 745-3000 or Iwirelesscenter.com
17: Orchestra Iowa Holiday Spectacular, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. (also 2:30 p.m. Dec. 18), Paramount Theatre, 123 Third Ave. SE, Cedar Rapids; $18 to $54, Paramount Ticket Office, (319) 366-8203 or Paramounttheatrecr.com
17: White Lights: Mount Mercy University Handbell Choir, 2 p.m., Whipple Auditorium, Cedar Rapids Public Library, 450 Fifth Ave. SE; free, Crlibrary.org
17 & 18: Holiday(ish) Cabaret, 8 p.m. Dec. 17, 2 and 8 p.m. Dec. 18, Giving Tree Theater, 752 10th St., Marion; $22, (319) 213-7956 or Givingtreetheater.com
18: Diana Upton-Hill, 2 p.m., Elkader Opera House, 207 N. Main St., Elkader; $9.50 to $15 advance, $18 door, (563) 873-2378 or Elkaderoperahouse.com
22: Euforquestra’s Home for the Holidays, with Meteor Cat, 8 p.m., Englert Theatre, 221 E. Washington St., Iowa City; $15 to $20, Englert Box Office, (319) 688-2653 or Englert.org
Cedar Rapids Public Library
450 Fifth Ave. SE , Cedar Rapids IA, 52401
Dundee Volunteer Fire/EMS Breakfast and Bake Sale
Kick Up Your Heels: The Fine Art of Shoes
Let’s Roam Iowa City scavenger hunt
Pub Bingo at Black Squirrel Tap
11/23/19 2019-11-23 00:00:00 -0600
Terra Nova: Ten Years
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July & August 1996
Citizens At Bat
by Frank Fitzpatrick
Poor battered baseball. It's got more problems than the Detroit Tigers pitching staff. Among Generation X's favorite sports, it ranks somewhere between beach volleyball and Mortal Kombat. Its TV ratings resemble Greg Maddux's earned-run average, and you can count its marketable superstars on one of Ken Griffey Jr.'s fingers.
But baseball is tops in one dubious category. There are unquestionably more boors in baseball than in any other sport. As the game battles to repair its tattered image, its legion of louts just battles--their fans, reporters, opposing players, even themselves. They rebuff autograph-hunters. They berate sportswriters (when they aren't hiding from them). They charge the mound whenever a pitcher dares to throw inside. And some even abuse themselves with alcohol and drugs.
Fortunately, this isn't the whole story.
There are many players who are doing much more than keeping tabloid reporters gainfully employed. They are as committed to their performance off the baseball diamond as on--old-fashioned role models for kids hungry to see even one adult stand by his word. These players are using their resources and influence to help some of the neediest in their communities. Though most promote charitable causes, they are not merely mannequins on display for some local charity. Performance-based contributions--a homer for the heart association, a save for the Salvation Army, a grand slam for Goodwill--are fine as far as they go. But they do little to connect players with real people.
The players profiled below have found causes they believe in and turned themselves into vigorous and effective advocates. And they do not do so in the Hollywood style--joining a cause-of-the-month club, strutting into congressional offices or the White House to plead for a new government program or grant. It doesn't seem to have occurred to these men to ask government agencies or politicians to lend a hand.
No, these celebrities are founding scholarship programs to give needy children a shot at college. They are small businessmen determined to create jobs where they live. They are mentors walking into inner-city classrooms and playgrounds and turning dust and debris into dreams. They're committed husbands and fathers for whom the word "sacrifice" means more than a way to advance a base runner.
They are, in short, productive citizens.
"We're not all jerks," says pitcher Jeff Montgomery, of the Kansas City Royals. "A lot of us know that we have a responsibility not just to our teammates or to the fans at the games, but to the entire community."
Here are nine prominent baseball players--call them "all-stars in citizenship"--that constitute an impressive lineup of caring athletes:
Jim Eisenreich
It was 11 a.m. on a game day. On the upper floors of Montreal's Le Centre Sheraton hotel, "Do Not Disturb" signs hung outside the rooms of most Philadelphia Phillies. At that moment, Jim Eisenreich was a long way from his sleeping teammates. He was sitting in a home in a distant Montreal suburb. There, a nine-year-old victim of Tourette's Syndrome, his face and body twitching violently, listened as the ballplayer tried to comfort him.
"I've got a mission with these kids," says Eisenreich, his own Tourette's symptoms harnessed by medication. "I try to show them they can dream too."
The illness, which now afflicts about a million people a year, is a genetically transmitted neurological disorder that causes vocal tics and muscle twitches. This particular youngster's problems were so pronounced, he had stopped attending school. Not long after Eisenreich's lengthy visit, he returned.
"Frustration, pain, and depression had infected his entire family," says Sue Levi, medical and scientific director for the Tourette's Syndrome Association. "Jim spent 90 minutes with that child and, according to the mother, the discussion literally changed her son's life. He was able to talk about his problems openly afterward and was a happier, more relaxed kid."
It is a story repeated wherever the Phillies travel. Eisenreich, whose own childhood was marred by the disorder and whose baseball career was interrupted by it, meets kids with Tourette's in every National League city. He escorts the youngsters and their families into baseball's inner sanctums, answers their questions, and, most importantly, concludes each session with a message.
"My job is to be a good ballplayer who helps his team win. But it's equally important that I help these kids," says Eisenreich. "I believe that's God's plan for me."
The Phillies outfielder has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for Tourette's causes and touched thousands of lives. Each week, he personally responds to as many as a hundred letters from victims of the disorder.
"Sometimes, on the road, I'm up till 2 or 3 in the morning writing letters," says Eisenreich, who stands among baseball's most dependable utility players. "But I'd be in my hotel room anyway. I don't go out. I'm not a party person."
Now among the sport's most admired and well-liked players ("If you can't get along with Eisy, you're the one with the problem," says Phillies coach John Vukovich), Eisenreich had few friends growing up in Minnesota. "Other kids couldn't understand why I was making these strange noises and movements," he says. "They used to make fun of me. Their parents didn't like them playing with me."
But Eisenreich could play baseball, and by 1982 he was a Minnesota Twins rookie hitting above .300. The pressures of big-league baseball aggravated his problem, though, and in three big-league seasons he appeared in only 48 games. One night in Boston he actually walked off the field; after only 12 games in 1984, he walked away from baseball.
Everyone assumed psychological problems drove Eisenreich from the game until a Minnesota specialist diagnosed Tourette's. Three years later, armed with new medicine that gave him some respite from the twitching, Eisenreich began a comeback. He was traded to the Phillies in 1993 and ended that season by homering in Game 2 of the World Series. By then, when his story was well known, he had committed himself to helping others with the disorder.
"If I could ask one thing of people, it would be acceptance of us," he says. "They need to understand that we have no control over this."
Eisenreich and his wife, Leann, recently began the Jim Eisenreich Foundation for Children with Tourette's Syndrome, based in Kansas City, Missouri, his winter residence. Their goal is to establish a nationwide network of clinics where the afflicted can get counseling, support, and medical assistance.
"I don't want these kids to have to go through everything I did," Eisenreich says. "This work I do is my responsibility to them."
Dave Valle
Dave Valle's life changed 13 years ago amid a crowd of ragged youngsters at a ballpark in the Dominican Republic.
As a 23-year-old playing winter ball in the hopes it would hasten his rise to the major leagues, Valle and his wife were met one night by a crowd of youngsters as they exited Santo Domingo's ballpark. It was hardly the Nike-clad, autograph-seeking crowds that big-league players encounter outside American stadiums.
"These kids had no shoes and very little clothing. They looked malnourished and they were begging for food," says Valle. "Right then I told my wife that if I was ever in a position to do so, I would come back here and help."
Two years ago, Valle and ex-Mariners pitcher Brian Holman decided that time had come. They founded Esperanza International (from the Spanish word for "hope"), solicited money, and sought advice on how the nonprofit agency could best deploy the funds in the Dominican Republic. "What we decided on was a program of microlending to women in the poorest of areas," says Valle. "We knew that to help the children, we had to help the women. In that culture, it's the women who are really involved in the nurturing of children. And the way it was there, unless they begged, stole, or sold their bodies, the children didn't eat."
Dominican women borrowed about $110 apiece. "That goes a long way there," says Valle. Holman, Valle, and other volunteers helped them start small businesses. Some sold chickens, a few did laundry, still others made articles of clothing. "We charged them 2.3 percent interest and they were required to save 10 percent of the loan's value while they were repaying it," says Valle.
The women borrowed money in groups of 15 to 20. Before any of them could get a second loan, they all had to repay the first. "It was a way of providing a little peer pressure, and it worked," says Holman. "More than 200 women have received loans and there has not been a single default. It has borne unbelievable fruit. Most of them are realizing profits of 300 to 400 percent on their loans."
Holman, retired for two seasons now, does most of the administrative work for the organization, which is based in Bellevue, Washington. Valle raises money and encourages other major-leaguers, like Seattle's Edgar Martinez, to join their cause. In the off-season, the 35-year-old Rangers catcher returns to the Caribbean nation to monitor Esperanza's work.
"I just believe that people as fortunate as us have to help," says Valle. "I just wish there was more I could do." Soon there might be. Valle's wife, Vickie, is Cuban; should the Castro regime tumble, Esperanza plans to set up a similar program there. "We'd like to help in the United States, too," Valle says, "but the problem is, $110 doesn't go very far here."
Mo Vaughn
Boston educators will tell you that Mo Vaughn literally spends more time in the city's schools than some of the truants he's trying to reach. And his programs for inner-city kids go far beyond money and public-relations efforts. Vaughn, they say, has developed relationships with troubled teenagers, homeless mothers, terminally ill children.
"He has made a difference in the lives of many Boston youngsters," said Bob Elias, the director of Action for Boston Community Development (ABCD).
Vaughn's parents were teachers and they instilled in their son two traits that linger still--a spirit of caring and an appreciation of education. The American League's Most Valuable Player in 1995, Vaughn is passionately involved in several education programs to help Boston's impoverished youth.
"These kids need to learn the value of an education," says Vaughn, a Seton Hall graduate. "Lots of times there is no one in their families who has been to college, maybe even no one who finished high school. They need to hear, in a personal-story kind of way, how it could change their lives."
Three years ago, he helped establish the Mo Vaughn Youth Development Program, an inner-city center where children gather safely for recreation and academic prepping. Volunteers tutor kids in classwork and in real-world work--they learn how to compose a resume, interview for a job, and open a bank account. "The main things we teach here are the value of education, self-esteem and learning a skill," says Roosevelt Smith, a program counselor.
"Baseball is my job," says Vaughn. "But my most satisfying day was the day we graduated eight kids to the next level in my program and I could see how it changed their lives. Some of these kids get a bad rap. They are facing tough situations every day and sometimes they don't make the right decisions. I try to spend time with them, to talk with them, because they want to know how life really works."
ABCD director Elias says more kids are making the right decisions because of Vaughn. "He has had a definite influence for good. And the most impressive thing is that he wants to do more."
Vaughn, 28, also works closely with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, paying for equipment and activities and escorting groups to Red Sox games. He also is a visible spokesperson for the Greater Boston Food Bank and Catholic Charities. "Mo Vaughn," says Red Sox coach Frank White, "can't say no. He is just a great young man. Baseball needs more like him."
If you peeked into the bedroom of an American child born with a physical deformity, there's a good chance you'd find some reference to Jim Abbott--a signed photo, an autographed baseball, perhaps even a framed letter from the Angels pitcher.
Born without a right hand, Abbott pitched the U.S. Olympic team to a gold medal in 1988, reached the major leagues a few years later and, in 1993, threw the first no-hitter by a New York Yankee in a decade. He is, in a way, the Jackie Robinson of handicapped athletes, a pioneer who changed his game and the perceptions of others.
"He has become an idol, an inspiration, a tremendous figure in the lives of these kids," says an Angels spokesman. "You wouldn't believe how much mail he receives from them. And he makes sure that every one of them gets some kind of response with a hopeful word."
Abbott works with numerous children's agencies, particularly Amigos de Los Niñ (Friends of the Children), an organization that assists disabled, abused, and handicapped children. He frequently lectures, raises money, and signs autographs for the organization.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg: Disabled children constantly seek out Abbott, and if they can't get to him, he'll track them down. The pitcher once showed up at a game between two teams of disabled kids in an Orange County (Calif.) Little League. He walked unannounced onto the field, shook each youngster's hand, talked with them, and then pitched an inning.
"The kids didn't come back to earth for weeks," says league president Kim Weingarten.
It's also not unusual for Abbott to spot a disabled child in the crowd after a game and bring the youngster onto the field. Several of Abbott's game balls now reside in these children's trophy cases. But he has something more to offer them than an autograph or a baseball.
"Someone has to convince these kids that they can accomplish whatever they want in life and their disability won't stop them."
Like Johnny Appleseed, Abbott planted those seeds of hope and inspiration throughout Southern California in his first stint with the Angels. Now, after playing in New York and Chicago, he is back in Anaheim.
"When Jim was traded away it was like Orange County had lost one of its treasures," says Cindy Eigenhuis of Amigos de Los Niñ. "He was so involved in activities for the kids. Now, thank God, he's back."
Jeff Montgomery
Even the most devoted baseball fans admit that the game lacks the action and pizzazz of basketball, football, or hockey. For Jeff Montgomery, that's the point: He contends that the slow pace of baseball makes it an ideal setting for a father to interact with his son or daughter. The rhythm of baseball--with its foul balls, pitcher substitutions, pickoff throws to first base, and so on--creates a great climate for father-child quality time.
Montgomery thinks a lot about fathering--so much so that he has become an important spokesman for fatherhood in Kansas City. "All the evidence suggests that kids need some kind of fathering input in their lives," he says. "For me, as someone who has a lot of visibility, I think it's important to be out there identifying good fathers and informing young men about the joys and responsibilities of being a parent." The pitcher has joined with the National Center for Fathering, a nonprofit agency based in Kansas City that is aggressively promoting the virtues of fatherhood. And in a nation in which nearly 40 percent of all children under 18 live apart from their biological fathers, the cause of fathering needs all the relief help it can get.
Montgomery recently recruited his entire family to star in a public-service announcement for the center. He appears at NCF fund-raisers and has persuaded other Kansas City athletes to publicly support the cause of fathering. He is the prime force behind an NCF-sponsored essay contest, in which children are asked to explain why their fathers are important to them.
"We're always looking for fathering advice," he says. "So I've been encouraging kids to write a brief essay on what their fathers mean to them. Some are not only touching and well written, but are of enormous benefit to the fathering center. They look at these essays and turn some of the messages into recommendations on how to be a successful father."
When the four-year-old agency sought a prominent spokesperson for the virtues of fatherhood, Montgomery, it seemed, was recommended by everyone in Kansas City. "Jeff is extremely active in this community," says Peter Spokes, an NCF official, "and the work he has done for us has given our organization tremendous visibility."
Montgomery's life is indeed packed with charitable causes. The 34-year-old pitcher also helps the K.C. chapter of the American Heart Association, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the City Union Mission, the YMCA, and the Boys and Girls Club.
Montgomery was due to reveal the winner of the fatherhood essay contest on Father's Day, during a ceremony at the Royals' Kaufmann Stadium. The lucky youngster will walk to the mound, shake hands with the pitcher, read his or her essay over the microphone--"and, hopefully," says Montgomery, "every father at that game or watching on TV will go away a better parent having heard it."
Steve Finley
Twenty-five teenagers from San Diego's worst neighborhoods stood nervously with 25 professional ballplayers on the first-base line at Jack Murphy Stadium. The players, all Padres, were there to help award the youngsters $5,000 academic scholarships. Center fielder Steve Finley stood there alongside Berenice Alcantara, a student at Palm Middle School.
Alcantara and her peers might never have gotten there without Finley's determination.
Shortly after a 1994 trade sent him from Houston to San Diego, Finley learned of the team's plan to start a scholarship program for impoverished, academically talented students. Though short of a tuition-waiver, the money could help put college within reach of needy kids. Great idea, he thought, but he had a suggestion.
"Both my parents were middle-school teachers back home" in Tennessee, says Finley, 31, the National League's Gold Glove center fielder last season. "They were loving with their students but they could be tough too. In fact, my dad, who was a principal, had a plaque on his desk that said, 'Attila the Hun.' But they always insisted that the time to reach out to kids, to get involved in their lives in a positive way, was when they were in middle-school."
Steve Finley remembered what "Attila" had told him. He convinced the Padres to aim the program at kids in middle-school, not high school, because "that's when kids are most susceptible to the lure of drugs and the streets," Finley says. "By high school, it might be too late. With a program like this, we'd be able to identify them as young teenagers and say, 'Hey, don't worry. You are going to college.' "
The Padres liked the idea and after much locker-room arm-twisting by Finley, the Padres Scholars program was launched. Finley guaranteed that he could raise $60,000, and the club said it would match the total. "You never saw anything like it," says Charles Steinberg, the Padres' director of community development. "There was Steve, carrying a yellow legal pad, walking slowly from locker to locker in the clubhouse, soliciting donations from his fellow players and convincing them of the worthiness of his cause."
Almost immediately he signed up Tony Gwynn, Ken Caminiti, Brad Ausmus, and other Padres stars, as well as manager Bruce Bochy and his coaching staff. He was so convincing that many of his teammates soon became as active in the program as Finley. When San Diego traded pitcher Andy Benes to Seattle late last season, his final act as a Padre was to walk into the front office and write a check to the program for $10,000. And when Finley collected a bonus for winning the Gold Glove, he turned over a big chunk to the Scholars fund.
"This is something we should have been doing for a long time," says Finley. "Players and owners should be working together in their communities. And education is a common denominator."
Finley and Alcantara have grown as close as teammates through the Padres program. The ballplayer keeps an eye on her academic progress and is often the first one the teenager calls when she scores well on a test.
"This is definitely a two-way street," he says. "We're helping these kids, but we feel as if we're doing something for ourselves and the community, too. Sometimes as players, we get asked to help so many different causes that it's hard to see the benefits. But with this program, we sponsor individual kids and we see them. . . . We can see first-hand their progress and how this affects their lives."
Don Mattingly wants to play baseball again. And if, later this season, a team decides to call the 34-year-old former Yankee first baseman, he's easy to find: He has a couple of businesses to run.
A native of Evansville, Indiana, Mattingly operates two small businesses in his hometown. He lends his sweat, not just his name and money, to Mattingly's 23, a restaurant and sports-bar downtown, and Diamond Five Farm, his horse farm in the Indiana countryside.
His roots in Evansville mean a lot of people are watching to see how well his businesses perform. And that means he must spend a lot of time not only building up his operations, but the network of locals who will help them to thrive.
"I'm from Evansville," says Mattingly, speaking from his farm. "What happens here affects everyone who lives here and that includes me--especially since I'm not playing this year."
Mattingly opened the restaurant, named for his uniform number, a decade ago, and bought the horse farm in 1993. "He would be in the kitchen cooking something up, or in the office checking on some numbers," says Kevin Edmonds, the restaurant's general manager. "He even got involved in some of the hiring himself. He was a very hands-on owner."
The restaurant-bar, which can seat 350 and serves traditional American fare, employs about 40 people. Mattingly drifts in often, making sure people are getting seated, looking over the menu to see what's hot with customers, and checking on new employees.
"There are a lot of players who, having made their fortune, will move to a sunny beach somewhere and build a wall around themselves," says Ray Shulte, the player's agent. "Some get involved in business, invest some money, let someone use their name and then wait for the checks. Not Don. He feels a responsibility to Evansville. And by being a successful businessman there, he is giving people work and giving something back."
Jeff Brantley
Jeff Brantley hails from Jackson, Mississippi. To grow up in a poor city in one of the nation's poorest states is to know something about poverty. Brantley watched how a welfare system helped to ensnare families in ramshackle neighborhoods, creating places where there were too many kids with too little to do.
"Those kids had nothing," he says. "No opportunity. No hope."
Not even baseball. "Even if they wanted to play baseball, they had no equipment."
So three years ago, Brantley, 32, decided to start a baseball league in Jackson's largely African-American west side. The Calvary Youth Baseball League began with eight teams and roughly 60 boys, ages 9 to 12. Today it has grown to 150 boys and 10 teams.
"He didn't just lend his name to that project," says Cal Wells, a close friend. "It was an eight-team league, a great project, and he got the whole thing together. He provided the money and the equipment. He got the ballpark and personally got involved in finding the coaches."
To Brantley, the coaches are crucial. They help set a tone, an attitude. "He wanted to make sure that the coaches were people of character, people the kids could look up to. He was as hands-on as you could possibly be, and yet he wanted his involvement kept real quiet," says Wells, a Jackson attorney.
For every good thing you know about Jeff Brantley, Wells says, there are 10 good things you don't know. One day last winter, the pitcher heard that a child dying of cancer had asked a shopping-mall Santa for a ball autographed by Jeff Brantley. "A few days before Christmas there was a knock at that family's door," Wells says. "There was Jeff, delivering the ball himself."
A religious man, Brantley said the combination of his Christian ideals and his professional good fortune compelled him to get involved in the lives of disadvantaged youngsters. "It's not so much a sense that, 'Well, I've done real well, I've got to help others,' " says Brantley. "I have a strong faith and I saw a need out there for kids to have some direction in their lives."
The Mississippi State graduate got the idea for his hometown league early in his big-league career, when he was a Giants reliever. Brantley worked with a youth baseball league in a drug-plagued section of San Francisco. "There I just sponsored the team," he says. "But even at that level of involvement you could see the potential for good."
Brantley knew that to alter conditions in Jackson he needed to touch the parents as well as the children. League rules stipulate that the parents of players must attend a certain number of games and lend a hand in league activities. "The way I look at it," says Brantley, "the league is a little evangelism, a little baseball, a little fun."
And a lot of Jeff Brantley.
A Sunday afternoon game concludes at the Astrodome. Half-dressed Houston players linger at their lockers, talking with reporters or each other, picking at plates of postgame food, waiting for treatment in the trainer's room. Craig Biggio is dressed and heads for the door.
"Told the kids I'd take them out for ice cream," explains the all-star second baseman.
Baseball separates families for most of the year and, more than other sports, confronts its players with constant temptations on lengthy road trips. "Anybody who thinks it's easy to maintain a normal family life in baseball is fooling themselves," says Pittsburgh Pirates manager Jim Leyland. "Just look at the number of second and third marriages in the game. It requires real effort and commitment on everyone's part."
And, according to many in baseball, no one works harder at his family life than Biggio.
"Like it or not, we are seen as role models by kids," Biggio says, "and if they can see an athlete they admire in a healthy family relationship, maybe it will have some sort of influence on their lives." So, while many ballplayers shelter their personal lives, he and his family--wife Pattie and sons Connor, three, and Cavan, one, make it a point to live much of theirs in public.
Biggio believes that a family is not unlike a baseball team. Its members function best when they function as a unit. So it's not unusual to see the Biggio clan at a black-tie charity affair--with high chair and baby nestled among the diners--or in the children's unit of a Houston hospital.
The Biggio family's activities add a new meaning to the expression "family planning." "Craig's schedule is a very carefully orchestrated affair," says Gene Pemberton, the Astros' community-development director. "He leaves ample time for baseball, of course, but they make sure there is time for their causes."
"The all-American family is a clichÇ," Pemberton says. "But in Craig's case it really applies. He and his wife and two kids do everything together. And he gets a lot of requests for his time, naturally, but he won't do anything without clearing it first with Pattie. A family man is what he's all about."
A pet project of the Biggio family these days is the Houston chapter of the Sunshine Kids, an organization that tries to fill the needs of terminally ill youngsters and their families. Whenever the Astros are at home, Biggio and his family visit sick children, either in local hospitals or in their homes.
You could say they belong to a sort of extended family--and no one's family is extended more than Biggio's. Which is just the way he wants it.
Frank Fitzpatrick
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You are here: Home / School Libraries / Librarian of Congress James Billington Makes Senior Staff Appointments
Librarian of Congress James Billington Makes Senior Staff Appointments
Filed by Gary Price on January 23, 2015
From the Library of Congress
Librarian of Congress James H. Billington announced the appointment of David S. Mao as deputy librarian of Congress and of Robert R. Newlen as chief of staff. He also named Mary J. Klutts the Library’s chief financial officer.
David S. Mao
“Mr. Mao has directed the Law Library of Congress with distinction the past three years,” Billington said. “His demonstrated skill as a collegial manager and an effective leader will help chart the future course of this great institution.”
Mao’s appointment took effect Jan. 12.
Mao has served as law librarian of Congress since January 2012 and, in his position as deputy librarian, also will serve as acting law librarian of Congress pending a search for an individual to lead the Law Library on a permanent basis.
In 2010, Mao was appointed the deputy law librarian, following a five-year tenure in the Congressional Research Service (CRS). Before joining the Library of Congress, he practiced law for several years and later held positions in the libraries of Georgetown University and the international law firm of Covington and Burling.
He is a graduate of the George Washington University and of the Georgetown University Law Center. He received his Master’s degree in Library Science from the Catholic University of America. He is admitted to the bars of the District of Columbia and the United States Supreme Court.
Mao has served as the treasurer of the American Association of Law Libraries and chaired the association’s special committee on the study of the future of law librarianship. He is a founding member of the Chinese and American Forum on Legal Information and Law Libraries.
He has been in charge of a recent reorganization of the Law Library of Congress and of its historic exhibition of Magna Carta.
Robert R. Newlen
Newlen had been detailed to serve as chief of staff for a six-month period, beginning Dec. 14. Dr. Billington made Newlen’s appointment permanent.
“Over the course of nearly four decades at the Library of Congress, Mr. Newlen has developed a deep understanding of the many services the Library provides to Congress and the American people as well as a keen appreciation for the work performed by the institution’s unparalleled staff,” Billington said. “In his many roles here, he has displayed the leadership skills necessary to help the Library meet its mission-critical needs.”
As chief of staff, Newlen will take on Library-wide program and management responsibilities and also oversee the offices of Communications, Congressional Relations, Development, Chief Financial Officer, Contracts and Grant Management, General Counsel and Special Events and Public Programs.
Newlen joined the Library of Congress in November 1975. In more than 39 years at the institution, he has served in a wide range of areas and roles – most recently as assistant law librarian for collections, outreach and services in the Law Library.
Newlen assumed that position in 2010, overseeing collection development, research and reference services and outreach to the Law Library’s diverse constituencies. He also managed the Law Library’s development and fundraising initiatives and last year oversaw the Library’s Magna Carta exhibition and its related events.
Prior to joining the Law Library, he served in several leadership roles within the Congressional Research Service, including management of a 100-member staff as assistant director of the Knowledge Services Group and as director, from 1999 to 2007, of the CRS Legislative Relations Office, managing outreach activities to Congress including congressional staff training and public-policy seminars and workshops.
A cum laude graduate of Bridgewater College with a bachelor’s degree in political science and French, Newlen earned a master’s degree in art history from American University and a master’s degree in library science from the Catholic University of America.
Newlen has served as a member of the Executive Board of the American Library Association (ALA) and as senior trustee of the ALA Endowment. He has held leadership positions in the District of Columbia Library Association and currently serves on the board of advisers of the library school at the University of South Carolina.
Mary J. Klutts
Klutts has served as the Library’s chief financial officer on an acting basis since June; she had served as the Library’s budget officer since 2007.
“Mary Klutts brings an unmatched depth of knowledge and expertise to our finance team,” Billington said. “She has improved the quality of our processes throughout her long career at the Library. The trust and respect she has earned among House and Senate appropriations clerks continues to be reflected in a high level of confidence in the Library’s budget requests and real support for the Library.”
Klutts has been a key figure in the Library’s annual budget process, regularly interacting with members of the House and Senate.
In 2010, she was recognized by then-Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) as “an expert in every aspect of the Library’s operating budget.”
“She set out to transform the way the Library’s budget proposals and funding justifications are formulated,” Kaufman said. “Her work has helped make the Library’s budget operations more transparent, and its funding proposals are more concise.”
Klutts joined the Library in 1990 as a budget analyst. Previously, she served the federal government for four years as a U.S. Marine. She holds a master’s degree in business administration, management and operations from the University of Houston-Victoria.
See Also: FY2014 at the Law Library of Congress, Year-in-Review Report by Law Librarian David Mao Now Available Online (January 4, 2015)
Filed Under: School Libraries
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Beverly Hills, MI Internet Access
Internet Connectivity in Beverly Hills
^ An estimated 7,526 Beverly Hills residents are connected to the Internet either at home, work, elsewhere or at multiple locations [1].
Internet Availability in Beverly Hills
^ Collectively (all cities), 79.6% of all Michigan residents live in a household where Internet is available, which ranks 20th in the nation [2].
Disconnected in Beverly Hills
^ There are an estimated 2,741 Beverly Hills residents who are not connected to the Internet at all - whether at home, work, or elsewhere [1].
Beverly Hills Internet Speeds
Landline Internet Speed in Beverly Hills
Wireless Internet Speed in Beverly Hills
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Beverly Hills
Landline Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Beverly Hills, MI
Cavalier Telephone
Asymmetric DSL 6 Mb/s - 10 Mb/s 768 Kb/s - 1.5 Mb/s
Asymmetric DSL 6 Mb/s - 10 Mb/s 200 Kb/s - 768 Kb/s
Wireless Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Beverly Hills, MI
ZingMax
Wireless 6 Mb/s - 10 Mb/s 6 Mb/s - 10 Mb/s
Featured ISPs for Beverly Hills, MI
Beverly Hills Internet Statistics
Beverly Hills Internet Connectivity
Beverly Hills: 73.3% of residents are connected, with 27.2% of the population connected on multiple devices [1].
Connected to the Internet in Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills Internet Connectivity [1]
An estimated 7,526 Beverly Hills residents are connected to the Internet in some capacity - either at home, work, elsewhere or at multiple locations.
An estimated 2,741 Beverly Hills residents are not connected to the Internet. These residents are not connected at home, work, or elsewhere.
Beverly Hills Internet Availability [2]
It is estimated that 8,173 Beverly Hills residents live in a household where Internet is available.
Household Income in Beverly Hills
Michigan Internet Access Facts & ISP Statistics
Michigan Home Internet Speed
Michigan Internet Connectivity
Connected to the Internet in the state of Michigan [1]: 73.3% of MI residents are connected to the Internet in one or more locations on one or more devices.
The 73.3% mark ranks Michigan 18th in the nation in total Internet connectivity.
30% of residents are connected to the Internet only at home.
Michigan Internet Availability [2]
79.6% of MI residents have access to the Internet at home.
This ranks Michigan 20th in the country.
Michigan Business Internet Speed Data
Additional information about Michigan
About Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a village with a population of 10,267 [2] that is located in Oakland County in the state of Michigan.
Beverly Hills Internet Access
For more information about Beverly Hills Internet Access, or for additional resources regarding Michigan Internet access overall, visit Connected Nation.
More About Beverly Hills
Other Cities in MI
Burr Oak
Pewamo
ZIP Codes in MI
Internet Statistics & Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Beverly Hills, MI
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InnovationAppsShareSubscribe
Apple Pulls Dangerous 'Vigilante' App from App Store
Batman would love it, but it might just get regular citizens hurt.
By Jack Crosbie
Filed Under Apple & Superheroes
A day after it hit Apple’s app store, the crowd-sourced crime-fighting app Vigilante has been removed from App Store. The app continues to work for users who already have it installed, but aspiring vigilantes are out of luck.
The app promises to map crimes-in-progress and send push notifications to user’s smartphones, inviting them to respond to incidents and live-stream video of them to deter any further criminal activity. A day after its public launch in New York City, the Vigilante released a statement on its website saying that it was “working with Apple to resolve their concerns,” and would be available again soon.
Here’s how it works, to the best of our knowledge: Vigilante maps data of reported crimes or in-progress criminal activity and pushes it out to smartphone-armed users in the immediate area. The idea is that citizens closer to the scene can respond to the crime faster than the police, while broadcasting the whole thing via the app. But as many people have pointed out, a smartphone may be able to document violent crime, but it doesn’t protect you from it. Running up on an active crime scene could be a great way to get yourself shot.
Screenshot of the app's main screen, which in this excerpt makes it look like NYC is currently going through the Purge.
Vigilante’s “manifesto,” published on Medium on Tuesday, asks: “Can injustice survive transparency?” The app’s core purpose is to “open up the 911 system,” allowing citizens to respond to crimes faster than the police can. The app’s rationalization is that opening up the 911 system would help even out the police-to-civilian ratio in major cities. In New York, there’s about one police officer to every 232 civilians — that’s one of the closest ratios in the country, but the Vigilante manifesto says it could still help “everyone do their part.”
What this graphic misses is that the grey people in the "Closed 911 System" aren't encouraged to put themselves in a dangerous situation.
For their part, the NYPD has been somewhat inconsistent when it comes to vigilantism. Although the police do not officially support vigilante activity, commissioner Ray Kelly expressed support for civilian patrols in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, which had a severe shortage of police officers.
“Any time a group wants to help with civilian patrolling, we support it,” Kelly said during a press conference in 2013.
And New York City has a long history of citizen crime fighters. The Guardian Angels, an organized civil protection squad of regular citizens, have been roaming the streets since 1979.
“In the outer boroughs, people never get the top-shelf, five-star security that the NYPD gives [to Manhattan],” Angels’ founder Curtis Sliwa told the New York Post in 2014. “If you don’t do it yourself, you’re going to be left in the lurch. There aren’t enough cops.”
But the Angels are an organized, long-standing group that trains members and makes them aware of their rights as private citizens and the best ways to stay safe on the streets. Vigilante gives anyone with a smartphone a de facto deputy’s star.
The app is being developed by sp0n, a mobile-app company run by CEO Andrew Frame. But details on both the new app and its developer are extremely scarce: Sp0n’s website is a blank page showing only the company logo and the quote “The Revolution Will Be Televised…” The Vigilante website now redirects to it’s “Statement on App Store Removal”, which is as follows:
Unfortunately, Vigilante is not currently available on the App Store. We are working with Apple to resolve their concerns. In the meantime, the Vigilante app will continue to operate for those who already have it.
We’ve already been hard at work bringing Vigilante to Android and we will be releasing an Android app imminently.
Over the last 48 hours, weve received an incredible outpouring of support from all over the world. Please share your email so we can get in touch as soon as we have updates.
Before the statement, Vigilante’s site only included links to the app’s social media profiles and an embedded video, which is a highly dramatized scenario showing the app at work. Check it out below.
When you download the app, you’re immediately hit with a skull and crossbones logo and a large “WARNING” sign, which acknowledges that “approaching and recording these crimes and incidents may lead you into dangerous situations.”
Wait, so I shouldn't run into that armed robbery with my cell phone flashlight on?
You’re also immediately confronted with a novel-length terms and services agreement, which states right at the top that the app “may take you into unfamiliar areas and subject you to danger and harm.” By clicking accept, here’s what you agree to (among many, many other clauses):
You hereby release the Sp0n entities from any and all liability, claims, demands, actions, and causes of action whatsoever, arising out of or related to any loss, property damage, physical injury, contagious disease or death that may be sustained by you while in, on upon any premises or vehicles owned, occupied or used by the foregoing, or which may be sustained by you while at the scene of any real or apparent crime or other dangerous or hazardous circumstance or activity. This release will be binding upon your relatives, spouse, heirs, next of kin, executors, administrators, and any other interest parties.
Taken together, the overall intent of the terms and services agreement is to notify users in every possible bit of legal language possible that if anything bad happens to them while using the app, it isn’t Vigilante’s fault. Any infringement of the ToS will result in an immediate ban from the app.
Vigilante makes every possible attempt to prove its good intentions. You get an email right after signing up, which explains a bit more of the app’s mission.
“We’re empowering 8 million other New Yorkers to stand up against crime, peacefully and without bias, using the lens of their cameras,” the email reads.
Frame’s initial personal Facebook post is another manifesto for the service.
“Through Vigilante we are exploring the relationship between transparency and justice. Can we use transparency to reduce crime? Can transparency be empowered responsibly through technology? What behavioral changes might this create? Are they good for the world? Can we use transparency to repair the relationship between community and police?” he writes. “We are hoping a long-term behavioral change will deter criminal behavior, and it will happen even faster in the areas where Vigilante has the best adoption.”
According to Frame, he also sees the app as a way for ordinary citizens to stay away from crime, even as it enables others to seek it out for altruistic reasons.
“Most users will use Vigilante to avoid crime. This app might save your life, or at least provide you with information to keep you safe,” He writes. “When the app alerts you that a man is walking shirtless down the street with an axe (real, and not entirely unusual NYC incident), odds are it’s happening. As with all incidents on Vigilante in this version, the police are on their way.”
Inverse reached out to Vigilante’s press team and to CEO Andrew Frame directly; the press representative said she would respond shortly, but we haven’t heard back. We also reached out to Apple to ask what concerns prompted the possible removal of the app. We’ll update this story if either party provides comment.
Media via Vigilante
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Palestinians Turn Jerusalem Into a Tool of Terror
by Noah Beck
Special to IPT News
https://www.investigativeproject.org/5770/palestinians-turn-jerusalem-into-a-tool-of-terror
Palestinian and other Arab leaders threatened violence in response to President Trump's pledge to move the U.S. embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem. While Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also promised such a move as candidates, each backed off.
The terrorist who killed four Israelis in Jerusalem Jan. 8 by mowing them over with his truck expressed agitation after hearing a sermon at a local mosque criticizing Trump's embassy relocation promise.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership reportedly instructed the mosques it controls to focus their religious sermons on the embassy relocation. Worse still, the PA promised the terrorist's widow a lifetime, $760-per-month stipend for her husband's "martyrdom for Allah."
Arab reactions to Trump's embassy plans are more heated than they were to those of candidates Bush and Clinton perhaps because of Trump's pledge to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the embassy there from Tel Aviv, not only as a candidate (including during his address at last year's AIPAC Policy Conference) but also as president-elect, issuing public reassurances on the issue. Trump even planned to visit the Temple Mount as a candidate, although the visit never materialized and – as president – he said last Thursday that it was "too early" to discuss moving the U.S. Embassy.
Nevertheless, Palestinian and Arab leaders have warned that moving the embassy could lead to unrest and violence. Influential Iraqi Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr called the idea "a declaration of war against Islam." PA President Mahmoud Abbas said he could revoke the PLO's recognition of Israel, while his Fatah party warned the move "would open the gates of hell."
Such declarations by political and religious leaders give a green light to Palestinians to react violently, as the Jerusalem terrorist truck attack shows.
Palestinian leaders, including the "more moderate" Palestinian Authority, regularly deny that Jews have any historical or religious connection to the Temple Mount.
PA Jerusalem Affairs Minister Adnan al-Husseini demanded an apology Sunday after United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was "completely clear that the Temple that the Romans destroyed in Jerusalem was a Jewish temple." The statement "violated all legal, diplomatic and humanitarian customs and overstepped his role as secretary general," al-Husseini said.
This is not the first time that the Palestinians, including the "more moderate" Palestinian Authority, manipulated Jerusalem into an incendiary trigger for terror.
As Palestinian Media Watch reported, Abbas led calls in 2015 for Palestinians to act violently to "defend" Muslim holy sites. He blessed "every drop of blood that has been spilled for Jerusalem" and presented violence in "defense" of holy sites and against the Jews' "filthy feet" as a religious imperative.
Indeed, the "stabbing intifidah" was launched in 2015 by false rumors that Israel was trying to change the status quo on the Temple Mount.
"Arabs are convinced that Israel is set on destroying, desecrating or 'Judaizing' Haram al-Sharif, the Jerusalem compound that includes al-Aqsa, Islam's third-holiest site," Benny Avni wrote in the New York Post. Such incitement persists, Avni noted, even though "Israel points out that the arrangements that have existed since 1967, when it seized control of the Temple Mount, Judaism's holiest site, are intact, and will remain so: A Jordanian trust, the Waqf, maintains the Mount. Jews can visit, but not pray there."
Even worse, President Obama's State Department reinforced the dangerously false incitement about Jerusalem promoted by Palestinians.
Writing about the 2015 "Stabbing Intifida," journalist Jeffrey Goldberg rightly pointed out that it was "prompted in good part by the same set of manipulated emotions that sparked the anti-Jewish riots of the 1920s: a deeply felt desire on the part of Palestinians to 'protect' the Temple Mount from Jews."
In the 1929 Arab riots, Arabs killed more than 130 Jews, and nearly as many Arabs died when British police responded. Among the findings of a subsequent investigation by the Shaw Commission was that "the Mufti was influenced by the twofold desire to confront the Jews and to mobilise Moslem opinion on the issue of the Wailing Wall" (in Jerusalem) and that one of the chief causes of the riots was "Propaganda among the less-educated Arab people of a character calculated to incite them."
Arab incitement against Jews happens regularly, often without the explosive element of Jerusalem. In a sermon broadcast on Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV in early January, a Hamas leader name Marwan Abu Ras, accused Jews of sending "AIDS-infected girls to fornicate with Muslim youths." He also claimed that Israel was allowing drugs to be smuggled through tunnels into Gaza, while blocking the entry of essential goods. "Their state is about to disappear," Abu Ras said. "...My brothers, know that people, stones, and trees all hate [the Jews]. Everyone on Earth hates this filthy nation, a nation extrinsic to Mankind. This fact was elucidated by the Quran and the Sunna."
But adding Jerusalem to Arab incitement against Israelis can make the resulting violence even more explosive.
Qanta Ahmed, a pro-Israel Muslim reformer who visited both the Jewish and Muslim holy sites at the Temple Mount, eloquently noted the Islamist thinking that enables the weaponization of Jerusalem: "Forbidding worshippers from entering holy sites in Islam, including non-conforming or pluralist Muslims who reject both the ideology and accouterments of Islamism is an impassioned pastime of fervent Islamists who foolishly believe only they are the keepers of our Maker..."
Unfortunately, Jerusalem has a long and bloody history of being manipulated by Muslim leaders into an explosive tool of incitement. But if Islam truly is a religion of peace, its leading practitioners should stop turning religious holy sites into weapons of war, and instead embrace Doctor Ahmed's tolerance.
Noah Beck is the author of The Last Israelis, an apocalyptic novel about Iranian nukes and other geopolitical issues in the Middle East.
Related Topics: Noah Beck, Palestinian incitement, Jerusalem, U.S. Embassy, Palestinian Authority, Adnan al-Husseini, Antonio Guterres, Palestinian Media Watch, Shaw Commission, Hamas, Marwan Abu Ras
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Foreign Applicants Need U.S. Attorneys for Trademark Filings
July 2, 2019 July 2, 2019 by KevinTM
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office announced new rules regarding foreign trademark applicants and registrants today. The rules will also impact foreign parties to trademark disputes in front of the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board. The new rules require that foreign applicants and registrants hire a U.S. attorney to represent them. They will go into effect on August 3, 2019. This blog post discusses the key things that you need to know about these new rules.
Who Is Considered Foreign-Domiciled?
For individuals, the Trademark Office considers a person to be foreign-domiciled if they have a permanent legal address outside of the United States or its territories. That definition is simple enough. For legal entities, such as corporations or limited companies, things are a little more complicated. Legal entities are considered foreign if they have a principal place of business outside of the U.S. or its territories. This means that getting a P.O. Box or other mailing location will not be sufficient.
What Does This Mean for Foreign Applicants?
Simply put, foreign applicants, registrants, and parties to disputes will not be able to make most trademark filings without a licensed U.S. attorney. That means that they cannot file a trademark application without an attorney, for example. They will not be able to respond to office actions. For foreign registrants that already have a U.S. trademark registration, they will now need to have a U.S. attorney file their trademark renewals.
Additionally, Canadian applicants that had relied on a Canadian agent for their past U.S. trademark filings will now need a U.S. attorney. Although Canadian trademark attorneys agents can still be listed on applications, the USPTO will only correspond with the U.S. attorney.
Why Has the USPTO Set These Requirements?
Although these requirements might seem draconian, many other countries also require local legal representation for their trademark filings. The USPTO has seen a dramatic increase in trademark filings over the last several years. A major part of that increase comes from an increase in filings by foreign applicants. And there have been a lot of questions regarding the legitimacy of these foreign filings.
The Trademark Office relies on trademark attorneys to screen the information provided to them by clients. Without this crucial step, trademark applications that contain incorrect information or that are over broad can be registered. Over time, this contributes to a “clogging” of the Principal Register, which is the list of all the registered trademarks. If you have ever done your own knockout search and struggled to find a name, then you understand this issue. It can seem like no names are available, right? Well, many of the trademark registrations out there are not legitimate. These rule changes are an effort to try and prevent some of these illegitimate applications from getting to registration in the first place.
Need to Work with a Qualified U.S. Trademark Attorney?
If you are a foreign applicant, registrant, or party looking for an attorney that can represent you and make your U.S. trademark filings, I would be happy to assist you. I represent several international clients, including clients located in Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Russia, Latvia, and Uganda. Please call me at (314) 479-3668, email me at kevin@yourtrademarkattorney.com, or complete the contact form found on this page to schedule your free initial consultation today. I look forward to speaking with you.
Categories Trademark, Trademark Application, Trademark Assignment, Trademark Registration Post navigation
CBD Trademarks and Hemp Trademarks Face Delays
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Trademark Research Missing for Chargers and Golden Knights
February 27, 2017 January 12, 2017 by KevinTM
NFL fans in San Diego were reminded today that professional sports are, above all else, a business. It’s a message that we were hit hard with in St. Louis just a year ago, when the Rams left to go to Los Angeles. Because they are businesses, the focus of sports leagues and teams is making money. And to protect their most valuable assets, their brands, they also need to obtain trademark registrations for their names. But are teams doing their due diligence when it comes to trademark research?
In this case review, I look at examples of two “new” teams that are having trouble obtaining their trademark registrations: the (just announced) LA Chargers of the NFL, and the Vegas Golden Knights of the NHL. Professional sports teams are worth tons of money. So why haven’t these teams secured their trademarks through registration before branding and going public with their names/logos? Many businesses make the mistake of branding before doing any trademark research, instead of the other way around.
The Chargers filed their trademark application for LA Chargers in January 2016. Of course, they knew at that point that they might end up leaving San Diego in order to move to Los Angeles. Their application included a ton of products such as office supplies, toys, jewelry, clothing, and even mobile phone applications. After filing the response to a simple office action, it looked like their application would go through.
Unfortunately for the Chargers, their application was recently opposed by the owner of a number of registrations for L.A. GEAR. You may have heard of L.A. Gear, which is a popular clothing brand. They think that the registration of LA CHARGERS for clothing should be denied on the basis that it is confusingly similar with their name when used for clothing. I’m not saying that I agree with L.A. Gear. What I am saying is that it is surprising to me that the Chargers did not do more to take care of this problem ahead of their big move and re-branding announcement.
Speaking of re-branding, let’s talk about the elephant in the room here for a moment:
Can you believe that some people are finding these to be similar logos? Giving them the benefit of the doubt, many people are not happy about the Chargers’ move. However, if the Dodgers wanted to file a trademark infringement suit against them, who would blame them? Bottom line: the Chargers should have done more trademark research before their big re-branding. This would save them the time and effort of any litigation and/or ridicule that may come out of their move to Los Angeles.
It was recently announced that Las Vegas would be getting its a hockey team with the NHL. This was a big opportunity for the city. There were months and months to plan for the team, do the necessary trademark research, and come up with a name that could be registered with the Trademark Office.
The team filed a number of trademark applications for VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS in late August 2016. They then announced the name to the public on November 22. But just a couple weeks later, the Trademark Office issued a rejection on their various applications. The Trademark Examining Attorney found that VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS was confusingly similar to GOLDEN KNIGHTS THE COLLEGE OF SAINT ROSE. Of course, attorneys for the Vegas Golden Knights can try to argue and persuade the Trademark Office that the marks are not so similar. They can appeal the decision to the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board if they are unsuccessful. But again, you would think their name is something that should have been locked down prior to a major announcement.
These major sports franchises have the money so that they can probably handle any trademark disputes that are thrown their way. But the struggles they are having with naming and branding their teams demonstrates a common problem for new businesses: not doing the trademark research up-front. New business owners are excited to brand. They invest in a graphic designer to come up with a fancy logo without doing a trademark search of the name they are using. This is a backward approach.
Don’t fall in love with a name as the first step to starting your business. Don’t spend big on designing a logo before you have done your homework. Come up with several potential names that you like. Then try looking for businesses in the same field using a similar name on Google. Use the USPTO’s TESS system to do a “knockout search” on the name. If you haven’t found any conflicts, speak with a trademark attorney about having a professional comprehensive trademark search done on your chosen name. Most importantly, just don’t move your business to LA for the promise of a better stadium.
Are You Trying to Choose a Safe Name for Your Business?
If you would like for me to assist you with researching a name for your business that will be registerable with the Trademark Office, please call me at (314) 479-3668, email me at kevin@yourtrademarkattorney.com, or complete the contact form found on this page to schedule your free initial consultation today. I look forward to speaking with you.
Categories Case Review, Trademark Infringement, Trademark Search Post navigation
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Business of the week: Highbury flooring specialist Michael Jones is as enthusiastic as ever 56 years on
PUBLISHED: 15:16 29 January 2018
Kamal Sultan
M P Jones flooring in St John Street.
In a weekly feature, we profile an established or unusual Islington business. This week we take a look at the foundations of Michael Jones' flooring company in St Paul's Road.
M P Jones Flooring has been at the heart of Islington for almost 40 years – and its 71-year-old owner has no plans to retire any time soon.
Michael Jones’s wife Moira said: “Some people say: ‘How on earth he does he still do this?’ but he’s fit as a flea.
“He’s still got bundles of energy.”
The flooring specialist first set up shop in Upper Street in 1970, moving into St Paul’s Road 10 years later.
“He’s so well-known in the area,” said Moira. “He’s laid most of their floors!
“We’ve never placed an advert anywhere, we’ve not got a website, and he tends to work from word of mouth. It’ll be customers just recommending him.”
Michael has been in the flooring industry since he was 15 and decided to strike out on his own after working for big clients like Argos and Marks and Spencer’s. One of his higher profile clients was Boris Johnson.
Moira said: “Local people know just because this place isn’t a glamorous showroom doesn’t mean to say we’re not a good business.”
Islington business
North Middlesex close gap on leaders Ealing
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Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame inductees almost played for rivals
Michael DiRocco
Florida's Kevin Carter and Georgia's John Brantley were two of the four players inducted into the Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame on Friday afternoon.
Had circumstances been different, they might have gone in wearing different colors.
Carter was a four-year letterman at Florida as a defensive end and Brantley a four-year letterman at Georgia as a linebacker. Each, however, originally wanted to play for the other school.
Brantley grew up a Gators fan in Wildwood and idolized UF linebacker Scot Brantley. He desperately wanted to play football at Florida Field, but then-UF coach Charley Pell didn't want to sign him.
Brantley ended up at Georgia, where he went on to become a two-time All-Southeastern Conference player and record 415 tackles, which still ranks fourth on the school's career chart.
"Florida said you do not have what it takes to be a Florida Gator," Brantley said.
"They [Georgia] saw something in me. Florida didn't see something in me. That's fine. That's what life is all about.
"… It's not always about what you see on the surface."
GAME DAY: Brush up on your Georgia-Florida history at these team sites.
Brantley played a big role in Georgia's 23-10 upset of top-ranked Florida in 1985, recording seven tackles and a sack.
"I've never been part of an earthquake, but the ground literally shook," Brantley said. "The fans were so radical. I guess because of the steel construction it felt like an earthquake."
Carter grew up a Bulldogs fan in Tallahassee and idolized Georgia running back Herschel Walker. He wanted to play football between the hedges, but then-coach Vince Dooley's resignation after the 1988 system changed his mind - and Carter joked with Dooley about that during the induction ceremony.
"When you stepped down, coach Dooley, that's when my decision changed," said Carter, who went on to become a two-time All-SEC selection and consensus first-team All-American. "It's your fault I wasn't a Bulldog."
Florida running back Nat Moore and Georgia center/linebacker Bill Saye also were inducted on Friday.
Saye picked off two passes, recovered a fumble and blocked a PAT attempt in the 1954 game.
Michael DiRocco: (904) 359-4500
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Hyundai Motor Group Reveals Life-changing Technology to Assist Hearing-impaired Drivers
2019.01.10 20:00:00 No. 16106
• The technology delivers true ‘freedom of mobility’ by providing hearing-impaired people with a safe and comfortable driving experience
• A heart-warming campaign video illustrates the possibilities for automobiles to help hearing-impaired drivers interact with their external environment
SEOUL, Jan. 10, 2018 — Hyundai Motor Group (HMG) revealed a new innovative technology that assists hearing-impaired drivers.
Hearing-impaired drivers are dependent mainly on their sight and touch senses. HMG created a way of communication for hearing impaired people that incorporates both internal and external sounds through tactile and visual means, thereby expanding freedom of mobility to all drivers regardless of their physical limitations.
The technology utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze the external sound patterns and employs two separate driving assist systems that work together simultaneously – the Audio-Visual Conversion (AVC) and Audio-Tactile Conversion (ATC), to help hearing-impaired drivers who have an acute, highly developed sense of touch and attuned visual capabilities.
The AVC allows for safer driving, by enabling communication with the external environment through visual portrayals of sound patterns, such as warning sounds of emergency vehicles, as pictograms on the head-up display (HUD). The steering wheel is also equipped with multi-colored LEDs which indicate navigational information while driving.
The ATC transfers the sound data into vibrations through the steering wheel, notifying the driver of information about external environments such as distance from obstacles.
HMG, demonstrating the technology, has revealed a campaign video called ‘Quiet Taxi’ that aspires to give hope to drivers with impaired hearing.
Starting with an open invitation, stories were sent in by people from all over the country, and HMG chose Daeho Lee, as Seoul’s first ever, designated hearing-impaired taxi driver to showcase the driving assist technology.
Mr. Lee, a hearing-impaired father of two children who recently began a new career as a taxi driver, had difficulties with hearing and had to rely mainly on his sight. Problems arose with other drivers on the road when he could not hear the horns or sirens of surrounding vehicles. Additionally, he needed to constantly rely on his vision, which caused fatigue at a rate many times that of the average driver.
The campaign video, along with the technology itself, will emphasize the value of ‘freedom of mobility,’ demonstrating Hyundai’s efforts to enable the hearing-impaired to drive freely and safely using state-of-the-art innovative developments. As part of its goal, Hyundai also developed an application that enables communication between passengers and drivers who are hearing-impaired.
The entire process of the ‘Quiet Taxi’ was filmed in a documentary-style video that can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzgNQxYboBY
ABOUT HYUNDAI MOTOR GROUP
Hyundai Motor Group is a global corporation that has created a value chain based on automobiles, steel, and construction and includes logistics, finance, IT and service. With about 250,000 employees worldwide, the group’s automobile brands include Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Motors Corp. Armed with creative thinking, cooperative communication and the will to take on all challenges, we are working to create a better future for all.
For more information on Hyundai Motor Group, please see:
https://www.hyundaimotorgroup.com
Jin Cha
Global PR Team / Hyundai Motor
sjcar@hyundai.com
Hyundai Motor Group Develops World’s First Performance Control for Commercial EVs with Weight Estimation
Young people’s innovative ideas bring about a better society
19190110_Hyundai Motor Group Driving Assist Technology for the Hearing-impaired_(Photo1).jpgDownload
19190110_Hyundai Motor Group Driving Assist Technology for the Hearing-impaired_Final.docxDownload
CSR Hyundai Motor Group Drive Assist Technology
Hyundai Motor Group and WayRay Unveil Next-generation Visual Technology at CES 2019
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McEwen Mining Reports Q1 2019 Results
Production Results
Timmins Camp
TSX: MUX
www.mcewenmining.com
Mr. Robert McEwen reports:
TORONTO, April 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- McEwen Mining Inc. (NYSE: MUX) (TSX: MUX) is pleased to report its first quarter results for the period ended March 31, 2019 (“Q1”). Production during the quarter was 36,315 gold equivalent ounces(1) (“GEOs”). The operational challenges we experienced in the first two months of the quarter have largely been resolved. We made progress implementing better mining practices at the Black Fox mine and advanced towards commercial production at the Gold Bar mine. Nevertheless, the temporary production delays at Black Fox and a slower start-up at Gold Bar did lower our revenue in the first quarter, contributing to our consolidated net loss of $10.1 million(2), or $0.03 per share. Our consolidated production rebounded during the month of April with approximately 16,500 GEOs, and we are back on track to deliver our guidance for 2019.
The Company closed a registered direct offering of shares for gross proceeds of $25 million on March 29, 2019, and had cash, investments and precious metals of $40.3 million and $50 million in debt as of March 31, 2019.
Our quarter end conference call will occur on Wednesday, May 1st at 11am EDT. Details are provided below.
The table below provides production and cost results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019, comparative results from last year, and production and cost guidance for the full year 2019.
Production and Costs
Q1 Full Year
2019 Guidance
Consolidated Production
Gold (oz) 35,069 26,938 162,000
Silver (oz) 695,651 703,219 3,225,000
GEOs(1) 44,344 36,315 205,000
San José Mine, Argentina (49%)(3)
Gold (oz) 10,822 10,559 49,000
GEOs(1) 20,049 19,910 92,000
Cash Costs ($/GEO)(1)(4) 934 749 830
AISC ($/GEO)(1)(4) 1,148 1,115 1,060
El Gallo Mine, Mexico
GEOs(1) 12,217 5,432 13,000
AISC ($/GEO)(1)(4) 753 989 915
Black Fox Mine, Canada
Gold Bar Mine, Nevada
GEOs(1) - (5) 50,000
Cash Costs ($/GEO)(1)(4) - - 930
AISC ($/GEO)(1)(4) - - 975
1. Silver and gold production are presented as gold equivalent ounces (GEOs). GEOs approximate prevailing spot prices at the beginning of the year. The silver to gold ratio used for 2018 and 2019 is 75:1.
2. All amounts are reported in US dollars unless otherwise stated.
3. Represents the portion attributable to us from our 49% interest in the San José Mine.
4. Earnings from mining operations, total cash costs per ounce, all-in sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce, and cash, investments and precious metals are non-GAAP financial performance measures with no standardized definition under U.S. GAAP. See “Cautionary Note Regarding Non-GAAP Measures” for additional information, including definitions of these terms.
5. Pre-commercial production at Gold Bar during Q1 2019 was 2,030 GEOs.
For the SEC Form 10-Q Financial Statements and MD&A refer to: https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0000314203
The table below provides financial highlights for the quarter ended March 31, 2019, and comparative results from last year.
Mar 31, 2018 Quarter Ended
Cash, Investments and Precious Metals ($ millions)(4) 55.4 40.3
Working Capital ($ millions) 39.3 32.7
Debt (Term loan) ($ millions) nil 50.0
Earnings from Mining Operations(4)
Black Fox Mine ($ millions) 3.1 0.6
San José Mine (49%) ($ millions) 3.5 4.8
El Gallo Mine ($ millions) 12.4 2.0
Net Income (Loss) ($ millions) (5.2 ) (10.1 )
Net Income (Loss) per Share ($) (0.02 ) (0.03 )
Net Cash Provided By (Used In) Operations Activities ($ millions) 6.2 (10.8 )
We completed a registered direct offering in March 2019 for aggregate gross proceeds of $25 million, $3 million of which was subscribed for by insiders and is contingent on shareholders’ approval at our upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 23, 2019. The offering was completed in order to fully fund our current mining projects and exploration prospects, and was required in part because of the deferral of revenue from Black Fox and Gold Bar during Q1.
San José Mine, Argentina (49%)
The mine is on-track to achieving our full year guidance for 2019 of 92,000 GEOs. Our attributable production from San José in Q1 was 10,559 gold ounces and 701,341 silver ounces, for a total of 19,910 GEOs, compared to 20,049 GEOs in 2018. Total cash costs and all-in sustaining costs (AISC) were $749 and $1,115 per GEO, respectively. We received approximately $2 million in dividends from our interest in San José during Q1.
El Gallo Mine, Mexico (100%)
Production and cost guidance for 2019 are for 13,000 GEOs at a cash cost and AISC of $875 and $915 per GEO, respectively. During Q1, the mine produced 5,432 GEOs, compared to 12,217 GEOs in 2018. Total cash costs and AISC were $967 and $989 per GEO, respectively. Mining ceased at El Gallo by the end of May 2018, and the mine continues to recover gold from residual leaching of the heap leach. During the quarter, the process plant underwent a small expansion to improve efficiency and enable faster gold recovery.
Fenix Project
During Q1, we spent $0.8 million on activities required to advance the Fenix Project. Work on the Fenix Project feasibility study and permitting is progressing. We expect the feasibility study to be complete in the second quarter of 2019 and permitting in the third quarter of 2019.
Black Fox Mine, Canada (100%)
Production and cost guidance for 2019 are for 50,000 GEOs at cash cost and AISC of $905 and $1,080 per GEO, respectively. During Q1, the mine produced 8,943 GEOs, compared to 12,078 GEOs in 2018. Total cash costs and AISC were $805 and $1,454 per GEO, respectively. AISC was elevated in Q1 due to higher underground development expenses incurred to open more mining areas, an investment that will position the mine for a strong second half of 2019.
Gold and silver production decreased in Q1 as a result of some temporary operational challenges. Beginning in January, the operation had difficulty accessing mineralized material within a working area, and subsequently a fire damaged the crushing plant operated by a contractor. These incidents caused eight weeks of delays in crushing and shipping mineralized material to the mill. Production has now returned to normal.
Our 2019 exploration budget for the Black Fox Complex is $17 million and includes surface and underground drilling. Surface drilling with seven drill rigs started in April, and we will begin announcing assay results in late May.
Gold Bar Mine, USA (100%)
The first gold ingot was poured at Gold Bar on February 16th. During Q1, pre-commercial production totalled 2,030 GEOs. Revised production and cost guidance for 2019 are for 50,000 GEOs at cash cost and AISC of $930 and $975 per GEO, respectively. We expect Gold Bar to achieve commercial production during the second quarter of 2019.
The ramp-up of production at Gold Bar is progressing and we are addressing commissioning challenges with the crushing and screening plants. Issues related to material handling have been resolved and the throughput of the ore handling and stacking system is increasing. Other aspects of the mine are performing as designed. Guidance has been revised from 55,000 to 50,000 GEOs as a result of the slower than expected start-up.
Los Azules Project, Argentina (100%)
We defined a new low altitude all-year access route (Northern access route) in Argentina during 2018. The route was explored by overland expedition during March 2019 and confirmed to be viable for access and also for the proposed electrical transmission line. Preliminary engineering, cost and schedule estimates are in progress. Additional evaluation studies on infrastructure have been ongoing.
During Q1, we spent $0.9 million on technical and environmental baseline monitoring work, to advance permitting efforts. We are targeting the submission of the Environmental Impact Assessment within the next twelve months and expect the Environmental Impact Declaration to be received during 2020.
We invite you to join our conference call, where management will discuss our Q1 financial results and project developments and follow with a question and answer session. Questions can be asked directly by participants over the telephone or can be emailed in advance to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Please email questions prior to the start of the call.
Wednesday, May 1st, 2019
11:00 am EDT Toll Free US & Canada: 1 (844) 630-9911
Outside US & Canada: 1 (210) 229-8828
Conference ID Number: 7153978
Webcast Link: https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/f9aq4wwd
An archived replay of the webcast will be available for one week after it takes place. Access the replay using the link https://edge.media-server.com/m6/p/f9aq4wwd or by calling (855) 859-2056 (North America) / (404) 537-3406 (International), Conference ID Number 7153978.
ABOUT MCEWEN MINING
McEwen has the goal to qualify for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index by creating a profitable gold and silver producer focused in the Americas. McEwen's principal assets consist of: the San José mine in Santa Cruz, Argentina (49% interest); the Black Fox mine in Timmins, Canada; the Fenix Project in Mexico; the Gold Bar mine in Nevada; and the large Los Azules copper project in Argentina, advancing towards development.
McEwen has approximately 360 million shares outstanding. Rob McEwen, Chairman and Chief Owner, owns 22% of the shares.
Reliability of Information Regarding San José
Minera Santa Cruz S.A., the owner of the San José Mine, is responsible for and has supplied to the Company all reported results from the San José Mine. McEwen Mining’s joint venture partner, a subsidiary of Hochschild Mining plc, and its affiliates other than MSC do not accept responsibility for the use of project data or the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
The technical contents of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Chris Stewart, P.Eng., President & COO of McEwen Mining and a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 "Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects."
CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING NON-GAAP MEASURES
In this report, we have provided information prepared or calculated according to U.S. GAAP, as well as provided some non-U.S. GAAP ("non-GAAP") performance measures. Because the non-GAAP performance measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by U.S. GAAP, they may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.
Total Cash Costs and All-in Sustaining Costs
Total cash costs consist of mining, processing, on-site general and administrative costs, community and permitting costs related to current operations, royalty costs, refining and treatment charges (for both doré and concentrate products), sales costs, export taxes and operational stripping costs, and exclude depreciation and amortization. All-in sustaining cash costs consist of total cash costs (as described above), plus environmental rehabilitation costs, amortization of the asset retirement costs related to operating sites, sustaining exploration and development costs, sustaining capital expenditures, and sustaining lease payments. Both cash costs and all-in sustaining costs are divided by the gold equivalent ounces sold to determine cash costs and all all-in sustaining costs on a gold equivalent basis. For both total cash costs and all-in sustaining costs we include our attributable share of total cash costs from operations where we hold less than a 100% economic share in the production, such as MSC, where we hold a 49% interest. For MSC, total cash cost and all-in sustaining cash cost per ounce sold are calculated on a co-product basis by dividing the respective proportionate share of the total cash costs and all-in sustaining cash costs for the period attributable to each metal by the ounces of each respective metal sold. We use and report these measures to provide additional information regarding operational efficiencies both on a consolidated and an individual mine basis, and believe that these measures provide investors and analysts with useful information about our underlying costs of operations. A reconciliation to the nearest U.S. GAAP measure is provided in McEwen Mining's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019.
Earnings from mining operations
The term earnings from mining operations is a Non-GAAP financial measure. We use and report this metric because we believe it provides investors and analysts with a useful measure of the underlying earnings from our mining operations. We define earnings from mining operations as Gold and Silver Sales from our El Gallo Project and Black Fox mine, and our 49% attributable share of the San José mine’s Net Sales, less their respective production costs applicable to sales. To the extent that Production Costs Applicable to Sales may include depreciation and amortization expense related to the fair value increments on historical business acquisitions (fair value paid in excess of the carrying value of the underlying assets and liabilities assumed on the date of acquisition), we exclude this expense in order to arrive at production costs applicable to sales that only include depreciation and amortization expense incurred at the mine site level. A reconciliation to the nearest US GAAP measure, gold & silver sales and production costs applicable to sales, is provided in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019.
Cash, investments and precious metals
The term cash, investments and precious metals used in this report is a non‑GAAP financial measure. We report this measure to better understand our liquidity in each reporting period. Cash, investments and precious metals is calculated as the sum of cash, investments and ounces of doré held in inventory, valued at the London PM Fix spot price at the corresponding period. A reconciliation to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure is provided in McEwen Mining's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019.
CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and information, including "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking statements and information expressed, as at the date of this news release, McEwen Mining Inc.'s (the "Company") estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations or beliefs as to future events and results. Forward-looking statements and information are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties, risks and contingencies, and there can be no assurance that such statements and information will prove to be accurate. Therefore, actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements and information. Risks and uncertainties that could cause results or future events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements and information include, but are not limited to, factors associated with fluctuations in the market price of precious metals, mining industry risks, political, economic, social and security risks associated with foreign operations, the ability of the corporation to receive or receive in a timely manner permits or other approvals required in connection with operations, risks associated with the construction of mining operations and commencement of production and the projected costs thereof, risks related to litigation, the state of the capital markets, environmental risks and hazards, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral resources and reserves, and other risks. The Company’s dividend policy will be reviewed periodically by the Board of Directors and is subject to change based on certain factors such as the capital needs of the Company and its future operating results. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information included herein, which speak only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to reissue or update forward-looking statements or information as a result of new information or events after the date hereof except as may be required by law. See McEwen Mining's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, under the caption "Risk Factors", for additional information on risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to the forward-looking statements and information regarding the Company. All forward-looking statements and information made in this news release are qualified by this cautionary statement.
The NYSE and TSX have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the contents of this news release, which has been prepared by management of McEwen Mining Inc.
Mihaela Iancu
(647)-258-0395 ext 320
Website: www.mcewenmining.com
Facebook: facebook.com/mcewenrob
Twitter: twitter.com/mcewenmining
Instagram: instagram.com/mcewenmining
Suite 2800, P.O. Box 24
M5H 1J9
McEwen Mining
Last Trade: C$2.50
Market Cap: C$843.220M
McEwen Mining Exploration Drives a Potential New Source of Production
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McEwen Mining Exploration Produces Rich Gold Results at Black Fox
McEwen Mining Reports Positive Exploration Drill Results from Grey Fox
McEwen Mining Declares Commercial Production at the Gold Bar Mine
McEwen Mining Reminder of a Technical Session and the Annual Meeting
McEwen Mining Gold Bar Accident Update
McEwen Mining Invites You to Both a Technical Session and the Annual Meeting
McEwen Mining: Fatality at the Gold Bar Mine, Nevada
McEwen Mining Announces Management Changes
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Book Arthur Kay
Award-winning Urban Designer, Entrepreneur & Academic
Speaking Price Guide: Contact us to discuss prices
To book Arthur Kay for your event call: +44 (0)20 3124 1860
About Arthur Kay:
Arthur Kay is an award-winning urban designer, entrepreneur and academic exploring how we can create sustainable cities.
Arthur is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SkyroomTM, an urban development company that provides key urban workers with high-quality, low-cost, eco-friendly homes, near to where they work; Founder and Deputy Chairman of bio-bean®, a clean technology company that manufactures high-quality, low-cost, eco-friendly advanced biofuels and biochemicals, derived from waste coffee grounds; and Founder and Chairman of Fast Forward 2030TM, a think tank that helps solve the world’s biggest problems by inspiring entrepreneurs to use business as a force for good.
Arthur is Entrepreneur in Residence at The Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London, and a Visiting Lecturer at The Institute for Sustainable Resources, University College London, and The Dyson School of Design Engineering, Imperial College London. He has advised organisations on sustainability, design, engineering and entrepreneurship, including The United Nations, The Royal Academy of Engineering, Wired and The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
Arthur has won numerous awards including being a Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30 All Stars Alumni. He is a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Pioneer, was named Sustainable Business Leader of the Year by The Guardian and Entrepreneur of the Year by both Business Green and Shell. He was appointed as a London Leader by the Mayor of London and 25 under 25 by The Evening Standard.
Arthur and has been featured in and written for publications including The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times, The Week, The Huffington Post, Wired, Forbes, Monocle, The Architects’ Journal, The Architectural Review, National Geographic, CNN, CBS, CNBC, BBC and The New Scientist. Arthur has spoken at conferences run by The United Nations, The Royal Society, The Economist, Intelligence Squared, TEDx, The Guardian, The Mayor of London.
Arthur studied architecture at The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, and entrepreneurship at The Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Alternatively call us to book Arthur Kay: +44 (0)20 3124 1860
I was captivated. I love hearing about engineering efficiency. [Arthur] articulated a worthy goal that others overlook. Steve Wozniak
I am buzzing. A brilliant example of how to inspire and support innovation in this important area. The Mayor of London
Arthur gave a powerful keynote and chaired our session on climate change. He kept our audience on the edge of their seats. The Guardian
Steven Bartlett
Sharmadean Reid MBE
Sir Richard Branson
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Cleanup, search for bodies begins as floodwaters recede in Louisiana
Max Becherer
<p>David Key looks at the back yard of his flooded home in Prairieville, La., Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016. Key, an insurance adjuster, fled his home as the flood water was rising with his wife and three children and returned today to assess the damage. (AP Photo/Max Becherer)</p>
ALBANY, La. (AP) — The smell of muddy water hung heavy in the air as people began sorting through waterlogged belongings and ripping out carpets Wednesday in flood-wracked southern Louisiana, which now faces a long-term challenge of how to house thousands of displaced people.
Even as the water receded in some areas, it was rising in other communities downstream, sending people fleeing to shelters.
Officials painted a stark picture of the crisis: at least 40,000 homes damaged and 11 people killed in some of the worst flooding in Louisiana history. More than 30,000 people have been rescued since Friday.
RELATED: Floods in Louisiana 'unprecedented'
Amid scattered reports of looting, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said parishes with widespread damage were being placed under curfew as of Tuesday night.
Receding floodwaters left behind an atmosphere of determination to recover mixed with disbelief and uncertainty. Residents and business owners in the town of Albany repeatedly noted that the area had never flooded before — and flood insurance wasn't required.
Residents donned surgical masks and began the back-breaking job of ripping out soggy carpet, drywall and insulation. They cleared out spiders and cockroaches that had bubbled up through the sewer grates.
Chris Bankston was with workers mucking out his family-owned auto parts store Wednesday. He said his father opened the business close to 70 years ago. He says water had never gotten within 200 yards of his business, until the weekend.
By noon Tuesday, more than two dozen volunteers had arrived at Rhonda Brewer's Baton Rouge home, helping her take water-damaged belongings to the curb. Volunteers worked to remove wooden floor boards, sheet rock and insulation before the mold set in.
"The water was waist deep, so it's iffy if I can take the sheet rock and insulation half way or have to go to the ceiling," she said. "If we don't make it in time, we trash it."
Officials started going house to house to ensure everyone was accounted for. They also searched countless cars caught in the flooding.
"I don't know we have a good handle on the number of people who are missing," the governor said.
About 60,000 people have signed up for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and 20 parishes were included in the federal disaster declaration.
And help was coming from quarters beyond the federal government.
Performer Taylor Swift told The Associated Press she is donating $1 million to flood relief.
"The fact that so many people in Louisiana have been forced out of their own homes this week is heartbreaking," the 26-year-old said in a statement. "I encourage those who can to help out and send your love and prayers their way during this devastating time."
Entertainer Lady Gaga also said she is donating an unspecified amount to flood relief efforts
In Livingston Parish, one of the hardest-hit areas with about 138,000 people, an official estimated that 75 percent of the homes were a total loss.
Officials from Livingston Parish were in Baton Rouge on Tuesday to talk to federal officials about getting temporary housing for their first responders — a sign of the housing crunch likely to come with so many people out of their homes for weeks and perhaps months.
Rivers and creeks were still dangerously bloated south of Baton Rouge as water drained toward the Gulf of Mexico.
Nearly 800 evacuees waited Tuesday in a makeshift Red Cross shelter in Gonzales at the Lamar Dixon Expo Center, a multipurpose facility that has hosted rodeos, car and truck shows and concerts.
Floyd Melancon, 71, and his partner, Judy McGehee, 61, remained in the dark about how much water — if any — their Prairieville home received.
"My neighbor sent me a picture. Water was in the yard. I don't know where it's at right now," Melancon said. "Judy and I think it's come up since then."
In the house for 14 years, the couple lacks flood insurance to cover repairs.
"We weren't in a flood zone. It had never flooded before," McGehee said.
With flood insurance, homeowners are prone to draining savings accounts and relying on federal disaster programs to rebuild and repair.
Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon said in hard-hit Baton Rouge only 12 percent of residences are covered by flood insurance, and 14 percent in Lafayette — what he called "shocking."
People in many areas that remain underwater weren't considered in a high-risk flooding area and weren't required to carry flood insurance by mortgage lenders.
The governor said he is worried about "battle fatigue" setting in as rescuers and residents deal with day upon day of stress.
The trauma was evident among people who went back to their homes.
David Key used a small boat to get to his house in Prairieville and said it had taken on 5 inches of "muddy, nasty bayou water." There were fish and thousands of spiders, and mold had started to grow.
"I'm not going to lie, I cried uncontrollably," he said. "But you have to push forward and make it through. Like everybody says, you still have your family."
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by: DAVID BAUDER, Associated Press
Posted: Jul 9, 2019 / 06:13 PM CDT / Updated: Jul 10, 2019 / 12:10 AM CDT
NEW YORK (AP) — The Miami Herald’s stories on sex trafficking charges against billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein illustrate a counter-intuitive trend: Investigative journalism is thriving as the news media industry struggles.
In announcing new charges against Epstein 11 years after the financier secretly got a sweetheart deal from federal prosecutors in Florida to settle nearly identical allegations, New York prosecutor Geoffrey Berman said Monday that his team was “assisted by excellent investigative journalism.”
“It’s really gratifying,” Aminda Marques Gonzalez, president, publisher and executive editor of the Herald, said Tuesday. “You hope your work will have impact. It’s beyond your expectation to have your work cited as the basis for an arrest.”
While Berman did not cite the Herald by name, it was obvious he was referring to the work of journalist Julie K. Brown, who in a series of stories, including a big investigative piece last November, reported on at least 60 women who said they had been sexually abused by Epstein between 2001 and 2005, when they were minors. Eight agreed to be interviewed.
The Herald’s story, which Brown spent 18 months on, came as news organizations are finding that investigative work helps them stand out and is rewarding in a rough business climate. Recent examples include stories looking into Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, Donald Trump’s behavior before and during his presidency and sexual misconduct by public figures.
“It used to be said in this business that we couldn’t afford to do investigative journalism,” said Martin Baron, executive editor of the Washington Post. “Now we have to do investigative journalism. First of all, it’s at the core of what readers expect of us and increasingly, it’s at the core of our business model as well.”
Three weeks ago, the Post announced it was adding 10 new positions devoted to investigative journalism – increasing its staffing in this area from eight to 26 since the beginning of 2017.
The newspaper won a Pulitzer in 2018 for its revelations about sexual misconduct by Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore. The Moore story was part of the Post’s “rapid-response” team; along with the traditional long-term projects, news organizations are seeking more nimble investigative teams that respond to breaking news.
Besides adding staff, Gonzalez said she has tried to establish a culture at the Herald where departments throughout the newsroom are pursuing enterprise projects. What she doesn’t want is an investigative team “isolated in a corner of the room, which used to be the case.”
The New York Times also has emphasized an investigative ethos across the newsroom. The Times won a 2019 Pulitzer for an exhaustive study of Trump family finances and, in 2018, shared a Pulitzer with The New Yorker for reporting on sexual misconduct.
“Broadly speaking, with the attacks on the press and on facts there has been a reinvigoration of the investigative mission of journalism,” said Matthew Purdy, deputy managing editor who oversees investigations at The New York Times. “I don’t mean just at the Times but across the industry. It’s sort of unmistakable.”
Big investigations aren’t new. There’s a history of memorable digging on Watergate and the Pentagon Papers. And Baron was editor at the Boston Globe when it published a series of stories revealing priests’ history of sexual abuse and the church’s ensuing cover-up, which was chronicled in the 2015 movie “Spotlight.”
But when the newspaper industry’s financial downturn intensified in the 2000s, investigative units were often cut. Many of the news organization’s bean counters saw them as luxuries, said Doug Haddix, executive director of the organization Investigative Reporters & Editors.
IRE’s membership is now at a record-setting 6,178, up from around 4,000 in 2010, Haddix said. Its Houston conference last month set an attendance record. Where the typical IRE conference attendee once worked at a newspaper, now a member is just as likely to work in television or at a non-profit web site. Sold-out IRE workshops show reporters and editors are looking to become more employable by learning digital journalism and how to better mine public records, he said.
Things were looking so dire a decade ago that Michael Hudson thought he’d be using his skills in a different profession by now, perhaps as a private investigator. Instead, he’s global investigations editor at The Associated Press, which has beefed up investigation teams internationally and domestically. The AP also is creating a dedicated team focused on investigations that spin off breaking news.
The AP won a 2019 Pulitzer for investigations around the conflict in Yemen, and in 2016 an all-female team of investigative reporters won a Pulitzer for breaking news about slavery in the fishing industry in Southeast Asia.
“I feel like there’s been a really heartening turnaround,” Hudson said.
While the mission is important, news organizations say the work helps the bottom line. The AP found its Yemen stories were very popular with readers. Many of the Post’s new subscribers cite investigative work as a reason for signing up, and those are the stories readers are drawn to, Baron said.
In the body of the digital version of Brown’s project last November, the Herald invited readers to click if they wanted a subscription. The newspaper collected as many new subscribers in a couple of days that it normally gets in a couple of weeks, and Gonzalez was stunned to find that roughly three-quarters of them lived outside of the Miami area.
They were subscribing to support the journalism.
There seems to be a new spirit among journalists who are more willing to elevate the good work of colleagues at other organizations, as this week has proven with the Herald, said Kyle Pope, editor of the Columbia Journalism Review.
“We as an industry need to stand together,” the Post’s Baron said. “While we’re competitors, we also need to be mutually supportive of quality work. If it’s a trend, it’s a good trend.”
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Trending > Drug Discovery
Cholesterol Medication May Double Type 2 Diabetes Risk
WRITTEN BY: Nouran Amin
A research study examining thousands of patient’s health records found an association between prescribed cholesterol-lowering statins and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. "The fact that increased duration of statin use was associated with an increased risk of diabetes -- something we call a dose-dependent relationship -- makes us think that this is likely a causal relationship," said Victoria Zigmont, who led the study as a graduate student in public health at The Ohio State University.
Retrieved from Ohio State University: Ohio State research found a higher risk of diabetes for people prescribed a cholesterol-lowering medication for heart disease prevention
Findings were published in Diabetes Metabolism Research and Reviews, and examined data from 4,683 patients who did not have diabetes and were candidates for statins. Results showed that statin use has in fact doubled the risk of Type 2 diabetes in comparison to those who did not take statin. Risk was even three times higher for those on statin therapy for more than two years.
"In addition, researchers conducting large prospective cohort studies should be considering how statins impact human health overall. They should consider both risks and benefits, not just the disease that is being treated by the specific drug," said co-author Steven Clinton, a professor of medicine and member of Ohio State's Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Statins are a class of drugs that treat patients at risk for a heart attack and stroke by reducing their cholesterol and blood pressure. According to federal estimates, more than 25 percent of middle-aged adults are prescribed cholesterol-lowering drugs.
"That said, statins are very effective in preventing heart attacks and strokes. I would never recommend that people stop taking the statin they've been prescribed based on this study, but it should open up further discussions about diabetes prevention and patient and provider awareness of the issue,” said Zigmont.
Learn more about statin therapy:
Source: Ohio State University
Nouran Amin
Nouran enjoys writing on various topics including science & medicine, global health, and conservation biology. She hopes through her writing she can make science more engaging and communicable to the general public.
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General in Vitamin Wars Battles Regulation With Zeal
By ALAN C. MILLER
WASHINGTON —
Gerald Kessler, founder of a dietary supplement company and a driving force behind the campaign to limit regulation of the industry, swears that there is “a worldwide conspiracy” to eliminate vitamins, minerals, amino acids and herbal products.
“This is going on in every country,” Kessler said. “It is the pharmaceutical-medical combine trying to make sure they are not being threatened worldwide by inexpensive, non-patented dietary supplements that will prevent the onset of chronic disease.”
Kessler, a 6-foot-7 man with a taste for the jugular, is executive director of the Nutritional Health Alliance, which represents supplement manufacturers, distributors and consumers. Organizers say the NHA has raised $750,000 from 14,000 donors since it started in 1992.
Some industry executives privately acknowledged that Kessler’s zealotry and rhetorical excesses make them cringe. But he has made himself a major player in the high-profile battle to curtail the ability of the Food and Drug Administration and its congressional allies to regulate the $4-billion-a-year supplement industry.
Kessler has met often with FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler (no relation) and key members of Congress. He has crafted numerous mailings--he estimates the alliance has put out 6 million to 7 million pieces--giving consumers his highly charged view of the conflict and exhorting them to tell lawmakers to support industry-backed legislation.
“Don’t let the FDA take your supplements away!” screamed one flyer. “The FDA wants to expand the war on drugs to include nutritional supplements,” said another.
FDA officials and their supporters say Gerald Kessler is among those who have misled the public by claiming the agency intends to restrict access to these products. The FDA’s real goal, they maintain, is to end deceptive, sometimes fraudulent, health claims.
Kessler’s detractors say he has more at risk in the regulatory debate than other mainstream supplement makers. These detractors say he has a major stake in a company that makes some products whose very names suggest implicit health claims. He denied that assertion.
Kessler, 59, founded Nature’s Plus, which sells about 350 supplement products, in the early 1970s. He retains controlling interest in its parent company, Natural Organics Inc., of Farmingdale, N.Y.
Nature’s Plus products include the Immunizer Pak Program, a “powerful blend of ancient herbs (that is) a potent and effective immune booster formula,” and Ultra Male, tablets containing dried bovine testes, prostate, liver, spleen and other body parts, along with Vitamin E and zinc.
Nature’s Plus was one of four supplement companies charged with deceptive advertising last year by the New York City Consumer Affairs Department. The agency said the firms’ product labels “prey on the fears and abuse the hopes of desperate people who have the AIDS virus.”
The company was charged with violating the nation’s only municipal law that makes it a deceptive trade practice to claim or imply that a product will improve the immune system, unless its labeling or advertising discloses its effect on a person who is HIV-positive, or states that it has not been proven to prevent or cure AIDS.
Kessler said the Immunizer Pak is intended for healthy individuals “who would like to have their immune system functioning at peak performance,” not for people who are HIV-positive or who have AIDS. He said the company has not stated this on the label because any mention of a disease--even in a disclaimer--would classify a product as a drug under the law. The company is seeking FDA approval to add such a warning, he said.
Ultra Male contains animal tissues that are purported to strengthen the same organs in humans, a type of product that has a long and controversial history. Kessler said that the marketing of Ultra Male involves no implied health claim--such as boosting virility--and stresses that it is intended simply “to support a male’s needs nutritionally.”
Kessler said he retired as head of Natural Organics after assuming his NHA leadership role in 1992. But he is still listed as the parent company’s chief executive by Standard & Poor’s.
In any case, he said, he is not driven by financial gain.
“I made money in real estate that is more than enough for me to live on very comfortably for the rest of my life,” he said. “Anybody who really knows me knows I am not motivated by money. I am motivated by (the) principle . . . that people have freedom and people have a right to make choices in their own lives.”
Op-Ed: Why don’t Republicans talk about the federal debt anymore?
Reining in federal spending is no longer on the table now that there’s a Republican in the White House.
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Alfonzo Is Released; Bulger Is Called Up
By Bill Shaikin
The Angels released infielder Edgardo Alfonzo on Saturday, closing the ledger on one of the most unproductive expenditures in franchise history.
The club compounded the ineffective free-agent signing of outfielder Steve Finley -- for two years and $14 million -- by trading him to the San Francisco Giants for Alfonzo in a mutual salary dump last winter. As Finley rebounded in San Francisco, Alfonzo batted .100 for the Angels, with five hits in seven weeks.
So, for $14 million, the Angels got 12 home runs and a .208 average from Finley and Alfonzo.
“It’s disappointing,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “Not all plans work out the way you want them to.”
Alfonzo, a 12-year veteran, was frustrated by his reserve role. His agent, Peter Greenberg, had not formally demanded a trade but had asked Stoneman to let Alfonzo play somewhere else if the Angels were not going to play him.
Stoneman said he had tried to trade Alfonzo for two weeks but found no takers, even when he offered to pay Alfonzo’s $7-million salary in exchange for a minor league player.
“There wasn’t a market,” Stoneman said.
So the Angels ate the contract. If another team signs Alfonzo to a major league contract, the Angels remain responsible for all but the $327,000 minimum salary.
Alfonzo, 32, said he could not adjust to a reserve role and thanked the Angels for releasing him rather than chaining him to their bench.
“I didn’t want to be stuck here for the whole year,” he said.
The Angels cut Alfonzo because they needed an extra reliever after giving up 25 hits Friday. Jason Bulger, promoted from triple-A Salt Lake, faced six batters Saturday and gave up three runs, one hit and three walks and had a wild pitch....The Angels have no interest in first baseman J.T. Snow, who has asked the Boston Red Sox to trade him. The Angels might soon recall first baseman Kendry Morales, who is batting .309 at Salt Lake.... Manager Mike Scioscia said Jeff Weaver would make his next start. Weaver is 1-7 with a 7.30 earned-run average.... Bartolo Colon threw a bullpen session and is slated for a simulated game Tuesday, but he’s two to three weeks from returning.
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Shayne Looper: Notre Dame: A metaphor for contemporary Christianity
Shayne Looper More Content Now
Construction of The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) was begun in 1163 and consecrated to the Virgin Mary. When it was completed, approximately a century later, Notre Dame rose above Paris’s skyline, the city’s heart and its most glorious feature.
During the “Reign of Terror,” the Cathedral of Notre Dame was ransacked by revolutionaries bent on eradicating all traces of the Christian faith. The church was looted, Christian art destroyed and more than two dozen statues decapitated (this was 1793, the year Marie Antoinette was guillotined). Robespierre and other revolutionaries intended to replace Christianity with a religion more suited to the Enlightenment. Since the Cathedral was viewed as a symbol of Christianity, they hoped to destroy it.
The recent fire at Notre Dame, while not intentional (as far as we know), carries with it a strange symbolism. The Notre Dame Cathedral ceased to dominate Paris’s skyline long ago. The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 as the entrance to the first World Fair. Since then many other skyscrapers have risen to dwarf the medieval cathedral.
Just as other buildings overtook the cathedral in the Parisian skyline, other beliefs have overtaken Christianity in the French mindset. A little more than 30 years ago, the proportion of the French population that identified as Christian was more than 80 percent. Some authorities now place that number at 51 percent. But even this number is misleading. Those who actually attend church services in any given week make up only 5 percent of the population.
The sudden devastation of the cathedral has received a great deal of attention in the media. Less attention has been given to the devastation of the Christian faith in France and around the western world. Christianity does not, and has not for many years, held the dominant place in the belief system of the French. And it is not much different in other parts of Europe. Church attendance in England, Sweden and Finland has fallen to about 5 percent. In Denmark it is even lower.
This has led some thinkers, either sadly or with a Robespierre-like glee, to forecast the end of Christian faith. The soaring edifice of science has eclipsed the humble faith of Jesus Christ in the eyes of many. They look at Christian faith the way most Parisians looked at Notre Dame: An emblem of the past, beautiful but impractical.
According to reports, the cathedral was undergoing some renovation when the fire broke out. Whether or not the fire was related to the renovation is, as yet, unknown, but this strikes me as another metaphor for what has been happening in Christianity. Some of those who love the Christian religion have tried to renovate it, to “bring it up to code,” so to speak; to bring it into compliance with contemporary values. The church’s inner struggles over sexual mores come to mind in this regard.
These attempts to renovate the faith, to adapt it to contemporary practice may actually hasten its demise. The devastating loss of membership among mainline denominations is a case in point.
Some thinkers anticipate the end of Christianity in the West over the next few generations. They join a cadre of others who have predicted its demise, some eagerly. Leading thinkers in the French Revolution foresaw the death of Christian faith. So did Marx, whose followers in Russia and China did all they could to exterminate Christianity. Nero attempted to do the same, long before Stalin and Mao.
All these attempts failed. When the French revolution ended, Notre Dame was still standing; Napoleon’s coronation took place there a decade later. Mao’s irreligious China is now home to more Christians than any nation on earth. The Soviets spread anti-Christian propaganda throughout the Union for decades, yet when John Paul II spoke in Poland, more than a million people gathered, chanting, “We want God! We want God!”
The first attempt to stamp out the faith preceded all of these and took place on a Roman cross. It initially seemed successful, but failed spectacularly when, three days later, Jesus rose from the grave. Various versions of Christianity might die. Christendom itself might expire. But, like its founder, faith in Jesus will not be kept down.
Shayne Looper is the pastor of Lockwood Community Church in Branch County, Michigan. Read more at shaynelooper.com.
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RCSO deputy saves man from self-harm during traffic stop
By: Cori Duke
Local deputy helps save man
CLAREMORE, Okla. — An act of compassion made by a Rogers County Sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop potentially saved a man’s life.
Protect and Serve. It’s an oath Deputy Zachary Starkey holds to the highest regard.
“It’s different every day,” Starkey said. “We are always here trying to help somebody.”
Starkey’s daily routine is to patrol the streets, keeping the public safe while also working a department grant that enforces seat belt safety.
It was near the end of a long shift and Deputy Starkey was finishing his patrol when he saw a driver without his seat belt.
“It was your normal routine stop,” Starkey said. “I advised him he needed to wear a seat belt and I’d be right back with him.”
When the deputy returned to give the man a warning, the reaction wasn’t what he expected. The driver was in tears.
“That’s not typical behavior of somebody that just got a warning, so after a little bit of investigation he told me that he doesn’t have a whole lot going for him and not a whole lot of people care,” Starkey said.
The driver told the deputy he was on his way to harm himself.
“I told him we’ll get you some help, and I told him I cared,” Starkey said.
The deputy then offered a struggling citizen his kindness. He was able to get the man in touch with his family and some professional help.
“Somebody has got to make a difference,” Starkey said. “You see so much bad all the time, so just to shine a little bit of light on some good every now and then brightens your day.”
This member of law enforcement is now recognized for his compassion and ability to give a man going through a tough time a second chance.
“I’d like to know where he is now and catch up with him and see that he got his help,” Starkey said. “There’s always somebody that needs help, you just never know who it could be.”
If you’re going through a hard time and contemplating suicide, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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50 Most Powerful Music Industry Quotes of 2017
Dec 21, 2017 by Allison Boron
As the year draws to a close, we’re reflecting on all of 2017’s inspirational, influential, and just plain cool moments. For us at Kobalt, a definite high point of the year was seeing that massive growth of AWAL, our music distribution and services partner for independent artists.
Check out this roundup of the most impactful quotes of 2017 from the AWAL Blog featuring many of our own Kobalt leaders and artists, plus numerous industry influencers. Though they’re especially designed to empower independent artists, they’re also reflective of the progress the music industry has made this year, and that’s meaningful to everyone from publishers to songwriters and beyond.
Earlier this year, Kobalt Founder & CEO and AWAL Executive Chairman Willard Ahdritz proclaimed, “There has never been a more exciting time to be in the music industry.” Indeed, 2017 has been a memorable year as the independent market share is on the rise and independent artists are now a billion-dollar business. It seems like the possibilities for an artist committed to controlling and growing their own career are more bountiful than ever.
To bid farewell to this fruitful year, we’ve pulled together some of our favorite quotes from around the music biz — from artists to managers to industry influencers — numbered, not ranked, because they're all equally epic. Use them to reflect on your own experiences in 2017 and get excited for what’s coming up next year!
1. “[AWAL is] enabling artists to disrupt the old models of the music industry. Today, artists you’ve never heard of are making a living off of streaming revenue…. In the next couple of years, the number of artists that make a living off of these services will grow from 5,000 to 100,000 artists, right along with the growth of streaming.” — Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt Founder & CEO and AWAL Executive Chairman
2. “We have the biggest distribution system in the world for streaming music so why not use that to help young artists.” — Troy Carter, Spotify’s global head of creator services
3. “It's been an amazing career, I had no female mentors, but I do intend to be that for the young women coming up.” — Sas Metcalfe, Chief Creative Officer of Kobalt, during Music Week’s International Woman of the Year acceptance speech
4. “I think the state of Indies is very, very strong right now. I think labels and artists are feeling more and more empowered. There are more options for Indies. We have dozens of distributors with all kind of variegated business models that you can choose from. From being a sole proprietor indie label all the way to being a label like Beggars with 150 employees or more, the options are there. And the options are there to hang on to more of the money you make.” — Richard Burgess, CEO of A2IM
5. “You don’t need a record label. As long as you have heart and play with patience, you’ll get what’s coming to you.” — Frank Carter, artist
6. “As YouTube expands and turns its focus to music, it’s becoming more imperative that artists pay attention…. It’s bigger than any other streaming platform in terms of the number of people who use it. In terms of exposure and wanting to get your music out to people, YouTube is a massive destination.” — Mark Newman, Senior Product Manager at AWAL
7. “You have to innovate to be successful now.” — Michael Kurtz, co-founder of Record Store Day 8. “It speaks volumes for the tenacity, passion and entrepreneurship of independent labels, and the public’s desire for musical diversity, that even in these times of global dominance by major corporations, almost four out of every 10 dollars spent on music goes to the independent sector.” — Martin Mills, Beggars Group Founder & Vice President of WIN
9. “I am hugely focused and driven, and, with that, sometimes comes a lack of knowing when to allow yourself to take a break and a moment to look at what you’ve achieved and pat yourself on the back. We are always having to look forward, but recognizing where you have come from is so important, too. So, balance — that’s the big one for me.” — Anna Pancaldi, AWAL artist
10. “If you have to point at an enemy, our greatest enemy is apathy. We’d be able to achieve fantastic results if we were not trapped by the idea that nothing can be changed." — Nadya Tolokonnikova, Pussy Riot member and AWAL artist
11. "That's why artists will choose an independent publisher -- we work hard to get them these [synch] opportunities." — Jeannette Perez, SVP and Head of Global Synch and Brand Partnerships on Kobalt coming in second for the most synch placements in 2017 Super Bowl commercials
12. “As an artist, you have to understand, when you’re ready for something, you’ll know and you’ll take it and when you’re not, your gut will tell you. I feel like it’s really important to listen to what your spirit says because it’s never gonna steer you wrong.” — Jordan Mackampa, AWAL artist, at BBC Music Introducing presents Amplify
13. “Knowledge is power. As the music industry keeps evolving, we want everyone to have access to as many resources as possible.” — Jen Masset, Head of Independent Label Services, Spotify North America
14. “As a band, we have grown with confidence in our sound and have become sensitive to each other's strengths, so we draw on the best bits of all of us to make music. It’s like wearing in a new pair of shoes until they feel right. Where those shoes take us, who knows, but we’re 100% focused and ready for the journey.” — Sea Girls, AWAL artist
15. “Thanks to AWAL, my face is today the cover of Indie Mixtape on Spotify — six months ago less than 10 people had heard my demo. I can’t really believe that. Thanks, Ben. Thanks, AWAL.” — Angie McMahon, AWAL artist
16. “If you make art that is honest, you can never fail because your goal is to make art. And you decide when that art is created and you can decide when you are successful. As soon as you start making things to be successful on a more materialistic level, you are allowing yourself to fail because if it’s not successful, then you have no art and you have no success, you have nothing. I think all you can ever do is be honest and make art.” — Bruno Major, AWAL artist, at BBC Music Introducing presents Amplify
17. “There are six billion people in the world, and actually, I guarantee you more people listen to radio than listen to Spotify. It's just that the people who listen to Spotify are paying for it, and they're all really engaged. If someone hears you on the radio, it doesn't mean they're going to buy your track.” — Matt Riley, Senior Director, Creative, Kobalt Music Recordings (AWAL)
18. “We’re pretty optimistic about the future. I think we’re at the cusp of what I would call the Golden Age [of the music industry] here [at Amazon Music].... We think long-term here... We’re not saying tomorrow it’s going to magically shoot up, but when we look at the long-term prospects of the music industry, we’re incredibly bullish.” — Steve Boom, Vice President, Amazon Music
19. “There are moments and time periods where I’m just fucking crushing it...and then it plateaus. I’ve never had a moment like that where I didn’t come out the other end with a laser-focused vision of this what we’re doing and this how we’re going to make it work. I guess I’m just really good at banging my head against a wall and breaking it down…. That’s the characteristic you need to continue and build as an independent artist.” — VÉRITÉ, independent artist and Kobalt client
20. “I was told by a mother in the USA who lost both of her sons to the Iraq war that she was about to commit suicide but after listening to my song 'Catalyst' she wrote to me and said it changed her mind. She sent shivers down my spine and showed me the power of music.” — Alonestar, AWAL artist
21. “I just feel like I’m more of use writing for other people. I can help them say what they want to say when they just can’t find the words. When I’m working with artists, I just want to be of service to their vision. It’s really rewarding.” — Amy Kuney, songwriter and Kobalt client
22. “It’s scary to do things differently, but I’m one for the weirdos.” — Steve Lacy, AWAL artist
23. “The number-one thing is don’t give up. Persistence is really important. You made a start. If it didn’t totally catch, so you move on and you keep going. You learn but you keep going.” — Paul Hitchman, President of AWAL, at BBC Music Introducing presents Amplify
24. “If I did a tiny, tiny change and if we all do that, I would be so happy. That’s what feels like my mission is -- just let people speak from their hearts for a second.” — J.Views, AWAL artist
25. “Music is not what we do, it’s who we are. This is the first time in history you don’t need permission to have a music career.” — Ari Herstand, Founder, Ari’s Take
26. “I have realised that I shouldn't restrict myself to one genre, so being experimental and free with music is very rewarding but at the same time hard as you have to break the barriers of music to find where you lie musically. Training vigorously everyday to improve my craft can be hard sometimes, but is very rewarding when you take a step back and see what you have built up from scratch.” — Rika, AWAL artist
27. “If there’s a single subject being talked about and thought about right now it’s the ‘V’ word: value.” — Tim Ingham, Music Business UK
28. “It’s really important to connect with what you represent as an artist and to figure out your story. It’s so important to really succeed in not just making great music, but understanding the business of it and understanding what you represent and what you want to say. Knowing who you are, it helps you to get your point across a lot cleaner. It also makes for a more interesting output as a whole.” — Michael Brun, AWAL artist
29. “The future will only lead to more empowerment for artists along with more sustainable ways to build their careers. Streaming, for example, will only get bigger and better — and Kobalt will be on the other side refining its tech infrastructure to make sure artists are receiving the royalties and support they deserve.” — Willard Ahdritz, Kobalt Founder & CEO and AWAL Executive Chairman
30. “Good music and creative thinking, creative campaigns, all these things can be put together without having hugely deep pockets.” — Simon Wheeler, Beggars Group
31. “If you’re not making music that you feel is right for you, and you’re just trying to make something that you think other people might like, it probably, nine times out of 10, probably isn’t going to work as well as you think it will.” — Miller Williams, Kobalt Sr. VP of Creative, at BBC Music Introducing presents Amplify
32. “More and more, what I am hoping we can offer as a platform and as an industry is looking at ways that artists can be receiving as much strength and power in their careers, and how that can help the entire ecosystem be led by not just the major gatekeepers that currently exist but also the artists themselves.” — Molly Neuman, former Head of Music at Kickstarter
33. “I teach and believe in the Kobalt Holy Grail: transparency, creativity, client control, and accurate accounting. There are no boundaries at Kobalt and I urge clients to push it. They will be supported creatively and our world creative team is amazing.” — Al McLean, Senior Vice President of Creative, Kobalt
34. “Playlists are not static, they’re living, breathing organisms that are constantly evolving and changing. In one of those moments you can easily go and alter [something] as soon as you realize it. That’s probably why people like them so much; it’s like a pencil with a eraser on it.” — Tuma Basa, curator of Spotify’s RapCaviar playlist
35. “According to the Music Business Association, there’s about 31 percent of streams that are actually coming from playlists, and this is across all demographics. It shows that not only young people are listening to playlists, but it’s really across everyone. Just on Spotify, they announced really recently that they have about 1 billion streams per week generating from playlists. I think just that shows that playlists are really, really key right now, and really important.” — Amelie Bonvalot, AWAL Director, Digital Accounts, at BBC Music Introducing presents Amplify
36. “We've always invested in partners whether in music or other things to try and help enable new ways of storytelling, engagement and improve the exciting video that's available, live or VR or whatever.” — David Mogendorff, artists relations manager at YouTube
37. “When you’re working with a young artist, it sometimes feels like you’re banging your head against a glass wall. When you get to that stage [where social numbers are growing], it’s as simple as looking at a graph, and seeing that it’s only been going up. We’re very fortunate where it initially has only gone up in numbers and for him, that’s been a huge confidence boost.” — Charlie Murdoch, manager of AWAL artist Jordan Mackampa
38. “When artists own their own rights or they're doing equitable deals with their labels, they see the bulk of streaming money coming through. And what's interesting is this also helps them connect and engage with their fans better than ever before on all elements of their global business from recorded to live.” — Annabella Coldrick, Chief Executive, Music Managers Forum at BBC Music Introducing presents Amplify
39. “Through Technology there is a better way of getting money into the pockets of artists and these people that work tirelessly for them.” — Mark Meharry, CEO of Music Glue
40. “It’s really a ray of light. Just to be able to go there and see friends come in that you haven’t heard from or been in communication with, like, it’s such a relief to know you’re okay, and you’re here and you have a place with food. If I hadn’t gone to El Local this last week, I would be super, super hungry, and probably super depressed. It’s not only about the food and meeting people, it’s having that little space where it’s comfortable, and we take our instruments, and we jam out, and we play board games, and we have conversations, and we hug each other. It’s much more than a community kitchen; it’s making the whole corillo [Spanish for ‘community of friends’] feel better about the whole situation.” — Shanti Lalita, Puerto Rican cellist and composer on the Puerto Rican music scene post-Hurricane Maria
41. “The dream is free and the hustle is sold separately. No one wants to hear about the hustle but find me a musician who says it’s a dream all the time… [being an independent artist] is about having perseverance.” — Ariana and the Rose, AWAL artist
42. “If you decide you want your life to be about music, you just have to decide that you will not give up ever. Everything else will change a million times, go up and down, but no matter what, you will continue on your journey. Accept that you have no control of anything except for your actions. It is always a journey.” — LAUV, AWAL/Kobalt artist
43. “I think that informing the songwriter community and the artist community, is just as important as doing a good job on our end, because it's arming them to the ability to thrive and survive in this new climate as well. If they're doing good, we're doing good. It doesn't benefit us to keep them in the dark about their money, about how the processes go. We want to take them along for the ride and we want them to grow along with how the industry is growing.” — Sara Jackson, Vice President of US Publishing Administration, Kobalt
44. “One of the things that’s interesting about the ‘new music industry’ is there’s no one way of doing it. There’s no one way to define success.” — Paul Hitchman, President of AWAL, at BBC Music Introducing presents Amplify
45. “It’s about upward mobility. If we see something happening, we can give you funding the next day. You want to put gasoline on the fire, we can do that for you.” — Lonny Olinick, Kobalt Chief Strategy Officer
46. “Hip-hop was built by very progressive artists -- they are always going to take the most advanced lane. But a lot of it had to do with Apple Music’s push into hip-hop. That doesn't mean that we created something. We saw it coming.” — Jimmy Iovine, Apple Music chief
47. “I have always been greatly inspired by the attitude and energy of punk rock and the D.I.Y. ethos that comes along with it. Part of the punk spirit that has always resonated with me is the feeling to unabashedly do whatever you want. That is exactly what I do when I make NVDES music on my laptop and I feel like this all comes together when I play live.” — NVDES, AWAL artist
48. “Latin is a culture, not a genre. We're looking to expand the audience that we have in place because we still don't have all the Latinos around the world. And non-Latinos because we want both. We're not doing this only for Latin people. So hopefully this is just a platform for everyone who likes Latin music. It's for Latin music lovers.” — Rocio Guerrero, Head of Global Culture, Spotify on the rise of the Viva Latino playlist
49. “It's not just about music--it's about every form of entertainment. You don't really have to own anything anymore, because for $10 a month you can do this: You can have everything." — David Bakula, Senior Vice President Analytics & Client Development, Nielsen
50. “...Streaming can be used intelligently to engage fans because it is not constrained by old world limits such as shelf space and physical distribution considerations. In the old model, artists could go years between album releases, leaving fans hanging, while touring would often be a loss-leading effort to help sell the album. The roles are now reversed.” — Mark Mulligan, industry analyst
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NIELSEN v. JOHNSON, Treasurer of State of lowa.
279 U.S. 47 (49 S.Ct. 223, 73 L.Ed. 607)
No. 115.
Argued: Jan. 9 and 10, 1929.
Decided: Feb. 18, 1929.
opinion, STONE [HTML]
Mr. Nelson Miller, of Le Mars, Iowa, for petitioner.
Mr. John Fletcher, Atty. Gen. of Iowa, for respondent.
Argument of Counsel from page 48 intentionally omitted
Mr. Justice STONE delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case is here on certiorari, granted June 4, 1928, 277 U. S. 583, 48 S. Ct. 600, 72 L. Ed. 999), under section 237 of the Judicial Code (28 USCA § 344), to review a judgment of the Supreme Court of Iowa, affirming a judgment of the Plymouth district court imposing an inheritance tax on the estate of petitioner's intestate. Anders Anderson, the intestate, a citizen of the kingdom of Denmark residing in Iowa, died there February 9, 1923, leaving his mother, a resident and citizen of Denmark, his sole heir at law and entitled by inheritance, under the laws of Iowa, to his net estate of personal property, aggregating $3,006.37. By section 7315, c. 351, Code of Iowa (1927), the estate of a decedent passing to his mother or other named close relatives, if alien nonresidents of the United States, is subject to an inheritance tax of 10 per cent., but by section 7313 an estate of less than $15,000, as was decedent's, passing to a parent who is not such a nonresident alien is tax free. In the proceedings in the state court for fixing the inheritance tax, petitioner asserted that the provisions of the statutes referred to, so far as they authorized a tax upon this decedent's estate, were void as in conflict with article 7 of the Treaty of April 26, 1826, between the United States and Denmark ( 8 Stat. 340, 342), renewed in 1857 ( 11 Stat. 719, 720), reading as follows:
'Article 7. The United States and his Danish Majesty mutually agree, that no higher or other duties, charges, or taxes of any kind, shall be levied in the territories or dominions of either party, upon any personal property, money, or effects, of their respective citizens or subjects, on the removal of the same from their territories or dominions reciprocally, either upon the inheritance of such property, money, or effects, or otherwise, than are or shall be payable in each state, upon the same, when removed by a citizen or subject of such state respectively.'
The Supreme Court of Iowa, 218 N. W. 140, following its earlier decision, In re Estate of Pedersen, 198 Iowa, 166, 196 N. W. 785, upheld the statute as not in conflict with the treaty.
In Petersen v. Iowa, 245 U. S. 170, 38 S. Ct. 109, 62 L. Ed. 225, this court held, following Frederickson v. Louisiana, 23 How. 445, 16 L. Ed. 577, that article 7 was intended to apply only to the property of citizens of one country located within the other and so placed no limitation upon the power of either government to deal with its own citizens and their property within its own dominion. Hence, it did not preclude the inheritance tax there imposed upon the estate of a resident citizen of Iowa at a higher rate upon legacies to a citizen and resident of Denmark than upon similar legacies to citizens or residents of the United States. The court said (at page 172 of 245 U. S. (38 S. Ct. 110)):
'Conceding that it (article 7) requires construction to determine whether the prohibitions embrace taxes generically considered, or death duties, or excises, on the right to transfer and remove property, singly or collectively, we are of the opinion that the duty of interpretation does not arise since in no event would any of the prohibitions be applicable to the case before us.'
But, in the present case, the decedent was a citizen of Denmark, owning property within the state of Iowa, and article 7, by its terms, in applicable to charges or taxes levied on the personal property or effects of such a citizen; hence its protection may be invoked here if the discrimination complained of is one embraced within the terms of the treaty.
That there is a discrimination based on alienage is evident, since the tax is imposed only when the nonresident heirs are also aliens. But it is argued by respondent, as the court below held, that the present tax is not prohibited by the treaty since it is one upon succession (In re Estate of Thompson, 196 Iowa, 721, 195 N. W. 250, In re Meinert's Estate, 204 Iowa, 355, 213 N. W. 938), and not on property or its removal which, it is said, is alone forbidden; and that in any case since the only tax discrimination aimed at by article 7 in cases of inheritance is that upon the power of disposal of the estate, and not the provilege of succession, the particular discrimination complained of is not forbidden, for the statutes of Iowa permit a citizen of Denmark to dispose of his estate of citizens and residents of Denmark on the same terms as a citizen of Iowa to like nonresident alien beneficiaries.
The narrow and restricted interpretation of the treaty contended for by respondent, while permissible and often necessary in construing two statutes of the same legislative body in order to give effect to both so far as is reasonably possible, is not consonant with the principles which are controlling in the interpretation of treaties. Treaties are to be liberally construed, so as to effect the apparent intention of the parties. Jordan v. Tashiro (No. 13, October Term, 1928), 278 U. S. 123, 49 S. Ct. 47, 73 L. Ed. ; Geofroy v. Riggs, 133 U. S. 258, 271, 10 S. Ct. 295, 33 S. Ct. 642; In re Ross, 140 U. .S. 453, 475, 11 S. Ct. 897, 35 L. Ed. 581; Tucker v. Alexandroff, 183 U. S. 424, 22 S. Ct. 195, 46 L. Ed. 264. When a treaty provision fairly admits of two constructions, one restricting, the other enlarging, rights which may be claimed under it, the more liberal interpretation is to be preferred. Asakura v. Seattle, 265 U. S. 332, 44 S. Ct. 515, 68 L. Ed. 1041; Tucker v. Alexandroff, supra; Geofroy v. Riggs, supra. And as the treaty-making power is independent of and superior to the legislative power of the states, the meaning of treaty provisions so construed is not restricted by any necessity of avoiding possible conflict with state legislation and when so ascertained must prevail over inconsistent state enactments. See Ware v. Hylton, 3 Dall. 199, 1 L. Ed. 568; Jordan v. Tashiro, supra, cf. Cheung Sum Shee v. Nagle, 268 U. S. 336, 45 S. Ct. 539, 69 L. Ed. 985. When their meaning is uncertian, recourse may be had to the negotiations and diplomatic correspondence of the contracting parties relating to the subject-matter and to their own practical construction of it. Cf. In re Ross, supra, 140 U. S. at page 467, 11 S. Ct. 897, 35 L. Ed. 851; United States v. Texas, 162 U. S. 1, 23, 16 S. Ct. 725, 40 L. Ed. 867; Kinkead v. United States, 150 U. S. 486, 14 S. Ct. 172, 37 L. Ed. 1152; Terrace v. Thompson, 263 U. S. 197, 223, 44 S. Ct. 15, 68 L. Ed. 255.
The history of article 7 and references to its provisions in displomatic exchanges between the United States and Denmark leave little doubt that its purpose was both to relieve the citizens of each country from onerous taxes upon their property within the other and to enable them to dispose of such property, paying only such duties as are exacted of the inhabitants of the place of its situs, as suggested by this court in Petersen v. Iowa, supra, 245 U. S. 174, 38 S. Ct. 109, 62 L. Ed. 225, and also to extend like protection to alien heirs of the noncitizen.
On March 5, 1924, Mr. Pedersen, Minister of Denmark to the United States, presented to John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State, a project of convention for the consideration of this government. This project dealt with the commercial relations between the two countries and their territories and the appointment of consular officers, but did not contain any provisions corresponding to article 7. On January 14, 1826, certain citizens of the United States addressed to Henry Clay, then Secretary of State, a memorial complaining of certain taxes, imposed by the Danish government with respect to property of citizens of the United States located in the Danish West Indies, known as 'sixths' and 'tenths,' the former being one-sixth of the value of the property, payable to the crown, and the latter a further one-tenth of the residue, payable to the town or county magistrate, as a prerequisite to removal of property from the Islands. Both taxes ere imposed on the property inherited by an alien heir. Danish Laws, Code of Christian V, book V, c. 2, §§ 76, 77, 78, 79. The memorial prayed that an article be inserted in the treaty then contemplated with Denmark, comparable to the similar provisions of existing treaties between Denmark and Great Britain and Denmark and France, forbidding the imposition of taxes of this character.
Previously, on November 7, 1825, Mr. Clay had addressed a note to the Minister of Denmark, setting forth the conditions under which the United States would be disposed to proceed with negotiations. 3 Notes to Foreign Legations, 451. The note included, in numbered paragraphs, certain proposals which the government of the United States desired to have considered in connection with the draft convention submitted by the Danish Minister. Paragraph 5 was as follows:
'When citizens or subjects of the one party die in the country of the other, their estates shall not be subject to any droit de de traction, but shall pass to their successors, free from all duty.'
In a letter of April 14, 1826, shortly before the execution of the treaty, the Danish Minister transmitted to Mr. Clay a copy of what he termed 'the additional article to the late convention between Denmark and Great Britain respecting the mutual abolition of the droit de de traction.' This article, dated June 16, 1824, is substantially in the phraseology of article 7 of the present treaty between the United States and Denmark. 1
In the communication of Mr. Clay to the Danish charge d'affaires of November 10, 1826, following the ratification of the treaty, referring to article 7; he said: 'The object which the government of the United States had in view in that stipulation, was to secure the right of their citizens to bring their money and movable property home from the Danish islands, free from charges or duties and especially from the onerous law, known in those islands, under the denominations of sixths and tenths. This object was distinctly known to Mr. Pedersen, throughout the whole of the negotiation, and was expressly communicated by me to him in writing.' In the reply of the following day, the Danish charge d'affaires stated: 'I have been authorized * * * to declare to you, that measures have been taken accordingly by the Danish government, to secure the due execution of the seventh article of the convention, conformably to the intent and meaning thereof as by you stated. * * *'
The droit de de traction, referred to in the communication of Mr. Clay of November 7, 1825, and in the note of the Danish minister of April 14, 1826, in which he identified that phrase with the tax prohibited by the additional article of the treaty between Denmark and Great Britain of June 16, 1824, similar in terms to the article now before us, was a survival from medieval European law of a then well-recognized form of tax, imposed with respect to the right of an alien heir to acquire or withdraw from the realm the property inherited. 2 Although often referred to as a tax on property or its withdrawal, the droit de de traction seems rather to have been a form of inheritance tax, but one which, because of its imposition only with respect to property of aliens who normally removed it from the realm, was sometimes associated with the removal rather than the inheritance of the property. It was limited to inheritances, existed with and supplemented other taxes, the droit de retraite or the droit de sortie, imposed on the removal of property other than inheritances (Guyot, Re pertoire de Jurisprudence (1785) Sortie; Galvo, Distionnaire du Droit International (1885) De traction; Oppenheim, International Law (4th Ed. 1928) 559), and was, in most cases, applied regardless of the subsequent disposition of the property (Merlin, Re pertoire de Jurisprudence (5th Ed. 1827) De traction; Guyot, supra, De traction). Its origin and an examination of the commentators likewise leave no doubt that the droit de de traction-the tax-accrued upon the death of the decedent, and only after it had been collected was the heir entitled to take possession of the property and remove or otherwise dispose of it. 3 It was thus the precursor of the modern inheritance tax, differing from it in its essentials solely in that it was levied only where one of the parties to the inheritance was an alien or nonresident. 4
That the present discriminatory tax is the substantial equivalent of the droit de de traction is not open to doubt. That it was the purpose of the high contracting parties to prohibit discriminatory taxes of this nature clearly appears from the diplomatic correspondence preceding and subsequent to the execution of the treaty, although the 'sixths and tenths' tax, with which the parties were immediately concerned, was a removal tax.
We think also that the language of article 7, interpreted with that liberality demanded for treaty provisions, sufficiently expresses this purpose. It is true that the tax prohibited by the treaty is in terms a tax on property or on its removal, but it is also true that the modern conception of an inheritance tax as a tax on the privilege of transmitting or succeeding to property of a decedent, rather than on the property itself, was probably unknown to the draftsmen of article 7. But whatever, in point of present day legal theory, is the subject of the tax, it is the property transmitted which pays it, as the Iowa statute carefully provides. 5 In the face of the broad language embracing 'charges, or taxes of any kind, * * * upon any personal property * * * on the removal of the same * * * either upon the inheritance of such property, * * * or otherwise,' the omission, at that time, of words more specifically describing inheritance taxes as now defined, can hardly be deemed to evidence any intention not to include taxes theoretically levied upon the right to transmit or inherit, but which nevertheless were to be paid from the inheritance before it could be possessed or removed. Moreover, while it is true that the tax is levied whether the property is actually removed or not, it is, nevertheless, imposed only with respect to a class of persons who would normally find it necessary so to remove the property in order to enjoy it, and since payment of the tax is a prerequisite to removal, the tax is, in its practical operation, one on removal. In the light of the avowed purpose of the Treaty to forbid discriminatory taxes of this character, and its use of language historically deemed to embrace them, such effect should be given to its provisions.
The contention that the present discrimination is not one forbidden by the language of article 7, since the decedent's power of disposal is the same as that of a citizen, leaves out of consideration both the nature of the tax contemplated by the contracting parties and the fact that the treaty provisions extend explicitly to the withdrawal of such property by the alien heir upon inheritance and, as already pointed out, protect him in his right to receive his inheritance undiminished by a tax which is not imposed upon citizens of the other contracting party.
Reversed.
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'Their Britannick and Danish Majesties mutually agree, that no higher or other Duties shall be levied, in either of Their Dominions * * * upon any personal property of Their respective Subjects, on the removal of the same from the Dominions of Their said Majesties reciprocally, (either upon the inheritance of such property, or otherwise), than are or shall be payable in each State, upon the like property, when removed by a Subject of such State respectively.' 12 British and Foreign State Papers, 1824-1825 (1826) 49. Article 40 of the Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, concluded between France and Denmark August 23, 1742, provided that the citizens of each of the two countries reciprocally should be exempt in the other from the droit d'aubaine or other similar disability, under whatever name, and that their heirs should succeed to their property without impediment. 1 Coercq, Recueil des Traite § de la France (1864) 57.
The droit de de traction was derived from the droit d'aubaine, one of the many harsh feudal laws and customs directed against strangers and which, in its narrowest sense, was the right of the sovereign, as successor of the feudal lords, to appropriate all the property of a nonnaturalized alien dying, either testate or intestate, within the realm. 1 Calvo, Dictionnaire de Droit International (1885) 67, Aubaine; 1 Merlin, Re pertoire de Jurisprudence (5th Ed. 1827) 523, aubaine; Halleck, International Law (1861) 155; 2 Ferriere, Oeuvres de Bacquet (1778) 8 et seq. This right was exercised to the exclusion of all heirs whether they were citizens or aliens or resided within or without the realm, with the single exception of resident legitimate offspring, and continued to be exercised long after aliens had been accorded unrestricted power of disposition of goods inter vivos. Demangeat, Historie de la Condition Civile des E'Trangers en France (1844) 110, 125; Loisel, Institutes Contumiers, liv. 1, re gle 50. The term has, however, sometimes been applied to all the varying disabilities of aliens, Fiore, Le Droit International Prive (1907) 14, and more often used to include not only the inability of the alien to transmit but the complementary incapacity of an alien to inherit, even from a citizen, Merlin, supra, Aubaine.
But commercial expediency led, at an early date, to a mitigation of the rigors of the droit d'aubaine. This process took several forms, the exemption of alien merchants in certain trading centers, of certain classes of individuals (ex soldiers, etc.) and, most prominently, treaties providing for its reciprocal abandonment or contraction. In these treaties, the droit de de traction was recognized as a tax, of from five to twenty, usually ten, per cent. of the value, imposed on the right of an alien to acquire by inheritance (testate or intestate) the property of persons dying within the realm. Demangeat, supra, at 219, 225; 2 Masse , Le Droit Commercial (1844) 14; 1 Calvo, supra, De traction; Fuzier-Herman, Re pertoire General Alphabe tique du Droit Francaise (1890) Aubaine, 6; Guyot, Re pertoire de Jurisprudence (1785) De traction; Merlin, supra, De traction; Oppenheim, International Law (4th Ed. 1928) 560; Halleck, supra, at 155; Wheaton, Elements of International Law (8th Ed. 1866) 138. The droit d'aubaine and the droit de de traction were abolished in France by decrees of the Assembly in 1790 and 1791, but subsequently reappeared in the Civil Code, arts. 726, 912, with provision for abandonment as to a nation according similar treatment to French nationals. They were again abolished, with certain protective provisions for French heirs, by the Law of Jury 14, 1819. See Dalloz, Re pertoire Pratique (1825) Succession; Demangeat, supra, at 239, et seq., and citations, supra.
'C'est un droit par leguel le souverain distrait a son profit une certaine partie de succession qu'il permet aux e trangers de venir receueiller dans ses e tats.' 4 Merlin, supra, 518, De traction; Guyot, supra, De traction. 'Ce droit * * * consistait dans un pre le vement ope re par le gouverment * * * sur le produit net des successions transfe re § a l'e tranger.' Calvo, supra, De traction; see also Fuzier-Herman, Re pertoire General du Droit Francaise (1890) Aubaine, 6.
A number of early treaties of the United States clearly recognize this essential characteristic of the droit de de traction, either by providing in terms for the abolition of both removal duties and the droit de de traction, cf. Treaties with: France of 1778, 2 R. S. 203, 206; Wurttemberg of 1844, 2 R. S. 809; Saxony of 1845, 2 R. S. 690; or by words of similar import, cf. Treaties with: France of 1853, 2 R. S. 249, 251; Switzerland of 1850, 2 R. S. 748, 749, 750; Honduras of 1864, 2 R. S. 426, 428; Great Britain of 1900, 31 Stat. 1939.
'The tax shall be and remain a legal charge against and a lien upon such estate, and any and all the property thereof from the death of the decedent owner until paid.' Code Iowa (1927) c. 351, § 7311. See, also sections 7309, 7363.
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©Livingstone Partners 2019. Livingstone Partners LLC.
An interview with a first year analyst
Olga Jewusiak
Born in South Korea and raised in northern California, Justin chose to venture out of his “California bubble” and landed in the midwest for college. He chose WashU in St. Louis due to their strong business program, knowing early on he wanted to work alongside entrepreneurs and their businesses.
After interning at a venture capital firm and speaking with several alumni, he chose to exclusively focus on investment banking because of the comprehensive skill-set he would gain. He began interviewing his senior year, mentioning that the interview process is similar with all banks – beginning with a 5-minute interview, progressing to a 30-minute technical interview and hopefully ending with an invitation to interview onsite.
Justin began working as an Analyst in the summer of 2017. We spoke with him about his experience at Livingstone thus far.
When & why did you choose Livingstone?
I’d already interned at a venture capital firm and realized I wanted a job that challenged me quantitatively and qualitatively. After speaking with a number of alumni who described how comprehensive a skill-set you can build in investment banking, I knew an investment bank would be a good place to begin my career.
Livingstone stood out to me during the full-time recruiting process for a number of reasons; I realized a leaner bank with a flatter hierarchy would allow me to take on as much responsibility as I could handle rather than being confined to a limited set of tasks at a larger bank. Furthermore, Livingstone’s generalist industry focus and variety of transaction types contribute to a well-rounded, comprehensive learning opportunity something you don’t get to do at larger firms.
What does a typical day entail for you?
That very much depends on how many deals I’m staffed on and what stages each of those deals are at. There is no “typical” day, but I try to catch up on news in the morning then delve into a variety of tasks, including constructing financial models, drafting CIMs and Management Presentations, and leading/participating in buyer diligence calls. The great aspect about a lean firm like Livingstone is that analysts have the opportunity to directly interact with the CEOs/CFOs of clients and buyers, whereas analysts at larger banks would rarely have the chance to do so, if at all.
What is the most enjoyable part about working at Livingstone?
The culture. Even during my interview on Super Day, I was struck by how down-to-earth the individuals interviewing me were. I chalked it up to a company founded on midwestern principles, a hardworking attitude with humble roots. There is a genuine team-oriented approach here. Whereas some banks may be cutthroat in analyst competition, Livingstone fosters a culture of collaboration, and all the analysts help each other out and get along.
This kind of culture is refreshing, especially in finance.
How has Livingstone impacted your career? Or, how do you hope Livingstone will impact your career?
My experience at Livingstone has improved both my quantitative and qualitative skillset. I’ve become a lot more efficient in building analyses in excel, more confident speaking about a deal to buyers, and creating content for marketing materials. Since coming on board in 2017 I have interacted directly with clients, led buyer calls and generally had more exposure with senior bankers internally than I would have at a larger bank.
What is your most memorable moment working at Livingstone?
Pretty sure other employees have mentioned this, but every year Livingstone hosts an international annual retreat at one of the 7 offices to bring together all of its employees. I’ve had the good fortune of attending two and each time has been a highly memorable experience. It’s great to get to know co-workers in an informal setting.
What is the most memorable deal(s) you’ve worked on?
A business services deal that I was actively involved in from beginning to close. I acquired exposure to all stages of the M&A process and witnessed both the rewarding and challenging aspects of getting a deal done.
What hobbies or activities do you enjoy outside of work?
I’m very passionate about sports and music. Whenever I have downtime, I actively follow a variety of professional sports and join a pickup basketball/volleyball game. I also used to create mashups and remixes of electronic dance music, so I occasionally pick that back up too.
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Ryan Buckley
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We talk with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt
During an exclusive interview with Living with Energy in Iowa magazine prior to appearing before almost 500 electric cooperative directors, employees and guests at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives in Des Moines last month, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt’s message was clear: The EPA wants to be a partner with electric cooperatives, not an adversary.
He stressed that it’s time to get back to the basics of national energy policy. That means letting utilities, including electric cooperatives, make informed business decisions about how to best generate electricity in a way that achieves good outcomes for the environment.
On March 28, President Trump signed an executive order that called for a review of the Clean Power Plan. In conjunction with this review, Administrator Pruitt launched a Back-to-Basics Agenda, focusing on three E’s related to energy policy: protecting the environment, providing sensible regulations that allow economic growth, and engaging with state and local partners.
“The past 8 years of agency leadership have been about regulatory uncertainty, which has impeded economic growth,” Pruitt said. “Under the Clean Power Plan, the agency adopted coercive rules that dictated policy to states, including electric cooperatives, about how they should generate electricity with little regard to consumers. When it came to generation sources such as coal, natural gas, wind or solar, it became about picking winners and losers. That is not the role of the EPA.”
According to Pruitt, the EPA’s role is to evaluate environmental pollutants, determine how to regulate them under the Clean Air Act, set emission levels and let utility companies make informed business decisions based on those policies.
“It’s time to give power back to the people,” Pruitt added. “The EPA should not be telling electric cooperatives that one type of generating source is better than the other. It’s the role of the cooperative to select generation based on stability, low cost and long-term resiliency for consumers.”
Focus on stewardship
In recent years, Pruitt believes that environmental policies have focused on telling utilities that they can’t use practical, fossil-fueled generation – including coal or natural gas.
“Americans need to reject the notice that true environmentalism is prohibition. True environmentalism is stewardship,” he said. “We’ve been blessed with tremendous natural resources from coal to natural gas – and in some areas, such as Iowa, wind generation. It’s our obligation to use and manage those resources with a stewardship mindset – not a prohibition mindset.”
For Iowans with deep roots in agriculture, it’s a natural fit – and a message Pruitt hopes that co-op member-owners will spread.
“Farmers were essentially the first conservationists and environmentalists in the way they care for the land and livestock,” he said. “For farmers, the land is their greatest asset, which is why they need to use it while nurturing and cultivating it. The same is true for our natural generation resources; we need to stop putting fences around them.”
Emphasize fuel diversity
We shouldn’t feel like we must choose renewables over fossil fuels, Pruitt continued. Instead, it’s about creating fuel diversity that considers first and foremost what’s important to consumers: a stable, low-cost and resilient supply of power.
Renewables are part of his energy philosophy when combined with traditional baseload sources of power that operate around-the-clock. By definition, solar and wind are intermittent sources of power. Are they sources that should be used to supplement coal and natural gas? Absolutely, Pruitt said.
“However, it’s fanciful to think all of the power needed to ensure a high quality of life can be generated from intermittent sources.”
Here are the next steps
As the EPA works to repeal and replace the Clean Power Plan, the agency is focused on getting back to its core mission, which includes making it a priority to see if progress is being made to improve air and water quality.
“We need to create a baseline where we are today, and then focus on results and actual achievements,” Pruitt concluded. “There is so much opportunity to improve, and we must let states lead the way in a manner that actually works for Americans.”
Source: Ann Thelen
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Butte January unemployment worst in 15 years
PUBLISHED: March 6, 2009 at 12:00 am | UPDATED: July 28, 2018 at 10:34 am
More than 13,000 Butte County residents were out of work in January, a 15-year high, according to unemployment figures released Thursday by the state.
Butte County’s unemployment rate was 12.6 percent, the highest rate for January since 1994, when it was 13.2 percent.
Butte’s January numbers were up from 10.4 percent in December and 8.4 percent in January 2008.
Nearly all employment sectors saw year-over job losses.
In Glenn County, the unemployment rate was 15.4 percent, up from 12.9 percent in December and 11.6 percent in January 2008.
In January, 1,940 residents were without jobs. Glenn County’s job losses focused on manufacturing, durable goods and financial sectors.
It wasn’t unexpected.
State Employment Development Department labor analyst Sheila Stock, who watches Butte County’s labor force, said there’s a traditional drop in employment in January, which is worsened by the economic downturn.
“We’re still dealing with construction and financial industries’ losses, and we’re starting to see retail falling, stores closing.”
Making the situation worse for retail is the seasonal release of workers hired for holiday sales, plus the decline in spending as consumers react to the souring economy and possibly their own job loss.
“January and February are traditionally the highest unemployment months for many of these counties,” Stock said. That also means that labor analysts are hoping for an improving picture come March, when more hiring occurs, she said. Those figures will be released in early May.
Stock said in January 1994 — when the unemployment rate was 13.2 percent — there were 10,500 unemployed in the labor force of 80,000.
Today’s labor force in Butte County stands at 105,900 people. Of that, 13,300 individuals were unemployed. In January 2008, there were 8,600 people without jobs.
Stock noted that the unemployment figure includes part-time workers who could be working full time, unemployed individuals collecting benefits, and unemployed people not collecting benefits.
For Butte County, the biggest year-over job losses occurred in the areas of general merchandise, information, and professional and business services.
There were some bright spots in Butte County, which saw more workers hired in agriculture — both from the previous months and January 2008 — and in wholesale trade.
In Tehama County, the unemployment rate was 13.3 percent, up from 11 percent in December, and 9.2 percent in January 2008. In January, 3,540 people were without jobs.
Tehama County’s job loss focused in educational and health services, but it had year-over job increases in construction, information, and business and professional services.
Staff writer Laura Urseny can be reached at 896-7756 or lurse.ny@chicoer.com.
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30% of youngsters in South West Bedfordshire are overweight or obese
Up to 30% of South West Bedfordshire’s 11 and 12 year old are obese or overweight.
That’s the stark message from constituency MP Andrew Selous, who attended an event in Parliament to support calls for Government to swiftly and fully implement the policy proposals outlined in chapter 2 of their Childhood Obesity Plan.
In 2017/18, 19% of children in South West Bedfordshire started primary school with excess weight or obesity. By year 7, 30% of South West Bedfordshire children were overweight or obese.
The plan includes a 9pm watershed on junk food adverts on TV, equivalent measures online and restrictions on unhealthy food promotions.
The event was organised by the Obesity Health Alliance, a coalition of over 40 leading charities, medical royal colleges and campaign groups. MPs in attendance discovered the latest childhood obesity statistics in their constituencies, and discussed the issue with a range of experts, including a children’s doctor, an academic and a former marketer with first-hand experience of the tactics used by the advertising industry to encourage us to buy and consume excess sugar and calories.
Mr Selous even had the opportunity to create his own compelling junk food advert, raising awareness about the tricks of the trade.
Obesity increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, cancer, heart and liver disease plus associated mental health problems, putting an enormous and unsustainable strain on the NHS.
Speaking at the event, Mr Selous said:
“With 19% starting primary school and 30% ending primary school with excess weight or obesity, it is clear that urgent action is needed to address this problem.
“Action on junk food marketing and promotions of unhealthy food and drink is essential to ensuring that children and their families in my constituency – and across the country – can lead healthier lives. That’s why I support Obesity Health Alliance calls for Government to implement the proposals in Chapter 2 of the Childhood Obesity Plan without delay.”
Caroline Cerny, Obesity Health Alliance Lead, said: “It’s great to see MPs pledging to support Obesity Health Alliance calls for the swift and full implementation of the Government’s Childhood Obesity Plan. We know that children these days are growing up in obesogenic environments. Families are bombarded by junk food adverts during the shows they watch the most, tempted by cheap fast food outlets littering the high street, and encouraged to buy unhealthy food and drinks through price and prominent place promotions in stores.
“Families want to make healthy choices for their children, and we believe that Chapter 2 of the Childhood Obesity Plan, if fully implemented without delay, will help them to do this, and ultimately help to lower childhood obesity rates sooner rather than later”.
Mr Selous signed a letter to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, urging his Department to fully engage with the upcoming consultation on junk food marketing. Government are expected to publish this and other consultations on Childhood Obesity Plan proposals by the end of the year.
Luton Muslim community charity dinner raises £90k for L&D helipad appeal
Three Luton teenagers found guilty of stabbing cyclist on Dunstable high street after he refused to buy cannabis
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Harford 'absolutely thrilled' as Hatters earn their place in the record books
Hatters boss Mick Harford applauds the visiting fans at Fleetwood
Luton boss Mick Harford declared himself 'absolutely thrilled' as the Hatters went 20 games without defeat in the Football League for the first time in their history by winning 2-1 at Fleetwood this afternoon.
George Moncur's glorious free kick and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu's strike that was spilled by Cod Army keeper Alex Cairns was enough for the visitors to set a new club record at Highbury.
Harford said: "I’m thrilled for the players, it puts them up there in terms of, some of the the best teams that’s ever been out and performed for Luton Town Football Club.
"They’re in that high echelon and I’m absolutely thrilled for them.
"It’s only testament to the way they work, the way they go about their business, the way they train, the way every game they conduct themselves.
"They’re an absolutely brilliant bunch to manage and I can’t praise them any higher, I’m absolutely thrilled for them and the football club.
“The players know what’s at stake going into every game, they’re not stupid, but we knew today was a real tough game.
"It’s not easy to come here, Joey (Barton) sets his team up to be hard to beat, they’ve got some good players and it’s a difficult, difficult place to come.
"You try and keep them focused, you try and keep them on what the real aim is, and if we break records along the way, that’s absolutely fantastic.
"It’s a great achievement by the players again supported by a full house of Luton fans, who were amazing and they supported us immensely.
"That last two or three minutes, we needed the fans and they got behind the team."
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Reichert said he is scheduled to meet with Wood's office May 13 to discuss the allegations and a lower settlement payment, which the letter says Wood's office is "willing to discuss."
Federal law allows the government to reclaim three times the amount owed, plus penalties, according to the letter. Reichert said he still is trying to gather information on the matter and does not know whether any criminal charges could be forthcoming.
City Attorney Pope Langstaff said federal officials told him over the phone that "they were treating it as a civil matter at this point."
QUESTIONS HAVE LINGERED FOR YEARS The grant in question is a Safe Schools Initiative grant awarded in 2002, which is often referred to as a faith-based grant. The city, through the Macon Police Department, doled out money to already existing crime-prevention programs for youths, such as after-school programs. Of the $1 million grant, the federal government kept $100,000 for oversight, the city kept $170,000 to administer the program locally, and the remaining $730,000 was split among partnerships made up of dozens of churches and civic groups.
The program has been a target of federal investigators for several years. It also was examined during the Bibb County grand jury's investigation of city finances, which District Attorney Howard Simms handed off to the U.S. attorney's office in 2005.
Those inquiries generated numerous subpoenas and reams of documents, though little has been made public. In fact, the letter released by Reichert's office Monday is one of the few pieces of evidence from the past few years that a federal inquiry is ongoing. Wood and Assistant U.S. Attorney Donald Johstono wouldn't comment on the letter Monday or on any aspect of an investigation into city finances.
"At least for right now," Wood said. "Whether we'll get there or not, I just don't know."
Allegations in the U.S. attorney's letter jibe with what the local grand jury investigation found, Bibb County District Attorney Howard Simms said Monday. He also said the letter's threat of a civil suit doesn't necessarily preclude criminal charges. It also doesn't mean those charges will follow, but he said, "it doesn't sound very good, does it?"
COULD BE INNOCENT — OR SINISTER
According to the letter, the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General actually handled the investigation into the Safe Schools Initiative. But that office wouldn't comment on the letter, referring all questions to Wood's office.
Outside experts contacted by The Telegraph agreed with Simms' read of the situation: It's hard to say what the allegations could lead to.
Donnie Dixon, a former U.S. attorney in Georgia, said it's serious any time the U.S. attorney's office sends a letter. But University of Georgia law professor Tom Eaton said that since the letter only mentions a civil action, investigators have decided they don't have enough evidence to suspect criminal wrongdoing right now. That doesn't mean a criminal case won't be brought later, he said.
"These things can be as innocent as a misplaced decimal point or can be as sinister as intentionally (misusing funds)," said Eaton, who spoke only in general about federal investigations.
Ellis is the only city official named in the letter. But the program was operated by the police department under then-Police Chief Rodney Monroe, who left Macon to become chief of police in Richmond, Va. Monroe did not return Telegraph calls Monday, and he has not returned Telegraph calls seeking comment about this grant and the subsequent investigations since he moved to Richmond. He is now a finalist to be Charlotte, N.C.'s police chief, according to a report on the Richmond Times-Dispatch's Web site Monday.
Kelly High-Foster, a police department finance officer under Monroe, and Albert Stokes, who was the department's point man for the Safe Schools Initiative, also did not return calls Monday. Both Foster and Stokes went with Monroe to Richmond. Likewise, attempts to reach Norman Carter and Smyther Fallen, both of whom worked on the initiative for the city, were not successful Monday.
In 2006, Fallen told The Telegraph that the program was poorly run by the city, which didn't give grant recipients the assistance they needed to understand program rules. But he also said there was no abuse of government money.
ELLIS DEFENDS, COUNCIL REACTS
Monday, Ellis took up for administrators and area ministers involved in the program.
"I just don't believe that Rodney Monroe would have permitted any such things (as the letter alleges)," Ellis said. "And I definitely don't believe that any of the ministers who actually carried out the work. ... I'm sure that they didn't use this money for anything that it wasn't intended to be used for."
There may be some question whether the spending was properly documented, though, Ellis said. He said a federal audit conducted during his time in office found that "like $30,000 or $40,000" in expenditures needed more documentation than the churches and the department had provided.
"I'm sure (grant administrators and the ministers) did what was right or what they thought to be right at the time," Ellis said. "And I'm sure at the end of the day everything will work itself out. At least I'm hopeful."
The Telegraph attempted to reach several preachers involved in the program Monday, and spoke to two.
The Rev. Marshell Stenson, whose Bibb County Community Coalition received money, said he can't remember when he last spoke to federal investigators, but it was more than a year ago. He said he thought all the questions had been answered, and he is puzzled more have been raised.
"Last time I talked with the mayor — Jack Ellis — he said it was cleared up," Stenson said.
The Rev. Ronald Toney at Lizzie Chapel Baptist Church said Monday he was interviewed by the U.S. attorney's office and the investigator didn't have a problem with the program's accounting.
Other ministers, in past interviews, have said federal investigators contacted them for brief interviews and with requests for documents about the Safe Schools Initiative. And in the fall of 2006, the city was served at least two subpoenas seeking information about police department spending, including a demand for documentation of every purchase card transaction made by the department from June 2002 through July 2004.
City Council members have known for years that there were serious questions about city spending, and particularly its handling of this federal grant. Still, some of them expressed shock at seeing the letter's allegations in print, while others took an I-told-you-so stance.
"This letter contains some disturbing information," said Councilwoman Elaine Lucas, a member of the city's Appropriations Committee. "Right now the city cannot afford this kind of financial responsibility."
"I've been warning about this for three years," Councilman Rick Hutto said, noting past audit reports had suggested accounting concerns with the city's law enforcement grants.
Ellis, who was in North Carolina on Monday campaigning for Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, discussed the situation in a telephone interview. His demeanor was calm, a far cry from the ex-mayor's past habit of calling out investigators and accusing them of targeting his administration unfairly.
Despite Simms' lengthy grand jury investigation and the ongoing federal inquiry, no one has been indicted at City Hall. Former Finance Director Kelly Clarke was pushed out of her job, and she was charged with conspiracy after a review of the city's books. That charge eventually was dropped.
"I am confident that every penny that we spent, every penny ... people did what they were supposed to do," Ellis said.
Telegraph staff photographer Beau Cabell contributed to this report.
They tried CBD instead of pain pills. Now they’ve opened a CBD store in Macon.
Teen accused of spitting in Arizona Tea, returning it to store shelf, Texas cops say
By Chacour Koop
A teenager at an Albertson’s grocery store in Odessa, Texas, is accused of spitting in a bottle of Arizona tea and putting it back on the shelf, police say, just weeks after Blue Bell ice cream licker in Lufkin.
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Woodhull Fun Fest set for July 20
Sherrie Taylor, The Register-Mail
WOODHULL — The sixth annual Fun Fest begins Saturday, July 20, with a 5K run at 8 a.m., followed by a Family Fun Run at 9:30 a.m. Lindsey Brown is chairperson for the event and has promoted the race through area running clubs. In previous years, the race drew more than 100 runners.
Registration begins at 6:45 a.m. and there are trophies for various age groups. After the race, runners will be provided fruits and snacks, Brown said.
Activities continue throughout the day at the park in Woodhull. This includes pony and carriage rides, face painting, straw scramble, sponge toss, pool noodle fishing, human foosball, nine square, shoot-out, free throw contest and a kiddie tractor pull, with ribbons for all and trophies to winners.
The day also includes a dunk tank, an ice cream social sponsored by Woodhull churches, bingo in the park pavilion and a firemen’s water fight. There is a Strongman Contest with weigh-ins at 8 a.m., and the event begins at 11 a.m.
The AlWood Lions Club hearing bus will provide this service at no charge and the Clover firemen will have a demonstration.
The Harvest Church youth group will sell pop and water, and the Lemonade Gang of young people will direct proceeds to the Alpha Elementary School playground fund.
Evening events on Division Street include barbecue ribs sponsored by the End Zone and pork chops served at Genisio’s. Local musicians will perform before the street dance at 8 p.m.
Alice Barnett is chairman of the WINN committee for the event and says all funds go toward the celebration next year. A number of businesses and churches have made donations to help sponsor this year’s event. They are listed on the flyers and on the T-shirts worn by participants and workers.
The WINN committee is officially the Woodhull Invites New Neighbors and helps sponsor other community events.
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USC Viterbi's Online Computer Science MS Program Repeats No.1 Ranking
Published: Jan 8, 2014 1:30 p.m. ET
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 8, 2014 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- U.S. News & World Report again ranks DEN@Viterbi as the top online computer science program in North America
Today U.S. News & World Report released its annual list of Best Online Education Programs, ranking the USC Viterbi School of Engineering's Distance Education Network (DEN@Viterbi) as the No. 1 Online Graduate Computer Information Technology (CIT) program in North America for the second year in a row. USC Viterbi's 40+ other online graduate engineering programs were collectively ranked in U.S. News' top five, for the second year in a row.
"We are excited that USC Viterbi is yet again ranked as a leader in online professional graduate education," said Kelly Goulis, Senior Associate Dean of USC Viterbi Graduate and Professional Programs. "More than ever, engineers are challenged to solve today's global issues while maintaining their careers, traveling for work, and continuing their education. We are proud of our online graduate engineering program, DEN@Viterbi, for being recognized as one of the highest-quality online educational programs available to today's professional engineers."
DEN@Viterbi, a pioneer in distance learning, was established in 1972 and has grown to offer more than 40 online engineering master's degree programs, graduate certificates and professional courses. The online program allows students, such as active military personnel and full-time professionals located abroad and within the United States, to access USC Viterbi's top-ranked engineering program from the comfort of their home computer. The online education platform provides a unique blended classroom model that integrates on- and off-campus students via custom studio classrooms on the USC Viterbi campus. DEN@Viterbi coursework is identical to that for on-campus USC Viterbi students, with the same top faculty as well as the same high admissions and performance standards.
U.S. News rankings are based on a variety of factors including: admissions selectivity, reputational surveys of deans and other academic officials, faculty credentials and training, student engagement, and student services and technology.
For more information about DEN@Viterbi, visit viterbi.usc.edu/den.
About the USC Viterbi School of EngineeringEngineering Studies began at the University of Southern California in 1905. Nearly a century later, the Viterbi School of Engineering received a naming gift in 2004 from alumnus Andrew J. Viterbi, inventor of the Viterbi algorithm now key to cell phone technology and numerous data applications. Consistently ranked among the top graduate programs in the world, the school enrolls more than 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students, taught by 174 tenured and tenure-track faculty, with 60 endowed chairs and professorships. http://viterbi.usc.edu
SOURCE USC Viterbi School of Engineering
Copyright (C) 2014 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
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Pearson v. Colvin: Social Security Disability Appeals
Pearson v. Colvin, a case from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, involves a claimant who had worked at a variety of different jobs. He was a press operator at a plastics factory and a grounds keeper to name a couple. Claimant was working at his last job when he was laid off in February 2009.
Six weeks after being laid off from his job, he applied for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. He claimed his disability was related to spinal arthritis, degenerative joint disease, and a torn rotator cuff in one shoulder. He also said he suffered from shin splints, artery disease in his lower extremities, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), a hiatal hernia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression.
His application was denied initially. This is fairly normal, as, sadly, far more than half of all applications are denied upon filing without any real regard to whether not not the claimant is disabled. One of the ways the United States Social Security Administration (SSA) attempts to keep costs down and stay within the budget is to summarily deny many applications. While the agency does not state this as an official policy, it seems clearly to be the case based upon practice.
The system is even more difficult for unrepresented claimants who are at a serious disadvantage without a Boston disability attorney to represent them.
After claimant’s application was denied, he filed for reconsideration and was eventually granted a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ held a brief hearing and then affirmed the earlier denial of claimant’s application. At this point, claimant appealed for a review with the Social Security Appeals Council. The council granted claimant’s request for a review and decided there should be a further record made before ALJ could justify a decision. The council ordered that a vocational expert (VE) testify at a rehearing.
At the subsequent hearing, a vocational expert was present to testify. However, just as VE began speaking, ALJ asked a question. He wanted to know if VE’s testimony was any different than what is in the archaic Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), and if so, to notify him of any discrepancies. The VE said he would comply with this request. The ALJ then asked a series of hypotheticals to the VE. This is done so that the VE can testify generally about things without even knowing anything about the real claimant. It is basically a legal fiction that allows experts to give opinions when they do not know the facts.
After one hypothetical, ALJ asked if this person could perform any of claimant’s past jobs, and VE said no. He asked if claimant could perform any job in the national economy and he said yes to unskilled light work such as a motel cleaner. VE did not mention any conflict between his opinion and the DOT. ALJ affirmed his earlier denial of benefits.
Claimant appealed his second denial and on appeal the court concluded that ALJ never resolved a conflict between VE’s testimony and the DOT, and without a reconciliation, there cannot be a proper finding against a claimant. For this reason, the case was reversed and remanded for further proceedings.
Pearson v. Colvin, December 17, 2015, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Updated: January 4, 2016 11:01 am
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A Most Dangerous Era
Where Will the Jobs Come From?
More Unintended Consequences
The Great Divergence: Productivity and Wages
How Do You Spell Assume?
Los Angeles, Miami, Argentina, and South Africa
"In the economic sphere an act, a habit, an institution, a law produces not only one effect, but a series of effects. Of these effects, the first alone is immediate; it appears simultaneously with its cause; it is seen. The other effects emerge only subsequently; they are not seen; we are fortunate if we foresee them.
"There is only one difference between a bad economist and a good one: the bad economist confines himself to the visible effect; the good economist takes into account both the effect that can be seen and those effects that must be foreseen.
"Yet this difference is tremendous; for it almost always happens that when the immediate consequence is favorable, the later consequences are disastrous, and vice versa. Whence it follows that the bad economist pursues a small present good that will be followed by a great evil to come, while the good economist pursues a great good to come, at the risk of a small present evil."
– From an essay by Frédéric Bastiat in 1850, "That Which Is Seen and That Which Is Unseen"
The devil is in the details, we are told, and the details are often buried in an appendix or footnote. This week we were confronted with a rather troubling appendix in the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) analysis of the Affordable Care Act, which suggests that the act will have a rather profound impact on employment patterns. You could tell a person's political leaning by how they responded. Republicans jumped all over this. The conservative Washington Times, for instance, featured this headline: "Obamacare will push 2 million workers out of labor market: CBO." Which is not what the analysis says at all. Liberals immediately downplayed the import by suggesting that all it really said was that people will have more choice about how they work, giving them more free time to play with their kids and pets and pursue other activities. Who could be against spending more time with your children?
Paul Krugman noted that the data means that potential GDP will be reduced by as much as 0.5% per year, which he dismissed as a small number. And he states that people voluntarily reducing their work hours does not have the same economic effect as people being laid off or fired. Which is true, but not the point nor the import of that pesky little appendix.
To me the economic and employment effects of Obamacare are another piece of the larger puzzle called Where Will the Jobs Come From? This may be the most important economic question of the next 30 years. Because this topic has been the focus of my thinking for the past few years, I could be reading more into the CBO's report than I should, but indulge me as I make a few points and then see if I can tie them together in the end.
First let's look at what the report actually said. The CBO stated that the implementation of the Affordable Care Act will result in a "substantially larger" and "considerably higher" reduction in the labor force than the "mere" 800,000 the budget office estimated in 2010. The overall level of labor will fall by 1.5% to 2% over the decade, the CBO figures. The revision was evidently driven by economic work done by a professor at the University of Chicago by the name of Casey Mulligan. (When you do a little research on Professor Mulligan and look past the multitude of honors and awards, you find people calling him the antithesis of Paul Krugman. I must therefore state for the record that I already like him.) For you economics wonks, there is a very interesting interview with Professor Mulligan in the weekend Wall Street Journal. For those who don't go there, I will summarize and quote a few salient points.
Let's be clear. This report and Mulligan's research do not say Obamacare destroys jobs. What they suggest is that Obamacare raises the marginal tax rates on income, and to such an extent that it reduces the rewards for working more hours for marginally higher pay at certain income levels. The chart below does not pertain to upper-income individuals but rather to those at the median income level.
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What Mulligan's work does demonstrate is that the loss of government benefits has the same effect on an individual as a tax increase. If you lose a government subsidy because you work more hours, then for all intents and purposes it is the same as if you were taxed at a higher rate. Quoting now from the WSJ piece:
Instead, liberals have turned to claiming that ObamaCare's missing workers will be a gift to society. Since employers aren't cutting jobs per se through layoffs or hourly take-backs, people are merely choosing rationally to supply less labor. Thanks to ObamaCare, we're told, Americans can finally quit the salt mines and blacking factories and retire early, or spend more time with the children, or become artists.
Mr. Mulligan reserves particular scorn for the economists making this "eliminated from the drudgery of labor market" argument, which he views as a form of trahison des clercs [loosely translated, "the betrayal of academic economists" – JM]. "I don't know what their intentions are," he says, choosing his words carefully, "but it looks like they're trying to leverage the lack of economic education in their audience by making these sorts of points."
A job, Mr. Mulligan explains, "is a transaction between buyers and sellers. When a transaction doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. We know that it doesn't matter on which side of the market you put the disincentives, the results are the same.... In this case you're putting an implicit tax on work for households, and employers aren't willing to compensate the households enough so they'll still work." Jobs can be destroyed by sellers (workers) as much as buyers (businesses).
He adds: "I can understand something like cigarettes and people believe that there's too much smoking, so we put a tax on cigarettes, so people smoke less, and we say that's a good thing. OK. But are we saying we were working too much before? Is that the new argument? I mean make up your mind. We've been complaining for six years now that there's not enough work being done.... Even before the recession there was too little work in the economy. Now all of a sudden we wake up and say we're glad that people are working less? We're pursuing our dreams?" The larger betrayal, Mr. Mulligan argues, is that the same economists now praising the great shrinking workforce used to claim that ObamaCare would expand the labor market.
Paul Krugman interprets the CBO estimates to mean a loss of the number of hours that would be equivalent to the loss of 2 million jobs. The Wall Street Journal sees that same number as equivalent to 2.5 million jobs. Professor Mulligan's research suggests that they are still off by a factor of two and that it could be closer to 5 million job equivalents.
That means a drop in potential GDP growth of somewhere between 0.5% and 1% per year. A small price to pay for universal healthcare, suggests Krugman. I would personally see it as a large price to pay for structuring healthcare reform the wrong way. That we need healthcare reform and that we as a country want it to be universal is clear. But the CBO report makes it evident that there is a hidden economic cost to the country in the way healthcare reform is currently structured. Dismissing potential GDP growth loss of 0.5% per year as "not all that much" is simply not intellectually sufficient.
(And that is taking Krugman's estimate of 0.5% to be the actual negative effect. There are other economists who can produce credible estimates that are much higher, but for the purposes of this letter Krugman's lower estimate will do.)
Doug Henwood over at The Liscio Report produced some fascinating research this week on what it has meant for our economy to be growing at a lower rate since 2007. In another report, the CBO offered its own estimate of future growth, which the normally sanguine Henwood thinks has the potential to make us complacent. Let's jump right to his impact paragraphs (emphasis mine):
Another way to measure where GDP is relative to where it "should" be is by comparing the actual level to its long-term trend. [That's what's graphed below.] This technique shows the economy in a much deeper hole than the CBO does.
By this method, actual GDP at the end of 2013 was 86.7% of its trend value. That's actually 3 points below where it was when the recession ended. Consumption was 87.4% of its trend value; investment, 75.1%; and government, 84.5%. (Note that government, despite perceptions to the contrary, has been falling, not rising, relative to its trend.)
These are huge gaps. In nominal dollar terms, per capita GDP is $8,278 below its 1970–2007 trend. Using the CBO's less dramatic gap estimate works out to an actual per capita GDP $2,141 below its potential. Either way, that's a lot of money. One way of reconciling the $6,137 disparity between the figures derived from CBO's method and the trend method is by pointing to the long-term economic damage done by the financial crisis and recession.
The hit to investment, productivity, and labor force participation is enormous and long-lived. To put that $6,137 number in perspective, it's very close to the per capita GDP of China. That is not small, and if the CBO is even half right, it's not going away any time soon.
By the way, Casey Mulligan argues in his 2012 book, The Redistribution Recession, that the expansion of the welfare state through the surge in food stamps, unemployment benefits, disability, Medicaid, and other safety-net programs was responsible for about half the drop in work hours since 2007, and possibly more.
The CBO is de facto admitting that the increase in the entitlement spending due to Obamacare is going to reduce GDP. If Mulligan's larger projection is right, we could lose roughly 10% of GDP potential over the next decade. That means the pie in the future will be smaller by 10%. That is a huge difference, not an inconsequential one. It means tax revenues needed to pay for government benefits will be 10% smaller. I am not arguing for or against whether such benefits are a proper expenditure of money; I'm simply saying that we cannot ignore the economic consequences simply because they may be politically inconvenient.
Think about this for a moment. We have lost the equivalent of Chinese per-person GDP in the space of seven years as a result of policy choices made by both Republican and Democratic administrations and due to the financial repression visited upon us by the Federal Reserve – which, by the way, has created multiple bubbles. The way we structure our policy decisions has consequences beyond the obvious.
Rather than immediately jumping to some kind of conclusion on employment that simply offers a number and doesn't offer insight, I want us to look at the larger picture of work and what we get paid for it. We are rightly concerned in the developed world about the concentration of income and wealth in the top fraction of the population. When 85 people own 46% of the world's wealth, as we've repeatedly heard the past few weeks, what does this portend for the future?
Understand that wealth distribution is all relative:
You need an annual income of $34,000 a year to be in the richest 1% of the world, according to World Bank economist Branko Milanovic's 2010 book The Haves and the Have-Nots. To be in the top half of the global population, you need to earn just $1,225 a year. For the top 20%, it's $5,000 per year. You enter the top 10% with $12,000 a year. To be included in the top 0.1% requires an annual income of $70,000." (From a brilliant piece by Morgan Housel titled "50 Reasons We’re Living Through the Greatest Period in World History," in The Motley Fool.)
(Most of the readers of this letter are in the top 1% and many are in the top 0.1%. Feel better about yourself now?)
Now stay with me here. I am going to work toward making a connection between the following section and the Affordable Care Act. In last week's Thoughts from the Frontline we explored the long-term obstacles to growth in emerging markets, as a powerful wave of new technologies shrinks developed-world trade demand for energy and manufactured goods.
I believe this disruption in long-standing trade relationships signals a gradual realignment in the global economy as the developed world moves toward a Third Industrial Revolution and threatens to leave a lot of global workers behind. This week, let's shift our focus to the long-term impact of tech transformation on productivity and wages in developed markets – particularly in the USA, where the majority of the innovation is happening.
The gist is simple and unavoidable: Since the majority of jobs are vulnerable in some way to automation, almost all of us – your humble analyst included – will have to make a real effort to continually learn and hone new skills in order to participate in the new economy. There has never been a better time for talented workers who possess the right mix of skills and creativity to capitalize on new technology, and there has never been a worse time for workers who lack the skills or creativity to tap into the abundance that awaits. (I invite readers to cogently disagree with that last sentence. I hope I am wrong. Seriously, I think about this a lot and am open to learning.)
The Great Divergence: Productivity & Wages
Over the very long term, the real drivers of lasting economic growth around the world have been the great spurts of innovation enabled by the First and Second Industrial Revolutions – two transformative periods between 1750 and the mid-1970s during which the invention of world-changing "general-purpose technologies" like the steam engine, electricity, and indoor plumbing enabled generations of follow-on innovation and drove massive gains in productivity and real GDP per capita.
The miracle of industrialization was that real wages grew roughly in line with productivity – meaning that the returns to labor and the returns to capital were fairly evenly distributed. As workers produced more output in less time and with less effort, they also received higher pay. This relationship held until the mid-1970s, when real wages suddenly flat-lined in the face of rising productivity.
It seems that the positive effects on wages produced by the First and Second Industrial Revolutions petered out in the late '70s, just as the Information Revolution was producing what could be called the Information Economy.
Thus far, the gains of the Information Economy have been unevenly distributed, and the past 40 years have not been kind to the American worker. US multinationals began to outsource more and more manufacturing jobs to lower-wage emerging markets just as computers started to enable the use of increasingly capable but also increasingly complex technologies. Average workers could not easily join the Information Economy without the skills or educational foundation to adapt from labor-intensive manufacturing work to knowledge-intensive information work; and so they have not participated in the real wage gains available to higher-skilled workers.
As you can see in the chart below, workers with college and graduate-level educations have enjoyed higher wages while workers with less education have struggled to make ends meet.
Still, earning a college degree does not guarantee gainful employment, something that many of us told our children would happen as we encouraged them simply to "go to college." Ultimately, scoring a good job comes down to skills. The vast majority of jobs are vulnerable to some kind of disruption or displacement from computer-enabled innovation. Meaning that – at some point in their careers – most workers will have to learn new skills and evolve as technology evolves. As you can see in the following chart from a study by Oxford University professors Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osbourne, nearly 50% of all jobs in the United States run a very high risk of displacement or disruption by computerized automation in the coming years. (Warning: reading the study requires the information skills and especially math that they suggest may be lacking.)
All this suggests that the current trend, wherein the average wage earner has not seen his wages increase along with GDP and corporate earnings growth, is likely to continue, not due to some malignant greed on the part of heartless corporate entities but because of the very nature of the Information Economy and the emerging Third Industrial Revolution. Those with skills and adaptability are going to continue to outperform, at least with regard to income, those who have not been able to develop the necessary skills for the coming economic transformation.
The next chart illustrates just how long this trend has continued and how significantly different the directions are between corporate profits and wages as a percentage of GDP. Given the uneven nature of the future employment market, it may be quite some time before we see these lines cross again. The last time it took the deepest recession in our lifetimes, but the bounce down was only temporary.
Now, what does the shifting of jobs in a knowledge-based economy have to do with work incentives in the Affordable Care Act? If we structure a society in which people are incentivized not to work, we are going to create a society that not only produces less but that displays a growing disparity in the distribution of wealth. If we offer people economic reasons not to work, we should not be surprised when they take us up on the offer. We can disguise that offer as all sorts of necessary social reforms, but at the end of the day a smaller labor force will affect the size of the pie that we all want to see grow and to partake of. I refer you back to Bastiat, whom I quoted at the beginning of this letter: it is the unseen things in well-intentioned public policies that will have small, incremental, but finally significant effects upon the whole economic body.
I have struggled with allergies off and on over the years. What I have learned is that allergies are incremental. I can be around many things to which I only have a mild allergic reaction, and I have no symptoms. But when I'm around many of them all at once I have to start looking for my allergy medicine. One can argue, perhaps correctly, that the economic effects of a particular policy like the Affordable Care Act are only a minor problem. But it is the cumulative effect of numerous social policies, regulations, monetary policies, incentive structures, lack of educational reform (and the list goes on and on) that takes a toll on our economic body.
If government is small relative to the economy, then incremental changes in its policies have a lesser effect than when the government is large and its policies pervasive.
The coming Third Industrial Revolution requires a profound realignment and restructuring of the incentive systems built into our society. We are talking about a technological revolution that in its compound effects will accelerate change to such an extent that we will see as much change in the next 10 to 20 years as we saw all of last century. Suggesting that one employment- or growth-reducing policy or another only makes a small difference and is worth the price we'll pay is a flippant dismissal of the dynamics of the situation we face. These things have consequences.
Jeremy Grantham in his recent quarterly letter looks at the incremental effect of a lower growth rate. He tells us that the remarkably steady 3.3% US growth rate from 1880 to 1980 multiplied income 26 times over that century, that the 2.8% average growth from 1980 to 2000 would compound income 16 times over a period of a century, but that the 1.4% rate experienced over the past 13 years would multiply income by just 4 times over a century.
In the same report mentioned at the beginning of this letter, the CBO gave us its economic and budget outlook for 2014 to 2024. They projected GDP growth of 3.1% this year and 3.4% in 2015 and 2016.
But growth, according to the CBO, will fall to 2.7% in 2017 and continue to slow "to a pace that is well below the average seen over the past several decades," largely because of slower growth in the labor force due to the aging population and mild inflation (under 2.0%) for the next several years.
How significant is this slowing? The CBO estimates if the economy grows just one-tenth of a percentage point slower each year for 10 years, the cumulative deficit will be $311 billion greater than the $7.9 trillion it is now projecting. That 0.5% less GDP growth per year that Krugman expects would therefore translate into another $1.5 trillion added to the deficit that would have to be dealt with either through reduced spending or increased taxes. That amount is just slightly less than 10% of our current GDP. I think that is significant. But that's just me, the deficit worrywart.
I agree with the conclusion of Ezra Klein (if not his general thesis), writing in Bloomberg on February 6:
Policies don't exist in vacuums. By untying the link between employment and health care, the Affordable Care Act reduces the incentive to work. But there are ways to increase incentives to work without making people dependent on their jobs for health insurance. We can help people without taking away their health care.
It's all connected: healthcare, financial regulation, technological transformation, energy policy, foreign policy, trade policy, immigration, tax reform (and the list goes on and on and on). Everything contributes to the environment for business and economic activity; and when the environment is good, that translates into jobs. It is becoming ever more vitally important to focus on how our policies across the board connect and to see them as parts of a whole rather than in a simplistic one-off manner. Does a policy not only allow us as a society to behave in a more responsible manner but also allow us to grow our economy and create jobs? If it doesn't do both, then it's back to the drawing board.
I'll finish with one final chart (courtesy of my friend Philippa Dunne at The Liscio Report). This is a chart of new businesses being created. New businesses are the true engine of economic growth and job creation. Policy makers need to think about this chart with every decision they make. They need to determine why the trend is clearly down and how to reverse it.
I will be speaking next week at the George W. Bush Presidential Library auditorium with local celebrity investment advisor Erin Botsford, who wrote The Big Retirement Risk: Running Out of Money Before You Run Out of Time. The event is sponsored by my partners at Altegris Investments. (It sold out before I even had a chance to mention it. Sorry.)
And speaking of Altegris, let me suggest for further reading that you look at the work of my old friend Jack Rivkin, who has become (to my great delight) the new Chief Investment Officer there. A respected thought leader, Jack has had CIO roles in the investment industry with Neuberger Berman, Citigroup Investments, and Paine Webber and has overseen tens of billions of dollars. His work has also been featured in one of Harvard Business School's most-read case studies. You can find his full biography here if you're interested. If it seems that he's done a lot (and he has!) it's because he's been at it for a while. Jack and I share an avid interest in how the future of technology will shape our society, and I treasure the time I get to spend with him talking about that.
Since joining Altegris in December, Jack has begun offering commentary about global economic and political events, trends, investing, and alternative investments. People in the know in the investment community pay attention to what Jack says. I highly encourage you to visit his "CIO Perspectives" at Altegris.com to read his latest articles. Jack consistently makes very good points in his commentaries, and I think you will find he has real insights on the topics we've been discussing of late.
In mid-March I will fly to Cafayate, Argentina, where I get to relax and spend time with friends Bill Bonner and Doug Casey and Mauldin Economics business partners David Galland and Olivier Garret. The plan is to round up a serious four-wheel-drive vehicle and trek to Bonner's hacienda at 9,000 feet in the Andes. We made the trip last year but had to be towed several times as your humble analyst got us stuck in sand and again as we crossed the river. There is literally no road for the last hour, just (hopefully) dry riverbed and cow paths over very rocky terrain. Quite the adventure and fabulous fun with a great deal of fantastic conversation awaiting us at Bill's. Last year I even ventured out horseback riding, although I might ask for a less frisky animal this year. I may be a Texan, but I was not born in the saddle.
Then in one of those "you can't get there from here" trips, I'll fly back to Texas, only to get on another plane later that same evening to fly to South Africa (don't even ask). I hope to spend four days at some fabulous game reserve in South Africa but have yet to choose which one. I am open to suggestions. My only requirement is wifi.
It is time to hit the send button. This weekend should prove a great deal of fun. I intend to see The Monuments Men with that long list of (ahem) older stars, and then the next night Paul Simon and Sting are in concert just a few blocks away. When I tell people I'm going, nearly all of them (especially the ladies) tell me their favorite Sting song, but I have to admit that I'm going for Paul Simon. He has been one of my favorites for almost 50 years. His songs dominate my playlist. His music simply feeds my soul. "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "The Sound of Silence," "Graceland," "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes," and the inimitable "Slip Sliding Away." I met him once at a Yankees World Series game, but that's another story. Have a great week and spend some time with your favorite musician. It will make the future world a little less scary.
Your still crazy after all these years analyst,
subscribers@mauldineconomics.com
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If wages continue to decline as a percentage of GDP, that means that the 99% have less to spend. Can we expect the 1% who are receiving the increasing percentage of GDP going to profits to pick up the consumption burden? I’m wondering whether in todays technology environment it’s not that fewer workers drive GDP, but rather that there are fewer monied consumers to purchase all the goods that can be made with few workers. What if technology allowed us to produce all of today’s goods with half the workers? Who would be the paying consumers?
dave kallay
As I was reading this , the thought that came to mind is that previously espoused by Willis Smith on Feb.9.. If the employees choose to not work longer due to disincentives, then one of two conclusions could be arrived at. The work that is not being completed is essential, and the employer will now have to hire somebody else to complete that work - and this is good. Otherwise the work was non-essential, and the employer now has lower expense and higher profit, that can be returned to shareholders - also a good outcome. Where is the negative?
Charles Main
You lack magnesium and that is why you have allergies. Please secure a copy of Dr. Carolyn Dean’s The Magnesium Miracle and your allergy troubles will be over. Always take magnesium in the ionic form.
Great website also on Magnesium is www.ancientminerals.com.
andrew benington
Glad to see you picking up on cloud delivered neural net computing as the third industrial revolution. I’ve been banging on about this for years to little avail and not a single job offer. And now a couple of academics publish a book that gets play on Bloomberg and it’s all the rage.
So, from a guy that has been thinking about this for years, I’d like to give your readers something to think about.
The products of the first wave of the 3rd IR are being trialled today in businesses across the globe. They and what follows will be deflationary and accompanied by professional, managerial and service industry mass unemployment.
Unlike the Credit Crisis there is no dusty academic playbook. All we have is our honour, our humanity, and the constitution. If we can hold, resolute, to these three, the future holds a happy and bountiful promise for all. If not, I fear a dark age across the world.
In 1900, at the height of the 2nd IR, no one saw where policy was driving. That 50 years later half the world would live barred from owning private property, their wives spying on husbands, their children taught fake history, Europe and Japan in ruins, and unknown 10s of millions lying murdered in mass graves.
ascprsvc@gmail.com
Hardcore unemployed no longer counted in the stats-add the coming people who will opt out of working and pursue their “creative person”. We can’t find employment for the hardcore and then jobs will go vacant willingly.
WOW GDP is stagnant now what does it mean when this group is ever so larger (hardcore unemployed and no work by choice)
The new meaning of GDP will be “Generally Dump People making decisions”
Nick Jacobs
An eye-opener for me was the chart showing that the marginal income tax on the median worker is 45% and set to rise.
Income taxes should be paid by the people who can afford them, the rich, not by the median worker.
Nick Proferes
As one living in a country with universal health care, I’ve been following the debate over there with interest. It seems to me that an important point or two are being missed. If, as the CBO report suggests, a large number of people decide to work fewer hours, the “work” still must be done. If 100 person/days of work need to be done and there are only 80 person/days available, the employers will need to hire more people. Either that, or if the work which 100 person/days were doing CAN be done through 80 Person/days, then productivity takes a huge leap and GDP per worker increases, implying that those 20 person/days difference were never needed in the first place. (The fall from trend of GDP per capita over recent years would tend to support this, but either way, its more jobs or higher productivity.
One final issue, the figures quoted on income distribution may be woefully out of date:
“To be in the top half of the global population, you need to earn just $1,225 a year. For the top 20%, it’s $5,000 per year.”
The average, per capita GDP in China (no small workforce) has risen from $4493 in 2010 to $6090 in 2012, and the highest growth in average per capita income through 2013 has been in the developing nations (with large populations).
mark@greatoregonrealestate.com
Re the Chart: Changes in Wages for Full Time, Full Year Male U.S. Workers, 1963-2008. The most interesting things about this chart are the relative relationships of the curves to each other. A ramp started in the Early Sixties for college grads and Grad School, was the cause the Kennedy-Johnson programs/policies? But, the great divergence seems to be about 1980 when two things happened: the PC era/computerizaation and manufacturing outsourcing. Outsourcing began in the auto industry (moving models to Asia for manufacturing) and then spread into Tech via NASA initially where lessons were learned in low volume manufactureing. But the outsourcing of all the PC manufacturing was the start of the real change wave in electronics manufacturing that is still on-going today and continuing to creep into the more engineering design phases not only of boards and boxes, but of chips and entire solutions as well. As PC (all types) volumes changed, so did the basic assembly technology from pin-through-hole (PTH) to surface mount (SM). The thing to consider here is that PTH used more labor and while there was automated assembly it was SM that began to drive the percent of labor down. SM manufacturing facilities were located in low-cost US locations first, then began their offshore migations to lower and lower cost locations. This hollowed out both large manufacturers and the local contract manufacturers that supported them. Most of the employees that saw their jobs go away were not college graduates, but ones who usually got entry level jobs and worked their way up in a traditional manner. Outsourcing is only one trend that negatively affected the bottom three levels of employment, but it’s one that I lived through.
egreer@austin.rr.com
Feb. 9, 2014, 11:10 p.m.
I would like to respectfully disagree with the interpretation of the chart “Productivity and average real earnings.” About 1970 the bills were coming due for the expensive Vietnam War. Also, the “Great Society” welfare costs began to really hit the US. To fund their programs, the politicians began taking all wealth from productivity gains. Real earnings per person were not decreased, in order that voters would not notice they were being exploited. This explains the earnings line hitting a ceiling in 1970 and the extraordinary adherence to the 1970 earnings level up to the current date.
Stuart Warren 36715
I think you need to add 2 further big fundamental concepts….
1) Growth over the last 30 years has been accelerated by borrowed money therefore doesn’t provide such a good yardstick.
2) Further potential for growth in the US is limited. When people already have a nice place and 2 cars some don’t aspire to so much more…..contrast that to say African countries where no one has anything and of course there is a much greater propensity for growth. The points are twofold…..eternal growth cannot be assumed and rate of growth is a diminishing curve.
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Scherzer, Harper help Nats sweep rainy doubleheader vs Cubs
Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer delivers during the eighth inning of the first baseball game of a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs, Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Washington. The Nationals won 10-3. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
By HARVEY VALENTINE, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Washington Nationals outlasted the weather and the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night — and early Sunday.
Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning and the Nationals rallied past the Cubs 6-5 to sweep a doubleheader delayed more than 3½ hours by rain.
Max Scherzer pitched a complete game and Washington took advantage of the sloppy Cubs for a 10-3 victory in the opener. By the end of a long night, Chicago’s lead in the NL Central was down to 2½ games over Milwaukee.
Anthony Rendon’s double off Steve Cishek scored Trea Turner to pull Washington to 5-4 in the seventh inning of the nightcap. Left-hander Justin Wilson (4-4) came on to face Harper, who drove a 1-1 pitch to straightaway center field for his 32nd home run. Harper also walked three times.
“Patience, really,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said when asked what it took to get through the very long day and night.
“It was nasty. It’s nasty for both teams. We’re pretty much at the mercy of the league and the rain, really. I’m proud of the guys just sticking in there and finishing the job.”
Rendon had a solo homer and Adrian Sanchez added two hits and two RBIs for Washington.
Wander Suero (2-0) got two outs for the win. Following an 89-minute rain delay in the middle of the eighth, Greg Holland worked the ninth to earn his second save in a game that ended at 1:44 a.m. on Sunday.
Victor Caratini hit his first career grand slam off Nationals starter Jefry Rodriguez to give Chicago a 4-0 lead in the fourth.
Washington pulled to 4-3 in the sixth on Rendon’s homer and an RBI double by Sanchez.
Cubs starter Cole Hamels left with the lead after allowing three runs in 5 2/3 innings.
“We got on top, we had a nice lead, Cole was pitching well and all of sudden they just rallied from behind,” manager Joe Maddon said. “We had the right pitchers lined up, they were rested, and (the Nationals) got us. They absolutely got us.”
Bidding for a third straight NL Cy Young Award, Scherzer (17-6) gave up nine hits and struck out 11 without a walk. He also had an RBI single, raising his batting average to .270 this season.
It was one of just six hits for Washington, which capitalized on nine walks and three errors by the Cubs. The Nationals scored five runs in the sixth on just two hits thanks to two errors and a wild pitch that resulted in a run.
Martinez visited Scherzer on the mound after the Cubs scored twice in the ninth, but left his ace in to get the final two outs.
“He asked me what I wanted to do. I said I wanted to finish it,” Scherzer said, noting the 66-degree game-time temperature had him feeling good. “We’ve been playing some hot games and for the weather to cool off, you just felt like you had unlimited energy and for me, I still had plenty in the tank.”
Scherzer retired 15 in a row during one stretch. He lost his shutout in the seventh.
It was Scherzer’s second complete game of the season and 10th of his career.
After Friday night’s game was rained out following more than four hours of delays, the start of Saturday’s first game was held up by showers for 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Maddon went with a bullpen game, and the Nationals jumped in front early. Jaime Garcia (3-7), making his Cubs debut, walked the bases loaded with one out in the first inning and Juan Soto sent a hard grounder past first baseman Anthony Rizzo that was ruled a two-run single. That was all for Garcia, and Washington’s Matt Wieters provided a third run with an RBI single.
A LA CART
Sean Doolittle of Washington became the first reliever to use the Nationals Park bullpen cart, which debuted Aug. 17. “I had a lot of fun,” Doolittle said. “It was a really smooth ride.”
WERTH HONORED
The Nationals held a ceremony on the field between games placing outfielder Jayson Werth in their Ring of Honor. Signed to a $126 million, seven-year contract as a free agent after the 2010 season, Werth hit .263 with 109 homers and 393 RBIs and served as a team leader. The Nationals, who had not made the postseason prior to his arrival, won four NL East titles during his time with them. Werth threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the second game, with his son catching.
Cubs: RF Ben Zobrist returned for the opener after being out of Friday’s lineup due to neck stiffness.
Cubs LHP Mike Montgomery (4-5, 3.76 ERA) opposes Nationals RHP Erick Fedde (1-3, 6.00) in Sunday’s series finale.
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Home Cold Cases Find Pearl Pinson, Still Missing!
Find Pearl Pinson, Still Missing!
findmissing February 11, 2019 April 2, 2019 Cold Cases, Justice, Missing Children, Missing Teens, Opinion, Society and Culture, Uncategorized, Victims of Crime,
Almost years ago, she was violently abducted
And taken by force.
Drops of blood were found at the abduction scene.
Later, the kidnapper was
Killed in a police stand-off.
What happened to Pearl? Where is she?
Find Pearl Pinson, still missing! Pearl Pinson has been missing since May 25, 2015. She is missing from Vallejo, California. Her case is classified as a non-family abduction. Pearl Pinson was born in the year 2000. At the time of her disappearance, Pearl was 15 years old. Her current age is 19 years old. Pearl Pinson is a Caucasian female. At the time of her disappearance, Pearl was 5’3″ tall and 130 pounds. Her hair is described as light brown hair. Her eyes are described as blue/green. At the time of her disappearance, Pearl’s hair was dyed green. The left side of her lower lip is pierced.
When she was last seen, Pearl was wearing a black and white zip-up jacket and a gray sweater or sweatshirt. She was also wearing black leggings or sweatpants. Pear was wearing pink, black, and white Nike Turfs shoes. She was
also wearing a black Raiders beanie cap. Pearl was carrying a black and turquoise backpack with a Joker emblem on it. She reportedly may be in need of medical attention for what are called unspecified reasons. Below is a family photo of a Pearl’s school backpack (not her actual backpack).
Representation of backpack Pearl Pinson was carrying when abducted (not her actual backpack)
It was May 25, 2016 in Vallejo, California. It was on this day that Pearl Pinson was last seen. Shortly before 7:00 A.M., Pearl was walking to the school bus stop. A witness saw an armed Latino male across a pedestrian overpass. He was found along along Interstate 780 near Taylor Avenue. The male later was identified as Fernando Castro. Pearl’s face was covered in blood and she was screaming for help.The witness heard at least one gunshot. The witness called 9-1-1 and police arrived. When they arrived, they found a bloodstain. Pearl’s cell phone was also on the overpass. However, there was no sign of Pearl or her abductor.
Car of Fernando Castro, used to abduct Pearl Pinson
Fernando Castro had what is termed a minor criminal history. But he had no record of crimes involving stalking or kidnapping. Reportedly, Castro’s family was “blindsided” when they learned what he had done. Some reports stated that Pear knew him, maybe her boyfriend. However, he was not her boyfriend. It seems that she didn’t know him at all. Investigators could find no evidence of any prior contact between Pearl and her kidnapper. This includes online or in person.
Pearl’s family released a photo of Pearl’s abductor, whom many believe took clues in her disappearance to the grave with him. In March 2017, someone made a public plea along with a post of Pearl’s deceased abductor.
Fernando Castro, Abductor of Pearl Pinson
This is Fernando Castro who kidnapped Pearl and was shot dead by police before he could be questioned. If you know anything about him that could help find Pearl Pinson do the right thing and contact the tip line. Your identity will be protected.
Suicide By Cop
Castro was sighted driving his gold four-door 1997 Saturn. He was driving it in the area of the Sir Francis Drake Boulevard. He was driving near the San Rafael Bridge in Marin County, California. He was driving at 9:30 A.M., two and a half hours after Pearl’s abduction. The car bore the license plate number 5XZD385. The following afternoon, Castro was sighted driving in San Luis Obispo County, California. Officers with the California Highway Patrol chased his car into Santa Barbara County. The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office also was involved. There was a shoot-out between them all and Castro. And Castro was killed. Pearl wasn’t with him at the time of his death. And she has never been heard from again.
Deceased Suspect
Castro died more than 300 south from where Pearl was abducted. When police searched his car, they found Pearl’s blood in the trunk. But they stated that it was not a large amount, enough to indicate that she was badly hurt or killed. Some have speculated that Pearl had become a human trafficking victim. Investigators can find no evidence to support that theory. They state that all evidence points to Castor as the lone suspect in her disappearance. They are unsure if she is dead or alive. But the passage of time made it less likely that she was alive.
Pearl’s family released a photo of Pearl that may be closest to what she looked like when abducted.
Pearl Pinson
Precious Pearl doesn’t look as beautiful right now as when she was taken so I changed the picture on the advice of a Private Investigator. That applies to all missing children. Suffering and mistreatment shows.
Pearl is the middle child in a family of three children. According to her family, she is a passionate lover of animals. She has a pet dog who misses her. She enjoys skateboarding and going to the beach. She also enjoys other pursuits. Pearl’s family are craving answers. According to them, since the day she was abducted, the time has felt like an eternal nightmare with no seeming end in sight. It is sadly true that Castro may have taken much information with him to his grave. But there were many others who knew him. Someone (s) besides Castro may have information that can bring Pearl home to her family, including her dog.
Is this you? Do you have any information that can help locate Pearl’s whereabouts? Anything? No information is too small. Do you have any information about Fernando Castro that can bring answers to Pearl’s family?
If you think you know the whereabouts of any missing person, BEFORE TAKING ANY ACTION, please contact the Solano County Sheriffs Department at: (707) 784-7010. You may contact your local law enforcement agency. You may contact the California Department of Justice at 1-800-222-FIND (24 hour nationwide toll-free Hotline). You may contact: (916) 210-3119. You may email the Office at missing.persons@doj.ca.gov. Or you can leave your tip online: Click here to leave your tip online.
You may contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children: 1-800-843-5678. You may contact a tip line
at: (707) 421-7090 and be eligible for a reward.
NCMEC Case Number: 1269030
Agency Case Number: 160002810
Pearl’s older sister, Rose Pinson, is quite vocal in her love for her missing sister. She maintains a blog, dedicated to Pearl. She calls her blog Roseydoe. Click here and follow this blog.
Pearl’s family and friends have set up a Facebook page for this much-loved teen. Images found on this post are courtesy of this Facebook page. Use Facebook? Consider clicking to “like” this page.
Pearl Pinson has a National Center for Missing and Exploited Children poster. Click here to view it.
This is a video appeal for Pearl Pinson. Click here to view it.
Pearl Pinson has a California Attorney General’s Office profile. Click here to view it.
The above information is found on Pearl Pinson’s Charley Project Page. I have adapted and remixed it. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial 4.0 International License.
Abduction, Blood, Deceased Suspect, Evidence, Fernando Castro, Missing Sister, Non-Family Abduction, Pearl Pinson, San Luis ObispoCALIFORNIA, Still Missing, Suicide, VallejoCALIFORNIA. Bookmark.
Find Missing Ya’Nira Duncan! ***(UPDATE: NO LONGER MISSING)***
Find Missing Bobby Spence N Morgan Styke! ***(UPDATE: NO LONGER MISSING)***
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While Ricci ultimately prevailed and received his permit after a more than four-hour City Council meeting in April, he said new demands from the city on law enforcement and private security levels made costs too high to be workable.
So in June it was announced Ricci and company were moving the party to Stockton. There, he said, he has lower security and logistical costs. The enclosed fairgrounds will have 150 bands playing on 24 stages spread across about 100 acres. Ricci said ticket sales are about on par with where they were this time last year, and he again expects around 15,000 people.
Drawing them in will be a slew of national headliners. Like in recent years, some of the biggest names will come from the world of hip-hop. Rappers T-Pain and Sage the Gemini will play on the main Talk of the Town stage, which will also host rising hip-hop stars Iamsu! and Honey C. But the event is also beefing up its rock lineup, with headliners Suicidal Tendencies and the Expendables on the Hawk Stage.
This year Ricci said he added a handful of additional stages, the result of partnering with Stockton promoters as well as bringing along almost all of his previous stage managers from Modesto.
“We just listened to people, and they wanted more rock, so we made sure to get more great rock headliners,” he said. “We try to listen to our customers give them what they want. I think we did this year.”
The marquee name this year is hip-hop star T-Pain. The rapper has had a string of hits including “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’), “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper)” and “Bartender.” He is perhaps best known for his signature use of autotune, a voice processor that corrects and distorts human pitch. The superstar even launched a successful iPhone app allowing people to simulate the effect, called “I Am T-Pain.”
“Yeah, I think people are really excited to see T-Pain. He’s won Grammys and sold multiple platinum records. He is a massive artist and certainly one of the biggest ones we’ve ever had,” Ricci said.
Ricci holding this year’s event in a new venue didn’t impact his ability to book big acts. He said, as always, he picked the artists based on the demographics of the market.
Suicidal Tendencies is a Venice Beach-born crossover thrash band founded by vocalist vocalist Mike Muir in 1983. The band was one of the first punk groups to receive heavy rotation on the then-new MTV. Its singles include “Institutionalized,” “Send Me Your Money,” “Nobody Hears” and “I’ll Hate You Better.” The Expendables is a Santa Cruz reggae rock band that had hits with “Bowl for Two” and “Sacrifice.”
Like in years past, the bulk of the performers will be local and regional bands. Stages will highlight everything from Central Valley-based rock, metal, rap, EDM and beyond.
But music isn’t the only attraction at the 21-and-over event. A professional wrestling stage returns to the event. And this year there will be more food and merchandise vendors to make up for the lack of surrounding shops and restaurants. Ricci also said festivalgoers will notice the new fairgrounds site has easier and plentiful parking as well as existing restroom facilities. Stages will also be closer together.
Still, Ricci doesn’t deny that moving to an enclosed site like the Stockton fairgrounds will change the atmosphere of the event.
“We’re missing all the flavor we had in downtown Modesto with the businesses, and that’s obviously a huge loss for us,” he said. “But I think that people in Stockton are excited to have it there, and people in Modesto are upset it left.”
As for X-Fest’s future, Ricci said nothing has been decided about next year yet. But if the numbers work out, he would be open to moving it back to Modesto.
“I’m not thinking about next year yet. But I am a Modestan, and this is my home, and X-Fest has always been in Modesto,” he said. “So our door is always open.”
Marijke Rowland: 209-578-2284, @marijkerowland
X-Fest
When: 5 p.m.-1 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 20
Where: San Joaquin County Fairgrounds, 1658 S. Airport Way, Stockton
Tickets: General $20 advance, $30 gate; express $30 advance, $40 gate
Online: www.xfest209.com
Sage The Gemini will play on the main Talk of the Town stage at X-Fest in Stockton, which will also host rising hip-hop stars Iamsu! and Honey C. Zach Cordner Associated Press file
Mike Muir with Suicidal Tendencies, a Venice Beach-born crossover thrash band, will perform on the Hawk Stage at this year’s X-Fest in Stockton. Paul A. Hebert Associated Press file
A Jurassic Park sequel Spielberg never considered
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$3.2M award, cut costs may not save Baltimore Symphony
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Medical schools overhaul curriculum to better prepare future docs
InDepth: The problem with IRS Form 990 Schedule H
Q&A: Sanford Health CEO Krabbenhoft discusses growth, acquisition of Good Samaritan
Matthew Weinstock
Kelby Krabbenhoft, Sanford Health CEO
Kelby Krabbenhoft has guided Sanford Health with a steady hand for the past two decades. During that time, the Sioux Falls, S.D.-based integrated delivery system has grown its footprint to become one of the dominant players in the upper Midwest. The 2009 merger with Fargo, N.D.-based MeritCare led to an organization that now boasts $4.5 billion in revenue. And just this month, Sanford closed on its acquisition of the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society and its 200-plus post-acute, skilled-nursing, hospice, assisted-living, rehabilitation and home-health facilities. That gives Sanford a presence in 26 states, not to mention Sanford World Clinic's expansion into nine countries worldwide. Krabbenhoft recently spoke with Modern Healthcare Managing Editor Matthew Weinstock. The following is an edited transcript.
MH: What does Good Samaritan do for your portfolio? Why bring them in?
Krabbenhoft: Nothing gets done like that unless you have a shared vision of where you've been and where you're going. In our case, Dave Horazdovsky (CEO of Good Samaritan Society) and I went to college together. We went through the same rigor to get our degrees. There was always trust and without that none of this happens. No matter how beleaguered the finances are, if you can't trust the people across the table, you don't do a deal.
The trust is personal, but it's heritage-driven too because we are by, coincidence, an outgrowth of the Lutheran church. And obviously Good Sam is too. So that served as a real core root between us.
Everything's been on the front end for us. So whether it's IT systems, economic incentives through our health plan, bringing the might of a combined organization to their cost structure—it's really just modern reality that is causing all kinds of consolidation.
MH: How do you blend Good Samaritan into your network?
Krabbenhoft: This is the very beginning of what I think will be about a 25-year rollout. Jim Cain of (New York City-based investment firm) Cain Brothers is on my board and we talk about Sanford in terms of 25-year horizons and what we want to do over that span of time. I believe on that platform and in that kind of time frame, Sanford and the Good Samaritan Society can emerge as an organization that's accomplished something that nobody else really has in terms of the continuum.
MH: A 25-year rollout?
Krabbenhoft: We're a nice, good operation. It already took about a quarter of a century to create an organization that really blankets western Minnesota and the Dakotas. I think that will just continue because the relationships will continue to build. It's not an urgent call to arms to grow. But I think relationships will begin to be established. There's a lot of stress in the industry, and people are looking for others who have the component parts and solutions.
MH: Good Samaritan faced some financial challenges. Are you looking to consolidate some of those operations?
Krabbenhoft: Yes. They had a plan already underway assessing which parts of their organization were going to be part of that plan going forward, and which parts were going to be magnetized to actually grow. So it was a give-and-take kind of strategic plan. We embraced it and will give that fuel.
MH: What parts of that sector are ripe for growth?
Krabbenhoft: The connectivity to acute care. It's become very apparent to me that small and rural hospitals, as well as the midsized hospitals and even the tertiary-level organizations, need a place to offload patients. We are under a lot of pressure not keep them in the hospital. This is a vital component now and in the future.
MH: Some rating agencies have looked skeptically on these types of mergers, including ProMedica's move with HCR. Do you have any worry that they will have similar concerns about your growth in this area?
Krabbenhoft: On an annual basis, the financial burden that Good Sam has now is one-half of 1% of our expenses. Shame on me and my colleagues if we can't figure out how to overcome one-half of 1% cost issues.
The other part to remember is that Good Sam had an execution plan in place. They needed the resources and they needed the horsepower to execute on that, and we needed them. They're bringing something to Sanford that's really brought us back home and humbles us. Long-term care is a humble service.
This country beats itself up so badly on the periphery, and we don't pay attention to the quality (of healthcare) that exists here.”
MH: How so?
Krabbenhoft: There are no TV shows about long-term care organizations. It's humble. You've got shows about emergency rooms and the new one, “New Amsterdam.” It's sexy stuff. When you get close to long-term care, you see the gravity of what's involved for people and the lives they're affecting.
MH: Let's circle back to growth. Sanford has expanded internationally, why is that good for the organization?
Krabbenhoft: This country beats itself up so badly on the periphery, and we don't pay attention to the quality that exists here.
So No. 1, we wanted to be a voice, but one of substance. We didn't want to just open one hospital somewhere in Arabia. We wanted to go about it quietly, and then emerge with many countries, many clinics and be able to talk about, not only clinical issues and business issues, but also issues of comparability between our country and what we're seeing out there. We've been at it now for a decade, in nine countries with 45 clinics. It's working. People want what America has in terms of primary care. Ghana is slated to some day have 300 Sanford clinics. We'd like to be involved when they create a national health plan there.
There were three goals: We wanted to learn; we wanted to assist our research, because there are things that are going on in the rest of the world that don't happen in the Dakotas; and the last thing we wanted to do was get some street credibility. We wanted our reputation to be one of substance.
MH: Could you have done all of that domestically?
Krabbenhoft: No. The world is smaller now and the things that are going on in the European Union and the European (regulatory) infrastructure allowed us, for example, to get involved in stem cells and bring that kind of thing back to the U.S. and use it as evidence, in terms of safety and efficacy.
MH: Are there other big lessons from your international work?
Krabbenhoft: Telemedicine. When you go out into the bush in Ghana and you're able to use iPads and iPhones to communicate with a doctor in the urban settings, now you've accomplished something.
The clinical stuff is just gigantic for us. Advising them and them advising us. It's really collaborative.
MH: This leads into the idea of innovation. You made a splash by hiring former Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. David Shulkin. What are you expecting from him?
Krabbenhoft: He brings that cachet or celebrity value to the organization, I guess. But more than that is we got to know him as a person and he has some great ideas. He knows how to navigate through some gantlets that we wouldn't have in terms of our work with the government. We have an agreement with the VA trying to provide precision medicine to veterans.
It's in its infancy, but we are moving forward with Sanford Imagenetics (the integration of genomics and primary care), another area we're trying to carve out.
MH: Are there a handful of areas where you're expecting growth in the next year or two from the innovation center?
Krabbenhoft: We set a goal of taking 10% of our reserves (to the center). We just took an equity stake in a company out of Israel. We have an equity stake in Germany in a hospital there. It's those kinds of things that are coming forward all the time.
MH: And Profile by Sanford, the weight-loss venture, is expecting pretty big growth, right?
Krabbenhoft: It started as just an idea. (Philanthropist) Denny (Sanford) and I were trying to lose weight. He said “Why don't you just buy a company?” He liked one and we started looking at it and said “Why don't we create our own?” And so six years ago we started. We didn't have a name for it and today we have 82 stores with plans to open about 320 more.
We've actually had people interested about acquiring it, because it was one of the most successful franchises. But, at least while I'm here, I'm going to stay true to what we said—to see it be a $1 billion business.
MH: How do you decide on setting limits for these investments?
Krabbenhoft: I wanted to get 25% of our revenue coming from things like Profile, the world clinics, medical devices. I just don't think the industry is going to be a healthy one when you can only get 2% margins or 3% margins.
MH: So where are you now on that 25% goal?
Krabbenhoft: I haven't taken inventory. We were a $4 billion enterprise two years ago.
MH: Where are you in terms of your appetite for risk and taking on risk contracts in your provider space?
Krabbenhoft: We're a full-fledged insurance company, Sanford Health Plan. Have been for 22 years. We bid against Blue Cross and Blue Shield and everybody else and have been very successful in those bids. Right now, 25% of our revenue is at risk.
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HomeNews2$ B invested by foreign...
2$ B invested by foreign companies supported by Montréal International
Significant impact on Greater Montréal’s economy
Foreign companies supported by Montréal International invested $2B in 2017, amounting to 15% of Québec’s economic growth.
President and CEO of Montréal International (MI), Hubert Bolduc, today announced the organisation’s record results for 2017.
The economic development agency experienced strong growth in foreign direct investment and international recruitment activities, in addition to having supported three new international organisation projects in Greater Montréal.
The announcement was made at a press conference that was attended by Philippe Couillard, Premier of Québec; Martin Coiteux, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Land Occupancy, Minister of Public Security and Minister responsible for the Montréal region; Christine St-Pierre, Minister of International Relations and La Francophonie; as well as Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal and President of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal.
In 2017, Montréal International helped 48 foreign companies locate or expand in the Greater Montréal, facilitating a record $2.025 billion in foreign direct investment, an increase of over 50% compared to 2016 and of over 100% compared to 2015.
These projects, which account for 15% of Québec’s economic growth in 2017, resulted in 5,233 direct quality jobs to be created or maintained.
Once again this year, high-tech sectors (ICT, Aerospace, Life sciences and Health Technologies) continue to be an economic driver with $1 billion in investments, i.e. 50% of the results. Investments supported by MI originate mainly from Europe with 64%, ahead of the Americas with 28% and Asia with 8%.
The AI sector itself had 11 of the 48 projects, which is nearly a quarter of all projects that received support from MI this year.
Having a significant number of world-renowned researchers, a collaborative ecosystem and a highly qualified pool of talent have enabled Greater Montréal to attract leading global players such as Microsoft, Google, Facebook and DeepMind.
Montréal International has also taken note that a growing number of companies, regardless of industry, will also be leveraging on AI to develop new projects in the coming years.
Foreign talent
This past year, the Montréal International team stepped up efforts to boost the number of international students and skilled workers in Greater Montréal.
Eight international recruiting missions helped about sixty companies recruit some 300 qualified and experienced workers with an annual average salary of $75,000. In addition, MI helped 377 skilled foreign workers with their temporary resident applications by providing strategic support.
The “I choose Montréal” project to retain international students, launched in collaboration with the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion (MIDI), had a very successful first year holding 130 activities that allowed MI to reach no less than 6,800 international students in Greater Montréal.
Montréal International’s 2017 activities were also marked by the arrival of two new international organisations in Greater Montréal: the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUHPE) and AIESEC International. Furthermore, the agency helped the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expand its operations.
MI has also offered strategic support to 37 of the 65 international organisations in the city with their activities and development.
“Greater Montréal’s economic performance in 2017 was outstanding, mainly due to an increase in activities from abroad. Greater Montréal has never been so attractive to foreign investors and we must continue to leverage our assets to support growth in its leading-edge sectors.”
− Hubert Bolduc, President and CEO, Montréal International
“Montréal International’s 2017 results demonstrate our leadership and strategic vision for economic development. We are extremely grateful to our public and private partners for their ongoing commitment and financial support. In 2017, some 140 private companies rallied together to support Montréal International with its mission.”
− L. Jacques Ménard, President of the Board of Directors, Montréal International
“Our government is proud to be a partner of Montréal International, an organisation contributing to highlight the important presence of talent and the creative potential of Québec, therefore placing Montréal as a top innovative business destination. The results of 2017 are impressive and clearly demonstrate that the best competitive asset of Québec goes beyond its natural resources and rather lies in our ability to be innovative.”
− Philippe Couillard, Premier of Québec
“Montréal International plays a key role in enhancing the region’s global reach and reputation. In 2017, all this work generated significant economic spin-offs and helped create and maintain thousands of high-quality jobs. Montréal International has contributed significantly to positioning our region as a top destination for talent and high-value-added businesses in industries with high-growth potential. I would like to reassure the Montréal International team that they have my administration’s unwavering support to ensure Greater Montréal’s success.”
− Valérie Plante, Mayor of Montréal and President of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal
About Montréal International (www.montrealinternational.com/en)
Established in 1996, Montréal International is a non-profit organisation funded by the private sector, the governments of Canada and Québec, the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and the City of Montréal.
Its mission is to attract foreign investment, international organisations and skilled talent to Greater Montréal by providing assistance services tailored to their needs.
Press Releases Montréal’s attractiveness Montréal International
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Luxury Community Opens on Philly’s Main Line
The 36-acre site where the luxury apartment community is located also features a 20,000-square-foot historic mansion built in 1881, which will be updated with modern amenities.
Oct 26, 2017
Maybrook Apartments
The 250-unit luxury community known as Maybrook welcomes its first residents. A joint venture of Jefferson Apartment Group, Haverford Properties Inc. and Lowe Enterprises Investors is behind the project situated in Wynnewood, Pa. Lowe provides investment management service. Building management is handled by Jefferson Apartment Group, who recently obtained permission to build a 330-unit apartment community in Arlington, Va.
The apartment community is located at 325 Penn Road, on Philadelphia’s Main Line. The four-story building features floor plans varying from one- to three-bedroom plus loft. Unit sizes range from 727 to 1,839 square feet. A 450-space garage connects directly to the first three levels. Common amenities include a fitness center, business center, a clubhouse, tennis court and swimming pool. A 20,000-square-foot mansion built in 1881 is located on the 36-acre site. It will be redeveloped to include other common facilities such as lounges, billiards and sports room and an executive dining room.
According to Yardi Matrix, approximately 152,612 people live within a three-mile radius. The property is located a few minutes away from the Wynnewood SEPTA station and Wynnewood Shopping Center. Further along Lancaster Avenue, more shopping and dining options are available, as well as several car dealers like Audi, Nissan and Toyota. Lankenau Medical Center is situated eight minutes away, while downtown Philadelphia is 22 minutes away via train or 25 minutes by car.
“Maybrook will be well-received in the market, as demand for high-quality luxury apartments from empty nesters and young, dual income couples continues to grow in this affluent neighborhood,” said James Duncan, CFO at Jefferson Apartment Group, in a prepared statement. The property was subject to a $65 million construction loan originated by Wells Fargo Bank in 2016, according to Yardi Matrix.
Image courtesy of Jefferson Apartment Group
Haverford Properties
Jefferson Apartment Group
Lowe Enterprises
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What Judaism Says About Reincarnation
Though some Jewish thinkers vigorously rejected the notion of reincarnation, kabbalists embraced it enthusiastically.
By Rabbi Louis Jacobs
What Do Jews Believe About Jesus?
What is a Mezuzah?
Reincarnation is the idea that a soul now residing in a particular body may have resided in the body of another person in an earlier period of time. Theories of reincarnation or metempsychosis are found in many religions and cultures, ancient and modern, but there are no references to the idea in the Bible or the Talmud, and it was unknown in Judaism until the eighth century CE, when it began to be adopted by the Karaites [a sectarian Jewish group] (possibly, it has been suggested, under the influence of Islamic mysticism).
The Philosophers Were Scornful
The usual Hebrew term for reincarnation is gilgul, “rolling,” that is, the soul “rolls” through time from one body to a different body. The earliest [non-Karaite] reference to the doctrine is that of Saadiah [882-942] (Beliefs and Opinions, vi. 8). Saadiah writes:
Yet I must say that I have found certain people, who call themselves Jews, professing the doctrine of metempsychosis, which is designated by them as the theory of the ‘transmigration’ of souls. What they mean thereby is that the spirit of Reuben is transferred to Simeon and afterwards to Levi and after that to Judah. [These names are generic, like Tom, Dick and Harry; no reference to the sons of Jacob is intended. Ed.] Many of them would even go so far as to assert that the spirit of a human being might enter into the body of a beast or that of a beast into the body of a human being, and other such nonsense and stupidities.
We learn incidentally from Saadiah’s discussion that one of the reasons these people believed in reincarnation (this reason resurfaces in the Kabbalah) was because of the theological difficulties in God allowing little children to suffer. That they do, it was argued, is because of sins they had committed in a previous existence.
Among the other medieval thinkers, neither Judah Halevi [died 1141] nor Maimonides [1135-1204] makes any mention of the doctrine. Albo [15th century] (Ikkarim, vi. 20) refers to the doctrine only to refute it. He argues that the whole purpose for which the soul enters the body is to become a free agent, but once a soul has become a free agent why should it return to occupy another body? It is even more unlikely, says Albo, that human souls transmigrate into the bodies of animals.
The Mystics Were Believers
The kabbalists, on the other hand, do believe in reincarnation. The Zohar [the great 13th-century kabbalistic text] refers to the doctrine in a number of passages (e.g. ii. 94a, 99b). Nahmanides [1194-1270], in his commentary to the Book of Job (Job 33:30), speaks of reincarnation as a great mystery and the key to an understanding of many biblical passages. The later Kabbalah is full of the belief in the transmigration of souls.
Various sins are punished by particular transmigrations; for example, the soul of an excessively proud man enters the body of a bee or a worm until atonement is attained. The heroes of the Bible and later Jewish histories are said to be the reincarnation of earlier heroes. Thus the soul of Cain (Genesis 4:1‑16) entered the body of Jethro and the soul of Abel the body of Moses. When Moses and Jethro met in friendship they rectified the sin caused by the estrangement of the two brothers (Exodus 18:1‑12).
Manasseh ben Israel (died 1657) devotes a large portion of his Nishmat Hayyim (“The Soul of Life”) to a defense of reincarnation. In chapter 21 Manasseh observes that the doctrine was originally taught to Adam but was later forgotten. It was revived by Pythagoras [the 6th-century BCE Greek mathematician and philosopher], who was a Jew (!), and he was taught the doctrine by the prophet Ezekiel.
The Hasidim believe explicitly in the doctrine, and tales are told of Hasidic masters who remembered their activities in a previous incarnation.
Three Kinds of Reincarnation
In the kabbalistic literature three types of reincarnation are mentioned:
1. gilgul, transmigration proper, in which a soul that had previously inhabited one body is sent back to earth to inhabit another body.
2. ibbur, “impregnation,” in which a soul descends from heaven in order to assist another soul in the body.
3. dybbuk, a generally late concept, in which a guilt‑laden soul pursued by devils enters a human body in order to find rest and has to be exorcised.
The philosophical difficulty in the whole doctrine of reincarnation lies in the problem of what possible meaning can be given to the identity of the soul that has been reincarnated, since the experiences of the body determine the character of the soul. How can the soul that has been in two or more bodies be the “same” soul?
[Gershom] Scholem has suggested that it was this difficulty which led the Zohar to postulate the existence of the tzelem (“image”), a kind of “astral body” which does not migrate from body to body and which therefore preserves individual identity. We are here in the realm of the occult, as, indeed, we are in the whole area of reincarnation.
Some modern Jews are attracted to the occult and believe in reincarnation. Otherwise the doctrine has had its day, and is believed in by very few modern Jews, although hardly any Orthodox Jew today will positively denounce the doctrine. This doctrine of reincarnation shows how precarious it is to attempt to see Judaism in monolithic terms. Here is a doctrine rejected as a foreign importation by a notable thinker such as Saadiah, and upon which other thinkers, including Maimonides, are silent, and yet, for the kabbalists, it is revealed truth.
Reprinted with permission from The Jewish Religion: A Companion, published by Oxford University Press.
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Hasidic
Pronounced: khah-SID-ik, Origin: Hebrew, a stream within ultra-Orthodox Judaism that grew out of an 18th-century mystical revival movement.
Pronounced: kah-bah-LAH, sometimes kuh-BAHL-uh, Origin: Hebrew, Jewish mysticism.
Pronounced: ZOE-har, Origin: Aramaic, a Torah commentary and foundational text of Jewish mysticism.
Clothing & Appearance
The Tattoo Taboo in Judaism
Body ink is a no-no, but it won't bar you from Jewish life.
Judaism and Suicide
Taking one's life is officially a violation of Jewish law, but many contemporary rabbis recognize that most suicides result from struggles with mental illness.
Abortion and Judaism
The Jewish position on abortion is nuanced, neither condoning it nor categorically prohibiting it.
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U.S. Ambassador inaugurates Shea Butter Processing Center to support women
Source: Ghana| Myjoyonline.com |Abubakar Ibrahim
U.S. Ambassador to Ghana Stephanie S. Sullivan led a ribbon cutting and inaugurated a shea butter processing facility that will support increased economic opportunities for 600 women who collect and process shea nuts.
“The United States supports key projects like this to promote economic growth and job creation in Ghana so that young people may build a future of prosperity here at home for the benefit of all citizens and their communities,” said Ambassador Sullivan.
The U.S. government, through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), supported the construction of the processing facility and warehouse located in Gizaa-Gunda, northern Ghana.
Shea is a primary source of livelihood for women in northern Ghana, and is one of the few agricultural crops where women control the revenue.
This event highlights efforts to promote women's economic empowerment through partnerships that connect Ghanaian women producers with U.S. buyers.
The partnership to develop the shea butter processing facility and warehouse was catalyzed by USAID and the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) and included partnerships with a U.S. cosmetics company, a local buying company (Savanna Fruits Company), Presbyterian Agricultural Services (PAS), and the local community as part of the Sustainable Shea Initiative (SSI) project.
The SSI was launched in 2016 by USAID in partnership with the GSA. It is an $18 million, five-year partnership to promote the sustainable expansion of the shea industry in Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, and Burkina Faso.
The partnership matches USAID funds with private sector and donor funds to provide needed skills training and infrastructure to support women shea collectors.
The Gizaa-Gunda facility is one of 34 warehouses that USAID and GSA have launched with communities and cooperatives in Ghana over the past three years; expanding opportunities for 30,000 women.
Overall, SSI is expected to deliver 250 warehouses across West Africa, facilitating more than $150 million in shea exports and benefitting more than 137,000 women.
The United States looks forward to finding more opportunities over the next year to partner with companies, communities, and non-profits to drive new opportunities for Ghanaians and promote a path to self-reliance and resilience.
Gregory Afoko granted ¢500,000 bail
Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crash: Six charts on what we know so far
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Charter Schools: Great in Cities, Ho-Hum in Suburbs?
Evaluating charter schools is tricky. Maybe highly motivated parents send their kids to charters and others don’t. The solution is to identify schools that are oversubscribed and track students who won and lost the lottery to get in. That way you get a random set of parents on both sides. But maybe charters kick out bad students after they’ve attended for a year or two. The solution is to tag lottery winners as charter kids forever. They count against the charter’s performance regardless of where they end up later. Fine, but maybe oversubscribed charters are different in some way. What about less popular charters where you can’t do any of this lottery-based research?
Susan Dynarski, an education professor at the University of Michigan, acknowledges all of this, but says we can draw some conclusions anyway:
A consistent pattern has emerged from this research. In urban areas, where students are overwhelmingly low-achieving, poor and nonwhite, charter schools tend to do better than other public schools in improving student achievement. By contrast, outside of urban areas, where students tend to be white and middle class, charters do no better and sometimes do worse than other public schools.
This pattern — positive results in low-income city neighborhoods, zero to negative results in relatively affluent suburbs — holds in lottery studies in Massachusetts as well in a national study of charter schools funded by the Education Department.
Interesting. But if this is really the case, why?
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Film of the Day - A Hard Day’s Night
Posted on Wednesday, September 18th, 2013 at 7:03 am. Written by Steve
Paul, George, Ringo and John in A Hard Day's Night
Brian Epstein born, 1934
On this day in 1934, Brian Epstein was born. Dead by the age of 32, the Liverpudlian who became famous as the manager of The Beatles first heard of the band while working in his father’s Liverpool record shop, NEMS. Having seen them, liked them and discovered that they weren’t really being managed, Epstein took them on and proceeeded to turn them into the publicly acceptable face of Merseybeat – nice suits, nice hair and a nice co-ordinated bow to end their set instead of jeans, leather jackets, scruffy hair and messing about on stage. Epstein made them stars, hawking demo tapes of them round the London record companies until EMI finally, grudgingly, took them on. If Epstein made the Beatles, then the Beatles reciprocated, albeit unwittingly, since Epstein was on a generous 25 per cent of their royalties. A lover of the high life, in every respect, Epstein liked to drink and gamble and got heavily into drugs. In fact he spent large chunks of 1967 in rehab at the famous London clinic The Priory, leaving only to attend the Sergeant Pepper launch party before checking back in. He died by accident as a result of the cumulative effect of Carbitral sleeping pills. Epstein seems to have genuinely loved the Beatles, and they him – he foolishly gave away much of their merchandising rights, made a mess of their songwriting royalties and rewarded himself more than was customary. But he was probably more honest than most rock managers and he inspired fierce loyalty from the band. “If anyone was the fifth Beatle,” Paul McCartney once said, “it was Brian.”
A Hard Day’s Night (1964, dir: Richard Lester)
Here they are, the Beatles, laying down the template for every boy band since in their debut film, directed like a cross between a documentary and a runaway train by Dick Lester – all quick cuts, handheld camera, behind the scenes reveals, verbal quips, moments of thoughtful repose (all staged). Unlike most bands, the Beatles can act and they can deliver a line. Initially the film relied on them to be musicians, but their naturalness in front of the camera inspired Alun Owen to rewrite his script and bulk out the “in between” bits – chatting on a train, running away from screaming fans, just enjoying the first wave of huge success – to create something like a hip French New Wave film with songs. She Loves You, All My Loving, I Should Have Known Better. The Beatles knew they were good, it’s oozing out of every snappy comeback – “What would you call that hairstyle you’re wearing” asks one of the square reporters that seemed to bedevil every band back then. “Arthur,” deadpans George Harrison. Some of the repartee is a bit of a hangover from the Goons, a lot of it seems a touch arch these days. But there is a lively look in the eye, a jousting intelligence to everything they say which explains why people took to them so instantly. Yes, they were groomed, literally, by Brian Epstein, but when the Beatles got in front of a microphone, especially if there was a camera attached, they were entirely their own men.
Modern popular music – they write the songs, they sing the songs – starts here
Look out for Patti Boyd, the future wife of George Harrison (and Eric Clapton)
United Artists wanted to dub the Beatles’ voices to make them more universally intelligible
The movie that kicked off the 1960s
A Hard Day’s Night – at Amazon
Tags: A Hard Day's Night, brian epstein, film of the day, richard lester, the beatles
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
Run time: 87 min
Genres: Comedy | Musical
Director: Richard Lester
Writers: Alun Owen
Stars: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison
Trivia: A ‘typical’ day in the life of the Beatles, including many of their famous songs.
Storyline The Beatles–the world’s most famous rock and roll band–travel from their home town of Liverpool to London to perform in a television broadcast. Along the way they must rescue Paul’s unconventional grandfather from various misadventures and drummer Ringo goes missing just before the crucial concert. Written by Jim Beaver <jumblejim@prodigy.net>
Plot Keywords: the beatles, concert, television, cult film, apostrophe in title
Box Office Budget: $560,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend: $50,445 (USA) (1 December 2000)
Gross: $1,000,549 (USA) (2 February 2001)
Film of the Day - Pan’s Labyrinth
Film of the Day - Apocalypse Now
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Founding of MSF
“It’s simple really: go where the patients are. It seems obvious, but at the time it was revolutionary." The founding of MSF.
Amid the Parisian upheavals of May 1968, a group of young doctors decided to go and help victims of wars and major disasters. This new brand of humanitarianism would reinvent the concept of emergency aid. They were to become Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders – MSF.
After the revolt of May '68 burst on to their black and white TV screens, the French public soon saw other, more frightening images.
For the first time, television broadcasted scenes of children dying from hunger in remote corners of the world.
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In southern Nigeria, the province of Biafra had seceded. This miniscule territory was surrounded by the Nigerian army and the Biafran people were decimated by famine.
The French Red Cross issued an appeal for volunteers.
Medics in emergencies
For a number of years, Max Recamier and Pascal Greletty-Bosviel – volunteer doctors with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva – had been regularly intervening in armed conflicts.
"Contrary to popular belief the Red Cross is not a medical organisation at all," says Max Recamier. "Pascal and myself were the only two doctors they knew because of our previous mission in Yemen, so they asked us to find some doctors for the ICRC.
"The first one to volunteer was Bernard Kouchner, who was much younger than I was; he was just finishing his studies and hadn't even finished his thesis yet, but he volunteered to go over there."
A team of six set off on the ICRC mission to Biafra: two doctors – Max Recamier and Bernard Kouchner – as well as two clinicians and two nurses.
Being thrown into such a bloody conflict was a real shock for these fledgling doctors, who found themselves having to provide war surgery in hospitals that were regularly targeted by the Nigerian armed forces.
Recamier and Kouchner believed the world needed to know about the events they were witnessing: civilians being murdered and starved by blockading forces.
They openly criticised the Nigerian government and the Red Cross for their seemingly complicit behaviour.
In the following three years, other doctors began to speak up. These doctors, or 'Biafrans', as they were known, began to lay the foundations for a new and questioning form of humanitarianism that would ignore political or religious boundaries and prioritise the welfare of those suffering.
“It’s simple really: go where the patients are. It seems obvious, but at the time it was revolutionary"
Bernard Kouchner MSF founder
'A new medicine'
In 1971, Raymond Borel and Philippe Bernier, journalists from the medical review Tonus issued an appeal to establish a band of doctors to help people suffering in the midst and wake of major disasters.
The ‘Biafrans’, who had been attempting to start an emergency medical-response group themselves, jumped at the chance.
“In the back of our minds was the fact that we’d already done this and we wanted to do it again,” says Bernard Kouchner.
“We wanted to ensure sufficient knowledge of this new type of medicine: war surgery, triage medicine, public health, education, etcetera.
“It’s simple really: go where the patients are. It seems obvious, but at the time it was a revolutionary concept because borders got in the way. It’s no coincidence that we called it ‘Médecins Sans Frontières.’”
Improvised treatment room, Nicaragua, 1979
MSF was officially created on 22nd December 1971. At the time, 300 volunteers made up the organisation: doctors, nurses and other staff, including the 13 founding doctors and journalists.
MSF was created on the belief that all people have the right to medical care regardless of gender, race, religion, creed or political affiliation, and that the needs of these people outweigh respect for national boundaries.
MSF's first mission
MSF’s first mission was to the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, where an earthquake in 1972 had destroyed most of the city and killed between 10,000 and 30,000 people.
In 1974, MSF set up a relief mission to help the people of Honduras after Hurricane Fifi caused major flooding and killed thousands of people.
Then, in 1975, MSF established its first large-scale medical programme during a refugee crisis, providing medical care for the waves of Cambodians seeking sanctuary from Pol Pot’s oppressive rule.
In these first missions, the weaknesses of MSF as a greenhorn humanitarian organisation would become readily apparent: preparation was lacking, doctors were left unsupported and supply chains were tangled. It became a turning point; the movement began to fracture.
Organised or guerilla doctors?
Claude Malhuret, MSF’s president from 1977-78, says: “There was a very real opposition between people who didn’t want things to become structured – who wanted to stay a small commando unit of emergency doctors – and others who wanted to get organised.”
“They didn’t want to become a sort of Red Cross, but nonetheless to be more organised than we were. Not just doctors pitching up with a few drugs in a plastic bag and not enough to work with.”
At the Annual General Assembly in 1979, MSF’s internal conflicts finally erupted. A vote was made on whether MSF should become more organised or remain a band of guerilla doctors. Eighty percent voted in favour of the former.
Bernard Kouchner and his ‘Biafran’ counterparts resented the move and left MSF to found Médecins du Monde, or Doctors of the World.
Building MSF
From this point, the new ‘realist’ leadership of MSF – spearheaded by Claude Malhuret and Rony Brauman – would help transform MSF into the professional organisation it is today.
Since 1980, MSF has opened offices in 28 countries and employs nearly 37,000 people across the world. Since its founding, MSF has treated over a hundred million patients – with 8.6 million outpatient consultations being carried out in 2015 alone.
From its inception, MSF has proved itself to be unlike any other NGO. MSF remains fiercely independent of both governments and institutions and its permanent criticism of the humanitarian illusion are a constant thorn in the side of the establishment.
To read more about MSF structure and sections, watch this video:
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International Dissatisfaction over Canada’s Legalization of Marijuana.
By Kendall O’Connor
In October of 2018, Canada became the second country in the world to legalize recreational marijuana, only behind Uruguay. [1] While Canada may be the second country to do so, it is considered the “first major economy to legalize recreational marijuana.”[2] Canada’s decision to legalize has been opined as “on the edge of a cultural revolution and [a] dramatic social experiment.”[3]
With only time to tell, it is not yet clear how Canada’s decision to legalize recreational marijuana will affect the country’s own citizens. Advocates of the legalization have argued that legalizing, regulating, and restricting access to marijuana will keep the drugs away from underage users, will result in loss of profits for drug-dealers, and will no longer place those from disadvantaged communities into the criminal justice system for a harmless crime.[4] However, the legalization’s avid challengers argue in the opposite, notably contending that the same effects may come into force by “ramp[ing] up criminal enforcement of drug laws outside of a narrowly defined legal market,” or, put shortly, as “relaunching the . . . war on drugs.”[5] While the world may continue to debate and speculate on the secondary effects yet to come into fruition as a result of Canada’s legalization of medical marijuana, South Korea, Japan, and the Russian Federation have already taken a hardline stance on the issue.
Only one short week after Canada’s decision to legalize recreational marijuana, the South Korean government announced that any South Korean citizen partaking in the act of smoking marijuana would “be punished according to Korean law, even if they did so in countries where smoking marijuana is legal.”[6] South Korea went so far as to state “[t]here won’t be an[y] exceptions.”[7] Within its own jurisdiction, South Korea has been known for its strict enforcement of drugs laws.[8] South Korea believes it can continue such strict enforcement to South Korean citizens who partake in the legalized smoking of marijuana in Canada because the South Korean law “is based on the concept that laws made in [South Korean] still apply to citizens anywhere in the world . . . even while abroad.”[9]
With approximately 304,000 Japanese residents visiting Canada in 2017, Japan issued a similar statement as South Korea’s shortly after Canada’s decision.[10] The Japanese Consulate in Vancouver stated, “Japan’s laws banning the purchase of cannabis may be applied not only in Japan[,] but also in foreign countries.”[11] Like South Korea, Japan has long held a heavy stigma against the drug.[12]
Both South Korea and Japan’s stance on Canada’s decision to legalize recreational marijuana rest on the countries justice systems imposing “extraterritorial jurisdiction.”[13] Japan and South Korea’s extraterritorial jurisdiction claim, meaning the countries’ laws apply to its citizens even outside the countries themselves, may prove difficult to enforce, however.[14] For example, there are little details as to how the police would test citizens returning from Canada.[15] It does not come as a surprise that neither country believes it can screen every person returning after having visited a foreign country; such a practice would be a practically impossible, extremely difficult and expensive.[16] So, while South Korea and Japan seem to have drawn a hardline stance against its citizens partaking in the use of legalized recreational marijuana while abroad, “experts suggest enforcement would focus more on drug traffickers than casual users.”[17]
The Russian Federation, seemingly siding with South Korea and Japan, posted a statement clearly asserting its dissatisfaction with Canada’s decision, calling the decision “unacceptable and hypocritical.”[18] Russia alleged Canada’s act “contravene[d] international jurisdiction on narcotics control,” and “warned Canada was ignoring the consequences of its actions for the integrity of international law.” While Russia may be correct, the United Nations, the “body that governs international drug control,”[19] has stated their disappointment of Canada’s decision, but has yet to decide whether Canada is in violation of any international treaties.[20]
Regardless of the international pushback, Canada has held firm on its decision to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana. As a result of such resilience, Canada’s Cannabis Act, which went into law as of October 17, 2018, created a “strict legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis.”[21] In addition to the limits of legal marijuana possession, the Act notably contains numerous additional provisions to ensure effectiveness, success, and ameliorate potential adverse secondary effects. For example, the Act “has several measures that help prevent youth from accessing cannabis, “ which including “both age restrictions and restricting promotion of cannabis.”[22] The Act also aims to “protect[] public health through creating strict safety and quality regulations[,] [i]n addition [to] public education efforts . . . to raise awareness about safety measures and any potential health risks.”[23]
In conclusion, the world will continue to look to Canada in the coming years as a sort of social experiment. While Canada has and may continue to receive pushback for its decision, only time will tell what will come as a result of Canada’s Cannabis Act.
[1] Dan Bilefsky, Legalizing Recreational Marijuana, Canada Begins a National Experiment, N.Y. Times (Oct. 17, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/17/world/canada/marijuana-pot-cannabis-legalization.html.
[3] Ian Austen et al., Canada is Legalizing Marijuana. Here Are Some Questions. Answered., N.Y. Times (Oct. 16, 2018), https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/16/world/canada/marijuana-legalization-explainer.html.
[4] Daniel Weinstock & Andrew Potter, The red flags ahead of Canada’s marijuana legalization, Globe and Mail (April 22, 2018), https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-the-red-flags-ahead-of-canadas-marijuana-legalization/.
[6] Benjamin Haas, Bong arm of the law: South Korea say it will arrest citizens who smoke weed in Canada, Guardian (Oct. 23, 2018), https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/oct/23/bong-arm-of-the-law-south-korea-says-it-will-arrest-citizens-who-smoke-weed-in-canada
[10] Ryan Flanagan, Japanese, South Korean citizens banned for using legal port in Canada, CTV News (Oct. 23, 2018), https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/japanese-south-korean-citizens-banned-from-using-legal-pot-in-canada-1.4146077.
[14] Haas, supra note 6.
[18] Marie-Danielle Smith, South Korean warnings and Russian scorn: How the world reacted to pot legalization in Canada, Nat’l Post (Oct. 23, 2018), https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/south-korean-warnings-and-russian-scorn-how-the-world-reacted-to-pot-legalization-in-canada.
[20] Albert Van Santvoort, Canada’s cannabis ‘high-handedness’ raises international disapproval, BIV (June 26, 2018), https://biv.com/article/2018/06/canadas-cannabis-raises-international-disapproval.
[21] Cannabis Legalization and Regulation, Canada Dep’t of Justice, https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/cj-jp/cannabis/ (last visited Nov. 12, 2018).
#BlogPost, #Blog, #O'Connor, #MSUILR, #MichiganStateInternationalLawReview, #Marijuana, #CanadaCannabisAct
Shipwrecks, Ancient History, and ...
Violations of International Human ...
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About myRollCall
Lorie DuPont – Operations
Lorie has been a volunteer organizer for Austin schools and nonprofit organizations since the 1990s. She served on the Board of Directors of The 100 Club of Central Texas from 2010 until 2015. The 100 Club of Central Texas provides financial and emotional help to first responders and their families in times of need. Lorie also worked for a political consulting firm for 13 years, serving as the company’s CFO. She worked on numerous local and statewide campaign fundraising events.
Lorie is the mastermind behind the founding of myRollCall. As a volunteer organizer, she has long felt the pain of not having a single place to go to manage events. She also felt disengaged from some of her own affinity groups because she chose not to have a presence on Facebook or LinkedIn. She believed there had to be a better way to help volunteers organize events. There also had to be a better way to engage members with social networks and for those without. She recognized a problem needing a solution.
Lorie was born and raised in New Jersey. She always knew she wanted to attend a large university after high school. In May of 1978 she accepted admission to the University of Texas sight unseen. From the moment she stepped on “the 40 acres,” she knew she was destined to be a Longhorn and an Austinite. Lorie earned her B.A. in Psychology at the University of Texas at Austin.
Greg Hilton – Technology
Greg Hilton was on the founding engineering team at Vignette Corporation and has been a technical leader at several Austin start-ups, including HaL (acquired by Fujitsu) and Anue Systems (acquired by Ixia). Greg has experience with the design and architecture of desktop and web applications, with emphasis on ease-of-use and user experience.
Greg has also served on the Board of Directors of Lutheran Social Services (now Upbring) and most recently was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Trinity Charter School, serving abused and neglected youth. Greg can be found on the local hike and bike trails, enjoying Austin’s renowned food and music scene, skiing in the Colorado Rockies or shuffling up for a good game of Texas Hold ‘Em. Greg holds a B.S.E.E. and M.E.E. from Rice University.
Thomas Le Coney – Technology
Thomas Le Coney is myRollCall’s Principal Engineer. He thrives in the high-demand, fast-paced startup world. Specializing in web-based applications, Thomas has experience with all aspects of the Software Development Lifecycle, including cloud computing, server design, front-end architecture, mobile-app development, and user-testing. Utilizing a rare combination of precision and creativity, Thomas loves a good challenge of balancing product delivery with excellent customer support, ensuring code translates into accessible, usable, and profitable consumer features.
When not behind the computer, Thomas can be found paddle-boarding on Lake Austin, going for runs through the Greenbelt, reading new and classic science fiction, trying out food trucks in Austin’s famous food scene, and attending one of Austin’s many music and technology festivals. Thomas holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Rice University.
Brian Kurth – Sales & Marketing
Brian Kurth was the founder and President of Portland, Oregon-based VocationVacations. Dubbed “America’s dream job matchmaker” by CNN in 2010, the company provided career mentorship experiences to people across the United States for more than a decade. As its chief promoter, Brian was an on-air contributor for NBC, CNBC, CNN, FOX News, MSNBC and NPR and featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and O, The Oprah Magazine among others. After moving to Austin in 2013, Brian created Revere Software, a knowledge-sharing and networking platform for universities and large nonprofit organizations. Earlier in his career, Brian served in corporate product marketing and business development roles at Ameritech and AT&T.
In his spare time, you can find Brian listening to music at The Continental Club in Austin, hiking and kayaking. Brian earned a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, triple-majoring in Political Science, History and International Relations.
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And the winner of a copy of A TOUGH NUT TO KILL is
cyn209
Posted by Krista at 12:00 AM
cyn209 February 10, 2014 at 8:46 PM
thank you, thank you!!!
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A COLD WHITE SUN
Alexia Gordon
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About Us Executives Rasmussen
Meet Our Executives
Stephen Rasmussen
Steve Rasmussen is Chief Executive Officer of Nationwide. He was elected to this position in 2009, and in this role also serves as a member of the Nationwide board of directors.
Prior to being elected CEO, he was President and Chief Operating Officer of Property and Casualty Insurance operations for Nationwide from 2003-2009.
He previously served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Allied Insurance and held the same positions with CalFarm Insurance, an affiliated company. Earlier, he served as Allied’s Executive Vice President for Product Management. He joined Allied in 1974.
Steve serves on the boards of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital, OhioHealth, American Electric Power, and Catalyst. He also is a member of the Columbus Partnership, an organization focused on economic development and downtown Columbus revitalization. Steve also previously served as a board member of the National Urban League, the Insurance Information Institute, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and the Columbus Metropolitan Library, trustee for Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa, and as co-chair for the United Way of Central Ohio Alexis de Tocqueville Vingt-Cinq Society campaign. Steve and his wife, Cindy, served as co-chairs of the 2012 United Way of Central Ohio campaign.
Steve earned his degree from the University of Iowa and holds the Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter designation.
About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance.
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Israeli PM's Wife Sentenced for Misusing State Funds
Israel's State Attorney's office accused Sara Netanyahu of misusing some $100,000 in state money on lavish meals
By Aron Heller
Published Jun 16, 2019 at 2:27 AM | Updated at 4:30 AM PDT on Jun 16, 2019
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Amit Shabi/Yedioth Ahronoth/Pool via AP
In this Sunday, Oct. 7, 2018, file photo, Sara Netanyahu, center, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sits in a courtroom in Jerusalem. Prosecutors accused Sara Netanyahu of misusing some $100,000 of state money on lavish meals.
A Jerusalem magistrate court on Sunday sentenced Sara Netanyahu, the wife of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to pay a fine of more than $15,000 for misusing state funds. The sentencing comes after she agreed to a plea bargain that ended the years-long saga of just one of the high-profile corruption cases involving the prime minister's family.
The court ruling settled allegations that Sara Netanyahu had misused some $100,000 in state money on lavish meals. She was indicted on charges of fraud and breach of trust last year after the State Attorney's office accused her of running up large tabs at luxury restaurants while the official residence employed a full-time chef between the years 2010 and 2013.
The settlement saw her admit to a more minor charge of "intentionally exploiting the mistake of someone else," specifically by misleading officials who didn't realize she already benefited from chefs on the government payroll.
Under the terms of the bargain, Sara Netanyahu agreed to pay $2,800 in fines and hand the remaining $12,500 back to the state. The settlement also reduced the overspending charge to $50,000.
The prime minister and his wife have a reputation for leading indulgent lives at public expense, out of touch with most Israelis. The 60-year-old Sara Netanyahu in particular has been accused of excessive spending, using public money for her private, extravagant tastes and for abusive behavior toward her personal staff. These allegations earned her an image as the Israeli Imelda Marcos, the former Philippine first lady infamous for her collection of designer shoes.
In 2016, a court ruled Sara Netanyahu mistreated a housecleaner and awarded the man $42,000 in damages. Other employees have accused her of abuse, charges the Netanyahus reject. Another former housekeeper is currently suing Sara Netanyahu for $63,000 in damages over mistreatment and harassment.
However, Sara Netanyahu's lawyer, Yossi Cohen, portrayed his client as a victim, saying she had "been put through hell" the past four years with a public shaming campaign that was due only to her public standing.
"Sara Netanyahu is today paying a heavy and painful personal cost to put an end to this witch hunt, and I hope that indeed this is the end of the story," he said after the hearing.
Benjamin Netanyahu has stood by her, calling her a "true hero" and bemoaning how she had become a "punching bag" for their opponents.
But the prime minister himself remains the main focus of the family's repeated legal troubles. He is facing an indictment on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, pending a hearing scheduled for early October. He has pushed for a postponement and can still request an extension from the Supreme Court.
Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of accepting lavish gifts from billionaire friends and promising to promote advantageous legislation for a major newspaper in exchange for favorable coverage. He vehemently denies wrongdoing, portraying himself as a victim of media-orchestrated persecution against him and his family in an attempt to oust him from power.
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Amid food shortages, commune does cattle ranching in Caracas, and neighbors aren't happy
“You see stuff like that in the country, but never in a city," said a resident about seeing cattle grazing in a wealthy Caracas neighborhood.
A cow in the backyard of an Apacuana commune house in Caracas, Venezuela, on Nov. 13, 2018.Marco Bello / Reuters
Nov. 16, 2018, 8:09 PM UTC
CARACAS, Venezuela — A socialist commune has drawn the ire of its neighbors in a wealthy area of Caracas with an unusual response to the hyperinflation and food shortages afflicting Venezuela: turning its backyard into an urban cattle pasture.
The leaders of the Apacuana commune, devotees of socialist President Nicolas Maduro, drove six hours to purchase 11 450-kilo (992-lb) cows. They set them to graze behind their 2,000-square meter (21,528 square-foot) home, donated by the state-owned telecommunications company two years ago.
The government began transferring billions of dollars to a network of more than 70,000 such community groups under the administration of late President Hugo Chavez, who supported the communes as an alternative to a capitalist economic model. Maduro has called communes “the epicenter of solidarity.”
Leaders of the commune, who also grow fruits and vegetables, say the arrangement is simply a way to get cheaper meat. They do not graze the cattle for long, and have already slaughtered several inside their home.
With Venezuela’s oil-reliant economy in a fifth year of recession and inflation nearing 1 million percent, securing staple goods is a daily struggle for many.
Just 40 percent of families can afford beef and nearly two-thirds of the population reported losing weight last year, by 11 kilos (24 lb) on average, according to a study by three universities.
A man cooks cow feet in the backyard of an Apacuana commune house in Caracas, Venezuela, on Nov. 13, 2018.Marco Bello / Reuters
Western economists and the domestic opposition blame Maduro’s heavy-handed policies and economic mismanagement for the crisis. However, the government and its supporters attribute Venezuela’s struggles to U.S. sanctions and hoarding by businesses trying to undermine socialism.
“This experience shows the resolve of the people to push back against the economic war,” said commune leader Sulimar Pedrozar, as two cow heads boiled in a pot over a wood fire and a group cleaned out a cow stomach for a soup.
The group has slaughtered seven cows and sold a small amount of meat to several hundred people at 560 bolivars per kilo, or about $2 at the black market exchange rate.
That was well above the government-set price of 90 bolivars. But with supply scarce, many butchers in Caracas sell beef for more than 10 times that amount, or more than half a monthly salary at the official minimum wage.
In 2016, Maduro launched a “Great Agro-Venezuela Mission” to encourage city-dwellers to grow fruits, vegetables and herbs in their backyards, noting that he and his wife harvested pumpkins on their patio. Earlier this year, a government minister said people should breed and eat rabbits, arguing they are not just “cute pets.”
On Thursday evening, several dozen neighbors of the commune gathered to protest the ranch next door, complaining about the foul smell, flies, and health risks.
“It is the first time in my life I’ve seen cattle being raised in a house,” said Luisa Ferro, a resident of the Los Chorros neighborhood. “You see stuff like that in the country, but never in a city.”
Pedro Méndez, a local opposition leader, said he would report the urban ranch to Venezuela’s health ministry, but doubted the government would stop it given Maduro’s support for such communes.
Pedroza said the commune would continue raising livestock.
“There is resistance to this idea but those who want to let people die of hunger are crazier,” Pedroza said.
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Doctor accused of filming naked patients, posting child pornography on social media
Justin Bowen Neisler "admitted to surreptitiously videotaping" boys as young as 11 during physical examinations, according to court documents.
March 28, 2019, 3:14 PM UTC / Updated March 29, 2019, 7:08 PM UTC
By Minyvonne Burke
A Denver-area doctor was arrested for allegedly videotaping young, naked patients and posting sexually explicit videos and pictures of children on social media, federal authorities said.
The FBI began investigating Justin Bowen Neisler, 31, in October after officials at Tumblr reported that he kept repeatedly posting child pornography to his account, according to court documents.
"After a Tumblr account would get shut down, the defendant would open a new account and resume posting child pornography," the document states.
Authorities searched Neisler's Denver home earlier this month and seized multiple computer storage devices and cameras. He was arrested by the FBI on March 13 following the raid, the U.S. State Attorney's Office District of Colorado said in a press release.
Justin NeislerThe George Washington University
During an interview with investigators, Neisler "admitted to surreptitiously videotaping" nude boys as young as 11 during physical examinations, according to the documents.
"According to the agent, a review of these videos reflected that the defendant appeared to gain sexual gratification from the examinations," the court documents state.
Neisler's attorney declined to comment on the investigation when contacted by NBC News.
Neisler has been charged with transportation of child pornography, and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
He has been licensed to practice medicine in Colorado and Georgia since 2016, the U.S. State Attorney's Office said. Calls made to the Georgia Composite Medical Board were not immediately returned. The Colorado Medical Board said Neisler's license was suspended in the state and will remain suspended "until resolution of this matter."
A spokesman for Centura Health said in a statement Thursday it was "deeply disturbed and saddened" by the allegations and fired Neisler from St. Anthony North Family Medicine, where he was in the family medicine residency program.
The spokesman also said they are notifying all patients who may have interacted with Neisler.
"Upon learning of his arrest by the FBI, his employment was terminated. We are troubled by these allegations which are in stark contrast to our mission and core values. There is simply no place for any behavior that exploits children in our community, or for any individual that circumvents the systems and processes we have in place to ensure their safety," the statement read.
Minyvonne Burke
Minyvonne Burke is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.
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Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 Download PC Game Version
April 23, 2017 | Posted in CRACKS, PC Games | Comments Off on Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 Download PC Game Version
Last Updated on April 23rd, 2017 by ushack
Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 (officially abbreviated as PES 2017, also known in some Asian countries as Winning Eleven 2017) is a sports video game developed by PES Productions and published by Konami for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. The game is the 16th installment in the Pro Evolution Soccer series. It was released in September 2016 and will be compatible with PS4 Pro console.
Konami partnered with FC Barcelona, Liverpool F.C., Borussia Dortmund and Club Atlético River Plate which will include recreation of the official kits, player faces, club logos and stadia among other exclusive content. Features include improved passing, Real Touch ball control, and improved goal tending technique. It includes fully licensed Arsenal, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona teams. The cover of the game features Barcelona players Neymar, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Ivan Rakitić and Gerard Piqué, as well as the team’s home stadium Camp Nou beneath the UEFA Champions League starball design with an Adidas Finale football on the pitch.
The game was positively reviewed upon launch, with critics describing the game as one of the best Pro Evolution Soccer games to date, and a refinement of its predecessor, Pro Evolution Soccer 2016.
OS: Windows 10, 8.1, 8, 7 SP1, Vista SP2
Processor: Intel Core2 Duo 1.8GHz / AMD Athlon Ⅱ X2 240 or equivalent processor
Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compatible video card. 1024MB Pixel Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce 8800 / AMD/ATI Radeon X1600 / Intel HD Graphics 3000 or better)
Processor: Intel Core i3 530 / AMD Phenom Ⅱ X4 925 or equivalent processor
Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compatible video card. 1024MB Pixel Shader 3.0 (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 / AMD/ATI Radeon HD4850 / Intel HD Graphics 4000 or better)
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The future of food safety: the revolution is on our doorsteps.
Posted: 5 May 2017 | Rob Chester | Managing Director | NSF International | No comments yet
In five years’ time, how will best practice look for food safety in light of technological developments?
At NSF International’s own conference, ‘Evolution Meets Revolution’, in London in February 2017, familiar as I am with the developments in the fast-evolving food sector, I was bowled over by the scale of largely positive change that technology is bringing our way. This really is a revolution. As Tom Chestnut, NSF International’s Global VP for Food, said “we can’t see it now, but we will look back on the year 2017 as a tipping point for the food industry”. This is the moment when innovations that have been considered as niche developments for early adopters will transform into mass market industry and consumer tools. By 2036 there will be one trillion connected devices, with 10 billion users and $20 trillion in revenue, but if you think 20 years is a long time off , I can assure you there’s an awful lot more to think about in the next five years.
What brings opportunities often brings problems and technology is no exception. Increasing complexity and power in human hands places huge responsibilities upon all of us. The developers of artificial intelligence worry greatly about social responsibility.
The challenges to today’s brands are many and complex. They have to meet the requirements to maintain consumer trust, be legally compliant, achieve brand protection and fulfil corporate social responsibilities across multiple territories. This means at a minimum the need for diligence in food safety and quality, nutrition, product authenticity, supply chain security, animal welfare, ethical trading issues and sustainability. At the same time the pace of technological change is accelerating. In the last few years we have seen the advent of big data, predictive analytics, the internet of things, robotic working, 3D and 4D printing, DNA and isotope traceability, genetic modification, genome editing and more. Some of these add to the complexity of risk management, while others can help us manage supply chain risks more effectively. For this article I have picked just three innovations that are already impacting on how we approach food safety and brand protection: wearable technology, predictive analytics and alternative sources of protein. There were many more, which ranged from scientific techniques to verify the provenance of food products, as explained by Oritain’s Stewart Whitehead, through to a new standard, Clearview, aimed at helping the supply chain stamp out modern slavery.
NSF International has been working with Google for nearly three years to fine-tune the application of Google glasses for food safety auditing and training. A huge advantage to the user testing has been the fact that NSF already audits all of Google’s worldwide food operations, and advancing the use of wearable technology was a natural evolution for a progressive company like Google. The latest hardware employed by NSF, the ODG R7, now has full-screen viewing while still maintaining full field of vision to complete tasks in total safety. As the user conducts an audit or task, they see a small screen that can display additional material for guidance, instruction and two-way audio-visual communication. The device also includes a camera and operates wirelessly, controlled through a small mouse worn on the finger. The potential uses are numerous: first and foremost, it means that remote auditing – in hard to reach or unsafe locations – becomes an economically viable proposition. Not only that, but even an untrained operator can carry out the audit with full guidance and tuition from a live auditor sitting at a screen on the other side of the world. Alternatively, extra guidance can be provided by pre-recorded mini training sessions. The possibilities are endless.
The pace of technological change is accelerating. In the last few years we have seen the advent of big data, predictive analytics, the internet of things, robotic working, 3D and 4D printing, DNA and isotope traceability, genetic modification, genome editing and more.
While NSF International is an early adopter of this technology, wearables are also in wide-spread use in the aerospace and automotive industries which typically require complex and high-precision tasks where accuracy is essential. The wearable technology market will already be worth over $126 billion by 2020. This is the so-called fourth computer paradigm (following mainframe computers, laptops and mobiles) where wearable devices will take over from mobile as the norm. But where it has taken mobile phones 10 years to develop from an iPhone 1 to today’s iPhone 7, the development of smart glasses will be four times as fast. By 2020 they will be a mainstream consumer product and mobile phones will rapidly be becoming a thing of the past. How will these and other devices in the Internet of Things connect? Likely through more innovation such as Google’s Project Loon (solar-powered balloons), high in the stratosphere, no more than 40 miles apart, providing high-speed connectivity across the globe. Facebook plans to use solar-powered drones to the same end.
Predictive analytics for food safety
The world’s capacity to store and manipulate data has grown exponentially to the point where artificial intelligence now outstrips human thinking and data can be measured in zettabytes. Where you have sufficient data, you can predict with reasonable confidence future outcomes. Predictive analytics are already in common use in other sectors, for example insurance, fleet management and for public policy, and, like wearable technology, the food industry is a relatively late adopter. In the UK, while the number of food business is growing fast, and customer complaints are rising by a similar percentage, the number of employees involved in food hygiene regulation and enforcement by comparison has fallen by 15%. How can we keep our citizens safe? In Chicago, U.S., the authorities have proven that predictive analytics can forecast accurately when there is a major risk of a food business failing a food safety audit and enable pre-emptive action to be taken.
ROB CHESTER leads NSF International’s food safety services and operations in the UK, and serves as part of the senior management team for the NSF Food Safety Division’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region. Rob has a proven track record across a wide range of disciplines including responsible sourcing, risk management and trading law, and experience as chief compliance officer for a division of a large U.S.-based retailer.
Food Safety, Robotics & automation, Technology & Innovation, The consumer
NSF International
Rob Chester
By Rob Chester | Managing Director | NSF International
Variable costs are “40% less” in organic production systems
By New Food Magazine
Mycotoxin testing market predicted to grow considerably
By Bethan Grylls (New Food)
UK family shopping costs to rise if plant protection products removed from farms
Undeclared milk and soy found in Meal® bars
Your email Recipient email What colour is grass?
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'Sensory Santa' makes holiday fun accessible for all kids
Sensory Santa, hosted by counseling company Compass at the Central Methodist Church for the first time this year, was one of the first events of its kind in the area.
'Sensory Santa' makes holiday fun accessible for all kids Sensory Santa, hosted by counseling company Compass at the Central Methodist Church for the first time this year, was one of the first events of its kind in the area. Check out this story on newsleader.com: https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/2018/12/16/sensory-santa-provides-festivities-kids-autism/2331639002/
Rilyn Eischens, Staunton News Leader Published 5:06 p.m. ET Dec. 16, 2018 | Updated 5:09 p.m. ET Dec. 16, 2018
Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus wave to the crowd from their float at the end of the Staunton Christmas Parade on Monday, Nov. 26, 2018. (Photo: Mike Tripp/The News Leader)Buy Photo
STAUNTON - As with any good Christmas celebration, St. Nick was the main attraction at the Sensory Santa event in Staunton Sunday.
Except this Santa had some special qualifications. When he's not packing gifts and caring for reindeer, he works as a clinician for a Virginia counseling company that primarily serves kids with autism.
Sensory Santa, hosted by counseling company Compass at the Central Methodist Church for the first time this year, was one of the first events of its kind in the area. Geared toward children with special needs and their families, the event's goal was to give children of all abilities a chance to celebrate the holiday season in a comfortable environment.
Part of creating that calm setting meant ensuring children could approach Santa for a photo on their own terms. There was no pressure to talk to Santa, touch him or interact with him at all, explained event organizer and Compass behavior support clinician Joann Jeter.
Traditional Santa events, like those at malls, can be difficult for children with autism. They may be overwhelmed by the lights and sounds or have trouble waiting in line, Jeter said, so many don't get photos with Santa at all.
Monica Snow, whose 7-year-old son has autism and has worked with Compass for several years, said her family used to skip Santa photo opportunities for that reason. When her son was younger, he didn't have a high tolerance for noise or lines, but they would've enjoyed an event like Sensory Santa, she said.
"It's like spending an afternoon with family," Snow said.
Guests could make slime, decorate traditional and gluten-free cookies - many people with autism have gluten allergies - and play games, all in a room with adjustable lights and volume. Jeter estimates that about 60 people came.
"I'm delighted with the [number of] people that came today," she said. "And I'm already thinking of ways to improve."
Autism spectrum disorder is a "range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication," according to the advocacy group Autism Speaks. About one in 40 kids has autism, a study published last month in the journal Pediatrics found.
Read or Share this story: https://www.newsleader.com/story/news/2018/12/16/sensory-santa-provides-festivities-kids-autism/2331639002/
Performing arts center in Staunton rebooted by new nonprofit
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Home > International NGOs
World Health Organization and NGOs Misrepresent State of Gaza Health
On February 13, 2018, Human Rights Watch (HRW), along with Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I), issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s procedures for granting access for Gaza residents to Israel for medical treatment. The groups cite a December 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) document that claims that 54 Gazans died while awaiting approval to travel to seek medical attention in Israel or in the West Bank. The WHO paper does not provide a source for this figure.
This NGO statement inaccurately and disproportionately blames Israel for these deaths, and largely ignores the centrality to this issue of Palestinian terrorism and Israel’s resulting legitimate security concerns
1. Questions on WHO Data
Seven of the WHO’s monthly updates for January-November 2017 make direct reference to fifteen total Gazans who passed away while waiting to travel outside of Gaza for medical treatment in 2017. The remaining four monthly reports make no mention of similar deaths, strongly suggesting that none occurred. WHO provides no explanation or source as to the large discrepancy between its monthly publications and its annual statistics.
WHO provides no methodology for claiming that there is direct causality between the deaths and the lack of a permit.
The monthly figures include at least one incident where the patient was waiting for “financial approval for referral out of Gaza,” a function performed by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and not Israel.
Additionally, the July update refers to a patient who died “awaiting referral out of Gaza,” without identifying whether he was seeking treatment in Israel or in Egypt.
The WHO’s December report directly contradicts earlier statements in the UN’s July 2017 Gaza funding appeal, which clearly notes permitting issues are the direct result of the PA delaying or suspending payments and referral approvals (see point 3 below).
2. Israel is not Obligated to Approve Travel Requests, yet Facilitates Medical Treatment for Thousands of Gazans Annually
Sovereign countries – including Israel – have full discretion regarding who is permitted to enter the country. Israel is under no obligation to allow Gazans to enter Israel for any purpose, medical or otherwise.
Nevertheless, Israel provides thousands of medical permits to Gazans and treats thousands of Gazans in Israeli hospitals annually. According to COGAT, throughout 2016, over 30,000 people from Gaza received medical treatment in Israel; over 7,000 tons of medical supplies were transferred to hospitals and clinics in Gaza. During January-July 2017, 490 ambulances were coordinated for the urgent transfer of patients and their escorts to hospitals in Israel, the West Bank, and abroad. According to a January 2017 report published by the Knesset’s Center for Research and Information, there are 60-70 patients from Gaza being treated at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv at any given moment.
In 2016, 275 medical professionals from Gaza received visas to participate in medical workshops and seminars in Israel. Dozens of physicians from Gaza also participate in training seminars, in addition to foreign physicians coordinating visits to Gaza in order to train local physicians on medical practices and existing medical devices.
3. Intra-Palestinian Fighting and Diversion of Medical Aid and Services by Terrorist Organizations is Primarily Responsible for Gaza’s Dysfunctional Health System
The power struggle between the PA and Hamas has directly harmed Gaza’s health infrastructure, leading Palestinians to seek treatment in Israel. As HRW’s statement itself mentions in passing, the PA reduced “essential services” to Gaza during 2017, which have reportedly “increased the shortage of essential drugs and delayed the referral of patients for medical treatment outside Gaza. These developments have impacted the availability of essential services and the livelihoods of Gaza’s two million residents.”
The UN itself admits fighting between Palestinian factions is responsible for Gaza’s health problems in its July 2017 funding appeal: “Delays in the shipment of essential drugs and disposables from the West Bank by the PA’s Ministry of Health (MoH), has resulted in some 37% per cent of essential pharmaceuticals and 32% of medical supplies being at zero stock at Gaza’s Central Drug Store.”
That same UN document cites the WHO and notes that it is the PA that has been responsible for permitting dealys and not Israel: “The MoH appears to have also recently been delaying or suspending the payment for the referral of patients to medical treatment outside Gaza, as reported by the World Health Organization, with about 1,600 patients currently on a waiting-list at the time this document went to print. This may be resulting in higher mortality rates among waiting patients, including highly vulnerable neonates.”
The PA’s reduction of support for Gaza has led to severe electricity shortages at Gaza medical centers.
Hamas has consistently stolen humanitarian aid intended for Gaza’s civilian population, including accusations of theft of medical supplies.
Hamas has regularly violated international law by commandeering ambulances and placing military command posts within medical facilities. This abuse directly and adversely affects the quality of health in Gaza.
A committed effort on the part of Hamas to use international humanitarian assistance to develop quality medical care for Gaza residents would remove the need to rely on Israeli facilities. Instead, the terrorist organization has diverted these resources towards enhancing its military capabilities.
4. Palestinians Have Abused Medical Travel Permits to Engage in Terrorist Activity
In April 2017, two Gazan women were arrested while attempting to smuggle explosives from Gaza into Israel, with the aid of their medical travel permits.
This incident represents just one episode in a long history of attempts by Palestinian terrorist organization to take advantage of Israeli medical permits in order to launch attacks on Israeli citizens.
The statement claims that the number of Palestinians that crossed into Israel through the Erez crossing represented 1% of the number who had crossed in September 2000. The fact that this stark decrease corresponds to a decade-and-a-half period that saw the Palestinian suicide bombing campaign, Hamas’ violent takeover of Gaza, and extensive rocket fire directed at Israeli civilians leading to multiple military conflicts, clearly proves the decisive role that Palestinian violence has played in limiting access to Israeli medical facilities.
5. It is not Clear that these Deaths can be Attributed Directly to Delayed or Rejected Permit Requests
Human Rights Watch (HRW) and its other partners imply that had these Palestinians received Israeli medical care, they would have survived. However, this completely disregards their prognosis at the time that they applied for a permit. Moreover, it is unclear how many Palestinians who died before traveling to Israel passed away as a result of other factors (natural deaths, accidents, crime), unrelated to the medical reason cited for requesting permission to enter Israel.
It is overly simplistic to claim that these Palestinian would have all recovered from their illnesses had they just been admitted to Israeli hospitals.
6. It is Unclear how many Individuals Applied for Permits
As WHO has noted in previous instances, patients who were denied entry into Israel can reapply. Thus, it is likely that the percentage of individual applicants who were approved entry into Israel is in fact higher than the number of applications that were accepted. The December 2017 WHO document does not provide the total number of Palestinian applicants.
The fact that these organizations ignored or downplayed these fundamental issues affecting Palestinian access to health highlights the political motivation at the core of their statement. The one-sided and misrepresented portrayal of complete Israeli fault while ignoring myriad ways in which Palestinian organizations hamper Gazan health is the result of a strong motivation to blame Israel at all costs.
Palestinian Ministry of Health
Human Rights Watch (HRW)
Amnesty International (AI)
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)
Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I)
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Home » What to Read Next...
Kathryn Price has been a full-time bookseller at the Norwich Bookstore for over a dozen years! She awaits the day when she'll be presented with a gold-plated box cutter, and in the meantime enjoys weaving and other fiber arts, as well as reading books about her favorite place in the world, India.
Around the World in 80 Trees (Hardcover)
By Jonathan Drori, Lucille Clerc (Illustrator)
Availability: On Our Shelves Now (call or email to confirm availability)
Published: Laurence King Publishing - May 29th, 2018
This beautifully illustrated book is a pleasure to read. Filled with some of the world’s most important trees from around the globe: historically, economically and societally (i.e.,sacred trees). Pick it up from time to time, or read it all the way through..
Disappointment River: Finding and Losing the Northwest Passage (Paperback)
By Brian Castner
Published: Anchor - February 5th, 2019
A book filled with historical content and present day adventure. In 1789, Scottish explorer and fur trader, Alexander MacKenzie set out to find the Northwest Passage, a shorter route to China. In 2016, Brian Castner began a 1,124 mile journey in a canoe to retrace MacKenzie’s earlier trek in search of that missing waterway. Great read for that cathartic wilderness experience of suffering from your armchair.
American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West (Paperback)
By Nate Blakeslee
Published: Broadway Books - July 31st, 2018
Yellowstone Park Rangers Rick McIntyre and Laurie Lynn help to turn wolf watching into a park event. One wolf in particular, 0-Six, becomes world famous. She and her pack are the most visible in the park. Through careful observation and reporting, the reader learns a lot about wolf behavior and the interactions among members of the pack. This is a great read for all animal lovers.
Leopard at the Door (Paperback)
By Jennifer McVeigh
Published: G.P. Putnam's Sons - October 3rd, 2017
Like her first novel, The Fever Tree, McVeigh brings the reader to Africa, specifically Kenya post World War ll. Sent to live with her grandparents in England as a child after her mother died, Rachel returns a young woman to find the world she remembered very much changed. Her father has taken a wife, cool and unyielding. Relations with the Kikuyu who live and work on the farm have shifted. And there are disturbing stories about Mau Mau attacks against Europeans. It is a well-written novel, with an interesting historical backdrop and beautiful descriptions of the landscape. The characters are well developed, their interactions intricate and credible.
Great Soul of Siberia: Passion, Obsession, and One Man's Quest for the World's Most Elusive Tiger (Hardcover)
By Sooyong Park, John Vaillant (Foreword by)
Published: Greystone Books - November 10th, 2015
Park's great passion for the Siberian tiger drove the researcher and filmmaker to immerse himself, for six months at a time, into the tiger’s harsh Russian landscape. This lonely and harrowing project provided him the rare opportunity to follow and become familiar with a tigress and her three cubs. Park informs the reader how and why the largest of cats is so endangered. A wonderful journey for any reader.
Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World's Rarest 78 RPM Records (Paperback)
By Amanda Petrusich
Published: Scribner Book Company - June 9th, 2015
As Jackson Brown sang, "make way for my 45s right alongside your 78s," this book is all about those 78 recordings. It's full of characters who are always on the lookout for the most rare 78 discs. Details on the artists, their songs, how they were recorded, and what happened to those recordings when the labels went belly-up. The collectors are trying to keep American musical heritage alive for those who have never heard the old blue songs. A great summer read for anyone interested in music.
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Online publisher won’t move to Norwood office park
Steve Adams
Dec 31, 2008 at 12:01 AM Dec 31, 2008 at 1:01 AM
TechTarget has called off its move to Norwood’s Upland Woods office park and has resumed the search for a new headquarters.
Online publisher TechTarget has called off its planned move to Upland Woods Corporate Center.
TechTarget’s 10-year lease of 113,000 square feet in an office building under construction has been terminated, according to a filing with the SEC. The $33.6-million transaction would have been one of the biggest office deals south of Boston in the past year.
The developer has run into delays and will not be able to deliver the building on schedule by January 2010, TechTarget Chief Financial Officer Eric Sockol said. TechTarget’s existing lease in Needham expires in December 2009.
TechTarget will resume the search for approximately 85,000 square feet of office space in existing buildings within a 10-mile radius of Needham, Sockol said.
“The market is favorable because obviously there aren’t a lot of companies out there looking for the amount of space we’re looking for,” Sockol said.
TechTarget operates a network of technology-oriented Web sites. The Needham company laid off 76 employees, or approximately 12 percent of its workforce, and shut down its two print publications this month.
TechTarget would have been the first tenant of the 200,000-square-foot building. TechTarget occupies 90,000-square-foot in Needham, but sought additional space after hiring 150 employees in the past two years.
In the lease, signed on Sept. 11, TechTarget agreed to pay $28.75 per square foot during the first five years of the lease and $30.75 per square foot in years six through 10.
The landlord terminated the lease on Dec. 10, according to an SEC filing. The Upland Woods building is being jointly developed by Campanelli Companies of Braintree and Commonfund Realty of Wilton, Conn.
Upland Woods is being developed at the former Polaroid Corp. campus, and has been occupied by new tenants including Aspect Medical and Universal Technical Institute of Phoenix.
Steve Adams may be reached at sadams@ledger.com.
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3.6.1 Stiffness
Just how compliant does an AFM cantilever have to be to enable it to follow the undulations in a surface on an atomic scale? How can we find out? It turns out that this is easier than at first it seems.
A simple assumption we can make is that the compliance of the cantilever should be appreciably greater than that of a typical bond that holds atoms to one another. Here's one way in which a rough estimate of the stiffness (the force required to cause a given deflection) of the bonds in a
This unit examines how small features can be etched and cut out of solid materials at a very small scale.
This unit is an adapted extract from the Open University course Engineering small worlds: micro and nano technologies (T356).
3.1.3 Micro lenses
A smart way to compensate for surrendering area to data transfer is to build in microscopic lenses at each pixel: the processing sequence that is used to manufacture the MOS devices already involves transparent polymeric material and, calling again on the ingenuity of the designers of microelectronics, significant enhancement to optical efficiency can be won.
1.3 The capacity of an MOS structure to store charge
Figure 1 shows a schematic section through an MOS structure and sets up a colour scheme that distinguishes the different layers. In this case the M-layer is provided by heavily doped polysilicon and the semiconductor base material is p-type silicon.
7.1 The engineer and society
Section 2 outlined some of the needs for engineering. Society relies on engineers to create solutions to the problems involved in meeting those needs.
This is a good time to pause and point out that inevitably, in return for all this fun and power, engineers have a responsibility to society. The people who employ our services, directly or indirectly, have to have an assurance that we are working within certain social, safety and ethical boundaries. Particularly given the increasing tren
4.5.1 Mathematical models
Computers in the last few decades have, in many cases, made mathematical modelling a lot easier. Models that used to require hours of manual cranking through long equations can now be created on a screen using specialist software. Processes can be recreated – modelled – in the time it takes to press a few buttons.
For example, when designing a pipe network to carry a gas or fluid, such as in the village water supply problem, you might wish to know how the flow would be distributed w
In order to determine which of the several parts of the joint were weakest, and gain some idea of the scatter in strength, David Kirkaldy was employed by Henry Law to test various samples he had collected from the bases of the fallen piers. David Kirkaldy had a good reputation for accurate and rigorous mechanical testing of materials using a large tensometer he had designed and built in London (see Input 9, linked below).
Click 'View document' below to open Input 9
The second part of the enquiry was devoted to analysis of the disaster. There were three engineers appointed: Mr Henry Law for the enquiry, and Dr William Pole and Mr Allan Stewart acting on behalf of the NBR. In addition, Mr Law collected samples of columnar material and wrought iron straps, bolts and struts for mechanical testing, as well as many broken parts to be shown as exhibits at the enquiry. He asked Mr David Kirkaldy to test the samples using a hydraulically operated tensometer.
The content acknowledged below is Proprietary (see terms and conditions) and is used under licence.
Video Materials
This video extract is from Coast Se
Module team
T356 course team
Dr Alec Goodyear (course chair)
Professor Nicholas Braithwaite
Jan Kowal
Dr Tony Nixon
Dr Sally Organ
Robin Harding (critical reader)
James McLannahan (critical reader)
Dr Martin Rist (critical reader)
Dr George Weidmann (critical reader)
Peta Jellis (course manager)
External assessor
5.13.1 Rectangular bar
If a solid rectangular bar is excited by striking it, energy is supplied that starts the bar vibrating transversely. The bar will vibrate in a number of modes simultaneously since the striking action supplies energy over a range of frequencies. The motion of the bar will be the superposition of the standing-wave patterns of the excited modes.
Assume for the moment that the rectangular bar is supported in such a way that both ends are free to vibrate and the effects of the supports can b
10.3 The decibel as a measure of sound amplitude
As I mentioned earlier, because a decibel is a way of expressing a ratio, it cannot by itself express the absolute size of anything. To express absolute values it must be referred to a fixed reference quantity, against which whatever is being measured can be compared. In the context of acoustics the reference used is the lower limit of audibility – the threshold of audibility. This varies from person to person, but has a nominal value that can be expressed as a pressure wave with an
For a variety of reasons, not least the very wide dynamic range of human hearing, the decibel (symbol dB) is often used as a unit for the amplitude of sound waves. The decibel is also used in other contexts, such as specifying the amplification of amplifiers or the degree to which a signal is affected by noise. In the context of sound, the use of the decibel as a unit captures something of the subjective impression of the way loudness changes with amplitude.
The decibel unit has
6.1 Defining amplitude
Another important property of a sine wave we need to be able to specify is its amplitude. In essence, the amplitude of a sine wave is its size. Unfortunately there are various ways of defining what is meant by the size of a sine wave, and you are likely to come across many of them in material you look at outside this unit. Before I explain what our definition is, it will help matters if we look at what is meant by the average value of a sine wave.
Figure 16 shows a sinusoidally a
1.3 Describing sound
Let's now take a closer look at my list of categories from Activity 3, starting with item (a). In each of my descriptions of this sort, I referred to the source–cause of the sound: that is, an object or an instrument (the source of the sound) and ways of using it to produce a sou
7.2.4 Trap 4: words and wordiness
I have seen some effective rich pictures with lots of words in them but they are quite rare in my experience. More often, lots of words make the rich picture less rich. Part of the later use of a rich picture might include looking for patterns. Words inhibit your ability to spot patterns.
If you do use speech bubbles, use what people say, not your interpretation, unless the bubble is about some general attitude. Examples might be ‘Aaagh!’, ‘Help!’, ‘Oops!’ – the sort of th
2 Part 1 Starting the unit
Welcome to T306_2 Managing complexity: a systems approach – introduction. As I write, I experience a sense of excitement. For me, as for you, this is the beginning of the unit. These are the first few sentences I'm writing and so, although I have a good idea of how the unit is going to turn out, the details are by no means clear. Nevertheless, the excitement and anticipation I, and maybe you, are experiencing now is an important ingredient in what will become our experiences of the u
13 Part 2: 4 Preparing for innovation
Many inventors have said that having the idea for an invention is the easy part. This is often demonstrated by the frequency of examples of simultaneous invention. At one exhibition of inventions I attended there were three separate portable ladders to escape from fires, two systems for using rainwater to flush toilets, two types of portable vehicle wheel clamp, and two methods of reducing red-eye in flash photography. In most cases of technological innovation only one of the competing techno
10.5 Desire to help others
This is a less common motivation but it shows not everyone is driven by money.
In 1991 the inventor Trevor Baylis saw a BBC documentary about the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. What was needed was a way of broadcasting the safe-sex message to people in areas without electricity and where batteries for a radio could cost a month's wages. Solar power wouldn't necessarily help as most people who could get to a radio listened in the evening after work. While absorbing this information he ima
9 Part 2: Invention
Having taken a broad look at the whole innovation process from invention to diffusion, I'll go back and look more closely at what motivates individuals and organisations to invent. Then I'll consider how people generate ideas for inventions and the designs based on the inventions.
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Who Killed The Maya? The History Channel 5/5
This documentary explores the reasons for this society's demise. 'The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization, noted for the only known fully developed written language of the pre-Columbian Americas, as well as its art, architecture, and mathematical and astronomical systems.' (Maya Civilization, Wikipedia, 2009). This History Channel documentary is suitable for older middle and high school students.
1.6 Equity buybacks, de-listing and reversion to a ‘private’ company
Once its shares have been issued, a company has the option to buy back shares. Buybacks will occur if the company believes that it is overcapitalised and cannot generate a sufficiently high return on capital through its operations. Under these circumstances it is effectively saying to the investor ‘thanks but please now have some of your money back – you can probably make it work harder elsewhere’. A further reason for buybacks arises when a major capital restructuring is undertaken by
This unit considers working with people in group care and residential settings. Social workers play a critical role in supporting service users in moves to and from residential care, and they should be capable of assessing needs and the quality of care provision. The activities in the unit focus on the lives of three people living in a nursing and residential home for elderly and disabled people. Although many of the practice examples relate to work with older people, the values and principle
4.366 Advanced Projects in the Visual Arts: Personal Narrative (MIT)
This advanced video class serves goes into greater depth on the topics covered in 4.351 , Introduction to Video. It also will explore the nature and function of narrative in cinema and video through exercises and screenings culminating in a final project. Starting with a brief introduction to the basic principles of classical narrative cinema, we will proceed to explore strategies designed to test the elements of narrative: story trajectory, character development, verisimilitude, time-space
Author(s): Gibbons, Joe
Counting With a Leprechaun - Song
This is a cute St. Patrick's Day song that includes counting with a leprechaun... by 1's up to 20 by 2's up to 30 by 5's up to 100 by 10's up to 100. Lyrics are also written on the screen. (03:08)
A topology construction from line drawings using a uniform plane subdivision technique
The paper describes an algorithm for constructing the topology from a set of line segments or polylines. The problem appears for example at land-maps that have been drawnby general-purpose drawing packages or captured from blue-prints by digitalisation. The solution comprises two steps; in the first step inconsistencies in the input data aredetected and removed, and in the second step the topology is constructed. The algorithm for topology construction consists of two phases: determination of a
Author(s): Alik, B.
1.3 Regulations on visiting patients in Lennox Castle, c.1950
5.2.2 Opening up ideas: analysing the question
What do you need to know about your assignment? Most importantly, what it's about (i.e. the topic). Once you have worked this out, you are in a better position to gauge how much you already know and how much you will need to find out.
Levels of Measurement: what you can and can't do arithmetically
An explanation of the statistical operations that can be performed on the different levels of measurement. This resource has been re-purposed and an HTML5 version has replaced the original version.
A Critical Approach to the Use of Computers in Architectural Design
There are two dominant approaches to architectural and urbanistic problem solving: program based approaches and paradigm based approaches. Beyond these two, this paper proposes the critical/formalist approach as a paradigm for architectural design while summarizing the epistemological foundations of it, and investigates the possible contribution of the computers to this approach. The primary aim is to set a starting point for a more comprehensive future research.
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We ask the question ‘Can renewable energy sources power the world?’ as a response to the growing awareness that increased use of renewable energy technologies is making a major contribution to global efforts to limit anthropogenic climate change. The course begins by examining the environmental concerns that have caused a rise in interest in renewable energy, introducing the main sources and technologies, and describing global efforts to increase the share of renewables. The course then look
Ricky Gordon in Migration Rhapsody
See the full performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e4cvzuHwjg In conjunction with the "One-Way Ticket" exhibition, Terrance McKnight, a host on New York City classical music station WQXR, curates an evening of music and performance with artists including Jim Davis, Kevin Maynor, Karen Chilton, Bill T. Jones, Alicia Hall Moran, Jason Moran, Damien Sneed, Bill Sims Jr., Ricky Gordon, Bob Stewart, and others.
Combining Methods in Educational and Social Research
This introductory chapter is reproduced with the kind permission of the Open University Press / McGraw-Hill Publishing Company. To order a copy of the book see: http://www.mcgraw-hill.co.uk/html/0335213073.html Also see: http://www.openup.co.uk,114,120
No U.S. tax agreement, yet
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2.875 Mechanical Assembly and Its Role in Product Development (MIT)
The course presents a systematic approach to design and assembly of mechanical assemblies, which should be of interest to engineering professionals, as well as post-baccalaureate students of mechanical, manufacturing and industrial engineering. It introduces mechanical and economic models of assemblies and assembly automation at two levels. "Assembly in the small" includes basic engineering models of part mating, and an explanation of the Remote Center Compliance. "Assembly in the large" takes a
Author(s): Whitney, Daniel E.
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'On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous' Review: Ocean Vuong's Autobiographical Debut Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong's words are mighty, teasing and overpowering in his autobiographical novel, written as a letter from a son to his illiterate mother.
An Immigrant Yearns For Connection In 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous'
An Immigrant Yearns For Connection In 'On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous' 5:59
Heard on Fresh Air
by Ocean Vuong
Hardcover, 246 pages |
Here's an SAT word for you: "aptronym." An aptronym is a proper name that's especially "apt" for describing the person who bears it. Take Usain Bolt, the bolt-of-lighting Jamaican sprinter, or the poet William Wordsworth. Now, add to the list Ocean Vuong.
Vuong was given the name "Ocean" by his mother, a Vietnamese immigrant who worked as a manicurist. As the story goes, a customer corrected her pronunciation of the word "beach," which, when she said it, sounded like that word that rhymes with "witch." Vuong's mother adopted the word "ocean" instead, and when she learned that it refers to a body of water that can connect countries — such the United States and Vietnam — she gave her son the hopeful name of Ocean.
'Start With Truth And End With Art': Poet Ocean Vuong On His Debut Novel
In his poetry and in his just-published debut novel called On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, Vuong writes about the yearning for connection that afflicts immigrants. But "ocean" also describes the distinctive way Vuong writes: His words are liquid, flowing, rolling, teasing, mighty and overpowering. When Vuong's mother gave him the oh-so-apt name of Ocean, she inadvertently called into being a writer whose language some of us readers could happily drown in.
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous is an autobiographical novel in the form of a letter — a letter written by a son named Little Dog to his illiterate mother. "Dear Ma," the novel begins, "I am writing to reach you — even if each word I put down is one word further from where you are." In that one line, Vuong, via Little Dog, has described the unintended rift that education can cause within a working-class immigrant family.
Little Dog was born in Vietnam, but, like Vuong himself, he was brought to the U.S. as a small child. The "Dear Ma" letter Little Dog writes as a 20-something young man in the 1990s roams through his family history, monumental and small: We hear how Little Dog's grandmother escaped from her arranged marriage in Vietnam and how "her body, her purple dress ... kept her alive" as a sex worker.
In The Lines Of Ocean Vuong, Echoes Of His Family's Past In Vietnam
We also hear how the remembered violence of the Vietnam War transmutes itself into the frequent slaps and punches rained down on Little Dog by his mother. "I didn't know," Little Dog writes to her, "that the war was still inside you ... [and] that once it enters you it never leaves — but merely echoes, a sound forming the face of your own son."
And then there's this memory that Little Dog shares with Ma, the classic ordeal where the bullies-on-the-school-bus torture the outsider. It's one of the most familiar scenes in literature and film. But listen to a few sentences and hear how Vuong, through Little Dog, takes us deep into the shame and helplessness:
"Speak English," said the boy with a yellow bowl cut ...
"Look at me when I'm talking to you."
He was only nine but had already mastered the dialect of damaged American fathers. The boys crowded around me, sensing entertainment. ...
When I did nothing but close my eyes, the boy slapped me. ...
I stared at my feet, at the shoes you bought me, [Ma], the ones with red lights that flashed on the soles when I walked. ... I kicked my shoes, gently at first, then faster. My sneakers erupted with silent flares: the world's smallest ambulances, going nowhere.
There are extended riffs throughout Vuong's novel on subjects like Tiger Woods' racial heritage and on the word "sorry," which, Little Dog writes, is the "most common English word" spoken by Asian nail salon workers.
It's also the most common English word spoken by the mostly Hispanic laborers to their white boss in the tobacco fields where Little Dog works as a teenager and where he falls in love with a white boy named Trevor. Little Dog confesses to Ma that Trevor was "[t]he boy from whom I learned there was something even more brutal and total than work — want."
In an essay he wrote three years ago for The New Yorker, Vuong, who was born in Ho Chi Minh City and came to the U.S. when he was 2, recalled, "When I entered kindergarten, I was, in a sense, immigrating all over again, except this time into English." Like so many immigrant writers before him, Vuong has taken the English he acquired with difficulty and not only made it his own — he's made it better.
Correction June 6, 2019
A previous audio version of this story incorrectly said Ocean Vuong was born in Hanoi city. Vuong was actually born in Ho Chi Minh city.
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San Francisco Maritime
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Genealogy Research at SF Maritime NHP
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Axel R. Widerstrom, Alaska, 1919, holding salmon caught from ship Star of France with dog, Mickey.
SAFR 22053, P77-040a, P50-36,617p
Do you have ship's passenger lists?
My relative was a sailor. Can you help me find information on him or her?
I'm interested in learning more about the ship on which my relatives traveled--how can you help me?
I'm not sure of the name of the ship on which my relatives traveled--can you help me?
My relative worked in a shipyard--can you help me find information on him or her?
What's a deck log, and will it contain information about the voyage my relative(s) made?
Where can I find pictures?
What research services do you provide?
Do you charge for photocopies and scans?
Where do I go from here? What are some other good sources?
We have some passenger lists (the majority are at the National Archives). If you know the name of the ship and the date of the voyage you are interested in, you can contact us to see if we have any resources about the passengers.
The majority of passenger lists for arrivals in the West Coast are at the National Archives in San Bruno, which has made available an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file describing which ship's lists are held in Record Group 85, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. (More detailed information on passenger lists at the National Archives is also available.) Please note that the records are for arrivals only, not departures, as records for departures were not kept. The dates of their records are 1891-1953. Other passenger lists can be found in Record Group 36, Records of the United States Custom Services.
Another source for passenger lists is Ancestry.com, which is a subscription based database, but you can get access at most public libraries.
Sometimes, lists of arriving first class passengers were published in newspapers. The California Digital Newspaper Collection is a good place to look for these. You can do a keyword search for your relative. Be aware that for the most part, it is only a last name and a first initial. Children and steerage passengers were not listed.
A source for passenger lists during the Gold Rush is the four volume set of San Francisco Ship Passenger Lists by Louis J. Rasmussen. These volumes list first class passengers of some ships between the years 1850-1875, taken from newspapers and journals for the time. The bulk of the listings are 1850-1853. We have this work in the Maritime Research Center and it is available for browsing. It is indexed by both vessel name and passenger name.
If they were based on the west coast of the United States, it's likely that we have a picture of the vessel on which they served. Less likely, but still possible, is that we have a crew photo. You must provide us with the name of the vessel, as most crew photos are not indexed by personal name. Please refer to the Park's Duplication Services policy for information on ordering photo reproductions.
It's also possible that they were mentioned in one of our books. Titles like The H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest often have brief biographies of noted mariners.
We have some ship's articles (contracts signed by the captain and crew outlining the agreed upon work conditions) and crew lists here as well. They are indexed by vessel name only, so you must provide us with the name of the vessel and the dates of their voyage for reference requests.
The National Archives in San Bruno is the repository for Pacific Coast ship's articles and crew lists. They can be found in Record Group 36, Records of the United States Custom Services. They also have Master Certificates, which are official documents issued to captains stating that they are qualified to take command of a vessel.
If the relative you are researching lived in more modern times and had a connection to Bay Area maritime activities, you might find them in our oral history collection. Please contact us for further assistance.
If your relative was the captain or master of a vessel, they might be listed as such in ship registers. (Mystic Seaport has an example of a register page with masters listed.)
If you know the name of the ship, we might be able to find on ore more pictures. Our photographic collection has over 500,000 images. We might also have a history of the ship or be able to tell you something that makes the ship (or its voyage) unique.
We also have material that describes sailing conditions and life on board ships during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. You might gain some understanding of your relative's life by reading a first person account of a sailor's seafaring life or an account of an immigrant's experiences on a clipper ship.
Without a ship name, it is difficult for us to assist you, as maritime collections are traditionally arranged by vessel names. To find a ship name, there are steps you can take. If you know the approximate date of the voyage, you can use the California Digital Newspaper Collection to browse the "Shipping Intelligence" section of the paper within your date range. Be sure to consider routes of ships, for instance, someone might have started from Australia, but the last port the steamer entered was in Hawaii, therefore the Shipping Intelligence article would list the steamer as arriving from Hawaii, not from Australia.
We do have sources on microfilm such as The Guide or Shipping and Commercial List that state the departure and intermediate ports.
You could also use a genealogical database like Ancestry.com or HeritageQuest (both are subscription based and available in many public libraries) and see if your relative is noted as a passenger on a named ship.
Lastly, you could use a source like Passenger Ships of the World and see which lines were active in the departure port for the estimated time of immigration, then use one of the above sources to track the movements of those ships.
We hold extensive collections relating to West Coast shipyards. Some of these records have employment information and some do not. If you are researching someone who worked in a shipyard, please contact us and we can check if we have any personnel records for the shipyard in question. Please be advised that some records might be restricted due to privacy concerns.
We also have runs of employee newsletters for shipyards such as Kaiser Shipbuilding, California Shipbuilding, and Mare Island Naval Yard.
My relative served on a Navy ship--how can you help me?
The National Archives holds our nation's military records, but we do have a fairly large collection of cruise books. (A cruise book is a memory book of the voyage, similar to a high school year book.) If you know the name of the ship on which your relative served, you can search our Keys catalog and see if we have cruise books from that ship.
We might have a picture of the ship on which they served; please contact us for further assistance.
You may also wish to consult the resources of the Naval History & Heritage Command, which holds many photographs, cruise books, etc.
A deck log is a formal account of a voyage kept by an officer of the ship. The information contained within confines itself to ship movements, weather, crew schedules and information of that nature. Major incidents such as a death aboard ship or an accident would also be recorded; however, it is not a personal account and should not be confused with a diary or journal. If you are looking to see what food was served or who wore a scandalous dress to dinner, it would not be found in a deck log (unless the dinner poisoned everyone or the dress was so shocking, the wearer was thrown overboard!).
Our photography collection contains over 500,000 images, our manuscript collections contain many drawings, and our museum object collections contain many art works. If you have a vessel of personal name you would like searched, please contact us.
Other collections of interest, rich in images related to U.S. maritime history, include:
San Francisco History Center: located in the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library, some of their resources include newspapers, an outstanding photograph collection, archives, and manuscripts.
Naval History and Heritage Command: an excellent resource for photos of military vessels, as well as some merchant vessels.
Mystic Seaport Museum: over a million images relating to maritime history.
Online Archive of California: database containing catalog records and finding aids for hundreds of California museums, libraries, and similar institutions, such as the Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley) or the Huntington Libraries, including ours.
Unfortunately, we are not able to provide research services. We can provide answers such as where to look for information, and we assist in fulfilling duplication orders. We are not able to browse documents or collections, or conduct in depth research. If your query requires such research and you cannot visit the Maritime Research Center, then you can hire a professional researcher. The National Archives has an approved list of professional researchers. The California Genealogical Society does research as well.
Please see this topic in our Collections FAQ for a detailed explanation of our copy services and links to our policies.
"California as I Saw It:" First Person Narratives of California's Early Years: full-text, searchable database compiled by the Library of Congress, containing, as the title states, early first person narratives; search by keyword to find a relative, event or place of interest.
California Digital Newspaper Collection: free, full-text, searchable database of California newspapers dating from 1848-1922.
California Genealogical Society: genealogy reference materials from California, the U.S., and around the world; research services, online genealogical indexes and databases, and research library. Also sponsors the SF Genealogy website's transcribed passenger lists.
Chronicling America: newspaper database collection provided by the Library of Congress containing information such as ship movements, passenger arrival lists, and other items of interest.
Internet Archive: highlights include some early San Francisco city directories (full-text searchable) and some early footage of San Francisco in the online movie collection.
Mystic Seaport: many online resources including and linking to ship registers, crew lists, oral history catalog, American Offshore Whaling Voyages and the Whalemen's Shipping List.
Naval History and Heritage Command: includes many photographs of naval ships and other resources for researching naval history such as ships histories.
National Archives: the official record keeper of our nation, containing federal records in the main branch in Maryland or in various regional locations, such as our regional branch in San Bruno. Of particular interestare Record Group 85, Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Record Group 36, Records of the United States Custom Services which includes letters sent and received, records of entrances and clearances of vessels, cargo manifests, impost books, journals and logbooks of privateer vessels, passenger lists and abstracts, crew lists, hospital accounts and returns, wreck reports, reports of seizures, fishing agreements and journals, shipping articles, revenue cutter and revenue marine records, vessel documentation files, and records relating to warehousing, drawbacks, and nonintercourse and embargo bonds.
Online Archive of California: detailed descriptions (catalog records and finding aids) of primary resource collections maintained by institutions such as libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies and museums through California and the University of California campuses.
Ships List: includes immigration reports, newspaper records, shipwreck information, ship pictures and descriptions, shipping line fleet lists and passenger lists.
Society of California Pioneers: museum and library focusing on early California history.
Last updated: February 9, 2017
Contact the Park
2 Marina Boulevard, Building E, 2nd Floor
The public information office is open from 8 A.M. to 5 P.M. PST during weekdays and we will respond to all messages within two business days.
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Intensive Exploration Activities are ongoing in Nigeria’s Sedimentry Basins - Adesanya
Intensive Exploration Activities are ongoing in Nigeria’s Sedimentary Basins-Adesanya
Mr. Abiodun Adesanya is the President, Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE). A petroleum geologist of the highest category, Adesanya has years of experience in a career spanning more than two decades. He worked with Elf Petroleum, supervising seismic operations and was later deployed to the Asset Management team as Senior Geoscientist in charge of 2D/3D evaluation and portfolio management. In 1997, he joined the then Landmark Graphics (now Halliburton) and was tasked with management and provision of technical consulting, sales marketing and training to local, national and international independent and multinational companies within the Sub-Sahara Africa. In this exclusive interview with the Orient Energy Review (OER), Mr. Adesanya speaks on oil and gas prospect in the Lake Chad and other Sedimentary Basins, the recently passed Petroleum Industry Governance Bill and the forthcoming NAPE conference, amongst others. It is OER’s exclusive!
By OrientEnergyReview On Jul 8, 2017
OER: Let’s congratulate you again on your assumption of office as President of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists. What are you bringing to the table differently from your predecessors?
Mr. Adesanya: Thank you very much. Let me first of all commend my predecessors that you just mentioned. They have done tremendously well. They have set such high standards. We are going to up the game a bit more because like you know, our industry is a very dynamic one and we have to be responsive and reactive to those changes that we see. So, to that extent, we are going to be addressing the issues that confront the industry today and a number of them, quite well known, are being addressed already. One of the issues we’ve had and that has lingered over a long time is the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). We can see some movement now and even though we have not gotten to our destination yet, we know that some work is being done in that regard. Another challenge we’ve had has been the issue of the Joint Venture call arrears and liabilities by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation,) (NNPC). Again, a formula has been found; not an easy one but it is a workable formula once everybody puts their minds to it. To our members, the biggest challenge is putting them back to work. The industry has lost a lot of experienced hands, some of whom were trained with a lot of resources. Even though, they have been discharged in their primary places of work, our own objective, not directly but indirectly influenced by what goes on in the industry is to find a way, just to illustrate, if there is a licensing round for example, some of our retirees would be put to some work. And if companies are being formed as a consequence of their ownership of new assets, they would be able to get back to some jobs at least to be the managers of whatever opportunities that are coming from that. Those are for our members.
We have very large and vibrant pool of young professionals and student members and we intend to engage them. One of the biggest challenges I have seen is the lack of awareness of what’s going on. We have had a number of social interactions whereby a lot of bonding took place. We had one in Lagos and another in Port Harcourt and we shall continue to do this across the land. The idea is to bring our young professionals together and interact with them,, mentor them and share with them technical and industry information to enable them have a grasp of industry trends and developments.
For the NAPE Secretariat itself, we intend to look for another location. Historically, you will recall that NAPE started from Campbell Street, around St. Nicholas in Lagos Island and then we acquired a building in Victoria Garden City. We later moved to Femi Okounu where we are now. We intend to continue that movement and to move closer into town so that accessibility to the secretariat would be a lot easier for our members.
Last year, we had a conference and the Pre- Conference Workshop dealt with the issue of frontier basins. We proffered some suggestions to the Federal government and some of them are being implemented today. We intend to keept our eyes on the ball and continue to guide them. There are also some interactions going on with the Frontier Exploration Services (FES) in that direction. To further continue that conversation , we are planning a workshop in September that will discuss not just what they are doing in the Benue trough alone, but frontier basins as a whole. The workshop will address issues from Dahomey basin offshore Lagos to Anambra basin, to Benue, to Calabar, Chad and Bida basin. We want to update our knowledge because a lot of work has been done in the past and additional information has been available but there has not been a progressive synthesizing of all that information. So, we want to catalog these information, create the awareness, and provide a platform for professional technical interaction around those issues such that we can begin to market the potentials and opportunities in these areas to investors. It is a mid-term strategy towards creating opportunity for employment.. In the nutshell, that’s where we are. The conference theme has been carefully chosen to represent contemporary trends in the oil and gas industry and the nation’s economy. One thing about choosing conference themes is that you have to be able to gaze into the crystal ball and see what the situation will look like by the time you are having the conference, so that your topic will be relevant. We have done that and we are discussing “A Roadmap for Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Industry in a Diversifying Economy.” Nigeria is at that point now where we are discussing ways and means of diversifying the economy.
Is there a committee in place to streamline the research into the frontier basins you just spoke about?
The committee has not been formed because, you first of all have to carry out some findings as regards what to expect. . We’ve spent some time doing that and we are seeking advice on the best way to go about it. The good thing is that there is tremendous interest and people who are very excited about the whole project.. Some of the people who worked in these basins have retired and the information they have needs to be passed to the younger generation. Some of these old hands are around and they are willing to share their knowledge. And we have a very “hungry” and young group that is ready to grab this information and to run with it.
Nigerians would like to know if there is oil in Lake Chad basin. If yes, is it of commercial quantity?
Let me be very professional here in my submission. Lake Chad is a geographical area and the basin itself is a geological area. Both of them are not the same. Benue for instance is a geographical name given to a river and a State. It is not the same as the geological area that we call the Benue trough. Sometimes, when people talk of Lake Chad, they look at where the water is now, but geologically Lake Chad or what we call the Borno Basin is an expanse of area of which the present lake is a small segment of; it extends from the Southern part of Nigeria to Niger and Chad Republics. So, when you ask if oil has been found in Lake Chad, the answer is yes. But if the question is has oil been found in the Nigerian part of the Lake Chad, the answer is no. Again, is there a possibility of getting oil here? I will say, yes. Perhaps, we’ve been searching in the wrong places, due maybe to working with wrong data and wrong strategy. In 1999/2000, President Olusegun Obasanjo drew a curtain on the spate of indiscriminate drilling in the Chad basin and that was a very good move. It was like: “you have drilled about 23 wells and you haven’t come up with any commercial find, why not pause and analyze the data you have so far acquired just to see whether you have been working in the wrong place of right place”. That exercise of studying what has been done in a very integrated fashion has been accomplished.. They now have areas where they need additional data before drilling and they have marked those areas. They have also seen that where they have been drilling is not quite where they ought to be drilling. Of the 23 wells that have been drilled, 2 have gas shows and once you have gas shows nearby, you need to be sure that you have oil nearby. This they got from the integrated study and to this extent, it is better they concentrate in the area where there is gas shows. That process is well understood and formed part of what was discussed at last year’s NAPE conference. What needs to be done is clear in the minds of frontiers explorationists. In terms of how much reserve, I will say it is too premature to say and again data is what we have to rely on. We have to make the discovery before determining the volume. Yes, we can make a guess but again, you have to do that based on data strength and that is not available to NAPE right now. Part of that data needs to be acquired in the first instance. We are still a little bit away from where we are heading but we have the direction and the right approach and so, we are heading there right now. And I think in no time, we’ll get the right answer to your question.
We understand there are other Sedimentary Basins in Nigeria; can you throw more light on them?
We have about half a dozen sedimentary Basins in Nigeria. Niger Delta is a well explored, well-known one. There is Dahomey or Benin Basin, offshore Lagos. It starts from where Niger Delta ends in Ondo. Dahomey Basin geologically stretches from Ondo all the way down to Benin. Republic and Togo and is part of what we call the West Africa margin. Different names come up in different write-ups. If you look at it regionally, we call it the West Africa margin and it goes as far as Senegal. You can see that there is a lot of interest and discoveries being made. Senegal has been able to attract big names there. CNNOC is there, BP and Exxon Mobil also. They are all taking big blocs because of some of the preliminary drilling results. Again, if you look at the approach, they haven’t drilled 23 wells before making those discoveries. In our Chad basin, we drilled 23 wells and we haven’t made any discovery. You now understand the context in which the earlier question was answered. We don’t need to drill too many wells to know where we need to be, to know where we need to explore and all of that. So, the approach and strategy are very important. Apart from Dahomey Basin, we have the Anambra basin. Again, there is the geological and the administrative components. There is the Anambra River and a State called Anambra. Anambra basin extends from Edo to the other side of the Niger, to a bit of Delta State and into Enugu, Anambra and Kogi State. That is one area. If you look at the history of exploration work in Nigeria, it started offshore Lagos, Badagry and to Anambra Basin. All these were before independence and it then descended into the Niger Delta before discovery was made. So, Shell BP has drilled some wells in the Anambra Basin in the past. Some of them made gas discoveries and this was an era where gas was considered a dry well and such that when you make a gas discovery, it’s assumed nothing has been found. So, some of them were covered up; the blocs have been reorganized and assigned to some new operators now. Additional works have been done and you remember that in 2014, the then President, Goodluck Jonathan came to commission a production for Oriental Petroleum in Anambra River field, which was a field that has been drilled by Elf Petroleum between 1967 and 1974. They drilled three wells, Anambra Rivers 1, 2 and 3 and drilled more wells all over that Basin. To the North of those places is the Benue trough. The Benue trough starts from the North of Enugu State, North of Anambra State, East of Kogi State and goes across to Gombe and Bauchi area and part of it to Yola in Adamawa State as well as Taraba State. And because one arm goes one way and another to Yola, we now have the Yola arm of the Benue Basin and the Gongola arm which is the River. There is a volcanic boundary around Biu which is the Chad Basin and it goes all the way into Chad and Niger Republics from the Southern part of the present Borno and Yobe States, with a part of it extending to Cameroon. Also, the Yola arm of the Benue Basin extends to Cameroon and Chad. The Chadian side has a discovery and a production by Exxon Mobil that are producing through Cameroon. The pipeline was laid entirely in Cameroon into their port by the coastline in the Atlantic. It is a proven Sedimentary Basin, just like the Chad Basin is proven in the Niger. Everybody calls it Benue as if it is one homogenous basin but we know that there is Yola Basin and the Gongola Basin. Then there is Bida Basin which is the Western part of Niger on the way to Kebbi State. We also have the Sokoto Basin that covers a bit of Kebbi State and a small area of Zamfara State and that extends properly to Niger Republic. This area is the Sokoto Basin but the French people call it the Ilullemmeden Basin.
Has there been any exploration activity in the Benue and Sokoto Basins?
Frontiers Exploration Service is in the Benue Basins right now. Shell, Total and Chevron had drilled wells in the Benue before. Relatively speaking, all the basins have been touched and a kind of exploration work had actually taken place but the quantum of works differs. Today, the Dahomey Basin – Aje Field is in production and another discovery, the Ogoh field is where they are developing. You say that is a proven basin. The Anambra Basin already has the Anambra River that President Jonathan commissioned. It has been in production but it is shutting now because they were targeting to produce oil only to discover they had a lot of gas. The strategy and investment for that is what they are trying to put together. There are other pockets of gas discovered in the past that some operators are trying to work on. The effort of Chevron, Shell and Total in the Gongola Basin led to each of them drilling a well apiece in 1996/1997 in their respective blocks they were allocated. Kolmani River made a discovery of gas in that place. There is data acquisition that is ongoing now by Frontiers Exploration Service centre around that area so that they can drill Kolmani River 2 and begin to have an idea of the dimension and size of the gas. In essence, gas has been discovered but we don’t have an idea of what the volume is. Because of shortage of information, we need to do that assessment.
Sir, tell us about the huge cash call issue and how it was resolved? What was the model deployed by NNPC?
From 2005 to 2015, there was accumulated joint venture call arrears. You know when you prepare your budget and the President signs it into law, you must spend the money. It is like you are breaking the law by not doing what you are supposed to do. But we do recognize that there are some constraints of people’s expectations and revenue streams and all that should fund the projects. So these are carried over and they cannot be cancelled. I don’t have the figures but it was close to $20 billion that was owed and recognized as at 2015 when we had our NAPE Conference. What government has done and this is all coming from the discussions that NAPE has had in the past. NAPE chose these topics and had discussions about them and came up with solutions, which were presented through communiqués that we sent to government. This government is listening and somebody is studying and watching what we say; which is very good. So what government did was to call all the oil companies together and presented a scenario to them, They were told that in an ideal situation, Nigeria produces 2.2 million barrel of oil per day, And they, all have a quota production towards that 2.2 million. They were reminded that this 2.2 million is coming from the IOCs, the PSCs, the Independents, the marginal fields. So, whatever their own quota is as joint venture operators, that quota is cast. So government now urged them to propel themselves by exceeding that quota. At the time they settled this issue, the Niger Delta challenge was still there and meeting the quota was still a problem. But today, we can say that there is significant progress in that direction. They not only produce their quota, they produce more and that incremental margin is supposed to be shared by joint venture partners but government now says, use our share of this to defray what it is owed the partners. So, this is what they did. Going forward, government is trying to remove itself from this cash call responsibility and argued that each project should source for its funding internationally and that is a strategy that is embedded in the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, (PIGB.) Package your project, convince the investors and let money flow in. That way, you won’t be looking for NNPC to bring cash call. With this, each company is now on its own just as we have SEPLAT and others. As it is now, companies now have to package their projects and convince financiers that they can pay back. This solution fits this PIGB very well. The Senate has passed the Act but the House of Representatives will also need to do same and then both Houses will have a harmonized version which will be taken to the executive for assent.
So does the PIGB as recently passed by the Senate meet your expectation?
Yes, it does. You see, when you are unable to move at all, anything that comes your way is good enough. I like the strategy and you remember that the earlier version of the PIB is one giant document. Now, if you speak with the parliamentarians and Nigerians in general, people don’t have issues with about 80-85 per cent of that document. It is the contentious 10-15 per cent that derailed the entire document and that nullified the hard work that people put into that document. What this government has done was to break it into three parts and take the less contentious issues and get them done with and then sit down to do an eye-ball to eye-ball negotiation on the rest. That way some activities can be taking place. The PIGB is a welcome development and I hope that the House of Representatives gives it a dispassionate approval and I hope that it will come to government and it will become a law very soon. It’s long overdue and the delay in passing it has done a lot of damage, created anxiety, delayed projects and no new investors came in. There were no exploration activities in the way and manner it should have been. Everyone retreated to their zones and watched what was going on.
What do you make of this shale, the potentials and its impact on our market?
ExxonMobil and REG convert sugars from a variety of…
It has already affected our market and has been responsible for why Nigeria is in recession even though the situation was compounded by some Nigerian localized issues. Basically, it has made people that we used to sell oil to become potential sellers to us, if we are able to buy. That is basically the United States of America, which was our biggest importer. They are saying, they can supply gas to Europe as from 2018. This means they have surplus. When they say they can sell, trust me, they have enough for 50 years. What is happening is that the supply and demand have been stabilized by the shale oil. A situation where demand was dictating the oil price is gone as supply is now the new determinant of the oil price. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, (OPEC) has been struggling to hold it by way of supply cuts just to make what is available to be lower, to make the supplier a bit agitated. This is what has been keeping the price afloat but if all countries are allowed to produce the way they like, the oil price will crash down further still.
Now, do you think the shale technology is something Nigeria can acquire?
Yes but I won’t say we should go in that direction now because we haven’t finished with the conventional practice. We shouldn’t rush into it also because of the cost. Yes, the cost is gradually falling which is one of the factors that delayed it but we still have a sizeable reserve of 37 billion barrels and we want to grow to 40 billion barrels in the next few years. We are not desperate for energy and we need to develop by using what we have to get to where we want to. We need to develop our infrastructure, our industries and uplift the economic situation of our people. We need this in oil and gas and this is where the theme for the NAPE Conference is linked. We need to ensure that we optimize and become more efficient managers of these resources and channel the revenue thereof into other sectors to grow them. For instance, if you do an audit of the Petrochemicals, what comes from oil and gas will probably be up to about 60 per cent that our lives are invariably tied to. We waste some of these resources and haven’t really used them fully. The Petrochemicals industry is underdeveloped in Nigeria. There is an Eleme Petrochemical industry which is not doing much but we need a giant, modern Petrochemical industry. Basically, we have the multiplier effect that this would bring to the economy if we are able to efficiently work on it.
Do you think we are ready for enhanced oil recovery technology in Nigeria?
We have been using it because Niger Delta is a mature producing area. Some of the discoveries date back to decades and we have witnessed both peak and declined production. So, we are already doing enhanced recovery in some areas. What will come are guidelines for doing it. The existing guidelines are targeted towards primary production. We need to work on our guidelines to direct the companies on what to do.
Aramco is producing a barrel at about $9 or much lesser. What are we doing to bring down this cost at the moment?
It is about amortizing the facilities because, don’t forget, Aramco made their discoveries years ago. They have a giant field that is about the size of Ogun State (in Nigeria) and they have thousands of wells on that field. They built infrastructures for production and everything over the years. So, the field itself has been amortized overtime and therefore, the cost has been incrementally falling. You can’t compare them to one small field somewhere in the Delta recently discovered. Having said that, our cost is high in Nigeria and there are two sides to this. We have the technical cost element and the non-technical cost element. We can work with the technical cost element by meeting all the contractors and tell them how much we can pay because oil price is low. But we have the non-technical cost of JTF, Navy, host communities, security, vigilante and cost for monitoring your pipelines and cost for preventing people from doing bunkering on your facility. This cost has been escalating and it has no respect for the fall in oil prices.
Recently in Houston, you spoke brilliantly on managing our gas, stressing the importance of having pockets of industries at different locations. You may want to shed more light on that.
What I said was that gas has been found in the Sedimentary Basins and therefore more exploration needs to be done. The Gas Master Plan was launched during the stewardship of Diezanni Allison Madueke. Even though, it has not quite gathered traction, the strategy is that gas would be taken from the Niger Delta and there would be a network of pipelines across the country that would take gas to all nooks and crannies of the country for electricity generation, for ammonia fertilizer plants, for urea plants, LPGs in a bid to boost the economy and create opportunities.
So, what I was saying was that in the event that gas is found in say Benue, Gombe area, it means, the map would have to be adjusted. You don’t need gas to come from the Niger Delta area. I was advocating for the intensification of exploration work as quickly as possible where we have pockets of gas deposits so that the Master Plan can be revised and made to align with where the gas resources are. That way, you will have fewer distances of pipelines to lay and to vandalize. Another thing about inland basins is that your IPP (Independent Power Plant) can be built on the field; your urea/ ammonia plant can be set up there and then. So you don’t need any pipeline taking gas to anywhere. Once you build your urea/ ammonia plant and set up your IPP, you enter the grid from there and the man on the other end will see the light. The strategy is flawed in principle because of urgency and lack of careful planning. We have a lot of IPP plants like Olorunshogo, Geregu, and Omotosho etc across the country, expecting gas from the Niger Delta. How about putting the IPP right there at the Niger Delta? Okpa field has the IPP by Agip right there and I think it is the only one. Omotosho, Geregu and Olorunshogo are in Kogi, Lagos and Ondo States expecting gas from elsewhere and so if somebody cuts the pipeline, that’s all. So strategy wise, we were in a hurry.
Licenses were given to marginal field operators but many of them are not doing very well. Beside their financial challenges, what other hurdles are they battling?
I will call it economic challenge because the marginal field is all about economics. There are other challenges like the host communities challenges. If you are in Ogoni where it is difficult to move forward, you have the marginal field but you won’t be able to do anything. Another issue is the nature of crude oil in your field. There is what we call heavy oil, which is sluggish to fill. Take for example kerosene, and engine oil. If you pour both, one is faster, the other is sluggish. That speaks about what we call the viscosity of crude oil. If it’s like that in the reservoir, they call it dead oil. Like I said, the deeper you go while drilling, the hotter it becomes and the more pressurized things are. If you manage to puncture something by drilling into something like a balloon, oil will start coming out by itself. When you have low gravity oil, it is unable to come out; you’ll need secondary effort to push it out which comes with its own attendant cost. By the time you build cost into the economics of everything, it is no longer viable. So even if you have community problem and you throw money at it, you put that money into the economics, it becomes part of your expenditures. The hypothesis here is, if I spend X, can I make Y? How much profit is being made and is it worth the money being spent? There is technology as well as infrastructure issues. My field is at one stranded location and the person I can lay pipeline to help me evacuate it is so far away. By the time I put the cost into the economics again, it may not make sense. So, can I truck it? Again the cost of trucking not forgetting the associated security risk is another cause for concern. There is also the challenge of people who don’t even know what to do, political people who own blocs. They are given expert advice but they don’t listen.
What is your advice to government on the way out of these pitfalls in subsequent bidding rounds?
First of all, their selection criteria in terms of who is awarded should be all-encompassing. They should have the financial resources and technical competence as well as the managerial team to do it. And then, they should come up with a solution that is acceptable to the host community to be able to do it. People shouldn’t just rush into bidding but there is need to engage consultants to help in the screening process of what is available so that you know what you are bidding for.
What should be the strategy for catching up with Angola in terms of production level?
Let me put it this way. They don’t have our reserves and they are fortunate not to have onshore presence and exposed as we are. They had a template from Nigeria because when they started, they came to Nigeria to find out how things are run here. So they have a book that has some pages on the way things are done but Nigeria started from nothing. Do not forget also that they came out of a long protracted civil war which was fought along ideological lines. So when oil and gas activities started, people were not there but it has become the mainstay of the economy now. They have seen a lot of discoveries, interests and investments from the big guys. Angola is a country of about 14 million people with a landmass of one half the size of Nigeria. They are rich in solid minerals and they a good land for agriculture. So, it is already a prosperous country that is naturally endowed with oil and gas resources offshore. 14 million people with large volume of oil and gold and copper and all of that, they must be above us. Their Per Capita Income is very high. This is what is behind their success. They have seen where Nigeria is making mistakes and they are avoiding those mistakes as much as possible. Nigeria hasn’t optimized what she is doing yet to attain our full potentials. If we do, we’ll surely be ahead of Angola. If we are able to reach our 2.2 million barrel per day, we’ll be ahead of them. Most emerging oil and gas nations in Africa always make reference to Nigeria at international conferences and they avoid the mistakes that we have made and still making. It is easier to learn from other people’s experience but when you don’t have anyone to learn from, it can be quite challenging. With the right leadership, we can get there because our crude is sweet crude devoid of sulphur content unlike what some of these countries have. So, they need huge sums to clean it up a bit more.
NAPE’s Annual International Conference and Exhibition is one conference everybody looks forward to. What should we expect this year?
The first thing is the theme: a roadmap for the Nigeria’s oil and gas industry in a diversifying economy. We know there is a lot of effort at diversifying the economy. At this year’s conference, we have already seen very good interest being shown by some of the IOCs and some of the key players in the sector. For instance, Chevron has accepted already to sponsor the opening ceremony and they are also asking for permission to deliver the keynote address. We also have Exxon Mobil showing interest, so the programme is selling itself, but we want to ensure that we speak to the topic because we want to come up with a message at the end of the day for the Nigerian people and Nigerian government. What we see is that the Agriculture Ministry, the Solid Minerals Ministry, Power and Infrastructure are opportunities to diversify the economy of this nation. We want to find a way to bring them into our Management Sessions for discussions. If you bring Audu Ogbeh to talk about agriculture, he will be speaking not only to the industry and the companies but also to individuals who will now know that beyond oil and gas, they can also invest in opportunities in agriculture too. Do not forget that in the old NAPE conferences, we used to have companies like AGIP exhibiting some agricultural products like yam and plantain, just as a way of supporting the host communities. We want to bring all of this back and create an enabling environment and do not forget that we are geologists and geoscientists and part of our course content is solid, liquid and gaseous minerals. To this extent, we are bringing the Solid Minerals Minister to join us at the conference about the opportunities that exist therein so that companies that take decisions based on these opportunities. We want to carefully open the eyes of government, companies and investors to the opportunities that would be of benefit to them in a manner that will be linked with the oil and gas industry.
We must thank you for the time spent with us
It’s my pleasure always.
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Sugarfoot Stomp
By Cynthia Shearer | December 15, 2015
Photo of Fletcher Henderson courtesy of Glasshouse Images / Alamy Stock Photo
Jazz owes its origins to the bump and grind of turn-of-the-century brothels and the colored waif orphanages of the South’s great cities, but where is the wellspring of swing? If you say Chicago, the answer is no. Benny Goodman would be the first to tell you so.
The fountainhead of swing, children, is a little white frame house with a tin roof, on the black side of the tracks in Cuthbert, a red-dirt Georgia cotton-gin town. This is where they used to lock Fletcher Henderson in the parlor with a piano, beginning about 1903 when he was six. If he didn’t practice, he got whipped. He was a sweet-faced child, with his mother’s light skin and his father’s old eyes. Sometimes the house grew quiet and Fletcher curled up on the floor to take a nap. Even at an early age, he showed signs of what the great white jazz mahout John Hammond would one day call “lassitude.”
Fletcher was born with the burden of perfect pitch. Whatever the boy heard, he heard as music. A commotion of younger siblings with the chickens in a swept-earth yard. An arpeggio of rose thorns scraping on the mailbox. A cadence of mule-trot through an open window. Henderson’s parents were the salt of the earth and the sugar, too, but they decreed there would be no music under their roof on Andrew Street that did not dignify the lives of black people. No blues, no degrading coon songs, no ham fat.
The Henderson family piano is a venerable old beauty, now enshrined in the Amistad Collection in New Orleans. It is carved mahogany, an upright model with brass pedals, purchased from Phillips and Crew on Peachtree Street in Atlanta for $275, payable in monthly installments of $10. Professor F. H. Henderson, Fletcher’s father, signed that contract on September 25, 1906, the day after the Atlanta Race Riot, when poor whites attacked, burned, and looted middle-class black neighborhoods and businesses. The contract allowed Fletcher’s schoolmaster father to skip the payments in summers, when he had no salary coming in. Professor Henderson’s credo was “I never drink, smoke, or dissipate in any manner,” but he wagered all he owned for that piano. He mortgaged his house to pay off the piano note. Music would be the mighty fortress to keep his children safe.
Nobody had a clue that in the future, Fletcher Henderson’s raids against the precepts of ragtime and “sweet” white dance music would someday make everybody tap their toes, from the starched-shirt demagogues down south, who hired him to play their cotton carnivals, to the bootleggers in bulletproof Duesenbergs up north, who hired him to play in their plantation-themed dens of iniquity, to most of our great-gartered grandmothers, packing flasks in Prohibition speakeasies or shimmying in secret along to the radio.
Professor F. H. Henderson had been born a slave. By the time Fletcher came along, his father was a towering figure in Negro education in Georgia, the principal and Latin master of the Howard Normal School, a model Negro training institute. Fletcher’s grandfather, James Henderson, also an emancipated slave, had fought unsuccessfully in the South Carolina legislature for written contracts and a living wage for black men. He had witnessed widespread violence by whites and assassinations of blacks who had been elected to public offices in Newberry County in 1868.
The Cuthbert of Fletcher Henderson’s youth lynched black men at a rate slightly higher than other Georgia towns, at a time when Georgia was topping the lists they were keeping over at Tuskegee. Professor Henderson was a deacon at the Payne Chapel A.M.E. church, which stood like a sentry tower by the railroad tracks, the line of demarcation between black Cuthbert and the sometimes volatile whites on the other side. His house was across the street from the church. He apparently served as a mediator between the white and black communities.
When Fletcher was born in 1897, people were still talking about a manhunt the year before and the men who were lynched by mistake. When Fletcher was nine, someone tried to burn down his father’s school a few days before a “private” hanging of a black man named Will Price, convicted of the rape of a white girl. In 1909, when Fletcher was eleven, a black man named Albert Reese was taken forcibly from the Cuthbert jail by a masked mob of fifteen “unknown parties” and hung from a pine tree west of town, right where the Central Railroad crossed the “public road,” within sight of the Payne Chapel A.M.E. church, or a few hundred yards over on what is now U.S. Highway 82.
If you push one pin into a map for every lynching in Fletcher Henderson’s corner of Georgia during his childhood and youth, it looks like the furies left behind a dark spray of buckshot. We get some hints about those times for the Henderson family in the professor’s obituary in the Atlanta Daily World many years later: “His sober judgment and influence saved many a Negro from the lynch noose.”
In 1911, the family put thirteen-year-old Fletcher on a train to attend high school in the city. For eight years, Atlanta University would be his safe harbor. The plan was not foolproof: in late September 1916, a few days before Fletcher’s freshman year started at the university, two more black men were accused of murder and promptly lynched without trial in Cuthbert, just on the other side of the tracks from the Hendersons’ home and church.
At Atlanta, Fletcher Henderson had freedoms that could get him in serious trouble back in Cuthbert. He had white classmates and white teachers, some female. He ate meals with white people. He skipped the music curriculum but studied Greek and elocution. He swept floors to help pay his expenses. He studied chemistry, lettered in baseball and football, was a Big Man on Campus with the ladies, and belonged to Alpha Phi Alpha, W.E.B. Du Bois’s fraternity. He was the university organist.
By 1915, Henderson was taking the train north every summer to play piano at the Broadwater resort in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, owned by one of the white Atlanta University faculty, Miss Annie A. Bowman. She is most likely the attractive dark-haired woman who figures prominently in a remarkable collection of photos in a scrapbook from Fletcher’s college days.
In one snapshot, we see Fletcher as a shy-looking young man in tweeds contemplating seashells from atop a craggy constellation of rocks. In another, he stands on the bow of a docked sailboat, his hand on the mast, holding eye contact with the photographer, possibly the white Miss Bowman herself. Possibly she is the woman in another image wearing a modern white lawn dress, with pearls and heels, with what looks like Fletcher’s shadow in the left foreground. If this is she, then Annie Bowman is one of the unsung heroines of American music history. She gave Fletcher Henderson a place to mix ragtime and Rachmaninoff during some of America’s bloodiest summers, when the bottom-feeder caste of whites down south were getting all liquored up and looting and burning entire black communities, blowing into their whiskey jugs and calling it music.
His senior year in college, Fletcher was introduced to another important influence, Professor Kemper Harreld, a Morehouse College music professor whose specialty was classical composers who cribbed from folk music. Harreld was a striking figure in a woolen coat and bowler hat, the musical director of a traveling racial uplift pageant, The Open Door, a gorgeous, allegorical production using pantomimes, lavish costumes, choirs, and a tiny orchestra, with graduating senior Fletcher Henderson on piano. In the 1919 version of The Open Door, Fletcher played Edward German’s “Torch Dance” paired with the black composer Nathaniel Dett’s “Juba Dance.” Other pieces in Henderson’s Open Door repertoire: Rachmaninoff’s “Prelude in C# Minor,” Offenbach’s “Barcarolle,” Delibes’s “Pizzicati,” and Grieg’s “Canon.” Their first performance was in the cavernous Atlanta Auditorium Armory. Then they took the show on the rough roads to Macon and Savannah. In the college yearbook, a classmate wrote that the world would someday know Fletcher Henderson’s name.
After graduation in 1920, Henderson took a train to New York with his diploma in hand, ready to serve humanity in a laboratory. White humanity in New York, it turns out, preferred to be served by black sleeping-car porters, butlers, chauffeurs, bellhops, or musicians on riverboats. No problem: American music became Henderson’s lab and popular songs his experiments. He subbed for a roommate as a pianist on a riverboat, and met his future wife, Leora Meaux, a pretty trumpet player from Louisville. He worked as a song-plugger for W. C. Handy and Harry Pace, an Atlanta University graduate. Whatever blues he’d missed out on in Cuthbert, he got back in spades in that job.
When Pace decamped to start the first all-black recording company, Pace Phonograph Corporation, Fletcher went with him. Their label was Black Swan, and their concept was historic: let black people record and sell their own music without forcing them into commercial hokum stereotypes. Fletcher was going head to head with seasoned white talent hunters and producers at established companies like Okeh and Paramount. By 1921, he was auditioning singers and choosing what and whom Black Swan would record.
In its short life, Black Swan was a source of great pride to American blacks. White record companies didn’t appreciate the competition, and someone put a bomb in the coal order for the Black Swan pressing plant. Records by black opera singers or Marcus Garvey’s pianist didn’t sell well, but those by lissome young female blues chanteuses did. When Fletcher accompanied Ethel Waters on “Down Home Blues” and “Oh Daddy,” Black Swan had a runaway hit, and Waters and Harry Pace made a lot of money. Pace decided to send Waters, Fletcher, and a small orchestra, the Black Swan Troubadours, on an extended tour, beginning late autumn of 1921.
Push one pin into a map for every stop the Black Swan troupe made in the dying days of vaudeville and you see more than a random chitlin’ circuit tour. Early on, Pace sent in a new manager, Lester Walton, whose résumé included management of Harlem’s Lafayette Theatre and a transatlantic voyage on behalf of President Woodrow Wilson to report on the morale of black soldiers fighting in World War I. After stops to support the NAACP’s full-court press to get the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill through Congress, the Black Swan Troubadours made a deep swing into the charred heart of America that was still smoldering from the Red Summer of 1919, when racial violence reached a horrifying peak.
Chicago was a pivotal moment. Walton suddenly announced an extended swing “down south.” Four musicians promptly quit. Ethel Waters made an impassioned dressing-room speech about the moral imperative to carry the music to those who needed it most. Nobody else bailed. Waters schooled Henderson in Harlem stride piano by making him listen to the piano rolls of James P. Johnson.
They played Oklahoma towns like Muskogee and Ardmore, in the wake of the Tulsa Race Riot, when whites had savaged a prosperous black community. Walton’s advance press releases always announced that a few seats would be reserved for whites. It was missionary work. Waters wore a blue pan velvet gown and gold dangling earrings. She smiled reassuringly when she sang her hit songs. Fletcher kept the band from playing too hot, and backed the comedy skits on piano. He was six-foot-two, with hair cropped close to his head. He had never had any burning urge to lead a band, it had just happened.
They played piney-woods towns in Arkansas where survivors of the 1919 Elaine massacre might have fled. They played Paris, Texas, which was christened by the Chicago Defender as the birthplace of burning black people at the stake, most recently the Arthur brothers, one of whom had been a war veteran. But the Black Swan group was treated amicably, and the audience included white people. In Waco, the troupe performed within blocks of the infamous public square where a crowd of 15,000 whites had cheered in 1916 as a mentally deficient Negro boy was tortured and burned alive, his torso dragged through the streets. They played in Austin, where an NAACP field secretary had been beaten to within an inch of his life.
In New Orleans, Ethel Waters and Lester Walton were allowed to enter by the front door at a hotel reception given by whites, but Fletcher and the orchestra had to go in by the “Jim Crow” door. They were invited to play for a local radio station, and Fletcher became possibly the first black bandleader to broadcast on radio. He tried to hire a young local, Louis Armstrong, on the spot, but Armstrong would not leave his drummer. (They would meet again soon.)
Waters later claimed that in Macon, Georgia, local whites threw the body of a lynched boy into the theater lobby shortly before her performance was to start, but this is inaccurate. A body was thrown into the lobby of the Douglass Theater some months after Black Swan passed through. They moved on through Dixie, and scalloped up the Eastern seaboard home to Harlem, and the Black Swan players disbanded by the end of the summer of 1922.
Pace Phonograph was being muscled out of the competition by bigger white-controlled recording companies, and by the mass production of radios. The Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill died at the hands of Southern senators. Pace folded in 1923, but young Fletcher Henderson had acquired a lifelong love of touring. He had learned how to lure the black public forward with a hint of the same old sorrow wrapped in a bandanna, but to leave behind the gold filigree of clarinets and trumpets, like airfoils they could follow to a better altitude.
Henderson was soon being name-checked in the Phonograph and Talking Machine Weekly as one of the best freelance blues specialists in New York. He had become one of Harlem’s most-booked accompanists for the great blues chanteuses, including Ma Rainey, Lucille Hegamin, Trixie Smith, Clara Smith, and even Bessie Smith, who had suffered rejection at Black Swan. He had a secret composing life, using the pseudonym George Brooks for blues songs that he wrote as if knocking out nursery rhymes. We have “George Brooks” to thank for ten of Bessie Smith’s big numbers.
In January 1924, Henderson took his first band out of Harlem and into Club Alabam, just off Times Square. Its bootlegger owners had remodeled it to make it resemble a Southern plantation. Prohibition New York teemed with these Dixie-themed speakeasies—Kentucky Club, the Black Bottom, the Plantation Club, the Cotton Club—a subtle racism soon to be etched into the American consciousness in Warner Brothers wiseguy films. These were strictly segregated, yet America was enchanted with ham-fat songs about mammy in her bandanna in Alabamy. Henderson’s men had to set up on a bandstand that was a fake plantation house back porch, in front of murals of trees scumbled with Spanish moss. A fake French door with a fanlight said it all: even Northern white people liked to imagine themselves being entertained by plantation darkies freshly convened from the cotton fields, playing for Ole Massa hisself.
Few of Henderson’s young sidemen had ever set foot in Dixie. Most were Great Migration babies whose parents had long since fled the South. Coleman Hawkins was from Topeka. Don Redman was a prodigy out of Harper’s Ferry who could play any instrument put in his hands. Segregation kept them all out of “legit” symphonies or pit orchestras. When Fletcher Henderson and his colleagues squared off with that first all-white audience at Club Alabam, it must have felt somewhat like anthropology, a first encounter with volatile primitives whose reputation for barbarism had preceded them. He answered the moment with equanimity and grace, and wooed the whites forward toward their own evolution with songs like “Teapot Dome Blues,” “After the Storm,” and “My Papa Doesn’t Two-time No Time.” As word got around, Henderson became that “hot” Harlem bandleader you could hear without actually having to step foot in Harlem.
When white owners tried to get Henderson to fire Hawkins for refusing to dance with one of the chorus girls, he declined. At first opportunity, he eased the band off the fake plantation porch of Club Alabam, over to the original Roseland Ballroom on Broadway. Roseland had two bandstands, one black, one white. When the white band left to tour, Henderson’s men quietly became the house band by default. This would be home base for Henderson for over a decade. His audiences were white, thousands of them. Radio broadcasts from the ballroom gave him a national reputation. Apparently he worked without a contract at Roseland, cash and carry. He bought a house on Striver’s Row. By 1926 most dance orchestras, black and white, were imitating the Henderson sound: “pyramid” chords, sectional counterpoint, advanced harmonies, flatted fifths. Team racial uplift had gained considerable yardage. No ham fat, no hokum, no jellyroll required.
Henderson loved to graft European orchestral notation onto silly little street songs, to take a single note of melody and fan it out into rich, syncopated color. This required cutthroat sight-reading skills, with a penchant for sudden improvisation. One of his sidemen later compared the Henderson requirement to being able to see around corners. The received wisdom was, if you could cut the mustard in that band, jazz was yours, baby.
Some of Henderson’s best work happened when he would rake the cheap veneer of lyrics right off a trite white Tin Pan Alley song and make it new. He could peel a hurtful racist song down to its studs, then renovate it into a statelier mansion in which a black soul could stand at its full height. While white America was still drunk on ragtime and bogus blackface “coon-shouter” songs, Henderson minimized lyrics and substituted jazz breaks. Louis Armstrong learned the hard way that Henderson didn’t have much respect for scat singing, and he began to pour his whole story into his horn.
If Henderson’s men had something to say, they had to say it with their instruments. This is why those solos often achieved the power of human voice, clarinets bubbling up out of the bass line to exchange witticisms with the trumpets. A tuba would burp along amiably, then suddenly assert its right to pontificate. “Sugarfoot Stomp” (1925) runs like a souped-up Model T with a creaky carburetor, syncopating about a half-hitch too fast. You can hear all the way into the future on that side: a barely containable twenty-three-year-old Louis Armstrong and a twenty-year-old Coleman Hawkins on tenor saxophone, each already in possession of a singular instrumental voice, with Billie Holiday’s dad, Clarence, keeping it all glued together with guitar. The effect is rollicking and wonderfully crunk.
Henderson’s bands could play sweet jazz, but their true love was hot, hard-driving stomps. “Dionysiac heat” is the way one New York critic described the Henderson sound in the Saturday Review. Those old brittle 78s, he said, don’t really capture the “golden seething spirit of a Fletcher Henderson occasion.”
They could also signify well under the white radar. Armstrong brought “Go ’Long, Mule” to Henderson and Don Redman. In their hands, the song is no longer the muddled country marmalade of King Joe Oliver. The woodwinds trill in such high harmony they sound like gnats buzzing around a mule’s head. Those gnats sound suspiciously like the Boswell Sisters, white gals notorious for appropriating black music and parlaying it into fame and fortune.
Listen attentively to Henderson’s 1932 version of the cruelly racist “Underneath a Harlem Moon” and you can hear Hawkins, college-educated out of Topeka, wordlessly substitute nonchalant tenor sax for the white Tin Pan Alley fake nostalgia for “’Ginia hams” and “candy yams,” before trailing off into a derisive, flatulent raspberry. The worst of the original’s offensive lyrics are erased, and W. C. Handy’s daughter Katherine sings what’s left with bite.
Some of Henderson’s recordings are important milestones in American music: “The Gouge of Armor Avenue,” “Wrappin’ It Up,” “Snag It,” “Radio Rhythm,” and a host of others. In 1927, the great silent filmmaker Murnau (Nosferatu) used Henderson’s composition “Tozo!” to symbolize the dangerous allure of the urban future, in a film called Sunrise. Today we most likely encounter Henderson’s music deployed to evoke the past in films like The Razor’s Edge, The English Patient, Road to Perdition, the HBO television series Boardwalk Empire.
For most of the Roaring Twenties and into the Great Depression, Henderson’s bands were the first turnstile through which many a young black male musician passed, fresh from far-flung American precincts, on the way to his rightful place in jazz iconography: Louis Armstrong, Don Redman, Big Charlie Green, Lester Young, Rex Stewart, Red Allen, Chu Berry, Buster Bailey, Roy Eldridge, Cootie Williams, and a whole pantheon of others. The most obvious case of influence is Benny Goodman, who built his reputation on Henderson’s book and his back, only to be anointed “king of swing” in the perpetual paternity suit that is jazz criticism.
In a glossy promotional photo from 1932, an elegant, lanky Fletcher Henderson stands in the center of a line of black musicians in matching suits and wing tips on a pier in Atlantic City. His arms are folded comfortably across the front of his double-breasted suit, the wind whipping his pants against his long legs. He looks like the Sepia Jay Gatsby, only happy. This iteration of his band was formidable, possibly his greatest ever. The photo scans like a pocket edition of Who’s Who in Jazz: Russell Procope, Coleman Hawkins, Edgar Sampson, Clarence Holiday, Walter Johnson, John Kirby, Russell Smith, Bobby Stark, Rex Stewart, J. C. Higginbotham, and Sandy Williams.
This is the crew that took a stock flood song of the sort meant to be sung operatically by Paul Robeson, “Take Me Away from the River,” and turned it into a wicked “viper jazz” ode to marijuana. Procope’s clarinet percolates like a klezmer hookah, and Hawkins blows a world-weary sax. The menace in that song was not the Mississippi, but a dazzling river of urban motion and light. A couple hours after they recorded it, they gave perfect, gentlemanly accompaniment to white child star Baby Rose Marie as she belted out a little charmer, “Take a Picture of the Moon,” complete with Sophie Tucker–like barrelhouse growls. You would never know, looking at the photograph of the Henderson group on that pier, that 1932 was the beginning of the end.
Trumpet player Rex Stewart’s memoir, Boy Meets Horn, describes the breakup of this phenomenal band in 1933 and Henderson’s unwillingness to confront whites even as they abused and cheated the blacks. The men were usually overbooked and underpaid, sometimes not paid at all. Some nights, the rumor of no pay owing to contractual “infractions” would sweep through the band even as they were performing, so the musicians would fade out into the night one by one, leaving Henderson playing alone. Stewart describes vividly the predatory contracts, the “chicanery and maneuvering,” and the malevolent presence of New York’s notorious “Local 802” union reps backstage, demanding personal kickbacks, threatening to ruin bandleaders who did not comply. “Local 802” was so thoroughly corrupt that testimony from its victims figured prominently in 1934 Congressional hearings on mob infiltration of the American labor force.
The straw that seems to have broken the back of Fletcher Henderson’s last good band was John Hammond himself, who thought nothing of signing contracts committing them to work they’d not been consulted about, then professed puzzlement at their perceived lack of enthusiasm. It’s unfortunate that jazz writers seem to default to Hammond’s mythologizing. Hammond said that Henderson was hindered by his lack of business sense, his mistrust of white men, and his “self-defeating acts of independence.” Rex Stewart said the men quit when, the day after they returned from a harrowing road tour down south, Hammond had booked them to play without pay at a benefit for the legal defense fund of the Scottsboro Boys.
Louis Armstrong’s biographer James Lincoln Collier called Fletcher Henderson a “tragic figure.” Collier reminds us to take into account that peculiar American time when black musicians like Armstrong and Henderson fled the South only to land in a new world “peopled on the one hand by gangsters, who would maim and kill if sufficiently frustrated, and on the other by whites speaking another language and dwelling in offices, hotels, and restaurants, where blacks could not penetrate.”
If Henderson’s career fadeout was tragedy, what did success look like? Louis Armstrong’s white agent was on cordial terms with the Chicago mob and routinely skimmed half of Armstrong’s earnings, before deducting his agent’s percentage, until his death terminated the relationship. Jazz scholars today debate the implications. Duke Ellington worked for years to steer jazz out of Cotton Club plantation burlesque and into European concert halls. To accomplish that he let a white man claim half the copyright to every work he composed, and ceded forty-seven percent of the sweat of his brow for well over a decade. Ellington asked to see the books one day, and promptly terminated the relationship. That agent, Irving Mills, was the man Fletcher Henderson had declined to work with, and the inspiration for “George Brooks.” We will never quite know what price Henderson paid for dodging Mills’s desire for consolidated control of his talent. 1
[1] An earlier version of this essay misstated the order in which Louis Armstrong and Joe Glaser died; Armstrong outlived Glaser. For a more detailed consideration of Armstrong’s financial arrangement with Glaser in comparison to others at that time, see Ricky Riccardi’s What a Wonderful World: The Magic of Louis Armstrong’s Later Years (Vintage, 2012). Terry Teachout offers a different perspective in Pops: A Life of Louis Armstrong (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009).
And what are we to make of Fletcher Henderson’s leading the “Connie’s Inn Orchestra” in 1930 and 1931, under contract to the same white men who drove Louis Armstrong out of America for two years, when they tried to threaten and muscle him into an “exclusive” engagement? In 1933, the Chicago Defender used the language of slavery to describe Henderson’s Connie’s Inn-–related woes with a misleading front-page headline story, FLETCHER HENDERSON WINS $1,000,000 SUIT. Henderson was “freed from the bonds,” they said, of a “theatrical agent bearing the name and instincts of Fishman.” Fishman once tried to bring Jelly Roll Morton into compliance by sending him on a “blind date” into an abandoned mining town; now he wanted a percentage, not to exceed a million dollars, of Fletcher Henderson’s future earnings as they would be disbursed to him by the same Connie’s Inn thugs named on Louis Armstrong’s restraining order.
By 1933, Henderson’s bankruptcy was official, his primary creditors being one of his own sidemen, Fishman’s Orchestral Corporation of America, and Lou Irwin, a white man whose main meal ticket was Ethel Merman. Irwin was the kind of gent who would assault musicians of color who demanded their pay, and advance clients like Billie Holiday money for drugs and then kneecap them with million-dollar lawsuits.
It’s not a stretch to see why $37.50 per arrangement for Benny Goodman, a relative nobody with a new radio show, would look pretty good to Fletcher Henderson by the mid-1930s. The Chicago Defender chastised him when he started selling off his entire book of “head arrangements” to Goodman, saying that if he just handed over black jazz to whites, it would put black musicians out of work.
Egged on by John Hammond’s activism and propensity for fantasy-league jazz combinations, Goodman and Henderson pushed the racial envelope at their own risk, but they quietly and methodically integrated big bands in the late 1930s. The new white-dominant “swing” was smooth as a syndicate. Its fans were young stompers at the Savoy blessed with amnesia about Jim Crow. Big bands fronted by whites followed Goodman’s lead in adopting Fletcher Henderson’s basic template for swing. It seemed to telegraph something new and necessary to the generation that was girding its loins to ride to the other side of Hitler’s and Hirohito’s bomber-yards and then home.
We don’t know enough about Fletcher Henderson’s extended Grand Terrace gig in Chicago in 1938, when the Defender identified the white man who ran it, Ed Fox, as his “manager.” Fox’s claim to fame: he co-owned the Grand Terrace with Al Capone’s brother. Henderson picked up the Grand Terrace gig after Earl Hines found the courage to walk out on a contract that had underpaid him for years. Many black jazz musicians did indeed lose jobs, as club after club shuttered their doors. By 1943, one of Fletcher Henderson’s last bands was banned by a local union from playing the Rockland Palace in Miami because he had hired three young white musicians eager for the chance to play with him.
By the time Fletcher Henderson eventually played Carnegie Hall, with the white Goodman and the black Lionel Hampton, the white lady sang, and nobody got lynched. Hammond, by then Goodman’s brother-in-law with conflicts of interest sixteen ways from Sunday, seemed often to sacrifice Henderson’s best interests to the larger causes of racial integration and Benny Goodman’s success. He positioned a younger black piano man, Teddy Wilson, in Goodman’s personnel. The next new replacement white lady sang, and even Southerners ate up all the jazz sweetness with a spoon.
Russell Procope, the great clarinetist who lingered as long as he could with Henderson and then left him for Duke Ellington, once described a pivotal moment in his boyhood, hearing Fletcher Henderson’s early recordings pouring out of almost all the open doors and windows of Harlem in the 1920s. The Henderson sound inspired Procope to consecrate his own life to jazz. He later said, “I never got the figures, but Fletcher Henderson musta sold a helluva lot of records. Somebody musta made a hell of a lot of money. You can believe that.”
Grainy old film footage shows Benny Goodman dedicating a performance to Henderson after he died of a stroke in 1951, faded from the consciousness of the American public. Goodman’s eyes go watery, remembering. He uses the word “genius” to describe his black colleague, and this gesture deepened respect for Goodman in both races. But how can we not be haunted by his brother Horace’s stories of the toll that the Goodman collaboration took on Fletcher? “Benny would think nothing,” Horace said, “of calling you up at four in the morning, telling you, ‘I’ve got to have this by ten.’” Horace, a musician in his own right, described finding Fletcher asleep at his piano in the middle of the night sometimes and having to lead him upstairs to get undressed for bed, even helping him finish the work at times.
“This was the source,” wrote a New York Times jazz critic, a decade after Henderson’s death. The occasion was Columbia’s 1961 release of The Fletcher Henderson Story: A Study in Frustration, a four-album set covering Henderson’s work from 1923 to 1938, now considered the necessary compendium. It’s all here: “Sugarfoot Stomp,” “Dicty Blues,” “Variety Stomp,” and the sublime and magisterial “Jackass Blues.” You can pay your money to the white men to hear this music, or you can forage for free on the Internet. Whether you catch the Henderson sound on the black swing or the white, claim it as your human birthright. It’s an updraft that will lift you to a place beyond race.
Jazz writers are a special breed; they research and write a hard-won kind of history. To learn more about Fletcher Henderson and early jazz, consult some of these. —Cynthia Shearer
Walter Allen, Hendersonia (self-published, 1973).
Jeffrey Magee, The Uncrowned King of Swing (Oxford University Press, 2008).
A Study in Frustration: The Fletcher Henderson Story (box set) (Columbia Records, 1961/1994). Liner notes by Frank Driggs & John Hammond.
James Lincoln Collier, Louis Armstrong: An American Genius (Oxford University Press, 1983).
Rex Stewart, Boy Meets Horn (University of Michigan Press, 1991).
David Suisman, “The Black Swan” in Selling Sounds (Harvard University Press, 2009).
A. H. Lawrence, Duke Ellington and His World (Routledge, 2001).
Dunstan Prial, The Producer: John Hammond and the Soul of American Music (Picador/FSG, 2006).
Richard Hadlock, Jazz Masters of the ’20s (Da Capo, 1988).
Ross Firestone, Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman (W.W. Norton & Co., 1993).
“Fletcher Henderson, Architect of Swing,” in NPR Jazz Profiles (National Public Radio, 2007)
Fletcher Henderson
Georgia music
Cynthia Shearer
Cynthia Shearer is the author of two works of fiction, The Wonder Book of the Air and The Celestial Jukebox. Her work has appeared in such publications as TriQuarterly, The Missouri Review, and Virginia Quarterly Review. Formerly a curator of William Faulkner's home, Rowan Oak, in Oxford, Mississippi, she now lives in Fort Worth, Texas, and teaches at Texas Christian University.
More from Cynthia Shearer
The Thinning of Big Mama
Eavesdropping on History
Barry Hannah’s Mixtape
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Category: F1, P42Blog
How fit are Formula 1 drivers compared to other elite athletes?
F1 performance coach Eliot Challifour explains why, even though he sits for a living, Lewis Hamilton’s fitness is up there with Chris Froome and Mo Farah’s.
Whether it’s a turbocharged V6 engine or the latest carbon-fibre chassis, Formula 1 is a sport where innovation and technological advances are king.
But while the power, muscle and endurance of F1 cars is renowned, the power, muscle and endurance of the men behind the wheel is often overlooked – certainly in comparison to other elite athletes.
If you were to list the top five fittest athletes in the world, names such as Mo Farah, Rafael Nadal, Cristiano Ronaldo, Chris Froome and LeBron James would more than likely be on it. It wouldn’t be a surprise, however, if Lewis Hamilton was overlooked.
Because his success is ultimately reliant on the super machine at his fingertips, there is probably a perception that the physical requirements placed on him are less than on those who run, hit, kick, dunk and cycle.
The reality is very different.
“Formula 1 drivers are extremely fit athletes,” says Eliot Challifour, a performance coach who has worked with former McLaren driver Stoffel Vandoorne and others over the course of his 15 years in motorsport.
“When they are in the car, they are actually sustaining heart rates very similar to that of a high-level distance runner or cyclist – it’s 80 per cent or more of their maximum heart rate they’re having to maintain for a couple of hours.
“Although they’re not running or moving, they’ve got a lot of forces that are being applied to them. They’re coping with five or even six times their body weight.”
The downforce generated by an F1 car – which allows them to corner at speeds of up to 180 miles per hour – exposes drivers to G-force up to 6.5G, meaning they need a strong neck – strong enough to “hold five to six times the weight of their head” – to withstand the stress on their upper body.
That involves some specific training that you aren’t likely to see at your local gym, although Challifour is careful not to overstretch – literally – his high-profile clients.
“We do a lot of isometric work where you hold the muscle under tension, but it doesn’t change length. You can also do isometric with a little bit of rotation because obviously, the driver needs to turn their head,” Challifour says.
“I’m not a fan of doing a large range of motions with neck training – lots of people do it but there’s a higher risk of injury. If you’re personally responsible for someone worth millions, from my perspective I’d rather take the slightly safer option.”
Another thing that’s “extremely important for an F1 driver” is a strong core, as it helps to counteract G-force while also enabling them to operate the car.
“Brake forces often get forgotten – the actual force that drivers actively have to exert on the pedal is around 80 kilograms, multiple times each race,” Challifour says.
The physical demands of F1 are exacerbated by the extreme conditions that drivers are exposed to, with cockpit temperatures reaching 50 degrees Celsius over certain race weekends.
“They’ve got fireproof overalls on, a helmet, so all your usual mechanisms of cooling the body down, like sweat evaporating off your skin, are a lot less effective,” Challifour says.
Drivers lose an average of 1.4 litres of sweat over the course of a two-hour race, and sometimes as much as three litres in hot and humid countries such as Singapore and Bahrain.
That physical fitness not only allows drivers to drive the car, but also to remain concentrated as the race unfolds around them.
“It’s a very cognitively demanding sport – the fitness aspect is just making sure they’re able to tolerate the physical stresses comfortably,” Challifour says.
“You don’t want to have in your head that you’re too hot because it’s going to impact the other aspects – the mental aspects – of what you’re undertaking,”
As with any elite athlete, diet is key for F1 drivers to maintain both their fitness and their weight over a long season.
It is part of a performance coach’s job to make sure their driver is consuming the right foods – a healthy balance of carbohydrates, lean proteins, fats and vegetables – but timing of intake is also key.
“As soon as they get out the car we have to make sure they’ve got a healthy snack to get a quick bit of carbohydrate straight back in them and then get them a proper meal within an hour,” Challifour says.
Another factor to consider is travel, with the F1 travelling circus pitching up at 21 countries across five continents, meaning drivers clock up around 100,000 air miles a year.
“Planning recovery around travel is essential in making sure that their immune system isn’t suppressed – that they don’t get too sick,” Challifour says. “Setting your watch to the time zone you are heading to is important, as is getting your sleep cycles in the right balance.
“That means changing when you’re eating, too – getting straight into that routine of having breakfast when you should have breakfast, lunch when you should have lunch, to get your body in sync as soon as possible.”
The physical conditioning of F1 drivers is taken far more seriously than it used to be in the early years of the sport.
“Among the generation of kids coming through now, fitness is seen as an accepted requirement – something that’s part of your daily routine as a racing driver,” Challifour says.
“In the past you have your images of James Hunt smoking and shagging chicks, maybe doing the odd run, so there’s been a big shift over that 50 years.”
There’s still a way to go, though, according to Challifour, who believes that F1’s approach to fitness “is not as advanced as other sports”.
“Considering the advanced engineering in motorsport, physical fitness, medical and health services could be better,” he says.
Which brings us back to the car.
“It’s not like you’re a Tour de France cyclist where your physiology is everything,” Challifour says. “Motorsport is a technically complex operation, with a massive team, where the car has a massive impact too.
“You need a certain level of physical fitness to perform, but even if you’re the fittest driver in the world and you have a poor car, that won’t make any difference.
“A Williams is never going to be beating a Mercedes, for example. You could put Lewis Hamilton in a Williams and he’d still be bolt last. There’s not that 100 per cent direct correlation that there is in other sports – there are lots of other factors in play.”
Choose who you think will win this weekends’ F1 survival of the fittest at Betway F1
Dan Campling
Read More From Dan
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Jose Canseco tweets pic of hand after blowing off finger while cleaning gun
By MARC WEINREICH
Oct 29, 2014 | 8:46 PM
Jose Canseco tweeted 'got no sleep. Hope I can keep my finger but grateful it wasn't something worse @ModelLeila my nurse taking good care.' (?@JoseCanseco/via Twitter)
The "Bash Brother" has only himself to bash after shooting his middle finger clean off his hand yesterday and later posted a picture of his recovery efforts to Twitter on Wednesday.
Jose Canseco, who won two World Series championships during his 16-year run in the majors, was cleaning his Ruger pistol — one of four guns he owns — on Tuesday at his Las Vegas home when he accidentally fired off a shot that completely took the finger off his left hand.
The 50-year-old tweeted, "Got no sleep. Hope I can keep my finger but grateful it wasn't something worse." He was seen in the photo alongside his "nurse," — fiancee Leila Knight.
Knight, who called 911 after the incident, shed more light on the situation after her husband was rushed to University Medical Center in Las Vegas.
"He had been at the shooting range a few days earlier," Knight told the Daily News. " He didn't know it was loaded. The middle finger was hanging by a thread, and I wrapped his hand in a towel and then called 911. The doctors said they would either have to amputate or do reconstructive surgery. But if they do surgery, he won't be able to use it again. He blew away an artery and a big bone chunk."
Canseco met Leila Knight at the Playboy Mansion and the pair have been together since 2009, despite a brief moment when she issued a restraining order against him in 2011. (Tiffany Rose/WireImage)
She added that she feels lucky she wasn't the one who got shot.
"Jose is a little freaked out. He keeps saying, 'Sorry, sorry.' But we're extremely lucky, lucky it wasn't worse, or that he didn't shoot me."
The self-admitted steroid user last played in the majors in 2001. He authored the book, "Juiced" in 2005 which documented steroid culture in baseball and he later testified before Congress about his knowledge of performance enhancing drugs in the sport.
Latest Baseball
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Politics|The Democratic Debate in New Hampshire
Politics | Transcript
The Democratic Debate in New Hampshire
The following is the transcript of the Democratic presidential debate at St. Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., as transcribed by Federal News Service.
DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES DEBATE PARTICIPANTS:
SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY)
FORMER SENATOR JOHN EDWARDS (D-NC)
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA
(D-IL)
GOVERNOR BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM)
CHARLES GIBSON, ABC-TV NEWS ANCHOR
SCOTT SPRADLING, WMUR-TV NEWS ANCHOR LOCATION:
MR. GIBSON: And so let me introduce them from left to right. We have with us former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Senator Hillary Clinton from New York. And again, for the first 45 minutes of this debate I will be posing questions in three rather broad categories. We'll do 15 minutes each, but with the hope that I can sort of stay out of the way to the extent possible and let the candidates discuss the issues among themselves. There are no lights to limit time limits, at least for this part of the debate, and -- but I will interrupt politely, I hope, if things seem to be going a little bit long. So let me start with what is generally agreed to be, I think, the greatest threat to the United States today and somewhat to my surprise has not been discussed as much in the presidential debates this year as I thought would be, and that is nuclear terrorism. And for some background, here's ABC's chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross.
BRIAN ROSS: (From videotape.) After more than six years of trying, the United States still does not have a reliable way to spot nuclear material that terrorists might smuggle into the country. Watch as ABC News twice did in demonstrations without being caught, and after six years of trying the United States has yet to capture the man who says it his religious duty to get nuclear weapons, Osama bin Laden. And in the last 18 months U.S. officials say his al Qaeda has regrouped using safe havens along the Pakistani border to train and dispatch hundreds of new recruits. And just as troubling, amidst all the turmoil in Pakistan, the influence of bin Laden continues to grow there, a country with many nuclear weapons. Charlie? (End of videotape.)
MR. GIBSON: Brian Ross there. Well, Osama bin Laden, as he pointed out, has said it is his duty to try to get nuclear weapons. Al Qaeda has been reconstituted and re-energized in the western part of Pakistan. And so my general question is: How aggressively would you go after al Qaeda leadership there? And let me start with you, Senator Obama, because it was you who said in your foreign policy speech that you would go into western Pakistan if you had actionable intelligence to go after him whether or not the Pakistani government agreed. Do you stand by that?
SEN. OBAMA: I absolutely do stand by it, Charlie. What I said was that we should do everything in our power to push and cooperate with the Pakistani government in taking on al Qaeda, which is now based in northwest Pakistan. And what we know from our National Intelligence Estimates is that al Qaeda is stronger now than at any time since 2001, and so back in August I said we should work with the Pakistani government. First of all, they encourage democracy in Pakistan, so you've got a legitimate government that we're working with, and secondly, that we have to press them to do more to take on al Qaeda in their territory.
What I said was if they could not or would not do so, and we had actionable intelligence, then I would strike. And I should add that Lee Hamilton and Tom Kean, the heads of the 9/11 commission, a few months later wrote an editorial saying the exact same thing. I think it's indisputable that that should be our course.
Let me just add one thing, though, on the broader issue of nuclear proliferation. This is something that I've worked on since I've been in the Senate. I worked with Richard Lugar, then the Republican head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to pass the next stage of what was Nunn-Lugar, so that we would have improved interdiction of potentially nuclear materials. And it is important for us to rebuild a nuclear nonproliferant -- proliferation strategy -- something that this administration, frankly, has ignored, and has made us less safe as a consequence. It would not cost us that much, for example, and it would take about four years for us to lock down the loose nuclear weapons that are still floating out there, and we have not done the job.
MR. GIBSON: I'm going to go to the others in a moment, but what you just outlined is essentially the Bush doctrine: we can attack if we want to, no matter the sovereignty of the Pakistanis.
SEN. OBAMA: No, that -- that is not the same thing because here we have a situation where al Qaeda, a sworn enemy of the United States that killed 3,000 Americans and is currently plotting to do the same, is in the territory of Pakistan. We know that. And you know, this is not speculation. This is not a situation where we anticipate a possible threat in the future. And my job as commander in chief will be to make sure that we strike anybody who would do America harm when we have actionable intelligence to do so.
MR. GIBSON: Edwards, do you agree with him?
MR. EDWARDS: If I know what -- if I as president of the United States, know where Osama bin Laden is, I would go get him. Period. This man is the mastermind of a mass murder in the United States of America. He is public enemy number one, as al Qaeda is.
But I would add this has to be put in the bigger context of: What should America be doing over the long term to deal with this whole issue of nuclear proliferation? Because if you look at Pakistan, it's a perfect vehicle for actually thinking about this issue. Here's an unstable leader, Musharraf, in a country with a serious radical, violently radical element that could, under some circumstances, take over the government. If they did, they would have control of a nuclear weapon. They could either use it or they could turn it over to a terrorist organization to be used against America or some of our allies.
I think the bigger picture on this is, what do we do over the long term? Because what we're doing now is essentially an ad hoc, nation by nation, case by case basis of trying to control the spread of this nuclear technology. In the short term, that is exactly what we should do and what I would do as president of the United States. But A.Q. Khan, who developed the nuclear weapon for Pakistan, we know has already spread some of this technology to other places and I think this ad hoc policy does not work over the long term.
And what I believe we should be doing, over the long term, and what I will do as president of the United States, besides dealing with these short term threats -- which are very serious and should be taken seriously -- I, as president of the United States, want to do what some Republicans and some Democrats have said, which is to lead a long-term initiative, international initiative, to actually rid the world of nuclear weapons, because that is the only way to make the world safer and securer and to keep America safe.
MR. GIBSON: Well, you led me right up to the point of what you'd do if the Islamic radicals actually took control of the Pakistani government and therefore were in control of nuclear weapons, and then you went away from there. But I'll come back to that in a moment.
Governor Richardson.
GOV. RICHARDSON: In any foreign policy decision, I would use diplomacy first, in response to your question. And that basically means that the last thing we need in the Muslim world is another action like Iraq which is going to enflame the Muslim world in a horrendous way.
Now, here's what I would do. First, with Pakistan, here's an example of a country, a potentially failed nation-state with nuclear weapons. What a president must do is have a foreign policy of principles and realism. And the Bush foreign policy, with Musharraf, we get the worst of all worlds. We have a situation where he has not gone after al Qaeda in his own country, despite the fact that we've given him $11 billion. And he's also severely damaged the constitution. He's basically said that he is the supreme dictator. So we have the worst of all worlds.
What I would specifically do as president is I would ask Musharraf to step aside. There is a provision in the Pakistani constitution --
MR. GIBSON: Ask him to step aside?
GOV. RICHARDSON: Yes, for a caretaker --
MR. GIBSON: And what -- (inaudible)?
GOV. RICHARDSON: Because we have the leverage to do that.
MR. GIBSON: Hasn't worked so far.
GOV. RICHARDSON: We have the leverage to do that, and I -- I would send a high-level envoy to ask him to step aside. There's a provision in the Pakistani constitution for a caretaker government of technocrats. This happened when a previous prime minister died. And I would make it unmistakably clear that he had to have elections.
Now, elections are scheduled tentatively for February. A broadly based government, it's what's best for the United States.
MR. GIBSON: I understand your point about diplomacy. But Senator Obama's postulate was, we have actionable intelligence, the Musharraf government won't move; do we, should we, go in to western Pakistan and essentially try to take him out?
GOV. RICHARDSON: If we have actionable intelligence that is real, and if Musharraf is incapable -- which he is, because here's a man who has not stood up for his democracy, he is virtually in a situation where he's losing control -- then you do take that action. However, Charlie, first you use diplomacy. And diplomacy is to try to get what is best for the United States. And that is, a democratic Pakistan with free and fair elections and a concerted effort on the part of Musharraf or whoever is in the leadership in Pakistan to go after terrorists in those safe havens, which they have not done.
MR. GIBSON: Senator Clinton.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, I think it's important to get back to your question, because obviously that's the most direct threat to the United States. We did take action similar to what has been described about 10 years ago based on what was thought to be actionable intelligence, sending in missiles to try to target bin Laden and his top leadership, who were thought to be at a certain meeting place. They were not taken out at the time. So we have to be very conscious of all the consequences.
Now, as far as I know, there are, like, five things, quickly, that we should be looking at.
Bin Laden has in large measure regrouped because we did not put in the troops and make the commitment to aggressively going after him inside Afghanistan when we had a chance. Therefore we need more NATO troops and a faster effort to train the Afghan army so that we do have the personnel and the technology, including the Predators, to be able to be on the spot at the time to try to move as quickly as possible.
Secondly, I think it's imperative that any actionable intelligence that would lead to a strike inside Pakistan's territory be given the most careful consideration, and at some point probably when the missiles have been launched -- the Pakistani government has to know they're on the way because one of the problems is the inherent paranoia about India in the region in Pakistan, so that we've got to have a plan to try to make sure we don't ignite some kind of reaction before we even know whether the action we took with the missiles has worked.
Real quickly, thirdly, so far as we know right now, the nuclear technology is considered secure, but there isn't any guarantee, especially given the political turmoil going on inside Pakistan. I would work very hard to try to get Musharraf, who is the elected president -- these elections are about parliamentary positions. If you remove Musharraf and have elections, it's going to be very difficult for the United States to be able to control what comes next. I would try to get Musharraf to share the security responsibility of the nuclear weapons with a delegation from the United States and perhaps Great Britain so that there is some failsafe.
And just finally, I think that what we have to do with Musharraf and Afghanistan is to repair the failed policies of the Bush administration, and that's going to require intensive effort in the region. And Bill is right that we should be engaged in that diplomacy right away. But this is the forgotten front line in the war against terrorism because the Bush administration has walked away.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Charlie, I want us to just remember history. I want us to remember history. Years ago we backed the Shah of Iran, a dictator. We are paying for that policy today by having backed a tyrant who repressed his people -- unintended consequences.
A president has to act. I believe that we have to be on the side of the Pakistani people, not on the side of the dictator. And what we have today is an opportunity to get Musharraf to step aside, to move towards this caretaker government, but also to use the leverage of the assistance we've given him. Most of the assistance that we've given him -- $11 billion -- he hasn't used to go after terrorists. He's put it in military assistance for his fight against India; the money has been stolen. We get the worst of all worlds. If we stand on a foreign policy of principle, of human rights, along with protecting our security, that is the best direction for our foreign policy.
SEN. OBAMA: Let me just pick up on a couple things that have been said. I think people are in broad agreement here, but I think one of the things that's been left out is Iraq. And part of the reason that we neglected Afghanistan, part of the reason that we didn't go after bin Laden as aggressively as we should have is we were distracted by a war of choice, and that's the flaw of the Bush doctrine. It wasn't that he went after those who attacked; it was that he went after those who didn't. And as a consequence, we have been bogged down, paid extraordinary -- an extraordinary price in blood and treasure, and we have fanned the anti-American sentiment that actually makes it more difficult for us to act in Pakistan.
Just one more point I want to make on this, Charlie: I think it is absolutely true that we have to, as much as possible, get Pakistan's agreement before we act, and that's always going to be the case.
MR. GIBSON: I want to --
SEN. OBAMA: But we have to make sure that we do not hesitate to act when it comes to al Qaeda because they are currently stronger than they were at any time since 2001, partly because we took our eye off the ball.
MR. GIBSON: I want to get to another question, and it really is the central one in my mind in nuclear terrorism. The next president of the United States may have to deal with a nuclear attack on an American city. I've read a lot about this in recent days. The best nuclear experts in the world say there's a 30 percent chance in the next 10 years. Some estimates are higher: Graham Allison at Harvard says it's over 50 percent.
Senator Sam Nunn, in 2005, who knows a lot about this, posed two questions that stick in my mind, and I want to put them to you here. On the day after a nuclear weapon goes off in an American city, what would we wish we had done to prevent it? And what will we actually do on the day after?
Senator?
SEN. OBAMA: Well --
MR. EDWARDS: Well --
SEN. CLINTON: Well --
MR. EDWARDS: You're asking me?
MR. GIBSON: Yes.
MR. EDWARDS: Well, let me say first, this is the very points I was making a few minutes ago. In the short term we're faced with very, very serious threats about the possibility of these nuclear weapons getting in the hands of a terrorist group or somebody who wants to attack the United States of America. The first thing is we have to immediately find out who's responsible and go after them, and that is the responsibility of the president of the United States because if someone has attacked us with a nuclear weapon, it means they have nuclear technology, it means they could have gotten another nuclear weapon into the United States that we're unaware of.
We have to find these people immediately and use every tool available to us to stop them.
Secondly, it is the responsibility of the United States -- and by the way, what I'm about to say doesn't just apply to a nuclear attack, it applies to this crisis that exists in Pakistan right now with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto -- it is the responsibility of the president, in times like this, to be a force for strength, principled strength, but also calmness. It is enormously important for the president of the United States not to take -- to react, and to react strongly, but to do it in a way that is calming for the American people and calming for the world, because it would be an enormous mistake for the president of the United States to take a terrible, dangerous situation where millions of Americans or thousands of Americans could have lost their lives, and to ratchet up the rhetoric and make it worse than it already is.
Q Let me come to the two Sam Nunn questions to you, Senator.
SEN. OBAMA: Well, as I said, I've already been working on this, and I think this is the most significant foreign policy issue that we confront. We would obviously have to retaliate against anybody who struck American soil, whether it was nuclear or not. It would be a much more profound issue if it were nuclear weapons.
That's why it's so important for us to rebuild the nuclear proliferation -- nonproliferation treaty that has fallen apart under this administration. We have not made a commitment to work with the Russians to reduce our own nuclear stockpiles. That has weakened our capacity to pressure other countries to give up nuclear technology.
We have not locked down the loose nuclear weapons that are out there right now. These are all things that we should be taking leadership on.
And part of what we need to do in changing our foreign policy is not just end the war in Iraq; we have to change the mindset that ignores long-term threats and engages in the sorts of actions that are not making us safe over the long term.
MR. GIBSON: And I know, Senator Clinton, you've worked on this as well.
SEN. CLINTON: Yes, I have.
MR. GIBSON: But in terms of retaliation, this is not likely going to be a state that sets off a nuclear attack in a city, it's going to be a stateless group.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, the first -- the first part of your question was what would we wish we had done. And I have worked on this and passed legislation to move in the direction that I think we should go to have a very high level of commitment from the White House, including a person responsible in our government for marshaling our resources against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. There has to be a better organizing effort to make sure that every part of the United States government is working together.
I don't think we've done what we need to do on homeland defense. You started that segment talking about the ease with which ABC smuggled things in to this country. We haven't done enough on port security. We have not made the kind of commitment that is necessary or protect us from this kind of importation.
But let me just add that when you look at where we are, the stateless terrorists will operate from somewhere. I mean, part of our message has to be there is no safe haven. If we can demonstrate that the people responsible for planning the nuclear attack on our country may not themselves be in a government or associated with a state, but have a haven within one, then every state in the world must know we will retaliate against those states.
There cannot be safe havens for stateless terrorists who are in these networks that are plotting to have the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the smuggling into our country or elsewhere of the kind of suitcase device that could cause such havoc.
So I think we have to be very, very clear. You know, deterrence worked during the Cold War in large measure because the United States made it clear to the Soviet Union that there would be massive retaliation. We have to make it clear to those states that would give safe haven to stateless terrorists that would launch a nuclear attack against America that they would also face very heavy retaliation.
MR. GIBSON: Final word, Governor.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Charlie, when I was secretary of Energy, that was one of my responsibilities, securing nuclear stockpiles, nuclear materials, mainly with the Soviet Union. And I went there many time; we made progress. But since then there's been a proliferation of loose nuclear weapons, mainly in the hands of terrorists, that could cross presumably a border, that could be smuggled in in a cargo ship with our very weak port security.
If I'm elected president, I will do two things. First, I will seek immediate negotiations with the Soviet Union and other nuclear states to reduce the number of nuclear weapons.
But also a treaty on fissionable material, where you have verification, where you try to secure those loose nuclear weapons from states like North Korea and others that -- that could be drifting into the international community.
But most importantly, I think we have to realize that the challenges America faces internationally, they're -- they are transnational. They're stateless. This international terrorism is nuclear terrorism, it's environmental degradation, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, making us less dependent on fossil fuels. Those are the transnational challenges that are going to require international cooperation.
And this president believes in unilateralism. This president believes in going military-first. This president believes in preemption. You discussed this in the Republican debate.
MR. GIBSON: I'm --
GOV. RICHARDSON: My foreign policy'd be different.
MR. GIBSON: I'm going to -- I'm going to move on.
GOV. RICHARDSON: It'd be realism, human rights, and principles.
MR. GIBSON: I'm going to move on, and I'm going to move on to domestic policy -- how much the government is spending, how much you would spend with the programs you've proposed and the promises you've made. And some of that is entitlements. For a little background, ABC's Betsy Stark.
BETSY STARK: (From videotape.) Every hour this new year another 400 baby boomers will turn 60, swelling the ranks of those soon eligible to collect Social Security and Medicare. The forecasts are foreboding. By 2017, the Social Security surplus runs dry and the system begins taking in less tax revenue than it pays out in benefits.
For Medicare, the problems are even more severe. By 2013, the program's hospital insurance fund is expected to fall into the red and the insurance premiums seniors pay for doctors' visits and prescription drugs are projected to keep rising.
Many young Americans simply assume there will be nothing left for them to guarantee the security of their old age.
Charlie?
MR. GIBSON: So I hope we have time to get to some of that. But before we get to it, talking about domestic policy, I want to get to the concept of change. Because 60 percent of the people going into the Democratic caucuses in Iowa said they were going to go there for change, and that seemed to redound to your benefit, Senator Obama.
And arriving here in New Hampshire, Senator Clinton, you called into question, really, what that means. And you said, and I'm quoting you now, "On a lot of issues, it's hard to know where he" -- referring to Senator Obama -- "stands. And people need to ask that. Everybody needs to be vetted." So let me have a little dialogue between the two of you.
What does he need to be vetted on, and what questions are there about Senator Obama that are unanswered?
SEN. CLINTON: Well, let me say first that I think we're all advocating for change. We all want to change the status quo, which is George W. Bush and the Republican domination of Washington for so many years. And we all are putting forth ideas about how best to deliver that change.
But I don't think you make change by, you know, calling for it or by demanding it. I think it is a result of very hard work, bringing people together, stating clearly what your goals are, what your principles are, and then achieving them.
And I do think that, you know, part of what this primary process is all about -- and New Hampshire voters are, you know, famously independent in making their judgments -- is to look at our records, to evaluate where we stand and what we stand for. And I think that there is a lot of, you know, room to ask all of us questions.
You know, Senator Obama has been -- as the Associated Press described it, he could have a pretty good debate with himself, because four years ago he was for single-payer health care. Then he moved toward a rejection of that, a more incremental approach. Then he was for universal health care; then he proposed a health care plan that doesn't cover everybody.
I think that's relevant. I mean, I think that what we are looking for is a president we can count on, that you know where that president is yesterday, today, and tomorrow. And I think that, you know, there questions that, you know, should be asked and answered from each of us. And I'd certainly have no problem with whatever scrutiny comes my way.
MR. GIBSON: Senator Obama?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I think the Associated Press was quoting some of your folks, Hillary, so let's talk specifically about health care, since you mentioned that.
I have been entirely consistent in my position on health care. What I said, and I have said on the campaign trail this time, is if I were designing a system from scratch, I would set up a single-payer system because we could gain enormous efficiencies from it. Our medical care costs twice as much per capita as any other advanced nation.
But what I've also said is that given that half of the people are getting already employer-based health care, that it would be impractical for us to do so, which is why I put forward a plan that says anybody can get health care that is the same as the health care that I have as a member of Congress, similar to the plans that you and John have offered.
We do have a philosophical difference. John and yourself believe that if we do not mandate care -- if we don't force the government to get -- to -- if the government does not force taxpayers to buy health care, that we will penalize them in some fashion. I disagree with that because as I go around town hall meetings, I don't meet people who are trying to avoid getting health care; the problem is they can't afford it. The costs are too high. And so, as a consequence, we focus on reducing costs.
Now, this is a legitimate argument for us to have, but it's not true that I leave them out. Your premise is they won't buy it even if it's affordable. I disagree with that.
Now let me just make one last point, because you say that somehow I've not been specific. Social Security is a great example, something that you've just raised, Charlie, and here's an area where John and myself were actually quite specific and said if we are going to deal with this problem realistically what we need to do is to raise the cap on the payroll tax so that wealthy individuals are paying a little bit more into the system right now. Somebody like Warren Buffet pays a fraction of 1 percent of his income in payroll tax whereas the majority of the audience here pays payroll tax on a hundred percent of their income, and I've said that was not fair. You criticized me for that, which is fine. We have a disagreement on that, but that's hardly because I wasn't specific on it. I was very specific on it, and --
SEN. CLINTON: Well, but I want to go back to health care and make another point. You have a mandate in your health care plan.
SEN. OBAMA: For children.
SEN. CLINTON: You mandate -- you mandate parents to have health care for children.
SEN. OBAMA: That's exactly right.
SEN. CLINTON: And obviously you did that because you want all children covered.
SEN. OBAMA: Because they don't have a choice.
SEN. CLINTON: So -- so -- well, they don't have a choice, and you're going to make sure that parents get health care for children. So you know, you stop short of going the distance to make sure that we had a system that could actually deliver health care for everyone. But it's not only about health care. You know, I think that two weeks ago you criticized Senator Edwards in saying that he was unelectable because he had changed positions over the course of four years, that four years ago he wasn't for universal health care, now he is. Well, you've changed positions within three years on, you know, a range of issues that you put forth when you ran for the Senate and now you have changed. You know, you said you would vote against the Patriot Act; you came to the Senate, you voted for it. You said that you would vote against funding for the Iraq war; you came to the Senate and you voted for $300 billion of it.
So I just think it's fair for people to understand that many of the charges that have been leveled not just at me, but also at Senator Edwards, are not totally, you know, unrelated to the very record that you have.
And you've said records matter, and I think that we should get into examining everybody's record.
SEN. OBAMA: Let me -- I want John to be able to get in on this, but since this was directed at me, let me just make sure that I -- I address this.
First of all, I never said John was unelectable. Somebody asked me specifically what did I think was the difference between myself and John, and I pointed out some areas where I thought we had some differences. And --
SEN. CLINTON: And you said that he had changed positions, did you not?
SEN. OBAMA: And I did, because I thought that I had been more consistent on those positions.
I have no problem, Hillary, with you pointing out areas where you think we have differences. But on health care, for example, the reason that I mandate for children is because children do not have a choice. Adults do, and it's my belief that they will choose to have health care if it is affordable. Now, that's a perfectly legitimate policy difference for us to have. That is different from saying that I will refuse to cover or leave out a bunch of individuals.
And the last point I just want to make on this is -- Charlie, is these are all good public servants, and everybody has great qualifications and has done good things. But what I think is important that we don't do is to try to distort each other's records as, you know, Election Day approaches here in New Hampshire, because what I think the people of America are looking for are folks who are going to be straight about the issues and are going to be interested in solving problems and bringing people together. That's the reason I think we did so well in Iowa.
MR. GIBSON: You've been very patient.
SEN. OBAMA: You have, and I appreciate it.
MR. EDWARDS: Thank you. Thank you. No, you're welcome. You're more than welcome.
Let me just say a quick word about this. You know, Senator Obama and I have differences. We do. We have a difference about health care, which he and I have talked about before. We have a fundamental difference about the way you bring about change. But both of us are powerful voices for change.
And I might add, we finished first and second in the Iowa caucus, I think in part as a result of that.
Now, what I would say is this: Any time you speak out powerfully for change, the forces of status quo attack. That's exactly what happens. It's fine to have a disagreement about health care. To say that Senator Obama is having a debate with himself from some Associated Press story, I think is just not -- that's not the kind of discussion we should be having. I think that every time this happens -- what will occur every time he speaks out for change, every time I fight for change, the forces of status quo are going to attack. Every single time. And what we have to remember -- and this is the overarching issue here -- because what we really need in New Hampshire and in future state primaries is we need an unfiltered debate between the agents of change, about how we bring about that change, because we have differences about that. But the -- the one thing I do not argue with him about is he believes deeply in change and I believe deeply in change. And anytime you're fighting for that, I mean, I didn't hear these kinds of attacks from Senator Clinton when she was ahead. Now that she's not, we hear them. And anytime you speak out -- anytime you speak out for change, this is what happens.
MR. GIBSON: With apologies --
SEN. CLINTON: Well, making change -- making --
MR. GIBSON: With apologies to Governor Richardson, I think we --
SEN. CLINTON: Wait a minute now, wait a minute. I'm going to respond to this because obviously -- making change is not about what you believe. It's not about a speech you make. It is about working hard. There are 7,000 kids in New Hampshire who have health care because I helped to create the Children's Health Insurance Program. There's 2,700 National Guard and Reserve members who have access to health care, because on a bipartisan basis, I pushed legislation through over the objection of the Pentagon, over the threat of a veto from President Bush.
I want to make change, but I've already made change. I will continue to make change. I'm not just running on a promise of change, I'm running on 35 years of change. I'm running on having taken on the drug companies and the health insurance companies, taking on the oil companies.
So, you know, I think it is clear that what we need is somebody who can deliver change. And we don't need to be raising the false hopes of our country about what can be delivered. The best way to know what change I will produce is to look at the changes that I've already made.
MR. EDWARDS: Can I respond briefly to that?
MR. GIBSON: Let me -- I'll let you respond. Let me -- in all fairness to Governor Richardson.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, I've been in hostage negotiations that are a lot more civil than this. (Laughter, applause.) And -- no, I -- (chuckles). You know, I think one of the things that we need to remember -- I'm going to say this again, because I said it in a previous debate. Let's stay positive. You know? There will be plenty of time to get negative with the Republicans. You heard them earlier. (Laughter.)
Let us talk about how we're going to make sure that we deliver health care for the American people, how we change America's foreign policy, how we make schools better and pay teachers better and get rid of No Child Left Behind.
Look, what we need is change, there's no question.
But you know, what ever happened to experience? Is experience kind of a leper? (Laughter.) What is wrong with -- you know, what is wrong with having -- (scattered applause) -- what is wrong with having been like myself -- 14 years in the Congress, two Cabinet positions? I mean, I've gone head to head with the North Koreans. We got the remains of soldiers back. We persuaded them to reduce their nuclear weapons. What is wrong with being a governor and going to a state and giving health care to kids under 12 and creating jobs and balancing budgets? What is wrong with being a secretary of Energy who has made America or tried to make America a land of clean energy or as a governor -- my point is this: We want to change this country, but you have to have -- you have to know how to do it, and there's nothing wrong with having experience.
So you know, I love change, we all are for change. But the question is examine the record of those that in the past have produced change, and that has taken responsibilities. We need somebody that has been tested.
MR. GIBSON: I'm going to go to Senator Edwards and then Senator Obama, and then we'll move on.
MR. EDWARDS: Thank you very much.
What I would say in response to the discussion that just took place is we have to understand what's at stake. Nobody cares about hearing a bunch of politicians fight. They're not the slightest bit interested in that, and they shouldn't be interested in it. What's at stake here is a fight for the future of the middle class, and we do have different perspectives on how we'd fight for the middle class, how we'd fight for jobs, how we'd fight for health care.
I believe -- and I believe it very strongly -- that there are entrenched special interests, very well-financed -- some examples are drug companies, insurance companies, oil companies, et cetera -- that stand between America and the change that we need. And I think if you defend the way the system works, it's very hard to take those people on.
I believe -- and it's -- (inaudible) -- these people; I'm 54 years old. I've been fighting these people, these irresponsible corporations. And there are good corporations in America, Charlie. I want to point that out. Good corporations, good employers: Costco; AT&T, for example, is now working to help unionize some of their offices and to bring jobs back. But I want to --
MR. GIBSON: We'll get to the commercials later.
MR. EDWARDS: No, let me -- let me finish this. I want to finish this.
The point is this. I think there are differences between us about how we fight for the future of the middle class. And I believe you have to be willing to take on these entrenched special interests. And I think if you're not willing to do it, it is impossible to bring about the change that the country needs.
MR. GIBSON: Final word, Senator.
SEN. OBAMA: And just to wrap up, part of the change that's desperately needed is to enlist the American people in the process of self-government. And one of the areas that I have constantly worked on is not only pushing aside the special interests -- this past year, passing the toughest ethic reform legislation since Watergate -- but also making sure that the government is transparent and accountable. And that's what I think people were responding to in Iowa. We saw it here in New Hampshire today. They want somebody who's taking straight to them about the choices that are ahead, and they want to make sure that government is responding to them directly because folks out there feel the American dream is slipping away. They are working harder for less; they are paying more for health care, for college, for gas at the pump; and they are having a tougher time saving and retiring. And what they don't feel is that the government is listening to them and responding to them.
That's the kind of change that I think we need.
MR. GIBSON: I'm going to move on to our third subject before I run out of time. And I want to turn to Iraq.
We started the surge early this year. You all opposed it. But there are real signs it has worked. So for background, our man in Baghdad for ABC, Terry McCarthy.
TERRY MCCARTHY (ABC): (From videotape.) It has been a tough 12 months in Iraq, with more U.S. troops killed than in any previous year of the war. But overall, the addition of an extra 30,000 troops has helped to reduce violence substantially. Civilian killings are down 65 percent in the last six months. U.S. deaths are down from 126 in May to 23 in December.
General Petraeus has repeatedly said the solution in Iraq must be political, not military. So far, political progress has been frustratingly slow. But a year ago, many Americans, and Iraqis, too, thought the country was a lost cause. Today, with improved security, life is returning to the streets of Baghdad. Nobody yet says the war is over; but Iraqis are finally able to hope that things might be getting better.
MR. GIBSON: So I want to ask all of you, are any of you ready to say that the surge has worked? And Senator Clinton, let me start with you, because when General Petraeus was in Washington in September, you said it would take a willful suspension of disbelief to think that the surge could do any good.
SEN. CLINTON: And that's right, because remember the purpose behind the surge was to create the space and time for political reconciliation, for the Iraqi government to do what only it can do and trying to deal with the myriad of unresolved problems that confront it.
And as your report said, you know, we have the greatest military in the world. We send in more of our troops, they will be able to dampen down the violence, but there has not been a willingness on the part of the Iraqi government to do what the surge was intended to do, to push them to begin to make the tough decisions. And in the absence of that political action, 23 Americans dying in December is totally unacceptable. You know, there is no more cause for us to be there if the Iraqis are just not going to do what they need to do to take care of their own country.
So it's time to bring our troops home and to bring them home as quickly and responsibly as possible and unfortunately, I don't see any reason why they should remain beyond, you know, today. I think George Bush doesn't intend to bring them home, but certainly I have said when I'm president I will. Within 60 days, I'll start that withdrawal.
GOV. RICHARDSON: The policy's a massive failure. Here are the measurements that we should look at: Thirty-nine hundred Americans have lost their lives. There are 60,000 Americans today that are wounded, mainly mentally wounded. Tell that to the family that only 23 died in December.
Look, here are the barometers that we need to look at. First, there is no military solution; there's a political solution. Secondly, has there been progress in any political compromises of reconciliation between the Sunni, the Shi'a and the Kurds? Zero. Has there been progress in sharing oil revenues? Zero. Has there been any regional elections? Zero. Is the Maliki government intensifying its efforts to train the Iraqi security forces more than they have? No. Is there any end to Iran's efforts to bring terrorist activities to Iraq? No. Iran, Syria -- no one has participated in the regional solution.
Charlie, I mean, this is a -- this is why I'm running for president; because until we end this war, we cannot talk about the issues that need to be dealt with here -- universal health care, improving schools, bringing people together. You can't have change until you end the war, and that means bringing all of our troops home --
MR. GIBSON: I'm going to --
GOV. RICHARDSON: -- within a year and leaving none behind.
MR. GIBSON: I'm going to take this to Senator Obama and to Senator Edwards. But -- but -- and I'm not here to debate -- but parliament meets, and the oil law is under consideration, de- Ba'athification has progressed to some extent, and were it not for the surge, instead of counting votes we'd be counting bodies in the streets.
GOV. RICHARDSON: But this has been going on -- (off mike) -- Charlie.
MR. GIBSON: And all of you -- all of you wanted the troops out --
GOV. RICHARDSON: There has been serious talk --
MR. GIBSON: -- last year.
SEN. OBAMA: Charlie?
MR. GIBSON: Would you have seen this kind of greater security in Iraq if we had followed your recommendations to pull the troops out last year?
Senator Obama.
SEN. OBAMA: Let me respond. I think the bar of success has become so low that we've lost perspective on what should be our long- term national interests. It was a mistake to go in from the start, and that's why I opposed this war from the start.
It has cost us upwards of $1 trillion. It may get close to 2 (trillion dollars). We have lost young men and women on the battlefield, and we have not made ourselves safer as a consequence.
Now, I had no doubt -- and I said at the time, when I opposed the surge, that given how wonderfully our troops perform, if we place 30,000 more troops in there, then we would see an improvement in the security situation and we would see a reduction in the violence. But understand, we started in 2006 with intolerable levels of violence and a dysfunctional government. We saw a spike in the violence, the surge reduced that violence, and we now are, two years later, back where we started two years ago. We have gone full circle at enormous cost to the American people.
What we have to do is to begin a phased redeployment to send a clear signal to the Iraqi government that we are not going to be there in perpetuity. Now, it will -- we should be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in. I welcome the genuine reductions of violence that have taken place, although I would point out that much of that violence has been reduced because there was an agreement with tribes in Anbar province -- Sunni tribes -- who started to see, after the Democrats were elected in 2006, you know what, the Americans may be leaving soon, and we are going to be left very vulnerable to the Shi'as. We should start negotiating now. That's how you change behavior.
And that's why I will send a clear signal to the Iraqi government. They will have ample time to get their act together, to actually pass an oil law, which has been -- they've been talking about now for years.
They will actually be able to conduct de-Ba'athification. We will support them in all of those efforts. But what we can't do is to continue to ignore the enormous strains that this has placed on the American taxpayer as well as the anti-American sentiment that it is fanning and the neglect that's happening in Afghanistan as a consequence.
MR. GIBSON: I'm going to go to Senator Edwards, but all of you serve in Congress or did serve in Congress. You know how slow legislatures can move; you've all experienced it in the United States Congress. But Senator Edwards, let me go to you.
Some of you -- Governor Richardson, Senator Obama -- you have talked about a timetable for withdrawal, getting all troops out by the end of 2009, 2010. If the generals in Iraq came to you, as President Edwards, and said, "Mr. President," -- on January 21st, 2009 -- "You're wrong. You can't do this. You're going to send Iraq back into the kind of chaos we had before," are you going to stick with it?
MR. EDWARDS: It is the responsibility of the president of the United States and the commander in chief to make policy decisions. It is the responsibility -- of course I would always listen to my uniformed military leadership directly, not filtered through civilians, directly -- but if you look at what happened in Iraq when the Brits began to pull their troops out, in the part of Iraq where those troops were located, there was a significant reduction in violence.
What the whole purpose, just to be clear with people, the whole purpose for the surge was to create some environment where there could be political progress and political reconciliation between Sunni and Shi'a. Everyone believes -- even George Bush acknowledges that that's -- that's what we're trying to accomplish. The question is, how do you get there? Look at the loss of American lives, $600 billion dollars and counting, and there's been essentially no political progress. I don't believe, and I think others would agree, that there will be political progress until we make it clear that we're going to stop propping the Sunni and Shi'a up with American lives and with the American taxpayer dollars.
So what we need to do -- and let me be very specific, and this is what I will do as president -- in the first year that I am president, I will pull 40(,000) to 50,000 troops out very quickly.
I will continue a steady redeployment of combat troops out of Iraq until they are all out, within about nine to 10 months. If my military leadership says we need some more time to make sure that we can do this in the most effective way and the most efficient way and the safest way for my troops, of course I'd be listening to what they have to say. But I will end combat missions in Iraq in the first year and there will be no permanent military bases.
We have to end this war, and the only way to end the war is to end the occupation, which is what I will do as president.
MR. GIBSON: I've got one minute left and I owe each of your 30 seconds.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, John, you can't end the war without -- you've got to get all the troops out to end the war because they become targets.
MR. EDWARDS: I agree.
GOV. RICHARDSON: And if you leave a small force behind then you cannot bring the political reconciliation that is needed. You cannot bring a peacekeeping force by the United Nations or a donor conference to take over the $570 billion that we've spent on this war -- on resources that should be spent on health care and education for our own people. This is where, with all due respect, we differ.
I bring the troops back within a year. I don't want in five years because I did, in another debate -- some of you said you would keep troops -- you wouldn't say -- you wouldn't get them out by 2013. I don't want in five years to have to look at an eight-year-old today -- an eighth-grader -- an American eighth-grader today who is serving five years from now in Iraq. I don't want to hear about a death of an American.
I -- you know, as a governor, I fly the flags half mast upon a death. I'm sick of doing that. We need to stop that. We need to think of our veterans that are coming back with PTSD, with traumatic brain injuries, with mental anguish. We have a crisis on our hands.
And my whole point is that this whole campaign, everything we talk about -- universal health care, improving schools, helping kids -- cannot happen until we get out of this war because the Congress and the president basically have a dysfunctional relationship where nothing gets done. And I can see that as a governor from my state as I try to deal with health care and education.
MR. GIBSON: Governor.
GOV. RICHARDSON: So this is why it's so fundamental, and this is why I'm running for president -- to end this war, and the way you do it is by getting all the troops out in one year.
MR. GIBSON: I owed you 30 seconds; now you owe me 45, but that's all right. (Laughter.)
Senator Clinton?
SEN. CLINTON: I think we're in vigorous agreement about getting our troops home as quickly and responsibly as we possibly can, serving notice on the Maliki government that the blank check they've had from George Bush is no longer valid. We're going to have to have intensive diplomatic efforts in the region.
I don't think anyone can predict what the consequences will be, and I think we have to be ready for whatever they might be. We have to figure out what we're going to do with the 100,000-plus American civilians who are there working at the embassy, working for not-for- profits or American businesses. We have to figure out what we're going to do about all the Iraqis who sided with us, you know, like the translators who helped the Marines in Fallujah, whom I met, who said they wouldn't have survived without them. Are we going to leave them?
You know, this is a complicated enterprise, so it has to be done right. And last spring I began demanding that the Bush administration tell us whether they were undertaking the kind of planning that is necessary for the withdrawal, and clearly they're not. So as soon as I am elected, I will task the joint chiefs and the secretary of Defense and the security advisers to provide such a plan and to begin to execute it within 60 days.
MR. GIBSON: All right. Let me thank all of you. We're going to take a commercial break -- three minutes. I'm going to bring Scott Spradling from WMUR up here and we'll continue with some questions when the Democratic debate from Manchester, New Hampshire continues.
(Announcements.)
MR. GIBSON: And I am joined for the last half of this debate, as I was for the Republican debate, by the political director of our station here in Manchester, New Hampshire, Scott Spradling.
And I appreciate all of you again being with us. It's good to have the four leading Democratic candidates with us. Just to reintroduce them: Senator John Edwards -- former Senator John Edwards, Senator Barack Obama, Governor Bill Richardson, Senator Hillary Clinton.
MR. SPRADLING: Senator, I'd like to start with you. I was watching the exchange in the first half and saw what looked like a little bit of a double-team that's probably going to have a lot of people talking tomorrow morning.
SEN. CLINTON: (Laughs.) (Inaudible) -- notice.
MR. SPRADLING: Yeah, I did notice. And I'd like to ask you this.
The University of New Hampshire Survey Center has been consistently trying to probe the minds of New Hampshire voters and get a sense of what they think about all of you. I'd be happy to report that the experience-versus-change debate seems to be sinking in. And what I'd like to get is to this:
New Hampshire voters seem to believe that of those of you on the stage, you are the most experienced and the most electable. In terms of change, they see Senators Obama and Edwards as the agents of change, in New Hampshire mindset. My question to you is simply this: What can you say to the voters of New Hampshire on this stage tonight, who see a resume and like it but are hesitating on the likability issue, where they seem to like Barack Obama more.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, that hurts my feelings. (Laughter.)
MR. SPRADLING: I'm sorry, Senator. (Scattered applause.) I'm sorry.
SEN. CLINTON: But I'll try to go on. (Laughter.)
He's very likable. I agree with that. I don't think I'm that bad.
SEN. OBAMA: You're likable enough, Hillary. (Inaudible.)
SEN. CLINTON: Thank you (so much ?). (Laughter.) I appreciate that.
You know, I think this is one of the most serious decisions that the voters of New Hampshire have ever had to make. And I really believe that the most important question is, who is ready to be president on day one?
You know, the problems waiting -- some of which we have talked about already -- are huge, and the stakes could not be higher.
And you know, in 2000 we, unfortunately, ended up with a president who people said they wanted to have a beer with; who said he wanted to be a uniter, not a divider; who said that he had his intuition and he was going to, you know, really come into the White House and transform the country. And you know, at least I think there are the majority of Americans who think that was not the right choice.
So I am offering 35 years of experience making change and the results to show for it. I, you know, respect and like both Senator Edwards and Senator Obama. But I think if you want to know what change each of us will bring about, look at what we've done. And there are a lot of differences that I think need to be aired for the voters of New Hampshire because I stand on my record of experience, and I appreciate Governor Richardson's long history of serving our country. But I think I am an agent of change. I embody change. I think having the first woman president is a huge change -- (applause) -- with consequences across our country and the world. And that on the specific issues that I have worked on for a lifetime and the plans I have put forth, I believe I am more prepared and ready to actually deliver change, and I think that ultimately is what Americans want to know and believe.
MR. SPRADLING: Senator, thank you.
Senator Obama, I don't know if your ears were ringing during the first debate. I asked a question about you earlier and am interested to hear your response to what the Republican candidates for president laid out in arguments for you not being elected president. I revved up the Republican attack machine, please respond.
SEN. OBAMA: (Chuckles.) Well, you know, I have to admit that I was going back and forth between the Republicans and football. (Laughter.) But I --
MR. SPRADLING: How are the Redskins doing?
SEN. OBAMA: The Redskins lost. They -- (inaudible). (Laughter.)
But look, I think there's no doubt that any of the candidates on this stage would represent significant change from George Bush and we've seen a disaster in both foreign policy and domestic policy over the last seven years.
But what the people in Iowa were responding to, what I think that we're seeing here in New Hampshire is a hunger for a different kind of politics that is very specific about pushing aside special interests that have come to dominate the agenda and the debate, reducing the power of lobbyists -- something that I have done. I think people are very concerned about making sure that the American people are let back into their government.
So when I, for example, worked with a Republican to set up a searchable database so that every dollar of federal spending, we would know. If there was a bridge to nowhere, you'd know where -- who was sponsoring it, and hopefully embarrassing them.
If there was a no-bid contract to Halliburton, you'd know about that.
Those are the kinds of steps that will actually lead to real changes in people's lives, and that's how I worked at the state level, bringing Republicans and Democrats together, to provide health insurance to people who didn't have it; that's how we were able to provide tax cuts to working families. And that is what I intend to do as president of the United States of America.
MR. SPRADLING: Senator Thompson referred to your support as endorsement by some of the most liberal groups in the nation, trying to paint a picture that you would be way left of center.
SEN. OBAMA: Of course, but Scott, that's what they're going to do to any Democrat. I mean, we -- you know, we've seen this movie before. We know the Republican playbook. Here's what I'm betting on, though, is that regardless of what the Republican candidates are talking about, I think there are a whole host of Republicans and certainly Independents who have lost trust in their government, who don't believe anybody is listening to them, who are staggering under rising costs of health care, college education, don't believe what politicians say, and we can draw those Independents and some Republicans into a working coalition, a working majority for change.
And the fact of the matter is, we -- I think that Senator Clinton's done some good work. I think Bill Richardson's done some good work, as has John Edwards, but what we haven't seen over the last -- many years, even preceding George Bush, is tackling the big issues: getting health care reform finally done, getting an energy policy that works. And that's going to require a working majority for change. We're starting to build that. We saw it in Iowa, we're going to build it here in New Hampshire, and I think we can build it across the country.
MR. SPRADLING: Governor Richardson, I'm curious. Do you think to be president of the United States, that prior executive experience is necessary? And is relative youth a detriment?
GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, I think prior executive experience is very important. I'm the only governor here. I'm the only person here who has actually balanced budgets. I've balanced five. I've created 80,000 new jobs. I've lowered taxes for everybody. I've insured kids under 12 in my state. I've improved education.
You know, you want somebody in this position that has had executive experience. And I will also say, Charlie, since, you know, I noticed Scott mentioned everybody else in the poll, he didn't mention me -- (laughter) -- but that's okay.
SEN. OBAMA: Does that hurt your feelings, too?
GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, a little bit. (Laughter.)
MR. SPRADLING: Would you like to know?
GOV. RICHARDSON: You know -- you know, let's face it, the next president -- the next president is going to have to have foreign policy experience. And of all the candidates here, you know, I'm the only one that's negotiated with foreign governments. I'm the only one that has faced down the North Koreans and Saddam Hussein. I'm the only one that has had the highest national security clearance. You know? So there's something about having experience and been tested, and represented --
MR. SPRADLING: Follow up on that, then --
GOV. RICHARDSON: Sure.
MR. SPRADLING: -- with your resume. I don't mean to interrupt. But I remember you as Energy secretary coming to Boston for an energy summit way back in February of 2000, when the dialogue then was very similar to the dialogue that it is now. Rising fuel prices. A struggling supply.
Frustration in the homes across New England, and a call for some help.
Here we are, this past Thursday, we've established it that it's $100 a barrel. Is it fair to say to you in this experience argument that you as Energy secretary, you didn't get it done then, so why believe you'd get it done now? Because we're having the same debate.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Look, both parties have been failures in dealing with energy policy. But you know -- and I remember meeting you there. Remember what I did, Scott. I went to OPEc countries and tried to get them to increase production so prices'd go down. I created -- at the time, there was a home heating oil crisis here in New England. I created reserves of home heating oil. And look at the price now in New Hampshire -- 3.20 (dollars), something like that. It's the highest ever.
You know, what we need is an energy revolution in this country. Not some of the bills that the congress has passed. We need to go to 50 miles per gallon fuel efficiency. We need to have 30 percent of all our electricity renewable. We need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by the year 2040. And we need the American people to sacrifice a little bit.
I would ask the American people, when it comes to being more energy-conscious, to be cognizant of appliances, of fuel efficiency, the vehicles we drive, mass transit. You know, I -- and I did, when I was Energy secretary, air conditioners 30 percent more efficient. I started the renewable portfolio. So I did some things, Scott.
The problem, you're right, we need a bipartisan approach, but we need to reduce fossil fuels by 50 percent by the year 2020, because our planet is getting damaged. And Al Gore has been right. He deserves the Nobel Prize. I'm glad he stayed out of the race. (Laughter.)
MR. SPRADLING: (Laughs.) I'm going to go to Senator Edwards for just a moment.
You answered the first part of my question about executive experience. You didn't talk about whether relative youth is a detriment.
GOV. RICHARDSON: I didn't hear that.
MR. SPRADLING: I asked -- when I asked you the question, I said, is prior executive experience a key requirement for being president and is relative youth a detriment.
GOV. RICHARDSON: Relative youth? No. You know, John F. Kennedy was 42 years old when he was elected president. He's my hero, and I think he was one of our greatest presidents because -- because he inspired, because he said he could go to the moon in 10 years, because he -- he said that we all collectively have to do something for the common good.
MR. SPRADLING: Senator Edwards?
MR. EDWARDS: What's my question? (Laughter.) No, I'm glad that people like me, Hillary. (Laughs.) I'm glad they like --
MR. SPRADLING: -- prior executive experience and is relative youth a detriment?
MR. EDWARDS: No, I think what matters -- we've had -- we've had a lot of conversation about the first day in the White House. I think we ought to picture what that first day in the White House would be for each of us. I'll just speak for myself.
You know, I'm the candidate up here who's never taken a dime from a Washington lobbyist in my entire time in public life, or a dime from a special interest PAC. The first day that I'm president of the United States there will be no corporate lobbyists working in my White House. There will be no lobbyist who's lobbied for foreign governments.
And this is a very personal cause for me, because I come from a family -- my father's in the audience tonight -- where my father worked for 37 years in the mills. He didn't get a chance, like I did, to have a college education. And this is a fight for the middle class and families just like the one I grew up with. My grandmother, who helped raise me, had a fifth- or sixth-grade education, came from a family of sharecroppers.
This fight is deeply personal to me. I've been engaged in it my whole life -- the fight for the middle class, the fight against powerful, special interests and it is a fight I will wage on behalf of the American people as president of the United States and win, as I have for 54 years.
MR. SPRADLING: Senator, I'd like to follow that up then.
MR. EDWARDS: Sure.
MR. SPRADLING: You served six years in the U.S. Senate.
MR. EDWARDS: Yes.
MR. SPRADLING: And on the campaign trail, it seems like you don't talk a lot about the six years. The people of New Hampshire probably remember you talking about your war vote --
MR. SPRADLING: -- and explaining later on why you weren't happy about that. Can you give New Hampshire voters a guide of something significant that you accomplished in your six years as a U.S. senator --
MR. EDWARDS: Absolutely.
MR. SPRADLING: -- that would give us some guide as to what kind of president you're going to be?
MR. EDWARDS: Absolutely. I can tell you exactly one -- I'll give you one very specific example, a big example.
When the Democrats finally took over the United States Senate, the first issue that was brought to the table was the so-called "Patient's Bill of Rights", so that patients and families can make their own health care decisions. What's happening now is insurance companies are running all over people. I mean, the case of Natalie Sarkisyan, which a lot of the audience would be familiar with -- 17 year old girl who lost her life a couple of weeks ago because her insurance company would not pay for a liver transplant operation. She had health insurance, but the insurance company wouldn't pay for it. They finally caved in a few hours before she died.
We need a president who will take these people on. What we did -- and I didn't do it alone, don't claim to have done it alone -- but I, Senator McCain who was here earlier, Senator Kennedy, the three of us wrote the Patient's Bill of Rights, the three of us took on the powerful insurance industry and their lobby every single day of the fight for the Patient's Bill of Rights and we got that bill through the United States Senate and got it passed.
And I'm proud of having done that, but that's just an example of why this battle is personal for me. You know, we need a president who believes deeply in here, who believes deeply in this battle, and it is personal for me. When I see these lobbyists roaming around Washington, D.C., taking all the politicians to cocktail parties, I mean, the picture I get in my head is my father and my grandmother going in that mill every day so that I could have the chances I've had. Where is their voice in this democracy? When are they going to get heard? They need a president who will stand up for them and so does every American who's listened to this debate.
SEN. OBAMA: I just want to add I agree with John, which is why I prohibited lobbyists from buying meals for members of Congress --
MR. EDWARDS: Good idea.
SEN. OBAMA: -- because -- and some of them complained. They said --
MR. EDWARDS: Maybe they'll get a little --
MR. SPRADLING: Well, with all due respect --
SEN. OBAMA: -- they said, where am I going to eat?
MR. SPRADLING: They can now buy food for members of Congress if the members of Congress are standing up. (Laughter.) That's my understanding what the rules have changed. You can't sit down and eat, but you can stand up and eat.
SEN. OBAMA: Yeah, well, the --
MR. SPRADLING: Tell me why that's changed. (Laughter.)
SEN. OBAMA: Here's -- here's -- here's -- here's what we did. They can't buy meals, they can't provide gifts; they can no longer lend corporate -- (off mike) --
MR. SPRADLING: They can have huge parties for you as long as you're standing up.
MR. EDWARDS: They can't eat as much if they're standing up, John (sic). (Laughter.)
SEN. OBAMA: That's true. Look, the -- we are now disclosing -- if they're bundling money for members of Congress, they've got to disclose who they're bundling money from and who they're giving it to.
But here's -- here's -- here's the critical point that I want to make. Not only does this have to be personal, John -- and you know, I completely agree. When I think about health care, I think about my mother, who, when she was dying of cancer, had to read an insurance form because she had just gotten a new job and they were trying to figure out whether or not this was going to be treated as a preexisting condition and whether or not they would pay her medical bills.
And I -- so I've seen the costs of a health care system that is broken in very personal terms.
But what I also believe, if we're going to bring about real change, then we have to bring in the American people. You know, we have to bet on them, and that's what's been lost. People, I think, feel that they are not heard at all, they are not involved. And the only way we're going to muster enough power over the long term to actually get something done is if we've got a working majority, which is why it's so important --
MR. GIBSON: Now I want to go to Senator --
SEN. CLINTON: Can we just have a -- can we just have a sort of a reality break for a minute? Because I think that it is important to make some kind of an assessment of these -- of these statements.
You know, Senator Edwards did work and get the Patients Bill of Rights through the Senate; it never got through the House. One of the reasons that Natalie may well have died is because there isn't a Patients Bill of Rights. We don't have a Patients Bill of Rights.
MR. EDWARDS: Because George Bush -- George Bush killed it.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, that's right, he killed it. So we've got to have a plan and a real push to get it through.
You know, when it comes to lobbyists, you know, Senator Obama's chair in New Hampshire is a lobbyist. He lobbies for the drug companies. So I think it's important that all of us be held to the same standards, that we're all held accountable.
You know, the energy bill that passed in 2005 was larded with all kinds of special interest breaks, giveaways to the oil companies. Senator Obama voted for it. I did not because I knew that it was going to be an absolute nightmare. Now we're all out on the campaign trail talking about taking the tax subsidies away from the oil companies, some of which were in that 2005 energy bill.
So you know, words are not actions.
And as beautifully presented and passionately felt as they are, they are not action. You know, what we've got to do is translate talk into action and feeling into reality. I have a long record of doing that, of taking on the very interests that you have just rightly excoriated because of the overdue influence that they have in our government. And you know, probably nobody up here has been the subject of more incoming fire from the Republicans and the special interests, so I think I know exactly what I'm walking into and I am prepared to take them on.
MR. SPRADLING: So, Senator --
MR. : Charlie, can I --
MR. SPRADLING: Does it mean that you're further down the road than your opponents in this, or are you saying that you can do things that these folks can't do when it comes to being an agent of change? SEN. CLINTON: Absolutely, because I've been an agent of change. You know, you go back 35 years -- you know, I worked to help make the case for the law that thankfully required that public schools give an education to children with special needs. I worked to reform education and health care in Arkansas against, you know, some pretty tough odds.
MR. : Scott?
SEN. CLINTON: In the White House, I worked to create health care for kids and reform a lot of the other programs like taking on the drug companies.
MR. SPRADLING: And to be clear, they can't. You're saying they can't.
SEN. CLINTON: Well, I'm not saying that -- I'm only making my case, that this is what I have done.
MR. GIBSON: I'll come to all of you. I didn't want to get into this, but I've covered Washington for a long time and I know President Clinton came to Washington talking about change. President Bush came to Washington talking about change. So many people in the administrations and in Congress say Washington is set up to resist change.
SEN. EDWARDS: Absolutely.
MR. GIBSON: And, God love all of you for making this argument.
SEN. CLINTON: Can I just say -- (laughter, applause).
SEN. CLINTON: (Inaudible) -- if you're going to mention and say the administration, you know, I'm going to respond.
MR. GIBSON: (Inaudible) -- let her talk.
SEN. CLINTON: President Clinton -- wait, just -- President Clinton inherited a deficit, a debt that had been quadrupled in the previous 12 years. Now, anybody who doesn't think taking on the special interests to raise taxes on corporations, raise taxes on the wealthy, began to whittle away at the deficit to be able to leave with a balanced budget and a surplus -- if that didn't take a lot of change that actually produced results, then I think we've got amnesia.
You know, change is hard but change is possible if you're prepared to take it on and follow through.
SEN. OBAMA: Can I --
SEN. EDWARDS: Can we speak to this? Can we speak to this?
I want to say just -- I want to say a quick word about this. You know, it is true that these entrenched interests -- whether you're talking about oil companies, drug companies, gas companies, whoever -- these entrenched interests are literally stealing our children's future. They have a stranglehold on this democracy and they are having an incredibly destructive force on the middle class, on families being able to do what my family has done and so many who are sitting here have been able to do.
And the problem is you can't be with those people, take their money and then challenge them. It doesn't work. You have to be willing to actually stand up and say no -- no to lobbyist money, no to PAC money, no corporate lobbyists working for me in the White House. If you intend to take them on, and if it is personal for you -- and this is extraordinarily personal for me -- if it's personal for you, then you can be successful bringing about the change.
Teddy Roosevelt -- just one quick example -- Teddy Roosevelt -- Teddy Roosevelt, a great American president -- he didn't make deals with the monopolies and the trusts. Teddy Roosevelt took them on,busted the monopolies, busted the trusts. That's what it's going to take.
We have a battle in front of us. We do. I don't think we have a problem with politicians in Washington spending enough time with lobbyists and going to cocktail parties. They do it all the time. They do it every single day, and I'll tell you who's paying the price for those cocktail parties: Natalie Sarkisian, every single American who doesn't have health care coverage, everybody who's going to the gas pump and paying so much money for their gas. When are we going to have a president who actually takes these people on? That's what I'm going to do.
GOV. RICHARDSON: You know --
MR. GIBSON: Senator -- let me to Senator Obama. I'll come to you.
GOV. RICHARDSON: All right.
SEN. OBAMA: Look, I think it's easier to be cynical and just say, "You know what, it can't be done because Washington's designed to resist change." But in fact there have been periods of time in our history where a president inspired the American people to do better, and I think we're in one of those moments right now. I think the American people are hungry for something different and can be mobilized around big changes -- not incremental changes, not small changes.
I actually give Bill Clinton enormous credit for having balanced those budgets during those years. It did take political courage for him to do that. But we never built the majority and coalesced the American people around being able to get the other stuff done.
And, you know, so the truth is actually words do inspire. Words do help people get involved. Words do help members of Congress get into power so that they can be part of a coalition to deliver health care reform, to deliver a bold energy policy. Don't discount that power, because when the American people are determined that something is going to happen, then it happens. And if they are disaffected and cynical and fearful and told that it can't be done, then it doesn't. I'm running for president because I want to tell them, yes, we can. And that's why I think they're responding in such large numbers.
GOV. RICHARDSON: You know, this is the kind of Washington bickering that the public turns off to. And you know, with all due respect, as a governor, I'm frustrated every time you guys and the president get nothing done, because then the burden is on us.
And you know, John, I understand your frustration.
I understand, you know, that it's personal.
But you know, to resolve problems, you've got to bring people together. You'd got to heal this country. You can't, you know, it's great to say, "We're going to take everybody on," but you know it's going to take coalitions of people backing us. It's going to take public financing to get the special interests out of politics. It's going to take bipartisanship.
You know, what I've said is that if I'm elected president, I'm going to have a Cabinet of Republicans, Democrats and Independents. Now, I won't overdo the Republicans, but -- (laughter) -- but my point is, it's how you govern. It's coalition building. It's bringing the public -- a citizen's corps of activists. It's asking the public to sacrifice, to do something for the country, like being more energy efficient, like national service.
You know, I've got a program -- two years, the government pays for your college loans. your tuition. You give one year of national service to the country. It's involving the electorate. You can't do it by just fighting and taking everybody on. You've got to bring people together and that's a frustration.
MR. EDWARDS: Give me 30 seconds on this, because he just said something. Please.
MR. GIBSON: I'll hold you to it.
MR. EDWARDS: You can.
I actually completely agree that it's the responsibility of the president to unite and galvanize the American people. It is also the responsibility of the president -- and I will do it -- to work with members of Congress to get things done. But these entrenched, moneyed interests that have a stranglehold on the middle class, that are doing -- incredibly destructive to American jobs and health care system, energy, all taxes, trade, they're in everything. Absolutely everything. You cannot nice these people to death. It doesn't work. I have been in the trenches fighting them for my whole adult life.
And it takes strength, backbone, fight, and you have to take them on.
Yes, Barack, I agree with you completely that the best -- we need to unite America and we need to galvanize the American people. MR. EDWARDS: You can.
Yes, Barack, I agree with you completely that the best -- we need to unite America and we need to galvanize the American people.
And Bill, I completely agree with what you just said. This is not a fight with politicians, and this is not a -- certainly not a fight with the American people. It is a fight for the American people against those people who are stopping the change.
MR. GIBSON: All right. Let me turn to something else.
Reversing -- you invoked the name of Al Gore a few moments ago. Reversing or slowing global warming is going to take sacrifice. I'm sort of sorry Chris Dodd isn't here because he's talked a lot about a carbon tax in this election. Al Gore favors a carbon tax. None of you have favored a carbon tax. Is it a bad idea? Or is it just so politically unpalatable that you guys don't want to propose it?
GOV. RICHARDSON: It's -- can I answer? You know, I was Energy secretary. It's a bad idea because when you have a carbon tax, first of all, it's not a mandate. What you want is a mandate on polluters, on coal companies, on -- on -- on those that pollute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a certain target -- under my plan, 30 percent by the year 2020, 80 percent by the year 2040. It takes international leadership.
The better way to do it is through a cap-and-trade system, which is a mandate. Furthermore, a carbon tax, that's passed on to consumers. That's passed on to the average person. That's money you take out of the economy. So it's a bad idea. Cap-and-trade is mandate, but it's also going to take presidential leadership. It's going to take all of us here, every American, you know, to think more efficiently about how we transport ourself, what vehicles we purchase, appliances in our homes.
It's going to take a transportation policy that doesn't just build more highways. We have to have commuter rail, light rail, open spaces. We got to have -- we got to have land use policies where we improve people's quality of life.
MR. SPRADLING: Senator Obama?
SEN. OBAMA: Well, I agree with Bill, that I think cap-and-trade system makes more sense. That's why I proposed it because you can be very specific in terms of how we're going to reduce the greenhouse gases by a particular level. Now what you have to do is you have to combine it with a hundred percent auction. In other words, every little bit of pollution that is sent up into the atmosphere that polluter is getting charged for it. Not only does that ensure that they don't game the system, but you're also generating billions of dollars that can be invested in solar and wind and biodiesel.
I do disagree with one thing, though, that Bill said, and that is that on a carbon tax the cost will be passed onto consumers and that won't happen with a cap-and-trade. Under a cap-and-trade there will be a cost. Plants are going to have to retrofit their equipment, and that's going to cost money, and they will pass it onto consumers. We have an obligation to use some of the money that we generate to shield low-income and fixed-income individuals from high electricity prices, but we're also going to have to ask the American people to change how they use energy. Everybody's going to have to change their light bulbs. Everybody's going to have to insulate their homes. And that will be a sacrifice, but it's a sacrifice that we can meet. Over the long term it will generate jobs and businesses and can drive our economy for many decades.
SEN. CLINTON: Charlie, let me make a connection here that I think is really important.
I think the economy is slipping toward a recession -- the unemployment figure on Friday hitting 5 percent, the $100 a barrel oil that we also hit this week, the fall of the dollar.
There's a lot of pressures on middle-class families, and the kind of costs that they have to keep up with have all gone up astronomically. I mean, you know, the energy costs of the typical family in New Hampshire since George Bush has been president have tripled, and that's far beyond what -- the cost of the tax cuts that they got from George Bush.
So what we've got to do is use energy as an opportunity to actually jump-start economic recovery. We need to quickly move toward energy efficiency. We should require the utilities to begin to work for energy efficiency and conservation, costs that will be shared and decrease the pressure on families. We need a weatherization and low- income heating emergency program that is out there now helping families in New Hampshire and elsewhere to cover their costs. And we need to look at how doing what is right about energy is not only good for our security and good for the fight against global warming, but it will be essential in dealing with the economic challenges that we face.
MR. GIBSON: Senator Edwards, I will take this question to you, but you raised the issue of the economy right now. And we have a housing crisis in this country.
SEN. CLINTON: We do.
MR. GIBSON: We have an energy problem in the cost of energy. And we now have a jobs problem. We have, when we are -- and you raised the "R" word, "recession" -- when we are approaching recession, it is consumers who have spent us out of recession in most cases. You're all talking about letting some of the Bush tax cuts lapse.
SEN. CLINTON: Yeah, but Charlie, the tax cuts on the wealthiest of Americans, not the middle-class tax cuts. One of the problems with George Bush's tax policy has been the way he has tilted it toward the wealthy and the well-connected.
MR. GIBSON: If you take a family of -- if you take a family of two professors here at Saint Anselm, they're going to be in the $200,000 category that you're talking about lifting the taxes on. And -- (laughter).
MR. EDWARDS: I don't think they agree with you.
SEN. OBAMA: I'm not sure that that's -- (laughter) --
SEN. CLINTON: That may be NYU, Charlie.
I don't think it's -- (laughter) -- Saint Anselm.
MR. GIBSON: Two public school teachers in New York? (Laughter.)
But that is -- you're in a situation where you're taking money out of the economy is what I'm saying.
SEN. CLINTON: Look, if we set the cap where I'm saying, at 250,000 (dollars) and above, that's a very small percentage. And what I want to do is fix the alternative minimum tax; create these new job opportunities, primarily through clean, renewable energy; but also get back to where middle-class families get the kind of tax relief that they deserve, which they really haven't been getting under George Bush.
MR. EDWARDS: Can I just --
MR. GIBSON: Go ahead, yeah.
MR. EDWARDS: Thank you.
What you see happening in America today, if you're president of the United States and you're looking at this from altitude is you see a very few Americans getting wealthier and wealthier, you see the biggest corporations in America's profits through the roof -- ExxonMobil just made $40 billion, record profits -- all of that happening at the same time that we have 47 million people with no health care, 37 million who will wake up in this country tomorrow worried about feeding and clothing their children. Tonight, 200,000 men and women who wore the uniform of the United States of America and served this country honorably will go to sleep under bridges and on grates.
It's time for us to say and it's time for the president to say enough is enough. This is a battle for the future of our children. This is a battle for the middle class.
Let's take jobs, which we haven't talked about. We've touched on a lot of other things, but we haven't talked about jobs. We've had a trade and tax policy that is bleeding American jobs, and all it has done is pad the profits of the biggest multinational corporations in America. You talk about professors here at this college. Let me say a word about --
MR. GIBSON: Well, I shouldn't have done that, apparently.
MR. EDWARDS: Yeah -- (laughter).
But we are -- they -- I saw a projection just a week or so ago suggesting that America could lose as many as 20 (million) to 30 million more jobs over the next decade. Think about that for a minute, 30 million. And who's the most at-risk group? College graduates. This is not just people who are working in mills and working in factories -- who have been devastated by this, completely devastated -- these are middle-class families, these are college graduates and their jobs at risk. We need a different tax policy, a different trade policy, where the first question is -- and this is what I will ask when I am president of the United States -- is this trade proposal, is this tax proposal, is it good for working, middle- class Americans? That's the question.
MR. GIBSON: Senator Obama.
SEN. OBAMA: There is no doubt that the economy has been out of balance. It's been out of balance throughout George Bush's tenure. And some of the trends from globalization preceded George Bush.
That's why I have proposed specific tax relief now, immediately, so that we would offset some of the payroll tax, that we would immediately put some additional dollars in the pockets of American families, working families typically making $75,000 a year or less, to not only stimulate the economy, but also to balance out a tax code. And I would pay for it very specifically by closing tax loopholes and tax havens. You've got a building in the Cayman Islands that supposedly houses 12,000 corporations. That's either the biggest building or the biggest tax scam on record.
And beyond that, I will leave it to the pundits to decide what I might or might not have said at any one of the debates.
MR. GIBSON: I will let you off on specificity -- (laughter) -- of take-backs since we're running out of time.
Governor Richardson?
GOV. RICHARDSON: Well, I've made a lot of them. One that I particularly remember -- I think it was here in New Hampshire, the first debate -- I was asked who my favorite Supreme Court justice was, and I said, dead or alive? (Laughter.) I said -- I should have -- I should have stuck to the alive because I then said, "Whizzer" White, because I idolize John F. Kennedy and I figured if he appointed "Whizzer" White, this was a great Supreme Court justice. Well then I find out that "Whizzer" White was against Roe versus Wade, against civil rights -- (laughter). You know, so that's -- that wasn't a good one. (Laughter, applause.)
MR. GIBSON: Senator Edwards, I'll go to you just with a passing comment, that you haven't talked about Mrs. Clinton's attire recently.
MR. EDWARDS: Well, I was actually about to say -- I already figured this out --
MR./SEN. : That was a -- (inaudible).
MR. EDWARDS: -- what -- if you're going to pick the one for me, it was when I made the horrendous mistake of teasing Hillary about her jacket. (Laughter.) And I want her to know I think you look terrific tonight. (Laughter, applause.)
MR. GIBSON: And Senator Obama.
SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, there have been all kinds of, you know, aspects to my debate performance that I'd love to correct or sharpen, but over all, I actually -- here's an area where I agree with Hillary, that there has been a stark contrast generally between the four of us and those who aren't debating with us now but were previously.
There is going to be a fundamental difference between the Republican nominee and the Democratic nominee. Ending the politics of fear that has so dominated our political debate. Making certain that we're actually listening to the American people and the struggles and hardships that they're going through. And I think the opportunity to bring the American people together and to push back those special interests, to actually deliver on meaningful differences in their lives, that's something -- that's a prospect that I think all Democrats should be excited about.
MR. GIBSON: I want to thank all four of you for being here. (Applause.) And I want to thank the six Republicans who preceded you. No matter -- (applause continues) -- no matter who people across the country are supporting, whether it's in this party or the other, we wish all of you well and we thank you for being here. All the best.
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Opinion|The World Still Needs NATO
The World Still Needs NATO
The alliance is not just about bases and troops. It is about defending the world order.
By Ursula von der Leyen
Ms. von der Leyen is the German defense minister.
Soldiers of the Kosovo Security Force stand in front of the American and NATO flags after the army formation ceremony in Pristina, Kosovo, in December.CreditCreditLaura Hasani/Reuters
BERLIN — In April, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will celebrate its 70th birthday. Founded in the earliest years of the Cold War, it is just as relevant today, when many feel that the international order is shaken again. In fact, if NATO did not exist, those in favor of a free world would have to invent it.
While NATO’s key purpose remains to guarantee the security of its members, it has never been a purely military alliance. It is a political alliance as well, based on the common aspirations of its members who, as the NATO Treaty says, “are determined to safeguard the freedom, common heritage and civilization of its peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.”
These principles are under assault today. Russian aggression in Eastern Europe, Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea, the terrorism of the Islamic State spreading from the Middle East to the capitals of Europe, authoritarian regimes developing nuclear weapons — as different as these challenges are, they have one thread in common: They emanate from actors who oppose the international order. They try to undermine or even change the rules that have governed the age of democracy and prosperity since World War II.
Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia
The president’s repeatedly stated desire in private to withdraw from the alliance has raised concerns among officials who fear he may revisit the threat.
The democracies of NATO need to stand together to overcome these challenges. Collectively, we are stronger than even the mightiest of us would be on her own. Accordingly, since 2014, when Russia invaded Ukraine, NATO has adapted to the situation at hand — as it has done many times in its history. Among 29 sovereign states with different political cultures and points of view, such adaptations will always be complicated, and sometimes even messy. But NATO’s ability to change its priorities and its strategies ensures that the alliance will stand the test of time.
The results are tangible. For one thing, all European members of NATO have increased their military spending. The German defense budget, for example, today has increased by 36 percent compared to when I took office in late 2013. We still have more to do to fairly share the burden within the alliance, and we are prepared to do more. But we also keep in mind that burden-sharing is not only about cash, but also about capabilities and contributions. Germany is thus, as the second-largest troop contributor to NATO, proud to lead NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.
NATO has also increased its presence in Eastern Europe, plays an active role in training Iraqi security forces and contributing surveillance to the fight against the Islamic State, continues to support the Afghan government, and develops its partnerships with like-minded nations such as Australia and Japan, in addition to much more.
In fulfilling its three core tasks — collective defense, crisis management and partnerships — NATO is an irreplaceable building block for an international order that favors freedom and peace.
Most of all, NATO is not a trans-Atlantic organization in name only. It represents a special, even emotional bond between the American and the European continents. For a German, images of the fall of the Berlin Wall are inextricably linked with the alliance, and my country is particularly grateful for the security and the opportunities NATO has been providing for decades. So yes, in addition to the practical benefits of bases, structures and troops, NATO has a value in and of itself.
Maybe the most basic benefit of NATO is that it provides reliability in an unreliable world. Our unshakable commitment to Article 5, the NATO treaty’s collective defense provision, ensures that our common security is truly indivisible. We will help our weakest ally just as we have helped our strongest by invoking Article 5 — for the first and only time in NATO’s history — after Sept. 11, 2001.
So it is a good thing that the European Union is now undertaking significant steps to enhance its military prowess. If members of the European Union succeed in harmonizing their defense planning and military procurement, and in intertwining their armed forces, then all of this will add to NATO’s strength.
And a stronger NATO will serve the security interests of all members. Most of all, it will send a clear signal to those opposing the rules-based international order: We trans-Atlantic allies are ready and willing to defend our soil, our people and our freedom.
Ursula von der Leyen is the federal minister of defense of Germany.
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Tag: Don Giovanni
Putting the Oh! in Opera – Don Giovanni at The Barnes at Wolf Trap
On: July 8, 2012 By: Mark
Many years back I ruminated on the differences between musicals and operas. I tend to see a lot more musicals than operas. Musicals tend to be easier to find and although pricey, less pricey than an opera. On rare occasion we will see an opera, but never before on so unique a stage as The Barns at Wolf Trap, in Vienna, Virginia. Wolf Trap is an oddity: a national park that is basically an arts venue. Most of the business goes on in the huge open-air Filene Center, but there is also a smaller and air conditioned venue called The Barns where we saw Mozart’s Don Giovanni last night. This was principally because my daughter had gotten into the opera and wanted to see it.
Choosing to The Barns instead of whatever was going on at the Filene Center was a smart choice. The heat wave across the nation is hardly news. It was 99 degrees when we arrived at The Barns, peculiarly situated in a hard to get to toney neighborhood in Vienna. The Barns is a barn, sort of. At least the interior was full of rough-cut timbers. I knew the stage was relatively small, but it was smaller than I expected. The stage is not inset so you can look down, which means arguably the best seating is on the balcony.
Don Giovanni was first performed in 1787 in Prague. The Wolf Trap Opera Company is a very small opera company that performs to small crowds. There could not have been more than three hundred of us attending this performance. Whereas in 1787 little was available in the way of special effects, the company chose to update the plot and place it to 2014. This made for an odd but still satisfying performance that was incongruous in the present. For example, there were lyrics from Zerlina (Andrea Carroll) that really don’t translate in 2014 very well. To assure her fiancé Masetto (Aaron Sorensen) that is sorry that Don Giovanni tried to seduce her, she says he should beat her and rip out her heart, and she would not object! Technology itself was a character in this staging. Specifically Leporello (Craig Irvin), Don Giovanni’s (Ryan Kuster) assistant charged with chronicling all his adventures seducing women, has a tablet computer that he uses to keep track of his two thousand plus conquests. There was other integration of technology, principally allowing for fun dynamic backgrounds, including a humorous graveyard scene at the climax when the statue on the grave of the Commendatore actually does wink and turn its head. The technology actually improved the opera, which, frankly, is not one of Mozart’s best works.
This opera company is hardly the Metropolitan Opera, but for a small company modestly funded and forced to perform on a small stage, they did a great job. I felt for the orchestra, jammed into a tiny pit in front of the stage. It must be a fire code or safety violation to cram them in like that. At least their union should complain. The performers were almost universally young, under thirty looking people, with great operatic voices that seemed too good for the rough-hewn walls of The Barns.
The story, in case you are not familiar with it, is that Don Giovanni, a Spanish nobleman who is channeling the Don Juan archetype, is enamored with seducing and bedding as many women as possible, then unceremoniously dumping them. For this endeavor he needs Leporello as a full time assistant to help with logistics and chronicle his adventures. Leporello is sick and tired of being his assistant, particularly when he never gets a chance to score himself. Don Giovanni is also something of a hot-tempered nobleman, and decides to murder The Commendatore after he angrily confronts him for bedding his daughter Donna Anna (Marcy Stonikas). Pretty much the rest of the opera chronicles Don Giovanni’s sad decline as his sins catch up with him. And yet this is not a tragedy. It is really a comedy, and the opera company went out of their way to make it funny, not to mention to take some liberal licenses with the material. Toward the end of the opera, Don Giovanni takes two whores to bed and we get a lesbian scene on stage while he performs an aria. Somehow I don’t think this was done when staged in 1787, but even so the lyrics are pretty racy, or at least suggestive at times. They weren’t entirely prudes in 1787.
Don Giovanni is one of Mozart’s better known operas, but having watched it in its entirety, I can say that although rife with great singing and lovely arias, the plot is a piffle, and it is full of the sorts of devices that make operas annoying for many ordinary folk. After all, it’s important to pad out the material to three hours so the audience knows it got its money’s worth. So you get the same lyrics stated and restated again and again. Thank goodness I did not have to know Italian and subtitles were provided. They did not have to change the subtitles very often. The result is an opera that is not terribly engaging, but made fun at times and more than endurable thanks to the cast and orchestra who were obviously having great fun with the material.
Sadly, we attended the last performance, and two performances were apparently canceled due to the power outages we experienced as a result of severe thunderstorms and our heat wave. I hope to enjoy both The Barns and this opera company again, as the ticket prices were reasonable ($60 each), we had a lot of fun, and did not have to drive very far. I’m hoping the next time we go we will see an opera with more meat on it than this one. Fortunately, the music and performance was so good this serious deficiency was easy to overlook.
Category: The Arts Tagged Don Giovanni, Mozart, Opera, The Barnes at Wolf Trap, Wolf Trap Opera Company, Wolf Trap Park 1 Comment/
Ashley Madison stupidly lets itself get pwned
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Who owns and benefits from Canada’s fossil-fuel sector?
By Bill Carroll and Jouke Huijzer
Photo: © Garth Lenz
Many Canadians—politicians and business people in particular—are quick to tout the value of the fossil-fuel sector to our national economy. But who primarily benefits from these industries?
The major investors in Canada’s fossil-fuel sector (oil, bitumen, gas and coal) have high stakes in maintaining business as usual, rather than addressing the industry’s serious climate change issues.
Our just-published Corporate Mapping Project report, Who Owns Canada’s Fossil-Fuel Sector? Mapping the network of ownership and control, shows that substantial ownership and strategic control of our fossil-fuel sector is in the hands of a few major players. These shareholders have both an interest in the sector’s continued growth and the economic power to shape its future.
The major investors in Canada’s fossil-fuel sector have high stakes in maintaining business as usual.
The powerful interests that dominate fossil-fuel activities in Canada include:
foreign-based fossil-fuel transnationals (notably Exxon Mobil, owner of both Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil Canada, and Royal Dutch Shell, owner of Shell Canada).
Canadian banks (notably Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Montreal).
wealthy families such as the Montreal-based Desmarais family who control investment company Power Corporation of Canada.
asset management firms such as BlackRock Inc. and Capital Group (both based in the US).
Decades ago, foreign control of Canada’s energy sector (and other sectors) was seen as a threat to Canadian self determination and democracy, but the trend towards more Canadian corporate control of fossil-fuel extraction and production has made little difference in how the industry functions.
Canadian interests, including banks, may now own and control a substantial share of the sector yet rather than representing the national interest of Canadians, these owners pursue their own interests in maximizing immediate profits from extracting and processing fossil fuels.
Shareholdings, however, are not the only capital relations between high finance and big carbon.
Canadian banks are major lenders to the fossil-fuel sector. To illustrate the scale of the loans, consider that from 2017 until the federal government purchase in May 2018, the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion project had a $5.5-billion loan facility agreement with the five Canadian big banks. Without such financial enablement, megaprojects such as the proposed pipeline could not be mounted.
Canadian banks are major lenders to the fossil-fuel sector.
The urgency to respond to climate change cannot be understated. We agree with the leading divestment group 350.org that financial institutions must end lines of credit and project loans for fossil-fuel infrastructure like new pipelines and fracking drill rigs. This, in effect, would keep the carbon in the ground. Even Suncor, the second largest producer of fossil fuels in Canada, acknowledges that some reserves are best left underground.
Our report maps the ownership network and interests of fossil-fuel companies in Canada, revealing who the key players are and how their stakes are configured. This is information that we are pleased to add to the literature about the urgency to respond to climate change before it’s too late.
The Corporate Mapping Project is a research and public engagement initiative investigating power dynamics within the fossil fuel industry in western Canada. It is jointly led by the University of Victoria, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (BC & Saskatchewan offices) and Alberta’s Parkland Institute, supported by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
Topics: Climate change & energy policy, Environment, resources & sustainability
Canada cannot have it both ways on climate and fossil fuel expansion
We’re putting fossil fuel industry influence under the microscope
Bill Carroll
Bill Carroll teaches Sociology at the University of Victoria, and served as founding director of UVic’s Program in Social Justice Studies from 2008 to 2012. Since the mid-1980s, he has conducted collaborative research with social movement communities. His books include The Making of a Transnational Capitalist Class, Corporate Power and Canadian Capitalism Remaking Media (with Bob Hackett) and Organizing Dissent. Two 2016 books are Expose, Oppose, Propose: Alternative Policy Groups in the Struggle for Global Justice and A World to Win: Counter-Hegemony and Contemporary Social Movements (with Kanchan Sarker). His current project, “Mapping the power of the carbon-extractive corporate resource sector” (co-directed with Shannon Daub) traces modalities of corporate power within the global political economy, focusing particularly on carbon extraction in western Canada. More about Bill
Jouke Huijzer
Jouke Huijzer worked as a research assistant for the Corporate Mapping Project at the University of Victoria in fall 2015. Currently he is pursuing a PhD. at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
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Texas Edition
The Texas Truth-O-Meter
"Inequality in Texas is steadily getting worse, with very few rich people, a great many poor people, and fewer and fewer in the middle."
— Ronnie Earle on Monday, January 18th, 2010 in a speech
Ronnie Earle says income gap steadily widening in Texas, shrinking the middle class
By W. Gardner Selby on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 5:22 p.m.
Ronnie Earle, the former Travis County district attorney seeking the Democratic nod for lieutenant governor, says powerful interests hold more sway at the Capitol than regular folks.
According to The Austin Chronicle, he went farther afield before the NXNW Austin Democrats Jan. 18, saying: “Inequality in Texas is steadily getting worse, with very few rich people, a great many poor people, and fewer and fewer in the middle.”
We wondered if the former prosecutor had stated his case on inequality correctly.
Earle shared with us outside research suggesting growing gaps in household income nationally as well as in Texas, beginning in the late 1990's.
For instance, research by the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the Economic Policy Institute found that the incomes of the poorest fifth of Texas families and the middle fifth of families didn’t change significantly between the late ‘90s and about 2005. Meantime, the average income of the richest fifth of Texas families increased by $10,505, or 9 percent, to $126,658.
What about more recently? Karl Eschbach, the Texas state demographer, shared estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau that showed the distribution of Texas families across the income scale barely changed from 2000 through 2008, though inequality increased slightly.
As of 2008, the state’s wealthiest 20 percent of households accounted for nearly 51 percent of income. That is, about half the money taken home that year went to the richest Texans.
The next-wealthiest 40 percent of households garnered 37 percent of income. The remaining 40 percent of households -- the bottom earners in Texas -- got less than 12 percent of total household income.
We also reviewed an indicator that's a widely accepted measure of income inequality.
Scientists use the GINI coefficient to gauge inequality in income across societies. A society that scores 0.0 on the scale has perfect equality, meaning everyone has the same income. The higher the number over zero, the more the inequality. A score of 1.0 indicates total inequality where one person or household corners all the income.
According to Eschbach’s analysis, the GINI coefficient for Texas was .466 in 2008, up slightly from .46 in 2000.
Separately, the Census Bureau estimated a Texas GINI index of .474 for 2008—placing Texas fifth in income inequality among the states, trailing only Louisiana, Mississippi, Connecticut and New York, which topped the dubious category with a GINI index of .503.
James K. Galbraith, a professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, pointed us to research he’s overseen suggesting that income inequality in Texas widened over the past few decades. Texas had a GINI index of .37 in 1970. The index reached .39 in 1980, .42 in 1990 and .47 in 2000 before dropping to .46 in 2004.
With help from a Census Bureau statistician, we tried to assess whether the state's middle class has shrunk.
Kirby Posey, a bureau survey statistician, told us that if the middle class is shrinking in Texas, it's happening slowly.
As of 1990, the middle class accounted for 47 percent of all the state's household income. The share of income attributed to the middle class was 46.6 percent in 2000 and 45.8 percent in 2008, according to the bureau.
By and large, Earle correctly noted that Texas is home to lots of poor people and a clutch of the very wealthy.
Earle passed along a September press release from the Center for Public Policy Priorities, which advocates for programs serving low-income Texans, stating that the ranks of Texans living in poverty has likely swelled given the national recession.
Even if so, that doesn't necessarily mean that fewer people are in the state's middle class. Eschbach, the state demographer, suggested that because there has been little change in income inequality across Texas over the past decade, more research would be needed before concluding the state's middle class has dwindled.
Ultimately, neither Galbraith or Eschbach quibbled with the gist of Earle’s claim.
We rate his statement Mostly True.
Published: Thursday, January 28th, 2010 at 5:22 p.m.
Researched by: W. Gardner Selby
Subjects: Census, Economy, Families
The Austin Chronicle, "Earle Goes NXNW," posted Jan. 19, 2010
Business Dictionary, "GINI index,"
Center for Public Policy Priorities, "Census Data Show Only Beginning of Texans' Growing Need," Sept. 29, 2009
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities,
"Income Inequality Grew in Texas Over the Past Two Decades," undated
E-mail and interview, Karl Eschbach, Texas state demographer, Jan. 21, 2010
James K. Galbraith, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations and Professor of Government, University of Texas, past GINI coefficients for Texas (research chart), http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/politifact/012110_galbraithresearch.xls
Interview, James K. Galbraith, Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. Chair in Government/Business Relations and Professor of Government, University of Texas, Jan. 21, 2010
Interview, Kirby Posey, survey statistician, U.S. Census Bureau, Jan. 25, 2010
Emmanuel Saez, professor of economics, University of California, Berkeley, "Striking it Richer: The Evolution of Top Incomes in the United States (Update with 2007 estimates)," August 2009
Browse The Texas Truth-O-Meter
See all Texas Pants on Fire rulings
See Greg Abbott's file
See John Cornyn's file
See Ted Cruz's file
Keep up to date with PolitiFact Texas
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Fetish / Kink Database
Peesona 5
A blog by MasterXploder
This title took me forever to come up with, you guys.
Note: Contains story spoilers and underaged wetting desperation technically, even though these girls look like they could pass for an adult quite easily. Reader discretion advised.
Banner art used with permission by Repconn.
A Beauty Under Pressure
Commissioned by Infecteddeer12 With thanks to Sake for editing Warning: Contains story spoilers past the fifth palace "Well then, we will now begin today's panel." The audience of students inside Shujin Academy’s auditorium fell silent as Makoto spoke into the microphone from the stage. It was a tad stuffy for an October afternoon, especially with everyone crammed together, but nobody paid it any mind while they looked towards the stage. “Our guest of honor is Goro Akechi,” continued Makoto, glancing to the podium where the young ace detective resided. Akechi gave a sheepish smile to the whole crowd as he spoke. “I feel kind of bad, considering how many people have gathered. I’m sure you all would’ve been happier to have a singer or a mascot appear, wouldn’t you say?” The audience broke out in laughter, but Makoto remained stoic. “We’d appreciate it if you could tell us about your experience with the notorious Phantom Thieves. It’d be wonderful if you could let us hear more about your actual investigative process.” Her words could not have been any truer, not just for the students but for the Phantom Thieves themselves. Perhaps no one in the audience was more eager to know than Haru Okumura, who sat only a couple rows from the front. As the Thieves’ newest member, she had just as much to lose as the rest, especially now when they had officially been deemed criminals. The public had turned against them seemingly overnight, and the police were hot on their heels with their investigations. With them treading such dangerous waters, Haru certainly had a lot to worry about, to say nothing of another recent major event. Only a couple weeks had passed since she lost her father, the CEO of a worldwide food brand and the most recent target for the Phantom Thieves. Whether they were truly to blame for his demise remained to be seen, but it still weighed heavily on her mind, even if it didn’t leave her grieving as much as she expected. She needed to learn the truth of what had really happened, so she would do her best as the gang’s self-proclaimed Beauty Thief. “Mmm…” Speaking of things weighing heavily on her, Haru crossed one leg over the other, her frown deepening a tad. In all the rush and suspense leading up to the panel today, she had been fully focused on her duty. A little too much, it seemed, for she had completely forgotten to tend to other important things, namely using the ladies’ room at a reasonable interval. In fact, the last time she had actually been in the bathroom that day was… well, too long ago, if the signals from her bladder were any indication. It was a most unwelcome distraction, but she definitely couldn’t do anything about it right now, not when they might finally get some answers from Akechi. Makoto was giving it her best shot to pry something out of him, though he remained tight-lipped in his weirdly friendly manner as usual. The least she could do was give the panel her undivided attention, even if it was more divided than she desired. “Mako-chan’s really pressing for an answer,” she whispered to Futaba, the other Phantom Thief sitting next to her. It might have been stating the obvious, but anything to keep her focused on the truly pressing matter at hand. “She’s pelting him with questions,” replied Futaba. For a moment, Haru wondered if her friend was doing the same thing to stay on task. Maybe she would have somebody to visit the bathroom with once this was over… Haru shook her head. Another distracting thought she didn’t need, especially if it made her bladder send off another unpleasant throb. Her legs tightened in response, and she let out another faint whimper, but quickly tried to turn her attention back to the stage. “...If the Phantom Thieves are the ones I know of, I can’t possibly imagine they would kill anyone.” Both Haru and Futaba gasped simultaneously. There was no way she could let herself be distracted now, not after such a dramatic and bold line from Akechi. On-stage, Makoto was quick to the response. “Your comment just now… Does this mean the police have already identified who they are?” “Oh, no.” Akechi frowned. “The police haven’t gotten that far yet, but I have my own conclusions about the true identities of the Phantom Thieves.” In an instant, the auditorium was abuzz with excited murmurs and whispers. Haru even thought she could hear Ryuji blurting something out from the railings above the bleachers. “He’s lying, right?” she asked, not quite able to comprehend it herself. Futaba shook her head. “But if it’s the truth…” Haru could feel her heart fluttering in her chest with anxiety, a feeling not unlike the first time she accidentally stepped into the Metaverse itself. So many questions and worries filled her mind, yet all she could do was sit and wait for the answers to reveal themselves. “I’d like to ask you then,” spoke Makoto, “Who do you think the Phantom Thieves are, Akechi-san?” Akechi looked Makoto right in the eyes. “They’re people you all know quite well. The identity of the Phantom Thieves are-” Suddenly, several beeps went off over the microphone. Akechi dug into his pockets and pulled out his phone. “Oh, it’s mine,” he said with a sheepish smile, “I apologize for the interruption, but I can’t turn off my phone due to my job. Would you mind if I step away for about ten minutes or so?” The excitement in the air immediately turned into frustration and disappointment, but Haru couldn’t blame anybody. Those same feelings plagued her as well, almost making her wish for the anxiety in her heart again. She sighed and looked down at her crossed legs. Maybe there was a silver lining to this, she realized. Ten minutes was enough time to get up, quickly use the nearby bathrooms, and be seated before Akechi likely returned. That way, she could give this dilemma the attention it deserved. Being rid of this pressure would be quite nice, too. But just when she made her mind up, Haru’s phone buzzed from inside her jacket. At the same time, Futaba pulled her own phone out, and Haru knew it couldn’t be coincidence and did the same. She had a text from Makoto in the Thieves’ group chat. “Akechi wants us to meet with him. PE faculty room. Please hurry.” “M-meet with Akechi-kun?” Haru’s heart sank. Out of the corner of her ear, she definitely heard Ryuji exclaim something. “Wait, what’s going on?” Futaba stared at her own screen. “Is he gonna try using police interrogation techniques on us? Ugh, I don’t have a pushpin on me, either!” Haru raised an eyebrow, but decided not to ask. Futaba could be… interesting sometimes. “I don’t know, but we should meet up right away.” “Maybe I can just bite my tongue really hard,” mumbled Futaba before putting her phone away and standing up. “Alright, lead the way, Haru!” she declared with a fierce look in her eyes. Giving a nod, Haru uncrossed her legs and stood up, wincing a little from her bloated bladder shifting. Only now did she realize her plan to pee during this break would not be happening, but again, she couldn’t complain. Something far more important had come up, and she had a duty to see it through no matter what. And she thought she had a lot on her plate before. Haru stood in the hallway outside the auditorium, her arms crossed and head tilted as she was lost in thought yet again. The meeting with Akechi had come and gone, but she was still trying to process what it would mean for the Thieves. Though she hadn’t been a part of them for long, it seemed like every time they tried to find a way out of their problems, they only ended up even deeper in trouble. Once again, all they could do was try and find some way to occupy themselves while they awaited whatever new development was in store for them. "Oh?" Right as she thought this, Haru rediscovered something that she definitely could devote her current time to: finding the nearest bathroom. Looking around to make sure nobody could see her, Haru placed a hand to her groin and rubbed one leg in front of the other. In all the drama, she had somehow forgotten all about her toilet troubles until now. This was nothing new to her; growing up as a trophy daughter for a powerful CEO forced her to learn how to appear perfect and proper at all times. Holding her pee for much longer than she ever wanted was part of this, as even asking to use the bathroom was something her father frowned upon deeply when in the presence of other rich, high-class socialites. Eventually, she learned to hide the pain of a full bladder as well as all the other grief of her upbringing. But she wasn't at another gathering full of snooty adults. This was a public school with kids who (hopefully) wouldn’t judge her or her family over this. If she had to pee, there was nothing stopping her from making for the bathroom and relieving herself like a sensible person. "Hey." At least, there hadn’t been. "Hmm?" Haru quickly stood up proper and turned to the person approaching her. She had already picked up the faint smell of coffee and curry to know who it was. "Oh, Ren-kun!" she spoke with a soft smile. He didn’t say anything, but his own smile told her enough. It always struck her as funny how he was able to say so much with so little. That’s probably why he was their leader, after all. Haru had to admit, despite Ren just being a high school kid, she felt a desire to impress him, unlike all those snobs her father would make her talk to. She had to prove herself capable as the newest Phantom Thief in his eyes, and if that meant holding it in just a little longer, she would gladly bear that burden. At least they weren’t going anywhere too important now. The school’s culture festival was just about over, with only an afterparty left on the schedule. It sounded like the sort of casual event Haru needed to help her calm down from today’s drama, and now that Ren was here, there was no need to delay any further. “Shall we get going?” she asked. “I’ve never actually been to the afterparty before. It sounds like it could be good fun!” Ren simply nodded. “Alright, that was a great performance by the dance club! Everybody give them another round of applause!” The MC of the post-festival party’s voice came loud and clear (but mostly loud) through the gym’s speakers. The audience did as instructed, a few handfuls of claps to highlight how much smaller the crowd was compared to the Akechi panel. At least the applause sounded genuine enough, Haru supposed. Truthfully, she found it difficult to focus on the performance, which made her feel a bit down. The way they had moved reminded her of her ballet lessons, specifically where she was constantly told to move as though she were water coursing through a river, gentle but capable of becoming a powerful and unyielding rush at a moment’s notice. Right now, that was the last thing she wanted to be reminded of. “Mmm…” she moaned a little, her thoughts having triggered another painful pulse from her bladder. With every signal, her regret for passing up her chance to pee only grew. It was a good thing she stood near the wall where most of the students would not be focused. She feared that their judging eyes might make her need feel twice as bad. “Something wrong?” Of course, this still left the one person standing next to her. “Oh, I’m sorry!” Yet again, Haru forced herself into a relaxed stance and looked to Ren. “I, er, just can’t stop thinking about what Akechi-kun said.” It wasn’t a complete lie, she guessed. It still lingered in the back of her mind, even if much more pressing matters demanded her attention now. “It’ll be alright,” he replied in his soothing voice. “We’ll pull through this like we always do.” Haru put a hand to her mouth and giggled, despite her bladder wishing she didn’t. “It feels like nothing bad could ever happen when you say that.” This was the whole truth; even while bursting to go and with a lifetime of incarceration hanging above her head, Haru was more at ease than she would have ever guessed. “And now, it’s time for your favorite Shujin tradition: the Student Sharing Special!” “Sharing?” Haru and Ren both looked back to the stage with raised eyebrows. “I never knew we had such an event.” Once more, Haru’s curiosity and modesty proved stronger than her common sense. As a third-year student, this would be her last chance to find out; she simply had to stay. “Alright, who has something to say? Anyone, anyone!?” The crowd buzzed with excitement, but nobody seemed to respond to the MC’s call. “No? I’ll just have to pick someone then!” “Ooh, he’s going to choose?” Haru looked over to Ren. “I wonder who it will be?” She had the silly idea of Ren being the one chosen and barely saying any words, yet still captivating the whole audience. Then again, with his criminal record, that would likely just be wishful thinking. “How about that fluffy-haired girl over there!? I choose you!” “Huh!?” Both Ren and Haru looked back to the stage, finding that some of the crowd were glancing expectantly in their direction. Already, Haru’s heart quivered from the attention, sending signals to make her bladder squeeze harder. If not for her upbringing, she likely would have put her hands to her legs just now. Instead, Haru nervously looked back to Ren. “He’s talking to me, isn’t he?” she asked, already knowing the answer. How many other girls in this school had hair as poofy as hers, after all? “It’s ‘cause you’re cute,” Ren replied with the straightest face imaginable. “Oh!” As if Haru needed anything else to make her heart beat faster, and now she had a light blush to add to her sheepish complexion. She wanted to say something back, but all thought of forming a coherent reply had flown out the window. “Come, come. Everyone’s waiting!” The MC’s voice reminded her of the bigger issue anyway. Right after, she could hear some of the students clapping and beckoning her as well. Her first instinct was to say no and back out of the auditorium as quickly as possible. How could she go on-stage with all these thoughts in her head? Especially not on a bursting bladder, which only felt heavier with this new stress. But as she looked at the eyes of all the students hoping for her to take the stage, the simple word would not leave her lips. Even now as a Phantom Thief, it seemed her new rebellious spirit had given way to her desire to please everybody, if just for this one moment. “I’ll… I’ll go.” She lifted a hand to her chest and nodded to Ren. “You sure about that?” He tilted his head. “I’ll be fine. I’ve had to deal with situations like these before. This shouldn’t be too bad. Maybe even a little f-fun!” Haru didn’t quite believe the last line, but turned and made for the stage. She kept a smile on the outside, but it did little to quell the worries within. It especially didn’t help her need to pee, growing stronger with each little step she took. Her hands remained held together in front of her hips as she walked, applying a gentle pressure to help stem the tide, for the little good it did. “And your name is?” asked the MC as she climbed the stairs, but his eyes grew wide once she finally reached the microphone. “Wait, you’re Okumura-san!?” “Um, yes…” Haru looked out at the audience, their collective gaze focused entirely on her. As she feared, their stares filled her stomach with butterflies, which did her bladder no favors. She wanted to rub her legs together, maybe even shift from one foot to the other, but so many judgmental eyes on her kept them rooted on the platform. The only silver lining was that Ren had taken a seat in the front row, his presence a welcome relief in a sea of emotion. To her surprise, the students applauded her, with even a couple cheering her on. Did she have more friends and well-wishers than she knew, perhaps? It was a comforting thought, if not a likely one. “U-Uhhh…” She wasn’t the only nervous one on the stage anymore. “I’m sure you’re, um… still grieving,” the MC spoke, his voice lacking a bit of his usual bluster. “My, um, deepest apologies.” “Oh, please don’t worry!” She replied. As desperate and nervous as she was, she did not wish this pain on anyone else. The MC paused before nodding. “So uh, do you have anything you’d like to share with us?” I really need the ladies’ room! was the first thing that came to mind, but Haru knew better. Unfortunately, it was the only major thought in her head at the moment. “Something to share… I have too many things,” she lied, her eyes darting among the crowd. “Errr…” The MC scratching his head. “Here, let me give you a question, then: Do you think the Phantom Thieves are really Shujin students?” “Huh!?” It was the wrong question at the wrong time. Caught off-guard, Haru nearly jumped in surprise. This, unfortunately, had a much worse effect on her than she could have expected. Right as her foot returned to the ground, a bit of urine took its chance to slip through her compromised hold. The faintest wet feeling registered in her mind, keeping Haru’s eyes wide open and heart pounding away. Unaware of her little leak, the audience let out a series of scandalous “Ooh’s” and “Aah’s”, some of them leaning in so as not to miss a juicy take from someone of such high esteem. “I mean, they are, uh… your father’s killers,” said the MC. “We’re all dying to know what Akechi-kun was going to say about their true identities.” He leaned in, having apparently forgotten the definition of tact. “So, are they from Shujin? What do you think, Okumura-san?” “Erm…Well...” Haru could feel sweat forming on her brow, her body betraying her underlying panic. How could she even think of a proper response now, especially when she could be on the verge of peeing herself in front of the whole school? All she could think of was how badly she needed to get off the stage right now, before she could humiliate herself in any number of ways, nearly all of them involving staining her tights and undergarments. “Please date me!” “Huh?” For a moment, Haru forgot about all her troubles in the face of such a bold proclamation. She looked to the person who stood and yelled this, only to discover it was none other than Ren himself. “Ohoo!” The MC quickly responded. “Like a hot knife through butter, a proposal cuts through the silence!” “W-wait!” Haru looked with wide-opened eyes at Ren’s unflinching stare. Was he seriously confessing to her now, of all times? This couldn’t be for real, right? Surely there was some underlying reason to his outburst. “So, Okumura-san! What’s your relation to this guy?” the MC asked above the crowd’s cheering. “Th-that wasn’t what we were talking about!” said Haru, shaking her head to hide the growing blush on her face. “My, she’s quite flustered! Is this a hot scoop?” He turned back to the audience. “But I’m a gentleman. It hurts my heart to bully such a sweet girl!” Somewhere in the back of her mind, the faint hope that she was about to leave the stage lit up. Please let me go now, she begged, I can’t take this any longer! “Well, did you all enjoy your blushing beauty? Thank you very much, Okumura-san!” While the audience groaned, Haru could not feel more relieved. “Th-thank you very much!” she quickly muttered into the mic before turning and departing. If Ren was expecting her to come right back to him, Haru had to disappoint. Stepping off the stage, she made a break for the doors leading out of the auditorium and into the adjacent halls. As the door shut behind her and she was free from all the many stares, Haru finally abandoned all traces of elegance, shoving both hands right into her groin and locking her legs together from the knees up. “Oohhh,” she moaned in pain. The stress had affected her poor bladder far worse than she could have anticipated. She had reached her limit, and could not put off her needs any longer. She was going to pee very soon, with or without her consent. With another whimper, Haru forced herself to walk down the hall, her goal being the closest bathroom. Just a couple corners to turn and she would be there, free to pee at long last. But with every step taken, she felt her hold slipping away and failure seeming more inevitable. Just keep walking, she told herself, One step in front of the other. You have to hold on, you have to… aaah! Suddenly, that small wetness from before grew to a frightening size, forcing her to a complete stop. She could feel it on her fingertips, the spurt having gone through her underwear and into her tights, a single drop even sliding down one leg. “No, no, no!” Haru clamped her entire body down as hard as she could, pushing her hips back to the point that she was nearly doubled over. Her eyelids shut so hard, she could feel tears trying to push through from all the physical and emotional pressure inside. It wasn’t good enough, and she knew it. She could not take another step without giving up the last bit of strength needed to keep it all in. This was it for her; no escape from a miserable fate, only this one would be brought all on herself. “I… I’m gonna…” “Haru?” “H-Huh?” She could only open her eyes and look to both the voice and approaching footsteps. Not only was Ren here but Makoto as well, both looking full of worry at their pained friend. “W-what’s wrong?” Makoto walked up to her, hands reaching out. “Ren told me you weren’t looking good, but…” “I…” Unable to form any other speech, Haru’s eyes darted between her friends. While Makoto still contained a hint of fear in her eyes, Ren’s changed to one of epiphany, as if to say “Wait, is she about to…?” Their looks were the last thing needed to break her. Haru could only gasp as she felt her strength fully give out. It began slowly enough, just a slight dribble spreading throughout her undergarments until they were fully saturated at the crotch. From there, if one were positioned underneath her, they could see a small wet patch suddenly spread out from her tights, like dark tendrils snaking across the white fabric. They reached out in every way possible as they made their way down, covering her thighs, legs, feet, and even her rump thanks to the angle of her body. Even with so much moving within the confines of her leggings, even more shot straight through at the crotch, creating an erratic stream surrounded by broken drops all falling straight to the wooden floor. Such a waterfall of off-color gold inevitably led to a noisy piddle once it met the ground, forming a puddle that did not take long to spread from foot to foot. It was here that all three present lowered their heads and were awakened to the truth, most of all Haru. A rich girl of high esteem was peeing herself in the school hallway like a toddler. “Aaah!?” Makoto clapped her hands to her mouth and took a step back out of shock. Ren did as well, averting his gaze so as to give her a modicum of privacy in such a disgraceful moment. Not that it did much good, with both the faint smell of urine and the noises of both pee hitting the ground and the hiss coming from the source. Haru couldn't respond, her whole body having gone rigid from sheer embarrassment. All she could manage were shallow breaths, punctuated occasionally with a whimper when she felt the gross, warm wetness taint another part of her. Her accident seemed to go on forever, yet it was over as quickly as it began. Her stream died off with only residual drops falling to the large puddle, testament that she had reached the very limits of her large capacity. “Oh… Ooohhh…” Haru’s moans were filled with emotion, the relief of having an empty bladder again mixed with the humiliation of it all going into her clothes in front of her friends. She looked with wide, vulnerable eyes at her friends. How was she ever going to explain herself, especially when the verge of tears? "I'm… so sorry…" To her surprise, Makoto was quick to gently lay her hands on Haru's shoulders and offer a smile. "Hey, it's okay. Let's get you cleaned up, then we can talk." She then looked to Ren and asked, "Can you look for a custodian? I need to get Haru-chan to the nurse's office." Ren simply nodded. From there, Haru let herself be led on a walk of shame to the infirmary. Every step felt uncomfortable, from the cold cling of her tights to the squish in her shoes, and the lingering smell only made it worse. She kept her head low, not wanting to even know if there were others pointing and gawking at her. If there were, at least they were keeping quiet about it. The next few minutes went by in a blur for her. She remembered entering the office and the nurse not being in, then the embarrassment that was stripping out of her bottoms and scrubbing up with a washcloth. Now, she sat on a bed behind a curtain, her legs bare and clad in a spare pair of emergency panties, ready to sulk in her shame for the rest of time, or at least until her servant arrived with a fresh change of clothes. “How are you feeling?” Haru perked up and looked to Makoto as she stepped around the curtain. “I… don’t know what to say.” “That’s fair. It wasn’t the best question, given the circumstances.” Makoto glanced to the empty part of the bed. “May I take a seat?” “Um… s-sure.” Haru scooched over and let Makoto sit down, feeling the mattress sink next to her. She kept her glance affixed to her stained clothes draped over a rack nearby. It was easier to stare at this reminder of her accident than it was to look at her friend right now. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry.” “Huh?” This was enough to make Haru make eye contact. “Let’s be honest, things have not been easy for everyone, especially not today,” started Makoto, “But even so, I should have reached out to you, at least remind you that we’re all here to support each other.” “Oh, please don’t apologize, Mako-chan,” said Haru, shaking her head. “It was my fault for keeping all this bottled up. It’s just everyone had so much to worry about, I didn’t want them to have to worry about me either.” She lowered her head and sighed. “But maybe I wasn’t as together as I thought.” Makoto stared at the stained clothes, her eyes zoning out as she was lost in thought. “Well, at least this isn’t the first time something like this has happened to the Phantom Thieves.” “I know. Ren told me you all have been through a lot before I joined.” “Actually, I was talking more about, erm, this particular mishap.” “Hmm?” Yet again, Haru looked at Makoto with a raised eyebrow. A blush appeared on the usually stoic Makoto’s cheeks. “Can you promise me that what I’m about to tell you doesn’t leave this room?” “What are you about to tell me, Mako-chan?” “Y-You didn’t!” Haru stared gobsmacked at her friend, hands covering her mouth. Makoto sighed. “Unfortunately, I did. Right on Sojiro’s carpet, in front of all my friends. I let my pride get in the way of my common sense, and it cost me my dignity. Not to mention a good pair of pants.” “Oh my goodness…” Haru looked down at her own bare legs. “I still have a hard time believing it, myself,” said Makoto, rubbing her head, “But it helped me learn to be more open with the others.” “I see.” Haru stood up and walked to the nearby window, her back turned to Makoto. “Um, thank you for sharing with me.” “You’re welcome. I hope it made you feel a little bit better, at least.” “A little bit. It’s kind of strange, actually.” “Strange? How so?” To this, Haru turned around, her face sporting a little smile. “I know we’re still in the middle of a tough spot, but for the first time, it feels like we’ll actually pull through it, and not just because Ren-kun says we will.” Makoto giggled as she stood to join Haru. “Well, I guess a good attitude is the best thing we can have right now.” Haru found herself agreeing on the inside. Today had not gone at all like how she had expected, but in spite of everything, she couldn’t deny the optimism. It wouldn’t be easy, but she felt that someday, she could forget this accident and face the world like a true beauty again. (A/N: Before you ask, yes, I've already written about Makoto's unfortunate incident at Sojiro's house here. Also, in regards to the change in how I format my titles, well, I decided I've been writing long enough to quit aping Captain L's format and try my own. I kinda like it, actually. Anyway, consider me on a writing break starting now. When will I be back to writing? Whenever I get inspiration again, whether that be from coming up with my own good idea, or hearing a reeeaaaaalllly good commission idea. I'll still be lurking and occasionally posting here and on several Discord servers, so feel free to chat me up if you'd like.)
MasterXploder
Confidant Rank-P
With thanks to Sake for editing Sunlight. Warm weather. Chirping birds. People walking and talking all around. The various roars and beeps of traffic nearby. Not that long ago, these would have been the bane of her existence, something she would have done anything to escape from. Today, however, they were things she could tolerate, at least while she was close to home, where an escape route could easily be planned. But she needed to do better, not just for her sake, but for all of her friends and the people who needed her help. This was why Futaba was squatting outside of Leblanc Cafe one summer Sunday afternoon. She had been mentally preparing for the task that lay before her today. It had nothing to do with going into the Metaverse or battling sinister shadows. No, this task was far scarier than that, something she had nearly talked herself out of doing several times: going somewhere with a lot of people and getting used to being around large crowds, as she had written on her promise list. Thankfully, she wouldn’t be going alone; Ren would be by her side. That was the plan, at least, but it required that he was actually present first. “What’s he doing in there?” Futaba asked herself as she checked her phone again. Twenty minutes late now. She wondered if Sojiro had tied him up with some dishes to wash or something. She could always go in and see what the deal was, she supposed. That, and she had another reason for going into Leblanc. Her morning coffee and just-for-building-confidence energy drink had been working through her body while she waited, and they were reaching their last destination before they would exit her body. Her squat especially didn’t help, since her bladder couldn’t tell the difference between it and the position she took whenever she made use of a squat toilet. “Okay, bathroom time!” She stood up and stretched her arms and legs. If she was gonna finish her task, using the toilet beforehand would be a smart idea. It was like her video games, after all; proper prepping could be the difference between success and failure. But before she could take a single step, she heard the bells jingling above Leblanc’s door. Out walked Ren in his casual clothes, with no bag or Morgana in sight. “Oh! There you are,” said Futaba. “Took your sweet time getting out here, huh?” “Yeah, sorry about that.” Ren rubbed his head. “Boss had me do some prep-work before I could leave. Dishes, cooking food, stuff like that.” “Heh, figured he roped you into something again. Guess I’m not the only one who needs you as a Key Item.” “Er, the what?” “It’s nothing,” Futaba said with a giggle. “But speaking of Sojiro, we should probably let him know what we’re up to today. Can’t have him thinking you kidnapped me or something.” Ren nodded, his eyes holding a bit of fear at the thought. With that, the two headed back into Leblanc. Futaba could feel a mixture of excitement and nervousness coursing through her. She was about to get started on her first promise list since childhood. It wouldn’t be easy, but she would give it her all, and she knew the best place to get started. Akihabara was like heaven on Earth for anyone into the geek scene. Stores for tech and machinery for the nerd in everyone ran up and down each street, with loads of shoppers going in and out every day. It was the perfect location for Futaba to learn how to overcome her fear of crowds. The many displays of brand new electronics would help keep her distracted from how scared she was. It was also somewhere she had been to before, even if that trip would have ended badly if not for Ren saving her at the last second. Futaba looked up at Ren as they walked through a large and busy chain store. She had already noticed in that prior trip, but it was rather strange how just being around him had a calming effect on her. Even surrounded by strangers and noise with her heart pounding, she didn’t want to run away and hide under a blanket and laptop. She could actually focus on things other than how anxious she felt, like the nifty features on that new laptop, or how ridiculously overpriced those headphones were. Her biggest focus, however, was how bad she needed to pee now. Futaba realized her mistake the moment she and Ren crammed into the first subway. Being wedged between so many strangers got her anxiety up, and that always made her need to pee worse. Again, Ren’s presence kept her fears from going out of control, but there was little he could do for the other problem. It felt like ages had passed before they finally stepped off the last subway. Her nerves calmed down not long after, but her bladder felt just as full. She knew full well the solution to her problem, and had turned to Ren a few times already to try asking him where the bathroom was. Each of those attempts ended with the question dying in her throat. Whenever she looked at him, Futaba couldn’t help but recall the day she took down Medjed for the Phantom Thieves. She didn’t acknowledge at first, but it felt nice to show off her hacking skills in front of an audience. That was, until she peed her pants immediately afterwards, with Ren and a talking cat there to see it all. It didn’t make her wish for death like she had told them, but it was still a humiliating experience that she would rather forget as soon as possible. She had no doubt Ren hadn’t forgotten about that incident, and mentioning her need to pee would bring that memory front and center. She couldn’t let that happen, not when she was doing everything she could to make herself a capable, semi-sociable individual again. Instead, she had a better plan: wait for Ren to visit the bathroom, then slip into the ladies’ room while he was gone. No need to even say anything, then; he probably wouldn’t even mention anything once she got back. All she had to do now was play the waiting game and act inconspicuous all the while. “You okay there, Futaba?” “Huh?” Perhaps she needed to work on the inconspicuous part. Futaba looked to Ren like she’d been caught peeking at another student’s paper during a test. “Um, sure! Doing okay here, yep, that’s me!” she quickly answered, standing up tall. “Er, alright then,” said Ren with a slight head-tilt. He might have said it, but Futaba knew he had to be concerned for her, scrutinizing every last move she made to see if she was hiding something. She had to distract him, somehow. It was a long-shot, but she would have to use a skill that she was still a novice at: smalltalk. “Hey, did you see that tablet earlier? Whoever drew that was a real pro,” she said, “Not as good as Inari, though. He’s got a particularly pervy view on art.” Futaba looked away the whole time, not wanting to see if Ren’s inquisitive stare still piercing through her. If she couldn’t think of a way to placate him, then she just had to hope something else would take his focus off her. Just as she thought that, a loud commotion started up next to the two. “Wh-Whoa, what’s going on!?” said Futaba as they turned to find a crowd near them. “There’s a super-limited sale at the PC section!” yelled a skinny man. “Three terabytes for only 500 yen!? What a steal!” declared a black-haired woman. “That’s gonna sell out in seconds!” said another man as he jogged past the two. He was not the only one. Futaba and Ren felt a rumbling of people moving all at once behind them. They turned around, but it was already too late: a massive crowd rushed past, too dense to avoid anyone. Before Futaba knew it, she felt herself being dragged along its numbers, the sheer body heat and density making it hard to breathe. “Gah! Ren! Help! Teammate pulled by horde!” she yelled, flailing her arms in an attempt to break free. Almost as quickly as she was pulled in, the crowd came to a stop. Futaba knew this would be her best chance of escape. Pulling her arms back down, she made use of her small frame to squeeze through the mess of unfamiliar faces while they remained unaware of her presence. Eventually, she stumbled out of the crowd like someone lost in a corn field, landing on her hands and knees. Oh sweet personal space, how I missed you! she thought while she took the moment to breathe. “Well, that was one experience I wasn’t expecting today,” she said as she stood up, turning towards Ren. Ren was unable to respond on account of not being there. “Uh, R-Ren?” Futaba looked around, scanning the dozens of faces around her. Not a single one belonged to her friend. It only now dawned on her that she was the only one pulled away by the crowd. All by herself in the middle of the city, surrounded by strangers; Futaba had reached her worst-case scenario. She could hear her heart beating faster even with all the commotion around her. A bead of sweat formed on her forehead, and her hands began to shake. But worst of all, her bladder let off a sharp pang of pressure, forcing her legs together from the knees up. As her anxiety grew, her faith in her ability to hold it dropped in response. She could already picture herself standing in a puddle with soaked pants as a crowd stared and judged, the words “Game Over” hanging above her head while tears flowed from her eyes. At the rate things were going, that fantasy seemed destined to become reality. No! Futaba clapped her hands to her head. This is just the first task on my promise list. I’m a Phantom Thief, I can beat this no problem! Despite her attempt to calm herself, Futaba could still feel her heart beating faster with each second. She had to act before her anxiety could take over, or it would be mission failed on level one. With trembling hands, Futaba pulled out her phone and called Ren’s number, doing her best to ignore that she was calling a boy around her age. One ring, two rings, and then… “Futaba? You okay?” Hearing his voice made Futaba feel like she was in a post-apocalyptic film and had just made contact with another living person. “M-Mayday, mayday,” she started, looking around herself. “I’m trapped in the Home Appliances Kingdom. The Three Terabytes war rages on outside. There are just… so many people…” Another pang from her bladder forced her to put a hand to her groin. “Hrgh… I don’t know if I can last much longer. My heart’s pounding, and I… I really have to-” A dial tone interrupted her. She looked at her phone and saw the words “Call Failed” in an ominous red color. Her plan to stay put while helping direct Ren to her was not going to work now. He’d have to comb the whole appliance section to find her first, and between her panicky brain and bursting bladder, she simply couldn’t wait that long. She had to get back to where they got split up, and fast. Keeping one hand between her legs, Futaba stepped off in the direction the crowd came from. She bit her lower lip and whimpered while passing what seemed like dozens, no, hundreds of strangers, each one looking more intimidating and judgmental than the last. She could only wonder how many of them were looking at her and thinking snide remarks about the strange girl walking by. Aah, don’t think about that! she chided herself. She needed to stay focused on her target, the scruffy-haired and bespectacled Ren. Her fearless leader wouldn’t let anything stop him, especially not being lost in a store. He would be calm and suave and totally in control like usual. Most importantly, he would be standing right over there, which he actually was. “Ah!” Futaba ran to him just as he was about to take off somewhere. “There you are!” “Futaba!” He turned to her, his worried frown disappearing. “I… I, I, I…” With everything she was feeling, Futaba couldn’t begin to think of a response. “I was about to come find you,” said Ren. “Oh…” Futaba looked at him and smiled. “Th-Thanks. I didn’t think I was gonna see you until the end of time, but then I thought about you while I was wondering around the store, and bam, a wild Ren appeared!” Ren chuckled. “It’s good to see you again.” “So you’re relieved? What an incredible coincidence! Me too.” Back by his side, Futaba could feel her heart slowing down and muscles relaxing. With the terror of the crowd in the past, she felt like the rest of this trip would go smoothly now. “Aah!?” Until a spurt into her underwear reminded her of something she had neglected for far too long. Futaba’s face contorted and hands snapped back to her groin to keep anything and everything else from slipping through her defenses. Time was running out and she knew it; if she didn’t find a bathroom soon, she’d be tripping the instant-fail condition of this quest right at the tail end. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she heard Ren ask. “Nngh, bladder status critical! Need toilet now!” she managed to say. “A… bathroom?” Ren raised an eyebrow. “Now!” “R-Right! They had some at the entrance. This way!” said Ren as he stepped forward. “Th-The entrance!?” Futaba’s pupils shrank. It already felt like she couldn’t take more than a couple steps. The front of the store may as well be on the other side of the city. Curse you, real world, and your lack of fast travel! While she fretted, she didn’t notice Ren walking around her until he felt his hands on her bare shoulders. She jumped a little at the contact, but was otherwise rooted to the spot. “Come on, Futaba, you got this,” he said. “Just take it one step at a time.” “I…” really don’t think I can make it! she wanted to say as she looked up to Ren. That thought died once she saw his eyes, full of confidence and concern for her. She had no idea if he knew, but looking into those eyes made the impossible tasks feel beatable, like getting a special new power right before the final boss. “A-Alright,” she said. “There, now, please!” Futaba lowered her head and closed her eyes, letting Ren guide her steps through the store. With each step, she felt her bladder tremble, fearing that it would be the one that burst the dam. Even with how weak her hold felt, she refused to give in, not when her friend believed in her. She didn’t think about how many people were potentially looking at her, or how far she still had to go to reach the bathroom. All of her focus was on taking that next step, making sure she could keep it all in for just that little bit longer... “Futaba, we’re here!” “Huh?” Futaba opened her eyes. Right in front of her was the door the ladies’ room, a sight so good that she had to wonder if she wasn’t just suffering from some pee-induced delusion. She would figure that out soon enough. “Aah, BRB!” she declared as she pushed through the door, disappearing from Ren’s sight. A nice, clean bathroom greeted her, with an open stall at the end. It wasn’t more than a few meters, but Futaba knew they would feel like miles. One false move here, and her efforts would be in vain. Come on, just a little further! She thought as she squeezed herself especially hard, steeling herself for the desperate run to come. “All-out attaaaaack!” Throwing everything she had into this last dash, Futaba rushed forward, one hand firmly between her legs while the other caught and closed the door as she stepped inside the stall. Once it locked, she faced the toilet, discovering it to be the Western sit-down kind. She thanked her lucky rolls that Sojiro’s House had one of these, so she was well-trained either way. Turning around, she wiggled in place while undoing her belt and zipper. Once undone, she executed her super move of yanking down her cargo pants and Feathermen-themed panties while falling back onto the toilet. As soon as her butt landed on the seat, the last of Futaba’s holding strength gave out. It started with a light dribble falling straight down, the noise of each drop distinguishable from the other. The floodgates slowly opened from there, growing into a powerful, erratic, yellow-tinted spray, much of it crashing into the water while a bit still hit the surrounding bowl. The room filled with a loud splashing noise coupled with a strong hiss. If anyone else was in the bathroom, they would have no doubt as to what was happening in her stall. None of it mattered one bit to Futaba. Not the noisiness of her pee, not having to do it in a public bathroom, or the desperate march she made through the store to get there. Against all odds, she had averted disaster and made it to the toilet, with only a single spurt into her panties counting against her. It was a mission accomplished by the skin of her teeth, and a victory worth celebrating. Leaning her head back, Futaba shut her eyes and opened her mouth into a big smile. Lost in her delirium, she let out a sound that was part-sigh and part-laughter, not unlike a hyena’s laugh. Anyone else in the bathroom would think she was a demented girl, but how else was she to express her relief and joy with this tingly sensation coursing through her? Her pee went on like this for who-knows-how-long. Futaba certainly didn’t; it seemed like years passed before her stream slowly died away, turning into a light trickle for a little bit, then stopping altogether. Her big smile died away as well, though a bit of the tingle remained. Futaba paid little mind to it, however. The high of her pee time had passed, letting her become more aware of her situation again. Sooner or later, she would have to leave this stall and face Ren and anyone else who saw her desperate march. Suddenly, she didn’t feel so much like celebrating anymore. But first, she needed to clean herself up. Turning her head, she reached out for the toilet paper. “Wh-What!?” Her smile dropped entirely as she saw the dispenser completely void of any paper, her arm trembling in the air. She was officially stranded on the toilet without a lifeline, a situation she had never considered happening despite her many hours spent preparing for this outing. She couldn’t even begin to think of a solution to her problem. Facing forward, Futaba let her arm down, content to sit there and let her anxiety build. However, her hand didn’t fall to the side like she expected. Instead, it landed on a panel next to the seat, the palm pressing a button. “What th-GYAAAAAH!?” Futaba didn’t even have the time to process that when something far more important got her attention. Beneath her lap, a spray of water shot from the bowl, landing a critical hit right at her weak spot for massive damage. Her eyes and mouth shot open as sensations and emotions of all kinds bombarded her brain. It was too much, too fast for her liking. She fumbled along the panel, mashing buttons faster than she did for any video game. Each one made the pressure and aim go all over the place, giving her bottom and elsewhere a good soaking. She eventually found the off button, but the damage was done. Yup, I’m done here! Futaba stood up and patted her behind at lightning speed, only getting it to a cool dampness before pulling her pants back up. She shivered at her underwear making contact with the wetness. Please don’t show up on my pants! From then on, Futaba’s only thought became of leaving the bathroom. She certainly did not want to think about the lingering tingling at a certain part of her, at least not until she got back to her room where she would be totally alone again. Her mind went elsewhere while she washed her hands, scrubbing for much longer than necessary. Afterwards, she stuck a paper towel down her pants to try and properly dry those places, for as much good as it could do by then. Seconds later, she creaked the bathroom door open and crept outside, where Ren turned to her at once. His eyes went down to her pants then back to her red face and fogged-up glasses. “Um, you alright there?” he asked. Futaba kept her head down while she spoke. “C-Can we, um, please b-be somewhere, er, not people-y?” Ren looked as if he was about to ask something else, but instead nodded and motioned for Futaba to follow. She walked behind him like a puppy following its mother, not caring where she ended up, just so long as it was not here. “Will this do?” Ren turned to her and asked. Futaba looked around at the alleyway Ren brought her to. While she could still hear and see people walking nearby, she knew this was probably the most privacy she could ask for. That, and the short walk outside in the fresh air helped to cool her down after… that happened. Her face wasn’t so red, and her glasses were no longer fogged up from the heat on her face. “Y-Yeah, it’s good enough.” Futaba turned back to Ren, her hands behind her back. “Uhh, so… good news: I didn’t have a nervous breakdown or an accident on this trip!” She looked up with a shaky smile. A couple seconds later, and that smile fell back to a frown. “And that’s about where the positives end.” “Is that not good enough?” asked Ren. “Are you kidding? I almost wet myself in front of you a second time. I don’t even wanna think about all the people who might’ve seen me being marched to the bathroom like I’m five years old.” She let out a sigh as if she were deflating. “My performance today was like bronze-medal caliber at best.” Ren shrugged. “I thought you did alright.” “At least you agree with me… Wait, what?” Futaba looked up in confusion. “You found your way back to me when we got split up all on your own. That’s something to be proud of.” “I, well…” Futaba rubbed her head. “Yeah, I did do that. Still, I wanna go out one time without embarrassing myself. Just be like a total NPC, that’s all.” Ren chuckled. “You’ll get there. It just takes time. Think of it…” he scratched his chin for a moment. “Like your RPG’s. You don’t hit the max level from only one quest, but each one gives you more experience than you had before.” “Th-That…” Futaba’s eyes widened like a kid on Christmas. “That makes perfect sense! Why did I never think like that before?” She lifted her arms and looked at Ren with a smile. “Okay then, I won’t stop until I’ve completed all my tasks and maxed out my social skills tree. You can count on that!” Ren only smiled, for he didn’t need to say anything else. “Alright, just gotta remember a few tips next time we’re out. First, think of you if we end up getting separated again. Second, absolutely visit the bathroom before we go anywhere.” “See, that’s the spirit,” said Ren. “Third, bring emergency toilet paper in case the bathroom doesn’t have any.” Ren only blinked in response. “Oh, and maybe we should zip-tie our arms together so there’s no chance of us being split up again!” “Um, Futaba…” “Hee hee, I’m just joking!” About that last one, at least. She sighed and let her arms fall down, slightly swinging from the momentum. “Phew, I know we haven’t been here long, but I feel worn out.” “We did go through a lot today.” Ren stepped forward. “We should probably head back.” “I guess so,” said Futaba, turning around and setting off. “It feels kinda weird, though. We came all this way to Akihabara, but we didn’t buy anything. Would’ve been nice to have something to take back with… huh!?” Futaba stopped in her tracks, her jaw wide open. “What’s going on?” asked Ren at her side. Futaba lifted an arm and pointed straight forward. “Is that a retro gaming store?” Ren followed her hand to the storefront, its windows filled with old video games and merchandise. “Looks like it,” he said. “And someone I know happens to have a FamiDrive at their place. Mwehehe…” she turned to him with a smirk. “Come, Ren, it’s time to start your education of the classics.” Keeping that smile, Futaba set off towards the store with Ren in tow. Even with her fatigue, she was not going to miss on the chance to help bring him into her world. It was the least she could do after everything he had done for her. After this, she would have to keep working at her promise list and give it her all as a Phantom Thief. Look out, world, here comes Futaba!
A Stain on Her Image
(Note: Contains story spoilers past the third palace. Reader discretion advised) With thanks to Big Boss for editing The subway system of Tokyo was not an experience for the claustrophobic. With hundreds of commuters crammed like sardines into the same vehicle underneath the city’s streets, it was hard for even the most intrepid travelers to not feel a little anxious. Makoto Niijima already had quite a bit to worry about before she even stepped through the train doors and was pressed together with complete strangers. This was not uncommon for her; as both president of the Shujin Academy student council and younger sister to a public prosecutor, it was rare for her to not be concerned with something. That had not gotten any better when she ended up becoming a Phantom Thief a month ago, entering into a world she never knew existed before. Not that she regretted such a thing, quite the opposite, as she had never felt a stronger sense of purpose than the moment she donned her thieving costume and mask. She may have looked like an upstanding honor student with her proper posture, white dress shirt, and black short pants, but in her heart, she had fully embraced the path of a rebel fighting against an unjust world. At the moment, however, it was rather difficult to focus on any of that. The subway ride had given her time to become aware of some unpleasant feelings radiating from her body. Her stomach felt bloated from all the sushi that she just enjoyed with her friends, and would likely remain that way for a while. It was inconvenient, but at least it would fade away over time, unlike the other pressure that currently plagued her. Makoto groaned and squeezed her legs together as she felt another pulse from her groin. With all the fun they were having at the sushi bar, she never once thought about visiting the restroom. Her bladder had been letting her know how big of a mistake that was since then. Going for long periods without a bathroom break was nothing new to her, given her many responsibilities at school and home. However, judging by the pressure, it had been quite some time since she last relieved herself, and with coffee and other drinks on top of that. Now, it was enough to make her worry. She was thankful that with so many strangers around her, chances were nobody was focused on her. That way, she could squeeze her legs and hold herself if she needed to without being seen. “Hey, Makoto?” Or so she had thought. “Hmm?” Makoto turned around as best she could and found Ann Takamaki, a fellow student and Phantom Thief. Now knowing that an acquaintance was next to her, she stood up straight and put her hands at her sides. “Oh! I’m sorry, did you need something?” she responded at once. “I was just wondering if you had thought of something. You looked like you were concentrating pretty hard.” I suppose I was concentrating on something, thought Makoto. “Hmm, no, I can’t say I’ve thought of anything fruitful,” she replied. “Me neither,” said Ann with a frown. “My brain’s been spinning in circles, but I don’t feel any closer to solving our problem than when it first came up.” That’s right, their problem. It had been roughly a week since Medjed had declared war on the Phantom Thieves, threatening to expose Japan’s private information if they did not unmask themselves. With their target being anonymous cyber-terrorists, they had no idea how to begin fighting such a shadowy foe. To make matters worse, Ren had begun receiving texts from a strange figure named Alibaba asking them to change the heart of one Futaba Sakura. After some detective work, they learned that Futaba was living at Sojiro’s house, the same man overseeing Ren’s probation. At one point, they had an agreement set up: the Thieves would change her heart, and Alibaba would help them with Medjed in return. Problem was, Alibaba had disappeared, and with no way for the Thieves to contact them, they were essentially back to square one. “I know, it’s been frustrating me too,” admitted Makoto, “But we’ll think of something. We just need to get everyone together at Leblanc first. Besides, I’ve never been able to focus very well on the subway.” “I guess you’re right. Better to brainstorm somewhere quiet and with all six heads put together. Well, more like five and a half with Ryuji.” Ann smiled and chuckled at her joke. Despite the remark’s snideness, Makoto found the laughter contagious, and put a hand to her mouth to hide her giggling. That laughter came to an immediate stop, however, as it caused yet another pulse from her bladder. Makoto winced against her wishes, her frown and eye twitch being visible for a split second. “Hey, something wrong?” asked a concerned-looking Ann. “Huh? Oh, n-no, it’s nothing,” she replied, her eyes drifting away. “I guess I’m just… a little uncomfortable right now.” “Uncomfortable? Are you claustrophobic, Makoto?” “N-not particularly.” Being honest probably was not in her best interests, but Makoto could not bring herself to lie to a friend. Beating around the bush was the most she could do. “So is it the sushi, then? I know I can’t believe how much I had.” Ann rubbed her stomach. “This train ride isn’t helping much, either. Hope I won’t need to make a run for the bathroom, or anything.” “Y-yes, me too.” Despite referring to two different uses, Makoto’s bladder let off another pang out of sympathy. Her eye twitched again, and all she could think about was something, anything to change the subject. “Now arriving in Yongen-Jaya Station!” Fortunately, she didn’t need to this time. Even without the announcement, she felt the train slowing down, and saw the lighting outside the windows change ever-so-subtly. Their platform was coming up, and it was not a long walk to the cafe from there. “Well, sounds like we’re at our stop,” said Makoto, turning towards the doors. “Let’s pick this back up at Leblanc, shall we?” “Um, okay, I guess?” Ann blinked a couple times, but did not say anything else. With that, the ladies and the other Thieves departed with most of the other commuters. Makoto allowed herself to sigh now that that part of her personal trial was over. Still, she needed to pee pretty badly, and waiting until she got home would be a bad idea for certain. It would be for the best if she made use of the toilet at Leblanc before too much longer. That, however, came with a couple issues. First and foremost was her pride, something that had rubbed off on her from her sister. Makoto may have been the newest member, but she was still the oldest among them, and their designated strategist to boot. For her to admit that she seriously had to go out of the blue would be… awkward, to say the least. Not just that, but she had been inside Leblanc before, and saw how close the toilet was next to the dining booths. With the cafe closed today, there would not be anything to hide the noises of her relief. She would never be able to walk out of there without a red face. Regardless, she was certain her situation would reach critical levels if she neglected the bathroom. She would have to come up with a solid plan soon, or else suffer an experience more humiliating than anything Kaneshiro had threatened her with. The bells above Leblanc’s door jingled as it opened, letting in the Thieves. As expected, not a soul lingered inside; even Sojiro was absent. “Okay, so did anyone manage to think of anything?” asked Ann as she took a seat at one of the booths. The rest of the group gathered around her, all choosing to remain standing. “We went through all sortsa options on our way here,” said Ryuji Sakamoto, “But, looks like we got no choice but to ask for Alibaba’s help.” “Question is, how do we get in touch with him?” asked Ann. “He cut off all contact with us after that misunderstanding,” commented Yusuke Kitagawa. “Then again, if we manage to steal Futaba’s heart, he may attempt to reach out to us once more.” “But we don’t have any clue what her keywords are,” said Morgana from Ren’s bookbag, “Without those, we can’t so much as set foot inside her Palace.” Ryuji threw a fist down in anger. “Dammit, Alibaba! Where the hell are you!?” Meanwhile, Makoto stood nearby with her hands held just below her navel. She did her best to listen to the conversation, but couldn’t stop herself from glancing towards the toilet every now and then. Now that she was near one, the signals from her bladder only grew stronger, like it was already preparing to release all the liquid built up inside. As strong as that was, her pride was a bit stronger, so she remained where she stood and tried her hardest to think of something. Trouble was, her concentration was just as weak as it was in the subway, since her urge to pee took up the majority of her thoughts. Rather than a plan to thwart Medjed, all she could come up with were plans to get into that bathroom while maintaining her dignity. Even then, they all required her figuring out what to do about their real problem first. She almost wanted to voice out loud her desire for Alibaba to only live a couple blocks away so they could take care of that problem with ease. Wait a minute… “Actually, he might be closer than we think,” Makoto chimed in. “Huh?” Ryuji looked towards her, as did everyone else. With all eyes on her, Makoto realized her theory had not completely formed, but she steeled herself and continued. “Hypothetically speaking, even if we stole Futaba’s heart, how would Alibaba know that the deed has been done? Would he truly be able to discern that just from cell phone messages?” The group exchanged looks among themselves for a bit. “You mean he’d have to meet her in person?” asked Morgana. Makoto nodded. “Alibaba was able to deliver the calling card here. On top of that, he can check on Futaba’s condition. However, according to the circumstances he put forward, he’s unable to meet with us. This leads me to believe that it would be bad for him if we were to see the two of them together.” She paused to take a breath. “It seems to me that Alibaba may in fact be Futaba herself.” Every eye in the room opened wide like they had just stumbled onto some rare treasure in the Metaverse. “For real!?” said Ryuji. “So she’s asking that we steal her own heart?” asked Yusuke. “Maybe she wants us to save her from the scars of her abuse?” said Ann, “That would be hard to ask directly.” Makoto turned to Ren and asked, “I’d like to meet with Boss. Does he live nearby?” “Yeah, his place is right around the corner. I could take us there now,” Ren replied. “Let’s all go together. Boss may get the wrong idea if Ren-kun and I show up alone.” Everyone nodded in agreement, and Makoto allowed a little smile to form. Perfect, she thought. With headway being made on the Medjed problem, she could now focus on her more personal matter. Luckily, she was able to devise a plan at the same time she explained her theory: Right as everyone was stepping outside, she would excuse herself to hang back and “freshen up” before meeting with Sojiro. She could pee as much as she want, and while they might suspect her, no one would be able to prove it. It was almost worrisome how well she had taken to the art of deception, but she would celebrate after her bladder was empty. First, she just had to say the words to get her potty plan started. “Yo, hold up. Can we wait just a second? I gotta take a leak first.” The words died in her throat at Ryuji’s declaration, replaced with surprise and worry. Another person needing the bathroom was not something she had accounted for. She had to stop herself from whining in disappointment, silently cursing herself for such an error. “Really? You sure now’s the best time for a bathroom break?” asked Morgana. “Hey, I can’t help when nature calls.” Ryuji turned and walked towards the bathroom. “I’ll just be a sec.” Meanwhile, Makoto could feel the panic swelling up inside. It’s alright, she told herself, This is just a little setback. As soon as Ryuji’s done, you can carry out the plan. You have this. “About that,” came Ren’s voice, “Our toilet’s broken right now.” Ryuji stopped in his tracks and turned around, his face matching how Makoto felt on the inside. “For real!?” he exclaimed. “Something’s wrong with the pipes, so everything’s backing up. There’s supposed to be a plumber coming to fix it tomorrow,” said Ren, rubbing the back of his head. “Jeez, that’s some shit luck, literally,” groaned Ryuji, his legs idly rubbing together. “So where have you and Boss been going?” Ren pointed to the door behind him. “We’ve been using the one at the bathhouse across the street. The owner is pretty understanding.” “Guess I don’t gotta choice.” Ryuji shrugged as he headed towards the front door. “Seriously, can’t you just hold it until we’re done talking with Sojiro?” said an annoyed Ann. “I would think dealing with our Alibaba problem would be a more pressing matter,” said Yusuke. Ryuji glared at the two. “Oh, come on! Do you guys wanna try talking to Boss on a full bladder? I know I don’t!” Ann looked away, her fierce look gone. “Um, no, but…” “Great, argument over! Be right back!” Ryuji declared as he beelined for the door, going through before anyone could say anything else. The group remained silent for a few seconds after the door slammed and the bells quit jingling. “Hmm, and I took him for the kind of person who would make use of the sink and be done with it,” commented Yusuke. “Ugh, can we move on from the pee talk now? Talk about gross,” said Ann with a grimace. “Y-yes, I agree,” Makoto chimed in. “We need to stay focused on the task at hand.” She hoped the pain of having to say those words did not show in her voice. “Then I suggest we set off before any further interruptions can occur,” said Yusuke, getting nods from everyone else. One by one, the group walked out of the cafe. Despite being closest to the door, Makoto was the last to leave, pausing to take one last look at the broken bathroom with a frown. Her plan had been doomed from the start. That was enough to set her insides quivering with worry. Now what was she going to do? The Bathhouse was not an option; there was no way she could use her “freshen up” excuse and expect her friends to buy it. Even then, they had made their desire to go straight to Sojiro’s house clear, especially after the hard time they gave Ryuji. Her chances of reaching a good toilet stealthily seemed worse than beating Medjed right now. No, I can’t give up now! She thought, shaking her head and furrowing her brow. I didn’t despair in front of Kaneshiro’s shadow, and I won’t let this beat me, either! On her honor as the Phantom Thieves’ Strategist, she would find a solution to her problem, and rise above it without a stain on her. It had only been a few minutes later, but each one felt like an hour to Makoto. After waiting for Ryuji to get out of the bathhouse, they made their way towards Sojiro’s house. Makoto hung behind the others to hide her stiff walking and occasional hand pressed to her groin, though it did little to alleviate the pressure at that point. But soon enough, they had reached the house. For what seemed like the umpteenth time, the soft sound of a doorbell ringing filled the small street. Makoto retracted her finger again and deepened her frown. “Nobody’s answering,” she groaned, “But the lights are on…” “Think he’s nappin’?” asked Ryuji. “Even Boss would’ve woken up with how many times we’ve rung this doorbell,” said Ann. “I would think Futaba would have answered now if she were here, too,” added Morgana. Yusuke looked at the gate blocking the front yard, and pushed on it. To everyone’s surprise, it pushed open, giving them a clear path to the door. “Dude, you can’t go openin’ other people’s stuff like that,” said Ryuji. Makoto looked towards the front door and pointed. “But look. The door seems to be slightly open as well. I wonder why. That’s rather careless.” As she kept glancing towards the door, Makoto couldn’t help but think of another plan to safely and discreetly relieve herself. Not that she had success with that; even if Sojiro let them in, how was she supposed to excuse herself without anyone catching on? Nobody being home would be her best bet, but then that raised the moral issue of just walking in and using someone’s toilet without their permission. The debate continued in her head until a flash of light and rumbling noise caught everyone’s attention. They all turned their heads to the skies and saw the thick, dark clouds heading their way. “Whoa, it sounds like it’s going to rain!” said a wide-eyed Morgana. “We should get inside!” Gladly! is what Makoto wanted to say, but even with her bladder fit to burst, she thought better. “Do you think that’s okay?” she asked the others. “Prolly?” said Ryuji with a mischievous grin. That was all the reasoning she needed. “My apologies, Boss!” she declared as she and the rest of the gang quickly made their way inside the house. A dark hallway greeted the group once past the doors, with only a crack of light and the faint noise of a TV show at the very end. Not a soul could be found within, giving the house a foreboding atmosphere. “Hello, sir?” called out Makoto, her voice losing its confident tone. Nobody responded, the sound of thunder filling the gap and everyone removing their shoes. “He’s not out, is he?” she continued, stepping forward on bare feet. “The door ahead is open, and I can hear the TV.” “I hope he didn’t pass out or something. I mean, Boss is kinda old, ain’t he?” said Ryuji. “I’m a bit worried. Should we go in and check on him?” said Ann. If it gives me the chance to find the bathroom… “Please excuse us,” she mumbled while they proceeded forward. For every step taken further into the house, Makoto felt the chill in her spine grow deeper. She may have infiltrated a Palace to steal its treasure, but trespassing in Sojiro’s home gave her a sense of dread that dwarfed her Metaverse adventures. At least, that’s what she would say if someone questioned her as to why her walk was so stiff now. She wished the doors in the hall weren’t all closed; she might have passed up a good bathroom and had no idea. Just as they were about to reach the hall’s end, a bright flash and loud boom went off from outside, and what little light was in the house shut off. An instant later, the group heard a young, feminine shriek from somewhere in the house. “A scream!? What was that!?” Suddenly, Makoto felt like a character in a horror movie, her least favorite genre by far. “H-How should I know?” replied Morgana. Another noise came up, like a door being closed nearby. “Did you hear that!?’ said Makoto. “Could it be Alibaba… I mean, Futaba?” said Morgana. “Can we get out of here, please?” said Ann. Makoto didn’t catch the rest of the conversation, too focused on the pounding in her heart and bladder. All she knew at that moment was she was behind Ann a hundred percent on leaving the house. However, her legs felt unstable from both the fear and how bad she had to go. If she was going to go anywhere, she would need help. Turning to Ren, Makoto held out a shaky hand. “Um, sorry,” she mumbled, “Can I hold onto you?” Ren nodded and turned around, and Makoto wasted no time in putting her hands on his shoulder, holding onto him for dear life. They took baby steps on their way back to the door, the hallway growing longer and menacing with each step. Meanwhile, Makoto’s eyes darted about, trying to find anything that looked like a dangerous monster about to kill them. All the while, her hold was the weakest it had ever been. The pulses from her bladder quivered as fast as her heartbeat. It felt like it would only take one false move for her to leave a large stain on Sojiro’s carpet. Wood creaked somewhere nearby. “Eek!” Makoto shut her eyes and squeezed Ren’s arm harder than ever. She only barely registered a bit of warmth appearing in her underwear. “I can sense someone’s presence,” said Yusuke. “Who is it? Who’s there!?” Makoto turned her head all around to find her would-be murderer. Still, nobody could be found in the darkness other than Ren. Her breath labored, heart pounding, and bladder about to burst, she had had enough. “I can’t take this anymore! I’m leaving!” she yelled with her eyes shut, attempting to take another step. But her legs refused to cooperate. Rather than moving forward, all the strength in her legs disappeared at once. She fell onto her knees, only supported by her death grip on Ren. Another spurt of pee escaped into her clothes, this time making the wetness pass into her pants. “M-Makoto?” asked Ren. “N-no… I can’t move,” she whimpered. She felt more frightened in that moment than if a Shadow had inflicted the Fear ailment on her. That fear only grew bigger as she got the feeling that someone or something was very close to her, and she knew it wasn’t Ren. As much as she wanted to close her eyes and pretend everything was fine, Makoto turned her head at a snail’s pace to look behind her. Someone was there. She couldn’t make them out, but she knew when someone was in her personal space. A flash of lightning then confirmed her fears. She only had time to process the reflection of eyewear, orange hair color, and an emotionless expression before instinct took over. “Aaaaaahhhhhh!” “Waaaahhh!” Makoto’s legs came back to life for a split second, letting her jump back out of desperation to get away. At the same time, the figure of maybe-Futaba shrieked and ran off. However, Makoto did not even register that she was safe again. Her brain had entered into full fight-or-flight, with the same unfortunate effect as earlier. Her legs quickly gave out once more, and she fell to her knees, grabbing on to Ren’s leg for dear life. “I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry, please save me, sis!” cried Makoto, her head held low and eyes shut. Fully enveloped in her panic, Makoto only paid the slightest sliver of mind towards the growing warmth at her groin. The scare from the shadow was the last break in concentration her bladder needed in order to finally do its job. Pee quickly flowed out into her underwear and pants, soaking her groin within seconds. It was not much longer before it broke through the outermost barrier, starting as broken drops and forming into a stream that broke apart within inches, making a soft piddling sound on the carpet. The rest of her legs were not spared, either, as trails ran down to her knees and pooled there. But that didn’t matter in the least to her right now. Somehow, even after being held at the mercy of a ruthless gangster in both the real world and the Metaverse, Makoto had never felt more scared in her life than she did now. She prayed as hard as she could for someone, anyone, to save her from the darkness. “Are you okay, Futaba!?” Sojiro’s voice came loud and clear through the front door, which swung open moments later. It may have been someone she knew, but hearing the Boss speak in such a threatening way did not quell her panic inside. “Who the hell are you? Don’t move, you hear me!” Makoto could hear Sojiro grabbing something. Light then hit the side of her face, making her open her eyes at last. She slowly turned to face Sojiro, whose expression went from fury to surprise. “N-Niijima-san? Amamiya? What are you doing here?” asked Sojiro. “G-Good evening, sir,” she mumbled. Sojiro’s eyes went down as something else caught his eye. “Are you… wetting yourself?” In that moment, Makoto no longer cared about her life being in danger. Unfortunately, the panic inside her changed target, and for the first time, Makoto became fully aware that she was peeing her pants. “Ah! Oh, no no no no no…” she muttered as she looked at the big wet patch still growing beneath her. Not only that, but Sojiro’s flashlight now lit up the dark patch on her pants and the stream petering to a stop, putting the gross, wet warmth on her legs at the forefront of her mind. For a moment, Makoto could not believe that what was happening was real. Shujin’s class president and upstanding younger sister to a prosecutor kneeling on the ground and having an accident, let alone while hugging a friend’s leg? It was more unbelievable than an alternate world made up of humanity’s twisted desires. Yet, it was happening right now, and she had no choice but to believe it, as did the rest of the people in the house. “M-Makoto?” Ren gasped as he looked down at her. “Whoa! She really is pissin’ herself!” said Ryuji. “Does she have severe nyctophobia?” asked Yusuke. “I thought I smelled something gross,” said Morgana, his nose wrinkling up. “Would it kill you all to show some concern!?” Ann marched straight up to Makoto and knelt down, placing an arm around her shoulders. “Are you okay, Makoto?” Makoto looked at Ann, her face red and eyes moist with tears ready to fall. “I… I…” Ann wrapped her other arm around Makoto’s stomach. “I’ll help clean you up. Can we borrow your bathroom, Boss?” “Uh, sure, it’s the door at the end of the hall,” replied Sojiro, “But I want an explanation from everyone when you’re done, got it?” “Sure thing.” Ann looked back to Makoto. “You ready to stand up?” Makoto could not speak, so she gave a shaky nod instead. She wanted to go somewhere a lot further away, but the bathroom would have to do. “Alright, up we go,” said Ann before Makoto found herself being lifted to her feet. They made their march to the bathroom, Makoto’s legs feeling weak but still carrying her every step of the way. “Well, at least we know for sure that a girl lives here now.” It was the only light thing Ann had said since they entered Sojiro’s bathroom. Her statement referred to the hair dryer she found in the cabinet, which she was using to dry off Makoto’s pants and panties, both sprayed with perfume to try and mask the smell. Both girls were thankful that the power kicked back on right as they entered the bathroom. Makoto, meanwhile, sat on the toilet, entirely bottomless with just her hands and shirt to preserve her modesty. The irony of the moment was not lost on her. “Um, so, are you cleaned up?” asked Ann, keeping her focus on the wet clothes in front of her. “Mmm, y-yes,” replied Makoto, her voice carrying no energy. Her legs and elsewhere were dry again, for as much comfort as that was. Ann sighed. “I guess that’s good. Means something’s getting dry.” Things getting dry was the least of Makoto’s concerns. Her legs were already fine again, and her clothes could be cleaned or even thrown out. No, she was worried over the irreparable damage to her dignity. It was not even a month ago that she had opened herself up to her new friends and earned their respect as a dependable Phantom Thief. Had she already destroyed all that with her utterly humiliating accident tonight? They would never look at her the same way again, that much was certain. “Um, Makoto?” Makoto stared into the room’s corner. “I can probably guess what you’re thinking right now.” “Hmm?” Now she had no choice but to pay attention. “Y-You do?” Ann nodded. “I just want you to know, this doesn’t change my respect for you. In fact, I think I can relate to you a little more now.” “Y-You can?” Makoto had expected a few responses to try and cheer her up, but this was not one of them. “How so?” “Well, not the ‘fear of the dark’ part, but…” Ann paused for a moment. “Back when I first moved here from Europe, everything felt so foreign and weird to me. The worst of it was getting used to the squat toilets.” “The squat toilets?” Makoto blinked in surprise. She never considered that someone outside the country would have difficulty adjusting to something she learned to use as a little kid. Ann nodded. “I hated those things. Never wanted to use them… but, I was at a photoshoot one day, and I really had to pee, but they didn’t have any western toilets nearby.” Makoto had an inkling how this story would end, but couldn’t stop herself. “What happened?” “I thought I could hold it until I got home,” continued Ann, “but the shoot ended up taking way longer than they said it would. I got on the train back home, but then I…” It was Ann’s turn to look away with a blush. “You can probably guess what happened next.” “Y-You didn’t!?” Makoto motioned to cover her mouth, but remembered there would be little to keep her modest. “I did. In the train. With the whole car to witness it.” Ann’s cringe became greater with each statement. “It was my worst day in Tokyo up to that point. If I didn’t have school the next day, I probably would have never left my house.” “Goodness,” muttered Makoto. She had thought many things of Ann before, but “Public Pants-wetter” was not one of them. Even now, she had trouble imagining Ann in the subway, red-faced and teary-eyed as dark streaks ran down her red leggings among a crowd of people crammed together. Then again, she found nothing but sincerity in the way Ann told it, and Makoto had heard about how bad she was at acting. “If I may ask,” Makoto continued, “How did you get over it?” “It took a long time. Having to deal with stuff like Kamoshida and being a Phantom Thief helped me remember there are bigger things to worry about, though. I can also say I learned how to use a squat toilet pretty quickly after that,” Ann replied with a nervous laugh. “I can imagine,” said Makoto, scratching her cheek. “But I guess what I’m trying to say is, yeah, peeing your pants sucks, but it doesn’t mean you can’t bounce back from it. Heck, if I could get over it, I know you can for sure.” For the first time that evening, Makoto felt some of the dark clouds inside her lifting away. “You r-really think so?” “Totally!” Ann raised a fist. “You’re a kick-butt Phantom Thief now. There’s no way a mistake like this can take all that away.” Makoto could not help but smile a little in the face of Ann’s cheering in such a bizarre moment. “Hee hee, then I suppose I’ll just have to keep being ‘kick-butt’ to make up for this.” “That’s the spirit!” Ann shot a smile, then looked back to the clothes on the sink. “Well, it looks like this is as dry as they’re gonna get right now. It’s a good thing you wore dark pants today.” “Mmm,” Makoto sighed as she remembered what was to come next. “I suppose we should get going. I don’t want to keep Boss waiting any longer than I need to.” “Same.” Ann shut off the hair dryer, handed Makoto her clothes, and turned around. With as much privacy as she would get, Makoto stood up and slowly pulled her underwear and pants back on. The dampness brushing against her thighs and other places felt awkward, but not nearly as much as when she first wet them. “I have to admit, I am not looking forward to meeting with everyone again after this,” she lamented. “I don’t think anybody would.” Ann turned to face Makoto. “But just remember, if not for your smarts, we’d never have figured out who Alibaba was.” “I guess that’s true.” “And if they still try to say anything, feel free to slap them. Twice as hard if it’s Ryuji, okay?” Ann giggled. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” said Makoto, covering her smile with a hand. With that, the girls departed from the bathroom. A hint of red still remained on Makoto’s face, but at least she had found the resolve to head out and face the world again. She now knew Ann was right, and that someday, she would be able to wash this stain off her image and continue to do right by her friends and the world as a true Phantom Thief.
A Change of Heart and Pants
(Note: Contains story spoilers past the fourth palace, and some mature themes. Reader discretion advised) With thanks to Nikeryda and Sake for editing "This is your fault!” A busy city street. A crowd of shadows gathering around her. “Why don’t you say something?” N-No, I didn’t… A car dented at the front. A body lying in the middle of the road. Red along the pavement. “You killed her!” “She did this because of you!” The shadows surrounded her, fingers pointed and voices growing louder. She fell to her knees and shut her eyes. I didn’t mean to… “You deserve to die!” “When will you wake up?” I… deserve… “Wake up!” To… d-d… “Futaba, wake up!” “H-Huh!?” Futaba opened her eyes. The street, the shadows, the body, all of it had disappeared. Instead, she saw the ceiling of her room, and the face of Sojiro Sakura, her guardian, holding her shoulders. “W-what’s going on?” she muttered. “Take it easy,” said Sojiro, “It was just a bad dream. It’s over now.” “A dream?” Memories of that horrible nightmare returned to her at once, with all the twisted feelings they created. If only it was just a nightmare, she thought to herself. “Are you alright, Futaba?” asked Sojiro, “You were yelling in your sleep. I could hear you even in my room.” It had happened again, another vivid hallucination, this time in her sleep. Futaba could not find the words to speak, and only shook her head. Sojiro took a moment to sigh and lifted Futaba up to a sitting position. “Come on, let’s get you out of bed. You probably don’t want to keep lying in… that.” “In… what?” Futaba sat in confusion for a second, but then gasped. She became aware of a sharp smell and a cold, wet feeling against her crotch, butt, legs, and lower back, much too large to just be from sweat. A glance to her legs confirmed her fears. She had tossed the covers off her bed during her nightmare, revealing a large, dark patch on her futon. Her black sleep shorts had a noticeable shine at the crotch with the light on them, and a slight glisten could be seen on her inner thighs. “Oh… oh no,” whimpered Futaba, her eyes becoming shiny with tears. “I’m so s-sorry, Sojiro.” “Hey, hey, don’t worry about it.” Sojiro put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m just glad that nightmare is over. Now, why don’t you go run yourself a bath while I clean up this mess?” She wanted to sit there and cradle herself like the worthless kid she was, but Sojiro would never allow that. “O-okay,” she replied, letting him help her onto her feet. Grabbing a fresh set of nightwear, Futaba made the slow walk of shame from her room to the bathroom. Locking the door behind her, she barely paid attention as she started the bath and removed her wet clothes. While the tub filled, she sat on the toilet and let the tears fall onto her lap, the running water drowning out her sobs. Sojiro was wrong; this nightmare would never be over for her. Tonight had shown that she was not safe from an attack even in her sleep. Wetting the bed for the first time since she was a toddler only cemented it for her. This was her punishment, and she would suffer for her sins until the day she died like she so deserved. Things couldn’t be any better today. This was the feeling Futaba Sakura had all morning as she walked up the stairs to her room, humming a tune from a retro video game. It had been so long since she felt this way, she had forgotten what it was like to be optimistic about the future. It was like she was almost floating on air with how weightless she felt. Then again, her summer outfit, a sleeveless tank top with a Tetris reference and gray cargo pants, might have helped with that, too. Of course, this didn’t come about on its own. She had the Phantom Thieves of Hearts to thank for her new outlook on life. They had gone through the ordeal of stealing the treasure within her Palace in the Metaverse, causing the change of heart that made her into the witty and determined girl she used to be. No longer did she think of this house as her tomb, the place she was destined to die in. Now, it was her base of operations where she could do some good for the world. But first, she had a debt to repay. Reaching the door to her room, she pushed it open and turned around, putting her hands behind her back. “So, be honest. Is this the first time you’ve ever been invited to a girl’s room?” She looked with a playful smile at Ren Amamiya, leader of the Phantom Thieves, and his cat companion Morgana. At her remark, Ren’s eyes widened behind his glasses and he glanced towards the corner. Futaba giggled. “Well, it’s not like I’m one to talk. I barely left my room for who knows how long until this morning. I guess you could say you guys were my get-out-of-self-induced-jail card.” “Er, glad to hear that,” said Ren, turning back to her. “I hate that we’re asking you for a favor so soon, but we’re really counting on you to come through for us now.” “Right, the Medjed thing,” replied Futaba, “If that’s all you’re asking me to do, I gotta say, I feel like I walked away with all the good loot at the end of a team quest.” Turning back, Futaba stepped into her room, a shut-in nerd’s paradise if ever there was one. Newspapers and hard books littering the floor, anime character figurines in pristine condition, a high-end computer with several monitors, and a starry curtain blocking out the sunlight created an atmosphere very different from the rest of the house. Futaba took a seat in her gaming chair and began tapping at her keyboard. “It’s my turn to help out,” she declared. “Hmph, ‘Medjed.’ How do we cook them?” “Um, I’ll leave that up to you,” said Ren, “Just try not to go overboard.” “Roger that.” “Hey, Futaba?” came a voice from behind her, “We don’t have much time left. Are you sure you could do this?” Futaba turned around and balked at what she saw. “Th-The kitty talked!?” “I’ll explain it later. Metaverse stuff,” said Ren. “R-Right.” Futaba looked back at her monitor. “Eh, I guess it doesn’t matter. Let’s get cracking!” Thus began Futaba’s latest hacking crusade. Her target: Medjed, the anonymous internet vigilantes-turned-cyberterrorists that were threatening to expose all of Japan’s private information if the Phantom Thieves did not unmask themselves. She knew better, though; it was most likely some random wannabe hacker using the name to achieve their own goal. Whoever they were, Futaba was certain she could code circles around them. The computer world was where she excelled; she was not about to let some script kiddie show her up. Morgana paced back and forth on Futaba’s bed, looking annoyed all the while. He glanced towards Futaba, who was leaning into her many monitors, her fingers dancing across the keyboard while the rest of her body seemed motionless in comparison. “You’re just tapping away over there,” he said, “Are you sure this will work?” “Mm-hmm… Mmm… Hmm…” “Hey, Futaba!” “Heh heh heh…” Morgana blinked a couple times. “I don’t think she can hear me. Talk about intense concentration.” He glanced around the room, the floors in particular, where much of the hardwood could not be seen underneath all the newspapers, books, and garbage bags. “This place is so messy, I’m surprised she can focus at all. Futaba, you should really clean your room a bit.” “Huh…” “She’s not listening…” Morgana sighed. “Oh well, just waiting around is boring. Let’s clean this place up.” Ren nodded in response, and the two went to work tidying up the room for her. With her guests not focused on her, Futaba breathed a sigh of relief. As focused as she was, she had still picked up on the part where they wouldn’t be paying attention to her. Now, she could bite her lip and cross her legs a little more without feeling so self-conscious. In the time since she had started her counterattack on Medjed, Futaba remembered a few things. First, proper computer hacking could take a while. Second, coffee was a natural diuretic. Most importantly, the last time she had used the bathroom was before she fell asleep from exhaustion after awakening to her persona. She didn’t need smarts to know what all that added up to, not when she could feel it pulsing from her groin. “Mmm…” she groaned from another of her bladder’s many protests. This sort of nuisance was nothing new to her. For as much time as she spent on the computer, she had occasionally wrestled with her bladder trying to pull her away from whatever she was focused on at the time. At one point, she had attempted to use a bottle as an emergency toilet during a particularly lengthy MMO raid. The resulting mess on the floor and chair discouraged her from trying that again. Not that she was about to do that with others in her room, or let them know of her problem in the first place. They had gone through all sorts of trouble to give her another chance at life, and now they only asked for her help with this one problem in return. What would it look like if she stopped in the middle of her task to retreat for a potty break? Embarrassing for one, it was tough enough to let Sojiro know she was heading for the bathroom. Even without that, thinking of running to the toilet brought back visions of her past self, the scared girl that would wet the bed and cry in helplessness. She was not that girl anymore. Futaba had been given an extra life, and she would not take a break until the job was done. “Mmmm… Come on…” An orange glow from the setting sun peeked in around the corners of the curtains. Not that Futaba needed another marker for how much more time had passed. The growing pain in her groin was doing a good job of that by itself. It seemed for every keystroke made, another drop of urine fell into her bladder, only reminding her of how much more work still needed to be done. She was glad to have glanced behind her when things got really quiet and found both Ren and Morgana had dozed off on her futon. That meant she didn’t have to hide her need to pee any longer. As such, she had formed a pattern of bouncing in her seat, squeezing and twisting her legs together, rocking back and forth, and anything else she could think of to keep her gray cargo pants and 50,000 yen gaming chair dry and stain-free. But even with all her holding techniques, Futaba’s confidence wavered with each passing minute. Could she really get this all done and still reach the bathroom in time? She certainly couldn’t take a break now, not when Medjed’s supposed cleanse could start at any time. Even so, the idea still proved very tempting. All she had to do was sneak past her sleeping friends, shuffle into the bathroom, sit on the toilet and- “Eep!” Just the mental image of letting go was enough to make her bladder jump the gun. Before she could stop it, a spurt of pee shot through her defenses and hit her underwear, creating a wet feeling down there that made her break into a sweat. Futaba hunched forward and shot a hand from the keyboard to right between her legs. She had no choice but to divert all her focus from stopping a massive information leak to stopping a massive waste leak. Whimpering through her teeth with one eye shut, Futaba wondered if this was her limit. She could not remember the last time she had to go this badly, even including her attempted bottle pee. Her bladder was at the fullest it had ever been, but there was still so much left to do. Was her quest truly doomed to fail here? No, she couldn’t give up now, not after the Phantom Thieves went through so much trouble to save her. She was free from the cycle of despair and self-loathing that had plagued her for so long; to give in now would be like dropping to her previous form after obtaining a sleek, new evolution. “I won’t… lose!” She declared as she lifted the hand from her groin and placed it back on the keyboard. “Come on, Futaba, it’s comeback time!” Furrowing her brow and squeezing her legs harder than ever, Futaba started her last desperate push to finish her challenge. Despite the pressure hitting her just as hard, she entered into a level of concentration unlike ever before, as if guided by some supernatural force. Every keystroke, every mouse click, every last line of code was made with twice the speed and scrutiny. Even in her zen-like hacking, she was still well aware of how close she was to bursting. The waves of pain continued as always, as did her many motions and moans to keep from soaking everything below her. No matter how much it hurt, she refused to stop. The Phantom Thieves had passed the baton to her, and she’d be damned if she let them down now. This determination kept her going right to the very end. With a heavy, tired push of the “Enter” key, Futaba set in motion the program that would take down Medjed’s server, only to bring it back up with the Phantom Thieves’ calling card plastered front and center. That wasn’t all; the names of almost everyone associated with Medjed, including the one behind the threats to Japan, would be revealed for the whole world to see. The program was still in the middle of progress, but Futaba knew she had won. Leaning back and stretching her arms out, she let out a triumphant cry of “I’m doooone!” “W-what’s up? Something happened?” said a groggy Morgana as he stood straight up from his sudden awakening. “It’s finished,” Futaba replied. “Finished? What is?” Futaba made to turn around and look right at the two, but something else caught her eye first, namely how visible her room’s floor was now. “Ah, it’s so clean! Why?” “We cleaned it,” responded Morgana in an annoyed manner, “Anyway, is it true? Did you really take care of Medjed?” Futaba looked around her room, her eyes wide in astonishment. “I handled them, and someone else handled my room! I don’t understand, but this is g-aahh!?” Futaba’s entire body froze up. Another spurt leaked out, this one going through her underwear and onto her pants. She hunched over and shoved her hands into her legs at once. “Futaba!” shouted Ren, standing up and running to her side. “Whoa! What’s wrong?” said Morgana, doing the same. “Ah… hahhh…” Forming a proper response was out of her abilities at the moment, especially with her face contorted as it was. She could not move a single muscle, no matter how badly she wanted to. “Morgana, does this have to do with her Palace and Shadow?” asked Ren. “I-I don’t know! That whole infiltration was unorthodox. Who knows what effects it might have had on her?” Futaba wanted to tell them her problem was more embarrassing than that almost as much as she wanted to get on the toilet right now. Unfortunately, she knew that neither of those things could happen now. A single motion would break her hold completely, not that it wasn’t about to do so anyway. Only a couple more seconds passed before it did just that. Futaba squeaked again right as her accident began, starting with a light dribble that would not stop no matter how hard she squeezed. It soaked through her panties and went to work creating a wet patch at the crotch of her pants. This wetness spread downwards to her butt, forming a pool that gave both cheeks a good bath. “F-Futaba?” asked Ren. Morgana sniffed the air and wrinkled his nose. “Wait, is this…” “Oooooohhhhhh!” In that moment, Futaba realized that trying to hold it back any further was pointless. This battle was lost, so she may as well get it over with. As such, she closed her eyes, and let her pee come out in full force. The effect was immediate. A faint hissing sound started up, making Morgana’s ear twitch. The golden pool at her bottom grew outwards, becoming visible to everyone in the room. It spread to the edge of her seat, where it spilled off the chair and onto the carpet in a series of piddling drops. A bit of urine continued down her legs as well, leaving wet trails along the back of her pants and damp spots on her socks. At first, Futaba’s mind remained devoid of thought, like a hard drive spinning without loading anything. All she could focus on was all the senses of her accident, the smell and touch growing stronger by the second. Towards the end, however,the harsh truth of what happened set in. A complete failure to hold her pee like a normal person, getting it all on her chair, with people important to her there to witness everything; she had officially hit the worst-case scenario. Her face as red as Ann’s thief outfit, Futaba opened her eyes and let out one last groan as her bladder finished emptying in the worst possible way. “I don’t think this has anything to do with her Palace or Shadow,” commented Morgana. “I see that now.” Ren put a hand behind his head and did his best to only look at Futaba’s head. “Are you okay?” I am the least okay that I could be possibly be right now! is what she wanted to say. The feeling of lukewarm urine all over her lower body and the smell of ammonia brought back memories of the night she had wet the bed. All the crushing emotions from then rose up, and she could feel her eyes watering and clouding her vision. A sound from her computer pulled her attention away. She looked at the monitor and found a new pop-up box front and center, the word “successful” sticking out like a rare drop from a felled enemy, and remembered what was truly important here. Against all odds, Futaba had prevailed in taking down her target. Sure, it had still been a messy end for her, but it didn’t matter. For a moment, her accident seemed so inconsequential when she had just saved all of Japan from an economic crisis. Her frown slowly closed and lifted into a small smile. “Gotcha.” “Futaba? You’re really starting to worry us,” said Morgana. “Hmm?” Futaba remembered the other two present. “Did you guys say something?” “We’ve been saying something for awhile.” “We’re just worried, that’s all,” said a red-faced Ren, “Are you sure you’re feeling well?” “Oh, um, y-yeah, sure! Why wouldn’t I be fine right now?” Futaba stammered. “Futaba...” Morgana muttered with a worried look. Futaba looked away and sighed. “Okay, so peeing my pants was not part of Operation Medjed Meltdown. Definitely not the greatest moment of my hacking career.” “I’m sorry about this,” said Ren. “We didn’t mean for you to push yourself so hard for us.” “I mean, we were pressed for time today,” admitted Morgana. “I guess neither of us realized how long hacking really takes.” “This wasn’t your fault,” said Futaba, shaking her head. “I got so excited about helping you guys out and doing some good for the world, and I ended up making a noob mistake. If my mom were here right now, she’d be trying to help me and reprimand me at the same time.” Both Ren and Morgana glanced away, unable to think of any way to respond to the delicate subject. “But, you wanna what the weirdest thing about all this is?” continued Futaba, “I’m… not really that upset about this.” “Y-You’re not?” asked Ren. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s super-embarrassing, and if you say a word of this to anyone, I’ll have to tell Sojiro that you were being mean to me.” “Er, y-you don’t have to worry about that,” Ren quickly responded. Even Morgana formed a bead of sweat at the threat of an angry Sojiro. “But like I said, this isn’t upsetting me as much as I thought. If this had happened just a few days ago, I would’ve wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and pray that I would just die already.” She once more thought of the night she wet the bed. Even when steeped in her pee, it seemed so long ago now, like a memory from a previous life. It was enough to make her smile a little. “But this? This doesn’t hurt nearly as bad. It almost feels like… victory.” “Victory?” asked Ren. Futaba’s smile dropped away as she caught another whiff of her waste. “Aaaand victory feels really gross now.” “I’m surprised you’ve been sitting in it all this time, to be honest,” said Morgana, twitching his nose again. “You should get cleaned up. Ren and I can handle the mess for you in here. It’s the least we can do.” “That’s not a bad idea,” said Futaba, “But, I think I have a better plan right now.” Not waiting for a response, Futaba grabbed the pillow at her seat, patted it dry of any pee, and set it on the desk. She then flopped her head on it, and was lightly snoring within seconds. After everything she had been through today, a good, long nap was just too tempting to pass up. Knowing that there would be no nightmares to plague her anymore made it all the better. “W-wow, she really fell asleep just like that?” Both Morgana and Ren stood in dumbfounded silence for a while before they could speak again. “She didn’t even do anything about her accident, either,” the cat continued. “Should we help her out somehow?” asked Ren. “I don’t know what we could do. It doesn’t look like she’s waking up anytime soon, and she definitely wouldn’t be happy if we tried to move her or change her clothes.” Morgana paused to sigh. “And I thought Yusuke was pretty strange.” “You mean stranger than a talking cat?” “I am not a cat!” snapped Morgana, shooting Ren a fierce look before returning to Futaba. “Still, this girl is quite a handful. She’s gonna need you guys’ help if she wants to be a Phantom Thief.” “You may be right,” said Ren as he looked over Futaba. The poor girl had been through so much, and yet there was no mistaking the smile on her face as she snoozed without a care in the world. “But something tells me she’ll fit right in with us.”
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Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2010
See the whole debate « Previous speaker Next speaker »
Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source
It is a great shame. I move Australian Greens amendment (1) on sheet 7032:
(1) Schedule 6, page 29 (after line 5), after item 17, insert:
17A Before paragraph 94(1A)(a)
(aa) the total number of requests made under paragraph 19A(2)(b) to the Organisation during the year for co-operation and assistance under section 19A; and
(ab) the name of each body which made a request under paragraph 19A(2)(b) during the year; and
(ac) a summary of the purpose or purposes for which each request under paragraph 19A(2)(b) during the year was made; and
I do not know that I need to speak to this amendment at great length, apart from to note that I can entirely understand why the minister, who is here representing the executive, would be opposed to an amendment like this, but I am dumbfounded at the rest of the senators denying the parliament access to this information—in redacted form. We are not asking for national security sensitive information to be put into the public domain. I am dumbfounded that a whole heap of senators are about to file in here and vote against their having access to this information on behalf of the people who elected us. I find that extraordinary. I understand why the executive does it, although I strongly disagree with it; I do not understand what is about to happen. A number of senators are about to file in here and vote against allowing themselves access to this information. While perhaps the bill will not expand the legally defined mandate of ASIO, I think it will greatly expand its operations well outside the area for which it was established. This is something that we will regret the next time we come to an amendment to the T(IA) Act or the ASIO Act.
All of this is in the absence of the independent national security legislation monitor who was spoken of years ago. I think this place passed enabling legislation to get that office on its feet a year ago and that office still does not exist. Every Senate estimates I turn up and ask whether that office exists yet and it does not. So we are working in a vacuum against a backdrop of the continued creeping expansion of the powers of clandestine security and intelligence agencies, and it is the role and the purpose of this Senate to set some limits on those agencies. This is quite a strong example. The coalition did not bother even asking a single question of the minister on the way through this whole debate. It has been left to the Australian Greens to do it and now we are about to vote to deny ourselves access to that information, which I think is shameful. I thank the minister for the answers provided. I thank the officers from the Attorney’s office who have come to try and help enlighten us a little bit through this murky debate and I strongly commend this amendment to the Senate.
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Hans Hotter
Bass-baritone, Artist of the past
Current city :
Nationalities : Germany
Representation :
Website : None
Hans Hotter in Schoenberg's Gurrelieder
Hans Hotter: Der Barbier von Sevilla (Rossini)
Hans Hotter sings Schubert's "Der Musensohn" at age...
"Mondnacht" Hans Hotter
Schumann - Dichterliebe - Hans Hotter - Leo Schwartz...
Hans Hotter - Wotans Abschied - 1965
Hans Hotter sings Schumann: Die Beiden Grenadiere
Schubert, Der Schwanengesang - Hans Hotter; Gerald...
"Ständchen" Hans Hotter
Hans Hotter "Wotan`s Farewell and Magic Fire Music"...
Hans Hotter (19 January 1909 – 8 December 2003) was a German operatic bass-baritone. He was extremely tall and his appearance was striking. His voice and diction were equally recognisable.
Born in Offenbach am Main, Hesse, Hotter studied with Matthäus Roemer in Munich. He worked as an organist and choirmaster before making his operatic debut in Opava in 1930.
He performed in Germany and Austria under the Nazi regime, avoiding pressure on performers to join the Nazi Party, and made some appearances outside the country, including concerts under the baton of Bruno Walter in Amsterdam, who advised him that if Hotter could not leave his family members he had little alternative but remain in Germany. Hotter was unable to pursue an international career until his Covent Garden debut in 1947. After that, he sang in all the major opera houses of Europe. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut as the title role in The Flying Dutchman in 1950. In four seasons at the Met, he performed 35 times in 13 roles, almost all Wagnerian.
Probably Hotter's best known vocal achievement was his Wotan in Der Ring des Nibelungen, beginning with the Rheingold Wotan and ending with the Siegfried Wanderer ), which he first sang in the German provinces in his early 20s, and adding the Walküre shortly thereafter at the German theatre in Prague; he played the roles until the mid-1960s, by which time his voice underwent a brief crisis owing to severe asthma, causing him to miss the first season of the post-war Bayreuth Festival in 1951, but he sang there for several years starting in 1952. His interpretation of Wotan was first recorded in a 1930s studio version of Act II of Die Walküre. In Die Walküre and Siegfried he was recorded in Decca's famous Ring Cycle in the early 1960s, conducted by Georg Solti and produced by John Culshaw. His interpretation of the role of Wotan was also captured in live recordings at the Bayreuth Festival conducted by Clemens Krauss and Joseph Keilberth in the mid-1950s. He also directed a complete Ring at Covent Garden from 1961 to 1964. His portrayal of Gurnemanz in Parsifal was preserved on record in several of Hans Knappertsbusch's live recordings from Bayreuth.
An admired Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Hotter nevertheless preferred to sing the smaller and lower-pitched role of Pogner later in his career, because its tessitura was better suited to his voice. Also, he was afflicted in later years with a chronic back injury. Similarly, he sang in Parsifal first as the baritone Amfortas when he was younger and switched to the bass Gurnemanz later, and to the even lower bass Titurel after that. He was also celebrated for his Pizarro in Beethoven's Fidelio, of which a live 1960s recording from Covent Garden was issued for the first time in 2005 under the Testament label.
Hotter had a close working relationship with Richard Strauss. He performed in the premieres of the Strauss late operas: as the commandant in the 1938 opera Friedenstag, as Olivier in Capriccio in 1942 and the Jupiter in private dress rehearsal in 1944 of Die Liebe der Danae. After the end of the war, he also sang Sir Morosus in Die Schweigsame Frau with the Vienna Philharmonic conducted by Karl Bohm. Strauss dedicated his song "Erschaffen und beleben" to Hotter, who also recorded many of the songs of Strauss.Hotter's daughter Gabriele married Strauss' grandson Richard in 1962.
Although his international fame was almost entirely in the German repertoire, in Germany and Austria he was also known for performing Verdi in the vernacular and was, for example a popular Falstaff and a formidable Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, a role he also performed in Italian in several theatres, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He performed, and recorded, several non-German opera roles in German translation, including Count Almaviva (Mozart), Boris Godunov (Mussorgsky) and Don Basilio (Rossini).
Hotter was also known as a lieder singer. He left several recordings of Schubert lieder, including Winterreise, Schwanengesang, and other songs. He also sang sacred music and left recordings of Bach cantatas and one recording of Haydn's Die Schöpfung in which he sang both the low bass role of Archangel Raphael and the soft, high baritone role of Adam.
A passionate anti-Nazi, Hotter used to make fun of Hitler at parties and refused to take part in the Bayreuth Festival during the Third Reich because of the Festival's association with Hitler and his politics.According to Hotter's obituary in The Times, Hitler kept Hotter's records in his private collection. When Hotter was interrogated about this at a postwar denazification hearing, he answered that the Pope had some of them too.
Hotter never completely retired from the stage, making his final public appearance in his nineties after several seasons singing such significant character roles as Schigolch in Alban Berg's twelve-tone opera Lulu. He was a notable narrator in Schoenberg's Gurre-Lieder, a role he continued to take well into his eighties.
Courtesy: Wikipedia
Resmusica
03 August 18 10:37
with : Andreas Schager , Daniele Gatti , Klaus Florian Vogt , Nina Stemme , Stephen Gould , KIRILL PETRENKO , Christian Thielemann , Harry Kupfer , Patrice Chéreau , Birgit Nilsson , Lauritz Melchior , Wolfgang Windgassen , Leonie Rysanek , Astrid Varnay , Ramon Vinay , Hans Hotter , Martha Mödl , Herbert Von Karajan , Wilhelm Furtwängler , Hans Knappertsbusch
L'âge d'or de Bayreuth est un mythe
Après l'autorisation de réouverture en 1951, le Festival de Bayreuth des deux décennies suivantes est aujourd'hui largement considéré comme un âge d'or wagnérien. Cette perfection tant scénique que vocale, théoriquement impossible à retrouver depuis, se r
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Puffin Classics
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An iconic novel that continues to inspire millions of fans around the world, and now a major new Disney movie.
Spend a season on the river bank and take a walk on the wild side . . .
Rediscover Puffin Classics - bringing the best-loved stories to a new generation.
Goodnight Mister Tom
Young Willie Beech is evacuated to the country as Britain stands on the brink of WW2. A sad, deprived child, he slowly begins to flourish under the care of old Tom Oakley - but his new-found happiness is shattered by a summons from his mother back in London . . .
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland: V&A Collector's Edition
One of 5 special Puffin Classics created in collaboration with the V & A, with exquisite cover designs from their William Morris collection.
Anne of Avonlea
One can't get over the habit of being a little girl all at once...
This edition features a new introduction by noted Mark Twain scholar R. Kent Rasmussen that situates the novel for a contemporary audience.
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Showtym Adventures
An exciting New Zealand junior fiction series inspired by true stories from the Wilson Sisters' childhoods.
Discover the hilarious, witty, irreverent and sometimes wicked stories of Roald Dahl.
Hopping around with Peter and the gang is more fun than ever.
Explore a bright and cheerful world of unforgettable characters and discovery.
Meet a tiny creature that will leave a huge impression.
Step into the TARDIS and enter the wonderful world of Doctor Who.
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2001: Initiative 747 | Overview and Impact
Summary: I-747 is a 2001 Tim Eyman initiative that stringently limited increases in property tax levies by all of Washington’s jurisdictions (to 101% of the previous year, plus new construction). By 2007, it had robbed the state’s cities of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for public services. I-747 was co-authored by former right wing state Supreme Court Justice James Johnson and former Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna. It was struck down as unconstitutional in June of 2006, a decision that was affirmed on appeal by the Washington State Supreme Court in November 2007. However, the initiative was reinstated in a one-day special session later that month with the support of Governor Chris Gregoire, Speaker Frank Chopp, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, a move vociferously opposed by NPI’s Permanent Defense.
Ballot Title: Initiative Measure No. 747 concerns limiting property tax increases. This measure would require state and local governments to limit property tax levy increases to 1% per year, unless an increase greater than this limit is approved by the voters at an election.
Filed on: January 8th, 2001
Before Voters In: November of 2001
Tim Eyman, Jack Fagan, Mike Fagan, and Monte Benham
Fate: Passed, but subsequently declared unconstitutional in its entirety by the Washington State Supreme Court in November 2007. Reinstated by the Legislature in a one-day special session later that month.
Election Results: Yes: 57.55% (826,258 votes) No: 42.44% (609,266 votes)
Election Turnout: 44.51% (percentage of registered voters who voted)
Petition Drive:
290,704 signatures were submitted to the Secretary of State’s Elections Annex (see qualification announcement); an estimated 240,376 were valid
Validation was conducted by random sample check. 9,762 of the I-747 signatures (a 3.4% sample) were checked. From that inspection, it was determined that the measure had an invalidation rate of 17.3%.
A minimum of 197,734 valid signatures were required to qualify an initiative to the people in 2001 (8% of turnout in 2000 gubernatorial election)
Complete Text: Available (PDF)
Ballot Summary: This measure would establish new “limit factors” for taxing districts in setting their property tax levies each year. For each local government taxing district, the limit factor would be a 1% increase over the highest of the district’s three previous annual property tax levies. For the state, the limit factor would be the lower of 1% or the rate of inflation. Taxing districts could levy higher than the limit factor with voter approval.
County-by-county election results
Counties that voted yes are shown in gray; counties that voted no are shown in purple.
Counties voting against I-747: King, Whitman
See the full breakdown (Excel spreadsheet).
Fiscal impact statement
The following is the fiscal impact statement prepared by the Office of Financial Management in advance of the November 2001 general election.
Main Provisions
Growth in regular property tax levies is limited.
Local property tax districts with a population of ten thousand or fewer must limit property tax levy increases to one percent per year, unless the voters of the district approve by a simple majority vote an increase greater than this limit in an election.
Local property tax districts with a population greater than ten thousand must limit property tax levy increases to the lesser of one percent per year or the rate of inflation. This limit may be exceeded upon approval by a simple majority of the district’s voters in an election. Local property tax districts include, among others, counties, cities, county road districts, fire districts, library districts, hospital districts, cemetery districts and emergency medical service districts.
The state property tax levy may increase only by the lesser of one percent per year or the rate of inflation.
If approved by voters, Initiative 747 would take effect for property taxes due in calendar year 2002.
The limit in Initiative 747 applies to growth in the property tax base for existing property. It does not apply to growth in property tax levies due to increases in value resulting from new construction, improvements to property, and any increase in the value of state-assessed property such as utilities and railroads.
Initiative 747 does not apply to voter approved special levies, such as local school levies.
State and local regular property tax levies are limited in several ways. One limit on regular levies is on the annual rate of growth of the levy. The maximum property tax levy a regular property tax district is allowed to collect is calculated in two steps.
First, the highest property tax levy of the three most recent years in the district is multiplied by the limit factor.
Prior to Referendum 47, the limit factor was 106 percent, representing a levy growth limit of six percent.
Second, an additional dollar amount is added that is calculated by multiplying the increase in the assessed value in that district resulting from new construction, improvements to property, and any increase in the assessed value of state-assessed property by the regular property tax levy rate of that district for the preceding year. The state and local regular levies are subject to other limitations that may prevent them from reaching this maximum levy amount.
Referendum 47, approved by Washington voters in November 1997, limited the growth rate of the state property tax levy to the lesser of 106 percent or 100 percent plus the rate of inflation. It limited the growth rate of local regular levies in property taxing districts with population of ten thousand or less to 106 percent.
Local property taxing districts with populations greater that ten thousand were limited to levy growth of the lesser of 106 percent or 100 percent plus the rate of inflation by Referendum 47. Local property taxing districts with population greater than ten thousand were allowed to exceed growth of 100 percent plus the rate of inflation if, upon a finding of substantial need, the legislative authority of the property tax district approved a greater increase with a super majority vote.
Initiative 722 reduced the 106 percent limits on growth for state and local regular property tax levies to 102 percent.
I-722 was approved by the voters in November 2000 but was ruled unconstitutional by the Thurston County Superior Court in February 2001. The ruling was appealed and I-722 currently awaits a decision from the state Supreme Court.
Initiative 747 reduces property taxes by limiting the annual increase in the state and local regular property tax levies. Local property tax districts with a population of ten thousand or less must limit property tax levy increases to one percent per year, unless the voters of the district approve by a simple majority vote an increase greater than this limit in an election. Local property tax districts with a population greater than ten thousand must limit property tax levy increases to the lower of one percent per year or the rate of inflation.
This limit may be exceeded upon approval by a simple majority of the district’s voters in an election. The state property tax levy may increase only by the lesser of one percent per year or the rate of inflation.
The property tax levy limits in Initiative 747 do not apply to voter approved special property tax levies, such as local school district levies.
The state will experience revenue loss of $34,428,000 for the 2001-03 Biennium. Local governments will lose $115,246,000 over the same period. Loss to the state property tax will total $226,923,000 for the 2005-07 Biennium while losses to local taxing districts will total $571,496,000.
Illustration of Estimated Impact on Homeowners*
The limit on the growth rate for regular property tax levies in Initiative 747 will result in property tax reductions for property owners. Based on statewide average property tax rates, the owner of a $150,000 home would get a property tax reduction on state and local property taxes of approximately $23 in calendar year 2002. That property tax savings would grow to $126 in calendar year 2007.
Fiscal Impacts on State and Local Governments*
The state is estimated to lose $34,428,000 in state property tax revenue for the 2001-03 Biennium – July 1, 2001 through June 30, 2003. Local governments will lose $115,246,000 over the same period. State property tax losses will total $226,923,000 in the 2005-07 Biennium while losses to local taxing districts will total $571,496,000 in the same period. The following table shows the revenue impact by fiscal year.
State Loss Local Loss
FY02 ($8,569,000) ($28,769,000)
FY03 (25,859,000) (86,477,000)
FY04 (46,753,000) (148,415,000)
FY07 (129,560,000) (363,910,000)
Estimates of local government losses in property tax revenue reflect the impact on local regular property tax districts.
Voter’s pamphlet argument against I-747
The following is the text of the argument that appeared in the 2001 voter’s pamphlet urging a no vote on I-747, including the rebuttal.
FIREFIGHTERS, NURSES, LIBRARIANS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS URGE A NO VOTE ON I-747
Initiative 747 will restrict funds we invest directly in local services like fire protection, public hospitals, libraries—even transportation.
I-747 THREATENS BASIC LOCAL SERVICES — SERVICES WE RELY ON IN OUR NEIGHBORHOODS
Because I-747 doesn’t allow critical services like fire and emergency medical districts, public hospitals, and road crews to keep pace with inflation and growth, severe cuts may be impossible to avoid. For example, Woodinville’s Fire and Life Safety District needs additional firefighters and a ladder truck to serve a growing population. Since I-747 cuts funds that come directly from residents to the fire district, critical fire protection is threatened. Facing similar shortfalls, I-747 will limit the ability of local fire departments and hospitals across the state from planning for the future, or even for emergencies—like the Nisqually earthquake or the devastating 2001 fire season.
I-747 HURTS ALL OF US: REAL EXAMPLES FROM REAL PEOPLE ACROSS WASHINGTON
“King and Snohomish County residents are sick of gridlock. I-747 means intersection and county highway improvements won’t get made,” says Snohomish County road crew worker Roger Moller. Klickitat County Fire Commissioner Miland Walling is concerned that “we will be unable to purchase safety equipment for rural firefighters.”
Pierce County library employee Patti Cox says a three- year loss of $1.5 million means “we will have to shorten library hours and cut services like children’s reading hours.”
Yakima County Prosecutor Jeff Sullivan invites “anyone to come look over the budget and suggest which felony crimes I shouldn’t prosecute.”
WE DESERVE MORE FIRE, PUBLIC SAFETY, AND LIBRARY SERVICE, NOT LESS; WE DON’T NEED I-747
I-747 will cut directly from funds that stay in our community for services we support. Our neighbors across Washington agree: our communities cannot afford I-747.
For more information, call 206.447.0888 or visit website: www.voteno747.org.
REBUTTAL OF ARGUMENT FOR
Washington isn’t the “5th highest taxed state.” Our taxes are lower than many similar states.
It’s inefficient to vote for services we already support: $2 million pays for an election in King County or two complete fire stations—staff and equipment—for a full year.
Tim Eyman says he is “proud of our volunteers” without mentioning the $529,000 he paid for signatures and to his for-profit initiative business. (www.pdc.wa.gov)
Vote No on I-747.
Voters Pamphlet Argument Prepared by: KELLY FOX, Washington State Council of Fire Fighters; LOUISE KAPLAN, PhD, ARNP, Washington State Nurses Association; CAROL GILL SCHUYLER, President, Washington Library Association; JEFF SULLIVAN,Yakima County Prosecutor, (GOP); BOB DREWEL, Snohomish County Executive (Democrat)
Editorials opposing I-747
Documents and campaign materials
Fact Sheet: I-747 and Public Libraries (Washington Library Association)
Aftermath: Effects of I-747
Fire Districts, Libraries, Pools, Parks, and Local Communities Feel the Pain
Ballot Summary:
Court & Legislative Action: The initiative was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2007, but foolishly reinstated by the Washington State Legislature in a one-day special session in November 2007.
Effects of I-747
Initiative 695 was only the beginning of the misery. Initiative 747 soon added to the woes of local governments throughout the state. A series of painful, reverberating cuts had begun, proving that tax cuts do have real consequences. Nowhere is this more evident or apparent than in the storms that began to swirl around local governments after I-747 was enacted. Initiative 747 set a limit on the amount of new property taxes that can be levied each each year by local governments, making a 1% cap the law. Initiative 864, Eyman’s current proposal, would mandate huge across the board cuts- millions of dollars lost in a 25% slash. After Initiative 747, Seattle’s mayor at the time, Paul Schell, asked the City Council to mandate the following cuts in 2002:
Closing the Japanese Garden at the Washington Arboretum Park and the Discovery Park visitors center on Mondays;
Reducing lifeguards at pools and closing them on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Presidents Day, Veterans Day and the day after Thanksgiving;
Reducing lifeguards’ hours and eliminating a free swimming lesson program;
Closing all but six community centers an hour early on weekdays and entirely on Sundays. Not affected are Green Lake, Rainier Beach, Rainier, Garfield, Miller and Hiawatha community centers.
Tax cuts have real consequences. This fact seems to be lost on many of Washington’s voters, especially those in Eastern Washington, who have approved four Eyman tax-slashing initiatives at the ballot. The Seattle P-I Editorial Board said of Initiative 747:
“Washington voters are being asked to join in an act of political revenge – not against foreign terrorists but against their own local elected officials…. according to the conservative, non-partisan Washington Policy Center, in 2001 local officials in 34 of the state’s 39 counties and in 17 major cities kept property tax levy increases to the 2.61 inflation rate or less…..”
“…with the state facing its own potential $1 billion budget shortfall, it will likely be unable to continue buffering many of these same communities from the impacts of I-695.”
-Seattle P-I, “I-747 hurts rural areas the most” October 24th, 2001
Libraries across Washington State depend on property taxes for 95% of their revenue. 70% of Washingtonians use libraries, according to the Washington Library Association. The public, in addition to books, now demands and requires technology services- often, to be provided for free. The three main expense areas, according to Washington Library Association, are staffing, library materials, and information technology. There is no “fat” to cut here. The cuts are direct- and they’re painful. Staff get laid off, less materials are available, and free internet disappears. Read more about Initiative 747 and libraries.
Projected Losses, I-747. According to the state Department of Revenue: “The state will experience revenue loss of $34,428,000 for the 2001-2003 biennium. Local governments will lose $115,246,000 over the same period. Loss to the state property tax will total $226,923,000 for the 2005-2007 biennium while losses to local taxing districts will total $571,496,000.
The state loss from I-747 for 2004 alone is projected to be $48,753,000. Local municipalities will lose $148,415,000 in 2004 alone.
Research & Analysis > Dangerous Initiatives > 2001: Initiative 747 | Overview and Impact
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Donations of any size help us do our work!
Prospect New Orleans Announces P.4 Artistic Director!
January 24, 2015 / Prospect New Orleans
Duke University’s Trevor Schoonmaker invited as Artistic Director and Brooke Davis Anderson reappointed as Executive Director
Prospect New Orleans recently announced that Trevor Schoonmaker, Chief Curator and Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art at Duke University, has been invited as Artistic Director of Prospect.4 (P.4), which is slated to open in the fall of 2017. Schoonmaker joins Executive Director Brooke Davis Anderson in advancing the fourth iteration of the international contemporary art triennial, planned in anticipation of and coordination with the City of New Orleans’ tricentennial.
"I am so thrilled to partner with Trevor Schoonmaker, our Artistic Director for P.4., who was the unanimous choice of our Selection Committee to succeed Franklin (Sirmans, P.3 Artistic Director),” said Anderson. “Trevor is a well-regarded curator; he is smart and generous, warm and collaborative, and he lives and works in the South. I have known Trevor since the early 1990s, and I am so looking forward to creating P.4 together!"
Anderson, who was recently reappointed to her leadership role for P.4, has been at the helm of the organization since January 2013.
“Brooke Davis Anderson’s appointment as Executive Director has clearly resulted in the overwhelming success of Prospect.3: Notes for Now,” said Prospect New Orleans Board Chairperson Susan Brennan. “Her dedication to securing the funding for the project, her ability to put together a fabulous team, and her professional approach to every detail has produced an important, artistically significant triennial that is also, impressively, financially sound.”
Since joining the Nasher Museum in 2006 as its first curator of contemporary art, Schoonmaker has been instrumental in developing the museum’s collection of contemporary art. Currently celebrating its tenth year as a major center for the arts on Duke University’s campus, the museum organizes and presents leading-edge exhibitions that travel to institutions worldwide. Past exhibitions curated by Schoonmaker at the museum include: Street Level: Mark Bradford, William Cordova & Robin Rhode (2007); the 2008 retrospective Barkley L. Hendricks: Birth of the Cool; Big Shots: Andy Warhol Polaroids (2009); The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl (2010); Building the Contemporary Collection: Five Years of Acquisitions (2011); Sound Vision: Contemporary Art from the Collection (2014); and the 2013 exhibition Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey. He is currently working on an in-depth exploration of the complex identity of the American South and the region’s profound influence on American culture.
“The Nasher Museum is thrilled that Trevor has been chosen to curate one of the most important and prestigious international exhibitions in the contemporary at world,” said Sarah Schroth, James H. and Mary D.B.T. Semans Director of the Nasher Museum. “It is a great honor for Trevor and for the Nasher as well as a well-deserved recognition of Trevor's unique talent and creativity.”
Schoonmaker organized numerous exhibitions prior to joining Nasher, including The Magic City (2000); Black President: The Art and Legacy of Fela Anikulapo-Kuti (2003); DTroit (2003); and The Beautiful Game: Contemporary Art and Fútbol (with Franklin Sirmans, 2006).
He is the editor of several exhibition catalogues, as well as the book Fela: From West Africa to West Broadway. In 2001, he co-founded New York’s first Afrobeat club night, Jump N Funk, with DJ Rich Medina, and in 2013 he curated the artwork for Luaka Bop’s LP release of Who is William Onyeabor? A board member of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Schoonmaker holds a Bachelor of Arts in art history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Arts in the history of art from the University of Michigan.
January 24, 2015 / Prospect New Orleans/
Announcement, Blog, News
Artistic Director, Brooke Anderson, Education, Executive Director, Trevor Schoonmaker
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Irish Studies (MA)
MA | Postgraduate Taught
Irish Studies is a broad field of area studies utilising a range of disciplines to explore holistically the history, culture and society of the island of Ireland and its global relationships.
The modules available reflect the range of Irish Studies expertise across the university, and are designed to enable students to undertake research across a wide range of themes in and approaches to Irish Studies, to obtain research methods training in one or more disciplines, and to prepare to write a major dissertation in their chosen field of specialisation.
The aims of the programme are:
• To enable graduates to undertake interdisciplinary postgraduate studies in Irish Studies and gain various benefits:
• An advanced appreciation of the value of interdisciplinarity in Irish Studies.
• An advanced understanding and experience of relevant research methods and skills.
• An advanced appreciation of the value of academic approaches to some issues of historical and cultural debate and of contemporary public concern in Ireland.
• A deepened knowledge of specific themes in Irish Studies reflecting the student’s personal interests and research agenda.
For current general University entry requirements for this pathway go to http://www.qub.ac.uk/ado
Irish Studies highlights
There are more than 70 teaching and research staff in the university who specialise in Irish Studies related subjects and who work closely with the Institute.
https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/IrishStudiesGateway/
The Institute is the oldest centre for Irish Studies research in the world (founded in 1965), and has strong links with Irish Studies centres and programmes in Ireland, the UK, Europe, the USA, Canada and Australasia.
The MA in Irish Studies at Queen’s provides students with an unrivalled opportunity to examine Ireland in its global contexts. With options from Literature, History, Politics, Anthropology, and Sociology. The MA allows students to pursue challenging cross-disciplinary themes such as heritage and identities, language and arts, peace and conflict, reflecting the rich cultural legacy of Ireland across the world. Students will explore the possibilities and opportunities in interdisciplinary work in one of the world’s leading centres of Irish Studies research.
Based in Belfast, we have unrivalled access to the people that were part of the Peace Process in Northern Ireland.
The Institute supports a series of weekly research seminars and a number of annual research events in Irish Studies.
All students take the following core module:
IRS7011: ‘Belfast: Place, Identity and Memory in a Contested City’ offers a unique introduction to Irish Studies through the study of Belfast - Ireland's second city and the capital of Northern Ireland – its history, culture and society, and relationship to the rest of the island and the wider world.
Student must choose at least ONE research methods course from the list below:
ANT7007 – Advanced Anthropological Methods - Spring Semester
ENG7163 - Literary Research Methods - Autumn Semester
HAP7001 – Approaches and Debates in Research Design – Autumn Semester
MHY7020 – Becoming an Historian – Autumn Semester
SOC9012 – Approaches to Social Research – Autumn Semester.
The MA is arranged into a number of core and optional modules (courses).
Detailed Programme Information
For detailed programme information please see the Irish Studies Gateway: https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/IrishStudiesGateway/
IRS7010 - Irish Studies Dissertation (triple weighted) - a 15,000 word piece of original research supervised by a specialist member of staff
Students choose FOUR optional modules, under guidance from the Programme Director, from a list of those relevant to Irish Studies from across the faculty. These currently include:
ANT7008 – Advanced Anthropological Perspectives– Autumn Semester
ANT7053 - MA Specialisation (Anthropology of Ireland) – Spring Semester
ENG7261 – Reading Historically: The Irish Novel in the 20th Century - Spring Semester
ENG7305 - Irish Poetry - Spring Semester
FLM7012 - Political Conflict and Form in Cinema – Autumn Semester
MHY7011 - Individually Negotiated Topic in History - Autumn Semester
MHY7025 - Presenting Sources - Spring Semester
MHY7035 - Theory in History - Spring Semester
MHY7077 - Public History Internship (with placement in a museum/heritage centre in Northern Ireland) - Spring Semester
MHY7081 - Topics in Irish History - Spring Semester
MHY7090 - Pathways Through History - Autumn Semester
PAI7021 - The Politics of Northern Ireland - Autumn Semester
PAI7022 - Politics of the Republic of Ireland - Spring Semester
PAI7027 - Conflict Intervention – Spring Semester
PAI7028 - Violence, Terrorism and Security - Autumn Semester
SOC9062 - Conflict & Change in Northern Ireland AND SOC9069 – University Research and Civil Society– Spring Semester
Modules from other programmes may be selected with the approval of the programme director.
Some options may require that particular methods courses be taken or the student to have a particular academic background. The dissertation may be supervised by Institute staff or, subject to the agreement of the Head of School, by members of co-operating academic departments.
Part-time students complete three taught modules in Year 1, three taught modules in Year 2, and submit their dissertation by May of Year 3.
Professor Peter Gray
SHAPP
Peter Gray is Director of the Institute of Irish Studies. He took his undergraduate and doctoral degrees at the University of Cambridge before holding research fellowships at the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s, and at Downing College, Cambridge. He taught Irish and British history at the University of Southampton 1996-2005, before returning to Belfast to take up the position of Professor of Modern Irish History. In 2004 Professor Gray was the Burns Library Visiting Professor in Irish Studies at Boston College, Massachusetts, and was Fredrik and Catherine Eaton Visiting Fellow at the University of New Brunswick in 2015. He was chair of the Royal Irish Academy’s National Committee for Historical Sciences 2007-10, and was Head of the School of History and Anthropology at Queen’s in 2010-15. He is a member and former president of the Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies. He was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2013. Email: irish.studies@qub.ac.uk webpage: http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/IrishStudiesGateway/
Dependant on modules picked
Students of the Institute of Irish Studies go on to pursue careers not only as scholars, but also in a wide range of occupations, including the media, in the heritage sector, public administration and in business.
Our students have found employment in the media, in the heritage sector and tourism, in business and in university administration, particularly in study abroad services.
Morning, afternoon and evening classes
Taught modules are usually assessed by a combination of written assignments and class participation. Students who have reached a pass in these will submit a dissertation (not exceeding 15,000 words).
Assessment and Feedback are continuous throughout the course of study.
A combination of written assignments and class participation. Students who have reached a pass in these will submit a dissertation.
Written language assignments
Dissertation (not exceeding 15,000 words) or practice as research project, which will include a critical reflection of approximately 3,500 words
Normally a 2.1 Honours degree in a relevant subject with evidence of study of Ireland, or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University.
Applicants who hold a 2.2 Honours degree in a relevant subject with evidence of study of Ireland or equivalent qualification acceptable to the University, who can also demonstrate relevant professional experience will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Applicants may be required to submit a piece of written work in support of their application.
Irish Studies costs
History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics
Irish Studies Summer School
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Queen’s is one of Canada’s oldest degree-granting institutions, and has influenced Canadian higher education since 1841 when it was established by Royal Charter of Queen Victoria. With over 170 years of tradition, the university affirms that heritage on both its Kingston, Ontario campus, and on its East Sussex, UK campus located in the 15th century Herstmonceux Castle. Heritage and legacy are important concepts to the ethos of Queen’s, and to the Bader International Study Centre.
Queen’s founders modeled the new college on the universities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and like them, Queen's was given a governing structure built around a Board of Trustees, a Principal, and a Senate.
Classes began on March 7, 1842, when "Queen's College at Kingston" opened in a small wood-frame house on the edge of the city with two professors and 13 students. A Faculty of Medicine was added in 1854, and in 1869, Queen's became the first university west of the Maritimes to admit women to classes. In 1893, Queen's established the Ontario School of Mining and Agriculture, forerunner of today's Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science. A graduate studies program was launched in l889, and in 1918 Queen's introduced the first commerce courses in Canada. The School of Nursing was launched in 1941 and the Faculty of Law opened in 1957.
By the mid-1970s, the number of full-time students had reached 10,000. And though the number of students leveled out, the number of applications soared, allowing Queen's to develop what are now the highest undergraduate admission standards in Canada. Queen's also worked successfully throughout the decade to improve graduate studies and research, increasing both the quantity and the quality of its graduate students. Under the leadership of Principal David Smith (1984-1994), Queen's worked to maintain its high graduate and undergraduate standards. It sought as well to build on its roots as a place that welcomes students from all parts of Canadian society and from around the world.
The Bader International Study Centre
This move to a more global ethos continued with the establishment of a branch campus in the United Kingdom, built around the donation of England's historic Herstmonceux Estate, complete with a 15th-century moated castle, to Queen's in 1993 by alumnus Dr. Alfred Bader. The estate serves as the Bader International Study Centre (BISC). For twenty years, the BISC has served Queen’s students as a unique study abroad opportunity and a site where Queen’s can showcase its commitment to quality higher education.
Bader International Study Centre
Hailsham, East Sussex
United Kingdom, BN27 1RN
Undergraduate Admission and Recruitment
Gordon Hall, 74 Union Street
Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario
Canada, K7L 3N6
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People & Business: March 22
Kennebec Savings helps grow Wolfe’s Neck Center programs
Kennebec Savings Bank has made a gift of $25,000 to Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment to support significant enhancements to facilities on 626 acres of preserved coastal land.
“Wolfe’s Neck Center is an incredibly important organization in the greater Freeport area, providing the public with the rare opportunity to become fully immersed in the world of sustainable farming and the important role it plays in our communities,” said Andrew Silsby, president and CEO of Kennebec Savings Bank. “We’re pleased to be able to support their efforts.”
Wolfe’s Neck Center oversees and operates an educational resource center, oceanfront campground, wooded trails, and several historic buildings. Through regenerative farming, soil health research, and visitor interactions, Wolfe’s Neck Center is used as a public resource with the goal of promoting health and wellness.
Over the next several years, improvements and upgrades will be made to the Farm Discovery Gardens, Organic Dairy Facility, Visitor Center, and Smith Center for Education and Research.
“We are absolutely thrilled to receive this generous support from Kennebec Savings Bank. This support comes at a critically important time as we are in the midst of a major reinvestment in our programs and facilities to better serve our visitors, program participants, and the farm sector throughout Maine and beyond,” said David Herring, Wolfe’s Neck Center’s executive director.
Avita donates to Region 10 Technical High School
Officials from Avita of Brunswick, a local assisted living community specializing in memory care, recently presented Region 10 Technical High School’s Certified Nursing Assistance program with five brand new, state-of-the-art privacy curtains for its health occupations lab.
The lab, designed to replicate a working hospital or assisted care unit, is designed to teach Region 10 students program basics in a clinical environment before they work with patients in real clinical settings as a part of their training.
Avita is one of several area health care facilities that serve as a training site for Region 10’s CNA students.
Avita’s Executive Director Gary Currier said, “We are thrilled to be able to support Region 10’s CNA program in this way. We’ve had so many excellent students work with us and for us over the years, and we wanted to contribute to the program with this donation.”
Before Region 10 CNA students are ready to work with real patients, they undergo two months of classroom and lab prep in the fall, learning the Maine State Board of Nursing CNA curriculum and practicing patient care in their lab. According to Region 10’s CNA instructor, Joanne McMahon, “These new curtains help provide a sense of pride in our program and realism in the students’ studies.”
Gary Currier, Avita of Brunswick’s executive director, and Joanne McMahon, Region 10’s CNA Program instructor, at Avita’s donation of new privacy curtains. Mike Smith, Avita’s maintenance director, looks on.
Kennebec Savings Bank donated $25,000 to Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment in Freeport earlier this month. From left are David Herring, executive director of Wolfe’s Neck Center, and Travis Rowell, Bill Hill and Andrew Silsby of Kennebec Savings Bank.
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BritishGP: "Every Race Can Change Everything"
BritishGP: “Every Race Can Change Everything”
Dovizioso has been saying it all year, and Silverstone was a reminder it’s true.
It’s true that every race of 2017 so far has told a different story, but it’s also true that there have been some consistent protagonists. Marc Marquez is one, with consistency that Yamaha have been dreaming of, and Silverstone was a great reminder that it’s not just pace, tyres and the weather that can affect the championship - it’s also the bikes.
- MotoGP - Silverstone - 2017 -
The machinery in MotoGP is incredibly reliable. That confidence that the riders have – and the viewers all have – mean it’s easy to forget how big an effect it can have on the outcome of the season. So when an engine blows for the reigning Champion, it’s that sudden jolt to the memory that every kilometer counts.
With another 25 points in the bag – becoming the first rider to win four races this year – Dovizioso has now taken back the championship lead from Marquez. But the number 93 is only nine points back, and is still ahead of the man we expected to be the leader, Maverick Viñales. Rossi is only just behind him, and in a slight twist of fate for the Repsol Honda Team, it was Marquez’ loss that has proved Dani Pedrosa’s gain. The number 26 is still very much in contention despite a tough weekend, losing no real ground to the score at the top of the standings as the man in the lead switched once again.
- Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS - MotoGP - Silverstone - 2017 -
No rider has won the premier class crown with more than three DNFs since 1998, so if Marquez is to bounce back and do just that, he’ll prove once again just how deserving he is of his trophies. But in 2017, 3 DNFs hasn’t dented his title chances in the way it once may have done, because the title contenders aren’t where they are by way of the old methods of winning, winning and winning.
Marquez is still second despite his three DNFs because he’s been consistently on the pace – and making that a point of focus more than simply gunning for glory. That’s similar to Pedrosa, although the older Repsol Honda rider only has one win so far, as he’s now been on the podium in seven of the last ten races. His seventh at Silverstone tells of his form this year by how surprising it is.
- Andrea Dovizioso #04 - Ducati Corse - MotoGP - Silverstone - 2017 -
So what of the others? Dovizioso has been the true king of consistency. Some dips in the record exist, of course, but he’s stayed on the bike and the bike has treated him well. DesmoDovi has only one DNF so far – and that wasn’t even his fault, he was collected by another rider. So that may start the Jaws music a little for those who don’t believe he could go all the way – the Ducati works, the team figure out the tyres better than anyone, and the rider is in the form of his life. And the championship leader hasn’t had to risk or sacrifice any of his sensibility and consistency as a rider.
That said, there may be more Jaws music a little further down the standings after both Yamahas got on the podium. That shouldn’t be a surprise, but a surprise it was to some extent because the temperatures were hotter, the sun was out and the two blue machines didn’t suddenly fall off the pace mid-race as the tyres dropped. That makes a good case for believing the hype from both riders following their test at Misano, where they worked almost solely on electronics to sort out that issue.
- Maverick Viñales #25 - Andrea Dovizioso #04 - Valentino Rossi #46 - MotoGP - Silverstone - 2017 -
And next is Misano, meaning they have data. But so do their competitors, who didn’t use their test days simply to work on an issue. The grid is prepared for the next race and there are two men who will be particularly keen to get going on the Adriatic: Pedrosa and Lorenzo. Pedrosa because he was unmatchably dominant last season, and Lorenzo because it’s a venue where his record glitters like few others. That was true of Silverstone and the number 99 was fifth, but he was also only three and a half seconds off the win. By lap, that works out as 0.175 seconds. Pretty close, right?
Six races to go and 35 points over the top five mean it’s still closer than ever. And now we’re reminded, when we do the maths based on where they finish, that they may not finish at all – and through no fault of their own.
It looks like we’re going all the way to Valencia.
- Valentino Rossi #46 - Movistar Yamaha - MotoGP - Silverstone - 2017 -
Want to see more? Check out our Photo Gallery to see even more images from the 2017 - MotoGP Season and many more racing series!
https://www.pro-bolt.com/photogallery/motogp
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keithbinns/Getty Images
Afghanistan’s Next Chapter
Mar 5, 2019 Dhruva Jaishankar
The country is on the cusp of another transition, and the defining features of the new phase remain to be seen. In assessing the future, it will be important to reflect upon the recent past, in order to break the cycle of unlearned lessons that have brought Afghanistan and its interlocutors to this point.
NEW DELHI – The recent geopolitical history of Afghanistan can be divided into five phases. But now it is at the cusp of another transition, and the defining features of the new phase remain to be seen.
During the first phase, from 1974 to 1979, Pakistan began to give refuge and training to Islamists who could be deployed against Mohammed Daoud Khan’s government. Then, from 1979 to 1989, Pakistan, the United States, and Saudi Arabia financed, trained, and equipped the mujahideen who fought against Soviet troops. From 1989 to 1996, Afghanistan was in transition as regional warlords gained power, closed in on Kabul, and overthrew President Mohammad Najibullah. From 1996 to 2001, the Taliban government ushered in a period of wanton savagery and – with the exceptions of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates – diplomatic isolation.
The fifth phase began in 2001, following the 9/11 attacks. Since then, the US has been embroiled in a war supporting a patchwork Afghan government against a resurgent Pakistan-backed Taliban. The sixth phase raises two questions: Did the US lose the war in Afghanistan and, if so, why?
Dhruva Jaishankar
Dhruva Jaishankar is a fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at Brookings India in New Delhi and the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.
j. von Hettlingen Mar 10, 2019
Dhruva Jaishankar highlights Afghanistan’s history in five phases since the 1973 coup that ousted King Zahir Shaha. For the moment the country is at a point of transition. Entering the sixth phase, two questions emerge: “Did the US lose the war in Afghanistan and, if so, why?” The author says, “in assessing the future, it will be important to reflect upon the recent past, in order to break the cycle of unlearned lessons that have brought Afghanistan and its interlocutors to this point.”
Afghanistan has suffered from such chronic instability during its modern history that its economy and infrastructure are in ruins. More than a million people have died and millions fled the country. The 1979 Soviet invasion to prop up a communist regime led to an insurgency by US- and Pakistan-backed mujahideen. The 1989 withdrawal of Soviet troops and the fall of the regime triggered a devastating civil war.
The Taliban, who imposed strict Islamic rule, were ousted by the US in 2001, following the 9/11 attacks, with Nato-led troops maintaining security. The internationally-recognised government set up after the adoption of a new constitution in 2004 has struggled to extend its authority beyond the capital and to forge national unity. The formal end of combat mission in December 2014 was followed by an upsurge in Taliban attacks.
Since then the US has been fighting a war that it can not win, but can not afford to lose. Resenting the blood and treasure spent on the longest war in their history, Americans are war-weary. The US has failed to defeat the Taliban and Afghanistan could once again become “a haven for terrorists.” Trump has pushed for peace talks with the Taliban and a reduction of the US troops before the 2020 election, which he hopes to win again.
The author points out four reasons why in Afghanistan “things did not go according to plan for the US.” The political mistakes were “born largely of ignorance and hubris,” like imposing a “presidential-style government with inadequate checks and balances” on a multi-ethnic and tribal society. The 2003 Iraq war had sapped much strength and resources, while the Afghan security forces were neglected. Democratisation efforts were mostly “top-down” rather than bottom up etc.
The “military mistakes” were a result of misjudgement. While counter-insurgency approach worked in Iraq, it failed in Afghanistan. The US did not “co-opt key adversaries,” and it had not dealt decisively with Pakistan, that has backed and harboured the Taliban and other insurgent groups. It was an erroneous belief that “buying Pakistan’s tactical cooperation through threats, aid, or military support could prove sustainable.”
The author says “pressuring India to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute” did not “allay Pakistani insecurities” and encourage Islamabad to help secure peace in Afghanistan. And Pakistan has little appetite “to clean up its act.” The gains the author mentions are in jeopardy. Kabul, the capital could once again fall into Taliban hands. This “semblance of a functioning state – including a national government and a military” – may be a “reality, however flawed,” but not for long.
Given Afghanistan’s geostrategic location, “it will remain of interest to Iran, Russia, China, Pakistan, and India. And as long as terrorist groups can train and operate internationally from Afghanistan and Pakistan, the US and Europe will also have a continued interest in the country’s future.”
What worries many Afghans is that after 17-years overshadowed by war and a heavy international presence they now face an uncertain future and the possibility of stark change. No one knows what form a new government may take or how much control the Taliban might have under any deal. The prospect of peace with the hardline Islamists brings a daunting mix of hope and fear. Afghans are powerless vis-à-vis the political development in their country.
https://prosyn.org/fEwr5wc;
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PropertyDetective.com
Next Secondary schools
Road From Waterloo Cross To Pugham Farm, Uffculme, EX15 3ET | Primary Schools
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Compared to other places, the availability and standards of local primary schools are fairly average
Road From Waterloo Cross to Pugham Farm has 0 state primary schools within a reasonable walking distance and a further 20 within driving distance. There are also several options for private education locally.
Ofsted rating
Number of Schools within walking / driving distance
0 within a 15 minute walk
1 more within driving distance
15+ more within driving distance
Junior Schools
Uffculme Primary School
Ages 4-11 , Mixed
Rated Good by Ofsted in 2018
1.2miles 4 mins drive
Uffculme Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 4 minutes drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Based on Ofsted inspections and exam performances from schools that this data is available for, this school appears to be one of the best in the area. However we do not have data available for all schools in your area, so we recommend that you make your own enquiries to establish the performance of those schools where the data is missing. In terms of performance, pupils at this school perform around the national average in Maths and English SATs
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Burlescombe Church of England Primary School
Burlescombe Church of England Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 6 minutes drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11 of Church of England faith.
Sampford Peverell Church of England Primary School
Rated Requires improvement by Ofsted in 2017
Sampford Peverell Church of England Primary School is a state school that by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 6 minutes drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 2 and 11 of Church of England faith.
Based on Ofsted inspections and exam performances from schools that this data is available for, this school appears to be one of the worst in the area. However we do not have data available for all schools in your area, so we recommend that you make your own enquiries to establish the performance of those schools where the data is missing. In terms of performance, pupils at this school perform around the national average in Maths and English SATs
Willand School
Rated Outstanding by Ofsted in 2006
Willand School is a state school that is rated outstanding by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 9 minutes drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Based on Ofsted inspections and exam performances from schools that this data is available for, this school appears to be the best in the area. However we do not have data available for all schools in your area, so we recommend that you make your own enquiries to establish the performance of those schools where the data is missing. In terms of performance, pupils at this school perform around the national average in Maths and English SATs
Uplowman Church of England Primary School
Uplowman Church of England Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 9 minutes drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11 of Church of England faith.
Culmstock Primary School
Culmstock Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 9 minutes drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Webber's Church of England Primary School
Webber's Church of England Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 9 minutes drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11 of Church of England faith.
Based on Ofsted inspections and exam performances from schools that this data is available for, this school appears to be one of the better schools in the area. However we do not have data available for all schools in your area, so we recommend that you make your own enquiries to establish the performance of those schools where the data is missing. In terms of performance, pupils at this school perform around the national average in Maths and English SATs
Halberton Primary School
3.4miles 11 mins drive
Halberton Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 10 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Kentisbeare Church of England Primary School
Kentisbeare Church of England Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 15 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11 of Church of England faith.
Stawley Primary School
Stawley Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 15 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Sampford Arundel Community Primary School
Sampford Arundel Community Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 15 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Hemyock Primary School
Hemyock Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 15 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Based on Ofsted inspections and exam performances from schools that this data is available for, this school appears to be one of the poorer performing schools in the area. However we do not have data available for all schools in your area, so we recommend that you make your own enquiries to establish the performance of those schools where the data is missing. In terms of performance, pupils at this school perform around the national average in Maths and English SATs
St Andrew's Primary School
St Andrew's Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 15 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 5 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Willowbank Primary School
Willowbank Primary School is a state school that by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 20 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Based on Ofsted inspections and exam performances from schools that this data is available for, this school appears to be the worst in the area. However we do not have data available for all schools in your area, so we recommend that you make your own enquiries to establish the performance of those schools where the data is missing. In terms of performance, pupils at this school perform around the national average in Maths and English SATs
Tidcombe Primary School
Tidcombe Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 20 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 3 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Rockwell Green Church of England Primary School
Rockwell Green Church of England Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 20 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 5 and 11 of Church of England faith.
Wilcombe Primary School
Wilcombe Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 20 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 3 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Two Moors Primary School
Two Moors Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 20 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 3 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Beech Grove Primary School
Beech Grove Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 20 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
Wellesley Park Primary School
Wellesley Park Primary School is a state school that is rated good by Ofsted. You can read their report in full on the Ofsted site. The school is approximately 20 min drive. This is a mixed school accepting pupils between the ages of 4 and 11, with no particular emphasis placed on faith.
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© Property Detective 2019
Property Detective uses data provided by Ordnance Survey. © Crown copyright and database rights 2019 Ordnance Survey (100052771). This product includes data licensed from PointX Database Right/Copyright 2019 and Ordnance Survey Crown Copyright 2019. All rights reserved. Licence number 100052771. © Local Government Information House Limited copyright and database rights 2019 (100052771). This product contains data created and maintained by Scottish Local Government. Other data including school performance and inspection data is supplied subject to the Open Government Licence v1.0 and any later versions currently in effect, via Ofsted, Department for Education, Department for Transport, Office for National Statistics and other central and local government departments. In providing search reports and services we will comply with the Search Code. For full details please read our Terms & Conditions.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v1.0.
Revision: 28ef5a6
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Slovenia Revealed
A Slovenian resort is synonymous with a cream cake
| 31. marec 2016 ob 06:13
Ljubljana - MMC RTV SLO
The cream cake may look deceptively simple at first glance: a small cube of custard and whipped cream with pieces puff pastry on the top and the bottom. However, the combination has proved so popular that “kremšnita” now ranks as one of Slovenia’s most famous dishes. Foto: Sava Turizem
Jaka Bartolj
31. marec 2016 ob 06:13
The Alpine resort of Bled, with its idyllic lake, church, and castle, is among the most iconic sights in Slovenia. But the town is the home to another Slovenian icon – one that has been featured in travel magazines and on television programs around the world: the Bled cream cake, known in Slovenian as “kremšnita” or “kremna rezina.”
The cream cake may look deceptively simple at first glance: a small cube of custard and whipped cream with pieces puff pastry on the top and the bottom. However, the combination has proved so popular that “kremšnita” now ranks as one of Slovenia’s most famous dishes.
The cream cake dates back to the Hapsburg era, when several local versions of the dessert were found in various parts of the empire. But the history of the Bled “kremšnita” is more recent: It began when a master chef from the Serbian province of Vojvodina, an ethnic Hungarian named Ištvan Lukačević, arrived in Bled after World War II. While working at the Park Hotel, he modified a cream cake recipe from his native region, added whipped cream in just the right proportions, and in 1953, the hotel introduced Lukačević’s creation to the public.
The cream cake was a huge success and became a popular treat for visitors to Bled. In the 61 years after its introduction, almost 12 million have been sold. According to the Park Hotel, they would extend all the way from Bled to Rome if placed side-by side. During the weekends, as many as 3000 cream cakes are sold each day, and every week, 6000 of them are exported to Austria. More than 1000 metric tons of flour have been used for their production over the years.
While the Bled cream cake is the most famous, other bakeries across Slovenia make their own variations, some predating their more well-known counterpart from Bled. In 1938, for instance, a baker from Domžale named Janko Lenček experimented with his own creation, which is still sold today in the bakery owned by his descendants.
Each regional variation of this popular Slovenian desert plays its role in the country’s culinary diversity. However, only the Bled cream cake from the Park Hotel has an international reputation that transcends the country’s borders. It has officially been protected as a dish of designated origin and is the focus of an annual festival that celebrates its status as a symbol of Bled. When the cream cake celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, all of Bled celebrated Ištvan Lukačević’s creation, a treat that many visitors – from Europe to the United States and Japan -- consider one of their most treasured culinary memories of Slovenia.
News in English stops operating
Slovenian Environmental Agency reports that there are high levels of PM10 particles in the air
In 1968, Slovenian television broadcast the main evening news in the Slovenian language for the first time
More people have birthday on 1 January than on any other day
Hiking - Favourite sport of Slovenians
Slovenia Revealed A Drink from the Karst Plateau
Slovenia Revealed A Villa among the Vineyards
Slovenia Revealed The Cave That Became a Shelter
Slovenia Revealed An Overlooked Artist
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Home / Attorneys / Peter T. Moore
Peter T. Moore Shareholder
Email: Peter T. Moore ›
Download vCard: Peter T. Moore.vcf
Print Friendly: Peter T. Moore
Direct phone: 303-824-3156
J.D., University of Denver; Denver Law Journal; Denver Journal of International Law and Policy (Managing Editor); Member Jessup Cup Moot Court Team; Scholarship Recipient (1978-1981)
B.S.F.S., Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University (International Economics), Scholarship Recipient (1974-1978); Research Assistant for the Institute for Ethics and Nuclear Warfare
DAAD Fellow (German Academic Exchange Service), University of Heidelberg, West Germany (1978)
Peter Moore is a member of the business and real estate practice groups for Robinson, Waters and O’Dorisio. He serves as outside general counsel and corporate counsel for many local and regional businesses. Twenty years of experience as a commercial trial lawyer provides Peter with a unique perspective on his business practice and aids in his ability to structure deals and transactions in a way to minimize risk, avoid litigation, and efficiently achieve the client’s business goals. Prior to focusing his career on corporate, transactional, and real estate matters for clients over 20 years ago, he handled hundreds of litigation cases and successfully tried approximately 35 jury and bench trials in state and federal courts throughout the region.
Peter has significant experience with transactional matters relating to purchase, sale, merger, and liquidation transactions; corporate finance, capital raises, start-up companies and entity formation. Key industries in which he focuses his practice include oil and gas exploration; medical device manufacturing and retail sporting goods. Peter also has significant experience with real estate transactions, commercial real estate and development issues. Prior to joining RWO in 2014, Peter was a Senior Partner of a national law firm.
Currently serving as outside general counsel for Major League Rugby, a professional national rugby league that commenced play in April 2018.
Served as outside general counsel for a national retail CBD vendor.
Drafted a $25 million master drilling agreement for a 100-plus well program for exploration and production company; contract included the design and purchase and sale of specialized equipment necessary to complete work.
Raised initial capital necessary to launch medical device manufacturer.
Closed a $150 million mezzanine credit facility for a mid-continent drilling company.
Served as lead counsel for the sale of assets and wind-up of a $100 million in sales, 90-store equipment rental company with operations in 16 states. Private liquidation of assets.
Represented the prime owner of an aging shopping center in the Denver metropolitan area; redeveloped shopping center; and negotiated and redrafted all covenants and declarations. Shopping center today is very successful.
Served as lead counsel in the liquidation and wind-up of a major Denver mid-sized law firm; employed accounting staff of five to complete work; addressed all creditor and ethical issues associated with wind-up.
Lead counsel in the sale of an 18-store retail sporting goods company.
Helped facilitate purchase of a number of commercial printing companies for a national consolidator.
Negotiated and closed the stock sale of an established Minnesota manufacturing company to a venture capital group.
Obtained a defense verdict after a three-week trial in favor of a Fortune 500 manufacturer in a multimillion dollar products liability lawsuit filed by a Colorado municipality. Successfully defended and obtained dismissal of subsequent appeal.
Obtained defense verdicts in a series of jury and bench trials filed throughout Colorado with respect to a failed fast food franchise.
Obtained a defense verdict and an award of attorney’s fees against a plaintiff in a fraud and breach of contract class action claim against a Colorado home builder.
Obtained a multimillion dollar settlement for Denver advertising agency in a federal copyright infringement and breach of contract lawsuit.
Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 - 2019, Corporate Law
Selected for inclusion in Colorado Super Lawyers® 2017-2019, Corporate Law
Rated AV® Preeminent, Martindale-Hubbell (1998 - present)
Recipient of the 2013 Leadership in Motion Award, South Metro Denver Chamber
Recipient of the 2014 Brian Vogt Community Leader of the Year Award, South Metro Denver Chamber and the SMDC Small Business Development Center
Recipient of the 2018 Summit Award from the Colorado Oil and Gas Association as the Energy Industry Advocate of the Year
Founder and Board Chairman, Vital for Colorado (current)
Member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Colorado Business Roundtable (current)
Member of the Board of Directors of the Colorado Chamber of Commerce (2018-2019)
Pro Bono Counsel, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Colorado (2012 - present)
Member of Colorado Advisory Committee, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition
Member of Board of Directors and Legal Counsel, Geneva Glen Camp (2002 - 2005; 2009 - 2016)
Member of Board of Directors and Legal Counsel, South Metro Denver Chamber (2009 - 2014)
Former Board member, Swallow Hill Music Association
Recognized as one of the founding members of the Bench & Bar Society, American Red Cross, Mile High Chapter
P. Moore and B. Biesterfeld, AED Equipment Distribution Contracts: “A Handbook for Successful Distributor-Manufacturer Relationship” (Associated Equipment Distributors, 2017)
Invited to speak at AED National Convention, Chicago, IL, January 2017, on strategies for mergers and acquisitions
Speaker at 2017 AED Spring Convention, Miami, FL, on equipment distribution agreements
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Smith v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
Wilson v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
GJ v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
McGougan v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
W v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
Dayman v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
K v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
Hooper v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
Marinkovich v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
Love v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 31/08/16)
Accident Compensation Corporation v Smith (HC, 31/08/16)
Accident Compensation Corporation v Emerson (DC, 30/08/16)
VB v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 26/08/16)
Marsh v Accident Compensation Corporation (CA, 26/08/16)
Nelson v Open Country Dairy Ltd (ERA, 25/08/16)
Barrett v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 25/08/16)
AH v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 24/08/16)
Orbell-Proctor v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 24/08/16)
Hillman v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 24/08/16)
Holliday v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 23/08/16)
Turner v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 23/08/16)
Adlam v Accident Compensation Corporation (HC, 23/08/16)
Malesic v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 22/08/16)
KL v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 18/08/16)
Hill v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 18/08/16)
Sitarz v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 18/08/16)
Line v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 18/08/16)
S v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 18/08/16)
F v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 18/08/16)
McConkey v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 17/08/16)
Pickering v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 17/08/16)
Hollis v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 17/08/16)
Vetter v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 16/08/16)
Gallagher-Scott v Accident Compensation Corporation (HC, 16/08/16)
Griffin v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 12/08/16)
Stevens v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 12/08/16)
O v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 12/08/16)
Raptis v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 12/08/16)
Jones v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 12/08/16)
Piper v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 11/08/16)
Davidoff v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 11/08/16)
Chalecki v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 10/08/16)
Gupta v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 10/08/16)
Kereama v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 08/08/16)
Estate of White v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 08/08/16)
Dodd v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 04/08/16)
Wilson v Accident Compensation Corporation (ACAA, 03/08/16)
Davis v Accident Compensation Corporation (HC, 03/08/16)
Sellwood v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 02/08/16)
Martin v Accident Compensation Corporation (DC, 02/08/16)
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Running with New Ideas at Reebok
Grad student and longtime “sneaker head” Atulya Chaganty at Reebok's headquarters in Canton, MA.
Atulya Chaganty MID 17 has loved everything about athletic shoes for as long as she can remember. “Eight-year-old me wanted to yell, ‘I want to be a sneaker designer when I grow up!’” but at the time she didn’t think her family would take that idea seriously. But in doing a summer internship with leading fitness apparel brand Reebok in Canton, MA, the Industrial Design grad student and longtime “sneaker head” got to fulfill a childhood wish—and explore a future in the field.
“Being able to come full circle and intern in an industry I daydreamed about when I was a little kid was really cool,” said Chaganty, who specialized in material investigation while working with Reebok’s Running Footwear Development team. Over the course of the 10-week internship, she participated in materials selection, field performance testing and other vital aspects of the research-and-development process for the company’s Spring/Summer 2017 line. She also enjoyed the fringe benefit of being the “lucky sample size” for testing prototypes.
What sets the sneakers Chaganty worked on apart from their predecessors or competitors? “I really can’t tell you!” she insists, but says that the end result proves Reebok’s willingness to “take bold risks with design” while also keeping an eye on green manufacturing practices. “We’ve gone from a world that didn’t think much about sustainability to one that wants to be hyper-sustainable,” says the designer, who was pleased to see a serious dedication to sustainability taking root throughout the organization.
It was due to Chaganty’s commitment to environmentally responsible making that Paul Shinney, the development director for Reebok’s running lines, let the designer focus on the materials side of product development through a number of priority initiatives.” All of my work was integrated into the team’s projects in order to be successful,” she says. “It was real work, and that was very exciting.”
Risks + rewards
For Chaganty, the athletic shoe is a “quintessential industrial design object” that encapsulates questions of function, performance, comfort, aesthetics and other critical design factors. “How do you make an object that is accessible to everyone? And that means everything from price point to foot type.”
Over the course of the internship, Chaganty often addressed issues of race, gender, the body and socioeconomic factors when working with the development team—a major point of emphasis in the work she makes at RISD, which is informed by matters of social justice and recent crises like the water contamination problem in Flint, MI and the massive influx of refugees to Europe.
“We've gone from a world that didn't think much about sustainability to one that wants to be hyper-sustainable.”
Atulya Chaganty MID 17
If someone had told Chaganty five years ago that she’d now be wrestling with such issues within the context of Reebok or RISD, she wouldn’t have believed it. After completing a double major in Literature and Communications & Culture at Clark University, she had begun preparing to apply to law school but in deliberating her options with her mother, wondered if that was really the best way to make a positive impact.
“My mother had just watched a 60 Minutes segment about [the global design firm] IDEO," Chaganty recalls, “and told me: ‘That’s what you should do with your life.’” With a background in architecture, her mother had always encouraged her children to solve problems through making. But with no official experience in art or design, Chaganty knew she needed to take courses at a neighboring community college before pulling together what she refuses to call a portfolio today—“I don’t know what it was!”—and applying to a handful of graduate design programs.
“She offered me a spot, and my head just exploded. It wasn't even a question. This is where I was going.”
Chaganty on getting accepted into RISD
Hesitating to make RISD her “reach” school, Chaganty gave in to an 11th-hour nudge from her mother. “At 11:59 pm I press send, like, ‘Whatever, it’s not going to happen.’” But after a brief time on the wait list, she received a phone call from Associate Professor Beth Mosher, who was head of Industrial Design at the time. “She offered me a spot, and my head just exploded,” Chaganty recalls with a smile. “It wasn’t even a question. This is where I was going.”
Since beginning the two-and-a-half-year MID program in January of 2015, Chaganty has since enjoyed the mentorship of ID faculty members like Charlie Cannon, Matthew Bird 89 ID and Ayako Takese. “The level of conversation here is so awesome,” she confirms, adding that it was in discussing her work with alumna Claudia del Castillo 06 IL—currently a concept designer at Reebok—at last year’s Design Portfolio Review that the summer internship opportunity began to take shape.
All in all, “it was the best experience,” says the designer, who also came away with a passionate interest in injury prevention technologies after meeting combat-injured members of the US Armed Forces during her internship. For Chaganty, using design thinking to assist Reebok in making fashion-forward, high-performance sneakers while keeping an eye on sustainability and diversity proved to be proof positive that she’s on the right path.
—Robert Albanese
Reconstructing Cuba
As a summer intern at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC, dual degree student Joyce Lin BRDD 17 FD helped to fabricate a groundbreaking biodiversity exhibit.
Creating Healthy Narratives
Through a summer internship at Boston Children’s Hospital, Yuko Okabe 17 IL is helping to develop a biofeedback game for kids struggling with emotional and behavioral issues.
A Summer of Art + Tech
Through a four-week internship at the Brooklyn experimental studio Eyebeam, Zak Ziebell BRDD 19 PT gained invaluable professional experience at the intersection of technology and fine art.
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A veteran of the Tottenham-Arsenal rivalry, Montreal's Sagna no stranger to derby games
MONTREAL — Bacary Sagna knows a thing or two about high-pressure derby games. The former Arsenal defender played more than a dozen matches against North London archrival Tottenham Hotspur during his time in the English Premier League.
Jul 12, 2019 1:03 PM by: Canadian Press
Updated Jul 12, 2019 1:05 PM
MONTREAL — Bacary Sagna knows a thing or two about high-pressure derby games.
The former Arsenal defender played more than a dozen matches against North London archrival Tottenham Hotspur during his time in the English Premier League.
Now the veteran defender is preparing for one of Major League Soccer's most heated rivalries as the Montreal Impact (9-9-3) host Toronto FC (6-8-5) on Saturday, with both teams looking to jumpstart the second half of their seasons.
"We know what this means for the fans, for the organization," said Sagna, who played for Arsenal from 2007 to 2014. "Now that I'm here, I feel like a true Montrealer, so of course I want to win. We know this is a very important game.
"You can feel the pressure. Our rivals are coming here. The stadium might be full, sold out. We know people expect a lot from that game. They expect a win. So we're going to try to deliver that win."
There will be very few empty seats at Saputo Stadium for the first meeting of the season between Montreal and Toronto as both Eastern-Conference clubs look to get back in the win column.
The Reds have only won once in their last 11 games (1-6-4) — seven points from a possible 33 — and have slipped into seventh in the East. Toronto is five points behind the sixth-place New York Red Bulls.
The Impact, meanwhile, have dropped two games in a row in MLS and are coming off a disappointing 2-2 draw against York 9, which plays in the lower-tier Canadian Premier League, in the Canadian Championship on Wednesday.
Last week, Montreal squandered an early lead en route to a 3-2 home loss against Minnesota United FC – their seventh straight league game without a clean sheet.
"It's time for us to start winning games," said Impact defender Jukka Raitala before training on Friday. "Individually we have to be more focused. We've played good games but we've made mistakes that have cost us. We have to work together and have a good work effort.
"This is a special game tomorrow (Saturday). We want to win, that's clear. We have to show it from the first minute."
Toronto will look very different from the team that lost 2-0 to the Los Angeles Galaxy last week.
Americans Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Omar Gonzalez are back after losing the Gold Cup final against Mexico. Due to the international tournament, Gonzalez has yet to play with TFC since signing with the club last month.
Canada's Ashtone Morgan, Toronto's longest-tenured player, was already back from the Gold Cup but did not come off the bench in the loss to L.A. He is expected to play a part in Saturday's derby match.
And with the opening of the secondary transfer window, the Reds have been busy this week. Toronto signed 22-year-old Venezuelan winger Erickson Gallardo and acquired 27-year-old striker Patrick Mullins from Columbus for homegrown talent Jordan Hamilton.
The influx of players could give TFC a much-needed boost on both sides of the ball as the playoff race intensifies in the East.
"It's a little bit awkward because you have a lot of people coming in," Toronto coach Greg Vanney told the team's website this week. "For us, it's people coming back together, some new faces. You're re-introducing everybody to each other.
"It becomes a little less about the rivalry, and more about our progression to move forward. If it were three weeks down the road, we would be more focused on the energy of the rivalry because everybody would be in more of a flow than we probably are in the moment."
Those additions should help create more chances for all-star midfielder Alejandro Pozuelo, who leads Toronto with seven goals and eight assists in his debut season. The Spaniard has been directly involved in half of Toronto FC's 30 goals this season.
"He's become a very important asset to that team," said Sagna of Pozuelo. "He's adapted extremely well to Toronto's team. We're aware of the danger he poses. He's a very good player, but there are good players on every team. It's up to us not to let him take control of the game."
TORONTO FC (6-8-5) at MONTREAL IMPACT (9-9-3)
Saturday, Saputo Stadium
HOME TEAM SUPREMACY: The home team has won the last four matches in the 401 derby. The Impact's two homes wins against Toronto last year were by clean sheet.
WIN OR LOSE: A Montreal-Toronto rivalry game has not ended in a draw in the previous seven encounters.
SORRY CIMAN: Former Impact defender Laurent Ciman – a fan favourite during his three seasons in Montreal – will not play Saturday due to a knee injury.
BROWNE POINTS: The Impact's Omar Browne helped eliminate Toronto from the Champions League earlier this year. The Panamanian, then with Independiente, scored twice in the two-legged aggregate series.
PIATTI NEARING RETURN: All signs are pointing to Ignacio Piatti returning from injury in the next two weeks, according to head coach Remi Garde.
THE REAL DEAL: Spanish giants Real Madrid are training at Montreal's practice facility until July 19. They will also hold a public training session at Saputo Stadium on July 17.
Kelsey Patterson, The Canadian Press
More National Sports
Local boy Ashtone Morgan still making his mark in ninth season with Toronto FC
Germany wins world open-water relay, Italy 2nd and US 3rd
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Why Do People Like SKS Rifles?
By Danielle Hollembaek
Lightweight, fast, and reliable, what’s not to like about the SKS rifle? If you explore any gun auction catalog or browse the internet looking for semi-automatic rifles, you are bound to come across one the many variations of SKS rifles that exist in the marketplace. With dozens of countries using them for the past 70 years, finding one is no challenge, but if you want a specific type or version that has been unaltered, that is a different story.
History of the SKS Rifle
Lot 449: Tula Arsenal SKS Semi-Automatic Rifle. Available this July in Our Online Only Auction.
The original SKS rifle was designed by Sergei Gavrilovich Simonov which is why SKS stands for “Self-Loading Carbine of the Simonov System.” Manufactured in 1945, the SKS rifle became the primary military rifle used by the Soviet Union replacing the previously popular and long serving Mosin-Nagant. The predecessor had its flaws with weight and heavy recoil due to its excessively powerful ammo. A lighter and more controllable option needed to be explored.
Simonov was no stranger to the world of firearms and had already designed a select fire rifle for Russia called the AVS-36 in 1936. AVS loosely translates to “Automatic Rifle of the Simonov System.” The requirements for the AVS rifle were similar to the SKS: a moderate capacity magazine on a fast and dependable gun. The rifle could fire as a semi-automatic, but being primitive in nature, it was hard to control as it still relied on the 7.62x54R cartridge, causing it to be lackluster in accuracy. It was not the most user friendly firearm with complicated locking system and its inability to avert dirt from entering gun’s inner workings. Its many parts made it both time consuming to manufacture and difficult for troops to maintain.
In the early 1940s, Simonov undertook the challenge of improving upon the AVS to correct its major shortcomings. Chambering the new gun in 7.62×39mm gave it medium firepower and the ability to load the box magazine with a stripper clip cut back on reloading time. The SKS rifle was gas operated with a tilting bolt locking system for safety with the original design sporting a spring-loaded firing pin, but other country’s adaptations of the SKS adjusted the firing mechanism. The barrels of SKS rifles were typically chrome lined to prevent excessive wear-and-tear due to weather and use. All Soviet SKS military models had a standard issue 180 degree folding bayonet connected on the underside of the barrel. Although this is not necessary for uses today, it was a requirement for military rifles at the time.
The SKS rifle was an improvement, but it was not a prime example for accuracy and craftsmanship of the 1940s. Even so, the government liked it because it was easy to use, maintain, and manufacture. It also was cheap and fast to produce for the large numbers of Russian troops.
Lot 447: Russian SKS Semi-Automatic Rifle with Accessories. Available this July in Our Online Only Auction.
Very few SKS-45 rifles actually saw use in World War II due to the end of the war coming so soon after the rifle’s creation, but a select number of rifles were produced and used against Germany in the last months of World War II as a trial for the new and experimental gun. Unfortunately for the Soviet SKS rifle, it saw a very short run after its mass government production in 1948-49 by Tula Arsenal. The AK-47 proved to be a better weapon for the Soviets having all the good qualities of the SKS plus being capable of full-auto fire. Tula Arsenal still produced the rifle for the civilian market until 1955.
Luckily for the classic gun, instead of being lost to history, other countries began to adapt the SKS rifle. China led production with millions and millions of SKS rifles and used them from the early 1950s into the late 1970s. The “People’s War”, the Chinese Civil War and The Vietnam War were fought mainly with Chinese-made SKS rifles. The People’s Liberation Forces used the rifle for decades to protect themselves and their villages.
Lot 442: Two Chinese SKS Semi-Automatic Rifles. Available this July in Our Online Only Auction.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union gave its allies the SKS rifle manufacturing plans. This gave countries like Albanian, Yugoslavia, and Romania the ability to produce a large numbers of SKS rifles. North Vietnam and East Germany also made SKS rifles, but in small quantities making them very rare today.
Even as recently as the early 2010s, some forces around the world have been seen carrying SKS rifle variations. Countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and North Korea still like the weapon and assign it for their military personnel.
Lot 1619: East German SKS Semi-Automatic Carbine. Sold for $11,500 in May 2019.
Why is the SKS Rifle Popular?
The SKS rifle is a battle-proven gun with a classic look. Its wooden stock is a sign to many of a traditional, reliable, and ready-to-use rifle. It is not hard to find an SKS in great condition with little wear and tear, at an attractive price since so many were produced. People aren’t purchasing the SKS rifle for looks in many cases however, but instead for its function and price point.
The ammunition for the SKS is one of the cheapest center fire choices on the market. Chambered in 7.62×39mm, it has power and can take down most common game animals. Most SKS rifles cost around $400 to $1,000 making them an achievable firearm for almost every gun enthusiasts. As for the reliability and capacity of the gun, the SKS rifle is a great option for new gun owners and a fantastic first rifle beyond the 22LR.
The SKS, not surprisingly, is a popular hunting rifle. Due to its known mid-to-longer range ability, the SKS rifle is commonly used to hunt deer. The only downfall in using the gun as a hunting rifle is the lack of a scope or ability to mount one. The original design was created with an iron sight only. With anything around 50-100 yards, a person should be fine using the sight alone, but some hunters like the peace of mind and versatility of having a scope.
Lot 440: Chinese SKS Semi-Automatic Carbine with Scope. Available this July.
Why Do People Modify SKS Rifles?
Are these SKS rifles cool? Do you like the modifications? Should people alter guns? You be the judge, people like what they like!
Modifying a firearm to fit a need or make an improvement for personal use is less of a big deal on modern firearms, but in classic or collectible firearms it can be an important choice. Especially if a person plans to one day resell it and expects the same price as an original example of the same gun. Some modifications may be necessary, and even encouraged, if a gun is in disrepair and needs to be refinished and or repaired. Bubbaing however, the common practice of taking an old gun and adding extraneous paint, accessories, or attachments on to it to make it “cool” or “interesting” often ventures beyond the realm of functionality, good taste, and aesthetics. Bubbaing is not necessarily bad if a person does it to a non-historic or non-valuable gun that he or she plans to use. Unnecessary modifications are not an advised practice by any gun experts or authorities who wants to maintain originality.
In the case of the SKS, bubbaing is all too wide spread on any and all variations of the gun. Before the 1994 “Assault Weapon Ban”, purchasing an SKS would cost you well under $100 for a nice quality and good condition gun. When you can get a gun at that low of a price, the firearm modifiers of the world, both good and bad, flock and take the opportunity for all its worth. Some people just enjoy tinkering with their guns and will add anything to put their “personal” touch on it. SKS modifications tend to happen to the barrel with additions like scopes and some even add a homemade buttpad extensions. Painting or trying to improve the wood’s finish is another common SKS modification. Some refinished SKS rifles looks pretty sharp when done by a seasoned gunsmith or professional.
As mentioned earlier, one downfall of the SKS that turns some people away is its lack of a scope or a way to mount one. To the DIYers of firearms, they don’t worry about this and simply add a mount and a scope. Does this increase the usability of the guns and perhaps the desirability of the SKS? Perhaps, but why not just invest in a different gun without collector value or any other milsurp that does not require permanent modification to mount an optic?
The main issue when a person modifies a SKS rifle, or any classic gun for that matter, is that only decreases the value. Putting on a scope or other accessories takes away from the originality of the firearm. With old guns like an original SKS, it is highly frowned upon to alter them. If a person doesn’t care about resale value or originality, altering a gun is a more acceptable. Just don’t try and sell the gun later and expect the price to be the same as untouched SKS rifles.
All in all, experts and specialists do not advise altering a gun if maintaining value and originality is of concern.
Lot 444: Norinco – SKS-Carbine. Available this July.
In Rock Island Auction Company’s upcoming July Online Only Auction, we are offering a wide range and many different variations of the SKS rifle. From Soviet made to China produced, our catalog has some nice conditioned examples. Check them out for yourself, our auction is July 18. Get your sealed bids in today and win yourself an SKS rifle.
More information on SKS Rifles on Wikipedia
Bid Estimates:
Every auction lot has a low and high estimated value. This does not mean the item must sell in that estimate range. You can bid above or below the estimates. The price estimates are based on our specialists research of current market selling prices of similar items, and other factors depending on the item. Most items sell in or near these estimate ranges.
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December 4, 2014 10:21PM ET
New Lawsuit Claims Apple Deleted Users’ Songs From iTunes Competitors
“You guys decided to give them the worst possible experience,” says attorney for plaintiffs in class-action suit
Steve Knopper
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Steve Jobs holds up the new iPod Nano during an announcement in San Francisco, California on Wednesday, Sept. 7th, 2005
Paul Sakuma/AP
Apple regularly deleted music that users had downloaded from iTunes competitors, attorneys declared Wednesday during a 10-year-old antitrust lawsuit involving iPods and a hacker with the name “DVD Jon,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Between 2007 and 2009, some users attempting to sync their iPods containing non-Apple files received an error message and a “restore factory settings” prompt. After the restore, the music in question vanished forever.
“You guys decided to give them the worst possible experience,” said Patrick Coughlin, attorney for plaintiffs in a class-action suit who are seeking $350 million in damages. (This figure could be tripled, per antitrust laws, if the U.S. District Court in Oakland rules against Apple.) Although the plaintiffs argue Apple deliberately misled users by not telling them about the problem, Apple security director Augustin Farrugia said in his testimony that “we don’t need to give users too much information.”
Apple's iPhone 6 Rollout: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
A representative for Apple declined to comment.
Evidence from the trial suggests Jobs and Apple were aggressive about limiting iPods and iTunes to the computer giant’s exclusive services. In a 2005 e-mail, after finding out that a competitor was on the brink of allowing music fans to play songs from other services on iPods, Jobs told an employee: “We may need to change things here.” Two years earlier, he’d e-mailed, “We need to make sure that when Music Match launches…they cannot use iPod.”
But Farrugia said the reason for the aggressive moves had to do with security against hackers — named “DVD Jon” and “Requiem” — which made the company “very paranoid.” In a 2011 deposition, Jobs made pointed remarks about his competitors; about Real Networks, an early owner of the Rhapsody service, he snapped, “Do they still exist?”
In This Article: Apple
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Exhibitions |
Kuniyoshi: The Masterpieces |
The Ghost of Akugenta Yoshihira Revenge of Namba Jiro at Nunobiki Waterfall
#JP1-63504
Kuniyoshi (1797-1861)
Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi ga
Very fine color, impression and state.
Iseya Sanjiro
Kiwame
Dating to c.1825, this design marks one of Kuniyoshi’s earliest explorations of the triptych format. As the Nunobiki Waterfall flows blue and white in the left panel, Kuniyoshi juxtaposes natural beauty with the supernatural drama in this episode from the Tale of Heiji. In the center sheet, Akugenta Yoshihira (1140- 1160) floats upon a burst of fire. He has returned to avenge his death at the hands of Nanba Jiro years earlier. As promised at his death, Yoshihira has returned with the power of lightning to carry out his revenge. Kuniyoshi captures the intensity of Yoshihira’s fury through the bolts that frantically branch through the composition, blowing back the trees, and destroying the ground on impact. As the doomed Nanba Jiro is thrown into the air, a fireball speeds towards his upturned chest, the all-powerful Kiyomori and his retainers watch from the edges of the print.
The son of silk dyer, Kuniyoshi Utagawa was born into the Igusa family in Edo. Little is known about his very early years, though he is said to have shown remarkable talent from a young age. Kuniyoshi began his ukiyo-e career as a pupil of Shunei. At age 14 he was accepted to study the art of woodblock printing under Toyokuni I and, in time, would become one of his most successful students. In 1814, he left Toyokuni’s studio to pursue a career as an independent Japanese ukiyo-e artist. Initially, he had little success, selling tatami mats in order to support himself. However, his fortunes changed in 1827 with his dramatic series 108 Heroes of the Suikoden. From that point on, the public hungered for his portrayals of famous samurai and legendary heroes. Kuniyoshi worked in all genres, producing some brilliant landscapes and charming bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful women). He died in the spring of 1861 from complications of a stroke.
In direct contrast to the peaceful views of a scenic Japan provided by Hiroshige and Hokusai, the following decades saw a rise of the fierce, fearsome and fantastical in ukiyo-e. Kuniyoshi welcomed this changing public taste. He had a ravenous imagination and the full scope of his work reveals an aesthetic sensibility capable of assimilating almost any experience. No doubt, however, his particular genius felt most at home in the world of martial glory, where epic battles decided the fate of empires and fierce warriors clashed to the death. His imagery was so popular in his time that he received requests for tattoo designs.
"The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude." - Friedrich
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"Golden Age" for Natural Gas Might Prove Climate Challenge
Burning more natural gas might also mean more greenhouse gas emissions causing more global warming
By Nathanael Massey, ClimateWire on May 30, 2012
The world is on the brink of a "golden age" for natural gas, with demand for the low-carbon fossil fuel slated to rise by 50 percent -- as much as demand for coal, oil, nuclear power combined -- over the next two and a half decades, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency.
Should those trends manifest, however, the world will have little chance of halting global warming at 2 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels, the limit most scientists say is necessary if runaway climate change is to be avoided.
"We are not saying that it will be a golden age for humanity -- we are saying it will be a golden age for gas," Fatih Birol, lead author of the study "Golden Rules for a Golden Age of Natural Gas" told the BBC.
Driven by increased exploration in North America and China, production of shale gas could triple to 1.6 trillion cubic meters during that period, swelling gas's share of the global energy mix to nearly a quarter by 2035.
Advocates for natural gas often point to its potential as a "bridge resource" -- a low-carbon alternative for baseload power that can displace coal and oil until renewable energy sources like solar and wind become economically scalable. Yet deploying natural gas on the scale projected by the IEA report would mean building infrastructure that locks the world into gas for decades to come, the IEA notes.
The report notes, as well, that "lower natural gas prices lead to slightly higher overall consumption of energy and, in some instances, to displacement of lower-carbon fuels, such as renewable energy sources and nuclear power."
Gas no panacea for global warming
The study projects an overall greenhouse gas increase of 20 percent compared to 2010 levels, slightly lower than projected if the current fuel mix, including coal, were to persist.
"Overall, the projections [in the high-end usage scenario] involve only a small net shift in anticipated levels of greenhouse gas emissions," the study notes.
Those projections see atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations stabilizing at 650 parts per million, resulting in a temperature rise of 3.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
Those conclusions have drawn criticism from environmental groups, including Friends of the Earth and the World Wildlife Fund, which argue that the analysis leaves out the important roles that energy conservation and renewable energy could play in the future.
"We know how to build gas plants, how to get permits. There's a lot of momentum there, obviously," said Marty Spitzer, U.S. climate policy director at the World Wildlife Fund. "But I think we need to have a conversation about this and ask ourselves, just because we have the gas, just because know how to use it, does that really mean we should?"
Spitzer agreed that gas might function as a bridge but only if it could somehow be used without locking the world into several decades of gas-fired infrastructure. "You need baseload capacity to offset things like solar and wind, so there's a good marriage there with gas," he said. "But even then, gas can't just replace all the other fossil fuels as the baseload. We need to be deploying wind, solar, geothermal at the same time."
Reprinted from Climatewire with permission from Environment & Energy Publishing, LLC. www.eenews.net, 202-628-6500
Nathanael Massey
Warming Waters Could Shift Salmon, Other Species on West Coast
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Obama's Clean Power Plan Probed by Lawyers and Legislators for Weaknesses
ClimateWire
Some Disaster Prevention Spending Reaps Higher Rewards
Climate Preparation Report Released by Panel Previously Disbanded by Trump
Greenland Has Yet Another Methane Leak
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The weekend of November 15, 2013, more than 10,000 Scientologists gathered in Clearwater, Florida. The events that followed marked the largest convocation in Scientology history.
The series of unprecedented events marked the final countdown for the global launch of Golden Age of Tech Phase II and the monumental moment when the ribbon would fall on our 21st-century cathedral.
“By the time this weekend is over, it is going to be a whole new world,” Mr. Miscavige declared. “You have arrived at a turning point—a turning point that guarantees our future into eternity.”
During the first monumental event, Mr. Miscavige presented the Processing side of the Bridge—100 percent Standard Tech Guaranteed: Done.
Mr. Miscavige launched the Golden Age of Tech Phase II with a groundbreaking briefing on the new services and materials on the Processing side of the Bridge, beginning with the Purification Rundown.
The second historic event was devoted to Training in the Golden Age of Tech Phase II—from Student Hat to Solo Auditing and the release of the new Mark Ultra VIII E-Meter.
Among the new courses released by Mr. David Miscavige was the Student Hat, encompassing L. Ron Hubbard’s breakthrough technology of study. New course materials include a monumental reference work that has never existed before—the Student Hat Dictionary.
Highlighting the series of presentations by Mr. David Miscavige was the graduation of more than 1,100 senior ecclesiastical ministers from Scientology Churches across 28 countries. The graduation was the culmination of the largest and most comprehensive training program in our history.
Six months of intensive training, 350 million student points and 8,569 courses completed. Every single trainee a full, 100 percent done on every course necessary to bring Golden Age of Tech Phase II to every org on the planet.
It was the moment the Scientologists had been waiting for: Mr. Miscavige’s announcement of two never-before-released LRH rundowns: the Super Power and Cause Resurgence Rundowns.
“What you are about to discover are a series of rundowns so amazing, they truly defy description,” Mr. Miscavige said in his speech releasing Super Power. He then quoted what LRH said about the rundowns: “Super Power consists of high-power rundowns which enter realms of the tech never before approached. This is the means that puts Scientologists into a new realm of ability, enabling them to create the New World.”
The Golden Age of Tech Phase II included building the ranks of the most highly classed auditors in the world: 23 brand-new Flag Class XII Auditors, which, in combination with Flag’s existing Class XIIs made for what is now the largest corps of Class XIIs in history. Add to that a total of 197 new Flag auditors and technical specialists, speaking 24 languages, now dedicated to the delivery of Super Power and Cause Resurgence.
The weekend truly was a turning point, putting everything in place for anyone, anywhere, to step onto the Bridge and then ascend that Bridge to Clear in a matter of months, as was always LRH’s intention. So, too, were the materials, courses and revolutionary training aids to realize his intention to train 100 percent standard auditors with speed and certainty.
GOLDEN AGE OF TECH PHASE II:
THE SCIENTOLOGY BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM
It was the most monumental weekend in our history.
The largest gathering of Scientologists ever assembled.
Three epic events: an unprecedented seven hours of groundbreaking briefings from Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center.
Such was the arrival of the Golden Age of Tech Phase II: the Processing side of the Bridge, the Training side of the Bridge—100 percent Standard Tech Guaranteed—Done!
The launch of the Golden Age of Tech Phase II is the historic sum of milestone accomplishments in itself: The largest training program ever in our history, from start to finish. The biggest and most important executive conference in our history. The greatest production of technical and administrative materials in our history. All in a space of six months. And all in one epic countdown to the most unprecedented chapter the world of Scientology has ever known.
The Golden Age of Tech Phase II followed on the heels of the Golden Age of Knowledge—an evolution that involved nothing less than the full audio restoration of all 3,000 LRH lectures and the recovery of the complete, day-by-day path of his discovery and development.
Altogether, our Golden Age encompasses everything—the entire Bridge to Clear. Done!
Finally, there was the crowning accomplishment: the grand opening of the transcendent Flag Building—our new spiritual headquarters.
SEE ALSO: The Majesty of Scientology: Our 21st Century Cathedral
Read what Scientologists said about the launch of the Golden Age of Tech Phase II:
“Words cannot describe it. Maybe ‘evolutionary’ or ‘revolutionary’ or ‘breathtaking.’ It will be so easy now to get up the Bridge! Training will be effortless!”—A.C.
“It is hard to find words to describe it. Epic. Monumental. Mind-blowing. Exhilarating.”
“It is hard to find words to describe it. Epic. Monumental. Mind-blowing. Exhilarating. It sounds like an exaggeration. This event wasn’t an event. It’s more like a revelation. How do you invite someone to a revelation? How do you email an invitation to a personal epiphany?”—C.L.
“Chairman of the Board RTC has truly honored and brought to life all of the tools and technology of the greatest friend Man has ever known. L. Ron Hubbard’s dream has come to fruition and the world will never be the same again. We are here. And Scientology has just stepped even more so onto the world stage. Whether you are a Scientologist or brand new these gifts of a new life are for you.”—F.R.
“The standing ovation started and it went on and on and on… a minute, two, three, four, five, six. No matter the acknowledgement, no one would stop. Crying, shouting, whooping and thunderous applause over and over and over.”—U.K.
“COB has DONE it. It’s so right. And the Super Power and Cause Resurgence data—out of this world! Literally! I want to do Super Power and Cause Resurgence—I want to do it all. We are so fortunate in having Chairman of the Board and what he has done for us and for this planet, all the work and the effort and time, and now we have it all. He is an amazing leader.”—G.C.
“This event was brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! The most amazing thing was all of the Outer Org Trainees and their bright and smiling faces. What they are taking back to their orgs is absolutely invaluable. I’ve never seen an audience so charged up in my whole life!”—I.E.
“This was an epic, earth-shattering event!”
“This was an epic, earth-shattering event! We’re going to bring spiritual freedom to this planet. We have the correct technology.”—B.R.
“I am so on FIRE and so pumped and excited after seeing this event. It’s not a refinement of Golden Age of Tech—it changes everything. Chairman of the Board talked about every aspect of the Grade Chart. The tone level in the tent was complete EXHILARATION. It was like a huge celebration everywhere. Never seen anything like it.”—J.M.
“People’s lives
were completely changed tonight.”
“I am totally amazed by the thoroughness taken to do exactly what LRH directed with no deviation. All that COB did is amazing and exactly what LRH said. People’s lives were completely changed tonight.”—D.D.
“Mind blowing! Give me Super Power! Cause Resurgence! I am speechless! The Bridge is fully in place. This is truly a turning point to really clear this planet. Golden Age of Tech Phase II is taking it the whole way.”—T.U.
“Super Power meant the most to me from the event tonight. The amount of detail and the professional way it was presented were mind blowing. I am blown away! It is the most crucial step in Scientology history. With this structure now in place, we are ready for the future.”—F.T.
“What a blessing to this planet COB is! What a true gift! Such a trusted friend LRH has—he is so dedicated, so on purpose to persist and gave such attention to every detail. I kept crying at every ‘Done’ he said. Our future is truly insured. I really want to thank him and every staff member who worked so hard.”—C.C.
“Perfection! Even if perfection is not possible in this universe, he made it into perfection. A new Golden Age is upon us.”—A.J.
“You can feel how close to Source it all is—IT IS 100 PERCENT ON SOURCE!”
“You can feel how close to Source it all is—IT IS 100 PERCENT ON SOURCE!”—C.U.
“This does not affect just one little thing. But EVERYTHING! It’s like taking the Golden Age of Tech, plus Golden Age of Knowledge and multiplying this by 10 times, and you might then get some concept of what’s going on. I couldn’t even count how many times I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. It was crazy! I was totally flabbergasted.”—K.C.
“This is definitely a turning point for our whole universe. It is so big. This is what this weekend means. Chairman of the Board RTC was magnificent.”—J.M.
“Amazing! The whole thing was awe-inspiring! We are now ready to deliver Super Power! The Supervisors and Word Clearers on stage were absolutely amazing and awe-inspiring. Seeing all those new Flag tech-trained staff was absolutely fabulous. We are going to make auditors and clear the planet. To Chairman of the Board, Thank you sir! He is the best thing that ever happened to our Church!”—M.J.L.
“That event left me totally speechless. I don’t know what to say but the amount that was presented is just unreal. It’s unbelievable!”—Y.T.
“I am really, really happy to be a Scientologist. This is the best time to be in our group. I am so proud to call myself a Scientologist. I have no words to express my gratitude to all that helped to get all of this done, especially Super Power. I can’t wait to do it!”—R.S.
“The Golden Age of Tech Phase II really inaugurates an explosive stage of Scientology growth. It is power-packed and it is so distilled that it is going to release a tremendous wave of liberation on the planet. I am truly in awe of how much work was put into the research of all of the Bridge from the top to the bottom. This is so great and I am very excited for the future—my children and their children. It is impossible to overestimate the impact of Golden Age of Tech Phase II!”—T.W.
“These courses are NEW.
And they are Scientology.
And they are stunning!”
“I still don’t know what to say to sum it up. You have to see these events. No words I can use can describe what I have just witnessed and been a part of. There is so much to take in. You have to understand fully that it is not tweaks and adjustments that have been made. We have never had this tech and these courses before. These courses are NEW. And they are Scientology. And they are stunning!”—L.D.
“The most amazing thing about tonight’s event was the fact that we can move people so fast and efficiently up the Bridge. It is so fantastic! I am so happy to have these new times ahead of us. The release of the Golden Age of Tech Phase II means only one thing: straight up and vertical! For our Ideal Org, and for the future of Scientology. It is a breakthrough beyond belief! We are moving into a new age—a Golden Age.”—V.J.
“We finally have LRH’s Bridge!”—L.V.
“I loved what COB said about the E-Meter being your best friend and that it will never betray you. Who wouldn't want to operate an E-Meter? And then all that we heard about the training lineup from the new Student Hat to New Era Dianetics. I'm going to do it all! It is so purely LRH. Chairman of the Board is a genius beyond genius.”—K.F.
“This is epic! Phenomenal. All the hard work that was done is very inspiring and no one else could have done what COB has done, no one could have confronted it. And now no one can undo this work. Golden Age of Tech Phase II is getting in all 10 points of Keeping Scientology Working. I love COB RTC, I have so much admiration and respect for him. I have been like a little kid waiting for this.”—B.D.
“What I realized from this event is that my daughter will have all of this for her. I cried when I realized that and the fact that now every new person can make it all the way up the Bridge—EVERYONE. That is what impacted me the most. And what can I say about COB—he is the most amazing, exquisite man. You can really see all of the work and can’t imagine all of the stops and barriers that he had to blast through to get this amazing and stunning product. I can’t even put the right words to describe what he has done for all of us!”—J.A.
“The Golden Age of Tech Phase II means everything for the future of Scientology.”
“Everything in tonight’s event and everything COB said changes everything in the world of Scientology. I have really been revitalized. The Golden Age of Tech Phase II means everything for the future of Scientology.”—J.G.
“My son is one of the people that trained on Golden Age of Tech Phase II. Now I know that all the orgs planet-wide will have this technology. Standard Tech will be delivered standardly with Keeping Scientology Working fully in. It’s all laid out as LRH wanted it to be. It is happening now. What this means is that we are ready to deliver to all Scientologists with open arms and the way it’s supposed to be. The way this is laid out makes you really comprehend the magnitude of what is going to happen.”—P.A.
“Every segment of tonight’s event was equally significant, miraculous and indispensable. With this we have the precise speed and Standard Tech and proper gradient with the Golden Age of Tech Phase II.”—J.Y.
“What a monumental, historical event! And with this, it is possible for everybody to experience all of Scientology for themselves. It means everything. The Golden Age of Tech Phase II is going to see that Scientology is used and applied like never before. In essence—tonight is the night where the application of Keeping Scientology Working was put in with a bang!”—U.J.
“The most significant thing about tonight’s event is that Ron’s dream of the tech being in has finally been realized. This event inspired me to go out and disseminate more. With what COB just went over we can now have in the ten points of Keeping Scientology Working and achieve the aims of Scientology for a far better world!”—P.S.
“What this will do! This is really back to what LRH intended. I am trained, and I have to tell you, watching this event just opens up a whole new world—the training aids are incredible and the E-Meter, wow! I could go on and on and on.”—C.F.
“What an event! I have no words. For our org it means everything! We can bring people up the Bridge now with speed and accuracy—it brings total expansion and everything will now go very fast.”—P.J.
“So many things fell into place. It needs to still sink in. The full havingness of what we have. I have such great admiration for COB for all he has done. Everything is done now—this is just brilliant!”—H.E.
“Wow! I’m so blown away. Everything laid out in such full detail, I mean the things that you think about and the things you don’t think about are totally covered in this event! This completely streamlines everything that one does in Scientology.”—K.P.
“Beyond amazing. I loved all the information. It’s so astonishing. I could not believe everything that COB released. I am super excited about the coming of age of our religion.”—E.C.
“I am very excited about the new Student Hat Course. I am so happy about the Word Clearing I am going to receive now. I know the importance of word clearing and the importance of understanding the basic words; this has always been my successful action in life. I know it is key because understanding has everything to do with people moving up the Bridge.”—G.G.
“That was amazing! The training, my gosh, it’s just so easy now! It’s a whole new world! This was very incredible.”—V.D.
“Oh man, that was a fantastic event! So much work went into the release of all of those materials. I loved seeing all of the LRH Policies, all of the Bulletins, all laid out like that on a timeline. It really gives you the reality of what it took to get to where we are now.”—T.L.
“This event was everything COB said it would be and more. It was absolutely mind-blowing and monumental.”—M.F.
“The Student Hat is incredible and all the training, incredible. What it must have taken to put this all together. The tech is really being made accessible for everyone! The E-Meter is just fabulous but the thing that impacted me the most is that now everyone can do it!”—K.F.
“That was incredible! The most exhilarating experience yet in Scientology.”
“That was incredible! The most exhilarating experience yet in Scientology. This is going to create a boom like nothing we have ever seen before.”—A.B.
“This is what I was looking for. With the new Mark Ultra VIII E-Meter, you can see and know what to look for when you are in session. And you can make progress fast. And then, the dissemination films! Amazing! It's basic and simple. This is a whole new world!”—K.F.
“This was just incredible. I cannot believe the spot-on direction to get at all of the data to make sure that every single piece of tech was looked at. Unbelievable. I am really without words to describe what this all means.”—K.S.
“Tonight’s event totally blew my mind! I am so anxious to get started. I am completely speechless! I am in total awe of everything I have seen and heard tonight.”—T.B.
“I really loved the sheer magnificence of this event. The scope of everything is so amazing. I can really see how speed up the Bridge is possible. I’m very excited because this opens up the beginning of the Bridge for new people and makes it real for everyone to move up the Bridge rapidly.”—E.U.
“It was amazing! Absolutely phenomenal! The newly released E-Meter is the best thing, absolutely amazing. I love the Student Hat Dictionary and the data on the Solo Course and the Metering Course. All of this will really change Scientology. I really want to get through all of my training!”—E.M.
“I loved it! The event made me cry! I am on the Objectives so I understand, but WOW! Unbelievable. Survival Rundown is so amazing! And the Purification Program—the effect on the speed of getting up the Bridge is hard to believe. Really incredible!”—D.I.
“Our hat is off to Chairman of the Board! He deserves a Medal of Honor.”
“This was the best event I’ve ever been to! It was a whole different viewpoint. Our hat is off to Chairman of the Board! He deserves a Medal of Honor. It was just mind-blowing!”—P.R.
“The Student Hat was the most significant to me. I’m a trained Supervisor and Word Clearer. It gives me great confidence in moving up the Bridge. This guarantees the future of Scientology and it gives me the certainty that we are doing exactly what was envisioned by LRH.”—J.M.
“The significance of this is more than words. I really understand why it was conceived and the work that was done by staff members was overwhelming! This really puts the future there. Words can’t really communicate how I feel!”—R.C.
“It was amazing to see how EVERYTHING has been made fully standard. I’m going to fly up the Bridge! This event totally revitalized my purpose and I know now that it can be DONE! This release opens the gate also for new people. I can see that new people can walk onto the Bridge and they WILL go free—and faster than ever!”—A.E.
“Incredible! Monumental! It opens up the Bridge for everyone. I can see that everything was done as LRH wanted. And it can now be delivered as he wanted it to be delivered.”—B.M.
“The event was fascinating! I have no words! I just loved everything about this event! Everything! The amount of work done is incredible—the energy! Everyone can go up the Bridge now and this can be done fast. Everything about this event was just Keeping Scientology Working.”—G.S.
“I just love the new indoctrination packs!”
“I really loved this event and totally didn't expect what was presented. I am so thrilled that now one can do all the lower Bridge in such a short time and with such tremendous wins! And I just love the new indoctrination packs! Now I can get everyone else who is not yet Clear up the Bridge with no barriers. We really have the tech now.”—C.G.
“From watching this event, I KNOW my own life and the lives of others are going to change for the better. Our tech is so streamlined so nothing can stop us. With the entire Bridge and tons of trainees now through their training, we are going to implement the tech across the planet and the future looks very bright!”—K.B.
“The briefing at the event has far exceeded my expectations. I didn’t know what to expect, but this was fantastic. I can see that every aspect of Golden Age of Tech Phase II and how to administer it was thought of. The data on the Happiness Rundown was really great. All the films are stunning! It’s perfect. Fabulous! I was totally blown away!”—D.J.
“Everything is 100 percent standard and simple, the way LRH wants it. We can’t have it better than that!”—R.H.
“I can’t pick one thing that is more significant as everything covered in tonight’s event was incredible. Everything is standard and direct. The Golden Age of Tech Phase II is very vital and is a pillar.”—M.S.
“The Golden Age of Tech Phase II is the gate to freedom. It is awesome how everything is 100 percent perfect. Every detail is just perfect. This is going to keep Scientology working forever!”—U.M.
“Thank you to Chairman of the Board RTC. Seeing all the work it has required and dedication to put all of that in order. Wow. And put that with the Ideal Orgs and it means serious impact to help this planet.”—C.J.
“I feel that there is a
whole new world
for our religion
opening up.”
“Now I feel that there is a whole new world for our religion opening up. The different aspects that the Chairman of the Board presented really make the road wide open for everyone.”—G.L.
“Sensational! It is significant. We now have what LRH always intended. I am inspired! I think we are in for the biggest boom possible. I do not have words to thank COB RTC for what has been done. I am speechless and very grateful.”—S.Y.
“This night? No words. But if I had to have some: Freedom has arrived! Where’s the emoticon for ‘completely and unbelievably out of my head?’ We need one of those right about now.”—U.K.
“The event was MAJOR! It’s MEGA. I loved ALL of it. I am totally blown away. It has taken the stops off everything. This really opens the Bridge.”—J.P.
“I don’t think I’ve been to an event of this significance before. This is THE BRIDGE. This is a new start. Let’s go!”
“This event was awesome, it was really awesome! I don’t think I’ve been to an event of this significance before. This is THE BRIDGE. This is a new start. Let’s go! Let’s do it!”—J.D.
“This is truly the biggest buzz that I have ever heard in Scientology since the release of New OT VIII—and the talk and excitement on this is 100X. WOW!”—J.S.
“With what I’ve seen, it means the future of Scientology and there will be expansion like never before. COB announcing ‘DONE,’ ‘DONE,’ ‘DONE,’ one after the other—that’s certainty.”—K.J.
“I am so impressed. I have an inner feeling of happiness. The event made it so clear that everything is exactly as Ron intended it to be and I have a certainty that it will be there forever and it will never be changed.”—A.H.
“I really admire all the work that has been done. Everything was taken into account, every little thing! Mr. David Miscavige has given us everything we have been waiting for and dreaming about. I am so filled with emotion! Hurray.”—G.R.
“I am so amazed! I am so impressed by the scale of what has been done, the quality of it, the orders of magnitude! This is so global. Now we have fully prepared and organized materials to deliver services. We just need to move up the Bridge and this is the biggest adventure I have experienced.”—L.S.
“It is a new era, a new world.”
“It is a new era, a new world. I feel like doing everything at once.”—N.W.
At the Helm in the Era of Expansion
Building for the Future of the Scientology Religion
Scientology Spiritual Headquarters
Creating a Renaissance for Scientology
Spearheading Planetary Social Betterment Campaigns
Landmark Events
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Doctor Strange already has a release date
Marvel announces a release date but not a leading man
By Poppy-Jay Palmer 17-09-14 3,929
Don’t mess with the Zohan
Marvel is on the ball, as they have already decided on a release date for Doctor Strange. The film doesn’t have a lead actor yet, but you’ll be able to see him, whoever he may be, in cinemas on 8 July, 2016.
The film, which is being directed by Scott Derrickson (Deliver Us From Evil, Sinister), is due to start filming in May next year.
It has been rumoured that Joaquin Phoenix (Her, The Master) is the first choice for the title role, but Jon Hamm (Mad Men) has also been linked to the film’s casting for a while.
But then again, Benedict Cumberbatch and Tom Hardy were supposedly battling it out over the summer, so who knows? Maybe they won’t cast Doctor Strange at all, and have him represented as an abstract idea.
Find out more about the comics that inspired the film with new digital magazine Uncanny Comics. For everything else superhero-related pick up a copy of the latest issue of SciFiNow.
Tags: Doctor Strange
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Media & Leisure
More Scots turn to solar power in bid to save on energy bills
People who have fitted panels are saving an average of �82.50 a month or �1,000 a year on their household energy bills. Picture: PA
SOLAR energy is becoming a more attractive solution for consumers trying to save money on energy bills – and Scotland is
already ahead of the game, according to energy experts.
New research from uSwitch.com shows the average consumer can save more than £1,000 a year on household bills by having solar panels installed.
And soaring energy bills make solar a more attractive proposition than ever – even north of the Border. People who have already fitted solar panels are saving an average of £82.50 a month or £1,000 a year on their household energy bills.
The research from uSwitch shows nine out of ten people who have had solar panels fitted on their property would recommend them to a friend, eight out of ten say they have switched to solar in order to save money while four out of ten say they represent a good return on investment. Six out of ten say they had solar panels fitted on their property in order to
become more green.
Simon Nicholas White, a photographer from central Edinburgh, said the difference in his household bills had been “massive” since solar panels were fitted to the roof of his old town tenement: “Ours were fitted two years ago and we have really noticed the difference. This year we turned the hot water off in March and it won’t go back on until October November.
“Even with the weather we have been having the solar panels are still generating enough to fill the hot water tank for baths, showers and washing up.”
Kevin Sears, energy efficiency expert at uSwitch.com, says: “With soaring energy prices and the rising cost of living, households are looking for new ways to cut costs. Solar energy provides a real opportunity to save around £80 a month on energy – something that consumers can’t afford to ignore. With over half of households under the impression that solar power is too expensive, consumers should be aware of all the options available, including
Engensa’s new SolarLoan.”
Niall Stuart, chief executive of Scottish Renewables, said: “Our figures show that between 2009 and April 2012 more than £206 million has been invested in the Scottish solar panel industry, creating new jobs and opportunities across the country.
“Solar has become increasingly popular way for householders and businesses to power their properties, keeping their energy bills down and for some, even making a profit by selling excess electricity to the grid.
“Renewable energy is quickly becoming a part of our everyday lives and currently meets around 35 per cent of Scotland’s electricity needs.”
Jerry Hamilton, renewable energy director at Rexel, a company which fits energy-saving technology, said: “It’s very exciting to see how ahead of the game Scotland has been in terms of the energy crisis. The country realised very early on that there is an impending energy resource problem that will soon hit the UK and has invested heavily in a renewable alternative.
“Through our business we have seen huge growth in solar installations in Scotland. Despite the lower light conditions experienced in the country, if high- quality products are fitted, solar panels can still provide a good return on investment, as well as protect from the expected energy increases. As the UK becomes more reliant on energy resources from other countries, Scotland will be reaping the cost benefits of investment in solar and other renewable energies.”
Edinburgh tidal energy firm lands £3.5m investment
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AISEAG, (The Ferryboat) performed at First Ever UK-Wide New Music Biennial Celebrations
AISEAG, (The Ferryboat), is about connections. It was one of twenty new compositions chosen and commissioned for the 2014 UK wide Biennial Celebrations. It was premiered at Sabhal Mor Ostaig on July 3, 2014, and then followed by performances in London England and at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland. It was recorded by BBC3 and is available for digital download. A feature documentary of Aiseag was filmed for BBC Alba and was broadcast on Sept 22nd 2014. http://www.nmcrec.co.uk/new-music-biennial/mary-ann-kennedy
Aiseag was co-composed “across the seas” by musicians Scott Macmillan, (Nova Scotia), Mary Ann Kennedy (Scotland), poet Aonghas MacNeacail, (Scotland) and audio designer Nick Turner (Scotland). Using modern technology, electronic and found sound, Cape Breton and Scottish Highland musicians and a Glasgow string section, the composers created a piece which demonstrates the lifelong fascination of the journey between the Highlands of Scotland and Canada’s Gaelic diaspora.
The premiere of ‘Aiseag’ took place at Sabhal Mòr Ostaig as part of SEALL Arts newly resurgent Fèis an Eilein in Skye at the end of July, featuring the quartet of writers, plus Cape Breton fiddler Colin Grant, Skye-based Cape Breton piper Angus MacKenzie, percussionist Allan Òg MacDonald, reader Christina MacDonald from the Isle of Skye, the strings of the Scottish Festival Orchestra, led by Stewart Webster, and the award-winning Inverness Gaelic Choir. The commission was won by Mary Ann during her tenure as Musician in Residence at SMO in 2013.
Subsequent performances involved a Caledonian Sleeper safari-ceilidh to London for a massive Biennial celebration at the Southbank Centre, a home-town gig at Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, and the finale at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall as part of the Commonwealth Games celebrations.
Now the challenge is on to bring Aiseag to Nova Scotia..........more to follow
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