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Video of Polish artist Natalia LL eating a banana temporarily goes back on show after protests over museum’s ‘censorship’
Almost 1,000 people attended banana-eating demonstration outside Warsaw’s National Museum yesterday
Anny Shaw
30th April 2019 12:06 BST
Natalia LL's Consumer Art was removed from permanent display at the National Museum in Warsaw Marisabellani/Instagram
A 1973 video of the Polish artist Natalia LL suggestively eating a banana has gone back on show at the National Museum in Warsaw–but only until next week when its 20th- and 21st-century art galleries are due to be rehung. The video installation will then go into storage.
The removal last week of the work, titled Consumer Art, along with another video from 2005 by Katarzyna Kozyra, showing a woman walking two men dressed as dogs on a lead, had sparked protest over claims of censorship by the museum and the Polish ministry of culture.
Almost 1,000 people attended a demonstration at the museum on Monday evening, many of them eating bananas. Artists and curators including Katrin Plavcak and Martha Kirszenbaum have also taken to Instagram in defiance, posting selfies of themselves dining on the phallic yellow fruit.
It’s 2019 and the Polish Ministry of culture demanded to remove the works by Natalia LL from the permanent display of the National Museum in Warsaw judged too obscene ... the works depict a woman, young and pretty, eating a banana. It is sexual. But dear Minister of culture, the banana is also a representation of the consumerist culture. Widely used by Warhol and others in the 70s and 80s. Natalia LL also explained clearly that this work was also a protest again Communism and how people had to queue for food! The sexually attractive girl was a way, easy, to catch the attention and start the conversation. @natalialachlachowicz @zwfound #nataliall @romanroad_
A post shared by Marisa Bellani (@marisabellani) on Apr 28, 2019 at 1:59pm PDT
In a statement, board members of the ZW Foundation, which manages Natalia LL’s archive, said they were “outraged by the open censorship” and that the museum “should not be afraid of exhibiting thought-provoking works of an existential nature”.
They add: “Through her art, Natalia LL was never afraid of asking difficult questions, and we certainly should not be afraid to answer them. We would like to express our opposition and indignation towards the policy of the National Museum in Warsaw and the Ministry of Culture.”
The board’s statement referred to a report in the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper that quoted the museum’s director Jerzy Miziolek as saying “some subject matters, such as gender, should not be explicitly shown” at the National Museum, and the videos in question “have a distracting influence on young people”. It was also suggested Miziolek had been summoned to the ministry of culture because parents had complained about the “scandalous” works.
But, in a statement published yesterday, Miziolek denied the government had called on him to make the changes to the galleries.
Miziolek, who was appointed by Poland's right-wing PiS government last November, said the rehang is about implementing “the commitments undertaken and the new, more dynamic vision of the functioning of the institution, not the depreciation of the collections or their ‘censoring’”.
Critics have noted that Natalia LL’s work is not only a comment on feminism but is also a symbol of freedom, given that bananas were scarce in 1970s Poland under communist rule. “The work is more about the lack of consumption as opposed to the consumerist world,” says Marisa Bellani, the founder and director of Roman Road, which represents the artist in London. “It is about the lack of supplies in a repressed country and the impossibility for people to consume the food that should be essential. It is an analogy of the impossibility for women to consume their own desire and have full access to their sexuality.”
More NewsTopicsContemporary artPoland
Fresh talent breathes life into slim £45m postwar and contemporary evening sale at Christie’s London
A rich tapestry of English life unfurls in Oxford with restoration of 400-year-old woven maps
New US visa policy could stifle outspoken artists on social media
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The Most Transformative Cover Songs
Readers recommend their favorites. Submit your own—especially if the cover goes across genres—via hello@theatlantic.com, and please include a short description of why you love it so much.
Show 29 Newer Notes
Rosa Inocencio Smith
4:20 PM / September 2, 2016
Track of the Day: 'I Am Trying to Break Your Heart' by JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound
I’m dancing in my seat to this reader’s pick:
Wilco’s “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart” is a noisy, distressing indie-rock classic, but in the hands of fellow Chicagoans JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, it transforms into an exuberant Motown-style pop song. It’s a full-bodied conversion, made even weirder when, two minutes in, the band momentarily switches gears to include a snippet of lyrics taken from “Theologians,” a mid-tempo Wilco song that’s closer to Emily Dickinson than American soul. And yet that embroidery feels seamless, mostly because it extends Wilco’s persistent sense of play, but also because it gets at how so much of rock, soul, and poetry have common roots in gospel music.
Update from the reader, Eric Beltmann, who adds:
Jeff Tweedy, Wilco’s frontman, has endorsed the cover and once surprised the Uptown Sound by joining them onstage at the 2011 Solid Sound Festival.
Watch that moment here.
(Submit a song via hello@. Track of the Day archive here. Pre-Notes archive here.)
Arnav Adhikari
Track of the Day: ‘CMYK’ by BBNG
James Blake is the type of artist that thrives in the elusive gray areas, the dark, moody subtleties of lingering pianos and trailing vocal harmonies. His style is a unique blend of somnambulic soul and thumping British post-dubstep. This music is not only notoriously difficult to cover, but also tough to make even moodier. Unless you’re BADBADNOTGOOD.
The Toronto-based jazz trio, who just released their fourth album, IV, have been quietly making some tidal waves under the surface of the indie music world. They’ve collaborated on an album with Wu-Tang Clan’s Ghostface Killah, jammed with Tyler, The Creator, and worked with Future Islands’ Sam Herring (of David Letterman fame).
On this cover from 2012’s excellent BBNG 2 (which also included versions of Kanye West and Flying Lotus tunes), BABADNOTGOOD take Blake’s choppy, hypnotic piece and add heavy, languid flourishes to it. The bass disappears on a spacey free-jazz ramble, the piano rings like a wild bell on the upper register, thick synth sounds roll in and out, and the drums—it’s hard to even describe. The snare is constantly twirling and rumbling with purpose, as drummer Alex Sowinski frantically alternates between playing his cymbals and toms with a loose, laid-back aesthetic and at break-neck speed. “CMYK” is old-school jazz run through the sieve of digital thinking, hip-hop production, and glitchy, internet-age rapidity. BBNG take one of Blake’s early masterpieces and transform it into something even stranger, groovier, and equally atmospheric.
4:20 PM / August 27, 2016
Track of the Day: 'Paint It Black' by The Avengers
This selection from reader Dan puts a rock classic in the hands of a punk band and a woman’s pipes:
The Avengers’ cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Paint it Black” has been pretty much my favorite cover song since 1980. The original is one of the few Stones songs to hold up over time—with the increased pace of modern life, those old bits just drag. But the Avengers really rip it up.
You probably know that the Avengers opened for the Sex Pistols at the Pistols’ fabled last show on their American tour. I would have loved to have been there, but alas I was in Indiana.
Track of the Day: 'Nothing Else Matters' by Macy Gray
A reader writes:
Macy Gray just released a new song from her upcoming album Stripped, a jazzy cover of Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters.” It’s available to stream via Spotify [and a live performance is embedded above]. It was premiered Wednesday on Vulture, who noted that the song is “performed now as if she were on the marquee at a local jazz club in the ‘30s.”
Track of the Day: 'I Can't Help Wonder Where I'm Bound' by Johnny Cash
A solemn pick from reader John Litt:
This cover song doesn’t cross genres. It’s basically a folk singer with acoustic guitar covering a folk singer with acoustic guitar.
But oh my goodness, is it transformative. When Tom Paxton sang “I Can't Help But Wonder Where I’m Bound,” it was about a young man looking ahead to where his life might take him. Johnny Cash, his voice almost gone, looks back over a long life that he knows is just about over. He’s regretful and resigned and without a trace of fear, but … he can’t help but wonder where he’s bound.
I don’t know if I would really have understood it when I was young, but now that most of my life is behind me rather than ahead, it pierces me like few other songs do.
Track of the Day: 'You've Got a Friend' by Donny Hathaway
Reader Jay is blown away by this cover from Donny Hathaway:
This is the best live recording I have ever come across. The ecstatic screaming at the beginning lets you know that something special is going to happen. Carole King [who wrote and first performed the song] and James Taylor both perform the song admirably. However, Donny’s fever-dream delivery is otherworldly. The audience brings a supernatural energy as they half-sing, half-shout the chorus and interject with wild yelps.
This song is proof of a “higher power” at work. There is simply no rational explanation for such a transcendent performance.
Track of the Day: 'Your Cheatin' Heart' by Beck
A strong choice from reader John:
Thanks for the great series of cover songs. There are dozens of Hank Williams songs that have led to, I would guess, thousands of covers. Many of them are excellent, but they usually don’t reveal much that Hank didn’t already put into his own versions. His singing is deceptively hokey at first listen, but in true addict style (like Janis Joplin, Judy Garland or Art Pepper), he poured all his desperate emotion into every song.
But when Beck covered “Your Cheatin' Heart,” he didn’t try to be more romantic or heartbroken or country than Williams did. He made it haunting and creepy and obsessive and entirely unforgettable, and I thank him for that.
4:20 PM / August 8, 2016
Track of the Day: 'Shipping Up to Boston' by The Dropkick Murphys
Reader Jim Elliott builds on a TotD from last week:
Metallica’s version of “Whiskey in the Jar” remains in perpetual status on my playlist. That said, their rendition comes from their Garage Inc. double set of covers, inspired by Thin Lizzy’s cover of the classic. (That same set has an under-appreciated cover of Bob Seger’s “Turn the Page.”)
Probably one of the most fun bands for taking Irish folk tunes and reworking them is The Dropkick Murphys. A good example of this is “Shipping Up to Boston,” which takes Woody Guthrie’s lyrics, appends them to a punk version of a traditional Irish air. [Their cover was memorably used in The Departed.] The Chieftains also put out a great album doing covers of traditional Celtic tunes (personal favorite: “Long Black Veil” with Mick Jagger).
Of course, the best cover ever remains The Gourds’ original bluegrass cover of Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice.”
Track of the Day: 'Stairway to Heaven' by The Beatnix
Reader Allen K. serves up a Beatles-style version of the legendary Led Zeppelin song:
I can’t guarantee that you haven’t already included this cover—“Stairway to Heaven” by [the Australian Beatles tribute band] The Beatnix—in Track of the Day, as I only looked through the first 20 pages, going back to November. I don’t have a lot to say about this one, except how great it is. Do check out the video (not just audio).
Update from another reader:
Now that you’ve opened the “Stairway to Heaven” can of worms (there are so many covers that you could do just those from now on), here’s a quick way to close it: “Stairway to Freebird” performed by Dash Rip Rock since the late ‘80s/early ‘90s. (Not sure if covering two songs in a single mashup counts.) It’s also discussed in this article in The Wall Street Journal, which is referenced in the 55-second intro to the song.
Track of the Day: 'Where Is My Mind' by Maxence Cyrin
From a long-time reader, Doug:
I’m PRETTY sure I haven’t seen this up on Notes yet, but I absolutely love Maxence Cyrin’s piano cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind” (referenced in your call for “great movie scene” TotDs but not yet featured in a cover). I can’t quite put my finger on what I love so much about it. It’s so recognizable, and yet so different than the original version. The pacing and volume control are amazing, and I think it manages to maintain the same sort of slow / haunting feel as the original.
Track of the Day: 'Something I Can Never Have' by Kite Base
In Nine Inch Nails’ catalogue of gloriously spittle-flecked airings of self-pity, only “Something I Can Never Have,” off of 1989’s Pretty Little Hate Machine, is so raw as to be nearly unlistenable. That’s not a criticism. With a far-off-sounding piano, some bad poetry, and his inimitably ugly wail, Trent Reznor absolutely captured the devastation of a young man humiliated by his own desire.
But a haunting cover from Kite Base—a new band featuring Ayşe Hassan of the fearsome rock act Savages—uses female voices and electric bass to turn Reznor’s pathos into dark, dignified grandeur. With chanting used as rhythm and Kendra Frost’s steady, affectless delivery of Reznor’s lyrics, this new take on the song highlights the simple musical power of the original without taking too much emotional toll:
Track of the Day: 'Whiskey in the Jar' by Metallica
Reader Anthony says he “love[s] this cover concept, and my favorite so far is Peter Tosh’s “Johnny B. Goode.” His pick for the series:
So there I was driving down the highway and who should pop up on the local classic rock station but Metallica (no surprise there) playing “Whiskey In a Jar,” that old folk song that … uh … well just listen to it. Metallica owns it now.
Universal Pictures / YouTube
I Watched the Cats Trailer and I Have Some Questions
Sophie Gilbert
Four legs good, two legs completely bonkers
Earlier today, the fabric of the space-time continuum stretched and rearranged itself. The Cats trailer dropped. It prompted a handful of questions.
1. There are cobbles on the street. Is this Victorian London? There’s also a lot of neon. Is this Vegas? There’s also a person on all fours arching her back like a cat, even though she’s obviously human. But she has a tail. I don’t know.
2. She just turned around and, holy god, she has a human face, cat ears, a white leotard the texture of coir matting, and a forehead like Krang from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. What is she? Am I high? Is she high? Is this the final glitch in The Matrix that ushers in end times?
3. This sounds like Jennifer Hudson singing “Memory.” No one should sing “Memory” apart from maybe Maude Apatow. There’s a neon sign in the background advertising a “Milk Bar,” which means we’re fully committed to the idea that these monstrosities are cats. Either that, or this is a trippier remake of A Clockwork Orange. A man in an extravagant hat just slipped through an iron gate, so I’m sensing the latter.
The Unexplained Noise 2 Percent of People Can Hear
Emily Buder
A man is tormented by a low-frequency humming sound emanating from his house, which he believes is caused by a nearby gas pipeline.
A Time Capsule of the Moon Landing
NASA employees and civilians remember the 1969 lunar landing.
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Town of Yarmouth eyeing Mariners Centre expansion as a top priority given anticipated funding opportunities
Tina Comeau (tina.comeau@tricountyvanguard.ca)
Published: Feb 11 at 9:38 p.m.
Updated: Feb 11 at 9:43 p.m.
Yarmouth Mariners Centre. - Tina Comeau
Town looking to partner with municipalities of Yarmouth and Argyle to get the ball moving on the expansion which was identified as a regional priority by the units years ago
YARMOUTH – “It’s time not to waste time anymore.”
That’s how one councillor summed things up as Yarmouth town council met in committee of the whole Monday morning, Feb. 11, to discuss an expansion of the Mariners Centre.
With new streams of federal and provincial funding looking to align themselves soon – and this project fitting into those recreation and rural infrastructure streams – council unanimously passed a motion to invite the Municipality of Yarmouth and the Municipality of Argyle to join it to set up a steering committee for the purpose of moving forward with an expansion of the Mariners Centre.
The town’s motion will come forward to the Yarmouth town council monthly meeting on Thursday, Feb. 14, for further discussion and a vote on ratification.
The town says it will need the other municipal units to be onside to proceed and put forth an application for funding. By June, the town hopes to prepare an application for federal and provincial funding.
READ THE REPORT THAT WAS PRESENTED AT THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
Years ago, the three municipal units did identify an expansion of the Mariners Centre as the third top regional priority for Yarmouth County. There has been talk around those tables since then of continued support for an expansion project, but not in the official capacity by all three units needed to move forward.
The town – at the committee of the whole meeting – said it is now prepared to move this project to the top of its own priority list.
Mayor Pam Mood says an expansion has always remained a priority for the town, but it was further down the list due to funding. Still, the town had already indicated last year in its capital budget that it would set aside between $2.5 million and $3 million as the town's part of the local share for the project, which it identified as including an aquatics centre.
The town says this equates to about $1 to $1.20 per day, for one year, for every resident in the town. Under the proposed funding model the town is looking at, the same cost per person would apply to residents of partner municipalities as well as the Town of Yarmouth.
An overall expansion project has been pegged at $30-$35 million.
It’s being suggested by the town that the local share of that could fall between $9.5 million and $11.7 million.
“We might as well just put it on the table,” said Mayor Pam Mood. “We’re saying yes to this, we’re putting the arts centre and other projects on the back burner, which we have to be okay with.”
The town says both West Nova MP Colin Fraser and Yarmouth MLA Zach Churchill are onboard to find funding for an expansion. Over the weekend the mayor said she reached out to the CAOs and wardens of their neighbouring municipal units in Yarmouth County to give them a heads-up of how the town is now looking to proceed.
The town says there are several steps needed. An operational agreement, as well as a capital and ownership agreement, needs to be struck with partners, including, but not limited to, the municipalities of Yarmouth and Argyle.
The town is also looking to have municipal funding of operations and capital contributions with its partners be based on a formula that includes variables such as population and uniform assessment.
And, of course, it also needs to be officially determined what an expansion will include. In the past there have been discussions, consultations and studies about incorporating an aquatics centre and the YMCA into an expansion. There’s been talk of upgraded curling facilities. The public would like to see an indoor walking track. etc.
JANUARY 2017 FEASIBILITY STUDY: Click here to read the study
A report to the town says vision and mandate work would be eyed for completion by Oct. 1.
It was stated at the Feb. 11 committee of the whole meeting that going after funding for a large project such as this may affect the ability to attract other major capital grants for other projects. Particularly, as well, since a large infrastructure project involving the ferry terminal is already underway.
“We might as well just put it on the table,” said Mayor Mood. “We’re saying yes to this, we’re putting the arts centre and other projects on the back burner, which we have to be okay with.”
No one spoke to the contrary.
“After trying to move forward with the other projects, the time has come to move on,” said Councillor Wade Cleveland, who was the one to make the comment about not wasting time. “It’s time to get one major project done and this is the one.” He also said the town can’t do this alone.
Councillor Jim MacLeod agreed, saying this is a good project and for him it’s necessary that funding locally be shared appropriately between the local units.
In a media release issued by the town, while establishing a steering committee is a key first step, it was stressed that there is considerable work that needs to be completed by such a committee before seeking the funding, including agreements on capital and operations. The establishment of a fair and equitable formula for funding agreements, is also seen as an important first step.
Expansion of recreational offerings at the Mariners Centre are seen as way to help make the region more attractive to people who would consider moving into an area, along with the additional benefit of providing health, recreational and fitness options for residents.
Mike Randall, the chair of the board of the Mariners Centre, was among those in the audience at the committee of the whole meeting. He sees this most recent development as a positive step.
“It’s something going forward that the area has needed. If the town and municipalities support it, it’s very much the time because of the federal and provincial governments’ funding,” he said, adding the Mariners Centre expansion is an important project. “They commented about the other projects, they’ve all had their turn. Now it’s our turn.”
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People cheer Schooners and southwestern league ‘legends' during game in Clark’s Harbour
Published: Jul 06, 2017 at midnight
The dirt was flying on this close base play during a Schooners vs southwestern league ‘legends' game in Clark’s Harbour.
CLARK'S HARBOUR, N.S. – There was a good turnout in Clark’s Harbour for a June 30 exhibition baseball game between the Shelburne County Schooners of the Nova Scotia Intermediate Baseball League and a team of alumni from the old Southwestern Nova Scotia Baseball league.
The Schooners were 2-1 winners in a game that was called after six innings due to rain.
June 30 exhibition baseball game between the Shelburne County Schooners of the Nova Scotia Intermediate Baseball League and a team of alumni from the old Southwestern Nova Scotia Baseball league
“We pitched three guys that don’t normally pitch, for the fun of it,” said Keith Nickerson of the Schooners, adding that the southwestern league “legends” played well.
“They had three quality pitchers: Tyler Symonds, Travis Smith and Andrew Holland,” Nickerson said. “We had lots of fans and might consider doing it again.”
A run-down ensues between home plate and third base.
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Shelburne Schooners' season opener June 2
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Published Sep 07, 2018 at 9:35 a.m.
Schooners split season opener during double header in Clark's Harbour
Published Jun 04, 2018 at 8:14 p.m.
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Cover Story: Tails, you win
Shalini Yeap
The Edge Malaysia
June 14, 2017 15:00 pm +08
This article first appeared in Options, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on June 12, 2017 - June 18, 2017.
The SPCA centre in Ampang Jaya focuses on education, rehoming and taking action. The facilities here include a pet-friendly venue that can be booked for events.
Christine Chin
Jean Liew
Seema Subash
Events organised by PFAC such as the The Retro Sessions at the Elephant Rock Restro Bar in Aman Suria last month see members of the community come together to celebrate their shared love of animals
TNRM’s Spin for Strays session was a fun combination of fitness and fundraising, with the proceeds benefiting the animals that the organisation cares for
Animal welfare issues have proved a constant bugbear in Malaysia. Every now and then, a particularly serious incident will make the news and infuriate the public. But, even when not the subject of heated discussion, the perceived lack of a legal framework to address concerns such as managing the large stray population and ensuring responsible pet ownership makes championing the cause of animals a trying one. These are among the many issues Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) chairman Christine Chin, Trap-Neuter-Release-Manage Malaysia (TNRM) co-founder Jean Liew and Pawse for a Cause (PFAC) founder Seema Subash encounter in their work and make them determined to bring about change.
“One of the main challenges SPCA is facing is the rapid reproduction of companion animals (cats and dogs). We, of course, bear the brunt of it because we are located in a central area where people tend to dump these animals. Ten years ago, we used to receive about 700 animals every month. Now, we get about 700 every year — this is a huge reduction! The large number of strays compared with animals in homes is an issue, not only in Malaysia but also all over the world. However, there is a solution to this problem, which is to spay/neuter, legislation and education. It is a matter of how animal welfare organisations, rescuers and the government work together to solve this overpopulation of stray animals,” Chin says.
However, Chin, who has been with the SPCA for 27 years now, is optimistic about the changing animal welfare landscape in the country. “I am very happy to say that a lot of people are beginning to understand the issue better and are carrying out rescues themselves. I think we have empowered, educated and taught these people to be rescuers as well as to spay/neuter the rescued animals and then manage them.”
Founded in 1958, the SPCA adopts a multipronged approach, which includes an adoption programme, investigations of cruelty reports, assistance to community animal caregivers and lobbying the government and local councils for humane treatment of animals and stiffer penalties for perpetrators of crimes against animals.
Seema feels that human mentality is the root of the problem. “I always joke that God created us last and we think we’re the most superior species, but we’re not!”
She says the problem primarily stems from people adopting a pet without first thinking it through. “Many get a pet for the wrong reasons — like because it looks cute when it’s little, and then giving it up when it isn’t anymore!”
A major problem faced by almost all welfare organisations in the current economic climate is funding. This is where Seema comes in. An animal lover herself who grew up in a like-minded household, she founded PFAC, which organises various events with the sole aim of raising funds for animal-related causes. PFAC has expanded from a simple birthday fundraising event at a bar in 2014 and has since raised over RM50,000 — both in cash and kind — for three animal shelters, namely Dog House, Cherishlife Home and Lost Animal Souls Shelter.
Moving forward, the funding will be done via the Chelsea Foundation — named after her dog (the face of PFAC), which joined us for the interview, never leaving Seema’s lap. The foundation aims to provide assistance to animal shelters and organisations through funding, education and awareness support, value-added services and strategic partnerships. This new approach will allow all animal shelters and organisations to submit pleas for funding and support.
Seema believes that shelters have bigger roles to play instead of merely housing animals in distress. “We find that, after a while, the shelters are just going through the motions and do not make an effort to give their dogs an attitude or character. They don’t try and convince people to take a puppy home. We have seen donation drives where dogs were placed in cages and people just walked past them,” says Seema, who is looking forward to PFAC’s biggest event to date, which will be held in Desa ParkCity next month.
Seema does acknowledge that “people who set up shelters are committing their entire lives to the cause”, something not everyone has the strength or ability to do. “People can turn around and say, ‘No one asked him/her to do so’, but we need to have mutual respect for what each other does within and for the community. So, we tell people that if they cannot adopt a dog, at the very least, go to a shelter and sponsor one. It alleviates burden for the shelters. They can instead channel their energy and resources into training people and tackling other issues,” she says.
All three women agree that the Netherlands is a shining example with its zero stray population — a goal that is attainable in any country, subject to certain provisos. And one approach that they unanimously agree on is spaying/neutering.
While this method of dealing with strays is nothing new, it is only of late that it is in the limelight. But for Liew and her fellow advocates of this method at TNRM, it is a humane solution they have been fighting for since the inception of the non-governmental organisation in 2012.
In fact, Liew has practised it herself on various occasions as an independent rescuer and even prior to founding TNRM. Brownie, a large handsome, beefy — and true to his name, brown — dog that stays by Liew’s side throughout the interview, is more than just the mascot of TNRM. The former stray is one of the reasons that compelled Liew to start the NGO, one of the earliest and most active to propound the idea of spaying/neutering to address the stray population in our country.
As its name suggests, releasing and managing the animals are the fundamental elements of TNRM.
“Strays usually survive on their own for a very long time, but it is often the people’s thinking that they know best and that it’s better for the animals to be placed in a shelter. But I’d rather the animals remain strays than be sent to a bad home,” she explains. Animals that have been spayed/neutered are usually released back to where they were found and community feeders are then responsible for managing them.
“We work with community feeders. We make them understand that feeding without neutering actually adds to the problem as the animals are then more fertile, healthy and able to reproduce even faster! It is great to feed but, first, neuter them — and we will help you do that,” says Liew.
TNRM is also appreciative when feeders are able to sponsor the procedure, but in the event that they are unable to do so, crowdfunding is a feasible option. “Community feeders get to know the dogs and cats quite well through feeding them. They must then, as much as they can, try to catch these animals. This is one of their core responsibilities. The SPCA cannot catch and spay/neuter every single animal. But when an animal is caught, we at TNRM can arrange for the procedure to be done at a discounted price — 80% for cats and 50% for dogs — at selected vets,” says Liew.
Today, more and more people — individuals, organisations and the authorities — are beginning to realise the efficacy of this method in dealing with strays, particularly cats and dogs, in the country. “Animals are territorial and when one is removed from an area, new unspayed and unneutered animals will move in and start breeding. However, when caught and released after they are spayed or neutered, the numbers may remain the same ... they can’t procreate anymore and will guard the territory, preventing other unneutered animals from coming in. This buys us time to trap, neuter and release other strays, and the numbers will dwindle naturally,” says Liew on the far-reaching benefits of TNRM’s approach.
While not every municipal council has adopted this approach, campaigns such as Stray Free Selangor — organised by the SPCA, with Tengku Permaisuri Selangor Tengku Permaisuri Norashikin as its royal patron — are indicative of growing support from the authorities. “The SPCA’s ultimate goal is a home for every soul,” says Chin.
Liew quickly qualifies, “A good one! We have all met the authorities before to discuss their approach (the catch-and-kill method) to managing strays as not only the numbers remained the same but also it actually went up! So, not only is it inhumane but it is also ineffective!” laments Liew, on the difficulty of convincing the authorities to adopt TNRM’s approach instead.
“Spaying/neutering a pair of female and male dogs can prevent up to 67,000 dogs being reproduced in six years. For cats, it is up to 420,000,” says Liew, citing statistics from the Arizona Humane Society. She says no figures are available locally.
Chin and Liew agree that while the catch-and-kill method may have been practised for years now, it has not proven effective in reducing the number of strays. If nothing else, this method — despite public outcry — is commonly associated with being cruel and the use of unethical means to catch and put the animals to sleep.
“One of our goals is to explain to the councils that spaying/neutering works. The catch-and-kill method may seem to work at first, but [as time goes by] you will need to catch and kill more because the source of the problem is not the animals; it is the irresponsible owners who dump unspayed/unneutered animals,” Chin says.
She also believes the key to reducing the number of strays while tackling all other animal-related issues is by creating caring and compassionate communities.
Seema, who views all animal welfare organisations, shelters and the community as parts of a jigsaw puzzle, says, “Before the community can be educated, the advocates need to unite. All the animal organisations are currently fragmented and you cannot lead this way. The ones spearheading the movements need to first educate themselves, put aside their egos and pool their resources so that we can all get to the end of the tunnel.”
For decades now, the issues relating to animal welfare have been grave and offenders aplenty, and many agree that it is high time the offenders were brought before the law. In this light and with hopes for a strong deterrent, the Animal Welfare Act 2015, which was passed by Parliament almost two years ago, is a welcome improvement and a move in the right direction.
Prior to that, there was very little room — if at all — for legal remedies in cases involving the breach of animal welfare regulations; the closest, arguably, being the Animal Act 1953 and Animals (Amendment) Act 2013, which stipulated a meagre RM200 fine and/or six months’ imprisonment for those found guilty of cruelty to animals. Under the new Animal Welfare Act, the penalty has been increased substantially to a fine of between RM20,000 and RM100,000 and/or a maximum of three years’ imprisonment.
Chin, who is especially glad that section 29 of the act includes abandonment, has this to say about the soon-to-be-enforced legislation: “I think it is excellent because it has section 24, which covers the duty of pet owners. There is now a law that says you have to be kind to your pet! I am not saying that this will solve everything, but if the deterrent is too light or inconsequential, people won’t care!” Chin says, adding that the SPCA receives about 60 notifications of cruelty cases from the public each month.
Although most pet owners know their responsibilities such as providing shelter, food and care, there are still cases of ill-treatment of companion animals. As it is with any legislation, implementation is key to achieving intended goals and even the best legislation would be pointless without strict enforcement.
Liew, a fitness aficionado, draws a parallel between the Animal Welfare Act and exercise. “It is better to walk for five minutes than to be a couch potato!” she laughs. “Something is always better than nothing, and for the law to be effective is a different story. But this is the first step towards better animal welfare.”
Seema is also positive about the new law. “It is my hope that the community won’t look for loopholes in the law but take it as an opportunity to work with the government to improve the situation.”
This is also the approach Seema is adopting for her work at PFAC. “We are trying to remove all the negativity in animal welfare, and instead of having pity on an animal, we want to focus on the feel-good factor.”
When asked what keeps them going despite the challenges, their responses vary. “Wine helps!” Chin jests, while Liew says that not dwelling on the horrible things she has seen as an animal welfare advocate helps her cope. “It is difficult to forget the cruelty inflicted on animals I have come across, and I used to get very upset.”
As for Seema, it is “the change she sees — slowly but surely — that is taking place”.
A common sentiment the three seem to share is the love for animals and a sense of embracing the work they do, knowing that they are in it for the long term.
As the nation eagerly awaits the coming into force of the Animal Welfare Act and the changes it will bring, we can take solace in knowing that individuals such as this passionate trio will keep doing their best to champion animal welfare in Malaysia.
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Japanomania in the North
Japanomania was a brilliant exhibition that I had the pleasure of visiting on a trip to Oslo, Norway. Carefully curated, the art and design pieces on display demonstrated how Japanese culture has influenced the arts and crafts movement in Scandinavia. Is there any culture that has not been artistically influenced by Japanese aesthetics?
I personally have been obsessed with Japanese aesthetics since I can remember. When I was in college I remember learning about the Asian influence in European visual arts and how popular the "exotic" themes became at the turn of the 19th century. I loved the outfitting of French ladies in Japanese clothing with stylized artifacts to recreate a setting. My Impressionist Art professor Willy Montero would say the significant influence of the Uu-key-yo-e is essential to understanding the whole period. The Ukiyo-e, also known as the Japanese wood block print, circulated as a postcard of Japanese imagery around large European cities, particularly Paris. Artists such as James McNeill Whistler to Vincent Van Gogh to Edward Manet had all seen and studied Japanese aesthetic through such memorabilia.
In studying design history it's interesting to see here the strength of Japanese influence as well. French designer and architect Charlotte Perriand was very inspired by Japanese proportions and the use of the tatami mat as a standard measure for her furniture and architecture, Charles and Ray Eames were influenced with Japanese low living lifestyle reflecting this in the LTR (low table rod) series of tables and chairs. I digress to reach the point that in many cultures around the world, Japanese aesthetics, have been extremely influential.
My second aesthetic obsession happens to be that of Scandinavian design and it is not surprising to learn that Japanese aesthetics were influential as well. I always thought I enjoyed both Japanese and Scandinavian design just the same due to their clean line, use of natural materials, mute color tones and inspiration in nature. However, I know now the similarities are deeper and the influences date earlier than mid twentieth century design. The exhibition Japanomania sheds light on a whole era of Japanese influence in the Nordic countries. The survey of art and artifacts carefully depicts inspirations in the fields of painting, textile, ceramics and furniture dating from 1875 to 1918. An era that developed right after the Universal Exposition in Paris in 1867 from which Japonisme began to spread. It is said that there has been no other influence in European visual arts that is as encompassing nor as long lasting as Japonisme.
The exhibition was co-curated by the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, Finnland and the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design, Oslo, Norway. It will also travel to Copenhagen, Denmark in 2017. It's quite shocking to learn that never before had these influences been researched beyond the individual artist cases. The exhibition is an impressive overall picture of the times. It's such a privilege for this traveling exhibition to be available for the Nords. For those who can not visit the show personally, the exhibition catalog in English contains images on all the contents of the show and more so. It is available through Yale University Press and I highly recommend it for any design obsessed.
If you’d like to learn about a coffee shop in Oslo, Norway that does an amazing job at decorating an old Japanese tea house with mid-century Norwegian furniture read next Fuglen: The Bird.
Newer:Greenery 2017 Pantone Color of The YearOlder:fuglen [the bird]
CategoriesDesign Travel, Exhibition
TagsOslo, Japanmania, exhibition, museum, ceramics, textile, painting
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Electric, hybrid and low-emission cars
Carmakers’ electric dreams depend on supplies of rare minerals
With mining of cobalt and other elements politically and ethically charged, the hunt for alternatives is on
Karl West
Sat 29 Jul 2017 11.00 EDT Last modified on Thu 4 Jan 2018 06.03 EST
BMW Group says a fully electric three-door version of the Mini car will go into production in 2019. Photograph: Bruno Bebert/EPA
Britain last week joined France in pledging to ban sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2040 in an attempt to cut toxic vehicle emissions. The move to battery-powered vehicles has been a long time coming. Environmental campaigners claim that charging cars and vans from the grid, like a laptop, is sure to be cleaner than petrol or diesel power. The government agrees and says it will invest more than £800m in driverless and clean technology, and a further £246m in battery technology research.
BMW plans to build a fully electric version of the Mini at Cowley in Oxford from 2019. Volvo announced earlier this month that from the same year, all its new models will have an electric motor.
Huge potential profits await those that can tap into this burgeoning market. Transparency Market Research estimated the global lithium-ion battery market at $30bn in 2015, rising to more than $75bn by 2024. Morgan Stanley analysts expect global car sales to rise by 50% by 2050 to more than 130m units a year, and estimates that electric vehicles will account for at least 47% of that total.
Lithium-ion batteries have long been used to power smartphones, laptops and other gadgets. Scaled-up versions are now being developed for electric vehicles. These batteries should last for at least 10 years, or 150,000 miles, until they need to be replaced.
However, the road to a promised land of zero-emission vehicles is littered with speed bumps and red lights that threaten to seriously slow the progress of the electric car. Battery makers are struggling to secure supplies of key ingredients in these large power packs – mainly cobalt and lithium. The hopes of both battery and vehicle manufacturers hang on the mining sector finding more deposits of these precious minerals.
Trent Mell of First Cobalt, a Toronto-based mining company, said: “Cobalt is tricky because of the scarcity of supply. There aren’t a lot of producers. We’re relying on more discoveries. It’s out there: we’ve just got to find it.”
The First Cobalt boss added that his company was currently confident of making discoveries in Idaho and Ontario. Investors see a chance of cashing in on the mineral’s key role: the price of shares in the Canadian firm has risen from C$0.06 to C$0.76 in the past year.
This is the mother of supply chain headaches, and one hi-tech car manufacturers and electronics firms could do without. At the heart of the global cobalt trade is Glencore. The metals and mining giant produces almost a third (28,300 tonnes) of the world’s annual supply. As much as 65% of this global supply comes from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where cobalt production has fallen this year because of the unstable political situation. This sparked a 90% jump in the price of cobalt to a peak of $61,000 a tonne earlier this month.
Inside the Katanga Mining copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Photograph: Getty Images
Macquarie Research predicts that trouble in the DRC and rising demand for electric vehicles will lead to a four-year-long cobalt shortage. Writing in academic journal The Conversation, Ben McLellan, senior research fellow at Kyoto University, warned further: “Manufacturers such as electric vehicle makers should be concerned that the supply of one of the key mineral components, or the processing and refining infrastructure, could become too centralised in a single country. Without diverse source options, the possibility of supply restriction becomes more likely.”
The squeeze on cobalt has sent car giants such as Volkswagen scurrying to lock in supply deals with the likes of Glencore. First Cobalt’s Mell said: “I think there is going to be some jockeying for supply.”
Volkswagen, which had been slow to develop battery-powered vehicles, it is now pushing through an ambitious programme as it seeks to regain the trust of customers and investors after the diesel emissions scandal. The German manufacturer wants to launch more than 10 electrified models by the end of next year and is aiming at 30 battery-powered models by 2025. It plans to increase electric-car sales to a million a year by 2025, from tens of thousands at present.
Demand for other key battery ingredients, such as graphite and lithium carbonate, is also outstripping supply. The current shortage of lithium has seen prices double since 2015. Global lithium demand was 184,000 tonnes in 2015, with battery demand accounting for 40%. Analysts at Deutsche Bank expect demand to increase to 534,000 tonnes by 2025, with battery manufacturers accounting for 70%. Lithium deposits are found mostly in China and Bolivia.
Two South Korean battery makers – Samsung SDI and LG Chem – have responded to the crisis by stepping up development of new power packs that use more nickel and less cobalt.
Other battery pioneers are trialling alternative materials in an attempt to crack the booming energy storage market. In June, the US Naval Research Laboratory signed a commercial licensing agreement with California-based EnZinc. This firm was co-founded by Michael Burz, who worked previously on the design of the Tomahawk cruise missile as well as for Nissan.
The agreement gives EnZinc exclusive rights to a nickel-zinc battery for use in electric road vehicles, to hybrid cars that use that battery, and microgrids (small localised electric grids that can run independently) of up to 60 megawatts. Burz expects his zinc-based battery technology to be ready for market in about two years, with another year to gear up production.
Lithium-ion batteries can include other materials such as magnesium, cadmium, manganese and cobalt oxide. They also use a flammable electrolyte, which makes them more risky than lead-acid batteries. EnZinc’s solution is to incorporate less-volatile metals – zinc and nickel – in a battery with sponge-like silicon electrodes.
A key advantage of EnZinc’s plan is that zinc is in much more plentiful supply than cobalt and lithium. Deposits of the metal are found in China, Australia, Peru and the US among others. The US alone produces about 900,000 tonnes of zinc a year, much of it from the huge Red Dog Mine in Alaska, operated by Vancouver-based Teck Resources. It is thought around 600,000 tonnes of zinc would be required to make batteries for a million electric vehicles. One large international zinc company mines around 14m tonnes a year.
But while big corporations work on a green energy revolution, Amnesty International has shone a light on the dark side of this dream. The human rights group says children as young as seven continue to work in perilous conditions in mines in the DRC.
In 2014, according to Unicef, about 40,000 children were working in mines across southern DRC, many of them extracting cobalt. A report by Amnesty and Afrewatch (African Resources Watch) published in January said corporations such as Apple, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft, Daimler and Volkswagen were failing to do basic checks to ensure that they did not use cobalt mined by child labourers in their products.
Mark Dummett, business and human rights researcher at Amnesty International, said: “The glamorous shop displays and marketing of state-of-the-art technologies are a stark contrast to the children carrying bags of rocks, and miners in narrow manmade tunnels risking permanent lung damage.
“Millions of people enjoy the benefits of new technologies but rarely ask how they are made. It is high time the big brands took some responsibility for the mining of the raw materials that make their lucrative products.”
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Can nobody make a sandwich like McDonald's?
Mon 20 Nov 2006 06.21 EST First published on Mon 20 Nov 2006 06.21 EST
It has been the food of monarchs and commoners ever since John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, first pressed some meat between two slices of bread and took a bite. Billions of butties later, the fast-food giant McDonald's has set its sights on his invention. The company has filed patents in Europe and the US that claim the "method and apparatus for making a sandwich" as its intellectual property.
Patent application WO2006068865 relates to the "pre-assembly of sandwich components and simultaneous preparation of different parts of the same sandwich". It covers the "simultaneous toasting of a bread component" and heating a "meat and/or cheese filling". And it says the company has invented a way to add garnishes and condiments using a "sandwich assembly tool".
The patent says McDonald's wants to cut down on the time and labour required to put its sandwiches together. The company also wants them to look and taste the same and has come up with what it describes as "novel methods" to put them together.
The assembly tool contains a "cavity" into which the sandwich-maker places the garnish ("including, but not limited to, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickles, chilli, coleslaw, giardinera, peppers, spinach, radishes, olives, egg, cooked bacon and cheese") and the condiments ("ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, sauces, relish, oils, salt, pepper, barbecue sauce, steak sauce, hot sauce, dressings including salad dressings, yogurt, butter, margarine and liquid or semi-liquid cheese").
A "bread component" is then placed over the cavity and the assembly tool "inverted" to tip out the contents. "Typically, a sandwich filling will thereafter be placed in the bread component," the 55-page patent explains. "Often the sandwich filling is the source of the name of the sandwich, for example - ham sandwich."
It also describes how to make cocktail sandwiches, by taking a full-sized version that is "cut up into smaller pieces".
Lawrence Smith-Higgins of the UK Patent Office said: "McDonald's or anyone else can't get retrospective exclusive rights to making a sandwich. They might have a novel device but it could be quite easy for someone to make a sandwich in a similar way without infringing their claims." McDonald's would not comment.
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Observer critics' review of 2010
The best films of 2010, by Philip French
The Observer's film critic reviews an exceptional year for British film-makers and actors – and a rough one for Julia Roberts
Philip French
Sat 11 Dec 2010 19.04 EST First published on Sat 11 Dec 2010 19.04 EST
Animation had a brilliant year, with the 3D Toy Story 3 among the most memorable. Photograph: Disney-Pixar
Not a bad year all in all, and an exceptional one for Britain with the continuing success of the Harry Potter franchise and a variety of highly individual movies. One thinks of Made in Dagenham, Tamara Drewe, The Disappearance of Alice Creed, The Arbor, Monsters, and two topical comedies, The Infidel and Four Lions. It was thus an inappropriate time for the coalition government to continue the British establishment's century-long policy of foolish, patronising and, at times, vindictive treatment of our native film-makers by abolishing the UK Film Council. However, the decision by Warner Bros to buy and refurbish the Leavesden studios in north London may help delay the descent of British cinema into a cottage industry.
The only discernible international trends were a sceptical interest in religion (eg Lourdes, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Of Gods and Men, A Prophet) and the continuing vogue for horror movies. It was a disappointing year for documentaries, with only Restrepo (a study of a US platoon in Afghanistan by the Anglo-American team of Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington) attaining unmissable status.
It was, however, another remarkable year for animation, with the brilliant CGI work of Pixar's Toy Story 3 (in 3D) being challenged by the more traditional techniques employed by the eccentric Franco-Belgian-Luxembourgish A Town Called Panic, the Spanish Chico and Rita, the Anglo-French The Illusionist, and the most cheerful thing out of Ireland in 2010, The Secret of Kells. It is clear that 3D, with so much money invested in it, is not the flash in the pan it was in the early 1950s. Whatever it does to your eyes, 3D has legs.
The male performances I most admired in 2010 were both British: Andy Serkis's uncanny impersonation of Ian Dury in Mat Whitecross's Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, and Colin Firth's coolly poised George Falconer in Tom Ford's A Single Man. My favourite female performances were Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in The Kids Are All Right. The actor most pleasing just to watch was George Clooney, disarmingly charming as potentially repulsive loners in Up in the Air and The American. The one whose work was saddest to contemplate was Julia Roberts, briefly as herself in the wretched Valentine's Day, but in every scene of the toe-curlingly awful Eat Pray Love.
The 50th anniversaries of Psycho and Breathless made me feel my age. As did the death of Claude Chabrol, co-author of the first book on Hitchcock and technical adviser on Godard's feature debut. Though not unpleasantly.
The Social Network Photograph: Merrick Morton
Of Gods and Men (Xavier Beauvois)
The Social Network (David Fincher)
Inception (Christopher Nolan)
Un Prophète (Jacques Audiard)
Another Year (Mike Leigh)
Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich)
The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko)
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)
Winter's Bone (Debra Granik)
The Ghost (Roman Polanski)
TURKEY OF THE YEAR
Eat Pray Love (Ryan Murphy)
The best architecture of 2010, by Rowan Moore
The Observer's architecture critic Rowan Moore was impressed by Zaha Hadid's Maxxi and saddened by the loss of Hastings pier
The best art of 2010, by Laura Cumming
Laura Cumming reflects on a vintage year for solo exhibitions
The best classical music of 2010, by Fiona Maddocks
Fiona Maddocks looks back on a good year for Mahler, opera at the movies and YouTube
The dance highlights of 2010, Luke Jennings
Luke Jennings, the Observer's dance critic, recalls the year's outstanding classical and contemporary performances
The best pop of 2010, by Kitty Empire
The best radio of the year
The best theatre of 2010, by Susannah Clapp
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Union minister Jitendra Singh dedicates two inter-state roads to people of North East
Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday inaugurated two interstate road projects in the northeast, asserting that the BJPled NDA government was committed to the development of the region
GUWAHATI: Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Saturday inaugurated two inter-state road projects in the northeast, asserting that the BJP-led NDA government was committed to the development of the region.
Singh, who dedicated the projects to people via a video conference from New Delhi, said the region has witnessed rapid development in the last five years.
"The road projects reaffirms the Centre's commitment toward the people in the northeast. The region has undergone a revolutionary transformation under the dynamic leadership of Narendra Modi," said the Union minister of state (independent charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER).
The projects -- the 17,47-km-long Doimukh-Harmuti road linking Assam to Arunachal Pradesh and the 1.66-km-long Tura- Mankachar Road connecting Assam with Meghalaya -- have been implemented by the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.
The roads will immensely benefit people residing in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh and the West Garo Hills District of Meghalaya, Singh said.
The northeast lagged behind other parts of the country in terms of intra-regional connectivity before the NDA came to power, the minister maintained.
"There has been a visible improvement in rail, road and air connectivity in the northeast region in the last five years. The improved connectivity and infrastructure have removed bottlenecks in the development process, giving boost to the region's economy "It has also created jobs, arresting the migration of youth from the region to other states," he added.
Jitendra Singh
Inter State Road Projects
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Details of my Nigerian roots – Atiku replies APC petition
Sunday, April 21, 2019 9:50 pm
Atiku
Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has affirmed that he is not a Nigerian by birth in a response to the assertions of All Progressives Congress, APC in the at the presidential election tribunal.
The former vice president who is the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP detailed “how he is a Nigerian by birth”, saying he has a right to contest the presidential election.
The APC had told the tribunal that Atiku is not a Nigerian by birth and was therefore not qualified to run for president, going by the provisions of the 1999 constitution.
However, in his response, copy of which was made available to the media, Atiku said he was born in Jada, Adamawa state, by Nigerian parents and is therefore a citizen of Nigeria by birth.
According to him, his parents were both Fulani, a community/tribe indigenous to Nigeria.
Below is his full submission in response to APC’s argument about his Nigerian origin:
In further response to paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 of the 3rd Respondent’s Reply, the Petitioners state as follows:
The 1st Petitioner (Abubakar) was born on 25th November, 1946 in Jada, Adamawa State by Nigerian Parents and he is therefore a citizen of Nigeria by Birth.
The 1st Petitioner’s father, Garba Atiku Abdulkadir was a Nigerian by Birth who hailed from Wumo in present day Sokoto State while the mother, Aisha Kande was also a Nigerian who hailed from Dutse in present day Jigawa State.
The parents of the 1st Petitioner are both Fulani, a community/tribe indigenous to Nigeria. The birth of the 1st Petitioner in Jada, in present day Adamawa State of Nigeria was occasioned by the movement of his paternal grandfather called Atiku who was an itinerant trader, from Wumo in present day Sokoto State to Jada in the company of his friend, Ardo Usman.
That in Jada, Atiku, the grandfather of the 1st Petitioner gave birth to Garba who in tum gave birth to the 1st Petitioner and named him after his own father Atiku.
The 1st Petitioner’s mother, Aisha Kande was the grand-daughter of Inuwa Dutse who came to Jada as an itinerant trader too from Dutse in present day JigawaState.
That all averments concerning Germany, British Cameroons, League of Nations and Plebiscite are false and misleading in relation to the 1st Petitioner and therefore completely irrelevant more so that the 1st Petitioner is a Nigerian by birth within the contemplation of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
viii. The averments in the aforesaid paragraphs are indeed fabricated, contrived, made in bad faith and designed to embarrass the 1st Petitioner.
In response to paragraph 7 of the 3rd Respondent’s (APC) Reply, the Petitioners aver that the votes of the 1st Petitioner in the Election of 23rd February, 2019 to the office of the President are not wasted votes, and the 1st Petitioner being a qualified candidate in the said Election indeed secured majority of lawful votes over and above the votes of the 2nd Respondent.
In further reaction to Paragraph 7 of the 3rd Respondent Reply, the Petitioners hereby plead and contend that at all times material the 1st Petitioner has been a Nigerian by birth and has participated in the following career and political activities and has also received the following awards and honours:
. the 1st Petitioner was a civil servant in the Nigerian Customs Service for over 20 years and retired as a Deputy Director.
. the 1st Petitioner has been a Nigerian politician for about 30 years and in 1992 he contested in the Presidential Primaries under the platform of then Social Democratic Party (SDP) alongside the late Chief M.K.O Abiola and Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe.
. the 1st Petitioner contested for and won the 1999 Gubernatorial election in Adamawa State under the platform of the 2nd Petitioner.
. the Former President Olusegun Obasanjo GCFR and the 1st Petitioner contested for and won the 1999 and 2003 Presidential Elections, respectively as President and Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 2nd Petitioner.
. the 1st Petitioner is the recipient of the National Honour of Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger(GCON).
. the 1st Petitioner was the traditional title holder of Turakin Adamawa from 1982 to 2017 when he was elevated to Wazirin Adamawa.
In 2007, the 1st Petitioner contested Presidential election under the platform of Action Congress (AC) and the 2nd Respondent (Buhari) contested under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP).
In 2014, the 1st Petitioner and the 2nd Respondent contested the Presidential Primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the 3rd Respondent for the 2015 Presidential Elections.
In reaction to paragraph 10 of the 3rd Respondent’s (APC) Reply, the Petitioners contend that there was no admission of conspiracy and criminality by the Petitioners and reference to admission of conspiracy and criminality is false and unfounded.
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Talent, Originals
If you want a career in journalism, this could be a good place to start.
We asked some of Asia's top journalists and editors to share their best advice for aspiring young reporters.
Susan Tam
By Susan Tam
Splice Malaysia
PUBLISHED 10 Oct 2017, 11:59 pm
Images: Shutterstock. Graphic: Rishad Patel
From sophisticated megacities to conflict zones, journalists working in Asia must be able to tackle a host challenges in order to deliver compelling stories. Adding to these complexities is the fact that many operate under repressive regimes, with political pressures on media freedom and expression. How do journalists work effectively in this dynamic space?
Splice reached out to journalists working in the region for their advice.
“Learn to shut up, not just when the other person is talking, but just after. Give them three or four seconds of unnerving silence just after they finish saying something in a part of the interview where you suspect there’s more to be said. They are likely to fill that uncomfortable silence with something that their brain has not had time to censor.”
Nicholas Walton is a writer and former BBC foreign correspondent. He’s working on a Singapore book to follow ‘Genoa: La Superba.’ He also writes for the Economist Intelligence Unit.
"Learn to shut up, not just when the other person is talking, but just after." — @npw99
“1. No assignment is too small. Give it your all, no matter what because your brand matters.
2. You are as good as your contacts. If you can’t call the newsmaker when news breaks, you’re no good to anyone.
3. Don’t be in a hurry to get to the top. Every experience counts.
4. There are no short cuts. Do your homework. It shows.”
Haslinda Amin is Bloomberg’s Chief International Correspondent for Southeast Asia. She’s also the host and executive producer of the ‘High Flyers’ talk show.
"Give it your all, no matter what because your brand matters." — @haslindatv
“Never make assumptions — keep asking questions, challenging what you know to be true, and to stay as curious as you can. Asking the right questions, or even the seemingly wrong ones, will make you a better journalist, as you will be able to report on an event or issue as accurately as you can, and it will keep you grounded — a routine ego check — as you are always challenging your beliefs, your knowledge, and you submit to the fact that you may not always be correct. In short, question everything, everyone — your sources, your editors, especially yourself.”
Avie Olarte is a Filipino writer who specializes in investigative journalism and research. A journalist for 17 years, her body of work includes stories on politics, corruption, human rights, environment, gender and media and development. She is a recipient of awards from the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism. She’s worked for Vera Files and is currently with CNN Philippines.
"Question everything, everyone — your sources, your editors, especially yourself." — @avieolarte
“It pays to let conversations wander. Sometimes the best and most valuable information will land in the final, meandering minutes of an interview. If you have the time, let conversations veer wildly off topic once in a while.”
Thomas Fuller, San Francisco bureau chief for The New York Times. He has spent the past two decades in postings abroad for The Times and The International Herald Tribune in Europe and most recently in Southeast Asia. He covered military coups in Thailand, the demise of dictatorship in Myanmar and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s transition from political prisoner to politician, the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, the expansion of the European Union into Eastern Europe, rioting in French cities, the Iraq War, the Arab Spring, the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, choking forest fires in Borneo and the legacy of war in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. He began his career in the Paris newsroom of The International Herald Tribune and has been based in Kuala Lumpur, Brussels, Paris and most recently in Bangkok.
"If you have the time, let conversations veer wildly off topic once in a while." — @thomasfullernyt
“Always volunteer to do things that are never done before or things that most older journos wouldn’t do like Snapchat, Instagram Stories, Facebook Live and messaging apps. If you fail, at least you learn something. If it succeeds, you get to lead it.”
Janie Octia is a Social Publishing Producer at CNN. Based in Hong Kong, she’s part of a global team responsible for managing CNN’s social accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and messaging apps such as LINE. Octia was Yahoo’s Senior Editorial Operations Manager for India and Southeast Asia. She has also worked for Yahoo Philippines as a global news editor, and as a reporter and production specialist for INQUIRER.net.
"If you fail, at least you learn something. If it succeeds, you get to lead it." — @janieoctia
“Remove yourself from the story as much as possible, ask the tough questions, and be fair and persistent. Or, as another journalist once told me: “Be a polite pain in the ass.””
Tom Grundy, editor in chief of Hong Kong Free Press, which was founded in 2015 in response to press freedom issues in the city. Based in Hong Kong for more than ten years, Grundy is a British multimedia journalist who has contributed to a range of international outlets. He is also behind the popular Hong Kong news and culture platform, hongwrong.com, and is the co-founder of a multimedia advocacy and legal campaign for domestic workers.
"Be a polite pain in the ass." — @tomgrundy
“ALWAYS research your story. Do all the background reading and make sure the questions you want to ask are pertinent and haven’t been addressed before. Never walk blind into something if you can help it. Generally, read as much as you can. Not just news sites. Invest in magazines, non-fiction books and look for research and analyses on the important subjects of the day.”
Marc Lourdes, director of CNN Digital Asia, has more than a decade of experience as a journalist, working at local Malaysian dailies The Star and New Straits Times before moving on to build digital storytelling platforms at Yahoo!, where he was editor-in-chief in Singapore. Now based in Hong Kong, Lourdes leads CNN Digital’s Asia team across editorial content and multiplatform programming for the network’s global audience during that timezone.
"Generally, read as much as you can. Not just news sites." — @marclourdes
“The most important thing is to be mentally nimble. Approach a story with the full expectation that it may turn out to be completely different from what you think it will be. Chase down every lead and tie up every loose end (i.e. fact-check). Treat ALL newsmakers with respect. No one owes you or the news industry anything. You are not entitled to access or quotes. Direct quotes are sacred; don’t embellish them.”
Bhavan Jaipragas is the Asia Correspondent for South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. He says on his LinkedIn profile that he writes deep-dive pieces on Asean nations’ domestic politics, economy, and diplomatic ties with China and the rest of the world. He also touches on subjects like extremism and the sharing economy.
"You are not entitled to access or quotes." — @jbhava
“The first thing is to ask yourself why you are doing this story and why this story is important to tell to your audience. Then you need to find out what others have reported on the issue and what new angle you are going to pursue that will make the most impact. Then, I think you should talk to as many people as possible who are related to the story. And then decide on the multimedia tools you could integrate so that you could tell the story in a better and creative way.”
Rajneesh Bhandari is a multimedia journalist and filmmaker, with work published by The New York Times, CCTV and Asia Calling. He is the coordinator of experiential reporting Media Gufa, regularly runs journalism workshops, and is working to improve digital literacy in Nepal by training young people in rural areas.
"...decide on the multimedia tools you could integrate..." — @RajneeshB
“I think it is very hard for young journalists to prove themselves in a newsroom if they are working with some newspapers that are pro-government, because they are not required to cover the hot topics because [the publishers] are afraid the government will sue them and shut down their organizations. But if the young journalists are working with the neutral and independent newspapers, they are brave… and they will become the professional journalists in future.”
Aun Pheap, former Cambodia Daily journalist, has won awards for his work on illegal logging and trans-border smuggling. Pheap and ex-colleague Zsombor Peter were recently charged with “incitement” over their election coverage and could face two years in prison if convicted, charges that come after the newspaper closed amid government pressure in September.
"...working with neutral and independent newspapers [helps you] become professional journalists..."
“No story is worth dying for, but some stories are worth taking a bit of risk. Cultivate news awareness; cultivate sources and take every story as an opportunity.”
Syed Nazakat, founder and editor-in-chief of DataLEADS, a Delhi-based media startup that takes a data-driven approach to reporting. With more than 17 years of experience, he has revealed stories about secret torture chambers in India, arms smuggling in Bangladesh, and the trafficking of women from Afghanistan. Syed was among the first journalists to report from an Al-Qaeda rehabilitation camp in Saudi Arabia, and in 2013 he secured unprecedented access to the military detention facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to report on prison abuse cases.
"No story is worth dying for, but some stories are worth taking a bit of risk." — @SyedNazakat
Susan Tam is a freelance journalist based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She has reported on global affairs for Al Jazeera English TV, as well as regional issues for the Singapore Press Holdings and The Star. Her freelance assignments have been for CNN International and Yahoo, and research for the UN offices in Malaysia. Susan specializes in social issues, policy developments and the retail sector. Follow Susan Tam on Twitter.
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Jim Bouton, former pitcher, “Ball Four” author, dies at 80
Pitcher turned sportswriter Jim Bouton, author of the controversial book "Ball Four," has died. (AP Photo)
Posted: Wed 10:25 PM, Jul 10, 2019 |
Updated: Wed 11:04 PM, Jul 10, 2019
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. (AP) — Jim Bouton, the former New York Yankees pitcher who shocked and angered the conservative baseball world with the tell-all book "Ball Four," has died. He was 80.
Bouton's family said he died Wednesday at the Great Barrington home he shared with wife Paula Kurman. He fought a brain disease linked to dementia and was in hospice care. Bouton also had two strokes in 2012.
Published in 1970, "Ball Four" detailed Yankees great Mickey Mantle's carousing, and the use of stimulants in the major leagues. Bouton's revealing look at baseball off the field made for eye-opening and entertaining reading, but he paid a big price for the best-seller when former teammates and players and executives across baseball ostracized him for exposing their secrets. He wasn't invited to the Yankees' Old-Timers' Day until 1998
Throwing so hard that his cap often flew off his head, Bouton was 21-8 with six shutouts in 1963 — his second season in the majors and his only year as an All-Star — and went 18-13 with four more shutouts in 1964. The Yankees lost the World Series both years, with Bouton losing his lone start in 1963 in New York's loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and winning twice the following year in the Yankees' loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Bouton injured his right arm in 1965, going 4-15 that season, and saw limited action the next three seasons with New York. He worked on "Ball Four" in 1969, a season spent with the expansion Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros, his fastball replaced by a knuckleball as he tried to prolong his career.
Nicknamed Bulldog, Bouton also pitched for Houston in 1970. He returned to the majors with the Atlanta Braves in 1978, going 1-3 at age 39. He finished his 10-year career with a 62-63 record and 3.57 ERA.
Bouton was a television sportscaster in New York City with WABC and WCBS, wrote other books, appeared in the 1973 movie "The Long Goodbye" and starred in a 1976 CBS sitcom based on "Ball Four" that lasted only five episodes. He and a former teammate developed Big League Chew, a bubble gum alternative to tobacco.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Bouton was raised in New Jersey and the Chicago area. He pitched at Western Michigan University before signing with the Yankees in 1958. He made it to the majors in 1962, going 7-7, but didn't appear in the Yankees' World Series victory over the San Francisco Giants.
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ABC News panelists joke about Trump planning his funeral during Bush memorial coverage
"It will be the best presidential funeral ever," one panelist said Wednesday during ABC News' coverage of Former President George H.W. Bush's funeral.
ABC News panelists joke about Trump planning his funeral during Bush memorial coverage "It will be the best presidential funeral ever," one panelist said Wednesday during ABC News' coverage of Former President George H.W. Bush's funeral. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/12/06/george-h-w-bush-funeral-abc-news-panelists-joke-trump-funeral/2228917002/
Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY Published 3:08 p.m. ET Dec. 6, 2018 | Updated 3:13 p.m. ET Dec. 6, 2018
Former President George W. Bush remembers former President George H.W. Bush's love for his country, his family and a good laugh during his eulogy for his dad. USA TODAY
Two ABC News panelists joked about President Donald Trump planning his own funeral during coverage of Former President George H.W. Bush's funeral on Wednesday.
"It will be the best presidential funeral ever. No one will ever have seen anything like that funeral," joked ABC News correspondent Terry Moran, according to a video of the exchange published by entertainment and media news outlet The Wrap.
Moran made the comment alongside ABC News' Devin Dwyer after calling Trump's presidency a "repudiation" of what Bush and his son, Former President George W. Bush, "stood for," but one that the voters wanted.
"And perhaps a recognition, in terms of his involvement in the proceedings by President Trump, that he some day will be getting a similar treatment when he passes, as a former president of the United States," Dwyer responded.
"Probably a different tone in that funeral," Moran quickly jumped in. "First he’s going to choreograph it. So, there might be more trumpets and fanfare."
Dwyer replied: "Yes, he would do it bigger, one would imagine."
More: From George Washington to George H.W. Bush: The history of presidential funerals
More: George H.W. Bush's funeral services stand as America's goodbye to the Greatest Generation
The panelists' exchange came as an ABC News livestream showed Bush's funeral procession on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews.
According to the White House Historical Association, president are asked to plan their own funeral services shortly after taking office.
Dan Gainor, vice president on the conservative Media Research Center, condemned the the journalists' remarks as "despicable garbage" in comments made to Fox News.
"I would say ABC News should apologize, but it wouldn’t be sincere if it did. This is about the billionth example of unprofessional journalism in their attacks on Trump. It’s only more outrageous because of the solemn occasion,” Gainor told the network.
Gainor's group's "sole mission is to expose and neutralize the propaganda arm of the Left: the national news media," according to its website.
ABC News declined to comment.
America mourns George H.W. Bush
Visitors take pictures and look at the gravesite of former US President George H.W. Bush, center, his wife Barbara Bush, left, and their daughter Robin at the Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas on Dec. 8, 2018. Bush died at the age of 94 on Nov. 30, 2018 at his home in Texas. George H.W. Bush was the 41st President of the United States (1989-1993). Larry W. Smith, EPA-EFE
The gravesite of former US President George H.W. Bush, center, his wife Barbara Bush , right, and their daughter Robin at the Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas on Dec. 8, 2018. Larry W. Smith, EPA-EFE
Security unlocks the gate for people waiting in line outside the gate to have a look at the gravesite of former US President George H.W. Bush, his wife Barbara Bush and their daughter Robin at the Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas on Dec. 8, 2018. Larry W. Smith, EPA-EFE
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard for burial at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum on Dec. 6, 2018 in College Station, Texas. President Bush will be buried at his final resting place at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. A WWII combat veteran, Bush served as a member of Congress from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, director of the CIA, vice president and 41st president of the United States. Pool photo by David J. Phillip
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard followed by family members at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, in College Station, Texas. Pool photo by Jeff Roberson
Family members follow the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, in College Station, Texas. Pool photo by Matt York, Getty Images
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard followed by family members the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, in College Station, Texas. Pool photo by Jeff Roberson
The Hearse carrying the 41st President of the United States, George H.W. Bush, arrives at the George Bush Presidential Library & Museum in College Station on Thursday, Dec 6, 2018. Courtney Sacco, USA TODAY Network
Members of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets salute the hearse carrying George H.W. Bush as it arrives at the George Bush Presidential Library & Museum in College Station on Thursday, Dec 6, 2018. Courtney Sacco, USA TODAY Network
A joint military honor guard carries the casket of former President George H.W. Bush after it arrived by a presidential funeral train at Texas A&M University in College Station for burial at the George Bush Presidential Library on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, second from left, with wife Columba, and former President George W. Bush, center, with wife Laura, and other family members, watch as the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard after if arrived by train for burial at the George Bush Presidential Library, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, in College Station. Eric Gay, AP
People watch as the train carrying the casket of former President George H.W. Bush passes by in the country near Millican, Texas on Dec. 6, 2018. Larry W. Smith, EPA-EFE
People pay their respects as the train carrying the casket of former US President George H.W. Bush passes along the route from Spring to College Station, Texas on Dec. 6, 2018. David J. Phillip, AFP/Getty Images
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush passes through Magnolia, Texas, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, along the route from Spring to College Station, Texas. Pool photo by David J. Phillip
People line the tracks along a rural road as they wait for the train carrying the casket of former President George H.W. Bush to his final resting place on Dec. 6, 2018 near Whitehall, Texas. President Bush will be buried at his final resting place at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. A WWII combat veteran, Bush served as a member of Congress from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, director of the CIA, vice president and 41st president of the United States. Scott Olson, Getty Images
People pay their respects as the train carrying the casket of former President George H.W. Bush passes through Navasota, Texas, along the route from Spring to College Station, Texas on Dec. 6, 2018. Pool photo by David J. Phillip, EPA-EFE
People pay their respects as the train carrying the casket of former US President George H.W. Bush passes on Dec. 6, 2018, along the route from Spring to College Station, Texas. David J. Phillip, AFP/Getty Images
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard on Dec. 6, 2018 in Houston, Texas. President Bush will be buried at his final resting place at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. A WWII combat veteran, Bush served as a member of Congress from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, director of the CIA, vice president and 41st president of the United States. Pool photo by David J. Phillip
A Union Pacific locomotive, painted to look like Air Force One, will carry former President George H.W. Bush to his resting place in College Station, Texas waits at the station on Dec. 6, 2018 in Spring, Texas. Joe Raedle, Getty Images
People line the road as the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush heads to the Union Pacific train facility on Dec. 6, 2018 in Houston, Texas. Pool by David J. Phillip
U.S. Service Members with the Ceremonial Honor Guard carry the casket of former President George H.W. Bush at the Funeral Service, St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston on Dec. 6, 2018. Rachel Clow, USA TODAY Network
The family of former President George H.W. Bush, including former president George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush, watch as the casket is escorted following the Funeral Service, St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston on Dec. 6, 2018. Rachel Clow, USA TODAY Network
U.S. Service Members with the Ceremonial Honor Guard carry the casket of former President George H.W. Bush at the Funeral Service, St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston on Dec. 6, 2018. Rachel Clow, for USA TODAY
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard out of St. Martin's Episcopal Church Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, in Houston. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former President George W. Bush watches at the conclusion of the funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former President George W. Bush and family depart the funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former White House Chief of Staff James Baker after he gave a eulogy at the funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston on Dec. 6, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
The Oak Ridge Boys appear at the funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
The granddaughters of former President George H.W. Bush speak during his funeral at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, Dec. 6, 2018, in Houston. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard into St. Martin's Episcopal Church Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, in Houston. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Reba McEntire sings at the funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Dec. 6, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
George P. Bush passes the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush after speaking at the funeral service at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard and placed in St. Martin's Episcopal Church Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, in Houston. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
People attend a funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former President George W. Bush arrives for the Funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Houston, Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Reba McEntire arrives for a funeral service for former President George H.W. Bush at St. Martins Episcopal Church on Dec. 6, 2018 in Houston. Pool photo by David J. Phillip
The University of Texas at Austin tower is lit "41" in honor of former President George H.W. Bush on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Austin, Texas. Nick Wagner, Austin American-Statesman, via AP
The flag-draped casket of George H.W. Bush is led inside St. Martin's Episcopal Church after a military band played Hail to the Chief. The church in Houston's upscale Tanglewood neighborhood, was the spiritual home to the Bush family for more than 50 years. John Moritz, Corpus Christi Caller-Times via USA TODAY Network
Sgt. Wayne Goldwater of the Texas A&M Police Department guards the burial site of George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP
Special Air Mission 41 carries the body of President George H.W. Bush over the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, the day before he will be buried there. Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP
Texas A&M students Logan Mitchell, left, and Olivia Flores look at a statue of President George H.W. Bush at the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Jay Janner, Austin American-Statesman via AP
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard at Ellington Field Dec. 5, 2018, in Houston. Sandy Hooper, USA TODAY
Former President George W. Bush and family members of former President George H.W. Bush walk off Special Air Mission 41 as the casket arrives at Ellington Field Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Houston. Eric Gay, AP
Former President George W. Bush, with hand on heart, stands as his father, former President George H.W. Bush is carried from the Washington National Cathedral at the conclusion of the State Funeral service on Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former President George W. Bush returns to his seat after speaking during a State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former President George W. Bush speaks at a State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a military honor guard during a State Funeral at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melanie Trump with former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter, watch the conclusion of the State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
President Donald Trump, first lady Melania Trump, former President Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter, listen during a State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney speaks during the state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former president George W. Bush, center, reaches past President Donald Trump, First Lady Melania Trump and former president Barack Obama to greet former first Lady Michelle Obama during the funeral service of former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI, AFP/Getty Images
Former President Jimmy Carter and former Vice President Joe Biden arrive at a state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral, in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, greet former Sen. Alan Simpson as former President George H.W. Bush before a state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive at a State Funeral for Former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Former President George W. Bush and Laura Bush watch as the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard to a State Funeral at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Alex Brandon, AP
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive for the State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Carolyn Kaster, AP
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump greet former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama as they join other former presidents and vice presidents and their spouses for the state funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images
Congressional leaders from left to right, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., watch as a U.S. military honor guard carries the flag-draped casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush from the U.S. Capitol Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Pool photo by Win McNamee
The funeral motorcade bearing the casket of former President George H.W. Bush arrives at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Hannah Gaber, USA TODAY
Justino Delara, 100-years-old, joins the crowd to watch the arrival of the hearse containing the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Hannah Gaber, USA TODAY
Officers salute as the funeral motorcade bearing the casket of former President George H.W. Bush arrives at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Hannah Gaber, USA TODAY
Crowds gathered on a cold winter day to watch the arrival of the hearse containing the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. Hannah Gaber, USA TODAY
The hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is driven away from the Capitol to a State Funeral at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool) ORG XMIT: DCAB205 Pool photo by Alex Brandon
People watch as the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush passes Freedom Plaza on its way to a State Funeral at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Pool photo by Alex Brandon
People watch as the hearse carrying the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush heads to a State Funeral at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool) ORG XMIT: DCAB515 Pool photo by Alex Brandon
A U.S. military honor guard team carries the flag draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush from the U.S. Capitol, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Win McNamee, Getty Images
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard from the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Pool photo by Alex Brandon
From right, former President George W. Bush, second from right, former first lady Laura Bush, Neil Bush, Sharon Bush, Bobby Koch, Doro Koch, Jeb Bush and Columba Bush, stand just prior to the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush being carried by a joint services military honor guard from the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Pool photo by Alex Brandon
Former President Barack Obama, right, talks with Vice President Mike Pence before the funeral services for former President George H. W. Bush at the National Cathedral, in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. ERIK S. LESSER, EPA-EFE
Former Vice President Joe Biden, fourth from left, and his wife Jill Biden, second from left, speak with Ivanka Trump, the daughter of President Donald Trump, third from left, and her husband, President Donald Trump's White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, third from right, as former Vice President Al Gore, second from right, speak to former President Jimmy Carter, right, and former first lady Rosalynn Carter, bottom center, before a State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. AP
Former President Jimmy Carter, left, talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel as they arrive for the funeral services for former President George H. W. Bush at the National Cathedral, in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. ERIK S. LESSER, EPA-EFE
People arrive for a State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush at the National Cathedral, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, in Washington. Pool photo by Andrew Harnik
Vice President Mike Pence, left, greets former Vice President Joe Biden as they arrive for the funeral services for former President George H. W. Bush at the National Cathedral, in Washington, Dec. 5, 2018. ERIK S. LESSER, EPA-EFE
Mourners file into the Washington National Cathedral before the State Funeral for former President George H.W. Bush in Washington, Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Patrick Semansky, AP
A line of people wait in line to pay their respects to former President George H.W. Bush at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 4, 2018. James E. Sergent, USA TODAY
Former Sen. Bob Dole salutes the casket of President George H.W. Bush who lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Dec. 4, 2018. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
Visitors take in the scene at the the Capitol Rotunda and pay respects to President George H.W. Bush as he lies in state, Tuesday. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Gina Haspel arrives to pay respects to former President George H.W. Bush. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Jon Meacham, left, novelist and presidential biographer who will give a eulogy at George H.W. Bush's funeral service and previously gave a eulogy at the funeral of Barbara Bush, pays respects to President George H.W. Bush who lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Visitors to the Capitol Rotunda pay respects to President George H.W. Bush as he lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Dec. 4, 2018. Jack Gruber, USAT
People stop to take a photo of a statue of George H.W. Bush at the George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, TX., Dec. 4, 2018. Others have left flowers. Sandy Hooper, USA TODAY
Colin Powell, the 65th United States Secretary of State (2001-2005), who served under President George W. Bush, center, pays respect to President Bush as he lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Dec. 4, 2018. Jack Gruber, USAT
President George H.W. Bush's service dog Sully with Valerie Cramer of America's VetDogs at the U.S. Capitol to honor late president. Sully, a service dog trained by America's VetDogs, will join Walter Reed National Military Medical Center's Facility Dog Program after the holidays. President George H.W. Bush lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, Dec. 4, 2018. Jack Gruber, Jack Gruber-USA TODAY NETWORK
President George H.W. Bush lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. JACK GRUBER, USA TODAY
Neil Bush , left, pays his respects to his father President George H.W. Bush along with his family as the former President lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. JACK GRUBER, USA TODAY
President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pay their respects to former President George H.W. Bush as the 41st President lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. JACK GRUBER, USA TODAY
President George H.W. Bush lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda JACK GRUBER, USA TODAY
The Presidential Salute Battery marks the arrival of President George H. W. Bush's casket at the U.S. Capitol with a 21-gun salute by canons used in WWII, in which Bush also served. HANNAH GABER, USA TODAY
The Presidential Salute Battery marks the arrival of President George H. W. Bush's casket at the U.S. Capitol with a 21-gun salute by canons used in WWII. HANNAH GABER, USA TODAY
Current Cabinet members pay their respect to the former President George H.W. Bush lies at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda on Monday. The late president will lie in state until 7 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Jenna Bush Hager, center, her husband Henry Chase Hager and Noelle Bush walk past the casket of former President George H.W. Bush's, Monday. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Vice President Mike Pence speaks during the Capitol Rotunda service for the late President George H.W. Bush. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
U.S. Supreme Court Justices attend the service for former President George H.W. Bush as he lies in state, Monday. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Top- ranking Republicans Vice President Mike Pence, 2nd left, his wife Karen Pence, Janna Ryan, House Speaker Paul Ryan, Sec. of Transportation Elaine Chow and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell pay their respects to the late President George H.W. Bush who lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) smiles at the Capitol Rotunda service for the President George H.W. Bush. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Former President George W. Bush puts his arm around former White House Chief of Staff Andy Card as he and members of his family follow the casket carrying Bush's father, former President George H. W. Bush at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on Dec. 3, 2018. Win McNamee/POOL/EPA-EFE
Former Secretary of State James Baker, left, and former Vice President Dan Quayle await the arrival of the procession carrying the casket of former President George H. W. Bush. Baker and Bush were close personal friends. Win McNamee/POOL/EPA-EFE
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel bow their heads as the Senate wreath is presented in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) pay their respects to former President George H.W. Bush, on Monday. The late president will lie in state until 7 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) speaks at the ceremony honoring former President George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
The Bush family walks past as former President George H. W. Bush as he lies in state in the US Capitol Rotunda. Morry Gash/POOL/EPA-EFE
Former president George W. Bush, left, former first lady Laura Bush, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush share a moment as the late former President George H.W. Bush lies in state inside the Rotunda of the US Capitol. ALEX EDELMAN/AFP/Getty Images
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) speaks as former President George H.W. Bush lies in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. A WWII combat veteran, Bush served as a member of Congress from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, director of the CIA, vice president and 41st president of the United States. Brendan Smialowski/Pool/Getty Images
Speaker McConnell greets President George W. Bush as family members and others look on. at the Capitol Rotunda. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Honor guards bear the casket of former U.S President George H.W. Bush into the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Former Secretary of State James Baker III, left, former Vice President Dick Cheney and former Secretary of State Colin Powell file in to pay their respects to former President George H.W. Bush. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
President George H.W. Bush lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
The late president will lie in state until 7 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Former President George H.W. Bush lies in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda in Washington, Dec. 3, 2018. Jack Gruber/USA TODAY
Members of the Bush family, including President George W. Bush as the casket containing President George H.W. Bush is brought to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. Jack Gruber, USA TODAY
The casket of the late former President George H.W. Bush arrives at the U.S. Capitol, Dec. 3, 2018 in Washington, DC. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Former President George W. Bush watches as the flag-draped casket of his father, former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard to lie in state in the rotunda of the US Capitol, Monday. ALEX BRANDON/AFP/Getty Images
From right, former US Vice President Dan Quayle, James A. Baker III, former Vice President Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and other wait for the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush to arrive to lie in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Alex Brandon /POOL/EPA-EFE
People watch as the casket of former President George H.W. Bush arrives to lie in state in the rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. Alex Brandon/Pool/Getty Images
Attendees wait for the remains of former US President George H.W. Bush to arrive at the U.S Capitol Rotunda on Dec. 3, 2018. Brendan Smialowski/Pool/Getty Images
Former first lady Laura Bush and former president George W. Bush look on as the casket of the late former President George H.W. Bush arrives at the U.S. Capitol, Dec. 3, 2018. A state funeral for Bush will be held in Washington over the next three days, beginning with him lying in state in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda until Wednesday morning. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Associate Justices Brett Kavanaugh, left, Elena Kagan, Clarence Thomas, and Chief Justice John Roberts arrive at the Capitol Rotunda. Former President George H.W. Bush will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda before his state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral on Dec. 5. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/POOL/EPA-EFE
U.S. Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer talk while Senator Orrin Hatch (L-Rear) looks on as they attend ceremonies for the late President George H.W. Bush inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. A WWII combat veteran, Bush served as a member of Congress from Texas, ambassador to the United Nations, director of the CIA, vice preside Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Getty Images
Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whittaker arrives inside the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for a ceremony honoring late President George H. W. Bush at the U.S Capitol Rotunda. Jonathan Ernst/Pool/Getty Images
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California, right, talks with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California, center, and House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., left, as they arrive to attend services for former US President George H.W. Bush. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/POOL/EPA-EFE
Former US President George W. Bush, center, and former First Lady Laura Bush walk from Special Air Mission 41, the plane that carried his father, former US President George H.W. Bush, to Washington ,DC Joint Base Andrews, MD, on Dec. 3, 2018. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
The flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard to the hearse at Joint Base Andrews. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Service members carry the casket of the remains of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush is carried out of the U.S. Air Force 747, being called 'Special Mission 41, Monday. Mark Wilson/Getty Images
Family members watch as the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush is carried by a joint services military honor guard at Joint Base Andrews. Bush will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda before his state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral. George H.W. Bush, the 41st President of the United States (1989-1993), died at the age of 94 on 30 Nov. 2018, at his home in Texas. Alex Brandon/POOL/EPA-EFE
The yellow Labrador retriever Sully, the late former president's faithful service dog, walks on the tarmac after the flag-draped casket of former President George H.W. Bush was carried to a hearse. NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
Former Vice President Dan Quayle and his wife Marilyn arrive at the Capitol in Washington to attend services of former President George H.W. Bush, Monday. PABLO MARTINEZ MONSIVAIS/AFP/Getty Images
The sun rises behind Special Air Mission 41, the plane that will transfer the casket of former President George H.W. Bush to Washington, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, in Houston. Eric Gay, AP
Joint services military honor guard carry the flag-draped casket of the remains of former President George H.W. Bush during a departure ceremony to Washington at Ellington Field on Dec. 3, 2018 in Houston. Pool photo by David J. Phillip
The casket carrying former President George H.W. Bush is moved to Special Air Mission 41 plane during the Departure Ceremony at Ellington Field in Houston, Dec. 3, 2018. LARRY W. SMITH, EPA-EFE
Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange pause for a moment of silence to honor former President George H.W. Bush, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018. Richard Drew, AP
Members of the U.S. Secret Service carry the casket with former President George H. W. Bush to a hearse at George H. Lewis Funeral Home after a family service, Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, in Houston. Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, in Houston. Kiichiro Sato, AP
Members of the U.S. Marine Corps in their dress greens stand outside where the remains of former President George H.W. Bush are kept before the first departure ceremony at George H. Lewis and Sons Funeral Home on Dec. 3, 2018, in Houston Pool photo by Godofredo A. Vasquez
Former President George H.W. Bush's service dog, Sully, lying in front of his casket on Dec. 2, 2018. Evan Sisley, Office of George H. W. Bush
A guest to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in University Park, Texas passes by a painted portrait of Bush's father, the late 41st President George H.W. Bush -- painted by former Pres. George W. Bush -- and a memorial wreath, Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018. Tom Fox, The Dallas Morning News, via AP
Tiffany Utterson, right, and her children, from left to right, Ella, 11, Ian, 10 and Owen, 8, place a wreath outside the gated community entrance to the home of George H.W. Bush Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, in Houston. David J. Phillip, AP
Flags on the National Mall fly at half-staff to honor the passing of former President George H.W. Bush in Washington, Dec. 1, 2018. JIM LO SCALZO, EPA-EFE
A statue of George H.W. Bush with flowers stands near downtown in Houston, Dec. 2, 2018. LARRY W. SMITH, EPA-EFE
A moment of silence is observed in the memory of former President George H.W. Bush during the NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Oakland Raiders in Oakland, Calif., Dec. 2, 2018. Kirby Lee, USA TODAY Sports
Caroline Cyboran, of Kingwood, Texas, looks at an exhibit while visting the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in College Station. Bush has died at age 94. Family spokesman Jim McGrath says Bush died shortly after 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, about eight months after the death of his wife, Barbara Bush. David J. Phillip, AP
President George H. W. Bush is honored prior to the SEC championship game between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Georgia Bulldogs at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Jason Getz, Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
A messages lies among flowers left at the base of a statue of George H.W. Bush outside the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in College Station. David J. Phillip, AP
Flowers are placed at the foot of a statue of George H.W. Bush outside the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in College Station. David J. Phillip, AP
The US flag flies at half-staff at the White House in tribute to former US President George H. W. Bush, on Dec. 1, 2018, in Washington, DC. Bush, who guided the US through the end of the Cold War and launched the international campaign to drive Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait, died on November 30, 2018, at his home in Houston. He was 94. Katie Schubauer, AFP/Getty Images
Kalob Duke, 6, of College Station, Texas, sits behind the desk in a replica of the Oval Office exhibit at the George H.W. Bush Library and Museum Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in College Station. David J. Phillip, AP
A man pays his respects to former President George H. W. Bush at a makeshift memorial across from Walker's Point, the Bush's summer home, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in Kennebunkport, Maine. Bush died at the age of 94 on Friday, about eight months after the death of his wife, Barbara Bush. Robert F. Bukaty, AP
Caroline Western, 3, of College Station, Texas, touches at a statue of George H.W. Bush inside the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in College Station. David J. Phillip, AP
A visitor takes a photo of a painting of George H.W. Bush inside the George H.W. Bush Library and Museum Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in College Station. David J. Phillip, AP
A passer-by cleans off the historical marker near the birth home of former United States President George H. W Bush in Milton, Mass. on Dec. 1, 2018. Cj Gunther, EPA-EFE
Visitors to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum sign condolence books Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, in College Station. David J. Phillip, AP
Flowers lay at the statue of former United States President George H.W. Bush near the Presidential Library in College Station, Texas on Dec. 1, 2018. Daniel Kramer, EPA-EFE
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2018/12/06/george-h-w-bush-funeral-abc-news-panelists-joke-trump-funeral/2228917002/
Poll: Most Americans call Trump's tweets targeting 4 congresswomen 'un-American'
House votes to condemn Trump's racist tweets with support from only 4 Republicans
FBI tied Donald Trump and top aides to 2016 effort to silence a porn star, new court files show
Donald Trump says the House Democrats he insulted should apologize day after his 'go back' tweets
Trump should 'aim higher': Lindsey Graham and other Republicans respond to Trump's 'go back' tweets
Democratic-controlled House kills articles of impeachment against Trump
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Personalised Classic Books - Gifts for Couples
A fabulous gift idea for book lovers, U Star Novels has created a range of romantic novels that are fully personalised to include up to 30 of your personal details, making you and your partner the stars of your very own novel. A fun, personal gift for Valentine's, Christmas, anniversaries, weddings, birthdays, bachelorette parties or just anytime to say "I Love You."
Romance | Vampire | Paranormal | Classics | Same-Sex
Alice In Wonderland - New Edition
Heres your chance to follow the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole and find yourself in Wonderland, as you star as Alice in the beloved childhood classic, Alices Adventures in Wonderland. Create a one-of-a-kind gift or bring out the child in you as you star in this tale of imaginative nonsense and trickery. Filled with curious characters that can be personalised as well, this is a dazzling frolic for young and old alike, as vivid as only the best of dreams can be.
Would you like to fall in love with Mr Darcy? Star in one of the best-loved romances of all time! Choose yourself, family and friends to play six leading characters. Simply substitute the names of the leading characters with your chosen names.
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - New Edition
Heres your chance to follow the yellow brick road for yourself as you star in a beloved childhood classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The choice is yours as to whether you star as good girl Dorothy in your personalised version, or take on the role as the Wicked Witch of the West. Whichever you decide, you and your friends can star together as you face colorful characters, frightening villains, and the amazing landscapes that make up one of the most unusual and fascinating stories ever dreamed up. A timeless classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz will delight, perplex, and stir the imagination.
Peter Pan - New Edition
Take your place in one of the greatest children's stories of all time and experience the magical world of Neverland. "Peter Pan" is one of those rare books that grows richer, more heartbreaking and meaningful with each read. Become Peter, the boy who never grows up and cast your friends as Wendy, John, Michael, Tinker Bell or even Captain Hook! After starring in this timeless classic, you won't want to leave Neverland, and some days, you may find yourself staring out the window, looking for that hint of light that is Tinkerbell or the boy effortlessly flying between trees and buildings.
In the face of a brutal feud, love grows. Star as Romeo and Juliet, those famous star-crossed lovers in this timeless classic. The most famous love story of all time, this play tells the tale of a boy and a girl from warring families who meet and fall in love. Fate is not on their side, however, and the pair look for a way, against all odds to stay together.
"Little Women" is one of those rare classic novels that is still relevant, funny, fresh and heartbreaking today. Put yourself, sisters or girlfriends into the roles of the four March sisters as you star in this story of a loving and unconventional family welcoming life's joys and bravely facing life's sorrows. Part autobiographical, this is a powerful portrayal of young women growing up in a post-war American society of strong traditions and modern freedoms. Star in this heartwarming tale of sisterhood and self-discovery.
Star in this swashbuckling story of adventure in the role of young Jim Hawkins as you go on a quest for hidden treasure. Cast your friends as Squire Trelawney, Dr. Livesey and Captain Alexander Smollett as you set sail for the secret island, accompanied by a crew of disguised pirates led by the powerful Long John Silver. This classic tale of the high seas, mutiny, stealth, and wit continues to entertain readers of all ages.
Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" is a much loved classic. Never before has a novel made a heroine come to life as vividly as Jane Eyre, and now you can take her place in a personalised copy of this special book which can be read and savoured over and over again. Read this book. Love it. Treasure every breathtaking passage and every witty turn of phrase. Watch as mere ink and paper breath life into Jane Eyre's heart--and your own.
A family curse. A mysterious murder. A ghostly black dog whose footsteps appear at the scene of the crime. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles is one of the greatest mysteries ever written. Only one man in the whole worldSherlock Holmescan handle a case of this caliber. Now you can put yourself in the shoes of this famous detective with a personalised version of this timeless mystery classic, and you can even choose your assistant too! A beloved and intricate tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles is filled with terrifying twists and turns, all of the most nail-biting elements a timeless mystery has to offer.
Was there ever a novelist who created more memorable characters than Dickens? Here, we meet perhaps his most intriguing; Miss Havisham, Pip, Estella, and Magwitch. Put yourself and friends into their shoes as you star in this aspiring tale of ultimate self-discovery. An inspirational gift to remind us all that we have the ability to exceed our own expectations.
Athos, Porthos, Aramis, D'Artangnan, the greatest of friends, the greatest heroes and saviours of the Queen's honour. Star as these well drawn characters of The Three Musketeers and join them on an "endless adventure" breathlessly moving from one scene to the next: sword-fighting, court espionage, sex scandals, poisonings, assassinations, undying love and more.
Dracula is one of the most famous horror characters of all time and now you can star right alongside him in this personalised edition of this timeless classic. Whether youve seen any of the hundreds of film adaptations of this classic or not, you really should treat yourself to reading it first-hand, and experiencing the chilling mix of desire and horror that Bram Stoker brings to this incredibly atmospheric, evocative and sensual novel.
Wuthering Heights, Heathcliff, Cathy, the moorsnames and places famous worldwide, even to those who have never read the book. Now heres your chance to star in a Bront classic and highly regarded as one of the greatest works of fiction ever written.
The Railway Children
A rollercoaster (well, steam train) ride of adventures and emotions which will captivate young and old alike. The mystery and the multi-layered plot will keep the pages turning and many will find the book hard to put down until you reach the book's satisfying conclusion.
The Wind In The Willows
Anyone who has read and loved The Wind In The Willows will want to own and cherish this beautiful, personalised gift edition. Mr. Toad, Ratty, Mr. Badger, and Mole are among the many creatures and characters who inhabit Grahame's version of Victorian era England. He weaves their riverbank life and many adventures in magical yet universally appealing style. Put yourself and your family and friends into this great literary classic which will appeal to children and adults alike.
Become the star of one of Jane Austen's most remarkable romantic novels, said to be written at the height of her prowess. Star as Emma Woodhouse in this comic novel about the perils of misconstrued romance and the concerns and difficulties of genteel women living in Georgian-Regency England. Emma's actions are governed by her own romantic fantasies, where she tries to bring people together playing matchmaker. Her failures as well as successes make this novel an interesting read. A real treat for Austen fans!
No 'Humbugs' here! Celebrate the warmth of the holidays this year starring alongside your family and friends in a personalised timeless Christmas tale. Whether you cast your boss or a grumpy relative as Ebenezer Scrooge, or your family as the Cratchit's, it's bound to be the most unique gift you'll give this Christmas!
Few works of adult literature are so well known that they become embedded in our cultural fabric the way that Oliver Twist has. Now you can revisit this cherished, heartwarming classic by starring as some of the most memorable characters Dickens' has ever created such as robber Bill Sykes, his dog Bull's-eye, Mr. Bumble, and Mr. Brownlow and of course, Oliver Twist, the loveable, sympathetic, young boy who the story based on. Like so many of Dickens' novels, Oliver Twist is a fantastically crafted and engrossing novel.
A favourite for generations, this all time classic, heartwarming story is of a unique heroine and her quest for a place to call home. Play the part of the mischievous Anne Shirley and be drawn into her vivid world of fun and eccentricity. This story will steal your heart forever and stay readable for years to come. A truly delightful and inspirational story for readers from eight to eighty, now even better as its personalised by U Star Novels to star you!
"Sense and Sensibility" is an emotionally powerful, beautifully written tale about two very different sisters, and the rocky road to finding a lasting love. As you can imagine, there are romantic problems aplenty for both of them -- along with the usual entailment issues, love triangles, sexy bad boys and societal scandals. Austen writes in such a romantic way that you wish you could be there in person to experience every word, and now you can!
The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in American literature, built on entertaining adventures and pranks, shared superstitions, and loyalty like none other. Put yourself and your best friend along with four other leading characters into a personalised edition of this timeless classic. The pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back for over a century, and now heres a new way to enjoy the most popular and famous works of American literature.
Black Beauty is the book for any horse lover and should be read by anyone who owns or rides a horse. This book follows the life of Beauty a handsome stallion who is sold and worked by different men in different places, some good some not so good. It is one of the first stories ever written from an animal's perspective which gives the reader a powerful sense of what horses endure and the responsibilities of the humans who utilise them.
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Action, mystery, love, this is a classic with it all. Set during the French Revolution, The Scarlet Pimpernel is fantastically plotted, with a full-steam-ahead plot that drags its readers from the centre of London society to a dark night on the coast of France. The book barely lets us pause for breath.
The Importance of Being Earnest is a tour de force of comedy, misidentifications, and farce. One of Oscar Wilde's most famous works, this play is a must read for anyone that is even remotely interested in English theatre at any level. Star as friends, Jack and Algernon and follow them and their imaginary alter egos in this witty, fast moving play. The two conspire to woo the ladies that they love, and through a series of happenstances, must gently deceive to get want they want. The end result is a play of incomparable quality, and the realisation of how important being 'earnest' is.
Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde' is both a brilliant thriller and a psychological novel that explores the darkest aspects of the human psyche. Buried deep within the breast of many men lie the seeds of great terror, dark imaginings that should never see the light of day. Follow in Dr. Jekyll's tortured steps as he unleashes the evil buried within himself in the form of Mr Hyde. The tale starts in London's foggy streets with a brutal attack by a mysterious character. As events unfold we come to learn of a sinister rogue on the prowl, Mr. Edward Hyde, and his horrific connection with the respectable Dr. Jekyll.
Frankenstein is the story of Victor Frankenstein, a brilliant Swiss scientist who discovers the secret of bringing inanimate things to life, eventually creating a human-like monster which proceeds to ruin his life. Follow the Monster you create on this tale of isolation and revenge, as you put yourself into the role of Victor Frankenstein and your family and friends play the other leading characters in the novel.
Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities - An Oprah Book Club pick! A Tale of Two Cities, in Dickens' own words, is "[T]he best story I have written" and is undoubtedly one of his most moving, exciting and memorable works. It builds with slow burning intensity, introducing us to the richly imagined characters who are to shape, and be shaped, by events far bigger, and with a greater sense of history, then they could ever imagine. Romance and rivalries blossom amid the conflict, and yet the fragility of human life and hopes is made all too clear. Step into this richly woven and moving tale, as you star as the leading characters that are at the heart of the novel.
Step into one of Jane Austen's most enjoyable novels, Mansfield Park. With its fair share of excellent characters, superbly crafted by Austen. Star as Fanny Price, where this deserving heroine gets her man in the end after much trial and tribulation and even saves the day. The satire of Mansfield Park is of the highest order; and readers are in for a special treat with this personalised novel which is deliciously witty and sparkling with intelligent humour.
Betrayal. Murder. Madness. Love. A vengeful ghost, a brothers murder, a corrupt courtthis revenge tragedy is the gloomy landscape of Hamlets Denmark. One of Shakespeares finest tragedies, Hamlet is a psychologically gripping play that will haunt you long after its final scene ends.
If there's any book out there that needs no introduction, it's Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Star as Huck Finn in this extraordinary novel where he meets a run away slave named Jim and the two undertake a series of adventures based on the Picaresque novel by Mark Twain.
Romeo and Romeo
In the face of a brutal feud, love grows. Star as Romeo and Romeo; same-sex star-crossed lovers in this timeless classic. The most famous love story of all time, tells the tale of two boys from warring families who meet and fall in love. Fate is not on their side, however, and the pair look for a way, against all odds to stay together.
This is a literary classic that sparkles on every page. Daisy will make you want to love. Tom will make you want to earn millions. Gatsby will make you want to dream. Step into this fascinating and enthralling classic, as you become embroiled in the problems, and empathise, love, hate and enjoy every single situation, every word.
Juliet & Juliet
Same-sex star crossd lovers can now star in the most famous love story ever told with a personalised same-sex version of Romeo Juliet. In the face of a brutal feud, love grows. Star as Juliet and Juliet, those famous star-crossed lovers in this timeless classic. The most famous love story of all time, this play tells the tale of two girls from warring families who meet and fall in love. Fate is not on their side, however, and the pair look for a way, against all odds to stay together.
We all get stuck for gift ideas from time to time, however well we may know someone. Personalised novels are the perfect gift idea for so many occasions, and our specially crafted personalised books and novels are here to solve this problem once and for all.
We have a wide selection of gifts for men, for women, for children and for couples. Perhaps it’s for their engagement or for their anniversary so you’re looking for something that’s a bit more romantic.
To help you out, we've put our thinking caps on so that you don't have to, and developed a great selection of gift ideas that will put a smile on your friends’ and loved ones’ faces.
If you do need a unique gift idea for a romantic occasion such as an engagement, wedding or anniversary, take a look at our fabulous personalised romantic novels. With both their names together with over 30 character traits featured throughout an authentic paperback novel starring them on every page, this is the perfect gift for couples that’ll make them smile all year round.
Alternatively, if you like the idea of a personalised novel, we have a large collection of personalised classic novels for you to star in. Step into timeless classics such as Romeo & Juliet, and personalised Pride & Prejudice, sometimes there just isn't a better way to say how much you love someone.
Choosing gifts to please both halves of a couple can be tricky, and a personalised novel from U Star Novels is the perfect solution. But don’t take our word for it, see what some of our customers have to say here:
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US-led Raid in Baghdad Kills 3 Suspected Militants
The U.S. military says coalition troops killed three terrorists, including an al-Qaida weapons dealer, in a raid in the Baghdad area Tuesday morning.
Elsewhere in Baghdad, Iraqi security officials say a bomb blast killed three people and wounded seven others.
A U.S. military statement Tuesday says an Iraqi soldier was fatally wounded during an incident with an American Marine at a guard post in the Fallujah Government Center on December 30. The military says it has launched a criminal investigation, and the Marine has been assigned to administrative duties.
In a separate statement, the U.S. military says that during the past week, Iraqi forces have detained more than 60 people in raids between the cities of Ramadi and Fallujah.
U.S. military officials also report that an American soldier was killed Monday in a roadside bomb blast southwest of the Iraqi capital.
Meanwhile, a Sunni politician told Al-Arabiya television that U.S. aircraft bombed his offices and a nearby home Monday, killing a family of four and two workers from his political party.
But the U.S. military says the six were suspected terrorists and that they were killed during a raid on a suspected al-Qaida safe house in Baghdad.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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UW Leadership
Invite the president
Vice provosts
Deans and chancellors
Invite the provost
Supporting our international scholars and students (updated)
Ana Mari Cauce
NOTE: The information below was accurate at the time of posting. For the most up-to-date information about this issue, please visit the Office of Global Affairs site.
This morning, we learned that a new presidential executive order affecting travel by members of our international community has been issued. The order issued today differs from the order issued in January in several respects.
First, it is not effective until March 16, 2017. Upon that date, a 90-day ban on issuing new visas for individuals from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen will take effect. Iraq has been removed from the list of covered nations. Additionally, U.S. permanent residents, as well as individuals from the affected countries who already have visas or who obtain visas prior to March 16, 2017, will not be affected.
Regardless of these changes, this news remains concerning for many in our community. I recommend that UW faculty, staff and students from these six nations seeking resources and information go to the Office of Global Affairs website to locate guidance specific to their personal circumstances. The Office of Global Affairs will be updated with any new information as we have it and will also provide guidance to units who are recruiting individuals to the UW from the affected countries, particularly as it pertains to those students or employees who have not yet obtained visas.
The University of Washington will continue to do everything in its power to support all members of our community. We are proud to be home to students, faculty and staff from around the world, and we believe strongly in the world as a global community, in the benefits of cultural exchange and the opportunity to learn from people with different backgrounds. Those values are core to our identity and will not change.
Posted on January 29, 2017:
On Friday morning, I had breakfast with David Bonderman, an alumnus who completed his undergraduate degree in Russian at the UW, and then a law degree at Harvard. He is best known to our students as the man who established what they call “the Bonderman,” a scholarship for our undergraduate, graduate and professional students to travel abroad to multiple countries over an eight month period. It is not for a formal study program, but to “wander and wonder,” learning through personal experience about unfamiliar people and places.
The scholarship is modeled after Harvard’s Sheldon Fellowship, which he received at the end of his studies there. He then traveled to Cairo, Egypt to study Islamic jurisprudence and law before embarking on an illustrious and varied career. One of this country’s most successful businessmen, investors and philanthropists, David talks eloquently about how profoundly this experience with other cultures shaped his work and his life. Learning and working side-by-side with others from different backgrounds, life experiences and world views is one of the most important educational experiences we can offer our students; and it is key to the scholarship and research of many, if not most, of our faculty.
Having just talked with David about the impact his gift has had on the lives of our students, and the impact that they, in turn, are having on the world, it is especially difficult and painful for me to have to recommend that members of our community from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen avoid international travel at this time due to the recent presidential executive order.
This is a dynamic and rapidly changing situation, which is even changing as I write, but given reports that individuals with visas, and even legal permanent U.S. residents, from these seven countries are being denied entry to the United States, we recommend community members from these nations avoid international travel. The Office of Academic Personnel and International Student Services have been contacting scholars and students from these nations, who can utilize these offices for personalized assistance. We will provide these community members with updates directly as the situation becomes more clear.
I also want to state in the clearest possible manner that the University of Washington is proud to be the home to students, staff and scholars from around the world. We stand with them and will provide them with support as needed. As Provost Baldasty and I emphasized to the community in November, we are fully committed to providing a safe, secure and welcoming environment that protects the privacy and human rights of all members of our community.
When I arrived to this country in 1959 it was as a political refugee from Cuba. I then became an immigrant on a “green card” and fifteen years later, a U.S. citizen proud to commit to the values that have made this country great, including its almost singular ability to welcome the world’s tired, poor and huddled masses “yearning to breathe free,” as well as its artists, scholars, and scientists coming here to study or to teach. My commitment to the excellence of our University and my own life experiences only strengthen my determination to uphold those values now and always.
In memoriam: Marvin Oliver, ’73, artist and professor emeritus
What we are doing to prepare for I-1000
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Thank you, Grant County, for being great neighbors in the UW’s time of need
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Cryptocurrencies need close scrutiny, monitor warns
by: DAVID McHUGH, Associated Press
Posted: Jun 25, 2019 / 11:19 AM EDT / Updated: Jun 26, 2019 / 07:10 AM EDT
FILE – This Feb 23, 2019, file photo shows the inside of a computer in Jersey City, N.J. Facebook unveiled a broad plan Tuesday, June 18, to create a new digital currency. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane, File)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — An international financial monitor warned world leaders Tuesday that wider use by retail shoppers of cryptocurrencies like Libra, unveiled last week by Facebook, would need “close scrutiny” by regulators.
The chief of the Financial Stability Board made the statement in a letter to the heads of state and government who will gather at the Group of 20 summit on June 28-29 in Osaka, Japan.
Finance officials are debating how to regulate cryptocurrencies after Facebook unveiled Libra, a digital form of cash linked to existing currencies. Cryptocurrency is a form of digital money that uses encryption technology to make it secure. Cryptocurrencies exist not as physical bills or coins but rather as lines of digitally signed computer code.
FSB chair Randal K. Quarles, whose letter doesn’t mention Libra by name, said technological innovation could make the financial sector more efficient and inclusive and that cryptocurrencies do not at the moment pose a risk to global financial stability.
He warned, however, that “a wider use of new types of crypto-assets for retail payment purposes would warrant close scrutiny by authorities to ensure that that they are subject to high standards of regulation.”
“Though crypto-assets do not currently pose a risk to global financial stability, gaps may occur where crypto-assets fall outside the scope of regulators’ authority or from the absence of international standards,” he wrote in the letter.
Leaders of the G-20, whose countries represent more than 80% of the global economy, only made a one-sentence mention of cryptocurrencies at their 2018 summit in Buenos Aires.
Their closing statement said they were concerned about the use of cryptocurrencies in money laundering and financing terrorism and would “consider other responses as needed.”
At the time, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin were not considered a threat to financial stability because the amounts of money involved were tiny compared to the size of the global financial system.
Libra would be aimed at being a global currency used by billions of people, including those who have no bank account or other access to the financial system.
Facebook played a key role in creating the underlying technology for Libra but after the launch in 2020, the currency will be overseen by a nonprofit organization, the Libra Association. Other members of the association include MasterCard, PayPal, Visa, Spotify AB, Vodafone Group, venture capital firms and nonprofits.
In addition to chairing the FSB, Quarles sits on the board of governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve, where he is vice chair for regulation. The FSB is an international body that monitors and makes recommendations about the global financial system. It aims to coordinate national financial authorities and standard-setting bodies.
More Technology Stories
by MAE ANDERSON, Associated Press / Jul 18, 2019
NEW YORK (AP) — How much is too much for streaming video?
A dramatic slowdown in worldwide growth at Netflix — including the first quarterly drop in its U.S. subscribers since 2011 — is raising questions about just how much are people willing to pay for streaming services. Especially with a host of new ones from Disney, Apple and others on their way.
50 years after Apollo 11, NASA working to secure funding, send woman to the moon
by Jessi Turnure / Jul 18, 2019
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) -- Fifty years after Neil Armstrong took his one small step onto the moon, Congress wants to know about the next steps in America's space program.
NASA astronauts haven't traveled beyond low earth orbit since 1972. Washington Correspondent Jessi Turnure reports on NASA's plan to change that.
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Sistine Chapel Choir director quits after funding scandal
Posted: Jul 10, 2019 / 07:23 AM EDT / Updated: Jul 10, 2019 / 08:12 AM EDT
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Sistine Chapel Choir director in the wake of a funding scandal.
The Vatican said Wednesday that Monsignor Massimo Palombella will be temporarily replaced by Monsignor Marcos Pavan, currently in charge of the boys’ division of what’s believed to be the world’s oldest choir.
Earlier this year, Francis put a close aide in overall charge of the choir amid reform efforts. He also exhorted church choirs to perform at liturgical services with “sincere piety.”
In 2018, the Vatican began a probe of alleged diversion of funds by choir directors.
That same year saw the choir perform for celebrities in New York at a VIP-studded Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The choir’s much-touted summer tour of the United States was canceled without explanation.
More World Stories
by AMIRA EL-MASAITI, Associated Press / Jul 18, 2019
SALE, Morocco (AP) — Three men were convicted of terrorism and sentenced to death by a Moroccan court Thursday for the brutal slaying of two Scandinavian women hiking in the Atlas Mountains.
A fourth suspect who fled the scene was given life in prison.
ROME (AP) — Luciano De Crescenzo, an Italian writer, actor and director, has died in Rome after being hospitalized for a few days. He was 90.
The publishing house Mondadori announced his death on Thursday.
Serbia police detain man over Lufthansa bomb scare
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian police say they have arrested a man over a bomb scare that forced the evacuation of a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt and caused a long delay.
Police said Thursday that the man, born in 1954, faces charges of causing panic and unrest. They say he phoned the Belgrade airport early Thursday and made the false bomb claim. His motive wasn't immediately clear.
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Nicki Minaj Performs “Fefe” and More at 2018 MTV Video Music Awards
Robby Seabrook III
Kevin Mazur, Getty Images
Performing for the MTV Video Music Awards is an honor and few artists understand that like Nicki Minaj. As someone who has really shown off in past performances, this is a big night for her. Announced in advance as one of the artists on the bill, Nicki performed from a remote location in a pre-taping at the 2018 MTV VIdeo Music Awards on Monday night (Aug. 20).
The fans were treated to a medley of music from Nicki's catalog, namely her new Queen album. To no surprise, she impressed. Nicki took the stage with a dance routine, doused in gold clothes like royalty. After a few moves, she started to perform with "Majesty" then smoothly went into "Barbie Dreams." She stopped and went without a beat for parts of the latter, with every lyric landing.
She also jumped into "FeFe," her hit collaboration with the polarizing 6ix9ine and producer Murda Beatz, both of which who were absent for this performance. The pounding single got the crowd up and bouncing as Nicki rode through the performance, with fans clearly yelling every word during the broadcast. The song itself is a huge success too, climbing into the upper ranks of the Billboard Hot 100.
Nicki has been sounding off over the last few days, letting her feelings be known about various topics. She openly questioned how Billboard counts album sales, bringing Travis Scott's extremely successful album Astroworld into the conversation because it prevented her from taking the No. 1 album spot this week. The "Chun-Li" rapper also thinks the press and media are unnecessarily attacking her for working with 6ix9ine.
Watch Nicki Minaj perform "Majesty," "Barbie Dreams" and more below.
See Photos of Cardi B, Quavo and More on the 2018 MTV Video Music Awards Red Carpet
Filed Under: 2018 MTV VMAs, Nicki Minaj
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Compelling Glyndŵr story: final book in trilogy published
The final instalment of a trilogy which tells the tantalising story of the final years of Glyndŵr's rebellion is published this week.
Glyndŵr: Dragon Breathes Fire by the late Moelwyn Jones is an imaginary novel based on the real life battles of Owain Glyndŵr, and follows Glyndŵr: Son of Prophecy published in 2016 and Glyndŵr: To Arms! published in 2017.
Moelwyn Jones started his career as a Welsh and History teacher, and was particularly interested in the life of his hero Owain Glyndŵr, which he researched thoroughly for the trilogy. Sadly, Moelwyn passed away before the publication of the series. His widow Delyth has ensured that the trilogy was published and has kept to the wishes of her late husband.
The third instalment is published in time for the National Eisteddfod of Wales, which is in Cardiff this year.
“It would have meant a lot to Moelwyn that the final book is out for the Eisteddfod – I’m very pleased,” said Delyth.
Glyndŵr: Dragon Breathes Fire sees Wales united under one flag - with a Senedd in Machynlleth and the long-held dream of a nation almost a reality. Strengthened by the support of the French king and an alliance with the English forces of Henry Hotspur (Sir Henry Percy), Owain Glyndŵr can legitimately claim the title of Prince of Wales. However, fate intervenes and his rebellion which sees the prophecy of a saviour who would one day free Wales is fulfilled, albeit all too briefly.
Glyndŵr: Son of Prophecy was selected as Book of the Month by the Welsh Books Council in November 2016 and both novels have received high praise and acclaim for their portrayal of the life of Wales' revolutionary hero Owain Glyndŵr.
book details more news
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Astonishing story of ten Yorkshire brothers who went to fight in First World War and NINE survived
The astonishing story of how 10 brave brothers fought in WW1 with NINE incredibly surviving has emerged on the eve of the centenary of the Armistice.
The Calpins are thought to be the biggest band of brothers to have fought in the conflict, which left more than 700,000 British soldiers dead between 1914 and 1918.
The Calpin brothers.
Amazingly with just one brother lost, the family mirrored the fatality rate among British soldiers at the time which was just over one in ten (11%) losing their lives.
READ MORE: Plaque unveiled to honour tragic First World War soldier from Leeds
The Calpins extraordinary contribution to the war effort earned public thanks and congratulation from King George V, the prime minister of the day.
Their names were trumpeted in a recruiting drive at the time and even broadcast in local cinemas in their home city of York.
However the men, many later buried in unmarked graves, have no permanent memorial and their descendants are now calling for them to be honoured in their hometown,
The brothers, and their ages at the outbreak of war, were; Reservist John, 37, soldier Patrick, 36, infantryman James, 33, infantryman William, 32, infantryman Martin, 29, infantryman Thomas, 27, infantryman Arthur, 24, gunner Henry, 22, sailor Ernest, 21, and sailor David, 18.
The family’s only fatality was the eldest, John, 39, who was gassed in the trenches in France and died in 1916 after being transferred back to a UK hospital.
His grave, in a remote area of a cemetery in York, is the only place that any of the men’s service is commemorated.
It is thought the rest of the men, after returning to poverty following the conflict, were buried in unmarked graves because the family could not afford the expense of headstones.
Today, as Britain prepares to honour all those who served in the First World War, few have ever heard of them dubbed the “forgotten brothers” by relatives.
Two generations on, Michael Calpin, 68, is calling for a permanent memorial to be erected amid fears their place in history will fade into virtual obscurity.
Rail review boss Keith Williams tells government to "step back from the railway" and give northern leaders a chance to shape services
Michael is the grandson of able seaman and ninth brother Ernest Calpin, who served on HMS Dreadnought and went on to re-enlist in WW2 before he died in 1957.
The married retired sheet metal worker said: “It’s the same old story. In 2014 their story was publicised but it’s just forgotten again like it was 100 years ago.
“John was gassed in France in 1916 and was brought back to York but died a few weeks later. All the other brothers survived the war.
“He is the only one to have any physical presence that proves any of the brothers existed really because he was given a war commissioned grave which meant the army paid for his headstone.
“The rest were all buried in paupers graves which are unmarked because they were a poor family living in the slums of York.
“I think that’s why they have never been recognised because only one of them died during wartime.
“Their achievement has gone unrecognised, it would just be nice to have a civic-type plaque in honour of the sacrifice they made.
“When they came back from the war they were just completely forgotten. For 10 brothers to actually sign up is a unique thing which will never happen again.”
Most of the family lived in the early 1900s in a less than affluent area inside York’s city walls.
The Calpins originally came to England from County Mayo, Ireland, driven out by the 19th-century potato famine.
Parents Paddy and Sal Calpin, an Irish immigrant and his wife from the Walmgate slums in York, watched as their sons signed up to fight in the approaching war.
When the Lord Mayor of York Henry Rhodes Brown heard of the family’s remarkable sacrifice he wrote to Paddy and Sal.
The letter shows he heard of the Calpin family through a newspaper article and wrote offering his “hearty congratulations”.
He wrote: “It will be hard for anyone in the Empire to equal your record of ten sons all serving their country.
“Our sincere thanks for their noble service and I trust in their return to their native country.”
Six brothers signed up for the Army, most with the East and West Yorkshire infantry regiments.
They joined two brothers who were already in military service for British Empire forces at the outbreak of the war.
Arthur Calpin, 24, had served nearly eight years in the Army and was in India when war broke out.
William Calpin, 32, had been serving in Malta. Soon they would reunite with the other seven to fight ‘the Hun’ on land and at sea.
He was wounded in action, but, like the other brothers, returned to join his family.
An ‘Acting Corporal A Calpin’ with the East Yorkshire Regiment, mentioned in despatches and listed in the London Gazette in 1917, was almost certainly Arthur.
James Calpin, a 33-year-old former Yorkshire boxing champion, who had previously served in the Boer War, joined the 4th West Yorkshire infantry regiment.
Also in 1917, David, the youngest of the ten, was serving on HMS Ariadne when it was sunk by a German U-Boat.
He was rescued from the water but suffered severe exposure. Although he returned to work for a few years after the war, he died at the age of 32.
Private John Calpin, the eldest brother, was gassed in the trenches in France and shipped back to hospital in Nottingham before he died in York.
He sent a Red Cross postcard to his wife to let her know he had landed safely in England, but died in November 1916 at the age of 39.
Leeds United news RECAP: Andrea Radrizzani gives Eleven Sport update as striker departs for Premier League club
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Ipswich Town v Hull City – Tigers have got nothing to lose, says defiant Nigel Adkins
Hull City manager Nigel Adkins: Not throwing in the towel.
Leon Wobschall
IT may be a campaign which is in danger of petering out somewhat for Hull City but manager Nigel Adkins is entitled to be grateful for small mercies.
During some dark autumnal days, the 12th-placed Tigers were down among the dead men in the Championship relegation positions alongside today’s opponents Ipswich Town – only to summon the wherewithal to rescue their season at a critical juncture.
Hull’s transformation was such that a dalliance with the play-offs was afforded them at the start of 2019 and even though form has tallied off of late, Adkins’s side are still not completely out of the top-six picture just yet.
What cannot be beyond dispute is that City’s position is certainly vastly improved from their standing in late October.
By contrast, Ipswich have remained entrenched in the drop zone, a fear that many Hull fans will have envisaged for their own side five months ago.
Harkening back to those difficult times, Adkins said: “The fear was very real, just like last season when the danger was very real that this club could have been down and be where Sunderland find themselves this year.
We should highlight that we have done well. We are talking about the chance to get into the play-offs and get promoted to the Premier League, instead of talking about the threat of being relegated to League One.
Nigel Adkins
“That danger is always there and we should highlight that we have done well.
“We are talking about the chance to get into the play-offs and get promoted to the Premier League, instead of talking about the threat of being relegated to League One.
“We were on the same points as Ipswich and bottom of the league in October. Now we are not. We are in the mix to get in the play-off positions with eight games to go.”
Impressively consistent at the KCOM Stadium, where they are unbeaten in 10 matches since November 24, Hull’s form on the road has been rather more open to censure.
The Tigers have lost their past five away matches and are without a league success on their travels in six games since a fine 2-0 win at Leeds United in late December.
Should Hull retain their outside top-six hopes by the close of play today, that situation will need to be rectified at Portman Road against a rock-bottom home side whose plight looks terminal.
Adkins added: “We need to address our away form and it is a game both teams will be looking to win.
Hull City strike it rich with Manchester United’s deal for Leicester City’s Harry Maguire
“Both teams need the three points instead of just one.
“They have got nothing to lose any more, just like we have not. We have got everything to gain, so we should go out and do everything we can to win the game.”
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WERA’s mission is to enlighten, enrich, and entertain Arlington’s diverse community by promoting and facilitating independent radio.
On December 6, 2015, Arlington, Virginia entered a new era with the introduction of WERA-LP 96.7 onto the FM dial. A project of Arlington Independent Media, WERA's programming is produced by and for the community. WERA is an outlet for anyone interested in creating, producing, and delivering broadcast-quality content to the Arlington community and surrounding area. WERA-LP features local-centric programming brought to you by talented and dedicated volunteer producers working in a wide variety of genres and styles to bring the sights and sounds of the Arlington area to our listeners.
WERA-LP is Arlington’s only radio station. Broader coverage of DC and Northern Virginia often overshadows the news, events, people, stories, and culture that define one of the most diverse and innovative communities in the country. But WERA-LP and wera.fm will provide an opportunity for all Arlingtonians to raise their voices and share their perspectives – and listen to their friends and neighbors as they produce and deliver their own community radio programs.
Promoting Arlington’s Diversity
Ethnic diversity: According to a study done on the Arlington Public Schools, students come from 111 different countries and speak 88 different languages. Based on Census data, 22.4% of Arlington residents are foreign-born, compared to 11.5% in Virginia overall, 14.4% in Washington, DC and 7.4% in Baltimore. WERA, as a community radio station, welcomes programming in other languages to communicate with Arlington's underrepresented cultures and increase the visibility of these cultures to the rest of the community.
Diversity of opinion: As centers of United States and world policy and media, Arlington and DC attract people and organizations with many different viewpoints and backgrounds, all of which can be expressed via community radio.
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By: Ken Follett
Publisher: Signet Books
Pillars of the Earth seems like a most unlikely novel for Ken Follett to have written. He agrees with this assessment by the way. It appeared in 1989 after the author had had a run of successful thrillers, beginning with Eye of the Needle, a World War II spy story. These had taut, fast moving plots and a limited time frame. Most of his books had been either 20th century historical or contemporary thrillers, so this novel, set in the Middle Ages, following the lives of most of its characters over many decades, was a departure for him.
It worked out well, as the book has been in print continuously ever since and is currently available in hardcover, paperback, audiobook and deluxe editions. It apparently inspired him to write several other books set in historical periods, particularly the 18th and 19th centuries and, in 2007, he finally produced a sequel called World Without End, following the lives of some of the descendants of the original book, but set 200 years later.
I like Follett’s books and have read and reviewed a number of them over the years. but I had avoided this one until last fall, when a tour of the United Kingdom took me through a number of cathedrals, and when reading an e-book edition of the book seemed a pleasant way to spend the time during a couple of drizzly days on the tour bus.
The building of cathedral churches is a painstaking business that requires decades, at the very least, to accomplish. This is why Tom Builder, an itinerant stone mason, is so hoping to find one to work on when first we meet him. Getting hired for such a project would pretty much set him up for life, guarantee the security of his little family, and lift them from starvation and poverty. We spend enough time with Tom, his wife and children to learn just how bad life can be. Recently fired from a reasonable commission with the prosperous Hamleigh family, the Builders eventually stumble into the village of Kingsbridge, where they find refuge. Before this however, Agnes has died in childbirth; Tom and his children have no way to feed and care for the baby and so they leave him with his mother’s body, where he is found by Prior Philip, who heads a small monastery under the rule of Kingsbridge.
Philip and his brother, Francis, were rescued by monks years earlier after their parents were slaughtered during the civil wars that routinely marked the succession struggles of this period. They grew up devoted to the church and each, in his own way, prospers there. Francis takes a political path within the church, becoming aid to a series of powerful clerics. Philip becomes a Prior, and eventually succeeds to the head of the decrepit Kingsbridge.
In the months after Agnes’ death, Tom meets Ellen and her boy, Jack, and the two families are informally merged before they come to Kingsbridge, an arrangement which will cause them trouble later on. Ellen’s history, and the tragedy that led to her living as an outlaw in the forest, is part of a great secret that has been kept by certain powerful men who feature in this story.
When the existing church at Kingsbridge burns, Tom is on hand to help plan its rebuilding and, over many years, he passes on the skills of his trade to both his natural and his adopted sons.
Unknown to almost everyone but Tom, his abandoned baby, Jonathan, is being raised by the monks of the town, where Prior Philip has become the man in charge as a result of his reformation of his first posting. Philip wants only to make his monastery a place where God’s work is done, but he is caught up in the political machinations of his immediate superior, Bishop Waleran Bigod.
The England of the mid 12th century is a dangerous place. Allegiances between houses competing for the throne lead to a time called the Anarchy. This competition destroys the leadership of the house of Bartholomew, giving that lord;s lands and titles to the competing house of Hamleigh. Survivors of that house, Aliena and Richard, make their way to Kingsbridge, where she defies convention and gender, with Philip’s help, and becomes a power in the wool trade, leading to the increasing importance of Kingsbridge as a commercial as well as a religious center.
This haas a cost, as it attracts the attention of William Hamleigh, whose marriage proposal she had rejected years earlier. Since the enhancement of Kingsbridge cuts into the economy of his holdings, William take a blood toll of vengeance using the Anarchy as his excuse.
The threads of these plots interweave beautifully for decades, culminating in an actual historical event: the assassination of Archbishop Thomas a Becket at the hands of Henry II’s nights, some years after Henry secured the throne for his line.
Pillars of the Earth is not a book for impatient readers. If you need something quick, try a different Follett novel. This one does repay the time it takes. For those who like it and want to know more, his website has a lot of neat material, including a series of illustrations from the deluxe edition which show the transition from Romanesque to Gothic church architecture which is at the heart of the book.
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Ohio aviation pioneer gets her statue at Columbus airport
COLUMBUS – Bill Kelley has spent more than four decades trying to get people to remember the name Jerrie Mock.
Ohio aviation pioneer gets her statue at Columbus airport COLUMBUS – Bill Kelley has spent more than four decades trying to get people to remember the name Jerrie Mock. Check out this story on zanesvilletimesrecorder.com: http://ohne.ws/1j8N1nt
Anna Jeffries Published 3:10 p.m. ET April 17, 2014
A statue commemorating Jerrie Mock, a Newark native, who was the first woman to fly solo around the world, was unveiled Thursday at Port Columbus International Airport. (Photo: Jessica Phelps/The Advocate )
The Heath man brought his family to Port Columbus International Airport on April 17, 1964, to watch as the Newark native landed her Cessna 180 after a five-week, record breaking flight.
As the first woman to fly solo around the world, Mock should have her own statue to recognize her accomplishment, Kelley thought.
But after the initial celebration of her return ended, Mock’s story seemed to fade away. Kelley often felt he was one of few people trying to honor what she did.
So as he sat among dozens of people at Port Columbus Thursday to celebrate the unveiling of a statue of Mock that will be seen by six million people every year, Kelley was thrilled.
“It’s wonderful because she will get more exposure (at the airport),” he said. “I’m a happy man.”
Growing up in Newark, Mock would tell anyone who would listen that she wanted to be a pilot and fly around the world. But most people laughed at her, said her younger sister Susan Reid.
Following her dream, she studied Aeronautical Engineering at Ohio State University and worked as a professional pilot and airport manager.
At age 38, Mock was raising three children in Bexley and looking for a new project. Her husband suggested she fly around the world.
Even after she’d spent 15 months getting ready for her trip, one person assisting with the preparations remarked, “She’ll be lucky if she makes it to Zanesville.”
But Mock made it to Libya, Pakistan, the Philippines and beyond, overcoming radio and engine problems to make it home safely.
When she returned to Columbus, she received the FAA Gold Medal for Exceptional Service from President Lyndon Johnson. Her plane, The Spirit of Columbus, was put in the National Air and Space Museum.
But the recognition didn’t continue, Reid said.
“People remember Amelia (Earhart) because she got lost,” she said. “They need to remember Jerrie because she did it.”
In 2011, Reid and Kelley joined forces to raise money to place a bronze statue of Mock at The Works in Newark. Kelley commissioned Columbus artist Renate Burgyan Fackler to make the bronze piece, which showed Mock dressed in the suit she wore on her flight and holding the book she wrote about her experience.
About $45,000 was raised and the statue was dedicated in September.
When Shirley Brooks-Jones, a member of the Pilot Club of Columbus, heard about the statue in Newark, she contacted Reid about putting a second statue at Port Columbus.
“Young people, especially young girls, need to know there are people like her they can look up to,” Brooks-Jones said.
Partnering with The Columbus Foundation, the Pilot Club set up a fund and began collecting donations. Working with the staff at Port Columbus, they determined Thursday, the 50th anniversary of Mock’s return, was the perfect day to dedicate the statue.
Created by Burgyan Fackler, the statue features Mock holding a globe. When renovations to the ticket lobby are completed, the statue will be moved from the mezzanine to the Legacy of Leadership area.
“Now people coming in and out will see her statue and ask about her,” Reid said. “ People need to know what she did.”
In a speech before the unveiling, Dorothy Cochrane, the Smithsonian Curator of General Aviation Aircraft & Flight Material, emphasized that Mock was so much more than “the flying housewife” who made headlines.
“She’s a great example of perseverance and integrity and courage,” she said.
Mock, now 88, lives in Quincy, Fla. Although she wasn’t able to attend the dedication, she sent a message that was played before the statue was unveiled. She thanked everyone for all the hard work it took to make the statue a reality.
“I am proud to have flown The Spirit of Columbus into the world’s history books 50 years ago,” she said.
Everyone attending the event had the opportunity to write a congratulatory message to be mailed to Mock.
Mock’s daughter Valarie Armentrout joined Reid to help uncover the statue.
She was three when her mother completed her flight and celebrated her fourth birthday in Washington D.C. watching her mother receive her medal.
“One of my favorite parts of my mother’s story is how humble she was. She didn’t do it for fame or fortune, she did it to fulfill her dream.” Armentrout said. “But this was a long time coming.”
ajeffries@newarkadvocate.com
Twitter: @amsjeffries
Read or Share this story: http://ohne.ws/1j8N1nt
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Nissan Leaf is most popular EV in Europe
Nissan’s Leaf was the best selling pure-electric model in Europe last year according to the manufacturer’s calculations, with more than 40,000 units sold during 2018.
The Leaf has long been at the top of the pure-electric leaderboard in the UK, with the market an important one for Nissan, particularly as its Sunderland plant is one of the manufacturing centres for the EV.
More than 12,000 Leafs were sold in 2018 in Norway, the world’s leading EV nation in terms of market share. In fact, it was the country’s best-selling model outright, with the EV trumping even conventionally powered models.
The news comes about as developments look to keep the Leaf at the top of the EV market. The announcement of the Leaf e+ sees a more powerful and longer-range version due in the UK later this year, with improved equipment and supporting app for both this, and the updated 3.Zero Leaf 40 kWh.
Software updates look to have improved the issue surrounding multiple rapid charging in a single day too, something that we have found to be the case at least to a certain degree with our long-term test model – though we shall put the Leaf through more gruelling rapid charging challenges soon.
Find where to charge a Nissan Leaf here
Updated: January 25, 2019 Author: Chris Lilly (Zap-Map)
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filed: April 16, 2013 • Colorado
Renewables bill fuels big controversy
Credit: 4/15/2013 | By Marianne Goodland | The Colorado Statesman | coloradostatesman.com ~~
Legislation to boost the state’s renewable energy standards for certain rural electric utilities is moving through the state Senate this week. But the bill drew howls of protest from the utilities amid concerns it could hike electricity bills for seniors, state facilities and farmers by millions of dollars annually. Friday, the bill was the subject of an eight-hour filibuster, as Senate Republicans tried in vain to garner votes from a few Democrats who might be willing to vote against their Senate President.
The Senate State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee started the lengthy conversation over Senate Bill 13-252 with a seven hour hearing on April 8, passing the bill on a 3-2 party-line vote. The bill is up for its final Senate vote on April 15, but its passage is far from certain.
SB 252 requires rural electric associations (REAs) to produce 25 percent of their electricity from renewable energy by 2020, up from a previous goal of 10 percent. The REAs defined in SB 252 applies to just two entities: Tri-State Generation & Transmission and its 18 Colorado member co-ops; and Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA).
Exempted from the bill are municipal utilities with 40,000 or fewer customers, or co-ops with less than 100,000 meters. Opponents claimed in the April 8 hearing that the short list of excluded utilities includes those in the districts of the bill’s Senate sponsors, Senate President John Morse, D-Colorado Springs, and Sen. Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village.
The legislation outlines specifically how these utilities can get to the 25 percent requirement, incentivizing early action, local energy production, and new energy capture technologies. For instance, it provides for extra-credit for all renewable resources acquired through 2015, helping energy producers get to 25 percent quicker.
The bill also requires at least 1 percent of the total retail sales to come from local small-scale (i.e.; local) projects. The projects could be in small wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal, for example.
SB 252 also adds two new sources to the list of energy resources that quality as renewable energy: coal mine methane; and pyrolysis, the burning, without oxygen, of trash.
REA representatives traveled from all four corners of the state to testify against SB 252 on April 8, despite short notice. SB 252 was introduced on Thursday, April 4 and was in its first hearing the following Monday.
Morse told the committee that SB 252 doesn’t change who is covered under the state’s current renewable energy standards. The bill also states that customers should see rate hikes of no more than 2 percent per year for the additional costs required for renewable resources.
Sen. Ted Harvey, R-Highlands Ranch, led Republican opposition on the State Affairs committee. He questioned how the cutoff of 100,000 meters was picked, or why some co-ops were excluded from the bill. He also asked if Morse had talked to the co-ops impacted by SB 252 before the bill was introduced.
Conversations about increasing renewal standard has been “going on for years
“We’re interested in getting the maximum bang for the buck,” Morse replied. Costs need to be allocated over as big a base as possible, Morse said, and the 100,000 cutoff accomplished that. Morse didn’t directly address whether IREA and Tri-State had been at the table while the bill was being drafted; he said instead that conversations about increasing the renewable energy standard had been going on “for years.” The bill was drafted to accomplish what the state needs for clean air and jobs, he said, adding “the market won’t do it by itself.” He also pointed out that Xcel Energy had done a good job of complying with the standard that applies to investor-owned utilities; Xcel is already nearing its 2020 goal of meeting a 30 percent standard.
Under SB 252, municipal utilities, such as Colorado Springs and Fort Collins, are exempted from the higher standard. Morse said that was because they are located in home rule cities, where the state cannot dictate standards. Schwartz also said the REA in her district is excluded because it buys its energy from Xcel and is already abiding by the standard. But Harvey pointed out that the same applies to the REAs, all of whom buy electricity from Xcel, and he called the rationale “illogical.”
Testimony in favor of SB 252 came largely from renewable energy vendors, who said the bill will boost business.
Anna Giovinetto of RES America, which operates the Cedar Point Wind project near Limon, said that concerns about higher electricity costs are un-founded. “The percentage of renewable energy has not resulted in increased electricity costs,” she told the com-mittee. Giovinetto also pointed out that there is no cap on utility rate increases that could result from the use of fossil fuels, while SB 252 imposes a 2 percent cap on rate hikes from renewables. SB 252 “levels the playing field” and will result in more clean energy jobs, she said. Susan Innis of Vestas told the committee that they also are concerned about costs, and pointed out that their facilities are members of two REAs. The cap on rate increases is crucial to Vestas’ support of SB 252, she said.
“The existing 10 percent renewable energy standard has proven itself not at all the financial disaster cooperatives portrayed during the debate over Amendment 37 in 2004. Moreover, a large part of their current renewable energy was in operation well before the citizen initiative was adopted,” said Jeff Berman, a director since 2005 of Durango based La Plata Electric Association (speaking on his own behalf). “Now that those existing resources are accounted for, it is time the legislature require 25 percent renewable energy from the largest rural cooperatives so they better address emissions from the existing generation fleet.”
Iberdrola Renewables of Cheyenne, Wyoming, owns two of the largest renewable energy generation facilities that supply power to Xcel. Mark Stacy noted that his facilities employ 200 people, bring in $12 million in taxes to the state and allow farmers and ranchers to stay on their land with a new stream of revenue. But prices for wind and solar projects are falling, Stacy said, and SB 252 would “revive the market for renewable energy.”
Former Colorado Public Utilities Commission chair Ron Binz told the committee that Tri-State estimates that SB 252 would cost the company $3 billion are “incredible” and “not believable.” Those are capital costs, Binz said, that would be spread out over 20 to 40 years, not the six years contained in the bill. Binz also noted that when the standard was first implemented, companies like Xcel campaigned against it (the first standard was the result of a successful 2004 ballot initiative). Xcel is now a strong supporter of renewable energy, Binz said. “Wind is saving money,” and Tri-State will be “better off,” particularly when facing new regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency, Binz said.
Opponents of SB 252 included REA representatives, rural seniors and rural elected officials. Norma Lou Murray of Walsenburg said the area is already facing higher water and sewer bills from the closure of the Fort Lyons prison. SB 252 is a mandate on rural co-ops and will be a burden to seniors who already struggle to pay utility bills, she said.
But seniors won’t be the only ones with higher utility bills; REA members pointed out that many state facilities are in rural areas and they will face strongly higher electricity costs.
Joe Pandy of Mountain Parks Electric estimated the schools served by his REA will pay $48,000 more per year. The 2 percent cap is “meaningless” Pandy said, because the Public Utilities Commission has no rate enforcement authority over the co-ops, and SB 252 is silent on enforcement. “This legislation does not have the state’s interests in mind,” Pandy said. Mountain Parks serves Colorado Department of Transportation and Division of Parks and Wildlife facilities, and he estimated their electric bills could go up 20 percent.
If renewables are a good business product, REAs would be the first to take advantage of it, said Richard Wilson of Southeast Colorado Power in LaJunta. “It isn’t there yet and we resent it being shoved down our throats.” Wilson said his REA also serves facilities for the Division of Parks and Wildlife, and he estimated their utility bills would go up by $20,000 to $30,000 per year.
Tri-State President Rick Gordon said that the 44 co-ops in Tri-State are in four states, with 18 in Colorado. The costs are shared by the member owners, not shareholders, as is the case with Xcel. Gordon said that if SB 252 passes, Tri-State will have to build natural gas plants to provide back-up power for the wind turbines. Several witnesses noted that solar and wind power doesn’t operate 24/7, and that they would need to invest in other forms of energy to back up those renewables. Tri-State estimates that SB 252 will cost $2 billion to $4 billion to implement in the time required. “We cannot meet the mandates in the time allotted,” Gordon said. In addition, transmissions costs from SB 252 can only be passed on to Tri-State’s Colorado members, not to members in other states, although the transmission lines do cross state lines.
“It feels like urban Colorado against the rural areas”
Three Moffat County commissioners came to Denver to testify against SB 252. “It feels like urban Colorado against the rural areas,” said John Kinkaid. “It’s a direct assault on the ratepayers in rural Colorado,” added Tom Mathers. “If it’s a good bill, why is it moving so fast? Let’s take our time and do it right.”
Colorado Farm Bureau, Colorado Corn Growers and the Rocky Mountain Agribusiness Association also spoke against the bill. “This will be the death knell for agribusiness,” said Chip Marks, who runs a farm supply co-op in Eaton. “Please consider the economic health of rural Colorado.”
The fiscal note for SB 252 claims it will not cost the state any money, but that wasn’t believable for Harvey, who asked that the bill go to the Appropriations Committee because of the potential for higher utility bills for state facilities. Harvey’s request was rejected by the committee.
SB 252 was amended to clarify the 2 percent cap. If increases exceed the 2 percent cap, the co-op can reduce its renewable energy standard to meet that 2 percent cap. However, the amendment doesn’t say how that would happen, or how often those adjustments could be made. And several REA witnesses testified that they already have excess capacity, meaning they don’t need to purchase more energy.
SB 252 went to second reading debate in the Senate on Friday, featuring an eight-hour filibuster from Republicans and near-silence from Democrats.
Morse told the Senate that Coloradans “cherish the outdoor and their environment,” and the state implemented the renewable energy standard through the 2004 ballot initiative when elected officials ignored previous requests. He said Tri-State’s opposition puts their consumers at “grave risk” of electricity cost increases due to higher prices for fossil fuels. “Customers will be left holding the bag as the rest of the nation transitions to cleaner energy,” Morse said. Most of the state’s utilities are already voluntarily increasing their renewable commitments, because they know it is good for jobs, customers and the utilities’ bottom line, he added.
Rep. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, was the lead-off man for the Republican filibuster efforts Friday. “This is a leap to family insolvency… this is environmental bullying,” King said. He noted that state-owned facilities pay $5.6 million per year for electricity to the rural co-ops, and SB 252 will increase their electric bills. “Where’s the fiscal note?” he asked repeatedly. And why wasn’t Tri-State and IREA invited to the table when the bill was being drafted? he asked. “Just because you have the power to do something doesn’t mean you should do it,” referring to the Democratic majority in both chambers and the governor’s mansion.
Republicans also attempted, but failed, to gut the bill through several strike-below amendments that would strip out almost everything except for the new resources: coal mine methane and pyrolysis. “If you want to continue to hurt agriculture, vote this amendment away. But this will definitely hurt agriculture,” said Sen. Larry Crowder, R-Alamosa.
“I think it’s time for a reality check,” said Schwartz. “This is an extraordinary opportunity for rural Colorado.” She noted that coal has increased in cost by 100 percent in the last decade, yet coal production is up in Colorado and SB 252 will not hurt that. Citing the success of Xcel in reaching its targets without huge cost increases, Schwartz said the $4 billion estimate from Tri-State comes from overreliance on coal, “mismanagement and poor resource planning.” Schwartz, Morse and Sen. Matt Jones, D-Louisville, who sits on the State Affairs committee, were the only Democrats to defend the bill during that Friday debate.
Addressing the billion-dollar costs claimed by Tri-State, Morse said that Xcel had managed to meet its renewable targets by spending about $500 million; Tri-State should be able to meet the new target for the same price or perhaps for less. However, Republicans argued that the $500 million figure didn’t factor in federal subsidies that had bought down those costs.
After six hours of debate, Democrats acceded to Republican requests for a new fiscal note. However, the Republicans were disappointed with the result; the new fiscal note addressed only the impact on local governments and said utility bills would increase by about 1 percent. “This fiscal note’s a joke,” said King.
A division vote following the second reading debate indicated two Democrats may side with Republicans, giving the bill a one-vote margin as it heads for the April 15 vote. Supporters said SB 252 has the backing of Gov. John Hickenlooper; the bill was endorsed by the Governor’s Energy Office.
Source: 4/15/2013 | By Marianne Goodland | The Colorado Statesman | coloradostatesman.com
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Jill Wilson
Senior copy editor - Arts and Life
Jill Wilson started working at the Free Press in 2003 as a copy editor for the entertainment section.
She came to the paper in a roundabout way: after graduating from the University of Winnipeg with a bachelor’s degree in psychology — as all good journalists should — she worked as an editor at the university’s music magazine, Stylus, before being hired at the Winnipeg Sun as a music reporter.
One year of interviewing terrible bands and navigating inebriated crowds at classic rock festivals made it clear the job was not for her, charming as it was to be encouraged to “take off your top” by groups of young men wearing Coors Light boxes as hats.
Her stint at the Sun was followed by a year as a medical receptionist — the highlight of which was seeing a live roundworm in a Zip-loc bag — and three years as a copy editor at Winnipeg’s weekly street paper, Uptown.
After 15 years at the Free Press, during which time she has edited the Tab, Detour and Uptown sections of the paper, she has joined the Arts & Life section as a reporter covering everything from food to films.
As a lifelong lover of Winnipeg’s arts and cultural scene, it’s a natural fit, and she enjoys talking to people who are passionate about what they do, whether it’s growing microgreens or cooking the perfect ramen.
Jill was a member of the inaugural jury for the Polaris Prize, Canada’s national music award. She is the winner of a Silver Medal and two Awards of Merit from the North American Travel Journalists Association and received an Award of Excellence in the American Copy Editors Society’s National Headline Contest.
She loves travelling — anywhere and everywhere — and tries to drink a beer and buy a book in every city she visits.
A passionate devotee of all matters grammatical and style-related, she wants you to know that “begs the question” doesn’t mean “raises the question."
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EAA Museum: Commemorative Air Force WWII Nose Art Collection
© Photographed December 3, 2016, with permission of
EAA AirVenture Museum
Oshkosh, Winnebago County, Wisconsin
WWII Nose Art Collection
We are currently offering a new exhibit of World War II nose art, featuring more than 30 pieces that will be on display in the Eagle Hanger. These paintings, from actual World War II bombers, are on loan from the Commemorative Air Force in Texas, and have never been loaned to another museum.
EAA is presenting the collection in a way that maintains proper museum standards towards education and understanding. In the interest of full disclosure, there are some mature themes involved with this collection to which we want to make you aware.
Some of the images depicted in the nose art collection are provocative of risque. There are young women shown wearing minimal garments or, in some cases, no clothing at all. Some of the most provocative pieces have been placed in the Eagle Hangar's "Top Secret" area. An important part of displaying this collection is presenting it as it existed, with no judgments as to the appropriateness of individual images.
Parental Notice: This gallery contains historical images of aviation nose art that some parents may find unsuitable for younger children. Some images in this exhibit contain partial and full nudity; parental discretion is advised.
The Commemorative Air Force WWII Nose Art Collection, on display November 2015 through December 2017, is located at the EAA AirVenture Museum located at 3000 Poberezny Road, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54902.
More than 30 pieces of nose art from actual World War II combat aircraft made their first-ever trip outside their home museum, with the EAA Air Venture Museum in Oshkosh chosen as the first public display location for this rare collection.
The collection from the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) headquarters in Dallas, Texas, made its debut in November 2015 after a month of preparation in the EAA museum’s Eagle Hangar, which honors the people and aircraft of World War II. The artifacts have been designated by the National Trust for Historical Preservation as an official project of Save America’s Treasures, which seeks to preserve historic structures, art, and published works throughout the nation. It will be on display at EAA throughout 2017.
“This collection is simply incredible; there’s no other way to put it,” said Bob Campbell, director of the EAA AirVenture Museum. “We’re honored to be the first museum chosen by the CAF to receive this priceless collection on loan. It tells a unique story of the common soldier and airman during World War II, how this artwork was created, what it meant to these young men mostly between 18 and 25 years old, and the individual tales of these aircraft that returned along with those that didn’t.”
The nose art was common on the bombers and fighter aircraft of the era, and displayed the creativity of crews at air bases around the world. As was the custom during World War II, some of the nose art depicts slogans or places, but many of them included drawings of young women in poses from chaste to extremely provocative. Some of the most risqué art has been moved to the Eagle Hangar’s “Top Secret” area, which also includes a surplus atomic bomb casing from the end of the war.
Each piece of artwork in the collection includes an interpretive panel that describes the aircraft from which the artwork came, its history, and any back-story details to further enrich the visitor experience.
EAA plans several events throughout the coming year that feature the nose art collection and tells more of the background behind each piece.
Commemorative Air Force Headquarters
Aviators and Artists
When I wasn't painting, I was flying.
- Vernon Drake
Look at Mors Ab Alto, Lassie I'm Home and Mission Completed -- these are the artwork of World War II aviators.
American soldiers first, nose art artists also served as pilots, navigators, gunners, cooks and mechanics. In their spare time, they were asked to paint bombers, fighters, troop transports, even leather jackets and murals.
For their artwork, many nose art artists were paid as much as $50, a case of beer or a bottle of whiskey per painting. Some artists painted only one painting on the aircraft they flew or maintained, while other artists painted as many as they could fit in with their other duties.
For Morale
Most nose art artists viewed their work as important contributions in boosting the morale of their crewmates. Although U.S. Army Air Force regulations did not sanction nose art, censorship attempts early in WWII were half-hearted and soon abandoned. Nose art artists capitalized on un-enforced regulations. At the war progresses, nose art appeared more and more often, especially far from the home front in the Pacific.
After the war, many nose are artists were asked to "clean up" their paintings before aircraft could return to the States. Artists reluctantly added clothing to naked figures or painted over especially risqué titles or themes.
[Left] A crew chief and Princess Elizabeth stand beside a B-17 named in her honor.
[Center] Often flying in the same aircraft for each mission, pilots proudly displayed their stats.
[Right] Personalized jackets identified men as part of a crew and served as a mission scoreboard.
Easy Maid
Flamin' Mamie
Forever Amber
Hump Time
Mission Completed
Mors Ab Alto
Mutz
Mystery Lady
Sleepy-Time Gal
"Sloppy but Safe"
Sweet Lorraine
Target for Tonight
You Speak!
Labels: Museums in Wisconsin, Winnebago County Wisconsin Historical Markers, Wisconsin World War II Memorial
Location: Poberezny Rd, Oshkosh, WI 54902, USA
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Coptic boys on bail, anti-Islam charges pending
June 18, 2015 By World Watch Monitor Egypt Al-Azhar, Blasphemy, Copts, Gad Younan, Islamic extremism, Islamic State, Muslim Brotherhood, Ramadan
The Church of The Virgin Mary in Al-Nasriyah village, Egypt, where anti-Christian violence arose after the public distribution of a video, in which four Christian boys appeared to lampoon atrocities committed by the so-called Islamic State (World Watch Monitor)
The last of four Egyptian boys accused of having “offended” Islam has been released on bail while trial is expected to continue after the Muslim month of Ramadan.
The 17-year-old student from Upper Egypt was released after 62 days in prison, subject to the payment of 10,000 Egyptian pounds, equivalent to several months’ wages by local rural standards. The boy is following a complicated, often hard-to-predict legal path together with three fellow Christian students and their teacher, who have slipped into a maze of events for having “mimicked” Islam.
As a result, a series of riots and death threats have dogged the boys and their families, as well as other Christians in Al-Nasriyah village. In April, the attacks came after a 32-second video apparently showing them deriding the atrocities against Christians, under a cover of piety, became public knowledge.
The boys had to be delivered by their parents to the police station earlier in April, following violent protests by angry Muslims, in which homes were attacked and demands were made that Christians be banished from the area.
On April 17, a “Customary Reconciliation Meeting” condemned the actions deemed insulting to Islam and formally banned the teacher, Gad Younan, from the village, World Watch Monitor reported.
However, in the cases of sectarian attacks against Copts, they have often been used to deprive them of recourse to Egypt’s justice system, which itself has been subject to criticism by international human-rights organzations.
To date, no rioters have been arrested. The charges against the five Christians have not been dropped.
A still image taken from a video that landed the four students in trouble. (World Watch Monitor)
The Coptic students and their teacher were part of a group on a church trip when their teacher recorded the video.
Gad and the boys’ woes started after his personal memory card was found by a Muslim villager, who spread the footage among locals.
The ongoing turmoil saw the five arrested, with the public prosecution intent on following on with more serious charges.
The teacher’s lawyer, Maher Naguib, told Mideast Christian News that keeping the students in prison for so long did not serve the investigation – which had already completed with no more witnesses to question. It was intended to humiliate them, he said.
On what to expect in this case, Naguib said, “It’s unknown. The verdict will be up to the opinion of the judge, depending on how far a Muslim judge is likely to take the case against the Christians.”
“If he then considers it a case of ‘insulting and defaming Islam,’ the verdict will be very bad,” Naguib added.
The footage references the beheading of Christians, including 21 Copts, on a beach in Libya, depicted in a video released by the so-called Islamic State. Videos deliberately produced and distributed by IS often contain extended theologically-based diatribe against Christianity and Christians.
Weeks in hiding
For weeks Gad has lived in hiding with his wife and children. A close relative contacted by World Watch Monitor said the teacher was suspended from his work, while his wife also is jobless. Their children have been unable to go to school.
Accusations of “blasphemy” continue to arise in Egypt nearly two years after Abdel Fattah el-Sisi rose to power, first driving the Muslim Brotherhood out of office, and then outlawing it. The official religious establishment in the country, topped by Islam’s leading religious institution, Al-Azhar, is pressing for an “international law to criminalize contempt of religion,” which would spread the application of anti-blasphemy laws around the world.
As in other Muslim-majority countries, minorities and free-thinkers tend to be the most frequent target of blasphemy charges. A 2014 report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said “blasphemy laws … empower officials to enforce particular religious views against individuals, minorities, and dissenters.”
“In practice, they have proven to be ripe for abuse and easily manipulated,” the report added.
Persecution Watch countries: Beyond the Top 50
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Christians matter least in Pakistani politics
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Home > Afsaneh M. Beschloss
Afsaneh M. Beschloss
Founder and CEO of Rock Creek
Hi-Res Image 371.1 KB / jpg
Ms. Beschloss is founder and CEO of RockCreek. Previously, she was Managing Director and Partner at the Carlyle Group and President of Carlyle Asset Management. She was Treasurer and Chief Investment Officer of the World Bank and worked at Shell International and J.P. Morgan. Ms. Beschloss has advised governments, central banks, and regulatory agencies on global public policy and financial policy.
She led the World Bank’s energy investments and policy advisory work on oil, natural gas, renewable and clean energy and power projects to reduce carbon emissions. She founded its natural gas investment and policy group to replace coal in many emerging markets.
Ms. Beschloss is on the boards of the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, the World Resources Institute, the American Red Cross, and is the Vice-Chair of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). She is on the Visiting Committee at the Center for Development Economics at Williams College and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Investor Governors and the Council of Foreign Relations. Ms. Beschloss is a past Trustee of the Ford Foundation, where she chaired the Investment Committee and was on the Sustainability Advisory Committee.
She is a recipient of the Institutional Investor Lifetime Achievement Award and the Robert F. Kennedy Ripple of Hope Award. She was recognized as one of American Banker’s Most Powerful Women in Banking.
Ms. Beschloss holds an MPhil (Honors) in Economics from the University of Oxford, where she taught international trade and economic development. She is the co-author of The Economics of Natural Gas and author of numerous journal articles on energy and finance.
No external publications listed for: Afsaneh M
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SANITARY AND PHYTOSANITARY MEASURES
Fifth review
The SPS Committee discussed eight proposals submitted by 27 members, including many developing and least-developed countries (LDCs), for work under the Fifth Review of the Operation and Implementation of the SPS Agreement, which is set for completion in 2020.
The proposals cover recognition of equivalence of SPS measures, and in particular systems approaches; adaptation of SPS measures to regional conditions, including pest- or disease-free areas; transparency and notifications under the SPS vs the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement; national coordination among SPS agencies; and trade issues related to pesticide maximum residue levels (MRLs).
In addition, members indicated interest in initiating work on risk assessment, appropriate levels of protection and the role of science; efforts to address fall armyworm infestation; and control, inspection and approval procedures (Annex C of the SPS Agreement), following up on the discussions at a workshop on this issue held on 9 and 10 July with the participation of 130 government officials.
The committee discussed the possibility of holding several thematic sessions and/or workshops to exchange experiences and hear from experts on the various subjects. The chair noted that it will be up to members to decide which issues should be addressed first. Several members also expressed interest in developing further committee guidance or best practices in areas including equivalence and regionalization, while others were cautious about embarking on such work.
Specific trade concerns
Members engaged in discussion on the ongoing multilateral efforts to develop standards on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The debate was prompted by the European Union's new veterinary drug legislation, which was recently agreed but not yet adopted. The EU said that the objective of the new regulation is to promote the prudent use of antimicrobials, for example by avoiding its routine prophylactic and metaphylactic use, reserving certain antimicrobials for treatment of infections in humans only and banning the use of antimicrobials in animals for promoting growth or increasing yield.
The European Union stressed the international dimension of the development and spread of resistant organisms and resistance determinants, and the serious concern that they could spread to humans and animals through food and feed, from direct contact with animals or humans, or by other means. It also reassured other members that the new regulation will be compatible with relevant international agreements, be legally sound, be applied in a proportionate and non-discriminatory manner, and be based on scientific evidence.
While sharing with the EU the view that AMR poses a serious public health issue that requires urgent attention, some members - Argentina, the United States, Colombia, Chile, Canada, Brazil and Australia – voiced concerns about Brussels' approach to managing potential health risks by limiting trade in animal products, as it is likely to have an unnecessary restrictive impact on international commerce. These members said that by taking this approach the EU may undermine ongoing multilateral efforts to address this complex global challenge. In particular, they cautioned that potential EU restrictions applied extraterritorially will undermine multilateral efforts to combat AMR, such as those currently being undertaken collaboratively by the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Codex Task Force on Antimicrobial Resistance.
Japan raised concerns regarding New Zealand's draft import health standards for vehicles, machinery and equipment which require all used vehicles (cars and trucks) exported from Japan to be pre-approved by the government due to the spike in the number of brown marmorated stink bugs (BMSB) intercepted in shipments from the Japanese market. Japan complained about the short deadline provided by Wellington for comments on the notification and asked New Zealand to provide at least six months for preparation between the publication of the measure and its entry into force.
Japan stressed that approximately 300,000 new and used vehicles and machinery are exported from Japan to New Zealand every year and that, in order to satisfy New Zealand’s requirements, Japanese producers would bear extensive costs to introduce heat or fumigation procedures. Japan said that New Zealand has not presented scientific evidence to justify the measure and asked that the standards applied be adjusted to the appropriate level of protection.
New Zealand said that the BMSB measure was taken in order to ensure safe trade and that it is working closely with Japan on this issue (a technical meeting was held in Tokyo on 9 July and a bilateral meeting on the margins of the SPS Committee) to find a satisfactory solution for both parties.
Brazil raised concerns about the European Union's restrictions on poultry meat and poultry meat preparations. The restrictions affect exporters of meat of domestic ungulates (hooved animals), meat from poultry and rabbits, as well as minced meat, meat preparations and mechanically separated meat, who have been under judicial investigation on alleged charges of non-compliance with food safety standards. Brazil asked the EU to withdraw these measures on the grounds that they are not science-based and respond to the EU's perception that certain export companies cannot be trusted to comply with sanitary requisites for the presence of pathogens.
The EU replied that the decision does have a scientific basis and takes into account the risk of cross-contamination when handling poultry meat, as well as consumption behaviour. The fact that Brazil, presumably in order to profit from a lower tariff rate, decided to add salt to fresh poultry meat intended for export to the EU does not justify why the EU should now change its science-based legislation, which is in line with international agreements. The EU added that Brazil was fully aware that, by adding salt to fresh meat, the end product would fall under the category of meat preparations, and therefore stricter Salmonella microbiological criteria apply.
On a related concern, Brazil raised concerns regarding Panama's restrictions on beef and poultry meat. Brazil said that these restrictions were taken without due scientific basis and without justification on grounds of human, animal and plant health protection. According to Brazil, Panama did not provide technical justification for its decision to suspend the certification of seven thermos-processed beef and poultry establishments that had been previously cleared for export.
In its reply, Panama said that the corresponding evaluation process to grant export permits is underway and that the possibility of reviewing the decision is being considered. Panama added that it is willing to negotiate and urged Brazil to use the relevant channels to do so.
Brazil also raised concerns regarding the Russian Federation's restrictions on beef and swine meat. According to Russia, this measure was introduced due to numerous detections of the veterinary drug ractopamine in meat products imported from Brazil. As a result, Brazilian exports from 60 establishments were suspended in December 2017. Brazil said it has opened an investigative process in order to assess possible irregularities and stated its commitment to establishing control systems and processes that guarantee compliance with, and fulfilment of, the sanitary requirements of Brazilian meat products exported to the Russian market.
Russia said that domestic food safety regulations allow no residues of ractopamine in meat and meat products and said that an existing agreement between both countries under which Brazil should certify the absence of this drug on exports was breached. As a result, Russia was left with no choice but to suspend supplies of Brazilian meat products. However, Russia said that is ready to lift the restrictions as soon as it is satisfied that adequate action has been taken.
Ecuador took issue on the application of the EU's Regulation on maximum levels of cadmium in foodstuffs. This regulation will be implemented as of 1 January 2019 and aims to regulate the maximum levels of cadmium in different products, including chocolate and certain cocoa products. Ecuador indicated that, despite being a measure where implementation should be the responsibility of European health authorities, private import companies would be applying it in advance on the raw material (the cocoa bean), but not on the final product (chocolate and certain cocoa products). Ecuador, supported by Colombia and Guatemala, indicated that this was an incorrect application by private parties of a governmental sanitary measure, and called on the EU to grant the necessary control guarantees for its correct implementation in order to avoid that it becomes an unnecessary obstacle to trade.
In its reply, the European Union said it understood the concerns, but said that it goes beyond the remit of the SPS Agreement since it is about the action of commercial operators on which European authorities have no jurisdiction. For this reason, the EU said that this matter should be raised in other fora, like the International Cocoa Organization.
China raised concerns regarding the new European definition and maximum residue levels (MRLs) for fungicide folpet (a broad-spectrum, non-systemic fungicide used on food and other crops). China stressed that on 18 April 2018 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a notification on folpet for public comments, with a deadline of 17 June, in which the revision of the folpet residue definition for monitoring purposes was recommended. China welcomed the proposal but asked the EU to issue the relevant regulations on the revision as early as possible.
In its reply, the EU said that its member states are currently reflecting on the need to change this residue definition, as there are indications that phtalimide may originate from several other sources than folpet. EFSA is currently conducting a peer review procedure and is expected to finalize this work next year. The EU said it is committed to keeping China updated on further developments concerning this issue and is open to continuing discussions.
Other trade concerns
Members took up a total of 26 specific trade concerns (nine of them new). Specific trade concerns previously brought up in the SPS Committee included US import restrictions on apples and pears, Thailand's import restrictions on papaya seeds, India's fumigation requirements for cashew nuts and other products, Viet Nam's suspension of groundnut seed imports, South Africa's and China's import restrictions on poultry due to highly pathogenic avian influenza, and Mexico's restrictions on imports of swine meat.
The SPS Committee also heard previously raised concerns regarding the Russian's Federation import restrictions on processed fishery products from Estonia, China's official certification requirements for food imports, the EU's revised proposal for categorization of compounds as endocrine disruptors, France's dimethoate-related restrictions on imported cherries, China's proposed amendments to regulations on the safety assessment of agricultural genetically modified organisms (GMOs), and the US seafood import monitoring programme.
The SPS Information Management System (SPS IMS) includes all SPS-related measures notified by WTO members and the trade-related concerns discussed in SPS Committee meetings.
Problems viewing this page? If so, please contact webmaster@wto.org giving details of the operating system and web browser you are using.
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New York City's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree goes up
Workers prepare to raise the 2018 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, a 72-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce from Wallkill, N.Y., Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, in New York. The 86th Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting ceremoN.Y. will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 28. (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer) (Source: Diane Bondareff)
By VERENA DOBNIK and JULIE WALKER | November 10, 2018 at 9:08 PM EST - Updated November 11 at 1:33 AM
NEW YORK (AP) — The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is in place and will soon be strung with 50,000 lights as one of New York City's star holiday attractions, a gift from a same-sex married couple.
The 72-foot-tall, 12-ton Norway spruce arrived on a flatbed trailer Saturday morning and was hoisted by a crane into a spot overlooking the Rockefeller skating rink. Millions of people are expected to visit the tree, which will stay up till Jan. 7.
Crowds will see the tree burst alive with 5 miles (8 kilometers) of LED multicolored lights and a 900-pound Swarovski crystal star during a televised ceremony on Nov. 28.
The 75-year-old spruce came from Wallkill, 60 miles (96 kilometers) north of New York. It was donated by Lissette Gutierrez and her wife, Shirley Figueroa, from their home property. They nicknamed the tree "Shelby."
"Now it's not my tree, it's the world's tree; I'm so happy to be able to share her with everyone," Figueroa said at Rockefeller Center on Saturday. "Millions of people will come to visit Shelby."
Workers raise the 2018 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, a 72-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce from Wallkill, N.Y., Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, in New York. The 86th Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting ceremoN.Y. will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 28. (Diane Bondareff via AP) (Source: Diane Bondareff)
Figueroa, 49, explained that she refers to the tree as "she" because "I felt she has a female spirit."
Figueroa said that when she and Gutierrez bought their house, the previous owner said Rockefeller Center's gardener had his eye on the tree. Gutierrez, 47, said she initially was reluctant to give up the spruce, but Figueroa convinced her.
The 2018 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, a 72-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce from Wallkill, N.Y., is craned into place, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018, in New York. The 86th Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting ceremoN.Y. will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 28. (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer) (Source: Diane Bondareff)
Erik Pauze, the center's head gardener, also attended the ceremony. He cared for the tree over the summer, watering and feeding it compost tea as the couple watched outside their home.
After the tree is dismantled, it will be donated to Habitat for Humanity to help build housing.
Lissette Gutierrez, left, looks on as her wife Shirley Figueroa drives a spike into the trunk of the 72-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce, from Wallkill, N.Y., that they donated to serve as this year's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018 in New York. The 86th Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting ceremoN.Y. will take place on Wednesday, Nov. 28. (Diane Bondareff/AP Images for Tishman Speyer) (Source: Diane Bondareff)
The legacy of the famed New York holiday tree reaches back to Christmas Eve in 1931, during the Great Depression. Workers building Rockefeller Center pooled their money to buy a 20-foot tree they decorated with garland handmade by their families.
Two years later, Rockefeller Center officials made the tree an annual tradition, starting with the first lighting ceremony in 1933.
Lissette Gutierrez, left, hugs her wife, Shirley Figueroa, with the 72-foot-tall Norway spruce that the couple donated in the background, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018 in New York. The tree was hoisted into position by crane after making the 60 mile trip from the couple's Wallkill, N.Y. home and will become the 2018 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. (AP Photo/Julie Walker) (Source: Julie Walker)
Workers prepare to raise the 2018 Rockefeller Center Christmas tree into position at Rockefeller Plaza, Saturday, Nov. 10, 2018 in New York. The 72-foot tall, 12-ton Norway Spruce was brought by truck from Wallkill, N.Y., where with was cut down on Nov. 8. The official tree lighting ceremony takes place on Wednesday, Nov. 28. (AP Photo/Julie Walker) (Source: Julie Walker)
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Live From The Grand Teton Music Festival 2019
Weekend Edition
Tesla To Stay Public
By Uri Berliner • Aug 25, 2018
Never mind - Tesla plans to remain a public company after all. Earlier this month, the CEO, Elon Musk, tweeted he had funding lined up to take the company private. It shocked many investors and set off a firestorm of criticism. But late last night, Mr. Musk said that won't happen. Tesla will not go private. We're joined now by Uri Berliner of the NPR business desk. Uri, thanks for being with us.
URI BERLINER, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.
SIMON: Any idea why Mr. Musk has changed his mind?
BERLINER: Well, he did put out a statement on Tesla's Twitter feed last night, and he said given the feedback I've received, it's apparent that most of Tesla's existing shareholders believe we are better off as a public company, not a private one. And then he went on to say that there were obstacles that would prevent lots of investors from swapping their shares into a private company. And he said taking the company private would be really time consuming, and the company needs to focus on making money, becoming profitable and increasing production of the Model 3, its first mass-market car. And, you know, I should note that this came from Tesla's official Twitter feed, not Musk's personal account, that personal account from which he sent so many colorful and controversial tweets.
SIMON: Didn't Elon Musk know all this before he sent out that memorable tweet on August 7?
BERLINER: Well, a lot of people think he should have. Let's go back to that August 7 when he sent out that tweet and said I'm considering taking the company private, funding secured at $420 a share. And analysts immediately were very dubious that Musk could pull this off. Where would he get the 10 billions of dollars to take the company private? Did he really have the funding secured as he claimed? And that is something that the Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating, according to multiple reports. And Musk said at the time - or Musk said that two-thirds of the investors would stick with Tesla if it went private, but he really had no way of knowing that.
SIMON: And why did he want to take the company private in any case?
BERLINER: Well, he's always chafed at the demands of Wall Street - the quarterly earnings reports, the pesky questions from analysts. He famously called one analyst's question boring and boneheaded on an earnings call earlier this year. But perhaps even more than all this, Musk...
SIMON: I mean, he's not a collegial guy.
BERLINER: No, he's not. He's a very outspoken guy, and people love him, but also he can get very testy. Perhaps even more than all this, Musk has really been at war with short sellers. These are the people, the investors, who bet that the Tesla shares will go down, bet against his company. So he got - saw going private as a way of bypassing the short sellers. You know, ironically, Musk's theatrics over the past several weeks - the tweets, a statement in which he said, well, I can get the funding, not necessarily I have it locked up and then this rambling interview with The New York Times when he talked about how excruciating running the company has been - this seems to play into the hands of the short sellers. Musk set his target price for going private at $420 a share. Right now, the stock is worth a lot less than that. It's about $322 a share.
SIMON: Where do you see Tesla going from here?
BERLINER: Well, first, I should say Tesla has a lot of things going for it. It has a cult following, people who love their cars. They've gotten fantastic reviews. Musk is also selling something bigger than cars. He's this evangelist for a cleaner future, a greener future with fewer carbon emissions, and a lot of people are very attracted to that. All that said, Tesla has got a lot of problems. It's losing money. It's consistently behind schedule on production of that make-or-break car, the mass-market Model 3. And now there are a lot of questions about whether - about Elon Musk's temperament, whether he's really suited to run the company.
SIMON: NPR's Uri Berliner, thanks so much.
BERLINER: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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Qatar reaffirms support for efforts to combat human trafficking
November 22 2018 07:48 PM
Ashghal chief hails Amir, reaffirms commitment to support local firms
Diabetes awareness programme launched, survey to start mext month
Amir meets India's foreign minister
Qatar, India establish joint commission
Nepal president's visit to further promote relations with Qatar
QATAR support human trafficking Combat reaffirms
combat human trafficking
QNA/New York
*Qatar has reiterated its support for the international community's efforts to combat human trafficking
This came in Qatar's statement delivered by Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the country to the United Nations (UN), Alanoud Qassim al-Temimi, on "Commemoration of the Abolition of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade".
Al-Temimi said that based on its firm belief in the importance of safeguarding human freedom and dignity, regardless of ethnicity, religion or other human differences, Qatar was keen to co-sponsor General Assembly resolution 70/7, which established a permanent memorial to commemorate victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
She added that Qatar has also provided the necessary support for the establishment of this memorial, which reflects the rejection of the human conscience of all forms of slavery and humiliation of human dignity, pointing out that this memorial stands at UN headquarters as a witness to these values.
She commended the efforts made by the Permanent Memorial Committee, the African Group and the Caribbean Group and in co-operation with Unesco to achieve the General Assembly's resolution on the establishment of the Permanent Memorial "The Ark of Return" to honour the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
She noted the role of Qatar in these efforts through its membership in the Permanent memorial committee.
Thursday's meeting represented an opportunity not only to remind and honour the victims of slavery but also to reflect on past lessons, stressing the importance of educating future generations about the causes, consequences, legacy, and lessons learned from slavery and the transatlantic slave trade as well as the dangers of racism and intolerance, she pointed out.
She explained that this meeting represented an opportunity to call for action to oppose and combat any form of slavery in the modern world, including the phenomenon of human trafficking, which is spread throughout the world.
Qatar, in view of the important and decisive role of education in instilling common human values in future generations, ensured that school curricula included freedom and the struggle against slavery topics, highlighting the importance of respecting the freedom of others in accordance with the teachings of the Islamic religion, which abolished slavery, as well as the cultural and social heritage and values in this regard, she said.
Al-Temimi added that in line with Qatar's firm belief in the importance of protecting and promoting human rights, and being an active member of the Group of Friends on contemporary slavery and Group of Friends United Against Human Trafficking, it continues to support the efforts of the international community to combat the phenomenon of trafficking in persons and related phenomena.
She pointed out that Qatar has supported the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons since its adoption and has facilitated consultations on the political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly to evaluate the UN Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons, which was held in September 2017.
Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Qatar to the UN pointed out that Qatar has taken many legislative and executive measures to combat human trafficking at the national level, including the establishment of the National Committee for Combating Human Trafficking, which is charged with developing a national plan to combat human trafficking and to follow up on its implementation, adding that Qatar is among the largest donour to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons since its inception.
Al-Temimi stressed that Qatar's continued implementation of General Assembly resolution 70/7, particularly with regard to educating present and future generations and consolidating their understanding of the lessons learned from slavery, and its trade, history, and consequences.
She thanked the UN secretary-general for the efforts made in the preparation of his report under this item, which reflected a wide range of actions and activities carried out over the past three years aimed at spreading awareness and education on slavery and the transatlantic slave trade.
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Johnson plan means no-deal Brexit or polls, warns Hunt
International UK/Europe
Guardian News and Media /London
Jeremy Hunt has said the Brexit deadline of October 31 should not be a “hard stop” and that Boris Johnson is posing a “stark choice”, between leaving the EU without a deal and a general election.
Hunt warned it would be wrong to commit now to leave the EU by Halloween, come what may.
He told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “I want to make an argument that what Boris is offering – a hard stop at any cost, on October 31 – means that he is effectively committing the country to no deal … or an election, if parliament chooses to stop that. And my argument is, are those really the best that we as Conservatives can offer the country?”
Hunt’s comments contrasted with a fresh warning from his fellow leadership contender Dominic Raab yesterday that the Tory party would be “toast” if it failed to take Britain out of the EU by the end of October.
Hunt said he wanted to negotiate a new package with the EU27. “It’s not impossible to do this by October 31, but it will be difficult,” he said. “I’m not committing to an October 31 hard stop at any cost, because I don’t think you can make that guarantee.”
Hunt said recent discussions with EU leaders, in his post as foreign secretary, had convinced him there could be a negotiated way through the Brexit impasse.
“Approached by a British PM, someone they were willing to deal with, who had ideas to solve the Irish border, they would be willing to renegotiate the package,” he said.
“In particular, they’re prepared to consider whether you could get much more detail over the future relationship, so that you wouldn’t need the backstop.”
Earlier, Raab had highlighted the risks of “corrosion of public trust” for his party, with the Brexit party leading in several polls.
“The Tory party will be toast unless we’re out by the end of October. People need to wake up to this. We’ve seen from the Peterborough by-election, we’ve seen it from the European elections,” he said, referring to “the frustration, the scandal people feel” over the delays to Brexit.
“The Conservatives cannot win an election unless we’ve delivered Brexit,” he added, speaking to Sophy Ridge on Sky News.
Raab also again declined to rule out proroguing parliament, if as prime minister he believed a no-deal Brexit was the right course and MPs sought to block it.
“I don’t think it’s something we would want to do,” he said, “and I think it’s very unlikely. But what’s really scandalous about this, is where people have been trying to sabotage the will of the people, and break their promises left, right and centre.”
Brexit has dominated the early stages of the leadership debate. Michael Gove, who came third in the first MPs’ ballot on Tuesday, has suggested he would be willing to delay by a few weeks or months if necessary to get the right deal, but Johnson, who is the overwhelming frontrunner, has insisted he will leave on time.
Rory Stewart, Johnson’s fellow old Etonian, who picked up the support of the Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood yesterday, told the BBC he did not know what Johnson’s Brexit plan really was.
“This is the moment, in this leadership race, to say who – and it’s a very brutal question – who do you trust to be your prime minister? How is Boris going to deliver Brexit? How?
“I don’t even know what he believes – he won’t talk to me, he won’t talk to you, he won’t talk to the public,” he said, before reiterating his insistence that he would not take a Cabinet job if Johnson were to offer him one. “I would not serve,” he said.
Johnson did not taking part in yesterday’s TV debate, after warning he feared it could be “cacophonous” – but will join a similar event tomorrow night, after at least one more leadership contender has been knocked out.
Stewart said his approach would be to try to get the existing Brexit deal through parliament, telling MPs: “This is the last-chance saloon. Get it done.” If that failed, he would convene a citizens’ assembly to decide what should happen next.
“All these other people are just saying: I’m just going to go to Europe, and I’m going to shout, and I’m going to get us out, ‘Give me a deal,’” he said.
German energy giant RWE vows action against activists
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The Latest: Judge hears fight over Trump asylum policy
March 22, 2019 State
byAssociated Press
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The Latest on a court hearing on the Trump administration’s policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico (all times local):
A U.S. judge says civil rights groups seeking to block the Trump administration’s policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico had cleared basic requirements to bring their case.
But Judge Richard Seeborg appeared skeptical at a hearing on Friday of one of their key arguments in favor of an order stopping the policy while a lawsuit challenging it moves forward.
The lawsuit says the policy violates U.S. law by failing to adequately evaluate the dangers that migrants face in Mexico.
The administration says the policy is in response to a crisis at the southern border that has overwhelmed the ability of immigration officials to detain migrants.
Seeborg said the plaintiffs had authority to bring the case, and the court could hear it. But he questioned the argument that the policy violated a U.S. law that allows the return of immigrants to Mexico.
The Trump administration’s policy of returning asylum seekers to Mexico will face scrutiny from a U.S. judge in San Francisco.
Judge Richard Seeborg has scheduled a hearing Friday to help him decide whether to block the policy while a lawsuit moves forward. He’s not expected to rule immediately.
The lawsuit by civil liberties groups claims the policy violates U.S. law by failing to adequately evaluate the dangers that migrants face in Mexico.
It also accuses the administration of depriving migrants of their right to apply for asylum by making it difficult or impossible to prepare their cases.
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Curtis Ellis: On CNN, Carl Bernstein Forgets He Once Tried to Keep Spymasters *Out* of the Newsroom
President Trump is slamming CNN for being caught in a major lie and refusing to admit its mistake, and Carl Bernstein for “living in the past.”
CNN is being torn apart from within based on their being caught in a major lie and refusing to admit the mistake. Sloppy @carlbernstein, a man who lives in the past and thinks like a degenerate fool, making up story after story, is being laughed at all over the country! Fake News
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
Bernstein, the investigative journalist of Watergate fame, is at the center of CNN’s (latest) fake news scandal: a “bombshell” story carrying Bernstein’s byline that’s been thoroughly debunked. But “The Most Trusted Name in News” refuses to retract it.
The dud story would be enough of a problem, but the legendary reporter has another problem: Carl Bernstein has forgotten his own past.
The evidence? The company he keeps in the present, specifically his fellow CNN contributor James Clapper, the former Director of National Intelligence.
Let’s set the way back machine to 1977, in Carl’s past when he wrote the 25,000 word cover story for Rolling Stone magazine, “The CIA and the Media.”
The investigative piece details how the CIA used the New York Times, Washington Post, CBS and other American news organizations during the Cold War to gather intelligence, provide cover for its agents and even shape news reports.
Bernstein’s piece focused mainly on the agency’s foreign intelligence operations, but he raised the specter that the CIA may have colored the news Americans read and watch.
“Many journalists and some CIA officials dispute the agency’s claim that it has been scrupulous in respecting the editorial integrity of American publications and broadcast outlets,” Bernstein noted, adding “CIA-generated black propaganda” could be turning up in American publications.
“The traditional line separating the American press corps and government,” as Bernstein put it, as inviolable as the separation of church and state, had been blurred.
The thrust of Bernstein’s story was clear: Intelligence agencies are expert in disinformation, deception and duplicity. There should be no suspicion they are using their tradecraft to shape American public opinion and public policy.
Bernstein reserved his greatest contempt for publishers and editors who allowed their newspapers and networks “to become handmaidens to the intelligence services.” He didn’t spare his former employer, the Washington Post.
Today, the same Carl Bernstein who was concerned about intelligence operatives compromising American journalism has no problem with James Clapper, former Director of National Intelligence, being paid by CNN to tell the American public what he wants them to think. Bernstein even sits next to Clapper on set while he does it.
James Clapper, you may recall is guilty of perjury, having lied to Congress to cover up the NSA’s mass surveillance of American citizens.
You might expect Carl Bernstein would ask why a self-respecting news organization would have a spook like James Clapper in its newsroom.
But that it seems would be asking too much.
Bernstein denounces President Trump’s decision to revoke John Brennan’s security clearance, but says nothing about a topic he once cared so much about: the very real possibility intelligence agencies could use news organizations to shape American public opinion and policies.
Following reports (like Bernstein’s) in the 70s that the CIA had plants in American newsrooms, then-CIA Director George H.W. Bush announced a new policy: The agency would not have “any paid or contractual relationship with any full‑time or part-time news correspondent accredited by any U.S. news service, newspaper, periodical, radio or television network or station.”
This was buttressed by Presidential Executive Order 12,333 Section 2.13 and 50 U.S. Code § 3093 which prohibit U.S. intelligence agencies from undertaking any covert action “which is intended to influence United States political processes public opinion, policies, or media.” [emphasis added]
The executive order and 50 U.S. Code § 3093 define covert action as “an activity or activities of the United States Government to influence political, economic, or military conditions abroad, where it is intended that the role of the United States Government will not be apparent or acknowledged publicly.”
These directives raise troubling questions, none of which have occurred to the new Carl Bernstein:
Was James Comey violating the letter or merely the spirit of the law when, as head of the FBI, he used a cut-out to leak classified material to news organizations for the purpose of spurring the appointment of a special prosecutor? Comey clearly intended to influence the media, public opinion and policies — and he was acting covertly.
And what about reports the FBI leaks story to the media, then uses the resulting stories to obtain warrants to spy on American citizens? Such actions, if true, are clearly meant to influence the media. This is precisely the type of manipulation Bernstein warned about in the 1970s.
When John Brennan appears on TV calling the president treasonous, one could argue this is not a “covert action,” though it’s meant to influence political processes, public opinion, policies and the media.
But when that person calling the president treasonous still has the top-secret security clearance he held as head of the CIA, things become a little more complicated. Ambiguity and uncertainty are landscape features of the secret world and its borderlands with the outside world.
Are John Brennan’s words informed by classified information? Is he acting at the direction of someone on the other side of the veil of secrecy? Has Brennan really left the secret world – can he? Brennan has done nothing to dispel the ambiguity, hinting he knows something he can’t tell us.
It is impossible for us to know the answers with absolute certainty.
The young Carl Bernstein thought he had the answer: a strong border separating the American press corps and government would keep spymasters out of the newsroom.
Today, he’s not even asking the questions.
Curtis Ellis is the founder and chairman emeritus of the American Jobs Alliance, an economic nationalist non-profit. He and his organization were instrumental in building public awareness about the “Trans-Pacific Partnership” that lead to that trade deal’s defeat. He served as senior policy advisor on the Donald J. Trump for President campaign and Presidential Transition Team. You can find his work at http://www.americanjobsalliance.com.
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Which roles are played by Peter Jurasik | Characters played by Peter Jurasik
Peter Jurasik has played the role of Hotel Manager in 42 Film released in 2013.
Steve in A House of Secrets and Lies TV Film released in 1992.
Jack Morris in Acceptable Risks TV Film released in 1986.
Ed Gaines in Amy & Isabelle TV Film released in 2001.
Kevin in Angel 4: Undercover Film released in 1994.
Bus Driver in Arthur Newman Film released in 2012.
Tiger's Manager in Baby Huey's Great Easter Adventure Video released in 1999.
Londo Mollari in Babylon 5: In the Beginning TV Film released in 1998.
Londo Mollari in Babylon 5: The Gathering TV Film released in 1993.
Londo Mollari in Babylon 5: The Lost Tales Video released in 2007.
Himself in Beneath the Mask: The Making of Superhero Film released in 2011.
Henry Kissinger in Born Again Film released in 1978.
Interviewer in Breathing Hard Film released in 2001.
Himself in Changing Course Film released in 2015.
Bob Stanton in Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501 TV Film released in 1990.
Howie (segment, "But I'm Happy") in David Letterman's Holiday Film Festival TV Film released in 1985.
Portis in Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal TV Film released in 1989.
Professor Strickalnd in Grady's 80's Film released in 2004.
Nick in Huck and the King of Hearts Film released in 1994.
Andy Barnes in In the Custody of Strangers TV Film released in 1982.
Warren in Little Red Wagon Film released in 2012.
Pastor in Mary and Martha TV Film released in 2013.
Dr. Rosen in Mr. Jones Film released in 1993.
Peter in Night Club Film released in 1989.
Ned in Not Until Today TV Film released in 1979.
Gary Slate in Perry Mason: The Case of the Ruthless Reporter TV Film released in 1991.
Lieutenant Jacoby in Peter Gunn TV Film released in 1989.
Roy in Problem Child Film released in 1990.
President Scott in Quantum Apocalypse TV Film released in 2010.
Professor Phelan in Runaway Jury Film released in 2003.
Simon McKey in Scandal Sheet TV Film released in 1985.
Hector Pelusso in Stateside Film released in 2004.
Bank Teller in Straight Time Film released in 1978.
Principal Steinberg in Superhero Film released in 2011.
Himself - Accepting Award for Favourite Television Drama Program in The 13th Annual People's Choice Awards TV Film released in 1987.
Howard Stringer in The Late Shift TV Film released in 1996.
Howie Sanders in The Longest Ride Film released in 2015.
Clothes Store Proprietor in The Writer's Pub Film released in 2005.
Bank Manager in Times Like Dying Film released in 2014.
Crom in TRON Film released in 1982.
Dr. Stanley Imerman in Two Hours in the Dark Film released in 2010.
Braddock in Without a Kiss Goodbye TV Film released in 1993.
Principal Greschner in 3rd Rock from the Sun TV Series released in 1996.
Charlie Murdock in Amen TV Series released in 1986.
Londo Mollari in Babylon 5 TV Series released in 1994.
George Alsop in Barney Miller TV Series released in 1974.
Philip Hamel in Barney Miller TV Series released in 1974.
Mitch Klein in Bay City Blues TV Series released in 1983.
Sid Thurston in Beverly Hills Buntz TV Series released in 1987.
Sherman Stipes in Civil Wars TV Series released in 1991.
Dr. Simon Ward in Columbo TV Series released in 1971.
Walter Kubelik in Dawson's Creek TV Series released in 1998.
Brad in Dear John TV Series released in 1988.
Sloan in Drop Dead Diva TV Series released in 2009.
Brother Timothy in Fame TV Series released in 1982.
Max Brown in Family Ties TV Series released in 1982.
Marty in Family TV Series released in 1976.
A.D.A Douglas in Father Dowling Mysteries TV Series released in 1989.
Dr. Standish in Going to California TV Series released in 2001.
Doug Stanton in Growing Pains TV Series released in 1985.
Sid the Snitch in Hill Street Blues TV Series released in 1981.
Sid Thurston in Hill Street Blues TV Series released in 1981.
Berg in Jack's Place TV Series released in 1992.
Mr. Gorman in L.A. Doctors TV Series released in 1998.
Yale Tobias in L.A. Law TV Series released in 1986.
Capt. Triplett in M*A*S*H TV Series released in 1972.
Dr. Charles Alden in MacGyver TV Series released in 1985.
Steve Fisher in Matlock TV Series released in 1986.
Walter Wheaton in Midnight Caller TV Series released in 1988.
Leonard Brandon in Night Court TV Series released in 1984.
Dave Lorinz in NYPD Blue TV Series released in 1993.
Carl in One Tree Hill TV Series released in 2003.
Fan in One Tree Hill TV Series released in 2003.
Brian Duff in Paris TV Series released in 1979.
Jack Denver in Remington Steele TV Series released in 1982.
Phil Haver in Remington Steele TV Series released in 1982.
Culley in Report to Murphy TV Series released in 1982.
Dr. Will Towne/Popovich in Scarecrow and Mrs. King TV Series released in 1983.
Dr. Oberon Geiger in Sliders TV Series released in 1995.
Tom Pelton in Taxi TV Series released in 1978.
Alan Zegler/Williams in The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest TV Series released in 1996.
Film Proudcer in The White Shadow TV Series released in 1978.
Which roles are played by Peter Jurasik, name the characters played by Peter Jurasik, list of roles potrayed by Peter Jurasik
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Home > Nevada Chamber Symphony
Nevada Chamber Symphony
A fully professional orchestra of 22 - 40 musicians from string orchestra to full orchestra. The music library includes classical music from Bach to Bartok. The popular repertoire includes music from stage and screen, holiday, traditional and patriotic favorites and an extensive library of customarrangements for strings.
The orchestra, and its various ensembles from the Jazz Trio to the Serenata Violoncello Trio, can be contracted for any special occasion where exciting and beautiful 'live' music will create an unforgettable experience.
Under the direction of Maestro Fernandez, the Nevada Chamber Symphony, with its select group of professional musicians, provides A TOUCH OF CLASS whenever it performs. It is the only orchestra of its kind in Southern Nevada.
The orchestra made its national debut at Moscone Center in San Francisco in 1986 as Ambassadors of Culture for the City of Las Vegas as appointed by Mayor Bill Briar.
Founded in 1985 by Rodolfo Fernandez, Conductor and Music Director, the Nevada Chamber Symphony was established as a non-profit association in the State of Nevada in 1994, and is designated 501(c)(3) by the IRS.
As an association, the orchestra presents MUSIC WITH THE CLASSIC TOUCH, a free concert series of professionally performed 'live' music, to the citizens of the Las Vegas Valley. On October 13th the Nevada Chamber Symphony will premiere its 29th season.
An extensive program of educational and community outreach brings our services to local schools, young musicians and non-traditional audiences across the Las Vegas Valley. These activities address the primary goals of our Mission, to provide the greatest possible access to quality, live, music performance and to encourage and support the growth and development of music and musicianship in our community.
The concert season and outreach programs are supported by state and national grants and are matched by contributions from both the private and public sectors of our community.
The Nevada Chamber Symphony is an integral part of the cultural resources in Southern Nevada, its music welcomed the long distance runner as he came through Las Vegas on the way to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, entertained visitors and citizens at the opening celebration of the Fremont Street Experience, the 100 year anniversary of the Golden Gate Casino, the opening of the Starbright Theater, the Clark County Government Amphitheater and the new Henderson outdoor Pavilion.
Under the auspices of the America Nevada and Del Webb Corporations, the Nevada Chamber Symphony welcomed new residents to the Valley at the opening celebrations of our newest communities: Green Valley, Anthem, Seven Hills, Summerlin and SUN City.
Check availability for Nevada Chamber Symphony »
Carmen overture
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The story of Elton John’s life, from his years as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music through his influential and enduring musical partnership with Bernie Taupin.
Genre: Drama, Music
Actors: Bryce Dallas Howard, Charlie Rowe, Gemma Jones, Jamie Bell, Kit Connor, Matthew Illesley, Richard Madden, Steven Mackintosh, Taron Egerton, Tom Bennett
The storyline of the film is based on the socio-political situation of the country, drawing inferences from true-life events researched over the last 6 months.[3] Giving details on Article 15…
A young woman returns an elderly widow’s lost purse, leading to an unlikely relationship between the two — until the young woman discovers her elder might not be all that…
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
All unemployed, Ki-taek’s family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
While participating in a rehabilitation program training wild mustangs, a convict at first struggles to connect with the horses and his fellow inmates, but he learns to confront his violent…
A chronicle of the crimes of Ted Bundy, from the perspective of his longtime girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, who refused to believe the truth about him for years.
Genre: Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
In a series of escalating encounters, former security guard David Dunn uses his supernatural abilities to track Kevin Wendell Crumb, a disturbed man who has twenty-four personalities. Meanwhile, the shadowy…
Recently promoted and transferred to the homicide division, Inspector Jessica Shepard feels pressure to prove herself — and what better way than by solving San Francisco’s latest murder? However, as…
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
The quiet family life of Nels Coxman, a snowplow driver, is upended after his son’s murder. Nels begins a vengeful hunt for Viking, the drug lord he holds responsible for…
Phillip is a wealthy quadriplegic who needs a caretaker to help him with his day-to-day routine in his New York penthouse. He decides to hire Dell, a struggling parolee who’s…
Born into a tight-knit wrestling family, Paige and her brother Zak are ecstatic when they get the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to try out for the WWE. But when only Paige earns…
Mental Hai Kya
Mental Hai Kya is an upcoming Indian adult comedy film starring Kangana Ranaut and Rajkummar Rao. It is produced by Ekta Kapoor and directed by Prakash Kovelamudi.
Serial (Bad) Weddings 2
Claude and Marie Verneuil face a new crisis. The four spouses of their daughters, David, Rachid, Chao and Charles decided to leave France for various reasons. Here they are imagining…
Trailer: Rocketman
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Title XL
REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY Chapter 718
CONDOMINIUMS View Entire Chapter
718.103 Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the term:
(1) "Assessment" means a share of the funds which are required for the payment of common expenses, which from time to time is assessed against the unit owner.
(2) "Association" means, in addition to any entity responsible for the operation of common elements owned in undivided shares by unit owners, any entity which operates or maintains other real property in which unit owners have use rights, where membership in the entity is composed exclusively of unit owners or their elected or appointed representatives and is a required condition of unit ownership.
(3) "Association property" means that property, real and personal, which is owned or leased by, or is dedicated by a recorded plat to, the association for the use and benefit of its members.
(4) "Board of administration" or "board" means the board of directors or other representative body which is responsible for administration of the association.
(5) "Buyer" means a person who purchases a condominium unit. The term "purchaser" may be used interchangeably with the term "buyer."
(6) "Bylaws" means the bylaws of the association as they are amended from time to time.
(7) "Committee" means a group of board members, unit owners, or board members and unit owners appointed by the board or a member of the board to make recommendations to the board regarding the proposed annual budget or to take action on behalf of the board.
(8) "Common elements" means the portions of the condominium property not included in the units.
(9) "Common expenses" means all expenses properly incurred by the association in the performance of its duties, including expenses specified in s. 718.115.
(10) "Common surplus" means the amount of all receipts or revenues, including assessments, rents, or profits, collected by a condominium association which exceeds common expenses.
(11) "Condominium" means that form of ownership of real property created pursuant to this chapter, which is comprised entirely of units that may be owned by one or more persons, and in which there is, appurtenant to each unit, an undivided share in common elements.
(12) "Condominium parcel" means a unit, together with the undivided share in the common elements appurtenant to the unit.
(13) "Condominium property" means the lands, leaseholds, and personal property that are subjected to condominium ownership, whether or not contiguous, and all improvements thereon and all easements and rights appurtenant thereto intended for use in connection with the condominium.
(14) "Conspicuous type" means bold type in capital letters no smaller than the largest type, exclusive of headings, on the page on which it appears and, in all cases, at least 10-point type. Where conspicuous type is required, it must be separated on all sides from other type and print. Conspicuous type may be used in a contract for purchase and sale of a unit, a lease of a unit for more than 5 years, or a prospectus or offering circular only where required by law.
(15) "Declaration" or "declaration of condominium" means the instrument or instruments by which a condominium is created, as they are from time to time amended.
(16) "Developer" means a person who creates a condominium or offers condominium parcels for sale or lease in the ordinary course of business, but does not include an owner or lessee of a condominium or cooperative unit who has acquired the unit for his or her own occupancy, nor does it include a cooperative association which creates a condominium by conversion of an existing residential cooperative after control of the association has been transferred to the unit owners if, following the conversion, the unit owners will be the same persons who were unit owners of the cooperative and no units are offered for sale or lease to the public as part of the plan of conversion. A state, county, or municipal entity is not a developer for any purposes under this act when it is acting as a lessor and not otherwise named as a developer in the association.
(17) "Division" means the Division of Florida Land Sales, Condominiums, and Mobile Homes of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
(18) "Land" means the surface of a legally described parcel of real property and includes, unless otherwise specified in the declaration and whether separate from or including such surface, airspace lying above and subterranean space lying below such surface. However, if so defined in the declaration, the term "land" may mean all or any portion of the airspace or subterranean space between two legally identifiable elevations and may exclude the surface of a parcel of real property and may mean any combination of the foregoing, whether or not contiguous, or may mean a condominium unit.
(19) "Limited common elements" means those common elements which are reserved for the use of a certain unit or units to the exclusion of all other units, as specified in the declaration.
(20) "Multicondominium" means a real estate development containing two or more condominiums, all of which are operated by the same association.
(21) "Operation" or "operation of the condominium" includes the administration and management of the condominium property.
(22) "Rental agreement" means any written agreement, or oral agreement if for less duration than 1 year, providing for use and occupancy of premises.
(23) "Residential condominium" means a condominium consisting of two or more units, any of which are intended for use as a private temporary or permanent residence, except that a condominium is not a residential condominium if the use for which the units are intended is primarily commercial or industrial and not more than three units are intended to be used for private residence, and are intended to be used as housing for maintenance, managerial, janitorial, or other operational staff of the condominium. With respect to a condominium that is not a timeshare condominium, a residential unit includes a unit intended as a private temporary or permanent residence as well as a unit not intended for commercial or industrial use. With respect to a timeshare condominium, the timeshare instrument as defined in s. 721.05(35) shall govern the intended use of each unit in the condominium. If a condominium is a residential condominium but contains units intended to be used for commercial or industrial purposes, then, with respect to those units which are not intended for or used as private residences, the condominium is not a residential condominium. A condominium which contains both commercial and residential units is a mixed-use condominium and is subject to the requirements of s. 718.404.
(24) "Special assessment" means any assessment levied against a unit owner other than the assessment required by a budget adopted annually.
(25) "Timeshare estate" means any interest in a unit under which the exclusive right of use, possession, or occupancy of the unit circulates among the various purchasers of a timeshare plan pursuant to chapter 721 on a recurring basis for a period of time.
(26) "Timeshare unit" means a unit in which timeshare estates have been created.
(27) "Unit" means a part of the condominium property which is subject to exclusive ownership. A unit may be in improvements, land, or land and improvements together, as specified in the declaration.
(28) "Unit owner" or "owner of a unit" means a record owner of legal title to a condominium parcel.
(29) "Voting certificate" means a document which designates one of the record title owners, or the corporate, partnership, or entity representative, who is authorized to vote on behalf of a condominium unit that is owned by more than one owner or by any entity.
(30) "Voting interests" means the voting rights distributed to the association members pursuant to s. 718.104(4)(j). In a multicondominium association, the voting interests of the association are the voting rights distributed to the unit owners in all condominiums operated by the association. On matters related to a specific condominium in a multicondominium association, the voting interests of the condominium are the voting rights distributed to the unit owners in that condominium.
History.--s. 1, ch. 76-222; s. 1, ch. 78-328; s. 2, ch. 80-3; s. 6, ch. 80-323; s. 1, ch. 84-368; s. 45, ch. 85-62; s. 1, ch. 90-151; s. 1, ch. 91-103; s. 5, ch. 91-426; s. 1, ch. 92-49; s. 34, ch. 95-274; s. 850, ch. 97-102; s. 1, ch. 98-322; s. 73, ch. 99-3; s. 48, ch. 2000-302; s. 19, ch. 2001-64; s. 34, ch. 2004-279; s. 12, ch. 2004-353; s. 3, ch. 2007-80.
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Home > UK > UK Protected Sites
The UK supports a wide variety of species and habitats, ranging from cold water coral reefs to saltmarshes and mountain summits. A key policy tool for conserving them all is the designation and management of protected sites - areas of land, inland water and the sea that have special legal protection to conserve important habitats and species.
Legal protection prevents damaging activities. Some of the sites, known as Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for Birds and Special Areas of Conservation (SACs), are of European importance. They have been created under the EC Birds Directive and Habitats Directive. In the UK they form part of a larger European network called Natura 2000.
In addition, the UK and its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies also contribute to global networks of protected sites created under the Ramsar, World Heritage and OSPAR Conventions.
Within the UK sites that are nationally important for plants, animals or geological or physiographical features are protected by law as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) – or in Northern Ireland as Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs) - and Marine Nature Reserves (MNRs). This system provides the underpinning statutory protection for all sites, including those which are also of international importance.
The JNCC acts on behalf of the statutory conservation agencies and associated government departments by collecting information on designated sites for nature conservation in the UK and the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. We also assist in the interpretation of criteria for site selection and in forming guidelines to aid that process.
Our role supporting establishment and management of protected sites includes:
Carrying out surveys and analysing data to support the selection and review of SPAs at sea and on land;
Identifying and selecting SACs and SPAs in UK offshore waters and co-ordinating with country agencies the submission of details on all potential Natura 2000 sites to the European Commission.
Working towards creating a network of well-managed marine protected areas under the OSPAR Convention.
Developing cost-effective approaches with the country agencies to monitoring and assessing the “favourable conservation status”of European priority habitats and species.
Developing guidance on the use of new Earth Observation techniques in terrestrial habitat surveillance, based around the Crick Framework.
Maintaining guidance on the selection of biological and geological SSSIs in Great Britain.
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Oscar & Lucinda
Carey, Peter
Terry, R. C. (Editor) - Oxford Reader's Companion to Trollope - ( Item 127290 )
Published in UK by Oxford University Press, USA. 1999. First Edition, First Impression. Fine Hardback. Fine dustjacket. 658 pages. From Library Journal Through a career that spanned nearly half a century, Trollope brought to his readers a humor, a gentle yet pointed insight, and a sense of scope uncommon in the Victorian era. He also had a huge circle of friends. Editor Terry (emeritus, Univ. of Victoria, and author of several Trollope books) provides an excellent guide to Trollope's large universe. In more than 500 alphabetical listings (in eight subject areas), 36 Trollope scholars profile his private and public life, his life as a writer, his characters, locations, and associations, and his literary and social contexts. Particularly noteworthy are their discussions of--and annotated entries about--each of Trollope's 47 novels, characters, and locations. They also track the change in Trollope's critical reception from his time to our own; a growing number of critics now see Trollope not just as the genial chronicler of a lost era but as a writer who tackled the controversial issues of his time--such as sexuality, feminism, and colonialism (all of which are addressed in this volume). The work is nicely rounded out with illustrations and photographs, a chronology, a family tree, and a detailed bibliography. This well-conceived volume is recommended for large public libraries and all academic libraries. -Neal Wyatt, Chesterfield Cty. P.L., Richmond, VA Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist With the same comprehensive treatment provided by Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens [RBB O 1 99], this volume covers an author whose reputation has been steadily ascending over recent years.
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Specialist Pediatrician
Infectious Diseases Specialist
Languages Spoken: English, Bosnian, Croatia, Serbian and Arabic
DHA License Grade: Specialist Pediatrician
Dr. Sanja Mulabegovic is an exciting new addition to the medical team at Boston Diabetes & Endocrine Centre, bringing about a wealth of experience and pediatric specialties from some of the most reputed UK universities. With two decades of experience as a specialist pediatrician in the United Arab Emirates, Dr Sanja covers all types of acute and chronic pediatric problems with a special interests in following fields:
Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of pediatric infectious diseases
Recognition and treatment of tropical diseases
Provides infectious diseases-related advice during pregnancy and neonatal screening after delivery
Recognition and treatment of bronchial asthma, respiratory diseases, allergy, and skin related problems
Bellow are the highlights of Dr. Sanja's education, training and working experience
Graduated in 1995 from Novi Sad Medical University in the former Yugoslavia.
11 years in the main government hospitals and 8years in the private sector.
Diploma in Child Health from The Royal College of Surgeons of Glasgow
MRCPCH from The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of United Kingdom
Fully registered with the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom
Master’s degree in Pediatric Infectious Diseases from University of Oxford.
Member of the European Society of Pediatric Infectious Disease
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Nicki Minaj: My Backup Dancer Not Involved in Tokyo Murder!
A fan was murdered after attending a Nicki Minaj concert in Tokyo. The victim, Nicola Furlong was found dead in her hotel room after attending the concert. At first it was believed that Nicki’s dancer, James Blackston and another musician, Larry Perry were involved, but Nicki denies that. Nicki tweeted to Perez Hilton,
“My dancers had nothing to do w/this tragedy. No one in my entourage was questioned or arrested. They all flew home from Japan,” she wrote. “That person on your [site] is NOT my dancer. We do NOT know the men in custody. Too much misleading information.”
According to IrishCentral,
Two American men are being held on indecency charges in connection to the death of Irish woman Nicola Furlong, at a Tokyo hotel last week.
Furlong (21) was murdered on Wednesday night. She was sexually assaulted and strangled at the hotel after she a friend went to see US rapper, Nicki Minaj, in concert.
James “King Tight” Jamari Blackston (23), a dancer, and another 19-year-old musician were arrested on suspicion of molesting Furlong’s friend in the taxi on the way to the hotel.
They are also being questioned in relation to Furlong’s death.
The Irish Independent reports that King Tight’s Twitter (@kingtightbucc20 ) and MySpace accounts have been shut down since his arrest.
The dancer reportedly served as a dancer for Omarion and Marques Houston in Osaka. He has also appeared in music videos for Black Eyed Peas, Chris Brown, and J. Lo.
It is believed that Furlong and her friend met the two men at the concert and came back to the hotel together.
Japanese media have reported that other guests at the hotel complained about loud noises from their room at 3.20am. An employee went to their room and found Furlong lying near the bed on the floor.
In a statement released by the Tokyo police, they said, “These two men allegedly took advantage of a female unable to resist due to the fact she was in a comatose state from a highly alcoholic beverage.
“On a taxi ride between Shibuya and Shinjuku, they took advantage of a woman by touching her body.
“As that is an indecent act, they have been charged with quasi forcible indecency.”
The police said Furlong’s friend is still in Japan and has been joined by her family. They said, “She is in Tokyo and she is very shocked but her family has arrived in Japan and her mother is with her now.”
Furlong’s family has released a statement. They are devastated by the loss. They said, “Nicola was a warm, generous, stunning person who always had time for her family and other people.
“Nicola will always be at the centre of our lives. She stood for everything that is good in life.”
Furlong, a Dublin City University (DCU) student, was an exchange student in Japan. She was studying at the Takasaki City University of Economics in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, about 60 miles north-west of Tokyo.
Her body will be repatriated today and is expected to arrive in Ireland by Thursday. She is likely to be laid to rest in her native Curracloe, County Wexford, next weekend. Her family has asked for privacy.
Via MTV
Emma Watson Dazzles At ‘Harry Potter’ Premiere!
Khloe Kardashian Says She Tried IVF to Save Lamar Odom Marriage!
Breaking News…James Gandolfini Dies Of a Heart Attack At Age 51!
Eva Longoria Launches Her New Fragrance “Eva” in London
Beautelicious September 6, 2010
Kirstie Alley Shoots Insults Back to George Lopez After He Dissed Her!
John Edwards Oldest Daughter Was ‘Devastated’ Over Father’s Affair!
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Welcoming Statement
Purpose Statement
We Pray
This Week in Worship
Seasonal Prayer
Healing Garden
We Laugh
Shelter Needs
Rise Against Hunger
Prayz
Rodgers Organ
Welcome to the Church of the Maladjusted
Reverend Geoff Browning
Last month I attended our General Assembly in St. Louis. The very first event I went to there was a service of celebration for those who had just been released from jail in Washington, DC for civil disobedience on the steps of the Supreme Court. Those on the dais included the Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson, the Stated Clerk of the PCUSA, Rev. Denise Anderson and Rev. Jan Edminston, Co-Moderators of the PCUSA, Rev. Jimmy Hawkins, Director of the Office for Public Witness in DC and Rev. Liz Theoharis, Co- Moderator of the Poor People’s Campaign. If you know anything about the PCUSA, you know that we are not known for being very racially diverse, we are lily white and suddenly 3 of the 5 people on the dais are African Americans and it is clear that something different is going on here. Jimmy Hawkins and Liz Theoharis had just gotten out of jail. J. Herbert introduced the group saying that these people have been in jail because they are doing God’s work, Christ’s work. And Liz, a Presbyterian minister, gave a moving message about the work of the Poor People’s Campaign. And then she said something that became a repeated mantra throughout the week of the assembly; she said “I have never been more proud to be a Presbyterian.” I heard that over and over again throughout the week.
The passage from the prophet Amos is one that we are probably all familiar with. It is the one that Martin Luther King, Jr. proclaimed so loudly and often that Dr. King is often cited as the author rather than the prophet Amos. But the context for this passage is just as important for us today as it was for Dr. King in his day and Amos in the 8th century b.c.e. Amos was complaining about the growing inequality that allowed the wealthy to trample the poor under foot, deprive them of food and yet build for themselves homes built out of stone. So Amos declares on God's behalf that he despises their religious festivals, burnt offerings, offerings of grain and even their beautiful music. Amos is reminding us that religious practices separated from justice and righteousness, is just empty religiosity. But let justice roll down, not like the drip, drip, drip of trickle down economics, but like a flood that overwhelms and sweeps away injustice and inequality.
Rev. Liz Theoharis and the Rev. William Barber are co-moderators of the Poor Peoples’ Campaign. The PPC is a campaign that Dr. King had planned before he was assassinated because he knew that in spite of the successes of the civil rights movement, in order to make real and lasting change, they needed to meet the needs not just of the poor blacks in the country, but all the people who are suffering under the weight of economic oppression. So Revs Barber and Theoharis believe that the time is right, and not only right, but urgent that we challenge the evils of systemic racism, poverty, the war economy, ecological devastation and the nation’s distorted morality.
We know that in the world’s richest country, the richest country in the history of the world, there is no excuse why children should be hungry, people to lack health insurance, be burdened with student debt or have to choose between paying for food or paying their rent. And yet we know that there are 140 million Americans who are poor or low income which includes more than 50% of all children. 32 million people still lack proper health insurance, 40% of Americans have taken on debt because of medical issues and it is the number one cause of bankruptcy. We know that 44 million people are carrying student debt of $1.34 trillion.
Last month a study done in all 50 states concluded that a full-time minimum wage worker could not afford a 2-bedroom apartment anyplace in our country. All of the major low wage corporations are fleecing tax payers billions of dollars by under-paying their employees and expecting the workers to make up the difference with public assistance. One study concluded that Walmart pays its employees so little that they qualify for up to $6.2 billion in public assistance. A Walmart worker getting paid $10/hr at full-time with two or more members of his/her household would qualify for 8 different public assistance programs. That is your tax money that is used to subsidize higher profits for Walmart and all the other low-wage employers.
And yet our political leaders tell us that there is room in the budget to give the largest tax cut in history to the top 1% but not enough to make sure that every person in our country is properly clothed and fed and housed. And now the president wants to make a 30% cut in food stamps for the poor.
This year is the 50th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination and we have celebrated the life and ministry of Dr. King. One of his most powerful publications is the “Letter from A Birmingham Jail.” He wrote this letter while he was in jail in response to a letter he received from several white Christian ministers and a Jewish rabbi criticizing him and the others for their nonviolent demonstrations against segregation. The religious leaders claimed that such demonstrations were "unwise and untimely." This letter is filled with some of the most memorable phrases of Dr. King, phrases like "justice too long delayed is justice denied," "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," and many more. But the most important point of this letter is his claim that he has come to the "regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice, who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice....” He continues, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will." And one of the actions of the assembly last month was to begin the process for including this beautiful and prophetic letter in our own Book of Confessions.
The prophets of the Hebrew scriptures were not mainstream ordinary people. They were quirky and quixotic with a passion for God and justice that often got them into trouble. In psychological terms, we would call them maladjusted because they refused to go along to get along. Amos is afflicted with this maladjustment to injustice to the extent that he declares that God doesn't care one bit for their religious festivals or offerings or their beautiful singing if they are not protecting the widows and orphans and the children being ripped from the arms of their mothers and fathers.
I don’t know what school of social etiquette Amos went to, but you just don’t say these things in polite company. But Amos wasn't the only one, was he? John the Baptist and Jesus, Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day and Archbishop Romero were similarly maladjusted because they refused to be silent to the perversion of justice and the disenfranchisement of the poor and landless. Jesus was maladjusted because he chose love and compassion over injustice and cruelty. And this made him a threat to the powers that be.
As you know I was a campus minister at Stanford for 10 years. I believe that one of the reasons young people are moving away from the church today is because the church has not been standing up and speaking out on behalf of those who are in need. Part of my work was to show students a church that refuses to adjust to injustice, that refuses to turn our backs on those who are in need. Perhaps we should rename our faith community the Church of the Maladjusted. How ‘bout that for a marketing and evangelism campaign?
I'm sure I don't have to tell you how much is now at risk for our communities, our nation and even the world. At this time in our nation and in our communities, we will be presented with a choice. Will we go along to get along, or are we willing to allow ourselves to be maladjusted, maladjusted to hateful and denigrating speech of women, immigrants, other religions, those who identify as LGBTQ, and those who are undocumented? We must never allow such indignities and injustices to become normalized. We must be vigilant against policies that separate immigrant families and drive more people into poverty and increase inequality. We must be ever vigilant when they attempt to take healthcare or food aid away from millions while the lawmakers themselves continue to be covered by the most generous benefits money can buy.
But all of this requires that we become a maladjusted people, maladjusted to injustice, maladjusted to misogyny, racism and xenophobia, maladjusted to a political status quo that seeks to maximize profits over people and the environment. Dr. King famously declared that “the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” But I would remind you, my friends that it doesn’t bend by itself like a rainbow coming to earth. No, it bends only if we grab hold of that arc together and exert the full measure of our spiritual power and practical influence. This is not a time of fear, but a time of opportunity. The scripture reminds us that perfect love casts out all fear. So may our love be perfected in the days ahead and may God help us to become the Church of the Maladjusted.
Guest Sermon
On July 15, 2018, we welcomed Reverend Geoff Browning to our pulpit, to discuss events of the 223rd General Assembly of the PCUSA held in St. Louis, Missouri. Geoff was kind enough to share his sermon for publication here.
2400 Rosewood Drive, San Bruno California 94066 ~ (650)589-3711 ~ bethanypres@bethanypcusa.org
copyright 2019 Bethany Presbyterian Church
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The Swallow Sidecar Company was founded in 1922 by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley leading to SS Cars Ltd. In 1935 the SS Jaguar name first appeared on a 2.5-litre saloon sports models of which were the SS 90 and SS 100. Cash was short after World War II and Jaguar sold the plant and premises of Motor Panels, a pressed steel body manufacturing company they had acquired in the late 1930s when growth prospects seemed more secure. Jaguar made its name by producing a series of eye-catching sports cars such as the XK 120 of 1949, developed into XK 140 and XK 150, and the E Type of 1961.
The F-Type convertible was launched at the 2012 Paris Motor Show following its display at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in June 2012 and is billed as a successor to the legendary E-Type. In fact, the Series III E-Type already had a successor, in the form of the XJS which was in turn replaced by the XK8 and XKR. The F-Type nevertheless returns to the 2-seat plan that was lost with the introduction of the Series III E-Type, which was available only in a 2+2-seat configuration. It was developed following the positive reaction to Jaguar's C-X16 concept car at the 2011 Frankfurt Auto Show. Sales will begin in 2013 with three engine choices; two variants of the AJ126 V6 petrol engine and the AJ133 V8 petrol engine.
The Jaguar XF is a mid-size executive car introduced in 2008 to replace the S-Type In January 2008, the XF was awarded the What Car ‘Car of the Year' and 'Executive Car of the Year' awards. The XF was also awarded Car of the Year 2008 from What Diesel? Magazine Engines available in the XF are 2.2-litre I4 and 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines, or 3.0litre V6 and 5.0-litre V8 petrol engines. The 5.0Litre engine is available in supercharged form in the XFR. From 2011, the 2.2-litre diesel engine from the Land Rover Freelander was added to the range as part of a facelift.
The Jaguar XJ is a full-size luxury saloon. The model has been in production since 1968 with the first generation being the last Jaguar car to have creative input by the company's founder, Sir William Lyons In early 2003, the third generation XJ arrived in showrooms and while the car's exterior and interior styling were traditional in appearance, the car was completely re-engineered. Its styling attracted much criticism from many motoring journalists who claimed that the car looked old-fashioned and barely more modern than its predecessor, many even citing that the 'Lyons line' had been lost in the translation from Mark 2 into Mark 3 XJ, even though beneath the shell lay a highly advanced aluminium construction that put the XJ very near the top of its class Jaguar responded to the criticism with the introduction of the fourth generation XJ, launched in 2009. Its exterior styling is a departure from previous XJs.
Jaguar began producing R models in 1995 with the introduction of the first XJR. Powered by a supercharged 6-cylinder engine, the car produced approximately 322 horsepower. With the revamped line of engines, the power plant would be based on an eight-cylinder engine with supercharger from 1997 to present. The 1997–2003 XJR produced 370 horsepower (276 kW) and 385 pound-feet (522 Nm) of torque, taking the car to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 5 seconds. The new aluminium body shell from 2004 to 2009 and increased power to 400 hp (298 kW) and enhanced computer systems decreased the time to 60 mph (97 km/h) to 4.8 seconds. Starting after year 2000, XJRs were equipped with Jaguar's CATS (Computer Active Technology Suspension), which helped firm up the ride in sporty driving without compromising comfort during day-to-day use.
The Jaguar S-Type first appeared in 1999 and stopped production in 2008. It has now been replaced by the Jaguar XF. Early S-Types suffered from reliability problems but those were mostly resolved by the 2004 model year. The Jaguar X-Type was a compact executive car launched in 2001, while the company was under Ford ownership. Sharing its platform with a 2000 Ford Mondeo X-Type ceased production in 2009.
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Education Week's blogs > Bridging Differences See more Opinion
Deborah Meier
Harry Boyte
Deborah Meier is a visionary teacher, author, and founder of successful small schools in New York City and Boston. Harry Boyte, senior scholar at Augsburg College, is founder of the youth civic empowerment initiative Public Achievement and a leader in the movement to democratize higher education.
« Hiatus in Bridging Differences | Main
Education Is a Civic Question
By Kate Stoltzfus on September 13, 2017 4:38 PM
Note to our readers, friends and colleagues: This is our final post in Bridging Differences, and Deb's conclusion to a 10-year conversation with different partners. It is the end, but we also see this as a new beginning, a next stage of work that has never been more important. We describe this work as organizing to bring a democratic awakening, with schools at the center of the process. Many forces have been at work that erode the democratic purposes of education and the very meaning of "democracy" itself. But we believe, as the poet Walt Whitman does, that "democracy is a word / the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawakened...a great word whose history...remains unwritten."
"Children and youth, millions of them the world over, restless with tremendous energies...requiring only a dynamic purpose to make that force the most constructive factor in social progress," wrote Stanford professor Paul Hanna for the Progressive Education Association in 1936. According to Hanna, "the supreme educational challenge" was joining "the energy of youth to the task of progressively improving conditions of community life." What was true at the height of the Great Depression is even more urgent now.
Today Americans are not only divided about politics. They are increasingly distrustful of institutions, including public schools, and of each other. Last October, before the election, Nathaniel Persily of Stanford Law School and researcher Jon Cohen of Survey Monkey found in surveying more than 3,000 registered voters that 80 percent say the country is more divided than ever. Young adults are the most distrustful. There is little public discussion about joining energies of youth to the work of improving community life.
Education wars feed division and diminish the warriors. But an alternative to the wars is to pose education as a civic question, not a question of either government provision or market choice. This framework recognizes that the energy, talents, wisdom, and hard work of "we the people," young as well as old, need to be at the center of creating the 21st-century education system we need. Government and businesses are civic partners, not the center of the action.
Today, citizenship is largely absent in the school debate, or when it is present, it is a sentimental afterthought. In 2007, Deborah Meier started her Bridging Differences blog conversation with Diane Ravitch on edweek.org by pointing out, "The notion that we can leave it to the whims of individual parent choice in marketplace fashion is problematic. Good parents are inclined to put their own children's immediate interests first."
Voucher champions like Betsy DeVos turn parents and children into customers, not citizens, since "What do I want for my children?" omits the idea of schools as a civic meeting ground. Further, conservatives in the mold of Donald Trump who seek to go back to "the good old days" forget that they were not all that "good" for many. Racial, ethnic, religious, political and other exclusions were the norm.
In the early decades of the nation, relatively few children, even among the European-American male population, received more than a few years of schooling. As Colin Greer pointed out 40 years ago in his book The Great School Legend, schools in urban areas were often seen then by the powerful as vehicles to teach deference to authority. They were often designed to "Americanize" millions of immigrants, severing people from cultural histories and traditions. Textbooks treated most groups with disdain. Catholics, Jews, Italians, Chinese, Irish, and Eastern Europeans, as well as African-Americans were "mean, criminal, drunken, sly, lazy and stupid in varying degrees," as Greer described.
If liberals are often strong proponents of inclusion, their pro-public school stance regularly marginalizes the public in other ways. PTA membership is down to about 4 million from the peak of over 12 million in the 1960s. School consolidation has closed tens of thousands of small-town schools, wiping out civic centers in the life of communities. Luke Bretherton, a scholar of citizen participation at Duke University, observes that studies of lay-citizen-led school reform show an expert-knows-best bias. "What comes across time and again is the hostility 'non-experts' provoke," says Bretherton.
It's important to remember that citizens were once at the heart both of democracy and of schools, with citizens as co-creators of communities, not mainly voters and volunteers. We need to retrieve this idea while conveying a more inclusive idea of whom the citizenry includes.
In The Transformation of the School, author Lawrence Cremin described the citizen politics of education as a citizen-driven process. Pro-school coalitions created diverse coalitions. "The successful school leader was one who could with consummate skill simultaneously touch the hurt pride of the workingman, the pocketbook nerve of the wealthy, the status aspirations of the poor and the timid defensiveness of the cultured before the onslaught of the unlettered masses," as Cremin described. Moreover, local school boards and Parent Teacher Associations created a strong sense of public ownership of schools, including a voice in the purposes of schools in community life.
In his 1902 speech "The School as Social Center," John Dewey translated this citizen-centered school tradition and lessons from the Hull House settlement for new immigrants in Chicago into an inclusive vision for a changing America. Schools as civic centers should be places for diverse people to interact, teaching respect in a society which eroded it. They should be adult education centers for people of all ages. They could be mechanisms for people to shape a changing world of work.
All of these are relevant today to a revitalized sense of schools as civic centers.
Harry Boyte's nephew Luke Truan lives in the Atlanta suburb of Lilburn, Ga. Like many in his area, he leans conservative, but he doesn't like labels. Luke's son Erik's school, Camp Creek Elementary, reflects changing demographics as blacks and Hispanics are moving to the area. Luke says education has "moved to the forefront" of his attention since Erik started school.
Camp Creek is interwoven into civic life, with many ways for parents and others to get involved. The grocery store has a Camp Creek night. Parents come in and out of the school without permission. Almost half the families were involved in support of a school play last spring. Luke worries about loss of relationships in the digital age but believes Camp Creek offers lessons about connecting people through technology to get the community and parents involved.
Luke's strong interest illustrates motivations behind the growing movement for community schools. The Coalition for Community Schools, a coalition of groups dedicated to reconnecting schools and communities, works with hundreds of schools across the country. It has a whole-child philosophy and a mission to reinvigorate the civic purposes of education.
Last year, an education fight in Georgia suggested how the idea of schools as centers of civic life might birth a new educational politics. The governor, Nathan Deal, put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to allow the governor to take charge of "chronically failing" schools. Under his plan, called the Opportunity School District, failed schools would either be run by a state agency or be converted to charter schools under management contracts open to profit-making businesses. Supporters claimed that the amendment would save kids trapped in cycles of poverty. With support from large corporations and charter school groups, Deal's amendment was expected to pass easily.
The fight against the amendment began with a defensive tone. As the campaign developed and local civic leaders became involved, the framework shifted from defense of schools to local power over schools. The group against the amendment called themselves the Committee to Keep Georgia Schools Local. They described the amendment as a power grab and pointed out that the amendment had no constructive ideas for actually changing troubled schools.
The coalition included the teachers' union, black clergy and inner-city leaders, the Georgia Parent Teacher Association, rural school boards, and key Republican strongholds. Amendment One lost with over 60 percent voting in opposition. Gerald Taylor, a veteran community organizer who consulted on the campaign, believes that the fight shows the potential for an inclusive concept of "local community control" to bridge what many have seen as intractable racial and urban-rural divides. The key to the coalition's success was shifting to an approach that encouraged local creativity, engagement with local cultures, local leadership and power. It reframes the vision of schools by the people in inclusive ways.
"We argued that schools are much more than places to teach kids," he said. "They are rallying centers in rural communities and inner cities. They are economic engines. They are community assets where people should have ownership."
If reframing the school debate as a civic question can happen in Georgia, it can happen anywhere. It is up to "we the people."
Deb and Harry
Deborah Meier, founder of Central Park East Schools in New York and Mission Hill Schools in Boston, is author of the newly released These Schools Belong to You and Me (Beacon Press). Harry Boyte is founder of the international youth civic education and empowerment initiative Public Achievement and author of Pedagogy of the Empowered, forthcoming from Vanderbilt University Press.
Look for Education Week's Q&A with Deborah Meier and Emily Gasoi about their new book These Schools Belong to You and Me in the next few weeks.
Photo: Deborah Meier and Diane Ravitch began a joint conversation about education issues more than 10 years ago, which evolved into the "Bridging Differences" blog. Credit: Todd Plitt for Education Week-File
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Contrails are the trails of condensed water vapor that follow an airplane at a high enough and cold enough altitude. They became a visible presence in World War II and were part of newsreels of allied bombers hitting Germany and dog fights over the English countryside. There was more than just an aesthetic side to the new, high clouds in the sky, though.
WWII saw the introduction of massive waves of high-altitude fighters and bombers, as depicted in this 1965 British postage stamp
During the attacks on September 11, 2001, FAA controllers, “Did the only thing they could think of to try to control the situation: ordering every aircraft in U.S. airspace, about 4,000 of them, to land somewhere, anywhere, immediately.”
“Canadian officials followed. Airports in Atlantic Canada quickly filled with thousands of bewildered people who had been flying west across the Atlantic from Europe, but found themselves stranded in Goose Bay, Labrador or Stephenville, [Newfoundland].”
Following this mass grounding, an observable cooling took place. Andrew Carleton, a geographer at Pennsylvania State University recalled his observations at the time. “I remember walking to and from my office (in the days after the attacks) and thinking how incredibly clear the skies were.”
About a year after the attacks, Carleton, David Travis, and another colleague argued in a paper that thin clouds created by contrails reduce the range of temperatures. Adding to cloud cover during the day, they reflect solar energy that would otherwise reach the earth’s surface. At night, they trap warmth that would otherwise escape. Not surprisingly, temperatures change most in areas where the most flights take place.
In this video, Carleton explains the effects contrails have on heating and cooling the earth.
In a reversal of 9/11 effects, an air raid involving over 1,400 aircraft over England in May, 1944 measurably lowered daytime temperatures. This was in a time when only a few airliners departed London each day and private aviation was the province of the well-to-do.
In 2004, NASA scientist Patrick Minnis wrote that “increased cirrus coverage, attributable to air traffic, could account for nearly all of the warming observed over the United States for nearly 20 years starting in 1975.” He attributed a one-percent per decade increase in cloud cover came from increased air travel, greater in more populated areas and in winter, “when contrails are bigger.”
A 2005 paper by physicist Robert Noland of Imperial College London suggested, “restricting airliners to 31,000 feet, and 24,000 feet in winter, could reduce the formation of contrails. Though lower-flying planes would be less fuel-efficient.” NASA pursued that line of thought at around the same time.
Flying a lower altitudes prevents contrail formation, but would probably cut into airlines’ profit margins without new designs for aircraft
Minnis found, “The warming effect happened because the high-altitude clouds that contrails created tended to trap warm air. On balance, though contrails can both warm and cool, there is more of a warming effect.”
A 2015 Penn State study expanded the 2001 finding by comparing regions of the United States where contrails tended to form more strongly with areas where they didn’t. The more contrail-heavy the area, the less the variation between daytime highs and nighttime lows tended to be.
Higher Fuel Efficiency, More Flights
Maddie Stone, a science writer for Gizmodo, explains in a recent article that, “The climate impact of flying isn’t just about carbon emissions. The contrails that airplanes create also influence the temperature of our atmosphere—and a new study finds that impact is set to grow in a big way. She explains, “Globally, the atmospheric warming associated with these clouds is estimated to be larger than that caused by aviation’s carbon emissions. That surprising fact has some scientists curious about whether the effect will grow as the skies continue to get more trafficked into the future.
Stone references researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and their findings published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, “show that by 2050, contrail-induced warming could be three times higher than it was in 2006. In fact, this type of warming will likely outpace warming from rising carbon dioxide emissions, thanks to concurrent improvements in fuel efficiency.”
Stone adds, “The authors’ models indicate cirrus clouds will contribute some 160 milliwatts of additional ‘radiative forcing’—extra energy flowing back toward the Earth’s surface— by mid-century. Ethan Coffel, an atmospheric scientist at Dartmouth College who wasn’t involved with the paper, noted that for comparison, under the climate change scenario the authors use, heating from greenhouse gas emissions will be around 6,000 milliwatts per square meter by the end of the century.”
As contrails persist at altitude, they shield the earth from the sun’s radiation, but also trap heated air beneath
“’So while the contrail forcing is certainly significant, it’s a relatively small contributor to overall warming,’ Coffel told Earther via email.”
It will be a net cooling effect for jet engines to become more efficient and a net warming effect as flights become more frequent. Some are urging flying less or not at all. That will demand more rail, bus and private car traffic, though, with possibly great effects on warming.
Geoengineering?
Some want us to turn to geoengineering to solve this crisis. Again, the unintended consequences might be worse than the problem. Should we create high, reflective clouds to radiate solar warmth back into space? Should we work to get rid of all clouds? Either route seems to have a disaster-movie scenario attached. Your editor just finished reading Richard Rhodes’ Energy: a Human History. The book relates the many changes in energy production through time, with each promising much, but having sometimes tragic effects on those who accepted the new “technology” with open arms. With so much riding on our newly-forced choices, we must be as informed as we can be while practicing the highest levels of due diligence.
More to Read and Ponder
A final note: This link provides a good overview of post-9/11 research on aircraft contrails and their effect on climate. Obviously, an electric alternative would be a great one – but we’re still short on the necessary battery technology.
The site warns, “If any of the links above do not work, copy the URL and paste it into the form below to check the Wayback Machine for an archived version of that webpage.”
Next post: Total Operating Costs – Batteries Included
Previous post: Volt Aero Cassio Hybrid – From France
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the childhood of the báb
The following is an account of the Báb’s childhood, as recorded in Nabil’s Narrative/The Dawn Breakers, translated by the Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.
The Báb, whose name was Siyyid ‘Alí-Mu?ammad, was born in the city of Shíráz, on the first day of Muharram, in the year 1235 A.H. He belonged to a house which was renowned for its nobility and which traced its origin to Mu?ammad Himself. The date of His birth confirmed the truth of the prophecy traditionally attributed to the Imám ‘Alí: “I am two years younger than my Lord.” Twenty-five years, four months, and four days had elapsed since the day of His birth, when he declared His Mission. In His early childhood He lost His father, Siyyid Mu?ammad-Ri?á, a man who was known throughout the province of Fárs for his piety and virtue, and was held in high esteem and honour. Both His father and His mother were descendants of the Prophet, both were loved and respected by the people. He was reared by His maternal uncle, ?ájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí, a martyr to the Faith, who placed Him, while still a child, under the care of a tutor named Shaykh Abid. The Báb, though not inclined to study, submitted to His uncle’s will and directions.
Shaykh Abid, known by his pupils as Shaykhuna, was a man of piety and learning. He had been a disciple of both Shaykh A?mad and Siyyid Kázim. “One day,” he related, “I asked the Báb to recite the opening words of the Qur’án: ‘Bismi’lláhi’r-Rahmáni’r-Ra?ím.’ He hesitated, pleading that unless He were told what these words signified, He would in no wise attempt to pronounce them. I pretended not to know their meaning. ‘I know what these words signify,’ observed my pupil; ‘by your leave, I will explain them.’ He spoke with such knowledge and fluency that I was struck with amazement. He expounded the meaning of ‘Alláh,’ of ‘Rahmán,’ and ‘Ra?ím,’ in terms such as I had neither read nor heard. The sweetness of His utterance still lingers in my memory. I felt impelled to take Him back to His uncle and to deliver into his hands the Trust he had committed to my care. I determined to tell him how unworthy I felt to teach so remarkable a child. I found His uncle alone in his office. ‘I have brought Him back to you,’ I said, ‘and commit Him to your vigilant protection. He is not to be treated as a mere child, for in Him I can already discern evidences of that mysterious power which the Revelation of the ?á?ibu’z-Zamán alone can reveal. It is incumbent upon you to surround Him with your most loving care. Keep Him in your house, for He, verily, stands in no need of teachers such as I.’ ?ájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí sternly rebuked the Báb. ‘Have You forgotten my instructions?’ he said. ‘Have I not already admonished You to follow the example of Your 76 fellow-pupils, to observe silence, and to listen attentively to every word spoken by Your teacher?’ Having obtained His promise to abide faithfully by his instructions, he bade the Báb return to His school. The soul of that child could not, however, be restrained by the stern admonitions of His uncle. No discipline could repress the flow of His intuitive knowledge. Day after day He continued to manifest such remarkable evidences of superhuman wisdom as I am powerless to recount.” At last His uncle was induced to take Him away from the school of Shaykh Abid, and to associate Him with himself in his own profession. There, too, He revealed signs of a power and greatness that few could approach and none could rival.
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Media Beat
The Anti-Social List
Comic China
by David Bandurski | Jun 21, 2019
Back in May, there was a flurry of announcements from websites and social networking apps in China indicating that they would be suspending their interactive features – such as basic comment functions and so-called “bullet comments” proliferating across video in real-time – in order to carry out “upgrades.” In some cases, the suspensions were by all accounts permanent.
Users in China were quick to pick up on the fact that these were not at all about improving services, but rather pointed to a concerted effort by internet control authorities to restrict interactivity for the sake of convenience in exercising control over public opinion.
The same sorts of suspensions had already been happening in April, likely in response to the approach of sensitive historical anniversaries, like the centenary of the 1919 May Fourth Movement, the 30th anniversary on April 15 of the death of reformist party chief Hu Yaobang, and of course the 30th anniversary of June Fourth.
The suspensions were likely extensions of a special cleanup campaign announced in January this year by the Cyberspace Administration of China, aiming to “resolve outstanding problems in the online climate.” Commenting in one chat thread on April 12, as someone asked about the seven-day suspension of commenting functions at Snowball (雪球), an investment information platform, one user said: “Technical upgrades are just an excuse; this is actually about speech prohibitions.” In some cases, public notices were made of suspensions with express mention of violations of China’s Cybersecurity Law and Regulation on Internet Information Service — as was the case with Jianshu (简书), a user-generated content platform similar to Medium, which in April underwent “a full and comprehensive rectification (全面彻底的整改) of its content starting April 19.
A number of sites and services announced in mid-May that suspensions of interactive features such as comments would last between several weeks and three months. On May 10, the Ding Talk (钉钉) mobile communication app, developed by Alibaba, and the Momo instant messaging app both issued notices saying that their “friend chat” services resembling the chat services offered by WeChat would be suspended for upgrades.
The animation-themed video site Bilibili (哔哩哔哩), which has been extremely popular, also announced that it would suspend “bullet comments” on its video service from May 29 to June 6. Tencent also reported in May that other services, including YY, Douyu (斗鱼) and Huya (虎牙) had suspended “barrage” comments.
On May 27, Qdaily (好奇心日报), a site offering current affairs and lifestyle content, much of it translated or summarized from foreign sources, announced that its website and app would suspend content refreshing from May 28 for a period of three months. During this process readers were encouraged to read existing content, the site said.
To get a clearer idea of just how disruptive these controls can be for media like Qdaily, just try visiting their site and having a look for yourself. Here is the site’s front page on June 21, three weeks into their suspension.
The headline under Einstein reads: “There is an app called ‘Very Strange’, come and see.” Click into the article and you find it is dated May 27, 2019. Another featured article, dealing with bluetooth earbuds, dates back to May 24.
Right below the feature slider, with its black-and-white image of Einstein, is the announcement of Qdaily‘s suspension, the publication’s logo set against a sunset backdrop. There is no talk of “illegal information,” or the need for a clean “online ecology.”
The notice, just four lines, reads:
From midnight on May 28, the Qdaily website and App will suspend content refreshing for 3 months.
During this time readers can enjoy our past content.
Reader comments and other interactive services will be suspended.
Interactive features for Qdaily Research will appear in another App called ‘Very Strange,’ and readers can participate there.
There is no indication in the notice that Qdaily is facing anything at all serious. Nothing fatal, at any rate. But how is that even possible? How can any for-profit media venture simply live in cryo-freeze for a period of three months and then wake to the world again as a viable source of information?
In decades past, it was impossible in China to kill a publication or render it comatose without some degree of uproar. Just think of the international stink that ensued in 2006 when authorities ordered the shutdown of the respected Freezing Point supplement of the China Youth Daily newspaper.
But for propaganda controls, this is indeed, as Xi Jinping is so fond of saying, a “new era.” These days, an interesting, vibrant and cool platform like Qdaily could simply walk off into the sunset, without a fuss and without so much as a goodbye.
And who really cares? After all, there is always something new.
PreviousThe Power to Instruct
NextChina’s War on Western Names
David is co-director of the China Media Project, and editor of the project’s website. He is the author of Dragons in Diamond Village (Penguin), a book of reportage about urbanisation and social activism in China, and co-editor of Investigative Journalism in China (HKU Press). His writings have appeared in the New York Times, the Far Eastern Economic Review, the Wall Street Journal, Index on Censorship, the South China Morning Post and others. He received a Human Rights Press Award in 2007 for an explanatory feature about China’s Internet censorship guidelines. David is a producer of Chinese independent films through his Hong Kong production company, Lantern Films. He has a Master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Mr. Bandurski is an honorary lecturer at the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong.
The China Media Project is an independent research, fellowship and exchange program in partnership with the Journalism & Media Studies Centre at the University of Hong Kong. The CMP fosters dialogue on key issues in Chinese media and communications, and monitors breaking developments in the field.
Journalism and Media Studies Centre, HKU
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Home » Focus Areas » Architecture and Public Policy
Network Neutrality
CIS explores how changes in the architecture of computer networks affect the economic environment for innovation and competition on the Internet, and how the law should react to those changes. This work has lead us to analyze the issue of network neutrality, perhaps the Internet's most debated policy issue, which concerns Internet user's ability to access the content and software of their choice without interference from network providers.
Ademir Antonio Pereira Jr
Ademir splits his time between two worlds. He is part-time is in academia, doing research focusing on efforts by Latin American regulators to promote increased access to broadband Internet and implement a network neutrality regime. He has been particularly interested in the debate involving the regulation of network neutrality in Brazil and the US, and has submitted contributions to the Brazilian Ministry of Justice and to the US Federal Communications Commission. His PhD thesis submitted to the University of Sao Paulo Law School has been approved with honors and will be published.
Richard Salgado
Richard Salgado serves as Google's Director for information security and law enforcement matters. Prior to joining Google, Richard was with Yahoo!, focusing on international security and compliance work. He also served as senior counsel in the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section of the United States Department of Justice. As a federal prosecutor, Richard specialized in investigating and prosecuting computer network cases, such as computer hacking, illegal computer wiretaps, denial of service attacks, malicious code, and other technology-driven privacy crimes.
Brendan Sasso
Student Fellow
Brendan Sasso is the Open Internet Fellow at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society. In his previous career as a journalist, he covered the Federal Communications Commission as it wrote landmark net neutrality regulations in 2015. He also wrote about issues including consumer privacy, government surveillance, cybersecurity, and intellectual property. He worked for The Hill and National Journal, and his work has also appeared in The Atlantic, Quartz, and DefenseOne. He has appeared on C-SPAN, MSNBC, Fox News, and NPR to discuss current technology policy issues.
Ben Scott
Ben Scott is a Visiting Fellow at the Stiftung Neue Verantwortung in Berlin and Senior Adviser to the Open Technology Institute at the New America Foundation in Washington DC. Previously, he was Policy Advisor for Innovation at the US Department of State, where he worked at the intersection of technology and foreign policy. In a small team of advisors to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, he helped to steward the 21st Century Statecraft agenda with a focus on technology policy, social media and development.
Thoughts on Baltimore's ongoing ransomware situation
By Richard Forno on June 5, 2019 at 4:45 am
Hackers seek ransoms from Baltimore and communities across the US
Many of Baltimore’s city services are crippled by a cyberattack.
Richard Forno, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Tool Without A Handle: Guerilla Information Warfare
By Chuck Cosson on June 2, 2019 at 11:27 pm
“The enemies of liberal democracy hack our feelings of fear and hate and vanity, and then use these feelings to polarize and destroy" - Yuval Noah Harari.
The security of our news and media information systems matters as much as the security of personal and commercial information systems. "Information warfare" shows that harms can arise even when there is no unauthorized access, when tools are used as intended, and when there’s no compromise of user privacy settings. In both cases of cybersecurity and news/media security, the threats are asymmetric, the tools readily available, usable for many purposes, and threats are easily disguised as benign. Whether it is a business conference used for economic espionage, or a product order form email used to inject malware, the tools of everyday information exchange are capable of use as a weapon.
Robust resistance to phishing and social engineering, as well as “fake news” and disinformation campaigns is unlikely to be fully achieved on the basis of refinements to the tools (including information platforms). It will require users to, to the extent possible, acquire greater understanding of themselves as sorters and interpreters of information. If there is a territory to explore in addressing issues of information warfare, let it be the territory of the mind.
Open Letter to GCHQ Regarding Threats Posed by their Ghost Proposal
By Richard Forno on May 30, 2019 at 7:15 am
Today I join several cybersecurity, civil liberties, civil society organizations and researchers in responding to the United Kingdom's GCHQ recent proposal to silently add 'ghost' users from law enforcement or the security services to online chats and calls, including those conducted via encrypted messaging tools like WhatApp, iMessage, or Signal.
Prominent security pros enter the 'Right to Repair' debate
By Richard Forno on May 1, 2019 at 6:39 am
I'm pleased to be part of the inaugural group of security professionals standing up for the rights of technology owners to repair, re-use, fix, modify, and enhance the many modern products they buy, use, and depend on for work and personal use. Securepairs.Org is our voice on this critical architecture and public policy item, which has cybersecurity, operational, and resiliency considerations for every technology user.
Tech Industry Leaders to European Parliament: Save Net Neutrality, Adopt Amendments
Users' Patronage: The Return of the Gift in the "Crowd Society"
In this work, I discuss the tension between gift and market economy throughout the history of creativity. For millennia, the production of creative artifacts has lain at the intersection between gift and market economy. From the time of Pindar and Simonides – and until the Romanticism will commence a process leading to the complete commodification of creative artifacts – market exchange models run parallel to gift exchange. From Roman amicitia to the medieval and Renaissance belief that “scientia donum dei est, unde vendi non potest,” creativity has been repeatedly construed as a gift.
The Women Who Won Net Neutrality
First Amendment Scholars Amicus Brief
Barbara van Schewick
Verizon v. Federal Communications Commission
Comcast Corporation v. Federal Communications Commission
Comcast Corp. v. FCC is a 2010 United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia case holding that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) does not have ancillary jurisdiction over Comcast’s Internet service under the language of the Communications Act of 1934. In so holding, the Court vacated a 2008 order issued by the FCC that asserted jurisdiction over Comcast’s network management polices and censured Comcast from interfering with its subscribers' use of peer-to-peer software.
Federal Communications Commission Preserving the Open Internet Proceeding
In 2005, on the same day the FCC re-classified DSL service and effectively reduced the regulatory obligations of DSL providers, the FCC announced its unanimous view that consumers are entitled to certain rights and expectations with respect to their broadband service, including the right to:
Federal Communications Commission Proceeding Regarding Comcast’s Blocking of BitTorrent
Why Net Neutrality Advocates Remain Optimistic
"Eshoo and her copanelists, Federal Communications Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel, Reddit CEO Steven Huffman, and Stanford law professor Barbara van Schewick, remained doggedly optimistic about the future of net neutrality in the United States."
Reddit Co-founder, Congresswoman advocate for net neutrality at Law School event
The Stanford Daily
"Van Schewick argued that the motivation for removing net neutrality rules came largely from ISPs looking to capitalize on their positions as gatekeepers. She said that in 2013, prior to net neutrality regulations being put in place, six large ISPs started using “choke points” to slow down certain games and and videos, only speeding them up if the hosting websites were willing to pay.
“The ISPs have more money, and they definitely have more lobbyists,” Schewick said. “But that does not mean they get to win. They only win if we are silent.”"
How the EU’s Far Right Will Boost Google, Facebook, and Amazon
"Thomas Lohninger, executive director of Epicenter Works, another NGO that ran an ostensibly grassroots campaign against the Copyright Directive, says his group worked with politicians from across the spectrum. “You can find allies in all political parties, and if you are working toward the majority, you also have to talk with all of the people and explore all avenues that you can in order to gain a majority. And that's what we did,” Lohninger says. “There are of course the Euroskeptics, that are fundamentally opposed to every type of European legislation or regulation.
Why internet users in Austria face losing their anonymity
"Thomas Lohninger of civil rights group Epicenter Works told German-language website Der Standard: “It’s remarkable how little thought has gone into this.”"
What the Loss of Net Neutrality Means for Democracy and Innovation (Past Event)
In 2017, the FCC voted to abolish net neutrality protections, which ensure that we, not the companies we pay to get online, get to choose what we do online. This event will explore what we lost, why it matters, and what’s happening with efforts to restore those protections in the courts, the states and Washington, D.C.
The Antitrust Paradigm: Restoring a Competitive Economy - Lunch Time Talk with Jonathan Baker (Past Event)
RSVP is required for this free event.
CIS Career Lunch Series: Innovative Product Counseling at Google (Past Event)
FCBA Northern California Chapter CLE: California Net Neutrality Policy (Past Event)
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP - Suite 800
Join the FCBA's Northern California Chapter for an engaging discussion with key government, academic, and industry speakers to discuss the past, present, and future of net neutrality policy in California.
DOJ Lawsuit Against California Raises Legal Questions Over Net Neutrality
The U.S. Justice Department has sued California over its net neutrality law.
California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed the measure, which was in response to the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to repeal net neutrality in 2017, which took effect this past June.
To learn more about this lawsuit, The Show spoke with Barbara van Schewick, a law professor and director of the Center for Internet and Society at Stanford Law School.
Expert: Smart Tech Is Making Us Dumb
We know that smart phones and other information technology are changing the way we live and the way we relate to other people, but could they actually be making us dumber?
Brett Frischmann says they are, and that we should question the use of digital technology and surveillance.
Can states regulate the internet?
The days are numbered for federal net neutrality regulations. In response, some states are working on their own versions to prevent internet service providers (ISP) from blocking, slowing or charging more for some web traffic. Oregon, Washington and several other states have made new rules, but a bill working its way through the California legislature would go the furthest. Marketplace Tech host Molly Wood spoke with Ryan Singel, a media and strategy fellow at Stanford Law School, about how a state can regulate a business that crosses state lines.
Stanford Legal with Pam Karlan & Joe Bankman: "Web extra: Net neutrality with guest Barbara van Schewick"
Law School professor Barbara van Schewick discusses net neutrality as the FCC plans to vote on changing those rules.
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Doria's Goshawk Megatriorchis doriae
Current view: Text account
This species occurs only in lowland forest which is subject to increasing pressure from logging. It is thought to be experiencing a moderately rapid population reduction and is consequently classified as Near Threatened (nearly qualifies for listing as threatened under criteria A2c+3c+4c and C1).
Population justification
The global population size has not been quantified, but with a potential range over at least 400,000 km2 of forest the total population must likely be in the thousands (Ferguson-Lees and Christie 2001).
Trend justification
There are no data on population trends; however, the population is suspected to be declining as a result of logging. The likely rate of decline remains unquantified.
Distribution and population
Megatriorchis doriae is a little-known New Guinea endemic (Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) (Beehler et al. 1986), including neighbouring Batanta island, Indonesia (Bishop 1986). It is rarely recorded, partly because of its unobtrusive habits, with for instance only one record in seven years of observation at Tabubil (P. Gregory in litt. 1999). Although it appears to be widespread and not immediately threatened (J. Diamond in litt. 1987, K. D. Bishop in litt. 1994), it may be suffering a moderately rapid population decline.
It is a forest species, sometimes also found in mangrove and semi-deciduous forest; mainly sea-level to 1,100 m, although sometimes to 1,400 m (Coates 1985, Beehler et al. 1986). Bulky stick nests are built in the crown of trees (Pratt and Beehler 2015)
Its general tolerance of logging is poorly known but it has been seen repeatedly in logged forest near Port Moresby (P. Gregory in litt. 1999).
Conservation actions
Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II.
Conservation Actions Proposed
Survey to estimate population size and determine tolerance of logged forest. Set aside and protect important areas of lowland forest.
Text account compilers
Benstead, P., Dutson, G., Mahood, S., O'Brien, A., Symes, A., North, A.
Bishop, K., Gregory, P., Diamond, J.
BirdLife International (2019) Species factsheet: Megatriorchis doriae. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/07/2019. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2019) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 19/07/2019.
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Backstage – Episode #4
Developers want to develop things
with special guest Nick Janetakis
Play Discuss Subscribe
Nick Janetakis joins Jerod backstage to talk shop. We discuss how Nick is using the Changelog.com source code as a guide to build his video course platform, coding practices we’ve developed over the years, how to balance between shipping features and creating content, newsletters as the new social network, how Nick makes his videos, and a whole lot more.
Download (90MB)
Nick Janetakis – Twitter, GitHub, Website
Jerod Santo – Twitter, GitHub, Website
Notes & Links
Nick gets a mention in The Changelog #344
Check out Nick’s courses on Docker and Flask
We’re both riding the Phoenix
Jeff Atwood wrote about The Rule of Three
This is Nick’s blog post that Jerod was looking at during the discussion
Nadia Eghbal on the perks of patronage
Hacker Newsletter saved Jerod from checking HN every 15 minutes
Read all about Nick’s recording (and other) tools right here
Synergy! (coming to The Changelog real soon)
Nick Janetakis
That is interesting how that works, too. I tend to buy domain names first as well, and then they just sit there and nothing happens.
Yeah. Just last Friday Adam and I were talking, and we have this idea, and we’re talking about the idea, and we’re both independently doing domain name searches while we talk about an idea… You know, because you almost have to have – for some reason, there’s like a road bump and you can’t continue forward until you have a good domain… [laughs] But then also lots of times that’s the farthest it goes, right? You get the domain and you’re like “Yes!”, and then there’s some sort of satisfaction to that that it almost removes the impetus, or at least it has for me, where I’m like “That’s good enough. I’m gonna sit on that for a few minutes”, and it turns into ten years.
I feel the exact same way.
So Janetakis…
It’s Greek.
And you’re from Greece?
No, I was born in the U.S. Just my dad’s side is Greek.
Okay. Where do you live?
Okay. Manhattan, or…?
No, Long Island. It’s a little bit East of Manhattan.
Born and raised?
I would like to move eventually, but I wanna become one of those digital nomads, where you just travel the world for a couple months in different countries.
Isn’t that what everybody – that’s the dream right there, all the digital nomads… And they write blogs about they’re nomadic, and we’re all just reading the blogs and envy them.
Yup. [laughter]
That’s kind of how it goes. That’s Instagram for nerds - blogs of digital nomads, where we can see lives that they’ve prepared, handwritten what their life is like, and we can just envy them. Very much Instagram-style, at least, where you see the curated version of people’s lives, and then you look at your real life and you think “This isn’t adding up.”
Right. You see the five seconds of 24 hours.
Right. By the way, Backstage [unintelligible 00:02:23.21] In fact, this could be a show right here… Why not, in fact…? So listeners out there, if you have listened to the most recent episode of the Changelog, which would mean you’re a hardcore listener, because this is the Monday following – I think we released it on Saturday this week, because reasons… If you listened to that, episode 344, “Inside the 2019 infrastructure of Changelog.com”, you’ll hear Gerhard mention Nick… And I’m not sure if he called you Nick Janetakis (I can’t recall what he called you), but he mentioned, Nick, that you are a person who’s been in the Changelog community for a while, you’ve been involved in our codebase, you are using it to a large degree for inspiration or even guidance on the CMS that you’re building for your business… Why don’t you introduce yourself to me? I mean, that’s about as much I know about you; I know you’re making videos online, I know you’re big into Docker, and that kind of stuff, and you teach people these things… But that’s about all I know, so maybe introduce yourself to me.
We’ve known each other just casually in our Slack chat, but we tend to talk shop, and I thought “Hey, let’s hop on Backstage and talk shop, because it’s fun”, and others can benefit perhaps as well. Tell everybody what you’re up to with your videos.
Right. I guess the TL;DR - my name is Nick Janetakis, I’ve been a freelance web developer for about 20 years, and as of about four years ago I started doing video courses, mainly around Docker, Flask, and other programming topics. Since then, I started a blog, and I pretty much write about everything openly, from the dev business point of view up to technical details as well.
[00:04:14.14] That’s definitely where your and my paths cross - both the technical details and on the dev business. I know you’re selling subscriptions or videos directly to developers, we are providing content for developers, so we have a lot of similar thoughts, similar tasks, the exact same audience… Slightly different angles on it, but… Talk about your application you’re building. I know this is a side project, to a certain degree, and you have existing videos that you’ve been selling other ways… Help me understand where you’re at in the technical sense.
When it comes to hosting videos, you don’t necessarily need to develop your own course hosting platform… There are these other platforms out there, like Thinkific and Teachable; I’m not sure if you’ve heard of them before… But they’re basically like a course-hosting platform as a service; they’re a SaaS app that you sign up for, you pay whatever ($50-$100/month) and they give you the whole enchilada. So people can sign up, they can create an account, they can put in billing information, credit cards or PayPal, and then they can go consume the courses that you’ve created, because those Teachable and Thinkific sites, if you’re the course instructor, you get an admin back-end where you can assemble the course however you see fit. You create your table of contents, upload the videos, etc. So they’re just like an end-to-end SaaS for building courses, and distributing them as well.
But you know, when you’re a developer, you just think in your head that you wanna develop things, and I feel like… [laughter] I think developing my own course platform has been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but I still do freelance work now, so it’s very hard to balance the time of creating the actual course I wanna create, and then develop the course platform, and then do freelance work, and then do what I can to contribute to open source, based on projects I’m doing, writing blog posts, the whole social media thing, personal life - there’s a lot to take on.
So I actually did start building my own course-hosting platform about nine months ago, and this is kind of how I got introduced to your codebase… So I determined I wanted to use Phoenix with Elixir. Right now it’s quite popular as a technology, but it’s not on the same level as Rails when it comes to tutorials, and things like that, so it was a little bit tricky to get started, especially if you’ve never used a functional programming language before, which I haven’t done… And then I just ran across the Changelog codebase, and it’s kind of funny, because one of the courses that I wrote - and I’m not trying to pitch my courses here, but “Build a SaaS app with Flask.” So it’s a Flask course where we actually build a real-world SaaS app; accepting monthly payments, and custom admin dashboards, and Stripe integration, and all this good stuff… And it’s like a real application, with like 4,000 lines of Flask etc. and I was very, very fortunate to find your project on GitHub, because it reminded me of that type of project. It’s not just a simple to-do app, or “Here’s how to make a blog with comments.” You know it’s a real app, running in production, really good test coverage, really good everything; best practices… And for me that was heaven.
I basically used your platform as almost my sole learning experience for getting used to Phoenix and Elixir. Sure, I read the documentation, but it was more like I read the docs to get the super-duper basics, and then it was like I’m just looking at your code, and then occasionally harassing you on Slack if I get really stuck…
[laughs] Yeah.
But I owe everything of the platform –
What’s funny about that– now, go ahead, you were just gonna give me a compliment, and I’ll take it. [laughs]
[00:08:07.25] Oh yeah, I said I owe basically everything based on what I’ve done so far in the course platform to your progress of what you’ve done for the community on that front.
Awesome. So that relates to what I was just gonna say - we were on WordPress for years. In fact, we started on Tumblr - this was even before I was involved; Adam and Wynn set up a tumblelog – I think that’s what they’re called, Tumblrs or tumblelogs back in the day, because Tumblr was super-hot… And then it moved to WordPress when it relaunched, in 2012, I think, or 2013… Adam did most of the heavy-lifting there. Then we’ve been on WordPress for years, and it was just lots of headaches. We love WordPress, it’s a great general purpose CMS, but like you said, as developers and as hackers we have very specific needs, and we want things to work in very specific ways, and the freedom to diverge from the mainstream is really what we desire… And I build web apps for a living, and I have for a decade, mostly in Rails previously…
So I wrote the new CMS in Elixir and Phoenix, and had to go through a lot of the learning curve and the pain. One of my strengths as a developer is I will just endure until I actually figure it out… So it took us a long time to get me running, but the language itself, once I understood pattern-matching, was very productive. It was just like “Okay, now how do I do this particular thing in Elixir or in Phoenix, in this context, which I know how to do very well in other contexts… How do I do it here?”
So it was very much a learning experience for me. In fact, we didn’t open-source it right away. We open-sourced it maybe like a month after we relaunched on the new CMS, and some of our internal conversations (Adam and I) about open-sourcing it - we knew we wanted to, but the question was like “What value would it provide others?” Because the first fear is like “Well, if someone is just gonna rip us off and build a competing podcast and news platform, basically using our platform to compete with us in the space…”, it’s kind of like “Well, the platform is not really what we do.” It is more so now, because we have news and it streamlines the way we put content out, and everything, but if you’re going to actually compete with us, you have to create good podcasts. That’s really what you have to do. So there wasn’t much fear of that.
Also, it’s completely custom. And I didn’t build it like this, as a general purpose podcasting CMS. We had our own show slugs hardcoded in the areas of the codebase… It was not built as a general purpose thing. So I thought, “Well, the way it’s gonna provide value is the exact way that you’re using it”, which is there weren’t very many (and there still aren’t very many) open source real-world – even if it’s a pretty small domain, and pretty basic functionality in terms of like it’s a content management system with some nifty features… It’s gonna be a good example for people.
And then the readme, one question in the FAQ was “Should I use this for my podcast?” It’s like, probably not. You probably shouldn’t fork this, or have like a “Deploy to Heroku” button for you; it doesn’t really make sense. But you could absolutely use it in the exact way that you’re using it, which is kind of like just a path of somebody else has plowed down in front of you, so you can save time and learn along the way… So it’s pretty awesome that you got whole hog into that and basically built your own, using ours as kind of a roadmap.
Yeah. And just to be clear, I never even – well, I did clone the project, just so I can look through the codebase locally, but I didn’t fork your project.
You started completely from scratch.
Yeah. Brand new, totally from scratch. And then I just pulled out the components of things that I liked from your app into mine… Like the user registration, with the magic links, and all that stuff. That’s very non-specific to a podcast platform.
[00:12:07.26] True. I talked about one of my strengths as a developer… But one of my weaknesses as a developer in terms of being generally useful code is I don’t ever (pretty much ever) go back and abstract libraries from things I build. I will build this magic link-based sign in system, and if I were to start tomorrow on a brand new site, instead of packaging that up into a mix – what did I call them? I forget… Libs, packages… I don’t know.
Yeah, packages.
Yeah, packages… And then reusing my library, and then having a library. I will actually do the same thing that you just did - I will go look at my old code and I will write it again, with my newfound knowledge; or improve it the second time. I don’t do libraries, it’s just weird. I know a lot of people think in libraries. General use, reusable libraries - I never think that way. I always just build.
So like you said, this is a thing that more people would like to use. If I would have had the forethought, I would have built it in a way that it could just be a library, and then we would have more open source stuff… So it’s kind of a downfall of mine that I just don’t think that way.
I also think in a weird way having it in-lined in your codebase – I mean, it doesn’t necessarily make it better, but it makes it easier see how it’s being used in a real application… Versus a tiny, little microscopic package that does just the user authentication with the magic link, it may have been tricky to figure out how do I actually implement that into my app. I guess technically if you did that, you would have implemented it into Changelog, so I could have seen that, but…
Right. But that would have been one implementation, versus…
Exactly, yeah.
I’ve had that struggle as a library user for years… Thinking back to the early Rails gems, and Devise became the gold standard in Rails gems… But it was like, I can pull in Devise, and it has all these features and it’s great in terms of I can turn on or off a certain aspect; like, do I want the “Remember me” thing, and do I want logging etc.? And passing an argument turns that off or on - that’s really cool, but I would rather just have the code in my code… Even if somebody else wrote it. That’s why I was cool with code generators back in the day, back when I used them more - it was because I don’t want to have to peel back this black box and find ways of overriding methods and doing all these tricky things in order to customize, when I could just have the code in my code.
So maybe that’s another reason why I don’t think in libraries, because I don’t like to use them very much… Unless they’re just like a JSON encoding thing, like encode the JSON/decode the JSON; I’m not gonna have to peel that back. But really application-level features specifically are very difficult as dependencies, and so maybe that’s why I don’t think that way.
Yeah, absolutely. Plus, to make a really good abstraction, that’s – I don’t know if Devise is the best, but you can’t knock it for what it is; it’s pretty popular, for the most part… But yeah, creating a good abstraction is very hard, and often times you need to duplicate your code, maybe in 3, 4, 5, 10 different projects, before you get something that might even be reasonable to have as an abstraction.
Right. And that’s a very good point, one that I’ve learned over time - we tend to prematurely abstract things. And while I don’t think in libraries, I definitely think in terms of abstractions, and dry. We tend to really want dry. And as soon as we see a pattern once - I’m saying this like the royal we, but I’m probably talking about myself… We want to say “Okay, pull out a function, pull out a module here, and I’m gonna reuse this in ten places.” And what you find out is a) YAGNI, in those cases; you actually aren’t gonna use it ten times. Maybe you’re gonna use it twice, maybe three times. But what you realize is that third time that you use it, it’s different enough contextually code that you’re now complicating the function that you’re pulling out in order to take different arguments or handle a slightly different case.
[00:16:29.25] So the rule of three, which I think Jeff Atwood has written about and many people talk about is so powerful, and I’ve learned it over time, if you’re not using it three times - and in my case, I think if they’re not pretty much identical uses - then you shouldn’t be drying that code up; just go ahead and leave it wet, and let it be, because you’re gonna cause yourself more harm down the road.
That’s something that I have learned the hard way, it’s taken years… But now I see it all the time, especially in less experienced developers, who are just like “Ooh, a pattern. I’m gonna pull it out”, and you end up causing yourself more harm than good.
Yeah, absolutely.
So where are you at with your deal? I know you’re still working on it, you said nine months ago… Where does it stand?
Well, nine months ago I started it, and I was super gung-ho about working on it, but it was so hard to really fit in a time to do it then, because I was just too overburdened with too many things going on… And it’s another weird thing to talk about too, it’s like, well, Thinkific, which is the platform that I’m currently using now, or Teachable an alternative… It’s sort of good enough, but it’s not quite what I want. There’s certain things that I don’t – I don’t wanna just bash them openly on a podcast, but there’s certain UI decisions and certain things that have happened in the past, that… I wanna change these things, but I can’t do it, because it’s not my platform.
Even things like I wanna customize the workflow for actually creating a payment, but they control the whole entire template for that page, and I have no control over that. Little things like that.
The problem with being in that circumstance is there’s no fire under your butt… Because the thing that you’re on is functional, and working, and it’s not as if this has to get out tomorrow or you’re losing money, or whatever it is. So that means that you can just kind of trudge along. Do you find that to be a limiting factor on your progress, like you don’t really need it that bad, so you just kind of work on it…?
Exactly. And it’s not like people are emailing me and being like “Nick, the platform is garbage. You can’t click this option or that option.” This work. I will say this - five days ago, or – April 29th, about a week ago from here, PayPal integration just stopped working with Thinkific’s platform. People would try to pay with PayPal and an error would come up, and it just says “Payment provider not supported”, or something like that. It was a generic error that came up, and Thinkific didn’t notify us instructors about this. They have a public status page, but you’re not going to the status page habitually. You’re not going there three times a day, “Is it up? Is it up? Is it up?” You would expect something as big as transactions not working for them to email you that “Hey, by the way, half the people buying your courses can’t pay for it.” That kind of fueled the intensity of a thousand suns to get me going. [laughter]
Another angle at this is that similar to us, where our website stack provides us certain luxuries, and one of the things that Adam and I do is sweat all the details; that’s just who we are, we want everything to be great that we do… And that was really where we were with Wordpress. It’s like “This is good, but it’s never gonna be great, because a) we don’t enjoy hacking on it, and b) we’re always fighting against the generic.” So that’s why we built custom - so we can make things exactly the way that we want, because we run everything.
[00:20:13.12] That being said, like I said before, a podcasting and news CMS is not our business. Our business is creating content. We wanna be logging the news, we wanna be recording and producing podcasts, not necessarily writing software… Because no one’s banging on our doors saying “More software, please.”
So in your circumstance, every hour that you spend on your custom CMS, you’re not spending on creating video tutorials, which is where your value is… So that’s something you probably consider, too.
Sure. And the reason why I’m even starting a back-up now creating the course platform – I don’t know, it is hard to balance all that stuff, because doing a 10-hour video course, the final video length, that might take 4-5 full-time months of developing. It takes a long time to plan it out, write the scripts, get the source codes… And the source code needs to be not just okay, it needs to be really – I went over it many dozens of times, and had people beta test it… It’s a huge process, so it’s hard to get into the mindset where you can balance your life almost.
For me, I’ve always had the horse [unintelligible 00:21:26.28] on, like “one thing at a time” type of thing… But nothing gets accomplished outside of making the course if you think like that… So now I’m trying to balance my time a little bit better, where I’m just gonna allocate an hour or two a day until the course platform has some type of MVP that I can ship out.
So rather than be like, okay, I’m gonna finish the next course I’m working on maybe in June or July, or something like that, and then work on it… So I’m gonna try out the balanced approach and see how that works.
Yeah. Slow and steady, that’s a good way to do it.
You have made your coursework – is this your full-time endeavor, and you’ve been able to support yourself completely on the coursework?
No, I still do freelance work as well.
Okay, consulting plus… But not like a full-time job.
No, I’ve never been employed at a corporate type of programming job. I’ve always been self-employed in some way.
So is it mostly training, are you contracting our your development time? How are you adjuncting them?
For the freelance work, it basically comes down to – you know, people usually email me… Which is kind of interesting, as an aside. The course has actually fueled quite a bit of my freelance work, so I’m not going out there pitching myself or looking for work. Some people will just take my course and they want a personal experience. So it’s either doing custom work, and actually sitting there writing code to implement something that they want, or sometimes we just hop on a call like this and we do some screen-sharing, they show me a project they’re working on, I give insight on this and that…
And then I’m almost acting as like an accountability partner. I offer advice as well, but I have a number of clients where once a week I meet with them, and they just show me what they’ve done in the previous week… Like, “Is this good? Is this bad? What can we change here? Next week’s stuff”, things like that.
I’m not sure if I ever wanna phase myself out of doing that type of work, because it almost comes full circle back to creating the courses. When I work with these people on a regular basis, I’m being exposed to all sorts of crazy, interesting and cool problems that I never would have been exposed to if I didn’t speak with them… So I often get decent blog post ideas, or even course topics that I always make generic. I’m never gonna use their company name, or anything like that, but it’s a good idea generator.
[00:23:55.10] Yeah. I’m in a similar spot, I’ve been doing contract dev since ‘06, and on my own since 2012, and continue to this day to do that, and The Changelog has always been my side project. Now, we’ve been fortunate enough that Adam was able to make it his full-time project. It was always a hobby/side project for him up until – I think it’s been three or four years now… 2015-2016 he went full-time on Changelog, so it’s been going very well… And we’re at a point now where I could come on full-time anytime now, so we’re getting close to doing that.
One of the things that I’ve always thought was a must-have - I’ve taught web development as well - is having real-world experience on a day-to-day basis. Not moving into the realm of someone who just talks about things… Even as a teacher, I didn’t wanna be a teacher that just taught what I used to do, or what I learned; I wanted to have actual real-world, in-the-trenches experience to bring to my teaching. And the same thing with podcasting, these conversations… It helps being in the thick of it, day-to-day, and having client work where everything is – like you said, I’ve seen it all, I’ve experienced lots of different codebases, different circumstances…
That being said, my desire is to move over and do Changelog full-time and not do the client work, because lots of reasons that we could go into if you find it interesting… But I’m sure you probably know the reasons pretty well as a freelancer yourself. But then the question is “Well, how are you gonna stay sharp?” And I think the answer to that is there’s tons of software that I could be writing around here; I’m always gonna be writing software, it just won’t be other people’s software, it will be our software… Which to me is like a tractor beam. That’s engaging, that’s something I would love to be doing… Because I’ve been writing software for other people for so long.
But it definitely is a concern, it’s like maybe I’ll lose a technical edge by not exposing myself to so much software besides our internal projects.
Yeah, that is something I thought about in the past too, for wanting my own course platform… Because that really is the ultimate – it’s like the Changelog equivalent for a course creator; having your whole platform that you just develop yourself and maintain - that is real-world experience, if people are signing up, paying money, launching courses…
For sure. Yeah, and my hope is that not only continuing to use our platform as real-world production, day-to-day grind software, but also now having the freedom to experiment with more of the things that we come across… Because just time-based – I mean, there’s so many software projects that we either have on the shows, or it pops up in Changelog Nightly and I log it on Changelog News, that I would love to actually dive deeper into these things, but I just don’t have time now… Whereas I believe I’ll have time to do deeper dives, maybe in video, maybe on the streams (like I was doing on Twitch for a little while) into other people’s software and the community, and contribute back some more, and stay sharp that way… Which I just don’t have time now, because I have client work really balancing out my schedule.
So that’s another hope - I’ll have the platform, I’ll have our internal tooling to work on, and then I can also do more experimental coding, which let’s face it, that’s the fun stuff, right?
Sure. I have a question for you though - how much time do you actually put into the Changelog codebase? Infrastructure, the actual application etc.
[00:27:58.21] Personally, not very much at this point. It comes in fits and spurts. We have ongoing features that I work on, but… Are you looking for an hours/week number?
Yeah, like a rough estimate.
I would say in the current phase I think we’re probably at 5-10 hours/week on the code specifically. There’s a lot of stuff around the code, and around our site or infrastructure, even just working inside the community that flushes that out… But it’s not a full-time job by any means.
You’re probably putting way more hours in because you’re in the active development phase. We have a feature list, and we have things I’m working on, but they all kind of interact – for instance, right now we’re doing something called metacasts, which is kind of a… I was about to say “kind of a hack.” It’s completely hack. But I think it could be pretty cool.
One of the issues that we have is our search kind of sucks inside of podcast directories. Finding us inside of Apple Podcasts, finding us inside of Overcast, which has gotten a lot better, finding us in Spotify etc. isn’t as easy as we think it should be… And it’s obviously a primary way that people find us, is they’re searching for things inside of the podcast indexes. Some of that is just because these indexes have really rudimentary search engines. So for typical phrases – this is kind of like search engine optimization, but only inside podcast indexes. For certain topics and phrases we’re just nowhere to be found, and we can’t figure out why. All the metadata is there, we’ve done all the things that I know to do to make it as good as possible, but it’s not good enough… So what we wanna do is create these things called metacasts, which is basically a kind of a cross-cutting podcast based on topics and specific podcasts, which can have its own name, have its own artwork, and hit really strongly on specific keywords. They won’t be publicly on the website, they’ll just have RSS… And they will be submitted as new podcasts to Apple, to Spotify etc. But they’re gonna be keyword-based.
For instance, maybe just easier with an example - Kubernetes. Kubernetes is very popular, people would love a podcast about Kubernetes; there are Kubernetes podcasts, but across our five shows, especially GoTime and The Changelog, there’s tons of Kubernetes content… So a metacast on Kubernetes and basically cloud-native things, where it pulls in based on the topics that we tag our episodes with, specific episodes from those podcasts, so that we can have a podcast called “Kubernetes from the Changelog”, and that’s the very first word in the title - that will really help us, we think, in the podcast indexes. So that’s something that I’m building right now. Internally we call it metacasts.
That also is tied into some of the artwork changes - each one has to have their own artwork, so there’s some design decisions involved, and there’s other reasons why it hasn’t quite shipped yet, it’s not done… But I can’t just crank it out and be done; there’s things that are timeout-based… They just kind of like product things that slow down development.
Right. A lot of good stuff packed in that conversation.
Yeah. Have you done any search engine optimization, or anything like that?
[00:32:09.18] A little bit. That’s like a whole topic that I’ve been thinking about for the last 4-5 years when I started making a blog. It’s like “Do I wanna put all of my content on my main nickjanetakis.com/ site, or – because right now I actually host my courses on their own domain name, so diveintodocker.com, buildasaasappwithflask.com etc. So I really just have that one landing page for the course, like the description of the course before you would buy it… Whereas all of my content - I don’t know how many blog posts (like 200-something), they all live on my main site… And I always wonder if it would be better if certain content were posted on those course domains instead, like Docker content on a Docker course. But it really comes back down to abstractions… Like, if I put all of my Docker blog posts on the diveintodocker.com domain, because that’s one course, what happens if I make a new course - which I’m planning on making - for Docker in the future? It’s like, well, do blog posts go on that second Docker courses domain name, or the first one, or somewhere else?
It becomes a weird mess now, of like “Where does content go?”
Yes. If you’re looking for a take on that…
I would say at the end of the day what you offer is your teaching, so I would tend to put everything on nickjanetakis.com, and then link to the specific courses… I could flip-flop on that; that’s a tough one. Long-term I think you’ll do better to build your own personal brand, versus these specific course brands, because you will outlast your courses, especially in this industry… But then you also risk the chance of attracting someone to your blog and having them not ever know that, by the way, you have a Docker course which they are interested in.
So if you do a good job of the cross-promotion and the CTA in your blog design, maybe linking to specific things based on what you’re writing about, I would tend to think I would put everything under a name, versus the courses… But I could definitely be talked out of that, too; that’s just my first initial thoughts on it.
Yeah. I don’t know if you wanna look at the site now - you probably don’t have to, but… I do have a courses link in the nav bar, and then it just gives you a listing of all my courses. But of course, if I do write a blog post that’s relevant to Docker, let’s say, there is like a call-to-action at the top that says “Hey, by the way, look who has a Docker course!”
But yeah, I feel like developers – we’re both developers ourselves… I don’t know, I’m basically immune to advertising, entirely. Of course, I run AdBlock. I would never even think to do paid ads. But even like any marketing stuff, like - really? You’re gonna put pop-ups on your page? Unless your content is unbelievably amazing, I’m just gonna immediately close… So it’s very hard to find ways to market to developers, and that’s also something I’ve been struggling with for a while. But I just keep powering through, create video content, text content… I don’t try to word my blog posts to be sales pitches; I just write about the thing naturally. I don’t know if it’s the most effective thing in the world. It works okay, but I’m sure there’s way to improve, and it’s an interesting thing, I think.
Yeah… It’s a balance. Looking at your website right now, I would definitely say your “Learn Docker with my newest course” banner - I think that’s really solid. I think it’s not obtrusive. The fact that you have the taste to not overlay “Sign up for my newsletter”, “Buy my new course” as I’m reading, is key. I’m an insta-close on anybody who pops up anything on me… Which is the same thing that we do. And we have a strong call-to-action to sign up when you hit the homepage signed out. Changelog.com, you’re signed out - there’s a nice, big banner there. It’s not an overlay, but you can’t miss it. You can exit out, and we’ll store that in the cookies so we won’t show it to you again.
[00:36:15.27] If you’re signed in, it obviously won’t show it to you, because you’ve already signed up. But we try to stay super-tasteful with any sort of promotion that we do, because we have being offended by pushy people. You know, we’re developers…
So I’d say you’re doing quite well in that regard. I’m just looking at one of your blog posts; there’s a quick jump-down to a video, it’s cool… Do you have one that’s specifically – this one I’m looking at is “Calculate invoice amounts with Bash”, that’s the most recent one.
Here we go, “Docker tips.” So does this one have it’s own at the end?
Yeah, there’s a little [unintelligible 00:36:52.24] at the bottom where people can actually – well, in the Docker posts they can sign up for free and they get a little emailed based Docker course that eases them into the paid video course, if they want… But of course, opt-in; it’s not an annoying pop-up type of thing. Which is funny because – I don’t know, I don’t think I’m a natural when it comes to sales. For me, sales has always been like the snake oil/car salesmen, and it’s like “Buy my stuff!” while he’s hovering over your face… So to get better at sales, what do you do when you get better at stuff? You practice things, you read up… So I read so many different copywriting books, and tried to follow all these “influencers” on YouTube; people who are internet marketing gurus… They’re all like “Oh yeah, you have to have all these pop-ups, and things like this, and hammer that person with 10,000 ways to opt-in…”
Even newsletters… When was the last time – I’m not bashing newsletters, because your whole entire business makes sense to have a newsletter… But for the random developer like me, who’s just a dude blogging about whatever the heck I’m interested in, like Bash scripts, and Docker, and Flask, and programming in Elixir - you’re not gonna sign up for that guy’s newsletter… What is he gonna give you that’s that valuable, you know?
Yeah, I do know… That being said, it seems like you do have a fair amount of content that would be pretty valuable to people. You do have the free email course, which I do think is a good way of going about it… But do you mean like a weekly thing, where you’re writing a newsletter every week?
Yeah. Even if it’s custom things, or just regurgitating the blog posts, because maybe you don’t go to the site manually.
Yeah, it’s interesting… Nadia Eghbal recently wrote a post which I really appreciated. It’s called “The perks of patronage.” She wrote it a few weeks back… And it’s a very interesting thing. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Nadia’s work at all. She’s a long-time community member of ours, and has written a lot about open source sustainability; a lot of the human side of software an technology, very insightful stuff… And there she’s writing about what patronage looks like nowadays, and what people are coming for when they’re subscribing to somebody, whether it’s a Twitch streamer, or they’re buying video courses… I think specifically she’s focusing on Patreon and Kickstarter as subjects of that post. I’ll send you the link to read it…
One of the things that she says that was interesting to me, which I hadn’t really considered before, and it made me wanna do more stuff that’s personality-based, or personal, or… Even Backstage - we’ve been doing Backstage for a while; we don’t record it very often… But I wanna do more Backstage stuff, because she says that there’s actually a relationship to a person that matters more than the ones and zeroes of what you’re providing them, or the dollar value of “This content is worth this value.”
[00:40:10.06] Anyways, I don’t have much beyond that to say about it… It’s made me change a little bit my perspective, because I would originally agree with you. But now I might say “Well, maybe people just like to hear from Nick Janetakis”, and maybe they appreciate your work, and you do help them learn, and they would love to just keep up with what you’re doing, and what your thoughts are on whatever it is you think is interesting to write about.
Some of it is around this idea of the new rise of personal newsletters as the newest social network, as people are starting to move away from public everything into more private, inbox-based writing. Kind of a new version of blogging. Anyways, I’ll send you that link.
Yeah, please.
It might stoke some of your thoughts on that.
I am 100%. First, let me get this straight here - I think the value of the newsletter is as high as it gets. When I’m ready to release a new course, I am sending that out to my list. A very large percentage of the course selling income is from those initial emails blasts. Very infrequently, but yeah. I totally agree about–
Do you read newsletters? Do you sign up for newsletters?
It’s so funny how that works, at least for my brain… I’m signed up to a number of newsletters, and I read almost none of them.
Hm… What about RSS? Where do you get your news?
Well, fortunately (or unfortunately; maybe fortunately), I just go to Hacker News every once in a while… And by “once in a while” I mean like every 15 seconds…
[laughs]
No, not that bad, but usually I just scan Hacker News, and then maybe some Subreddits…
Yeah. I was addicted to Hacker News for years. I was one of the very early adopters of Hacker News. I went straight from Digg to Hacker News, when Digg went south. I know a lot of people went from Digg to Reddit, and then Hacker News eventually… So because I saw Hacker News in what I would consider its glory days… Of course, this is like the person who discovers the band, and then when everybody comes and likes their band, they think they’ve sold out. But Hacker News used to be a treasure trove of everything, and I’ve weaned myself – the way I actually weaned myself off of Hacker News was by subscribing to the Hacker Newsletter. Because there’s this thought of like “I’m going to miss out, so I have to check what’s number one today”, or whatever that thing is where you say “Once in a while, every 15 minutes.” Because I used to be one there all the time probably 8-10 years ago.
Hacker Newsletter really helped me out, because he does a great job of basically including all the links that are good that week, and he sends it on a Friday morning, or Saturday morning if he slacks… And so you just don’t have to go there, and you can still feel like you’re keeping up. That’s the way I weaned off Hacker News.
I actually have used Reddit more now than I used to. Specific Subreddits are pretty good. The home is trash mostly, but…
Yeah, I still do RSS… I subscribe to specific people. Again, it’s that personal touch. I’m not gonna subscribe to The Verge on RSS; that’s just insanity. Or I personally wouldn’t subscribe to Changelog News on RSS, because we’re gonna post 5-10 things a day, and I don’t want that. I wanna know what Nick has written lately. I subscribe to specific developers’ blogs, because they’re infrequent and high-quality usually.
But I also do newsletters now… And I used to be a “Kill the newsletter” kind of guy, like no email. It’s actually kind of nice having something just put in your inbox once a week. Of course, you can ignore it if you want to… But I like how it’s packaged up and presented. It’s not like a Daily Star, minute-by-minute stream of what’s happening in this time box.
[00:44:21.13] Yeah, I’ve even had some people who have subscribed to my list be like “Just send more stuff.”
Send more stuff… [laughs]
Because for a while it just got to be like – I would post something every three or four months. Very, very infrequently. But I think when someone connects with you at a human level, and they’re one of your true fans, or whatever, you just wanna consume as much of their content as possible, I think. That’s how I am. When I find someone interesting, I’m just gonna binge all of it, everything they do.
Yeah. I’ve never been a binger. Will you go back-catalog? If you find a person who podcasts, and you found them episode #68, will you go back to #1 and just back-catalog them?
I wouldn’t watch all of them from #1 up, but I would absolutely go to the back-catalog and just look through all the topics and see which titles catch my eye. Like, “Oh, that sounds interesting…” And I’ll be way more lax about that, too. If I really enjoyed one of their podcasts, I would be more inclined to watch more of their older stuff, versus someone who is like a so-so podcast. So-so I probably wouldn’t even go back.
Yeah, that’s what always surprises me. If I find somebody, I will rarely go back. I will subscribe and I will be a faithful subscriber to a new contact, but I’m just not really a back-catalog person… And there’s some slight exceptions to that, but pretty much that’s a rule.
But we have so many people that go back-catalog on our shows; it always surprises me. They’re back there, listening to episodes #1 through #20. And now, let me just say to you… If you like The Changelog - okay, go back to #200, maybe go to #300, but don’t go back to #1 through #20, because we’ve gotten a lot better at what we do since then; there’s some lower-end podcasts back there in that catalog.
Yeah. That’s definitely a testament to creating content. Just like coding, at the start, it’s gonna be pretty bad, but then you just keep doing it and doing it and doing it, and 100 episodes later it’s good.
Yeah. How many videos have you done?
190 of them are in the Flask course. The Docker course has like 75. There’s probably been about 20 hours of actual final cut video. But the amount of recording that took place to get to that point was a lot. So I don’t have exact hard metrics off the top of my head, but usually, for every one minute of final video that I’ll release to someone, it’s about 7-8 minutes of real lifetime to get to that. Just between having to take, and retake, and then edit, and all that stuff…
Yeah. I’d love to hear your process real quick maybe, before we tail off here… How you go about – maybe even tell me how it’s changed over the years, but specifically what are you doing now and what works well for you?
Well, I’ll try to condense this. I don’t know how much time we have left - like 10-15 minutes, something like that?
It’s our show, it can be as long as we want it to.
Okay. I’ll try not to ramble too long…
[laughs] Yeah, 10-15 sounds fine.
When I first started doing courses I didn’t even have a real microphone. Basically, my cousin had a non-RadioShack microphone… You know those really wimpy ones?
Sure, yeah.
2: He had something that looked reasonable. Okay, so let me use that. Back then I didn’t even use noise reduction, and all this other stuff. You can hear crickets in the outside, because it was during the summertime, and it was like 8,000 degrees with the windows open… It wasn’t extremely bad, but I also had terrible headphones. I didn’t even hear half that stuff then. Ignorance is bliss type of thing. [laughter] So then eventually, as I did more courses, I upgraded my equipment.
[00:48:07.28] For the longest time I was using this one program ASIO Link Pro on Windows, and what it allowed you to do was – I was never that type of person who wanted to record my audio, and then have to go in and actually remove noise for all the tracks, and then import it into my video afterwards. I’d much rather have all of that stuff done in real time… It saves so much time in the editing process.
So one of my biggest improvements for workflow was a couple years ago I started using that ASIO Link Pro program, which allowed me to take input from my microphone, direct it through that program, put it into an actual digital audio workstation - I happened to use REAPER back then… Do the noise cancellation, and leveling, and compression there, and then output it directly to the program I was using to record the videos. So when I hit Record to record a video, my audio was already pristine, in final form. That saved a ton of time when editing.
But then something really unfortunate happened, and I feel terrible about it. The developer of that software literally died, and his brother ended up making a post on the Subreddit…
Yeah. And it was one of those programs – it wasn’t free; it was like $50 or something… But it had a registration server key where it phoned home every time you opened the program. And with him, the server went down as well… So I literally couldn’t record my courses anymore. I mean, his problems were a lot worse than mine… But yeah, that made me rethink about my whole entire audio situation.
Right now what I’m doing is I have a $60 Dynamic mic that has an XLR input, and it goes right to an audio interface. I don’t know if you know Scarlett 2i2. It’s that red–
Yeah. It’s sitting on my desk right over there.
Yeah, so that’s a pretty good audio interface. It seems to work well on Windows, Mac, and even Linux. So I have that hooked up, but then I also have now a new piece of hardware that’s basically replacing that ASIO Link Pro, that does noise cancellation, and a little bit of compression and DS-ing. That’s the DBX286S. A little bit expensive, I think it was like $199, but… It means that now I can just flip the mic on and talk, and I don’t have to worry about the audio quality at all. It might be a little bit weird over Skype, but when you’re doing it with no network latency, the audio comes out pretty good.
And then for the editing process with the videos I just use a program called Camtasia, which works on Windows and Mac. Also a paid program. Basically, I hit Record on that – or sometimes I use OBS when I wanna do some webcamp stuff, but… Yeah, I’ll just add all my videos in there.
I think Camtasia is pretty nice, because it’s very optimized for screencast-style videos, where you’re recording your desktop with maybe a webcam… But sometimes in post-production I wanna do things like zoom into a specific area of my screen, or maybe highlight a specific area with a highlighter, or like a fade-out type of thing… There’s all these really nice effects where you can do overlays and tooltips with text that is just very hard to do with other video editing programs, like Kdenlive, or Davinci Resolve, or just some open source one. Davinci is not open source, but they’re free, technically.
But yeah, for me I think - just like coding - when you’re making courses, you wanna always improve your workflow to create the content as fast as possible, and have it look as good as you can, within reason. So that’s pretty much my process now.
Very cool. Yeah, I’ve used Camtasia. It seems like pretty good software. I’ve got the Scarlett sitting over there… I haven’t done too much in terms of video; I’m just kind of dipping my toes into that water, but always interested in hearing how people who create good coding videos go about it.
[00:52:14.09] I’m gonna change it around, though… About a year ago (or six months ago maybe) I did want to – so right now, I don’t know if you know this, but I am running Windows, unfortunately. At least there is the subsystem for Linux, which is pretty decent… My whole dev environment is actually driven by Tmux and Vim and all this other stuff; very command line-focused, and it’s actually pretty good. But I did wanna switch to native Linux, but unfortunately I had some issues with the Scarlett in Linux. I kept getting these weird – the audio would completely drop out… A hardware malfunction type of drop out. It wasn’t even like – what’s that term…? It wasn’t like something was getting overloaded, it was just like a signal drop. But apparently it’s not happening to everybody, and I was using the Debian Testing channel, so maybe there was something wrong with that… But yeah, ideally I would love to go native Linux and just record with FFmpeg on hotkeys, and optimize the heck out of it.
That’d be cool.
Well, Linux and hardware historically have been the source of many, many lost hours of people trying to figure out why the Wi-Fi doesn’t work, or why this particular headset doesn’t work, or that interface… I think it’s been the – I won’t say the downfall, but it’s definitely been a stumbling block for a lot of people using Linux, those particular weird scenarios with drivers, or whatever it happens to be… That’s where we’re at with people recording on Linux, especially because we use Skype, and Skype on Linux is just not reliable software… Whereas for audio calls, Skype on the other two platforms is reliable software. It’s not the best user experience, but it is the best in terms of latency and keeping that connection alive.
When we have somebody who calls in and they’re like “I’m on Linux”, we’re like “Oh, it’s gonna be a long afternoon”, because things are going to go not well. It’s a shame, because everything else about it, in my experience, is pretty awesome.
Yeah. It’s really unfortunate too, because I discovered i3, which is a tiling window manager. I don’t know if you know a little bit about that stuff, but – oh, God… There’s nothing on Windows that’s even remotely comparable. Sure, there’s some built-in hotkeys where you can split two windows left or right, or up or down, but a proper tiled window manager… I don’t know. I fell in love with it immediately, but now I feel like that alone is enough to switch to native Linux, if I can get my audio working well… Because there’s hardcore solutions to get Camtasia to run on Linux. It doesn’t run natively on Linux, but you can technically buy the second video card and then do like a GPU pass-through virtual machine through KVM. Then it’s almost like the VM has dedicated access to that second GPU or video card that you have, and then you can actually just run Windows on that. Then it’s like you’re kind of running Windows and Linux side by side, but Linux is still your primary host OS, type of deal…
Right. That’s cool.
Yeah, I’ve seen people gaming at 120 frames per second on very modern games through that type of setup, so I’m pretty sure video editing should be fine.
There’s a piece of software - I can’t think of the name right now - where you can basically merge two machines across two monitors, with one mouse, one keyboard.
I’ve heard of that.
Yeah, I’ve used it. It worked really well. In fact, somebody put it in Ping. Let me look it up. Ping is our repo on GitHub where people suggest shows, and stuff… They said “You should have these guys on”, and I was like “I love that software!”
[00:56:07.21] Yeah, I know exactly what you’re talking about, but I can’t think of it.
The guy didn’t actually end up coming on, otherwise I would totally remember what it was.
It for sure starts with an S. But I think what I’m gonna do is – you know, I’m in the middle of working on a course now, so once that course is rolled up and out, I may experiment a little bit more with some native Linux stuff, even if it involves buying a completely different set of hardware.
Synergy.
Yes. Maybe.
That’s right. I’ve found it. The story of Synergy… Synergy is – that’s the name of the Ping, I’ve found it. It was closed. I close them once I do the invite, just to keep it cleanly. But… I feel like the guy just never responded. The story of Synergy… Yeah, this stuff goes back years. Basically, what it is – I mean, talk about a hack… It’s basically the thing that bridges… And I think you install the client on both machines. Let’s say you have Windows on your left-hand machine, your monitor on the left, and Linux on your monitor on the right. And a single keyboard, single mouse. You install – I think one is a client server, if I remember… You install it on Windows, then you install the client on Linux, and it just – I mean, Synergy is a pretty good name, even though it’s a lame business term for this, because it actually just merges the two. It feels like one machine, and you’re switching environments just by dragging your mouse across to the other monitor. It’s pretty cool. “Synergy - combine your computers into one cohesive experience. Share one mouse and keyboard between multiple computers.”
It’s one of those things where you just think “That’s gonna be buggy…” And maybe there’s bugs; I’m sure there’s bugs, it’s software… But man, it sure worked seamlessly for me back when I used it. I had a similar scenario where I wanted to use Linux, but I had specific Windows needs. This was way back before the hardware on laptops was really strong enough to do VMs and stuff without totally bogging your machine down… So I ran two machines side by side. You can even copy and paste between the computers. Cool.
Yeah, there was a video I watched of it a couple months back, and it was very nice… It seamlessly moved the mouse from one OS to the other.
Yeah. Each time you do it, you’re kind of impressed. Every time you drag that mouse across to the other OS, it’s just like “Oh, man…” Cool, Nick. Well, this has been fun. Like I said, Backstage is a great place to talk shop. You and I have lots of shop that interacts with each other. I loved hearing about what you’re up to… And make sure you send me any links with things that we mentioned, so we can put them in the show notes, for people that are interested. I’ll put Synergy in there, as I’m sure listeners are at least intrigued if they’d never heard of that one.
[00:58:54.24] Listeners, let us know if you enjoyed this. We have discussions on Changelog.com. Speaking of our custom CMS, we have recently added commentary. So while everybody else removes comments from their websites, we’re putting them back. We’re putting them back on the website. One of the cool things about that is you can discuss specific episodes. All news items get comments, and each episode of the podcast gets its own news item, so you can comment on podcast episodes.
To do that, if you open your show notes, there’s a link to it in the show notes. It says, I think, “Discuss on Changelog News”, or something like that. Click that link. If you’re on the website, click the Discuss button there in the toolbar, let us know what you think. If you have questions for Nick, or for me… If you like this style of episode, let us know; if you hate this and hope we never publish it again - well, don’t be mean about it, but we appreciate that feedback as well… And yeah, I look forward to doing this more often, if people think it’s something they wanna listen to.
On that note, thanks a lot for having me. And on the topic of comments, really quick - I’m really happy that you added that feature to the Changelog site, because that’s gonna come in handy for my platform as well.
[laughs] Anything else I can add to our site, so that you can benefit…?
Yeah, absolutely. What you can do is in the markdown preview for the comments in that text box, let’s get things set up - and by “let’s” I mean purely you - add some front-end capability where I can take some image in my clipboard, or drag and drop the image in there, have it get uploaded and produce the URL, similar to GitHub, how they do the issue comment. I would be a very happy person if that were to happen by tomorrow afternoon.
Oh, boy… I can’t make – actually, I can make a guarantee on timing; it won’t happen by tomorrow afternoon. That being said, if you procrastinate long enough, that’s definitely on our hit list, because we want the commentary to be as capable as people are used to on other websites… So that’s definitely something that we will be doing, just not any time real soon.
That’s okay. I have plenty of other things to work on.
[laughs] Alright, see you later, Nick.
Alright, thanks. Bye.
Our transcripts are open source on GitHub. Improvements are welcome. 💚
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You Are Here: Home → ME & MAE
ME & MAE
Randy C Lockhart May 3, 2018 0 Comment
“Me And Mae have a bucket full of catchy songs that you’ll find yourself singing along to as if you’ve heard them a million times before.”
We are very pleased to announce that R&B/Country singer Caitlin Canning is the newest member to the Me and Mae family!
A little serendipity mixed with an abundance of talent has played a profoundly significant role in the rapid rise of British Columbia-based country band, ME AND MAE!
Shawn Meehan, Caitlin Canning, Adam Reid, Ben Parker, together under the moniker ME AND MAE, have forged a reputation as the band to watch on the Canadian country music scene. It all started with the single “Love Me Leave Me Lonely”, which Meehan co-wrote with Carly Rae Jepsen, who at the time was his guitar student. The release of the band’s debut album Off the Rails (Cordova Bay Records) on May 13th, 2014 was quickly followed by a Nashville tour and a nomination for Top Country Best New Artist (2014) and winning the BC Country Music Awards – Ray McAuley Horizon Award (2014)!
Me and Mae has been touring extensively across Canada, playing festivals such as Craven Country Jamboree, Havelock Country Fest and working on new music with prominent producers to help take their sound to the next level.
Me and Mae has worked with Jeff Johnson (Wes Mack, One More Girl, The Chris Buck Band) and with Dan Swinimer of Manicdown Productions (Madeline Merlo, JoJo Mason, Tim Hicks) to help hone their new sound.
Me and Mae is ready to unleash their new sound with their new single, “Only Live Once” which puts a spotlight on Colette’s pop-country vocals and the band’s ability to create Zac Brown Band-esque harmonies.
With such a prolific partnership, momentum, talent and timing on their side,
Me and Mae is poised to win over legions of new fans looking for good, homegrown country music with a rock and roll sensibility.
New single ‘Feel Good Feelin’ out NOW: https://itun.es/ca/FJTybb
Members: Vocals – Caitlin Canning
Guitar/Vocals – Shawn Meehan
Bass – Adam Reid
Banjo/Guitar – Ben Parker
http://www.meandmae.com
http://www.facebook.com/meandmaeband
https://twitter.com/MeandMae
https://instagram.com/meandmaeband
https://www.youtube.com/user/meandmae
Alexis Taylor
Heather Whitney
George Canyon
Robbie Ansley
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Alleged Student Sex Assault in Ledyard, Connecticut
June 30, 2014by mark@legalisi.com in News
The Hartford Courant reports on an alleged teacher sex assault of a female student in Ledyard, Connecticut. Here is the story: http://www.courant.com/community/ledyard/hc-ledyard-student-sex-assault-0701-20140630,0,6877621.story
If you want a Free Consultation with an Experienced Connecticut Trial Attorney, please contact us directly.
Child Sex Assault Case Tried in New Britain
On May 28 and 29, 2014, the case of John Doe v. Arturo Bravo was tried to the court at New Britain Superior Court in New Britain, Connecticut. The case involves a claim by a young man that he was sexually molested by his great uncle when he was a much younger boy. The case was tried before Judge Trial Referee, Joseph Shortall. The trial featured several witnesses including two other men who testified that they were also sexually molested by the defendant when they were young boys. The plaintiff in the case was represented by Attorney Timothy L. O’Keefe of the Hartford, Connecticut trial law firm of Kenny, O’Keefe & Usseglio, P.C.
Child Sex Assault Case To Begin Trial in New Britain Superior Court
May 15, 2014by mark@legalisi.com in News
The child sex assault case of Doe v. Arturo Bravo is scheduled to begin trial on May 28, 2014 at New Britain Superior Court. The minor plaintiff in the case claims that he was sexually molested by the defendant when he was between the approximate ages of eight and thirteen. The case seeks compensatory and punitive damages for the harm caused by the sexual assaults. The minor plaintiff and his family are represented by Timothy O’Keefe of the Hartford, Connecticut trial law firm of Kenny, O’Keefe & Usseglio, P.C.
Monroe, Connecticut Piano Teacher Arrested for Sex Assault
April 17, 2014by mark@legalisi.com in News
A 68 year old piano teacher has been arrested in connection with an allegation that he sexually assaulted two of his students. The Hartford Courant has coverage of the story here: http://www.courant.com/community/monroe/hc-monroe-assault-arrest-0417-20140416,0,3588268.story
Arrest Made in Teacher Sex Abuse Case
February 17, 2014by mark@legalisi.com in News
Teacher sex abuse is a crime. A Waterbury, Connecticut high school teacher was recently arrested in connection with a claim of teacher sex abuse. You can read more about the story in the Hartford Courant: http://www.courant.com/community/waterbury/hc-waterbury-teacher-sexual-assault-0217-20140216,0,47858.story
If you need to speak with a Connecticut Teacher Sex Abuse Lawyer, please contact us directly.
Dylan Farrow Speaks Out About Child Sex Abuse
February 3, 2014by mark@legalisi.com in News
The New York Times has printed an “Open Letter” from Dylan Farrow which recounts her experience of being sexually molested when she was just seven years old. It is another example of the extraordinary difficulties faced by those who reveal their experiences of being abused by a well-known and powerful person. You can read the “Open Letter” here:
http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/01/an-open-letter-from-dylan-farrow/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1&
Seeking Justice for Victims of Child Pornography
On Wednesday, January 22, 2014, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a landmark child pornography case. At issue, is the amount of financial restitution that convicted offenders must pay to the victims of their crimes. The name of the case is Paroline v. The United States. The convicted offender in the case appealed an order made by the United State Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit requiring him to pay restitution for the “full” amount of his victim’s harms. The offender claims he owes nothing because the victim is unable to prove that his possession of the pornographic images proximately caused the victim’s harm. The Supreme Court must now determine Congress’ intent when it passed the restitution law in 1994. Hopefully, the victim will be allowed to obtain full restitution for her harms.
If you are a Child Pornography Victim and you need assistance with Restitution, please contact us directly.
Connecticut Superior Court Rejects Assumption of Risk Defense
December 27, 2013by mark@legalisi.com in News
A Connecticut Superior Court judge has rejected a defendant’s attempt to claim that a sex assault victim “assumed the risk” of her assault by five males at a New Year’s Eve party. In the case of Doe v. Roe, the victim of a sexual assault sued five perpetrators for civil damages claiming she was restrained, sexually assaulted and photographed against her will. One of the five defendants filed a “special defense” in court arguing that the victim’s claim for damages should be barred, in whole or in part, because she “assumed the risk” of the assault. The judge rejected the defense and granted the plaintiff’s motion to strike the defense from the case.
Connecticut Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Sex Assault Conviction
In a well-reasoned decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court, in the case of State of Connecticut v. Ferdinand R., upheld the sexual assault conviction of the defendant. The defendant had been found guilty by a jury of violation Connecticut General Statute Section 53a-70b which addresses the sexual assault of a spouse. The defendant appealed his conviction and argued that the trial court improperly instructed the jury that the state only had to prove a “general intent” to violate the statute in order to gain a conviction. The defendant argued that, because the allegations giving rise to his arrest involved his spouse, the state should have to prove “specific intent” to violate the statute- a much more challenging standard. The Supreme Court ruled that proof of “general intent” is all that is required to obtain a conviction. It upheld the twenty year jail sentence for this sexual predator.
If you would like a Free Consultation concerning a Sexual Assault Claim, please contact us directly: http://www.ctchildsexabuselawyer.com/
Plainville Man Shared 20 Girls’ Nude Pictures, Police Say
The United States Supreme Court is going to hear a case involving whether victims of child pornography are entitled to seek financial restitution from people who view or otherwise make use of their pornographic images. The Hartford Courant recently reported on a Plainville, Connecticut man who collected and shared obscene photographs of more than twenty underage girls. You can read more about that case here:
http://www.courant.com/community/plainville/hc-plainville-nude-photos-1001-20130930,0,526412.story
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NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Actuals: 'Zootopia' Registers Fourth Largest March Debut of All-Time with $75.1M; 'London Has Fallen' Second with $21.6M; 'Deadpool' Passes $300M After $16.7M Take
18 comments on March 07, 2016
Disney's Zootopia was off to a terrific start this weekend a $75.06 million debut. The critically acclaimed 3D computer animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios registered the fourth largest opening weekend ever in the month of March (behind only 2012's The Hunger Games, 2010's Alice in Wonderland and 2013's Oz: The Great and Powerful). Zootopia represents another very strong performer for Walt Disney Animation Studios and topped the $67.39 million opening weekend of 2013's Frozen to generate the largest opening weekend ever for the animation studio (though it should be noted that the opening weekend performance of Frozen was deflated from opening on a Wednesday). Compared to the most recent film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Zootopia opened an impressive 33.5 percent ahead of the $56.22 million start of 2014's Big Hero 6. A strong marketing campaign, having the current family marketplace largely to itself and exceptional critical reviews all contributed to the strong start for Zootopia this weekend.
Zootopia opened with $19.50 million on Friday (which included an estimated $1.7 million on Thursday evening), increased 62 percent on Saturday to take in $31.64 million and decreased just 24 percent on Sunday to gross $23.93 million. That placed the film's opening weekend to Friday ratio at 3.85 to 1. Zootopia had clear four-quadrant appeal this weekend, as the film's audience skewed towards female moviegoers (53 percent) and towards moviegoers 25 years and younger (54 percent). Family audiences represented 73 percent of the film's overall audience. Early word of mouth looks to be especially strong for Zootopia, as the film received an A rating on CinemaScore and currently boasts a 96 percent Flixster audience score. Given its strong word of mouth and the relative lack of competition for family audiences it will continue to face throughout March, Zootopia is very likely to hold up well going forward.
London Has Fallen debuted in a distant second place with $21.64 million. The action thriller sequel from Focus and Gramercy opened in line with pre-release expectations. London Has Fallen did debut 29 percent below the $30.37 million start of 2013's Olympus Has Fallen, but had been widely expected to debut below its predecessor. Instead, the film opened closer to the $24.85 million debut of 2013's White House Down. London Has Fallen was likely helped out a bit this weekend by the ongoing poor performances of both Lionsgate's Gods of Egypt and Open Road's Triple 9.
London Has Fallen started with $7.54 million on Friday (which included an estimated $850,000 from Thursday evening shows), was up 13 percent on Saturday to gross $8.52 million and is estimated to decline 34 percent on Sunday to gross $5.58 million. That gave London Has Fallen an opening weekend to Friday ratio of 2.87 to 1. The audience breakdown for London Has Fallen skewed towards male moviegoers (60 percent) and heavily towards moviegoers 25 years and older (76 percent). London Has Fallen received a healthy A- rating on CinemaScore and has a current Flixster audience score of 64 percent, which suggest that the film is going over better with moviegoers than it has with critics.
After leading the weekend box office for each of the past three frames, Fox's Deadpool fell to third place this weekend with $16.73 million. In the process, the Ryan Reynolds led blockbuster antihero film surpassed the $300 million domestic mark, which made it the first X-Men universe film ever to do so (without adjusting for ticket price inflation). Deadpool decreased 46 percent from last weekend's performance, as the film took a hit from the added presence of both Zootopia and London Has Fallen in the marketplace. The 24-day total for Deadpool stands at a massive $311.48 million. That is an extremely impressive 51 percent stronger than the $206.26 million 24-day take of 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Paramount's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot debuted in fourth place with $7.44 million. The R-rated comedy starring Tina Fey opened below expectations and registered one of the lower debuts of a wide release staring Fey to date. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot opened 36 percent below the $11.56 million start of 2014's This is Where I Leave You and opened just 21 percent above the $6.15 million debut of 2013's Admission. At the end of the day, being a war comedy made Whiskey Tango Foxtrot a much tougher sell than most of Fey's previous films.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot opened with $2.42 million on Friday, increased a sizable 32 percent on Saturday to take in $3.20 million and fell 43 percent on Sunday to gross $1.82 million. That gave Whiskey Tango Foxtrot an estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio of 3.07 to 1. The film skewed towards female moviegoers (56 percent) and heavily towards moviegoers over the age of 25 (89 percent). Whiskey Tango Foxtrot received a modest B rating on CinemaScore and has a current Flixster audience score of 64 percent. With word of mouth appearing to be mixed, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is unlikely to hold up as well as Fey's films have tended to do in the past.
Meanwhile, Gods of Egypt rounded out the weekend's top five with $5.20 million. Lionsgate's expensive action fantasy film was down a very sharp 63 percent from last weekend's already soft debut. Gods of Egypt has grossed just $23.05 million in ten days, which is especially disappointing with both the film's price tag and the action fantasy genre in mind.
Facebook Watch - 'Allegiant' Takes Control
6 comments on March 07, 2016
By Alex Edghill
Monday Morning Update: The Divergent Series: Allegiant made a rare appearance on top of the weekly Facebook leaderboards this past week as it rose 132,873 likes. I have been hard on its buzz or lack thereof in recent weeks but I will give credit where its due and for it to ring in 130k more likes despite its already hefty like count is impressive. While it might not be able to reach the levels of the first two films on opening weekend it still has excellent awareness and should still have a solid chance at mid $30 millions to low $40 millions. Given its International successes in the past it will likely still be a profitable entry for the series and more than ensure that the final films do indeed get made. With the first film grossing $150 million domestically and the second $130 million might the trend continue here and the third grab $110 million?
On the strength of its first trailer Ghostbusters made it all the way to #2 on the week with 96,112 new likes. With over 440,000 shares of its trailer post, 18 million views and over 255,000 likes on the trailer alone (to less than 20,000 as an unhappy response) its 10:1 sentiment was actually much stronger on Facebook than then 2:1 it received on Twitter. As far as trailer impacts and splashes go they really don't get much bigger than this.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 continues to keep piling on the likes and now stands north of 700,000 likes. In fact, the last month alone has seen it score over 345,000 new likes. That is more than every single romantic comedy that has opened over the past few months including How To Be Single (176,162 likes the same distance from release), and The Choice (116,705 likes).
Facebook Top 10 Movies by Like Increase for the last week Ending Sunday March 6th
Rank Release Movie Likes Change % Change
1 03/18/16 The Divergent Series: Allegiant 5,747,449 132,873 2.37%
2 07/15/16 Ghostbusters (2016) 2,537,153 96,112 3.94%
3 03/25/16 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 703,667 81,779 13.15%
4 06/17/16 Finding Dory 1,853,374 76,993 4.33%
5 03/11/16 The Brothers Grimsby 191,615 46,187 31.76%
6 08/05/16 Suicide Squad 1,786,115 34,991 2.00%
7 03/11/16 The Young Messiah 194,235 34,281 21.43%
8 03/16/16 Miracles from Heaven 290,886 20,463 7.57%
9 05/20/16 The Angry Birds Movie 523,897 18,902 3.74%
10 04/01/16 Meet the Blacks 45,781 17,243 60.42%
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NORTH AMERICA: Platform Watch: 'Knight of Cups' off to a Modest $57K Start in NY/LA
Broad Green Pictures' Knight of Cups started its platform release with an estimated $56,688 from 4 locations in New York and Los Angeles. That gave the Terrence Malick directed film starring Christian Bale a per-location average of $14,172. While that represented the weekend's second highest per-location average (behind Disney's Zootopia), it was also a modest figure given the involvement of Bale and Malick. In comparison, Malick's The Tree of Life opened with $372,920 from 4 locations (for a per-location average of $93,230) back in 2011, while 2013's To the Wonder opened with $116,551 from 17 locations (for a per-location average of $6,856). As was the case with To the Wonder, poor critical reviews have hurt the platform potential of Knight of Cups. The film currently has a lackluster Tomatometer of 47 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Knight of Cups is scheduled to receive modest expansions each of the next two weeks.
Fox's The Other Side of the Door launched in moderate release this weekend and took in an estimated $1.20 million from 546 locations. That gave the R-rated horror film starring Sarah Wayne Callies a per-location average of $2,198 for the frame. The performance of The Other Side of the Door was similar to that of Fox's The Pyramid, which opened with $1.37 million from 589 locations back in December of 2014. The Pyramid finished its domestic run with $2.75 million. Critical reviews for The Other Side of the Door have been mixed, as the film currently has a 53 percent Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sony's Měi Rén Yú (The Mermaid) took in an estimated $365,000 from 106 locations, for a per-location average of $3,443. The Stephen Chow directed Mandarin-language fantasy comedy expanded into an additional 29 locations this weekend, but was down a sizable 48 percent nonetheless. Měi Rén Yú (The Mermaid), which is the highest grossing film ever in China, has grossed $2.67 million through 17 days of platform release in North America.
Sony Pictures Classics' The Lady in the Van took in an estimated $708,468 from 429 locations, for a per-location average of $1,651. The Nicholas Hytner directed film starring Maggie Smith did lose a bit of momentum this weekend, as it was down 40 percent upon playing in 173 fewer locations this weekend. The Lady in the Van has grossed a very solid $7.11 million in 52 days (and an additional one-week Oscar qualifying run back in early December).
Oscilloscope's Embrace of the Serpent took in an estimated $67,000 from 23 locations, for a per-location average of $2,913. The critically acclaimed film from Colombia was down 33 percent from last weekend. Embrace of the Serpent only added 2 locations this weekend, but is scheduled to expand into approximately 60 new locations next weekend. Embrace of the Serpent has grossed $300,138 through 19 days of platform release.
Abramorama's Trapped debuted with an estimated $20,385 from 3 locations in New York, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., for a per-location average of $6,795. The pro-choice documentary directed by Dawn Porter currently has a 100 percent Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. Trapped will open in new cities each of the next two weekends.
NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Estimates: 'Zootopia' Registers Fourth Largest March Debut of All-Time with $73.7M; 'London Has Fallen' Second with $21.7M; 'Deadpool' Passes $300M After $16.4M Take
Sunday Update: Disney's Zootopia was off to a terrific start this weekend with an estimated debut of $73.7 million. The critically acclaimed 3D computer animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios registered the fourth largest opening weekend ever in the month of March (behind only 2012's The Hunger Games, 2010's Alice in Wonderland and 2013's Oz: The Great and Powerful). Zootopia represents another very strong performer for Walt Disney Animation Studios and topped the $67.39 million opening weekend of 2013's Frozen to generate the largest opening weekend ever for the animation studio (though it should be noted that the opening weekend performance of Frozen was deflated from opening on a Wednesday). Compared to the most recent film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Zootopia opened an impressive 31 percent ahead of the $56.22 million start of 2014's Big Hero 6. A strong marketing campaign, having the current family marketplace largely to itself and exceptional critical reviews all contributed to the strong start for Zootopia this weekend.
Zootopia opened with $19.47 million on Friday (which included an estimated $1.7 million on Thursday evening), increased 63 percent on Saturday to take in $31.76 million and is estimated to decrease 29 percent on Sunday to gross $22.48 million. That places the film's estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio at 3.79 to 1. Zootopia had clear four-quadrant appeal this weekend, as the film's audience skewed towards female moviegoers (53 percent) and towards moviegoers 25 years and younger (54 percent). Family audiences represented 73 percent of the film's overall audience. Early word of mouth looks to be especially strong for Zootopia, as the film received an A rating on CinemaScore and currently boasts a 95 percent Flixster audience score. Given its strong word of mouth and the relative lack of competition for family audiences it will continue to face throughout March, Zootopia is very likely to hold up well going forward.
Zootopia took in an estimated $5.2 million from IMAX locations this weekend. That represented the second largest IMAX debut ever for an animated film (behind only 2010's Toy Story 3) and 7.1 percent of the film's overall gross this weekend.
London Has Fallen debuted in a distant second place with an estimated $21.71 million. The action thriller sequel from Focus and Gramercy opened in line with pre-release expectations. London Has Fallen did debut 28.5 percent below the $30.37 million start of 2013's Olympus Has Fallen, but had been widely expected to debut below its predecessor. Instead, the film opened closer to the $24.85 million debut of 2013's White House Down. London Has Fallen was likely helped out a bit this weekend by the ongoing poor performances of both Lionsgate's Gods of Egypt and Open Road's Triple 9.
London Has Fallen started with $7.59 million on Friday (which included an estimated $850,000 from Thursday evening shows), was up 13 percent on Saturday to gross $8.56 million and is estimated to decline 35 percent on Sunday to gross $5.57 million. That gives London Has Fallen an estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio of 2.86 to 1. The audience breakdown for London Has Fallen skewed towards male moviegoers (60 percent) and heavily towards moviegoers 25 years and older (76 percent). London Has Fallen received a healthy A- rating on CinemaScore and has a current Flixster audience score of 63 percent, which suggest that the film is going over better with moviegoers than it has with critics.
After leading the weekend box office for each of the past three frames, Fox's Deadpool fell to third place this weekend with an estimated $16.4 million. In the process, the Ryan Reynolds led blockbuster antihero film surpassed the $300 million domestic mark this weekend, which made it the first X-Men universe film ever to do so (without adjusting for ticket price inflation). Deadpool decreased a sizable 47 percent from last weekend's performance, as the film took a hit from the added presence of both Zootopia and London Has Fallen in the marketplace. The 24-day total for Deadpool stands at a massive $311.16 million. That is an extremely impressive 51 percent stronger than the $206.26 million 24-day take of 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Paramount's Whiskey Tango Foxtrot debuted in fourth place with an estimated $7.60 million. The R-rated comedy starring Tina Fey opened below expectations and registered one of the lower debuts of a wide release staring Fey to date. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot opened 34 percent below the $11.56 million start of 2014's This is Where I Leave You and opened just 24 percent above the $6.15 million debut of 2013's Admission. At the end of the day, being a war comedy made Whiskey Tango Foxtrot a much tougher sell than most of Fey's previous films.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot opened with $2.43 million on Friday, increased a sizable 32 percent on Saturday to take in $3.20 million and is estimated to fall 39 percent on Sunday to gross $1.97 million. That gives Whiskey Tango Foxtrot an estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio of 3.13 to 1. The film skewed towards female moviegoers (56 percent) and heavily towards moviegoers over the age of 25 (89 percent). Whiskey Tango Foxtrot received a modest B rating on CinemaScore and has a current Flixster audience score of 64 percent. With word of mouth appearing to be mixed, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is unlikely to hold up as well as Fey's films have tended to do in the past.
Meanwhile, Gods of Egypt rounded out the weekend's top five with an estimated $5.00 million. Lionsgate's expensive action fantasy film was down a very sharp 65 percent from last weekend's already soft debut. Gods of Egypt has grossed just $22.85 million in ten days, which is especially disappointing with both the film's price tag and the action fantasy genre in mind.
Saturday Update: Disney's Zootopia scored an excellent $19.469 million opening day on Friday, easily taking first place with the second highest March opening day ever for an animated title (behind Ice Age: The Meltdown's $21.8 million) and the best ever among the month's original animated films. Yesterday's fantastic start also topped Disney Animation's previous hit, Big Hero 6, by over 23 percent. Early word of mouth is incredibly strong across all ages with a phenomenal 98 percent critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes and an equally impressive 95 percent Flixster score this morning. There's no doubt the film will be playing strongly for weeks to come as Disney's Midas touch extends to yet another film. For the weekend, BoxOffice projects a tally around $70.3 million with potential to go a bit higher. That number, though, would send it past The Lorax's $70.2 million to become the highest March opening weekend ever for an animated release. It would also give Disney three of the top four March opening weekends of all-time (Alice In Wonderland's $116 million and Oz the Great and Powerful's $79.1 million trail only The Hunger Games' $152.5 million March record).
Focus Features' London Has Fallen bagged an opening day of $7.591 million, a fairly healthy start for the action sequel despite coming in 24.5 percent behind the $10.06 million first day of its 2013 predecessor, Olympus Has Fallen. Early reception for the sequel appears lukewarm as well with a 63 percent Flixster score this morning, although significantly better than the 27 percent mark from Rotten Tomatoes critics. By comparison, Taken 3 and Non-Stop earned respective Flixster scores of 73 percent and 74 percent after their first days. For the weekend, we're projecting London to take in close to $20.5 million. From there, the sequel will need to perform well overseas to justify the pic's estimated $105 million production budget.
Deadpool tacked on another $4.7 million yesterday, per Fox. That marks a 47 percent week-to-week decline and brings its domestic haul up to an impressive $299.5 million through just 22 days. By comparison, the film stands 25 percent ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy's had $239.1 million through the same point. The "Merc with a Mouth" should take in around $17 million this weekend.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot debuted in third place on Friday with an estimated $2.434 million opening day. Despite Tina Fey's considerable fan base, that marks a relatively disappointing start for the war dramedy as it came in just ahead of fellow Tina-led Admission's $2.05 million first day. Word of mouth is divided early on with a 64 percent audience score, "B" CinemaScore, and 61 percent critic rating, but Fey's presence could ultimately help the film eek out some type of staying power in the coming weeks. BoxOffice projects a $6.9 million opening weekend.
Gods of Egypt claimed fifth place on Friday with $1.34 million, down 72 percent from last Friday and giving it an eight-day haul of $19.2 million. BoxOffice projects $4.4 million this weekend.
Three-time Oscar winner The Revenant continued to enjoy post-awards momentum as it decreased just 9 percent from last Friday to $0.885 million in seventh place yesterday. Naturally, Leo's Best Actor win is the largest attribution to the second wave of interest in the film which has now amassed $173.5 million domestically. BoxOffice projects a $3.5 million weekend.
Best Picture Oscar winner Spotlight nearly doubled its theater count this weekend from 685 to 1,227, resulting in a $477,303 take on Friday. That brings the film to $40.3 million in all domestically up to this point. Look for a weekend figure around $2.1 million.
Last but not least, Star Wars: The Force Awakens eased 37 percent from last Friday to $0.42 million yesterday. The all-time domestic champion's total now stands at $927.4 million as its theatrical run begins to wind down ahead of its home video release in April. This weekend should tally around $1.8 million.
Unfortunately, Fox had not released opening day figures for The Other Side of the Door at the time of publishing.
Friday Update: Sources report that Zootopia landed an estimated $1.7 million from Thursday night's first shows, an excellent start ahead of the weekend that bests Disney Animation's previous $1.4 million Thursday earnings of Big Hero 6. It also blows past SpongeBob: Sponge Out of Water's $0.56 million last February and The LEGO Movie's $0.4 million two years ago. All told, this weekend is shaping up to be another excellent one for the Mouse House as Zootopia aims for $65-70 million or more.
London Has Fallen took in an estimated $850,000 last night. Unfortunately, the best comparison would be its predecessor -- Olympus Has Fallen -- but that film didn't receive Thursday night shows three years ago. Although London wasn't expected to go this high, an appropriate comp may be Taken 3 which bowed to $1.6 million Thursday night grosses in January 2015. That would translate to the expected high-teen/low-20 millions for London this weekend.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot has no official reported grosses yet this morning, but multiple sources report an estimate in the range of $320,000-350,000. That's somewhat ahead of last fall's Burnt, another star-driven comedy/drama that went mostly under the radar.
Full weekend estimates will be reported on Saturday morning with official Friday estimates from the studios.
GLOBAL REPORT: 'Zootopia' Shines Overseas with $63M Weekend; Huge 'Ip Man 3' Debut Stirs Up Controversy in China
The martial arts action flick Ip Man 3 starring Donnie Yen and Myke Tyson opened with $71.7 million in China this weekend. That’s the biggest opening weekend for a Chinese language action film in the territory, but rumors abound that rookie distributor Dayinmu Film colluded with several cinema chains to pad Ip Man 3’s final weekend box office tally.
Zootopia opened solidly in the significant territories of China, Russia, and Germany helping boost its overseas weekend total to $63.4 million across 45 total international markets.
Disney’s original animation posted an estimated $24.0 million ($23.8 million from local sources) in China which makes it the biggest Disney Animation or Pixar three-day opening there ever. Word of mouth for Zootopia is off the charts in China and next weekend will probably see a boost in ticket sales. Russia meanwhile scored an estimated $7.9 million, again representing the the biggest Disney Animation or Pixar opening in the country. Finally, Germany’s $6.2 million surpassed Frozen and Tangled to register the highest grossing opening weekend ever for a Disney Animation film.
On the IMAX front, Zootopia grossed $8.5 million worldwide for the weekend, with $3.0 million coming from China’s 278 screens, the second-best animated opening on the format following Kung Fu Panda 3’s $3.7 million debut in January.
Zootopia has now earned $158.8 million overseas and $232.5 million worldwide combined with NA’s stellar opening this weekend.
Deadpool unloaded $21.2 million from 73 overseas markets this weekend, taking the international box office total to $362.1 million and the global haul to $673.3 million after one month of release. Deadpool’s international tally has now surpassed Guardians of the Galaxy and will take down Captain America: Winter Soldier sometime next week — all without a China release. Top market comes are UK/Ireland ($49M), Australia ($26.2M), France ($26.1M), Russia ($21.9M), South Korea ($21.3M), and Germany ($21.1M).
Riding Leo’s Oscar win last Sunday, The Revenant found $12.5 million in 47 overseas territories this weekend. Germany (+25%), Brazil (+1%), the Netherlands (+1%), and Switzerland (+35%) all saw week to week increases. The Revenant has earned $253 million overseas and $429.5 million worldwide. China opens March 18.
Hail, Caesar! earned an estimated $5.0 million from 40 overseas territories this weekend for an early international total of $17.8 million. The film place #4 in the UK/Ireland, opening to $2.2 million, while Russia debuted with $0.38 million. The Coen brothers’ comedy has grossed $47.0 million worldwide. Hong Kong, Italy, and Singapore open next weekend.
How To Be Single generated an addition $4.5 million this weekend from 49 overseas markets this weekend, bringing the international cume to $42.0 million and the worldwide total to $85.3 million. France debuted with $1.1 million from 187 screens including previews, ahead of openings for The Other Woman, New Year’s Eve, Just Go With It, and Magic Mike XXL. Germany opens April 7.
Alvin & the Chipmunks: The Road Chip drove off with $3.3 million in 28 overseas territories this weekend. The animated sequel has earned $144.0 million overseas and $229.0 million globally.
Kung Fu Panda rolled to $3.1 million from just 7 international markets this weekend. Business significantly slowed down in the middle kingdom with Zootopia’s release, but panda Po’s $145.7 million cume counts as the biggest animated film ever in China. The vast majority of Panda’s international marketplace is still to open.
Films earning less than $2 million overseas this weekend and local language films
Ip Man 3 (China)
China Weekend: $71.7M
China Total: $71.7M
Der Geilste Tag (Germany)
Overseas Weekend: $2.5M
Overseas Total: $7.3M
Overseas Total: $46.3M
Global Total: $57.3M
Lady in the Van
Anne Frank (Germany)
Overseas Weekend: $0.872M
Overseas Total: $0.872M
Overseas Weekend: $0.59M
Overseas Total: $0.59M
Ride Along 2
Global Total: $119.7M
Japan Weekend: $1.1M
Japan Total: $26.6M
Overseas Total: $398.7M
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on September 24, 1999 by Shlomo Schwartzberg
Lawrence Kasdan's variation on "Being There" has all the obviousness of his "Grand Canyon" but none of its quiet power. It's the superficial and meandering light tale of Dr. Mumford (Loren Dean), a psychologist who has come to the small town of Mumford, where in a mere few months he has become part of the community's social fabric and doctor to many of its most prominent inhabitants. But he's hiding something, and that revelation will impact many of the townfolks' lives. It may seem like a neat joke that Dr. Mumford does nothing but soak up his patients' neuroses and then let them cure themselves, but Kasdan's execution of the premise is half-hearted, pedestrian and riddled with irritatingly banal new age shibboleths.
Since Kasdan can't quite decide on the proper balance between comedy and drama, "Mumford" frequently stalls or drifts into irrelevancy and pointlessness. This is a script that needs a lot more work. And while the nation's psychologists will rightfully view with disdain the film's premise that they're a useless bunch, audiences searching for wit or wisdom in this movie should also apply elsewhere.
Frustratingly, except for Dean and Jason Lee as a whiz kid inventor, who are dull, the actors in "Mumford" are exceptional, particuarly Martin Short as a smarmy criminal lawyer who is suspicious of the doctor, David Paymer as another of the town's shrinks, Hope Davis as a patient of Mumford's and Alfre Woodard as his neighbor. Watching these pros at work, one wishes Kasdan had fashioned a better movie in which they could have excelled. Starring Loren Dean, Hope Davis, Jason Lee and Alfre Woodard. Directed and written by Lawrence Kasdan. Produced by Charles Okun and Lawrence Kasdan. Comedy/Drama. A Buena Vista release. Rated R for sex-related images, language and drug content. Running time: 113 min.
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Paramount Testing R-Rated and PG-13 Versions of HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS
by Matt Goldberg August 8, 2012
Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters got a big knock back on the release schedule when Paramount moved the 3D fantasy-action film from March 2, 2012 to January 11, 2013. The movie stars Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton as the eponymous characters who are all growed up and looking for a little payback against the witch community. In an interview last December, Arterton said the flick was “as much Pulp Fiction as fairy tale.” The studio has been test-screening the picture, and it seems like they’re not sure what they have on their hands. According to recent reports from IMDb users, the studio is showing two versions of the film: one is R-Rated and the other is PG-13, and the R-rated cut is getting the positive feedback.
Hit the jump for more. Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters also stars Famke Janssen and Peter Stormare.
The Lebanese Cinema Movie Guide recently came across a thread on IMDb where some users reported having attended various test screenings for the film (you signed an NDA, guys! You signed an NDAAAAAA!). According to RickCastle Writer:
I can’t say a lot because of agreements with the company, Overall I will say that I really enjoyed this one. It was different, violent, pretty funny- Sort of like Drive Angry 3D or Scott Pilgrim humor, and I thought everyone did well. It kind of felt like they nailed the ancient humor the way ‘Your Highness’ was supposed too but didn’t.
I went to the R-Rated version, I haven’t seen an PG-13 version and I didn’t even think they were cutting it up to be that, I hope they go back to the R Version because that was one hell of a fun movie. A PG-13 version would just ruin everything.
pyromaniac975 saw both versions:
The first one was definitely the Rated R version. Good humor, good action, great fight scenes, awesome dynamic between Renner and Arterton. I loved it so much the first time, I made a group of friends go to the second screening the next week. But the next week, they had heavily edited it and turned it into a PG-13 film.
If they keep it R, it’s gonna be great. Silly, but actiony and fun. If it’s PG13, it won’t be worth it. Let’s hope it’s an R rating.
Here’s a comment I didn’t expect:
“It was graphic and gory, I had to look away a couple of times because it was just gross.”
I haven’t seen either version so I’m not sure which cut would be better for the studio to see, but it sounds like the R-rated cut is the one that has gotten a far better response. If these responses turn out to be true, then Witch Hunters will definitely be on my radar. Then again, as user “douces” points out, why does a PG-13 cut eliminate the “Good humor, good action, great fight scenes, awesome dynamic between Renner and Arterton”? Hopefully, Paramount settles on a cut soon and we can get a look at this thing beyond the one image they released back in December 2011.
Red-Band Trailer for THE LOFT Starring Karl Urban, James Marsden, Eric Stonestreet,…
Co-Creators Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon Talk HOMELAND, Evolving the Story in…
• Entertainment • Gemma Arterton • Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters • Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters • Jeremy Renner • Movie • Paramount Pictures
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Posts Tagged ‘Ricky Nelson’
Chart Digging: March 15, 1958
We don’t spend a lot of time here back in the 1950s. The main reason for that is that I don’t remember much about the decade. I was six and in first grade when the calendar flipped from 1959 to 1960, and I have a few specific memories from that school year – and from kindergarten the year before – but other than those, I have just vague impressions of the last years of that decade.
As for Odd and Pop, I have no idea where they were or what they were up to back then. Probably complicating the life of an aspiring folk musician in a small college town somewhere. I can hear Pop saying, “Enunciate! Quit dropping those g’s!” while Odd tells him, “Bongo drums and some bird calls would work well with that.”
But we are in the 1950s today (although likely without either bongos or bird calls). Why?
Well, I was digging this morning into the Billboard charts from March 15 over the years, planning on playing Games With Numbers with today’s date and checking out the No. 35 record from four or so charts from 1958 to 1980, and then I dug into the Top 100 from March 15, 1958. (It would be called the Hot 100 beginning that August).
And that week, there was no record at No. 35. Instead, three records were tied at No. 33. Close enough, I thought, noting that the three records offer three different levels of success and consequent fame: One megastar, one well-remember performer, and one obscure and perhaps mostly forgotten group.
The first of the three records at No. 33 in that chart from fifty-nine years ago was from Ricky Nelson, whose “Stood Up” had already peaked, spending three weeks at No. 2, according to Joel Whitburn’s Top Pop Singles. It was Nelson’s fourth Top Ten record; sixteen more singles and four EPs would also hit the Top Ten. “Stood Up” also went to No. 4 on the Billboard R& B chart and to No. 5 on the magazine’s country chart. Beyond that, there’s not a lot new to say here because, hey, he was Ricky Nelson, and we pretty much all know the story.
Listed second among the three records tied during that long-ago week was “Betty and Dupree” from Chuck Willis, which was at its peak. The record was a trimmed and decriminalized version of a blues song based on a 1919 robbery of a jewelry store in Atlanta that had been recorded in various versions since at least 1931. Willis, who’s nevertheless credited as the writer on single labels I’ve seen, dropped the robbery, Dupree’s arrest, and his eventual hanging and made the tune a simple, swaying story of love that went to No. 15 on the R&B chart as well as peaking at No. 33 on the pop chart. It’s not the record for which the short-lived Willis is most remembered; that would likely be “C.C. Rider,” which went to No. 12 on the pop chart and to No. 1 on the R&B chart in 1957.
That’s all interesting enough, but – getting away from the original topic here – it turned out that “Betty and Dupree,” was the next-to-last record Willis saw reach the charts. The last was “Hang Up My Rock And Roll Shoes,” which entered the Top 100 on April 28, 1958, two days before Willis died from a bleeding ulcer. In one of life’s ironies, the B-side, “What Am I Living For,” hit the R&B chart a week later and the Top 100 a week after that, and would out-perform the A-side, peaking at No. 9 on the pop chart and spending a week on top of the R&B chart.
And then we get to the third of the records tied at No. 33 in that Top 100 from March 15, 1958: “7-11” by the Gone All Stars. Whitburn tells us that the tune is a rock version of Perez Prado’s 1950 record, “Mambo No. 5.” As to the Gone All Stars, Whitburn says they were studio musicians led by black sax player Buddy Lucas. (Lucas’ entry at Wikipedia includes a brief and incomplete listing of his work as a leader and sideman from the years 1952 to 1976 and also offers the thought that Lucas was “possibly more famous for his session work on harmonica.”) The record was released on the Gone label – as were at least one other single and an EP by the group – and for me, the fact that the group was seemingly named for the label takes some of the Fifties-era hipness out of the group’s name.
Tags: Chuck Willis, Gone All Stars, Ricky Nelson
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We can assure you that nobody has more variety of porn content than we do. We have the largest library of xxx Videos on the web. Later, Emma was nominated for five awards for her performance in the film, winning the Young Artist Award for Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film. By the age of ten, she had performed and taken the lead in various Stagecoach productions and school plays. We have every kind of Videos that it is possible to find on the internet right here. Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson was born in Paris, France, to English parents, Jacqueline Luesby and Chris Watson, both lawyers.
PornHub é o mais completo e revolucionário site de vídeos pornô. We can assure you that nobody has more variety of porn content than we do. There's nothing better than watching sexy Emma Watson fullfilling your perverted fantasies in a realistic fake. The film won the People's Choice Award for Favourite Dramatic Movie and Emma also picked up the People's Choice Award for Favourite Dramatic Movie Actress.
View Emma-watson Videos and every kind of Emma-watson sex you could want - and it will always be free! Feel free to reach to let us know if you have any comments or questions. We have the largest library of xxx Pics on the web. Emma also appeared in a cameo role as herself in Seth Rogen's apocalypse comedy This Is The End 2013. In 2017, Emma starred in the live-action Disney fantasy Beauty and the Beast 2017 and the dramatic thriller The Circle 2017. The release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone 2001 was Emma's cinematic screen debut. View Emma Watson Pics and every kind of Emma Watson sex you could want - and it will always be free! Critics praised the film and the performances of the three leading young actors.
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Chronicling a week in Marilyn Monroe's life, the film featured Emma in the supporting role of Lucy, a costume assistant to Colin Clark Redmayne. In 1999, casting began for Harry Potter and the Sorcerers 2001 , the film adaptation of British author J. Emma will star in the thriller opposite Oscar nominated Ethan Hawke. In summer 2013, Emma starred in Sofia Coppola's American satirical black comedy crime film, The Bling Ring 2013 , opposite Katie Chang and Israel Broussard.
The film told the epic, biblical tale of Noah and the ark. Looks like you've hit the jackpot! The film took inspiration from real events and followed a group of teenagers who, obsessed with fashion and fame, burgled the homes of celebrities in Los Angeles. The film tells the story about what happens to some of Hollywood's best loved celebrities when the apocalypse strikes during a party at James Franco's house. Mr DeepFakes has the best Emma Watson deepfake porn videos and fake Emma Watson nude photos So you came looking for Emma Watson porn videos and Emma Watson naked photos? After eight consistent auditions, producer David Heyman told Emma and fellow applicants, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, that they had been cast for the roles of the three leads, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.
Assista a este vídeo 1080p apenas no pornhub premium. From the age of six, Emma knew that she wanted to be an actress and, for a number of years, she trained at the Oxford branch of Stagecoach Theatre Arts, a part-time theatre school where she studied singing, dancing and acting. Emma was most recently seen in Darren Aronofsky's Noah 2014 , opposite Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Douglas Booth, Logan Lerman, and Anthony Hopkins. Entre em contato conosco caso tenha qualquer pergunta ou comentário. Set in Minnesota 1990, Regression tells the story of Detective Bruce Kenner Hawke who investigates the case of young Angela, played by Emma, who accuses her father of sexual abuse.
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A-Z List of Dishonest people »
Emeline Tang Wei Leng [Certified Dishonest]
Author Topic: Emeline Tang Wei Leng [Certified Dishonest] (Read 472 times)
Ex-HSBC VP who cheated mostly elderly victims of $5.2 million jailed 10.5 years
Wan Ting Koh | 29 June 2018
A former vice president of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) who cheated mostly elderly victims of $5.2 million over 12 years through an investment scam was jailed for 10 and a half years on Friday (29 June).
Most of the five victims who were cheated of their life savings by Emeline Tang Wei Leng were in their twilight years, District Judge Hamidah Ibrahim noted.
“The victim impact statements (submitted by the victims) that I have read are rather heart wrenching I must say,” said the judge.
“You committed the offence for a good decade, except one, all are in their 70s, they are so devastated I don’t see how they can recover from it.”
Noting that Tang turned 40 this year, the judge said, “she still has some time, unlike her victims.”
Tang, who first joined HSBC as a relationship manager in 2004, pleaded guilty earlier this month to 34 charges, including forgery, cheating and using the benefits of criminal conduct. Another 223 charges of a similar nature were considered for her sentencing.
Four of the victims were Tang’s relatives: her husband’s aunt, two of her distant relatives, and her sister-in-law. The fifth victim was a friend of her relatives. Aged between 45 and 81, the victims would give Tang either cash or cheques.
In 2003, Tang came to know through her husband, a property agent, that his aunt had earned some money after selling property through him.
Tang contacted the aunt and told her that HSBC had fixed deposit plans that offer higher interest rates than other banks. Tang added that she could help her open a fixed deposit account.
The aunt, who initially wanted to issue a crossed cheque to HSBC, was convinced to issue a cheque to Tang, who said that she would be able to deposit the monies faster.
Tang deceived others with the same investment plan, which she claimed had interest rates of 3 to 4 per cent.
After receiving the monies, Tang prepared false HSBC policy booklets, including details such as policy numbers, maturity value, commencement and expiry dates.
After the plans supposedly reached their maturity date, Tang would contact the victims and ask if they wanted to continue. They would either tell her to roll over the interest or top up additional funds.
When the victims asked to cash out their interest or withdraw part of their capital, Tang would hand them some money to maintain the scam.
Initially, Tang kept the proceeds of her deception in her own HSBC account, but she later cashed the cheques over bank counters or keep the cash at home.
Tang was exposed in mid-January 2015 when some of the victims asked her to withdraw funds from their fixed deposit plans. She failed to meet these victims despite her promises to do so.
Her evasion prompted the victims to contact HSBC. They were told that they had no investment plans with HSBC and that Tang had left the company in 2012.
By then, Tang had made away with $5,203,116.28 of the victims’ monies.
Tang has since returned the victims $800,207, a portion of which was given to the victims as “returns” from their investments during the time of the offences.
On Friday, the prosecution sought for at least 10 years’ jail for Tang.
Noting the age of the victims, Deputy Public Prosecutor Haniza Abnass said the vicitms had no way to earn the money that they had lost, most of which were their life savings.
The DPP cited the planning carried out by Tang and the extended period of the offences. Tang also abused the trust of the victims, added the DPP.
Tang’s lawyer Mathew Kurian said in mitigation on Friday that Tang, who had three children, aged seven to 15, had cheated the victims to pay off her husband’s gambling debts and her late father’s loans. Asking for eight years for his client, Kurian said Tang’s father was suffering from cancer at the time.
Her husband was emotionally abusive towards her and she divorced him last year, Kurian added.
Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/ex-hsbc-vp-cheated-mostly-elderly-victims-5-2-million-jailed-10-5-years-054644218.html
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Adele new york concert 2016
January 13, 2018 adminLeave a Comment on Adele new york concert 2016
The characteristic features of adele new york concert 2016 are melodic, simple and easily falling on the ear of the perception of the melody. In the music composition, the main emphasis is on vocals and rhythm, the instrumental part is given much less attention. In fact, this music is expressed exclusively in songs, the texts of which are uncomplicated and are devoted mainly to personal experiences: love, sadness, joy.
Special attention in adele new york concert 2016 deserves a visual representation of the compositions in video clips or in concert shows. To stand out from the crowd, in adele new york concert 2016 choose to put it mildly an extravagant image (the most recent example is Lady Gaga).
Music concert has spawned such a pop star phenomenon – a person whose life attracts the attention of the press and the public out of touch with her musical activity. The popularity of a particular artist often depends not on his musical talents, but on factors such as appearance, sexual attractiveness, press coverage. To attract the attention of the public, many artists and their producers are going to provoke scandals or rumors. For this, music is often criticized and characterized not as a musical art, but as a means of stupid people.
Adele live concert dvd
Adele npr tiny desk concert
Adele tiny desk concert
Adele concert in chicago 2016
Adele dallas concert 2016
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Jean-Claude Risset/Lillian Schwartz
Mutations (1969)
French composer Jean-Claude Risset helped to pioneer computer music at Bell Labs in the early 1960s. Made in collaboration with computer pioneer Lillian Schwartz, this film sets animations by Ken Knowlton and others to Risset's titular composition for solo tape, which features a seemingly infinite glissando among its effects. Click here for part 1 of a 1976 documentary on Schwartz's work with computers.
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Duduk sings
February 8, 2017 by vizadmin No Comment
Los Angeles, CA – VIZA is happy to announce that longtime member, duduk player Jivan Gasparyan, Jr. has rejoined the group and will be performing with the band at the acclaimed Roxy Theater on February 16, 2017. The duduk is a double reed instrument known as the signature wind sound of eastern Armenian culture, and played a role in adding a unique flavor to VIZA’s performances and recordings.
“I’m happy to be back performing with my brothers,” said Gasparyan. “We have many fond memories and built something special with the group, and I am excited to take the stage with them again here in LA,” he added.
Consisting of the fretless 11 string oud and double reed wind duduk, VIZA presents a unique blend of rock elements fused with middle eastern rhythms. As a key cog in the Sunset club scene known for energetic and captivating live performances, VIZA promises to deliver a highly anticipated performance.
After releasing several albums, performing at major festivals worldwide, joining System of a Down frontman Serj Tankian for two worldwide tours and supporting Gogol Bordello and Skindred, VIZA is looking to explore a new dimension in the new year.
The band is excited for Gasparyan’s return. “We are happy that Jivan is back performing here, and can’t wait for the show. The different instruments of the group really make for a unique sound,” they said.
Tickets – http://www.theroxy.com/event/1390037-viza-west-hollywood/
UncategorizedDuduk, Oud, VIZA
‹ Composing New Material for 2017
VIZA returns! ›
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The Future Will Be Carpeted: An Analysis of ‘Deep Space Nine (S1E14)’
“You know what the Cardassians were like. What weapons they had. We didn’t stand a chance against them!”
“How’d you beat ‘em then?”
--Kira and Mullibok
When people say they hate DS9, I’m pretty sure they’re talking about this episode. That’s not to say it’s bad; on the contrary, it has some nice character work for Nana Visitor’s Major Kira and a great guest turn by Brian Keith as cranky Bajoran farmer Mullibok. It just exemplifies everything that people complain about whenever DS9 comes up in conversation. It’s slow. They don’t go anywhere. Bajorans are annoying. Sometimes, I think that the people who dislike DS9 (also known as “The Factually Incorrect”) have only ever seen this episode. That would be like judging the entirety of TNG on “The Royale.”
Bajor is planning to tap the molten core of Jerrado, one of their five moons (Five! Bajoran tides must be bonkers. But, I digress.) to provide some much needed energy. The tiny population living on this moon has been evacuated, save for three individuals: old man Mullibok and his two assistants, a pair of Bajorans who can no longer speak due to some atrocity visited on them during the Occupation. Kira’s job is to get them off the moon, so that once the core tapping turns the atmosphere into a choking miasma of hell, they won’t, you know, die. Mullibok doesn’t want to go. And, that’s it. That’s the conflict of the episode.
The fascinating part becomes apparent when viewed through the lens of Major Kira. She’s essentially a character being discovered in reverse. She spent the entirety of her life under a brutal Occupation, and during that time she got very, very good at murdering Cardassians. Now, there’s just no market for that particular skill set. We’re picking up with her as her unofficial membership in a resistance cell has turned into a bona fide military rank, and she’s been plunked onto a space station to liaise with Starfleet. This would be like exploring the character of Kyle Reese after he safely got back from his final mission and made a life in post-Skynet Earth by opening up a store that sells pipe bombs or something. (Reese didn’t really have marketable skills either.) We still have not seen Resistance Fighter Kira, we’re only seeing fish-out-of-water Kira.
This episode plays with that characterization. Here, Kira is the person of the unstoppable government trampling on the rights of an individual. Mullibok is the person of the Resistance, basically giving Kira the choice between respecting his inalienable rights, something she fought, bled, and killed for, and doing what she has to do by force. All she has to do to complete her assignment is become a Cardassian. I mean, she could stun the guy, transport him off, and get him to a doctor, but then we get into a whole slippery slope thing. The point is, this is pretty much the most uncomfortable position in the world for Kira, but, as Sisko points out, she’s part of the establishment and she’s going to have to get used to that fact.
Meanwhile, on the station, Quark is upset at Rom for ordering a shipment of Cardassian yamok sauce. I have no idea what yamok sauce is, other than the obvious: it’s a Cardassian condiment. I’ve always imagined it was similar to garum, the popular Roman sauce made from fermented fish. (No, seriously, Romans were gross.) I have absolutely no evidence for this. Anyway, Nog decides he can sell the yamok sauce and generously brings Jake in on the deal. Writer Ira Steven Behr, who was in the process of taking control of the series and would be the showrunner for the bulk of its run, stated that he wanted to reference Catch-22’s wheeling and dealing Capitalist mastermind Milo Minderbinder with this plot. (Side note here, Catch-22 is my favorite book, so any reference is welcome.) The boys do finally get a good deal for their yamok sauce, which they trade for self-sealing stem bolts, which they trade for land, which they sell for latinum. Yes, this marks the first appearance of DS9’s favorite MacGuffin, the self-sealing stem bolt. Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki, helpfully defines these as “stem bolts that seal themselves.” Thanks, Memory Alpha. I’m going to slam my head against a wall in an effort to forget that.
With such a thin plot, there’s room for several short scenes that imply that the crew is starting to warm up to one another. Sisko flat out tells Kira he didn’t like her when he arrived, but he’s grown to respect, like, and even need her. As the Emissary grows more important in Bajoran mythology over the run of the show, this scene takes on deeper meaning. Imagine being a devout Christian and having Jesus literally be like, “Yeah, I thought you were a dick, but I, Jesus Christ, was incorrect in that assessment. Now, I think you’re pretty chill, and all of planet Earth needs you to be awesome.” I should point out here that I’ve always imagined Jesus to talk like a bit of a bro. I have no idea why. I blame violent video games.
The Jake and Nog friendship continues apace, and it’s refreshing to see a human participating in the culture of another species free of judgment. There’s no lesson at the end of the episode that Capitalism and, thus, Ferengi culture, is somehow wrong or inferior. Nope, just two friends selling condiments for fun. Like kids do.
Lastly, on the runabout just before beaming down, Dax and Kira have a personal conversation. I get the impression that Dax is an oversharer, who just happily rambles on about whatever is going on in her lives. In this case, she’s relating a story of being asked out by DS9’s resident barfly Morn. Now, I bring this up to point out the burgeoning friendship between Kira and Dax, but mostly because I want to talk about Morn and I haven’t found a good spot to do it yet. Morn has been around since the first episode and is a rather distinctive alien design: he sort of looks like a humanoid potato stuffed into a puffy spacesuit. Originally, the writers intended him to have dialogue, but as it kept getting cut they eventually decided he’d remain silent. It eventually becomes a running gag with characters reference Morn’s loquaciousness, or open scenes by imploring him to shut up. Here, Dax allows that while she turned Morn down for a date, she does find him cute. Cue the horrified reaction from Kira.
While I enjoy this episode, it is far from flawless. If you’re trying to convert a new viewer to DS9’s greatness, it’s best to hold this one back. For now.
Next up: O'Brien learns that gum he likes is going to come back in style.
Published in: The Future Will Be Carpeted
Website: www.captainsupermarket.com
Justin Robinson is the author of many novels and can be found in his lair at captainsupermarket.com. He would like to emphasize that, contrary to rumors, he is, in fact, a mammal, though still has not obtained documentation to prove it.
Favorite Golden Girl: Rose
Favorite Cheese Form: Melted
Favorite God: Hanuman
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The Hollies Forum Index » Words and Music » New Hollies expanded CD series from Japan in December
Phil Cohen
Post subject: New Hollies expanded CD series from Japan in December
Location: Bay Harbor Islands, Florida, U.S.A.
Warner Music of Japan(Warner Music is the new owner of the Parlophone label) has set December for new expanded SHM-CD's of The Hollies' first 7 albums. These discs will contain the stereo album, the mono album and bonus tracks. SHM-CD is an audiophile product; a regular CD, but manufactured from a premium quality plastic resin, originally developed for the manufacture of flat screen T.V.'s, and the superior optical transparency of this "Super High Material" is claimed to produce superior data retrieval during playback.
Track listing for "Stay With The Hollies", "In The Hollies Style", "Hollies", "Would You Believe", "For Certain Because", "Evolution" & "Butterfly" can be seen at www.cdjapan.co.jp
It would appear that there are no unreleased songs amongst the bonus tracks, but there are some mixes that are new to CD. "We're Alive", "Kill Us Quick", "Non Prego Per Me" & "Devi Averre Fiducia in Me" each appear twice, and "Try It" appears THREE TIMES.
Perhaps The Hollies website can provide more detailed information.
Posted:Thu Oct 03, 2013 17:57 pm
By the way, I've noticed that the disc of "Stay With The Hollies" includes both versions of "Poison Ivy". The rare version(which previously appeared only on Australian vinyl) will get its first official CD release in this new Japanese CD series.
Posted:Mon Oct 14, 2013 0:17 am
Some have suggested that the rare version of "Poison Ivy" won't be included, but rather, it will be the brief breakdown takes heard on the CD "The Hollies at Abbey Road".
If The Hollies management ever looks at the forum, I would like to say this to them: If Warner Music plans upgraded Hollies CD's(perhaps even better than the upcoming Japan releases) for the UK,Europe or U.S.A. , then let us know, so that we won't needlessly overpay for the Japanese discs.
To get something better than the Japan discs, that would be something worth waiting for. As it is, we don't know if the Japanese discs are new masterings or if they (mostly) re-use Peter Mew's 1999 masterings.
Posted:Mon Oct 21, 2013 19:08 pm
The Warner Music Japanese SHM-CD Hollies CD series will continue in January 2014 with the albums from "Hollies Sing Dylan" through "Romany". There will be bonus tracks, but they haven't been revealed yet.
Posted:Mon Nov 04, 2013 6:49 am
The song titles for the January 2014 Hollies titles have been listed....unfortunately only in Japanese. Also, there will be similar expanded SHM-CD titles coming from "Swinging Blue Jeans" & Manfred Mann.
Posted:Sat Nov 16, 2013 15:08 pm
The 11th of December 2013 Hollies Japan CD titles have been postponed one week until 18th of December.
I would advise caution before ordering any of the January 2014 Warner Music Japan CD titles by The Hollies and other 1960's British groups, until:
A. We see if the December 2013 titles are actually released
B. The main Japanese CD supplier(CD Japan) announces the song titles for the January 2014 titles in English, so we can see what the bonus tracks are.
Posted:Wed Nov 20, 2013 2:46 am
The Japanese CD dealers are allocated a limited quantity of CD's for each forthcoming CD release. The quantities of the January 2014 discs are already dwindling, and none of the Japanese dealers are willing to reveal the names of the bonus tracks in English. I think that I'll have to pass. For the 7 Hollies titles where the song titles have been revealed in English, I preordered "Stay With the Hollies" & "Evolution", and I'll soon order "For Certain Because" & "Butterfly".
As for the January 2014 discs, it just doesn't seem believable that there could be so many bonus tracks that could be added to "Hollies Sing Dylan" or "Distant Light".
Posted:Thu Nov 28, 2013 0:12 am
It seems odd that "The Hollies Ltd."(and hence the people who operate this website) could be totally unaware of these forthcoming Japanese CD's and what their bonus tracks are. After all, from the group's fifth album("For Certain Because") onwards, "The Hollies Ltd." owns the recordings.
Posted:Tue Dec 03, 2013 0:45 am
Warner Music's Japan affiliate have been very quick in "exploiting" the recordings that they've obtained via their purchase of "Parlophone Label Group".
There will now be at least three "waves" of releases, including not only 1960's British artists("The Hollies", "The Animals","The Yardbirds", "The Swinging Blue Jeans","Manfred Mann", "Herman's Hermits" & "Peter & Gordon"), but also some 1970's artists("Gentle Giant" & Kevin Ayers), and a 2-disc 1960's British beat group compilation("All About British Beat")
All the Japanese dealers that will sell to people outside Japan are continuing to list the song titles(for the January & February 2014 titles) only in Japanese. They may be doing this under orders from Warner Music(to discourage non-Japanese people from preordering the discs).Yes, there are loads of bonus tracks on each disc. Whether there is much that we don't already have….is unknown. But if we wait too long to preorder, the initial production "run"(presumably 5000 to 7500 per disc) will be gone. In keeping with Japanese music industry tradition, maybe they will later manufacture more(perhaps without the replica "mini-album cover")….or maybe they won't.
2014 will mark the 50th Anniversary of the so-called "British Invasion"; the worldwide boom of interest in British Beat group music. Warner Music should recognize that there are many people outside Japan who would want these discs, and address this by either:
Manufacturing larger quantities of the Japanese discs
Releasing UK editions with the same songs.
Posted:Fri Dec 06, 2013 4:21 am
I have some information about the January 2014 discs. "Romany" will feature the same song contents as the 2007 Uk expanded remaster…plus the alternate version of "Oh Granny". Both versions of "Oh Granny" will be included.
For "Hollies Sing Dylan", the bonus tracks are the 1968 live concert tracks that appeared on "The Clarke Hicks & Nash Years", and the early mix of "Blowin' In The Wind" with Graham Nash.
Still no English language information for the song contents of "Hollies Sing Hollies", "Distant Light" & "Confessions of The Mind".
Posted:Thu Dec 19, 2013 0:46 am
All of the remaining information is now available at www.cdjapan.co.jp and there are audio samples for the 7 Hollies discs that have already been released. If the audio samples are correct, then these discs mostly re-use Peter Mew's 1990's masterings from the UK Digipak releases. The stereo mix of "Dear Eloise" still has the mastering fault that Mr.Mew introduced(some of the instruments briefly drop out when the group sings "Writing a Letter to make you feel better").
On the positive side, "Stay With the Hollies" includes both versions of "Poison Ivy"(the rare version originally released on Australian vinyl IS included)
Both the stereo & mono mixes of "Non Prego Per Me" & "Devi Avere Fiducia in Me" are included as bonus tracks on "For Certain Because"
The original single mixes of "We're Alive" & "Kill Me Quick" are included as bonus tracks on "Evolution"(the 1993 stereo versions are included too). The stereo mixes included background & harmony vocals that were omitted from the original mono single mixes.
It doesn't appear that Warner Music is going to do any actual remastering(except where they have no choice, for versions or mixes new to CD) for the 30 early British rock albums they'll be reissuing in this Japanese CD series. As for the versions/mixes that are new to CD, the audio samples available at CD Japan's website reveal dubious, less than master tape sound quality.
You have to wonder whether, in purchasing most of EMI's British recordings, if Warner Music actually gets to take possession of the master tapes.
What is needed is a Hollies-supervised expanded UK CD series, if The Hollies' management cares enough to reach out and contact the UK branch of Warner Music.
Some of these Japanese CD's contain some tracks that make them essential for Hollies completists, but the quality is not all that it could have been, particularly on a CD series being marketed as audiophile product.
Posted:Sun Dec 22, 2013 3:33 am
Four of The Hollies Japanese CD's arrived today.
"Stay With The Hollies" has the stereo & mono versions of the album, plus "Zip A Dee Doo Dah"(in mono, not stereo as the liner notes booklet claims), "I Understand"(stereo), "Poison Ivy"(take 9 in stereo) & "Poison Ivy"(Take 12 in mono, not stereo as the liner notes booklet claims). The booklet claims to include the "Poison ivy" takes 10-12 sequence, but takes 10 & 11(both breakdown takes) are not on the disc.
"Evolution" has the stereo & mono versions of the UK album,plus both the 1992 stereo versions & 1960's mono versions of "Kiss Us Quick" & "We're Alive". Those mono versions are appearing on Cd for the first time, and they are musically different to the stereo mixes. The mono "Kill Us Quick" totally omits Graham & Tony's vocal harmonies, and pushes the harmonica far into the background.
"For Certain Because has the stereo & mono versions of the album, plus both the stereo & mono versions of "Non Prego Per Me" & "Devi Averre Fiducia in Me". For the mono mix of "Devi Averre Fiducia in Me", this is the first full quality CD release(the previous release, from the French "Magic" label was likely a dub from vinyl)
"Butterfly" has the stereo & mono versions of the album, plus the U.S. single mix of "Try It"(which has loads of reverb)", and a mono mix of "Like Every Time Before" that is NOT the single mix. This mix is musically like the 1993 Ron Furmanek stereo remix, in that it doesn't have the lead guitar. As I've already stated, the analog to digital transfers of all of these albums are the Peter Mew efforts from the 1990's, and so the stereo "Dear Eloise" has Mr.Mew's mastering glitch, which causes the bass, drums and all the low frequency content to drop out for a few seconds, the first time that the group sings "Writing a Letter to Make You Feel Better".
Overall the sound quality of these discs are O.K., though the two bonus tracks on "Butterfly" are of somewhat lower sound quality.
The mini-album covers are very accurate reproductions of the original UK album covers(though, of course omitting any mention of EMI or EMITEX)
Posted:Sat Dec 28, 2013 22:05 pm
It would seem apparent, that with the exception of certain new to CD bonus tracks, that all of the other songs in this 29 album + one compilation Japanese British rock series are Peter Mew's 1998-2011 analog to digital transfers, if not actual clones of his masterings. The sound isn't terrible, but they are not audiophile-quality masterings. They're not especially loud, but are heavily E.Q.'d. Seek out discs (from this series) mainly for the new to CD mixes and takes amongst the bonus tracks.
The series is not strictly a Hollies CD series(though 12 Hollies albums are included). The series also includes albums by Herman's Hermits, The Animals, The Swinging Blue Jeans, Peter & Gordon,The Yardbirds and Manfred Mann. And there is a 2-CD, 56-song various artists compilation "All About The British Beat", featuring songs by various EMI artists, some of them obscure, such as "Haydock's Rockhouse", "Hans Christian"(AKA Jon Anderson). The Gods, The Action & Mike Vickers.
To the person who reposted one of my posts onto the Steve Hoffman forums, I'm O.K. with that. After nearly 4 years, it is apparent that Hoffman's gang will never un-ban me. You'll note that I have now corrected a minor mistake in my previous post.
I'll briefly go off-topic here, and explain that the 2-CD edition of "The Yardbirds-Little Games" included in the SHM-CD series would seem to include everything from all previous CD editions…but not quite. It does NOT include the 1991 Ron Furmanek/Kevin Reeves stereo remix. Instead, the stereo version of the album is represented (mostly) by the original 1967 stereo mix(excepting "Smile on Me", & "Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor", which are 2003 mixes by an uncredited UK engineer).
When more titles from the series arrive, I'll bring you up to date. I ordered The Hollies CD's "Confessions of The Mind" & "Hollies Sing Hollies", the "All About The British Beat" compilation and two Manfred Mann titles. I'm fully expecting that when Manfred Mann's EMI "Commercial test"(Audition) appears as bonus tracks in this series, that the song "Let's Go" will have the mid-verse skip(in the second verse, if I recall correctly) which causes 15 seconds of this previously unreleased song to be omitted. EMI never corrected that Peter Mew mastering glitch, which originated on a UK 4-CD boxed set "Down The Road Apiece".
Posted:Tue Jan 07, 2014 1:33 am
It seems that Warner Music Japan is going to rush these discs onto the market so rapidly, that few people will be able to afford to buy them all, especially, since these discs will be limited editions, available only briefly, with no guarantee that more discs will be pressed.
Further discs(unfortunately no Hollies) have been announced for March release; mostly 1970's artists.
Posted:Wed Jan 08, 2014 19:06 pm
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All we want is a normal and reasonable conversation about Israel. Surely, that is not too much to ask.
Israel means several things to me and all are important
What Israel Means To Me
Anyone who recognizes that his roots are in the West must admit that the moral essence of that culture is in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
2013-02-25 by Carlos Alberto Montaner
My own roots
First is the cultural relationship. Anyone who recognizes that his roots are in the West must admit that the moral essence of that culture is in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
It makes no difference whether the person is a believer, atheist or agnostic (like myself). The notion of free will, the cult of reason, justice and dialogue nurtured in the synagogues, the theory that there are natural rights that cannot be violated by the state, the ideal of freedom as the supreme value of the species, the proposition that compassion and forgiveness are preferable, all these come from the Judeo-Christian heritage, with the additions possibly made along the way by stoicism and other currents of thought in the Greco-Roman world.
Being a Spaniard or a Hispanic-American, one cannot walk around Jerusalem and not perceive that one is in a place to which he has deep but remote historical and personal ties. Every Western person has two homelands: his own and Israel. And that feeling is not sensed when visiting Beijing, Tokyo, Mumbai or any city that was not birthed by the Judeo-Christian matrix.
I still remember with emotion the Christmas I spent in Bethlehem with my family. Although all of us, to a greater or lesser degree, share agnosticism and a certain indifference to the proposition that there is life beyond death, we intensely enjoyed the company of thousands of Christian pilgrims from various parts the world and the carols they sang.
I am appalled to think that the moral heart of the West, because of its Jewish and Christian content (which is just another way of being Jewish), might one day be wiped off the planet as happened to the Sumerians and the Phoenicians. I would see that as a mutilation of my own history, my own identity.
A moral debt
As to modern Israel, which perhaps interests me more than ancient Israel, I am linked to it by some ethical elements. I think the West has an enormous moral debt to the Jewish people. It is true that the Nazis were directly responsible for the Holocaust. Except for a few scoundrels, no one who is halfway educated doubts that 6 million Jews were murdered in Nazi death camps. But it is no less true that, in the West, leaders and people chose to look the other way while Hitler and the rest of that ferocious ideological tribe planned and executed the slaughter.
One had only to read Mein Kampf, published in the 1920s, to predict the catastrophe. After Hitler come to power, anti-Semitic laws were proclaimed in Germany in 1935. In November 1938, Nazi mobs staged what is known as “The Night of Broken Glass,” a monstrous pogrom carried out in several cities in Germany and Austria against the Jews, culminating in the murder of hundreds of defenseless people and the internment of tens of thousands of Jews in concentration camps.
Given these facts, widely reported by the press, what the West did, in general, was to close the door to Jewish immigrants, although in some cases it defrauded or deceived them. It was common for unscrupulous diplomats to sell visas or travel documents to desperate people who were forced to leave their possessions to escape persecution.
In my native Cuba in 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, there was the shameful case of the steamship Saint Louis, which was denied docking after arriving in Havana with about 1,000 Jewish refugees who carried visas illegally sold by corrupt officials for $500 each, a very appreciable amount for the time.
The frightened passengers of the Saint Louis could not disembark on the island because the government of President Laredo Bru refused to accept them, even though they were properly documented. Nor could they set foot in Florida, in the United States, because President Roosevelt concluded that accepting them was politically counterproductive. The ship returned to Europe and 80 percent of those Jews were later murdered in concentration camps.
It is naive to think that the world’s rulers at the time did not know what was happening in Nazi-occupied areas. The truth is that they did not care much because, after all, to discriminate against, persecute, mistreat, expel and even kill Jews was a usual practice in practically every area of the West for many centuries.
I still remember how, in the 1950s, in the exclusive Riviera Club in Coral Gables, a city adjacent to Miami, admittance was barred to Jews and Cubans. Fortunately, over time, with the influx of both to South Florida and the change in customs, that institution today has a majority of members from these ethnic groups, previously discriminated against.
Those who did not live during World War II or did not sympathize with the Nazis, or did not practice any form of anti-Semitism, might claim to feel no responsibility for those events and therefore do not feel obligated to offer any material or moral reparations.
That might be so, but the world would be a more decent place if someone would beg forgiveness from the victims of great injustices. The 20th-Century popes had nothing to do with the persecution of Galileo, but the Catholic Church did well to acknowledge the crimes of the Inquisition and beg to be excused for those barbaric abuses. The 21st-Century Armenians are not those who suffered the crimes of the Turks in the early 20th Century, but they insist that the old and frayed former empire, now ruled by people who were not born when those crimes were committed, apologize for what they did to their ancestors.
If we have a historical memory and we accept – to our honor and benefit – that we belong to a civilization that has given us Socrates, Maimonides and Leonardo, it is also honorable for us to acknowledge the gang of thugs and despicable people like Hitler or Stalin who have accompanied us along the way, infecting that civilization with their crimes.
The extinct Jewry
In any case, the recognition of the West’s neglect, apathy and indifferent complicity in the face of the Holocaust should also be the starting point for a reflection on the intellectual and economic damage we all suffered from the loss of Europe’s Jewry, especially the Jewish scientists, thinkers and artists who gathered in Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czechoslovakia, not overlooking the terrible damage inflicted on the Polish and Ukrainian Jews, who, though a numerical majority, were culturally much less developed.
If we accurately know anything about the development of societies, we know that it is closely linked to the existence of clusters that drive progress or the arts through collective creative spasms such as those that shook Florence under the Medicis, Madrid during the Golden Age, the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th Century, or so-called Silicon Valley in California in recent decades – just to mention some examples – even if only because the concentration of talent empowers, fosters and stimulates individual genius.
Well, then, the concentration of Jewish talent in Central Europe from the mid-19th Century until the outbreak of World War II, is a phenomenon almost unique in contemporary scientific and technical history. People like Einstein or Freud, to name just two among hundreds of names that may appear on the list, made fundamental contributions for the benefit of all mankind, but that vast crucible of thought from which we all benefited was swept and wiped off the map by the Nazi fury, causing us all great harm.
It is not true that only Jews and other minorities such as Gypsies and homosexuals suffered in the extermination camps. With the demise of Europe’s Jewish intelligentsia we all suffered immensely. The liquidation of that vast and fertile cluster caused irreparable harm to mankind. All Europe has been able to heal the wounds, all the cities have been rebuilt, even those that were razed by bombing, but only one loss has been permanent: the hugely creative European Jewry.
A new cluster
Over time, what Nazi madness and insanity destroyed in Europe gradually revived in the Middle East through the efforts of the Jews, many of them Holocaust survivors, who took to Israel the methods, knowledge and best European academic traditions, laying the foundations in the new country of a society that revered research and science.
Israel today is an amazing focus of technical and scientific initiatives, an extraordinary laboratory of ideas that later materialize in artifacts, substances or services that improve and prolong the quality of life of human beings. The wantonly smashed miracle of European Jewry has flourished increasingly in Israel since 1948, despite the enormous problems that the young Israeli state has faced: devastating wars, the arrival of millions of immigrants, the chronic shortage of water, even the resurrection of an almost dead language, Hebrew, which in the early 20th Century few people spoke because it was rarely used outside the liturgy.
That’s another reason why I, a resident of the West, greatly desire that the citizens of Israel continue to think and work. Each scientific discovery they make, every technical innovation they materialize, every enterprise they convert into economic success in their country is an element that benefits me as a user or consumer in another corner of the planet.
It is as if the world held a huge think-tank made up of millions of people, for which it doesn’t have to pay until it gives positive results in the form of goods or services. Those Israeli universities, institutes and research centers, those companies that are incubated in Israel and then leap to the Stock Exchange are part of a huge capital from which we all benefit, the way a computer memory benefits from the support of a external hard drive, to put it in rabidly contemporary terms. I doubt that a scientific and technical cluster as productive and as densely established as Israel’s exists anywhere else in the world, in terms of population mass.
Apart from the horror I feel knowing that there are governments determined to repeat the Nazi genocide and “throw the Jews into the sea,” as every so often Mr. Ahmadinejad, the Iranian dictator, threatens, I feel that a crime of this magnitude, as happened in the last century, if carried out today would hurt me terribly at an individual level, although I am not Jewish or live in Israel. It is impossible to quantify the damage done to humanity by the Holocaust, but I fear that if something like that happened again, this time in Israel, the harm we’d all suffer would be even greater.
Israel as a benchmark
In addition, Israel is an extraordinary benchmark to test our ideas on economic development, democratic coexistence and political change.
After the Israeli experience, we can no longer blame a lack of natural resources for Latin America’s relative poverty. Few other countries have been as badly disadvantaged by nature in their quest for prosperity as Israel was. However, Israel’s per capita income is 30,000 dollars per year, twice that of Chile, which leads Latin America in that category.
Again using Israel as an example, it is not permissible to attribute poverty to the scale of the economy. Israel is a small market of 8 million people, surrounded by hostile countries with which it scarcely trades. It is not a member of large trading blocs like the European Union, Mercosur or the Free Trade Agreement that binds Canada, Mexico and the United States. However, it seeks and maintains trade agreements with the European Union, the United States and any other country with which it can carry out mutually beneficial economic transactions.
To make matters worse, Israel must invest in its defense 7.3 percent of its gross domestic product, which makes it the sixth country in the world to spend proportionately more on defense, using resources diverted from other areas that could generate wealth. But the three great wars that Israel has waged with its Arab neighbors, plus the military interventions in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, make those expenses inevitable. As a point of comparison, the United States, despite fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, spends on defense only 4 percent of its GDP.
On the other hand, when we are told that development is very difficult or impossible in societies that experience great stress and conflict, we inevitably recall the case of Israel.
That small country is a free and pluralistic democracy, subject to periodic elections, with independent powers that are protective of their authority, endowed with a judicial system capable of imprisoning the president, ministers or anyone who violates the law because everyone has to be subordinated to the rule of law and to the general rules that the communities have freely adopted.
It is true that the Arab-Israeli minority has some difficulties that the Jewish majority does not have, but it is also true that those Arab-Israelis are members of Parliament, attend the same institutions where Jews study, have their own publications and worship freely. Women of their ethnicity are the freest in the whole Arab world.
While in neighboring Egypt, 90 percent of women suffer genital mutilation and must silently accept polygamy, the marital humiliations and beatings prescribed by the Koran to uphold the authority of the pater familias, in Israel gender equality before the law prevails.
What I’m getting at is the following: Israel disproves the theory that vigorous development is only possible with strong governments and with an iron fist. Not true. A liberal democracy such as Israel, governed by weak coalitions that attain narrow parliamentary majorities, can reach high levels of achievement if the ruling class subjects itself to the rule of law.
Nor is it true that great social changes require frequent revolutions. Since its founding in 1948, the state of Israel has made the most profound political changes without destroying its institutional framework, relying only on persuasion and majority rule.
Let me explain. Most of the founders of the state of Israel, although they were deeply democratic, dreamed of a collectivist production model based on the voluntary association that exists in the kibbutz, where the unions had a decisive influence. If democratic socialism ever existed in the contemporary world, it was the one preached and practiced by the Israelis who founded first the Jewish Homeland dreamed by Theodor Herzl, and then the state of Israel created by Ben Gurion’s generation.
But time, experience, waves of immigrants and circumstances were changing the Israelis and, little by little, or sometimes with some speed, paradigms and the ideas held by most of society changed, to reach what is now the modern state of Israel: a country where private enterprise and the market prevail, where the kibbutzim and cooperatives occupy only a small space in the productive apparatus because the fascination with the ideas of collectivism democratic has ended.
That really is a true revolution, a profound change, but a revolution without military coups, barricades, deaths, or the arbitrary imposition of a group in power or enlightened leaders. A revolution made within institutions and under the law. Is there a greater lesson for Latin Americans? Any change, however deep, can be made within the rule of law, if good and the proper values prevail.
The strategic partner
Finally, what else is Israel to me and to anyone else concerned about the survival of freedom in the world? As has been said many times, Israel is the only democracy that exists in that part of the world. It is the only truly reliable ally of the West in a region that’s economically vital to the functioning of the developed nations, if only because the Middle East produces half the oil we consume.
Moreover, it is possible that the economic success and the quality of life achieved by Israel as a result, among other things, of its way to organize coexistence, will finally become a state model exportable to other countries in the region, something that would reduce the danger of widespread war.
There are signs that some leaders of the Palestinian Authority living in the ancient Cisjordan realize that they should follow the highly successful model of the Israeli state, democratic and within the rules of the market, something that separates them from the typical autocracies of the Arab world .
Finally, Israel has numerous programs of technical assistance designed for the Third World, especially in the fields of agriculture and medicine. One of the most efficient care centers among those that rushed to Haiti following the recent earthquake was a field hospital sent by Israel with its corresponding staff of physicians, health technicians and medicine. Israel not only wants to help, it knows how to do it. That is another reason why it deserves to be admired and why its existence is a boon to us all.
Long live the state of Israel!
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Edinburgh Arab Festival: 1001 Inventions Versus 1001 Nights
1001 Inventions Versus 1001 Nights: Keynote Speech, by Emeritus Prof. Salim T. S. Al-Hassani, 28 August 2015 at Edinburgh Arab Festival 2015, organized by Islamic & Middle Eastern Department, University of Edinburgh
This presentation demonstrated 3D animations of past key scienctific and technological inventions reconstructed in virtual space from manuscripts and how the intellectual revolution of early Islam was the result of a self-propelling organically growing culture, which combined economic and religious incentives. This vibrant knowledge based society lasted for hundreds of years despite political and religious turbulence.
The concept of [faith (Imanإيمان ) as input and beneficial knowledge (I’lm Nafi’علم نافع) and useful work (A’mel Salleh عمل صالح) as output] became the engine driving individuals, male and female, to invent, innovate and achieve scientific and economic progress whilst embracing different faiths and cultures in Muslim civilisation.
Examples of such achievements still influence our modern homes, schools, hospitals, towns, markets and other aspects of our lives that were heavily researched into with some findings being made available by the 1001 Inventions: Discover A Golden Age – Inspire A Better Future exhibition and book .
Unfortunately, there is a period of a 1000 years of missing scientific contributions from the education system. Almost in every subject taught in schools, there exists a jump from the Greek civilisation to the Renaissance, usually referred to as the “Dark Ages”. What seems to be predominantly in the minds of people about the Muslims and the Arabs of the time are the tales of 1001 Nights including characters such as with Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp and Flying Carpet etc. When in reality, Muslim civilisation made great strides in development, creation and innovation in science, technology and civilisation.
This amnesia affects the minds of present and future generations and distorts their attitudes and perceptions of the role of other cultures, particularly those within the Muslim civilisation, in building the present civilisation.
It is hoped that this presentation inspired the audience to re-perceive the so called “Dark Ages” in Europe and start viewing it as a “Golden Age” in places such as Baghdad, Damascus and Cairo where great women and men expressed their religious and social aspirations by undertaking useful work to improve the quality of life on this earth.
Source: www.edarabfest.co.uk
The inaugural Edinburgh Arab Festival keynote speeches were delivered by Mr Leslie McLoughlin, Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter (pictured 2nd left), and Professor Salim T. Al-Hassani, Emeritus Professor at the University of Manchester (2nd right). Also pictured is Dr Muntasir Al-Hamad (far left), Assistant Professor at Qatar University and Mourad Diouri (far right), Director Edinburgh Arab Festival. (Source)
FSTC is an international network of historians, scientists, engineers, educationalists and museum professionals working to popularise awareness of the historic roots of science. By highlighting role models from the past and how their achievements and inventions live on in the modern world, FSTC aims to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
FSTC is also the global partner of 1001 Inventions.
About Edinburgh International Arts Festival,
As part of the internationally renowned Edinburgh International Arts Festival, known as the Fringe Festival, the Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies Department at the University of Edinburgh is launching the first ever Edinburgh Arab Festival 2015 in Scotland.
The event took place on 28-29th August and was located at a prestigious venue in the heart of the city of Edinburgh, during the most popular time of the Fringe festival.
This year’s festival was a vibrant two-day event to introduce the rich cultural, literary and historical heritage of the Arab world to the public. There was a varied programme of events including a keynote speech by a high-profile speaker, exhibition and art galleries, live entertainment, food tasting and multiple live workshops in language, poetry, storytelling and art.
www.edarabfest.co.uk
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Vietnam calls for multinational efforts to cope with global security threats
Ensuring national security and sustainable socio-economic development in the context of growing security threats is an urgent and challenging task for all countries around the world, which needs their concerted efforts, Vietnamese Minister of Public Security General To Lam has said.
Vietnam well positioned to fulfil role in UN Security Council: veteran diplomat
PM: Vietnam ready to contribute to int’l efforts for peace, security
Lam made the statement at the 10th international meeting of high-ranking officials responsible for security matters in Russia on June 18. Hundreds of delegates from 120 countries and representatives from the United Nations (UN) took part in the three-day event.
The minister said the current border, sea and island sovereignty disputes are developing complicatedly and posing potential risk of military conflicts, directly threatening peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of aviation and navigation.
Minister of Public Security Gen. To Lam (first from left) delivers a speech at the event (Photo: VNA)
He also mentioned threats posed by high-tech crime to steal information, intellectual property and state secrets as well as increasing terrorism and extremism activities in some regions, and other non-traditional security risks such as cross-border crime, climate change, diseases, crises, and exhaustion of natural and fuel resources.
In that context, Vietnam has gained a lot of achievements in national building, protection and development over the past years, Lam said.
From Vietnam’s experience, he proposed some measures to ensure national security and sustainable socio-economic development such as promoting national internal strength; respecting independence and sovereignty of countries and international law; enhancing multinational and regional cooperation; and increasing the role of organisations, regions, and groups linking countries in the world in preventing and combating threats.
The minister affirmed that Vietnam is willing to cooperate with other countries in the region and the world as well as share experience with international law enforcement agencies and organisations to strengthen capacity to ensure national security and sustainable socio-economic development, contributing to the maintenance of peace and stability in each country.
On the sidelines of the meeting, Lam met with representatives from China, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Mongolia, to discuss measures to step up cooperation in the fight against trans-national crime, drug crime, high-tech crime, human trafficking, and money laundering.
Earlier, at a working session with Radiy Khabirov, Acting Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan, Lam highlighted the growing comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia in all fields with increasing political trust.
Khabirov affirmed that local authorities will create all favourable conditions for Vietnamese businesses to invest in Bashkortostan.
Lam also met with Sergey Naryshkin, Director of the Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, and attended a reception hosted by Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev for heads of delegations from ASEAN countries.
Tag CAND General To Lam global security threats Minister of Public Security General To Lam PSN PSNews vietnam security
NA works to deal with voters’ concerns promptly: Chairwoman
Prime Minister to attend 34th ASEAN Summit in Thailand
Social media for country’s political stability: official
PM: Vietnam, India should further promote bilateral trade ties
Vietnamese, Russian leaders exchange greetings on friendship ties anniversary
Vice President holds bilateral meetings on CICA sidelines
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From TSL Encyclopedia
Revision as of 08:21, 27 June 2016 by Pduffy (Talk | contribs) (Created page with "'''Gautama Buddha''', the “Compassionate One,” holds the office of Lord of the World (referred to as “God of the Earth” in Rev. 11:4), hierarch of the etheric retrea...")
Gautama Buddha, the “Compassionate One,” holds the office of Lord of the World (referred to as “God of the Earth” in Rev. 11:4), hierarch of the etheric retreat at Shamballa (over the Gobi desert), where he sustains the threefold flame of Life for the evolutions of Earth. Gautama (who was embodied as Siddhartha Gautama c. 563 B.C.), is the great teacher of enlightenment through the soul’s mastery of the Ten Perfections, the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path, and sponsor of Summit University and of the mission of the Mother of the Flame to carry the torch of illumination for the age.
Gautama came in an hour when Hinduism was at its worst state of decadence. The priesthood was involved in favoritism and guarding the great secrets, the real mysteries of God, from the people, thus keeping the masses in ignorance. The caste system had become a means of imprisonment of the soul instead of a means of liberation through dharma. Born as Prince Siddhartha, he left palace, power, wife and son to gain that enlightenment whereby he could give back to the people that which the interlopers had taken from them.
2 Asceticism
3 The Bo tree
4 Teaching
5 Passing
7 Gautama’s work today
8 Retreats
Gautama Buddha, was born Siddhartha Gautama in northern India. He was the son of King Suddhodana and Queen Mahamaya, rulers of the Sakya kingdom, and thus a member of the Kshatriya (warrior or ruling) caste.
Ancient Pali texts and Buddhist scriptures record that before his birth, his mother, Mahamaya, dreamt that a beautiful silver-white elephant entered her womb through her side. Brahmins, called to interpret the dream, foretold the birth of a son who would become either a universal monarch or a buddha.
During the last days of her pregnancy, the queen began a journey to Devadaha to visit her parents, as was the custom in India. On the way she stopped with her attendants at Lumbini Park and reached for a flowering branch of a sal tree. There, under the blossoming tree, the Buddha was born on the full-moon day of the month of May.
On the fifth day following the birth, 108 Brahmins were invited to a name-giving ceremony at the palace. The king summoned eight of the most learned from among these to “read” the child’s destiny by interpreting his bodily marks and physical characteristics.
Seven agreed that if he remained at home, he would become a universal king, unifying India; but if he left, he would become a buddha and remove the veil of ignorance from the world. Kondañña, the eighth and youngest of the group, declared he would definitely become a buddha, renouncing the world after seeing four signs—an old man, a diseased man, a dead man, and a holy man.
The child was named Siddhartha, or “One Whose Aim Is Fulfilled.” Seven days after his birth, his mother passed on and he was raised by her sister Mahaprajapati, who later became one of his first female disciples.
The king, concerned about the Brahmins’ predictions and the possibility of losing his heir, took every precaution to shelter his son from pain and suffering, surrounding him with every conceivable luxury, including three palaces and forty thousand dancing girls.
In the Anguttara Nikāya (a canonical text), Gautama describes his upbringing in his own words:
I was tenderly cared for,... supremely so, infinitely so. At my father’s palace, lotus pools were built for me, in one place for blue lotus flowers, in one place for white lotus flowers, and in one place for red lotus flowers, blossoming for my sake.... Day and night a white umbrella was held over me, so that I might not be troubled by cold, heat, dust, chaff, or dew. I dwelt in three palaces,... in one, during the cold; in one, in the summer; and in one, during the rainy season. While in the palace of the rainy season, surrounded by musicians, singers, and female dancers, for four months I did not descend from the palace....[1]
At sixteen, after proving his skill in a contest of arms, Prince Siddhartha married his beautiful cousin Yasodhara. He soon grew pensive and preoccupied, but the turning point of his life did not occur until the age of twenty-nine, when he set out on four journeys which presented in turn the four passing sights.
First he encountered a very old man, gray and decrepit, leaning on a staff; second, a pitiful one racked with disease, lying in the road; third, a corpse; and fourth, a yellow-robed monk with shaved head and a begging bowl. Much moved with compassion by the first three sights, he realized that life was subject to old age, disease, and death. The fourth sight signified to him the possibility of overcoming these conditions and inspired him to leave the world he knew in order to find a solution for suffering.
On his way back to the palace, he received news of the birth of his son, whom he named Rahula, or “obstacle.” That night he ordered his charioteer to saddle his favorite horse, Kanthaka. Before leaving the city, he went to the bedchamber for a farewell look at his sleeping wife and son. He then rode all night and at dawn assumed the guise of an ascetic, exchanging clothes with his charioteer, whom he sent back to his father’s palace.
Thus, Gautama began the life of a wandering monk. Immediately he went in search of the most learned teachers of the day to instruct him in truth, quickly mastering all they taught. Unsatisfied and restless, he determined to find a permanent truth, impervious to the illusions of the world.
Traveling through the Magadha country, he was noticed for his handsome countenance and noble stature. He arrived at a village called Senanigama, near Uruvela, where he was joined by a group of five ascetics, among whom was Kondañña, the Brahmin who had foretold his Buddhahood.
Here, for almost six years, Gautama practiced severe austerities, which are recorded in his own words in the Majjhima Nikāya:
Because of so little nourishment, all my limbs became like some withered creepers with knotted joints;... the pupils of my eyes appeared sunk deep in their sockets as water appears shining at the bottom of a deep well;... the skin of my belly came to be cleaving to my back-bone....[2]
As a consequence of these severe bodily mortifications, Gautama became so weak that he once fainted and was believed to be dead. Some accounts describe how he was found collapsed by a shepherd boy who restored him with drops of warm milk. Others say it was the devas, or gods, who revived him. Realizing the futility of asceticism, Gautama abandoned his austerities to seek his own path of enlightenment—whereupon his five companions rejected and deserted him.
The Bo tree
The Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya, India. The tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment is on the left.
One day Sujata, a villager’s daughter, fed him a rich rice milk—a “meal so wondrous ... that our Lord felt strength and life return as though the nights of watching and the days of fast had passed in dream.”[3] And then he set out alone for the Bo tree (abbreviation for bodhi, or enlightenment) at a place now called Buddh Gaya, or Bodh Gaya, where he vowed to remain until fully illumined. Hence, it has become known as the Immovable Spot.
At that point, Mara, the Evil One, attempted to prevent his enlightenment and confronted him with temptations much in the same manner that Satan tested Jesus during his fasting in the wilderness.
The Dhammapada records the words of Mara, as she assailed Gautama: “Lean, suffering, ill-favored man, Live! Death is your neighbor. Death has a thousand hands, you have only two. Live! Live and do good, live holy, and taste reward. Why do you struggle? Hard is struggle, hard to struggle all the time.”
Unmoved, he sat under the Bo tree while Mara continued her attack—first in the form of desire, parading voluptuous goddesses and dancing girls before him, then in the guise of death, assailing him with hurricanes, torrential rains, flaming rocks, boiling mud, fierce soldiers and beasts—and finally darkness. Yet still, Gautama remained unmoved.
As a last resort, the temptress challenged his right to be doing what he was doing. Siddhartha then tapped the earth,[4] and the earth thundered her answer: “I bear you witness!” All the hosts of the Lord and the elemental beings responded and acclaimed his right to pursue the enlightenment of the Buddha—whereupon Mara fled.
Having defeated Mara, Gautama spent the rest of the night in deep meditation under the tree, recalling his former embodiments, attaining the “superhuman divine eye” (the ability to see the passing away and rebirth of beings), and realizing the Four Noble Truths. In his own recorded words: “Ignorance was dispelled, knowledge arose. Darkness was dispelled, light arose.”[5]
Thus, he attained Enlightenment, or the Awakening, during the night of the full-moon day of the month of May, about the year 528 B.C. His being was transformed, and he became the Buddha.
The event was of cosmic import. All created things filled the morning air with their rejoicings and the earth quaked six ways with wonder. Ten thousand galaxies shuddered in awe as lotuses bloomed on every tree, turning the entire universe into “a bouquet of flowers sent whirling through the air”....[6]
For a total of forty-nine days he was deep in rapture, after which he again turned his attention to the world. He found Mara waiting for him with one last temptation: “How can your experience be translated into words? Return to Nirvana. Do not try to deliver your message to the world, for no one will comprehend it. Remain in bliss!” But Buddha replied: “There will be some who will understand,” and Mara vanished from his life forever.
Sarnath, India, the stupa marking the site where Gautama preached his first sermon
Contemplating whom he should first teach, he decided to return to the five ascetics who had left him. He began a journey of over one hundred miles to Benares and delivered to his old companions his first sermon, known as the Dhammacakkappavattana-sutta, or “Setting in Motion the Wheel of Truth.”
At the end of the sermon, in which he revealed the key discovery of his quest—the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, and the Middle Way—he accepted the five monks as the first members of his order. Kondañña was the first to grasp the teaching.
For forty-five years, Gautama walked the dusty roads of India, preaching the Dhamma (universal Doctrine), which led to the founding of Buddhism. He established the sangha (community) that soon numbered over twelve hundred devotees, eventually including his entire family—his father, aunt, wife, and son. When the people questioned him as to his identity, he answered, “I am awake”—hence, the Buddha, meaning “Enlightened One” or “Awakened One.”
At the age of eighty, Gautama became seriously ill and almost died, but revived himself, thinking it was not right to die without preparing his disciples. By sheer determination, he recovered and instructed Ananda, his cousin and close disciple, that the order should live by making themselves an island—by becoming their own refuge and making the Dhamma their island, their refuge forever.
After announcing that he would die in three months, he traveled through several villages and then stayed with Cunda, the goldsmith, one of his devoted followers. According to generally accepted tradition, Cunda invited Gautama to partake of sukara-maddava—a dish he had prepared unknowingly with poisoned mushrooms. After the meal, Gautama became violently ill, but bore his pain without complaint.
His only concern was to console Cunda, who might feel responsible for his death. And thus, he compassionately asked Ananda to tell Cunda that of all the meals he had eaten, only two stood out as special blessings—one was the meal served by Sujata before his enlightenment, and the other was the food from Cunda which opened the gates to his transition.
He passed during the full-moon of May, c. 483 B.C., after again advising Ananda that the Dhamma—the Truth—must be his master and reminding the monks of the transiency of all conditioned things.
Following the passing of Gautama, Buddhism began to develop in two major directions, leading to the establishment of the Hinayana (“little vehicle”) and the Mahayana (“great vehicle”) schools of Buddhism, from which many further subgroups evolved.
Adherents of the Hinayana school believe their teachings represent the original Buddhist doctrine taught by Gautama, and therefore refer to their path as the Theravada, or “Way of the Elders.”
The traditional Theravadin outlook centers around the monastic way of life and emphasizes the necessity for self-sacrifice and individual enlightenment in order to help others. Their goal is to become an arhat—perfected disciple—and enter Nirvana.
The Mahayanists, who believe that the Theravadins’ strict observance of precepts departs from the true spirit of the Buddha, concentrate more on emulating the Buddha’s life, stressing good works and compassion toward others in the process of gaining enlightenment. The Theravadins, however, claim that the Mahayanists have polluted the pure stream of Gautama’s teaching by incorporating more liberal doctrines and interpretations.
The Mahayanists consider their school to be the “greater vehicle,” as it provides more for the layman. Their ideal is to become a bodhisattva—one who attains Nirvana but voluntarily returns to the world to assist others in obtaining the same goal.
Gautama’s work today
Gautama Buddha was the first initiate to serve under Sanat Kumara, hence the one chosen to succeed him in the office of Lord of the World. On January 1, 1956, Sanat Kumara placed his mantle on Lord Gautama, whereupon the Chela par excellence of the Great Guru also became the hierarch of Shamballa.
Gautama Buddha today holds the office of Lord of the World (referred to as “God of the Earth” in Revelation 11:4). At inner levels, he sustains the threefold flame of life, the divine spark, for all children of God on earth.
Speaking of the great service Lord Gautama renders to all life in his office as Lord of the World, Maitreya said on January 1, 1986:
The Lord of the World does sustain the threefold flame in the evolutions of earth by a filigree light extending from his heart. This, then, is the bypassing of the individual’s karma whereby there is so much blackness around the heart that the spiritual arteries or the crystal cord have been cut off.
The comparison of this is seen when the arteries in the physical body become so clogged with debris that the area of the flow of blood becomes greatly diminished until it becomes a point of insufficiency and the heart can no longer sustain life. This is comparable to what has happened on the astral plane.
So Sanat Kumara came to earth to keep the flame of life. And so does Gautama Buddha keep this threefold flame at Shamballa, and he is a part of every living heart. Therefore, as the disciple approaches the Path, he understands that its goal is to come to the place where the threefold flame is developed enough here below within his own heart that indeed, with or without the filigree thread from the heart of Gautama Buddha, he is able to sustain life and soul and consciousness and the initiatic path.
Beloved ones, this step in itself is an accomplishment that few upon this planet have attained to. You have no idea how you would feel or be or behave if Gautama Buddha withdrew from you that support of the filigree thread and the momentum of his own heartbeat and threefold flame. Most people, especially the youth, do not take into consideration what is the source of the life that they experience in exuberance and joy.
Of this gift, Gautama himself said on December 31, 1983:
I am very observant. I observe you by the contact of my flame through the thread-contact I maintain to the threefold flame of your heart—sustaining it as I do until you pass from the seat-of-the-soul chakra to the very heart of hearts [[[the secret chamber of the heart]]], and you yourself are able by attainment to sustain that flame and its burning in this octave.
Did anyone here ever recall himself igniting his own threefold flame at birth? Has anyone here ever remembered tending its fire or keeping it burning? Beloved hearts, recognize that acts of love and valor and honor and selflessness surely contribute to this flame. But a higher power and a higher Source does keep that flame until you, yourself, are one with that higher power—your own Christ Self.
Therefore, all receive the boost of my heart flame and impetus. And as that light passes through me from the Godhead, I therefore perceive many things about you and your everyday life that you might think beyond mention or notice of a Lord of the World, who must be, indeed, very busy.
Well, indeed, I am! But I am never too busy to notice the elements of the Path presented by parents and in families and communities and in the schoolrooms of life everywhere. For I make it my business to see to it that some element of the path of initiation, moving toward the heart of Jesus and Maitreya, is a part of the life of every growing child.
Gautama Buddha is the sponsor of Summit University and the hierarch of Shamballa, the etheric retreat of the Lord of the World located over the Gobi Desert. In 1981, Gautama established an extension of this retreat, called the Western Shamballa, in the etheric octave over the Heart of the Inner Retreat at the Royal Teton Ranch.
Gautama Buddha’s keynote is “Moonlight and Roses.” The “Ode to Joy” from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony also gives us direct attunement with the Lord of the World.
Pearls of Wisdom, vol. 26, no. 4, January 23, 1983.
Pearls of Wisdom, vol. 32, no. 30, July 23, 1989.
Mark L. Prophet and Elizabeth Clare Prophet, The Masters and Their Retreats, s.v. “Gautama Buddha.”
Elizabeth Clare Prophet, Inner Perspectives.
↑ Helena Roerich, Foundations of Buddhism (New York: Agni Yoga Society, 1971), p. 7.
↑ Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. “Buddha.”
↑ Edwin Arnold, The Light of Asia (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1930), p. 96.
↑ with the “earth-touching mudra”—left hand upturned in lap, right hand pointed downward, touching earth.
↑ Edward J. Thomas, The Life of Buddha as Legend and History (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1927), pp. 66-68, quoted in Clarence H. Hamilton, ed., Buddhism: A Religion of Infinite Compassion (New York: The Liberal Arts Press, 1952), pp. 22–23.
↑ Huston Smith, The Religions of Man (New York: Harper & Row, Harper Colophon Books, 1958), p. 84.
Retrieved from "http://encyclopedia.summitlighthouse.org/index.php?title=Gautama_Buddha&oldid=1718"
Heavenly beings
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The Economics of Happiness, Part 5: Will Raising the Incomes of All Raise the Happiness of All?
by Justin Wolfers
In a famous 1995 paper, Richard Easterlin asked: “Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all?” His analysis involved studying the evolution of happiness through time in Japan, the U.S. and Europe. His answer? “No.”
Betsey Stevenson and I recently returned to examining the evolution of happiness in these three important regions, and we conclude that the evidence is not so clear cut.
First, Europe. The Eurobarometer Survey allows us to track average levels of life satisfaction since 1973, in the same nine nations that Easterlin analyzed. The relationship between happiness and G.D.P. in these countries is shown below:
1) In eight of these nine nations, satisfaction grew as G.D.P. grew, and in six of these cases, the relationship is statistically significant.
2) But there are some pretty interesting exceptions. For instance, why has happiness fallen in Belgium, even as G.D.P. has grown? And why did happiness take so long to grow in Ireland, even as the “Irish miracle” led to tremendous economic growth?
3) While the pattern varies across countries, in most cases, the time series data suggest a satisfaction-G.D.P. gradient of about 0.2, with some larger, and some smaller.
4) This pattern of satisfaction growing with G.D.P. is less clearly evident if one analyzes only the early data (solid dots). This partly explains how we are able to make stronger inferences than earlier researchers.
5) In subsequent years, this survey (and indeed, Europe) has expanded to include more countries. We have analyzed this broader sample of countries, finding roughly similar conclusions.
Now, let’s turn to Japan, which is arguably the most interesting case study, because it went from a quite poor country after the war, to become one of the world’s economic powerhouses by the late 1980’s. Moreover, Japan is unusual because the government has collected life satisfaction data since 1958. Previous researchers had interpreted those data as suggesting that this incredible economic growth had yielded no gains in happiness.
Puzzled by this finding, we had the Japanese survey questions re-translated. It turns out that there was not one continuous question yielding a flat trend in well-being, but instead four separate questions asked in four separate periods. And during each of the first three periods — when economic growth was rapid — it was matched by commensurate growth in life satisfaction. The fourth question began in 1992 and satisfaction declined as per capita economic growth was anemic (0.9 percent) and unemployment became a problem.
Looked at this way, the dramatic growth in Japanese G.D.P. from 1958 to 1991 was matched by rapid growth in life satisfaction. The decline in satisfaction since 1992 is both worrying, and worth much more study.
Finally, we turn to the United States. Happiness data from the General Social Survey show virtually no trend since 1972, despite G.D.P. having doubled over this period. We find this puzzling, and we really don’t have an airtight understanding of what is happening in the U.S. Equally the “happiness shortfall” isn’t that large — by 2006 perhaps another 8 percent of the population should be “very happy”, and the proportions “not too happy” or “fairly happy” should each be about 4 percent lower.
One possibility is that inequality may play a role.
Yesterday I showed that happiness seems to be related to the log of a person’s income level. If this is right, then average levels of happiness would rise with average log income, whereas our usual income numbers (shown in the second panel, below) focus on the log of average income.
Instead, the bottom panel shows rather anemic growth in average log income. Thus, given that the income gains over the past few decades went mostly to those who are well off, and given that these folks get somewhat less happiness per extra dollar, then perhaps it seems reasonable not to expect much of a rise in happiness. And indeed, average happiness for those at the top of the income distribution has grown through this period.
Our research paper contains a lot more about comparisons of happiness and income through time. The broader datasets follow the contours of the discussion above: the experience of some countries points strongly to a happiness-income link, there are definitely cases that point against it, and others leave you scratching your head.
All told, there are probably more time series suggesting that growing G.D.P. is related to growing happiness than there are suggesting the opposite. Thus we conclude that the time series evidence is both weakly supportive of a happiness-income link, and also fragile.
And even if these data don’t convince you that there is a strong connection between G.D.P. and happiness, they also shouldn’t convince you that they are unrelated.
Tomorrow, we’ll turn to asking in a bit more detail just what these happiness data are measuring.
April 24, 2008 @ 2:49am
Gregg Easterbrook of The New Republic, The Brookings Institute and ESPN (how's that for a fan plug?) wrote a great book about this exact subject call the The Progress Paradox. Just finished it on a flight last week.
Russell Beckley
April 23, 2008 @ 10:37pm
What does "satisfation" mean? How do I know how happy I am? IF somebody asks me how happy I am, couldn't that affect how happy I am? Perhaps money can't buy happiness, but if you are happy just to get money, it doesn't have to. IS it possible that happiness brings money?
Dave Younskevicius
April 23, 2008 @ 4:22pm
You say an increase in income inequality explains the anomaly of the U.S., I say it's because past a certain point, money doesn't bring happiness. There's a famous study that says beyond $40,000, more money does not make you much happier.
As I replied in the first post on the topic, this trend is being obscured by the constant use of logarithmic scales. Constant scales would show the trend between income and happiness levelling off much faster, to the point where in a rich nation like the U.S., the relationship between the two might be flat. Money is great when you're broke and can't afford to eat. But when you already have two cars, a house, and a decent job, more money is not necessarily going to make you a lot happier.
I know if my home had a higher income we could do things we can't do now. With bills and everything else I don't have the money to stretch into vacations or anything like that.
I stay at home and my husband works. I watch our son and run a blog, it is fairly new but I am hoping some day it might bring in some cash. i choose to be a stay at home mom which does put a financial strain on our family, but benefits my son, and that pretty much out weighs the money issues.
We are happy, but calls from bill collectors, or trying to manage where everything is going to go and will we have enough money for gas and food each month is stressful.
So yes more money = less stress = a happier me
The Baked Blogger
http://bakedblog.com
I think men and women have differing views on happiness. I would like to see gender broken out of the data, especially since the presence of large numbers of women in the workforce.
I saw the last graphs and was quite surprised. The second last graph, Log of (average income) is quite OK and is done regularly. But after that, the graph that you have drawn the average log of income, is problematic.
After taking the log, any addition is basically a multiplication of the original data, a division by 2 would be a square root, a division by 3 would be a cube root and so on.
So averaging after the log, has no meaning and would result in nonsensical data.
As for the Irish question: what do your date show if you use GNP in stead of GDP. In general GDP and GNP are highly correlated but in the case of Ireland GDP has outstripped GNP enormously since 1990 or so.
I think the log scales make sense, considering marginal return.
$10 matters a lot to someone with $10,000 annual income, but doesn't matter much to someone with $5,000 annual income. But $50 would matter to the person with $50,000 annual income.
Greg Flynn
In Ireland 1973-89 the economy was indeed growing but not as fast as the educated population with higher expectations than their parents. Access to the European Community and cheap air fares increased the global mobility of Irish graduates during this period. Emigration peaked in 1989 when employment bottomed out. Return migration of Irish citizens had begun increasing in 1987. I would say that in the 80s there was a wide range of satisfaction levels as the people adjusted to the new economy and investments were made in infrastructure. GDP per capita increased steadily but the population was leaking. Irish employment began increasing from 1989 and really took off in the early 90s.
Post #1 complained that Easterlin "data just didn't lend themselves to strong conclusions." Now, to imply any kind of direct correlation between income and happiness without issuing the same qualification is disingenuous.
There seems to be no controlling for availability of health care, or food, for instance. There seems to be no control of other variables that influence one's perceived place on a perceived scale other than being caused by GDP.
Also, might the Japanese 1992-2006 data and the 1972-2006 U.S. data (GDP going up, happiness staying flat) indicate there is a "satiation point"? It seems inadequate to point to growing U.S. disparity of income during the time or the growing trend of working mothers in U.S., unless that is being controlled in data from other countries where "happiness" rises with "GDP."
Also, how sure are you that lower income people are fairly represented in the happiness survey across the globe? Interesting how when you take out two poorer countries, Tanzania and Nigeria, the results are more to your liking.
I've heard ignorance is bliss, maybe wealth makes people stupid- that is not considered. Or what about the results proving the world is becoming a mono-culture of mass consuming capitalism, and income is becoming a proxy for happiness?
To repeat, to complain that Easterlin's "data just didn't lend themselves to strong conclusions" and to continue to imply any kind of direct correlation between income and happiness without issuing the same qualification is disingenuous, although maybe on par with the rest of economic theory that ignores something like environmental degradation and considers war and wasteful military spending a plus in GDP.
Thank you for this series of posts. Greatly appreciated. Am looking forward to more. This kind of material, presented for a general audience in plain English but with links to more technical material, is the best of the internet and is, I hope, a model for the way knowledge should be presented.
To explain, as you know, most academic writing is hideous. Some is just bad writing. Some is overuse of jargon that narrows the intent and meaning to a specific academic or technical point. And some is jargonized obfuscation designed to make work seem more important.
Increasing specialization and its attendant sub-languages make communication across fields more difficult. The internet, with its multi-media and links, can allow material to be understood across boundaries while preserving its depth. The difference is between an accessible but rich text and the sad reality that general or survey materials tend toward the superficial while the technical becomes incomprehensible.
If the question is: is the income effect on happyness from relative or f(absolute) changes in income - has anyone looked at other measures of income (e.g. median) and/or constrasted these changes over changes in income inequality (Gini). If relative changes are key, increasing inequity with no change to average income would be an interesing test.
Stephen de las Heras
Does having more candy make kids happier? Probably. For most kids there is no such thing as having too much candy.
But just like people's environmental awareness changes over time, so can people's materialistic awareness. Less really is more sometimes, and many people are re-discovering this simple truth. This leads to an apples and oranges comparison between people with vastly different priorities in life.
I think this is all very interesting. With respect to the peculiar case of the U.S., I think it is a strong possibility that we would have to analyze variance with various social factors given differentiation in social space. What are the factors that enable or constraint the degree to which income expands the decision space? What is the political situation in Belgium?
I will be especially interested in looking at how these questions are asked and how satisfaction is measured, as this becomes particularly difficult when we are dealing with cross-cultural comparisons (even cross-class comparisons are to some degree incommensurate without sufficient controls).
Mo money mo problems.
[ctrl. F] "Spain"... no wait!! where is Spain!! Why is Greece there instead??...
Correlation is not causation.
There's a lot more going on in the development of postwar Japan than just the GDP increasing (and happiness also). Very major cultural shifts and such.
Looking at the data, I think it's very hard to claim that per capita GDP growth equates with increased happiness.
Greece I think is the best counterexample, with the GDP staying flat for many years, but the happiness levels rising and falling in place.
Also, this data only looks at anomolies from the countries' norm happiness. I think it would be much more illuminating to look at absolute data instead. Belgium, for example, might be an exceptionally happy country, but declining more toward average over time, while the GDP rises.
This data doesn't really help with any sort of conclusion at all, not even a "weakly supportive" one.
June 5, 2008 @ 5:13am
Sorry for my ignorance, but shouldn't we be looking at median income rather than average or GDP/capita (another kind of average)? That would get around the inequality problem to some degree, no? If inequality is rising (as I've read, at least in the US), doesn't that mean that income distribution is becoming more skewed, which makes the mean a poor measure of central tendency?
Jim Birch
June 15, 2009 @ 6:24am
Here's an interesting talk on happiness that for sheds light on some of the difficulties with different happiness measures.
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/philosopherszone/stories/2009/2580932.htm
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SHARIA – INDONESIA
November 28, 2016 freespeechadmin Leave a comment
Indonesian woman flogged for close proximity with a man
Banda Aceh (Indonesia) (AFP) – An Indonesian woman screamed in agony Monday as she was caned in Aceh, the latest in a growing number of women to be publicly flogged for breaking the province’s strict Islamic laws.
Aceh is the only province in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country that imposes sharia law. People can face floggings for a range of offences — from gambling, to drinking alcohol, to gay sex.
In the latest caning, five people — two women and three men — were flogged in front of a cheering crowd at a mosque in the provincial capital Banda Aceh.
The 34-year-old woman who yelled in pain had been found guilty of spending time in close proximity with a man who was not her husband in contravention of Aceh’s Islamic regulations.
She was lashed seven times with a rattan cane by a man wearing long robes and a hood, with just slits for the eyes.
“It hurts so bad,” the woman said, raising her arms into the air, as she was beaten.
The 32-year-old man with whom she was caught was also flogged seven times.
Two university students, both 19, received 100 lashes of the cane after they confessed to sex outside marriage. They stared at the ground as they were flogged, showing little emotion.
A man found guilty of sex outside marriage was flogged 22 times although his partner, who is two-months pregnant, is still waiting to learn her fate after facing trial at an Islamic court.
However Aceh authorities typically spare pregnant women from canings.
Aceh, on Sumatra island, began implementing sharia law after being granted special autonomy in 2001, an attempt by the central government in Jakarta to quell a long-running separatist insurgency.
Islamic laws have been strengthened since the province struck a peace
deal with Jakarta in 2005, and there has been a particular increase in the number of women being caned in recent times.
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The War Department sets up two new Army Departments for the defense of Pennsylvania
With an expected Confederate movement against the state, the War Department set up two new Army Departments in Pennsylvania. The Department of the Monongahela, headquartered at Pittsburgh and under Major General William T.H. Brooks, was to include Pennsylvania west of Johnstown and several neighboring counties in Virginia and Ohio. The Department of the Susquehanna was to include everything to the east of that line, headquartered in Chambersburg and commanded by Major General Darius N. Couch. (By John Osborne)
War Department, Thomas M. O'Brien, Oliver Diefendorf (eds), General Orders of the War Department, Embracing the years 1861, 1862, 1863 ... (New York: Derby and Miller, 1864), 197.
Battles/Soldiers
Brooks, William Thomas Harbaugh
Couch, Darius Nash
Hancock County, VA
Brooke County, VA
Ohio County, VA
Columbiana County, OH
Jefferson County, OH
Belmont County, OH
Chambersburg, PA
How to Cite This Page: "The War Department sets up two new Army Departments for the defense of Pennsylvania," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, http://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/node/39837.
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Settlers destroy natural spring used by Palestinians for farming near Salfit
A group of Israeli settlers today destroyed a spring by the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan in the Salfit district. The settlers poured sand and cement into the spring, guarded by five armed members of the Israeli military.
Palestinians from the village were forced to watch helplessly as events unfolded, prevented by the soldiers from moving close to the spring or from filming what was happening. International Solidarity Movement volunteers were able to secretly film for a short time before the soldiers noticed, and made both Palestinians and Internationals leave, saying that the area was now designated as a Closed Military Zone.
Last Friday, a group of Palestinians and internationals spent the day clearing the area around the spring to make it more accessible from the village. This followed previous attacks from settlers on nearby springs and farmland, during which a child suffered serious head wounds, from which he is still recovering in hospital, and an elderly man had his arm and leg broken.
Locals intend to continue their attempts to keep the spring open, and to turn the area around it into a park for the use of the village.
Under international law, the settlement next to Qarawat Bani Hassan is illegal, as are all other settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Source: http://palsolidarity.org/2010/03/11679
To put this shocking news story in some context read this excerpt from a December 2009 speech by Omar Barghouti (PACBI) referring to a recent report by Amnesty on water and its denial used as a weapon by Israel to ethnically cleanse Palestine of its people:
In the water report that Amnesty has issued it has said that Israelis on average use 4 times as much water as the Palestinians, in some areas the settlers use 20 times as much as the Palestinians in their immediate vicinity.
180,000 to 200,000 Palestinians are denied access to running water completely - they only get water by buying it, and buying it is getting much more expensive because with the checkpoints, roadblocks and so on its become much more difficult to deliver water. Some families according to Amnesty are spending 25% of their income on drinking water, 25% - imagine it in your income and then you figure it out.
But in Gaza its the worst, in Gaza 90-95% of the water supply has been contaminated, there is no good drinking water in Gaza, you can only drink contaminated water unless you are rich enough to buy the bottled water 'smuggled' through the tunnels.
Another aspect that Amnesty talks about in its report is ethnic cleansing, they don't mention the word 'ethnic cleansing' but they say Israel is deliberately denying access to water in so-called area C. The West Bank is divided in to areas A, B and C. C is under full Israeli control and it happens that 60% of the land of the West Bank is in area C. Most of the water resources are in area C, pure luck. And Israel completely controls that and Palestinians are not allowed access to water there in order to push Palestinians out of area C, where their land and water reserves are. So even Amnesty has reached the conclusion that this is a deliberate policy meant to expel the Palestinians out of those areas. This a very serious accusation from an organisation like Amnesty.
One quote in the Amnesty report by a Palestinian villager in Sousia, near Khalil (Hebron), she says 'water is life, without water we cannot live, not us, not the animals, not the plants. Before we had some water, but after the army destroyed everything, we have to bring water from far away - its very difficult and expensive. They make our life very difficult to make us leave.' Precisely, the only point is to make them leave.
Video of full speech here
"There is a thing called the EU-Israel Association Agreement. That agreement means that Israeli goods get preferential access to EU markets, and that agreement has a human rights clause, and that human rights clause says that in the event of human rights abuses on either side the agreement shall be suspended. So our question to our government today should be this - how many human rights abuses do you need? How many women dying in child birth, because they can't pass the checkpoints through the Israeli authorities, do you need?"
Member of European Parliament (Green Party)
Enough Occupation Rally, June 2007 [4min / 2Mb]
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Colorado Avalanche Franchise Jersey History
Archives, Avalanche History, NHL Jerseys, Quebec Nordiques
Since beginning play in the 1917-18 season, the NHL and it’s teams have seen drastic changes as well as improvements regarding team uniforms. Not only have jersey designs changed throughout history, but so too has technology, with development constantly adapting to bring players ultimate benefits without inhibiting their skill or style of play.
Typically, NHL team uniforms and their designs change from time to time, while select organizations such as original six teams stick to their historical, iconic designs. The Colorado Avalanche are a team whose design has seen considerable change throughout their history, largely in part due to relocation, but also resulting from improvements in uniform technology.
Colorado Avalanche Jerseys: 1979-1995
In 1979-80, the Quebec Nordiques made their arrival in the National Hockey League. Following seven seasons of play in the World Hockey Association, which was dismantled in June of 1979, the Nordiques carried over their WHA jersey design into the franchise’s first NHL season.
Adam Foote of the Quebec Nordiques.
These baby blue beauties were donned by the Nordiques throughout the teams entire sixteen year tenure in the NHL. Naturally, the jersey design was not the “exact” same throughout the years. Small changes were made to striping on the pants, moving from one stripe to two, while sizing alterations to the fleurs-de-lis which bordered the base of the jersey, as well the main logo were also made.
The “Nordiques”, meaning “People of the North”, and this jersey are iconic in both Canadian and Quebec hockey history. The team logo, whose true design is commonly unknown, is that of an igloo, with a hockey stick alongside it, illustrating the relation to the north, as the Nordiques were the most northern team in the NHL during their existence. The cool, blue colors of the jersey represent both the NHL team that Quebec lost, as well as the hope that the team will return in the near future.
In 1995-96, the Quebec Nordiques were relocated to Colorado. Since Colorado didn’t fit the bill as a “northern” city, the team was forced to adopt a new nickname, and with it, new jerseys. Known for its mountainous regions and rugged terrain, the Avalanche were born, and so too were new uniforms.
Patrick Roy with the Colorado Avalanche.
The Logo: The new Colorado logo was designed to represent the surrounding environment. In the middle, an “A” was placed to represent the Avalanche, while a puck flows down from its peak similar to an avalanche from a mountain.
The new jerseys were definitively different, with the previous blue largely removed, replaced with an attractive dark burgundy color. Throughout this six year time period, similar to with the Nordiques, small changes were constantly being made.
The burgundy became increasingly darker, as seen in the above picture. This jersey design instilled the basis for Avalanche uniforms in the future, as virtually the same burgundy, blue and trim colors have remained the same. It is these jersey which the Avalanche wore when they hoisted their most recent Stanley Cup in the 2000-2001 season.
In the first season following their Stanley Cup victory, the Avalanche introduced their first alternate jersey. The jersey inspired the current Avalanche alternate uniform, featuring “Colorado” diagonally, yet was based completely in the well-known shade of burgundy.
Colorado’s alternate jersey designed in 2001 was no longer used by the team following the 2006-07 season. Otherwise, Colorado’s jersey did not change, at all, from the 2001 season to the conclusion of the 2006-07 season. After such a long period of time, the design had become dry, and fortunately for the Avalanche, a revolutionary shift in jersey design was right around the corner.
The beginning of the 2007-08 season saw major changes made to NHL jerseys across the entire league. The NHL introduced the Edge jersey system, designed by Reebok over a three year time period. New uniforms would be created to be tighter fitting, more flexible and less water absorbent, allowing for greater player maneuverability. Stemming from a newly made uniform, most teams made substantial changes to their uniforms, and the Avalanche were no exception.
The new look Avalanche jersey’s suited the Edge jersey system extremely well. Conforming to the new style, the Avalanche kept their original colors, yet made a bevy of subtle changes. Unlike in years prior when the burgundy color wrapped 360 degrees around the jersey, blue was placed under the arms, while on the white road jerseys, burgundy. Sharp, white and blue piping was the used to separate the two colors on each jersey, creating a crisp, edgy looking new uniform for the Avalanche.
The modern look for both the home and road jerseys have become one of the most popular looking jerseys in the NHL. Alongside these creations was the previously mentioned third jersey, whose heavy use of blue brings back memories of the franchise’s Nordiques days, while the use of burgundy and sharp piping compliments their current home and road designs.
Ryan O’Reilly in the Avalanche Home Jersey. (Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports)
Clearly, the Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques franchise has witnessed a large number of changes in uniform design over the past 35 years. While some jersey designs weren’t necessarily popular, such as the full burgundy third jersey, others, such as the current Avalanche design, have been well received by the hockey world. There will no doubt be uniform design changes in the future, as jersey technology and hockey culture are ever changing, bringing about frequent alterations to uniform designs throughout the NHL.
Which of the Colorado Avalanche jerseys is your favorite?
This article was originally published in October, 2014.
This article was originally published by Thehockeywriters.com. Read the original article here.
NHL Rumors and Notes: Tyson Barrie, Brandon Tanev, Kevin Labanc, and Nazem Kadri
Pelle Lindbergh Remembered
Wild: A Look at the Parise & Suter Era
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Project Focal Point: Vocational Training
"The main purpose of life is to live rightly, think rightly, act rightly.
The soul must languish when we give all our thought to the body."
- Mohandas Gandhi -
Not everybody has the ability "to pull" an academic education through. Therefore, we want to support such children and teenagers to undergo a vocational training or to learn a trade. "Self-help for self- empowerment"!
Learning a trade
We support a 17 year-old boy to complete his apprenticeship as an auto-mechanic. It is common in Africa that the apprentice pays his master craftsman because he teaches him and not vice versa. This is also a big problem for children without parents or children coming from extremely poor backgrounds. We could have supported many young adults to do an apprenticeship of their choice, but we did not have enough money. Thus, we also need donations for this project.
Moreover, we're sponsoring a 24 year old male - a native of Bafang from the West Province in Cameroon to undergo a professional training as a hotel and catering specialist. He is doing this training at the prestigious Hotel Management School - Ceforpra Hotellerie in Yaounde. The training will last 15 months at a cost of 800 €.
His story was a call of concern. He left secondary school in Form 4 after the demise of his father. As a firstborn in a family of 8, he became the breadwinner from nothing. He had to support his jobless mother and siblings for a livelihood. For this reason, he was forced to do a rural-urban exodus from the village of Bafang to Yaounde to perform odd jobs, where he had to share a two-room appartment of his aunt with 13 other adults. When he contacted us for assistance, we didn't hesistate after verification of the situation on the ground to grant him support. We're of the conviction that after this professional training the likelihood of getting an employment or being a self entrepreneur is high. He'll then be able to first of all have a perspective for himself and later for the people in his immediate vicinity.
Other candidates doing a trade are: Kien Mispa and Mancho Solange who are undergoing a two-year course in becoming a seamstress; Che Bernard is doing a training as a motor truck technician. His training will last for a period of 5 years. To have a glimpse of them at their workplaces.
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Home // If It's Not A Toy It's Here // Movie Korner // The Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer Is Here!
The Guardians of the Galaxy Trailer Is Here!
You’re about to be high on believing in Marvel’s sci fi epic.
The first trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy is now online, after making its debut last night on Jimmy Kimmel… and it is incredible. It plays as a great introduction to both our new team of heroes and the intergalactic setting of the movie.
With a director like James Gunn, a decidedly less heroic team of heroes and our first, ever deep space setting in a Marvel movie, it’s been clear that Guardians will be a unique entry to the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe. But they’re going ALL IN with this one– Guardians not only shows off some cool otherworldly creatures and environments, but it’s without a doubt the funniest and craziest Marvel trailer yet.
The teaser does a great job of establishing our characters and setting the tone of the movie, which feels absolutely perfect both for the source material and James Gunn’s sensibilities as a director. In addition to the rundown of the Guardians, we get to see the Nova Corps, a glimpse of Ronan the Accuser, Nebula, and a new look at The Collector, and everything is just as bizarre and badass and perfect as I was hoping for.
I can’t wait for August 1st, when this one hits theaters.
And here are some screen shots from the trailer:
Posted in Movie Korner and tagged as Batista, Benicio Del Toro, Chris Pratt, Guardians of the Galaxy, James Gunn, Marvel, marvel comics, Movie Trailer, Zoe Saldana
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National Cadet Corps
The boys and Girls Wing of the NCC of KCLAS aims at developing character, comradeship, discipline, a secular outlook, the spirit of adventure and ideals of selfless service amongst young citizens. Further, it aims at creating a pool of organized, trained and motivated youth with leadership qualities in all walks of life, who will serve the Nation regardless of which career they choose. Needless to say, the NCC also provides an environment conducive to motivating young Indians to join the armed forces. http://nccindia.nic.in
The NCC is a responsive, learning and continuously evolving organization. Its activity is guided by certain core values that we endeavour to instil among all ranks of the NCC.
These include the following:
(a) A sense of patriotic commitment to encourage cadets to contribute to national development.
(b) Respect for diversities in religion, language, culture, ethnicity, life style and habitat to instill a sense of National unity and social cohesion.
(c) Abiding commitment to learn and adhere to the norms and values enshrined in the Indian Constitution.
(d) Understanding the value of a just and impartial exercise of authority.
(e) Ability to participate in community development and other social programme.
(f) A healthy life style free of substance abuse and other unhealthy practices.
(g) Sensitivity to the needs of poor and socially disadvantaged fellow citizens.
(h) Inculcating habits of restraint and self-awareness.
(j) Understanding the values of honesty, truthfulness, self-sacrifice, perseverance and hard work.
(k) Respect for knowledge, wisdom and the power of ideas.
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Lady Dogs vs. Florida, Ole Miss
I've been shooting several Georgia Women's basketball games for the Associated Press this season. I shot their loss to South Carolina this afternoon, but wanted to catch up on some games I haven't posted first. My last day of work at the Athens Banner-Herald was yesterday, but the game today and the one I'm shooting next Sunday against Alabama are my last photo assignments in Athens.
Georgia 61, Florida 52
Georgia's Ashley Houts (1) takes a hit to the nose from Florida's Jennifer George (32) in the second half of Georgia's 61-52 win during an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday,Jan. 10, 2010.
Georgia's Jasmine James (10) drives the ball past Florida's Lonnika Thompson (2) in the first half of Georgia's 61-52 win in an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday,Jan. 10, 2010.
Georgia's Ashley Houts (1) battles to maintain possession of the ball with Florida's Jordan Jones (33) and Sharielle Smith (24) in Georgia's 33-26 halftime lead during an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday,Jan. 10, 2010.
Georgia's Angel Robinson (33) goes up for 2 points past Florida's Azania Stewart (13) in the second half of Georgia's 61-52 win during an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday,Jan. 10, 2010.
Georgia's Porsha Phillips (21) and Florida's Jennifer Mossor (22) battle for a rebound in the second half of Georgia's 61-52 win during an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010.
Ole Miss 66, Georgia 65
Georgia's Ashley Houts (1), top, gives up a turnover to Mississippi's Bianca Thomas in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.
Georgia's Jasmine James drives past Mississippi's Kayla Melson in the 1st half of an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.
Georgia's Meredith Mitchell (11) snags a rebound out of the reach of Mississippi's Bianca Thomas (45) in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.
Georgia's Jasmine Hassell (12) shoots over Mississippi's Nikki Bryd (22) in the second half of MIssissippi's 66-65 upset victory in an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010. Hassell scored a game high of 20 points.
Georgia's Angel Robinson grimaces on the hardwoods after spraining her ankle and foot in the lst half of Georgia's 66-65 loss to Mississippi in an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.
Mississippi's Bianca Thomas (45) snags a rebound during the first half of Mississippi's 66-65 upset over Georgia in an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010. Thomas scored 10 points including the game-winning 3-pointer.
Georgia's Jasmine Howell (12) tries to block Mississippi's Shantell Black (11) in the 2nd half of Mississippi's 66-65 victory in an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.
Georgia's Ashley Houts doubles over after Georgia's 66-65 loss to Mississippi in an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.
Mississippi head coach Renee Ladner hugs Elizabeth Robertson after Mississippi's 66-65 upset victory over Georgia in an NCAA college basketball game in Athens, Ga., on Sunday, Jan. 24, 2010.
Labels: Georgia basketball, Georgia Lady Dogs Basketball, sports
Lady Dogs vs. Alabama
Lady Dogs vs. South Carolina
PREPS: bball wrap-up
Gym Dogs vs. UK: Style Points
Gym Dogs: McCool
UGA vs. ARK: Home Sweet Stegeman
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Home/YOKO ONO/Words/Interviews & Articles/Esa Mujer / That Woman by Juan Forn, Pagina 12 [Argentina]
Esa Mujer / That Woman by Juan Forn, Pagina 12 [Argentina]
That Woman
By Juan Forn, Pagina 12 [Argentina].
This week has been the anniversary of John Lennon’s passing, and as every year when this time arrives I said to myself: “Another year gone, and once again I haven’t written what I really think about Yoko Ono yet”. I’ll make it clear: In some of the thousand documentaries I have seen about him, there is an interview with Dick Cavett made in 1975 where Lennon talks about the Beatles’ breakup and Yoko’s demonization, just right after performing live the extraordinary “Woman is the Nigger of the World” (American radios banned the airing of this song) There is a moment in which John gets upset and forgetting about Cavett, looks right into the camera and says, like addressing personally to each and everyone of the viewers, “Of all the awful things said about Yoko what it really makes me angry is that they never see what it’s very clear: I could have chosen any other of the many women around me, but I chose her. She makes me happier as any other people have done, and I am the person that I am because of her. If they still love what I do. How come they don’t give any credit to Yoko?”
I saw that TV program almost 20 years after Lennon’s passing, probably some other December between 1980 and 2003.
When viewing one of those videos on Lennon, one has always the sensation that it’s a footage already seen, but that has not really understood until this very moment.
Years are passing and all of us are already older than him when he passed away, but he is still our older brother. Every time that we listen to him, we are discovering that he is telling us something new, something that we didn’t understood before. I remember very clearly the moment in which that sentence (Women is the Nigger of the World) clicked in my head (It was here in Gesell the first winter that I flew from Buenos Aires) Suddenly I felt that for the first time I was trying to see Yoko in the way Lennon asked us to perceive her: As his partner in the world. I recommend you to read the interview they did to Playboy weeks before Lennon’s death, it was published later as a book: Little by little you are going to realize that Yoko’s answers are not just getting in the way, but that they are complementing John’s answers, and that even sometimes Yoko’s answers burst what it’s really important (in the way that that sentence “Woman is the Nigger of the World” did burst the song).
Another example: We all know that Yoko is Japanese and that she was 7 years older than John, but we never though about what World War II meant to her. We know now that when she was 12, after the bombing of Tokyo by the USA, civilians were evacuated from the city and she had to find her own means to survive along with her younger brother and sister and her mother (her father was in the front at that moment with the Japanese Army), because peasants didn’t want to share their scarce food with the refugees from the city and threw them stones when they go near of their villages.
One can imagine Yoko telling John all this experiences at the time in which the international press was stoning her, blaming her for the breakup of The Beatles. With this in mind, one’s point of view about her changes a little, doesn’t it?
Another example: When Yoko met John, we know that she was having a show in London (the ladder in the middle of the room, the magnifying glass hanging from the ceiling, John climbing, looking through the magnifying glass and reading “yes” written in the ceiling and feeling: “Me and this woman are made one for each other”) but we didn’t knew that she was married with another man (conceptual artist Anthony Cox), and that she had a daughter with that another (Kyoko) and that when that guy lost the child’s custody after the divorce (due to the aggressiveness of John’s lawyers) he flew, taking her away, went underground, and during the next 30 years Yoko lost contact with her. (In the Playboy interview John says: “It was a classic case of men being macho. I though mine was bigger than his and he got me, and the result was we took a mother away from her daughter.”)
Another example to end up: Yoko had 5 miscarriages before giving birth to Sean in 1975
I choose to tell about these things as I chose the photograph that goes with this page, because I wanted you to see something different to the usual thing we always see in Yoko Ono. We are used to mocking her conceptual art, but doesn’t this perception change when we know that when she arrived at New York at 25, just married with a Julliard graduate called Toshi Ichiyanagi, and they rented a neglected loft, they got people like John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst and Peggy Guggenheim, Jonas Mekas and Ornette Coleman, among many others came to the happenings arranged by Yoko.
Cage appreciated her so much that he took her as interpreter in his first trip to Japan (He was specially fascinated by two things about her : That she went to Gakushuin school as a child in Tokyo, a exclusive school for the royal family and for the Japan aristocracy, where she was school companion to the son of emperor Hirohito and Yukio Mishima, and that she studied 7years of piano at the music conservatory, until the day that she expressed her wishing for becoming a composer, and they took her straightaway to take singing lessons, because “women cannot be composers”). Sol LeWitt, regarded as the conceptual artist par excellence, says that he took from her the idea that a piece of art can be just its explanation given as a Zen quote. (One of the first pieces of Yoko was a Matchbox with the instruction: “Light a match and watch till it goes out.” Another piece is called “A Box of Smile”, a cube that when opening the lid one sees a mirror in the bottom that reflects the expression of the one that opened it: When opening it, everybody smiles not knowing exactly why).
But, what really make us perceive Yoko as the other half of John, is the way in which she encouraged him to connect with what Jüng call “The Soul”: The deep female side every living creature has, no matter if they are men or women. Rock and roll has flirted with the feminine in thousand cosmetic ways (from Jagger to Bowie) but Lennon went further and deeper than anyone else because he understood that the female side were all those feelings that he lacked of: the feelings that deactivate his violence against the world, and make him more male, because in fact he became more human.
One has to have bollocks of steel (Jorge’s note: this is a Spanish expression to mean “courage“) to write songs like “Mother”, “God”, “War is Over”, or “Watching the Wheels”, or we better should say: to really feel what those lyrics meant. Thinking that Yoko had nothing to do with this, it’s just a stupid thing. What it is really a shame is that John didn’t influence Yoko as much asYoko influenced him. This is why we, Lennon’s fans could not forgive Yoko: We don’t get to see a lot of him in her, because what John left her, she has had keep very deep deep inside her.
Now crossing our hearts I ask you: Is there anybody who sincerely feels they have the right to blame her because of that?
Translated by Jorge Artajo.
Translation notes by Jorge:
Página 12 is an Argentinean newspaper politically on he left. It has very interesting supplements on Art and even a gay special from time to time called “SOY” .
During the military dictatorship it was banned and prosecuted.
Juan Forn is a 50 years old Argentinean writer.
Gesell is called in fact Villa Gesell and is a summer resort city by the sea on the Atlantic side. The town was visited by Ernesto Che Guevara as he set out on his journey across America in The Motorcycle Diaries.
Original article here.
IMAGINE PEACE2009-12-14T12:21:55-05:00December 11th, 2009|Interviews & Articles|
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You are at:Home»Featured»Up in the Air: Carol Dobyns Fair reflects on 56-year career
Up in the Air: Carol Dobyns Fair reflects on 56-year career
By N&N Admin on October 10, 2018 Featured
With 56 years of experience under her belt, Johnson Cityís Carol Dobyns Fair is the most senior member of the original Piedmont Airlines flight attendants still flying. Contributed
By Lynn J. Richardson
On a beautiful sunny day leaving London headed to Charlotte, Carol Dobyns Fair was on the job, working as a cabin service director/purser for British Airways.
It was a day just like any other day for the Johnson City woman, but in an instant, everything changed.
The day was September 11, 2001.
“We had served lunch when the cockpit called me up front and told me a plane had just hit the World Trade Center,” Fair recalls.
“I said, ‘How in the hell did that happen? It’s a beautiful day out there — the weather is good in New York.’ But while I was standing there, the second plane hit, so we knew the jig was up then.”
Fair located a “deadheading” crew member — a pilot headed to his next assignment. She asked him to go to the cockpit door with her to stand guard.
“He took seatbelt extensions and wrapped them around his fists to use as weapons,” she said. “At that point, we didn’t know who we had on board.”
Within 12 hours, Fair’s plane arrived at Nova Scotia, landing in the middle of 42 jumbo jets, parked tail to nose, nose to tail.
Fair with early examples of Piedmont flight attendant garments and accessories. PHOTO BY LYNN J. RICHARDSON
“We had been on the ground 12 hours before they dismantled us in the order in which we landed,” she said. “Then they herded us into the Air Canada crew lounge and it was all on TV.”
Fair’s voice broke and her eyes filled with tears as she remembered the scene. “There were United Airline flight attendants in there and they were all crying because they knew people who were on those planes,” she said. “It was a very emotional time for everyone.”
Fair, 75, continues to work as purser with American Airlines. The most senior original Piedmont Airlines flight attendant still flying, her career spans 56 years with Piedmont, US Air, US Airways, British Airways and American.
In 2008, she was inducted into the North Carolina Transportation Hall of Fame, alongside such notables as Orville and Wilbur Wright. In 2010, she was enshrined in Tennessee’s Aviation Hall of Fame.
In 1963, at age 19, Fair became one of Piedmont Airline’s first female flight attendants – a “stewardess.”
“Until 1962, all flight attendants were male,” Fair noted. “Some people welcomed us with open arms, but some despised us because they thought we were taking the men’s jobs.”
However the airlines soon began hiring all women for those jobs, and Fair says the playing field was anything but level.
Female attendants were terminated if they married or when they turned 32 — not the case for male employees.
While many of her co-workers chose to marry and quit, Fair waited to marry until the laws changed, when she was 26. Her marriage to Kenneth Dean Fair lasted only five years, ending with his premature death at the age of 38.
And while age and marital status were certainly areas of discrimination in Fair’s early career, weight also became an issue.
“They called me in one time, threatening my job because of my weight,” she said. “But there were men – ticket agents, pilots – who were huge.”
Furious, Fair threatened to sue. A call was made, and the decision was made to allow Fair to stay, if she provided a doctor’s statement that she was “healthy at her current weight.” She fought for and was successful in seeing that policy was also extended to her colleagues.
“So we have a right to be whatever we are now,” she said. “We were so young and so gullible, but it was so wrong. It was total discrimination.”
Fair’s long career has given her the opportunity to meet many interesting people. Cartoonist Mel Blanc once did his “Sylvester” voice for her, Martha Stewart upset one of her colleagues to the point of tears, and Jeopardy host Alex Trebec slept all the way to California.
Most memorable, she says, is the late actress, Elizabeth Taylor.
“I was serving in the cabin and I asked Elizabeth what she wanted to drink and she said ‘I’ll have a vodka.’
“She was married to Senator John Warner then, but the two sat separately and he hollered across the aisle and said ‘You don’t need a vodka.’ I looked back at her and asked, ‘Miss Taylor, how would you like your vodka?’”
“When I brought her the drink, she had a little can of Donald Duck orange juice in her bag and she pulled it out and mixed it with her vodka,” Fair said. “I thought that was really unusual.”
The encounter netted Fair a rare autograph in a book she treasures to this day. The inscription reads: “To Carol, Best wishes, Elizabeth Taylor Warner.”
Rocket Man: Apollo 11 mission ignited Pete Petersonís lifelong interest in space
Gary Mabrey honored at retirement event
Dickson chosen as new Langston Centre supervisor
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All posts tagged: Inheritance
Title Insurance is Champion of Ownership Rights!!
October 28, 2014 Stephen Collins Title Insurance No comments
In the never-ending battle for truth, justice, and clean title to real estate, Title Insurance is the champion of your ownership rights! From easements to inheritance, no claim is too small or too large for an Owner’s Title Insurance Policy—your Title Insurance company is there to fight for you!!
Title Insurance puts the real in real estate. Should you have a claim against your deed, Title Insurance will meet the challenge to your ownership, providing the legal fees and the attorney to do battle in court if necessary. (Even if your court battle loses, you still get the policy amount.)
When you obtain property, don’t walk—fly to make sure you have the proper coverage to fully insure your real estate title!! It’s a one-time fee, normally paid at closing (but can be acquired at any time), and costs a lot less than hiring an attorney on your own.
Furthermore, Title Insurance is also a proactive measure as well as a defensive strategy. The cost includes a title search to address any questions in the chain of title that appear in public records. Once that’s done and any issues dealt with, then the policy insures against any questions that may arise in the future, but aren’t necessarily revealed in public records.
One good deed deserves another!
And later when you convey your property to a new owner, your Title Insurance policy continues to protect you from possible challenges for which a new owner could hold you liable.
Title Insurance – It’s good for now, it’s good for later, it’s good for what happened in the past, and it’s good for you!!
Stephen CollinsTitle Insurance is Champion of Ownership Rights!! 10.28.2014
September 24, 2014 Stephen Collins Title Insurance No comments
Who needs a deed among family members? The family members do!! Good deeds support good relations among kin, especially when inheritance gets involved.
Even if the old homestead has been in the family for fifty years, property disputes can happen at any time. Family disputes tend to be the biggest and most emotional. When there’s a lot of emotion, there’s no rational—and it’s costly! Want to help an attorney pay off his college loan, pay for litigation on a family dispute. When somebody says “I’m fighting this for the principal of the matter,” they usually mean: “For all the principal in your bank account!”
Don’t know if your inherited property came with title insurance? Land Title of America, Inc. will be glad to check—it’s a free service—just stop by our office located on U.S. Highway 1 South in St. Augustine (in the Lewis Point Plaza) or give us a call:
Land Title of America, Inc.
Stephen CollinsA Deed Among Family? 09.24.2014
Parable of the Lost Title
April 5, 2011 Stephen Collins Title Insurance No comments
There was a man who had two sons, and the younger son said to the father, “Father, give me my share of property that falls to me,” and so the father divided his wealth between his two sons, including the title to his land. The younger son then gathered all that he had and took off to a far away country where he squandered his wealth.
When the younger son had spent everything, he found himself among the swine, wishing he could partake of their food, but no one would give him anything. Finally he said to himself, “How many of my father’s servants have bread enough, and yet I perish with hunger! I will go to my father and I will say to him, ‘Father, I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.’”
And so the younger of the two sons arose and returned to the land of his father. But while he was yet at a great distance, his father passed away. The older brother, not being able to locate his younger brother, sold the entirety of the property. So when the younger brother arrived—possibly expecting a ring on his finger and a fatted calf for lunch—he found instead a new homeowner on what was once his father’s land, a portion of which he was to inherit.
This kind of thing can happen. Despite that the new homeowner didn’t know anything about the younger son, this kid could claim a right to the land. If the new homeowner didn’t buy title insurance, then he’s going to have to pay for that legal battle himself to defend his ownership. Title insurance covers the legal cost from unseen risk of previous ownership.
Stephen CollinsParable of the Lost Title 04.05.2011
Property Title Claims – How Does This Happen?
March 23, 2011 Stephen Collins Title Insurance No comments
When it comes to inheritance, some family reunions are more welcome than others. There was a situation of husband and wife. Second marriages for both of them, and they both had two children from previous marriages. The husband and wife wrote a will to include their combined four children. Then the husband died. Next the widow wrote a new will, which included only her two children from a previous marriage. Then she committed suicide. Regrettably, this is a true story.
The probate was clean and done when the husband’s two children showed up. They claimed the widow had written the second will under duress and they wanted their part of the inheritance from their father. Despite probate, a person who has an interest in a property has 30 years to stake that claim. It’s not just that there is a hidden risk—the risk is lingering.
A title search can’t catch hidden risk, but title insurance helps the legal defense of ownership against property title claims. A title insurance policy is not something you want to have to use, but if you need it, the title company who issued the policy will pay all your litigation costs.
Stephen CollinsProperty Title Claims – How Does This Happen? 03.23.2011
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Game is Healthier – Prominent Panelists Upbeat
January 27, 2014 Ken MacLeod 0 Comments
A panel of prominent industry insiders shared the opinion the golf industry is getting healthier with a brighter future than it has had in recent years. Taking place on the opening day of the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando the “State of the Industry” discussion is an annual part of the week’s events.
Moderated by the Golf Channel’s Damon Hack, panel members were: World Golf Hall of Fame member Annika Sorenstam, TaylorMade-adidas CEO Mark King, PGA of America president Ted Bishop, Golf Channel president Mike McCarley, retired USGA Executive Director David Fay and golf course developer Donald Trump.
A broad range of topics were discussed with the PGA’s Bishop pointing out, "I feel like golf has started to turn the corner and I think this is the best place that the game has been in for a while." He referenced particularly the many programs sponsored by the PGA and USGA aimed at retaining present players and attracting new ones. More players means more revenue for golf courses but also impacts sales of equipment with corresponding benefits to allied business such as travel and real estate. Trump, ever the promoter and the owner of 15 golf facilities in the US and abroad, said the best way to attract golfers was to have courses in great locations.
Sorenstam, who received the 2013 PGA First Lady of Golf award, likes what she sees going on in the industry and, "being a mom and a businesswoman, I really want to give back to golf. Coming here (to the PGA Merchandise Show), you feel a sense of excitement."
TMaG’s King also noted there is again a certain amount of "buzz" not only on the Show floor but in the industry as new golfers come to the game. "How do we bring in kids, how do we get women to play, how do we get minorities to play, how do we touch people on the fringe, that have an interest in golf and how do we get those people to be interested in our game?" said King. "I think there’s more conversation now than there ever has been and I think that’s a big positive."
King pointed out making changes in golf is not something that can be done quickly since golf being an ancient, structured game has a built-in traditionalism. "Our industry has been controlled by traditions and the protocol of how you play the game, and people who have been attracted to it for generations, have loved that," said King, who is the driving force behind the launch of HackGolf.org, a digital platform for consumers to express ways that the game can be improved. "We have to start to experiment with new freedoms and the expression of an individual. And when we can get there, then we’ll see the game grow."
McCarley made the point the increase Golf Channel viewership puts his business at the front of efforts to grow the game. "There’s been a lot of growth at Golf Channel the last three years," said McCarley. "There’s been a real focus on quality, and with that growth and with that focus on quality, come a real responsibility. When you have a larger voice in the game, and as your voice grows, we have a responsibility to do what’s best for the game."
Perhaps the most sensitive and certainly controversial topic was the recommendation by some including Jack Nicklaus the Rules of Golf be changed to mandate a decrease in golf ball performance.
"I think rolling back the ball would be a disaster," Trump quickly pointed out. "You don’t want to make the game harder than it already is. That’s not a good thing for golf. I think you’ll lose players."
Sorenstam said such changes had to take into account the effect on golf’s growth. "We’ve got to look at all the golfers around the world. As a professional golfer, I see both sides. We do this for a living, so it needs to be fair, it needs to be right.” But the winner of 10 majors went on and put it even more strongly, "When you talk about rolling the ball back, I’m not for it. The game needs to be fun. The more putts we make, the quicker we play. Pace of play is something I stand for and I think that’s something we also need to address."
Moving on to the Olympics in 2016 Fay, during his tenure running the USGA, was involved with the efforts to make golf an Olympic sport and is enthusiastic over at last gaining the recognition, “because, candidly, every other meaningful sport is in the Olympics. So, in terms of promoting the game globally, Olympic golf is going to be a very good thing."
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HOW TO GET YOUR TAX WEEKEND BACK / JOHN MAULDIN´S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
| Etiquetas: Income Tax, U.S. Economic And Political
How to Get Your Tax Weekend Back
This weekend millions of Americans and/or their accountants are preparing to file income tax returns. Tax day is an annual event as significant as the Fourth of July – though far less fun.
My friends outside the US – and I have many – observe our ordeal with a combination of amusement and pity. They don’t like taxes either, and often pay far more than we do. But their governments, for the most part, don’t put people through such torture every year. They appear to have found better ways. Why can’t we?
Today we’re going to look at who wins and who loses under the new tax law. I think many of you will be surprised.
Bearing the Burden
The bottom 50% earn 11.3% of the adjusted gross income and pay 2.8% of the income taxes. The top 50% have 88.7% of the AGI and pay 97.2% of the taxes. That’s why we call the system “progressive.” By design, it gives those at the bottom a lower rate.
In fact, it favors more than just that bottom half. As the chart shows, everyone except the top 5% pays a lower share of the total income taxes than their share of total income. That’s not necessarily true of every taxpayer, since these are averages, but it’s certainly true for most. The top 1%, which we are often told gets wildly favorable treatment, doesn’t look so lucky by this measure. It only received 20.65% of the income but paid almost 40% of the taxes.
Let me point out again, this tax structure is not an accident. The tax system is designed to produce this result. The public wants the wealthiest Americans to pay a higher percentage of their income, and they do. Provisions that reduce taxes for the middle and lower classes mean those in the top brackets pay more.
Some caveats on this data: It omits payroll taxes, which for those on the lower end are often higher than the income tax. Wealthier people also have more ability to shift income into favorable categories. But in the aggregate, they still pay higher rates on more income than majority of the population does. We have a highly progressive income tax system by any fair definition. The share of tax paid by the top 20% of Americans also changes when social-insurance levies are included. It drops to about 67% of total federal income taxes paid from roughly 87%. (WSJ)
The “Tax Cut Act” Increased Taxes for the Rich
Changes in the recent tax bill will make the system even more progressive starting this year. You would never know that if you read the media, which seems to think that the tax bill was a panacea for the rich. Wealthy people in high-tax states will certainly have to pay more. But that’s the responsibility of those state governments, some of which seem intent on driving out their best revenue sources.
Laura Saunders, writing for the Wall Street Journal, uses analysis from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center to demonstrate that the very top earners will now pay an even higher percentage of overall taxes. The top 1% go from paying 38% of total income taxes to a little over 43%.
According to Saunders,
The results show how steeply progressive the U.S. income tax remains. For 2018, households in the top 20% will have income of about $150,000 or more and 52% of total income, about the same as in 2017. But they will pay about 87% of income taxes, up from about 84% last year.
By contrast, the lower 60% of households, who have income up to about $86,000, receive about 27% of income. As a group, this tier will pay no net federal income tax in 2018 vs. 2% of it last year.
After the income tax, the most important revenue raisers are for social insurance, such as Social Security and Medicare. They will provide about 34% of the total tax take this year, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. Corporate taxes will account for 7% of revenue, down from 9% in 2017. The rest of the total comes from excise taxes, estate and gift taxes, and other sources such as customs duties.
Roughly one million households in the top 1% will pay for 43% of income tax, up from 38% in 2017. These filers earn above about $730,000.
According to Roberton Williams, an income-tax specialist with the Tax Policy Center, the share of taxes paid by the top 5% will rise despite the fact that people in it were the largest beneficiaries of the overhaul’s tax cut, both in dollars and percentages.
Why are income taxes negative for the 77 million households in the bottom two tiers, which earn 13% of income? In recent decades Congress has chosen to funnel benefits for lower earners through the income tax rather than other channels such as federal programs. Some of these, such as the earned-income tax credit for the low-income workers, make cash payments to filers who don’t owe income tax.
The tax overhaul further lowered the share of income tax for people in these tiers, in part because it nearly doubled the standard deduction and expanded the tax credit for children under the age of 17.
People in the lower tiers do owe other federal taxes, such as for Social Security and Medicare. If these tax payments are included, their share of federal taxes paid turns positive.
Losing Your Deductions
In order to pay for the tax cuts on corporations and the lower income tiers of the country, the Republican Congress had to scramble to find additional sources of revenue in order for the new tax plan not to increase the deficit more than it did. And they found some of that revenue by taking away deductions. There are literally scores of smaller deductions that you were previously able to itemize that will not be available in 2018, or 2019 at the latest. Let’s look at just some of the bigger ones.
1. Everybody knows that state and local income taxes (SALT) will no longer be completely deductible. You will be allowed to deduct only up to $10,000. That is especially painful for people living in states with high income taxes and/or property taxes. And while Texas and other low-tax states don’t have an income tax, local governments are financed by property taxes that are typically higher than those of a lot of states. There are just six states that don’t have an income tax. The darker blue your state is in the following chart, the higher your total state income taxes are and the more pain you will feel.
2. Starting in 2018, homeowners can take a mortgage interest deduction on a loan of up to $750,000, down from the current limit of $1 million. When the median home in California is $480,000, a lot of homeowners are going to have mortgages in excess of $750,000.
3. I am not certain what Congress was thinking, but they took away the deduction for personal disaster losses. Now you can take deductions on personal losses if those losses amount to more than 10% of your income. In the future, you can deduct those losses only if the president declares their cause a national disaster. So you would more than likely be able to deduct losses from a hurricane or earthquake, but if your home were destroyed in a flood not associated with a larger disaster, you would not be able to take a deduction for your loss. The same thing goes for a fire. Or for vandalism. This provision makes me wants to throw the yellow flag for piling pain on top of more pain.
4. Today, if you move more than 50 miles for a new job, you can deduct reasonable moving costs. Starting this year you can’t.
5. Divorces are never fun or easy. They tend to cost a lot of money, on top of the emotional toll they take. Under current law, alimony is deductible by the former spouse making payments and is included as income to the recipient. In the new bill, however, these payments are no longer deductible by the payor. Nor are the payments included in the recipient’s gross income. Instead, the person getting the alimony has to pay taxes at the rate paid by the person paying the alimony. And since it’s usually the man who makes more money and pays the alimony, the woman will get taxed at the man’s tax rate. No matter what her actual income is. Ouch. This provision is effective for divorce and separation agreements signed after Dec. 31, 2018. (CNBC)
6. A Bloomberg article highlights the fact that business deductions for meals may be going away. Yes, corporations get a reduced tax rate, but essentially, the new law says that entertainment expenses are not deductible. Business lunches are entertainment and not deductible.
Ah, I remember the days when you could deduct 100% of your meals and entertainment. Yes, I know that during the Reagan years the top rate was 70%.
But no one paid that. There were so many loopholes and deductions that my effective rate was much lower than it is today.
The problem is, there is a great deal of confusion over what might count as a deductible expense. If an expense is considered entertainment, it is not deductible. If you think that change is not going to make a difference in the revenues of high-end restaurants, you’re not paying attention. I don’t think the change affects Chipotle or McDonald’s much – they’re not exactly business-meal destinations. There are always consequences to tax rules, but I think some of the unintended consequences are going to be more painful than people currently think. Corporate accountants are going to strictly limit the ability of their employees to take their clients out to dinner.
7. The Republican Congress has spent a great deal of its time patting itself on the back over the 20% tax break on pass-through tax corporations. The thought was that they were helping small businesses to keep even with the big players who got most of the corporate tax cuts.
Well, not so much. It turns out that a lot of us with pass-through corporations don’t qualify, and if you are a modern business with lots of contract labor instead of actual W-2 employees, you don’t qualify either. Why do doctors not get a tax break but architects do? You would think a restaurant owner would qualify. Not necessarily. If you advertise the best pie or steak in your area, you may lose your tax exemption.
Seriously. Who writes these rules? This cute infographic from Bloomberg illustrates part of the problem. No one really knows who qualifies for what.
8. Lots of “little” things (unless of course they are your deductions, and then they become big) are no longer deductible. Companies have been able to subsidize commuting and parking expenses and deduct them. No more. And that $20 a month subsidy you got for commuting to work on a bicycle goes away.
You can no longer deduct your cost for preparing taxes under the new tax plan, and if you do your own taxes, you can’t deduct the cost for the software.
No more deductions for the commissions you pay your agent or your manager or even for your union dues. Hollywood actors and professional athletes are not going to be happy about that first part. If you’re an actor, you no longer get to deduct your audition travel expenses or acting lessons, either.
And while the new tax law nearly doubles the standard deduction for married couples and singles, up to $24,000 and $12,000 respectively, you do lose your personal exemptions. Many families with multiple children will feel that loss of exemptions keenly. I can tell you from personal experience that having more than two kids is expensive. But then again, lower-income families get an enhanced child tax credit.
And my personal pet peeve: You can’t buy sporting tickets and give them to clients and claim them as a business expense. I don’t imagine that Mark Cuban and Jerry Jones here in Dallas or any other professional team owner will be happy. That change has got to leave a nasty mark on their corporate sales. And it’s not just professional sports. I have a number of friends who are college sports fanatics, and they had ways to make their ticket purchases a charitable deduction or a business expense. And they loved to use the tickets as a business perk. Now that’s gone, gone.
Some people were able to itemize their investment management and consulting fees, tax-preparation fees, unreimbursed employee expenses, and certain hobby expenses. Gone as well.
To be fair, there are a number of really good portions of this bill. As noted above, the increase in the personal deductions will mean that fewer people on the lower income scale will pay any taxes at all. Also, the lifetime state tax exemption doubled to $11.2 million for individuals and $22 million for married couples.
And with that I’m going to stop talking about taxes, even though I could easily write at least three or four times more than I have, and will probably get back to some of the other details later. There are so many. But I have a personal issue that I want to talk about. If you have high blood pressure, you might want to skip this.
Immigration Fiasco
I am going to go in a different direction for a few paragraphs. Personal privilege. This kind of, sort of comes under the heading of economics. Almost any real economist understands that in order to grow an economy you have to increase productivity and/or increase the number of workers. There is no other magic bullet. If your society is not producing enough children, then you need to be bringing in immigrants if you want to see GDP growth. And for a country built on immigration, you would think we in the US would get that – which is why I don’t understand the whole anti-immigration movement. Yes, we need to control the process, and we need to figure out how to attract better-educated and higher-income workers (as Canada is doing), as well as the service workers who make the world go ’round; but we are not dealing with the issues of immigration and illegal immigrants in a rational manner. This fact was brought home to me in a very personal way this afternoon.
Warning: This is going to upset nearly every reader – but you will be upset for different reasons. Some of you will more or less agree with me, and some of you will think I’m dead wrong. But either way, we need to make some decisions in this country.
This is a personal story. Mary has been working for me for 16 years, cleaning my house, moving me, and doing so many other things. She has become family (as she has with all of her other clients). She’s been in the country for at least 20 years. She is one of the most honest people I know, often bringing me money that I have somehow put in the wrong pocket or drawer. She came to the US a long time ago on a visa, physically lost her visa and her passport, but stayed anyway and began to work. She is married to a US citizen and has three children, the youngest of whom is 10. She pays her taxes like every good citizen. She has been trying to firm up her immigration status for a very long time, and a lawyer finally arranged for her to go back to Juarez to deal with the consulate there, taking along papers from officials here who told her she could simply apply, ask for “forgiveness,” then come back into the US and get her US citizenship. It was supposed to be easy.
She found out today that she was turned down. And now she is stuck in Juarez, not the safest of cities. Some bureaucrat at the consulate in Juarez decided that her (US citizen) 10-year-old son doesn’t need his mother, that her (US citizen) husband can live without his wife, and that this sweet, honest taxpaying lady who has never been a problem to anybody in her life shouldn’t be allowed back into the United States for at least a year. Maybe longer. And then she can ask again. No guarantees.
This is America? The land of the free and the home of the brave? Is that the business we are in, separating mothers from their young children? And keeping out the very people we need?
I know that a number of people are upset about illegal immigration. I totally agree that we need to get a handle on our immigration rules. And our borders. But we need to recognize that there are families in this country who have been here for decades, the Dreamers among them, who are important contributors to our economy. If for some reason they all left, the GDP of this country would simply collapse. I am talking a Great Depression here. They make that much of a difference. And immigrants have made that much of a difference to the US for the last 250 years. Maybe I’m a little bit more sensitive to the situation here in Texas, but we are absolutely used to Hispanics and immigrants of all flavors working, and we never ask if they are illegal or not.
There are darned few US citizens who don’t have immigrants in their family histories. But for whatever reason, each generation of immigrants wanted to keep the next group that came out. They were literally trying to build a wall in California in the 1870s to keep the Chinese out
I simply don’t get it. Trump rolled over on the DACA bill, giving the Democrats hundreds of thousands more potential immigrants than they had actually asked for. In doing so he angered a bunch of people in the Republican caucus. And you would have thought the Democrats would be ecstatic. All Trump asked for was a lousy $25 billion to build his wall, a cost that would have been spread out over a number of years. Seems like a reasonable horse trade to me.
Now, let me be clear. I think the wall is kind of silly. Will it inconvenience people who are trying to enter the country illegally across our southern border? Absolutely. Do I think that someone who really wants in will not figure out another way? Not a chance. Think Cuba in the ’60s. But $25 billion to settle our most thorny immigration issues? Chump change.
A few years ago, in a small, intimate meeting, I really pushed Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who was running for president and touting his anti-immigration line. He knew who I was because we had met before, the first time at his request. We have had long conversations, and honestly, whatever you may think of him, the guy is remarkably brilliant. We have had our disagreements. The host of the dinner put me next to him at the dinner table, and Ted asked me to give him my best shots in the Q&A that would follow the meal. I told him he didn’t want me to do that, but he said, “Bring it on.” Well, I did.
After some of the difficult economic questions, which he did pretty well with, I specifically brought up my maid. He gave me glib answers. I was not in the mood to let him go on this one. Okay, I might be a little passionate about it. Every time he tried to dodge the question, I came back and asked, “Senator, do you want to deport my maid?” This went on for some time as I kept interrupting him with this very firm question.
When he finally realized I wasn’t going to stop asking in front of a group that he wanted to impress (and get a lot of money from), he said that immigration policy should involve a three-step process. First we should get a handle on who is coming in and control our borders. I totally agree. Second, we should reform the immigration process so that we get more people who are beneficial to the US. I absolutely agree. And then, he said, when those two things are done, “I believe the American people will do the right thing about the illegal immigrants in this country.” Which was basically his admitting that no, he really did not want to deport my maid or any of the other multiple millions of people who are contributing to American society. It was the correct answer, but you basically had to beat him up to get to it, because the issue is so contentious that many of Ted’s constituents around the country just want to say, “Send them back!” By the way, that is not the attitude of his Texas constituency. But you need more than Texas to be elected president.
What is it about the American political world today that we can’t have rational compromises?
You don’t get everything you want all the time. So work out something in the middle and move on down the road. What we’ve done on immigration is to leave well over a million people (and maybe a lot more) in limbo.
America is supposed to be better than this. I am ashamed. It is just another very sad example of how we are broken. Schumer? Pelosi? You should be ashamed. As should all the Republicans who defeated the DACA bills last month in the Senate. Sometimes you have to do what is right for the country. Being worried that you might give Trump a “W” if you compromise is not what I call thinking about the country.
The anti-immigration people are simply economically ignorant. We need more immigrants, not fewer.
Fort Lauderdale, Chicago, New York, and Raleigh
I travel in a few weeks to Fort Lauderdale, then Chicago, then New York and Raleigh for mostly private speaking engagements. I’ve been putting off a trip to New York for too long, and I have too many people I need to see.
And finally, just a brief note to those of you who have been asking about the changes that are afoot. I promise that I will let you in on the details very soon. Some of you think I’m building up to a big announcement about the future of this letter; but let me address those questions in one fell swoop: Thoughts from the Frontline is not being put out to pasture! I can promise you that the coming changes are exciting and will benefit both you and me. But rest assured that you will continue to get this letter for free for as long as I can write it.
And now it really is time to hit the send button. Have a great week!
Your wondering how we will balance the budget analyst,
GERMANY IS FRUSTRATING EMMANUEL MACRON´S GRAND AMBITIONS / THE FINANCIAL TIMES COMMENT & ANALYSIS
| Etiquetas: Emmanuel Macron, Europe Economic and Political, France, Germany
Germany is frustrating Emmanuel Macron’s grand ambitions
The reality is that Paris and Berlin are no longer natural allies
Wolfgang Münchau
The message is clear: German chancellor Angela Merkel (right) is saying no to French president Emmanuel Macron (left) on eurozone reform © AFP
The Franco-German honeymoon has ended. At the beginning of the year, Angela Merkel, German chancellor, and Martin Schulz, the former leader of the Social Democratic party, agreed that Germany would enter into a meaningful dialogue with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, on reform of the eurozone.
As it turned out, the eurozone agenda was a personal project of Mr Schulz’s, not of the SPD. When he was ousted as leader in February, the party lost interest. The grand coalition is once again in power, but now without the only interesting project that would have justified its existence.
Olaf Scholz, the SPD finance minister and the party’s new strongman, is notably cool on the whole idea. On the important issue of a European deposit insurance scheme, he is as sceptical as his predecessor, Wolfgang Schäuble.
The opposition to eurozone reform from inside Ms Merkel’s party, the CDU, and its Bavarian sister party, CSU, is as strong as ever. The CDU/CSU group in the Bundestag rejects all but one of the items on Mr Macron’s reform agenda. They do not want an enlarged European Stability Mechanism, the rescue umbrella, nor a single eurozone budget. And like Mr Scholz they do not want a European deposit insurance scheme until the Italian banks have managed to get rid of most of the bad loans on their balance sheet.
They do not want debt relief for Greece, either. The only reform idea for which there is some lukewarm support is that of a fiscal backstop to the bank resolution fund, something that should have happened a long time ago.
The message is clear: Germany is saying no to Mr Macron on eurozone reform, at least in substance. There may still be some token deal, perhaps a tiny eurozone budget with no macroeconomic significance. To add insult to injury, Ms Merkel also preemptively ruled out German involvement in military action against the Syrian regime.
I wonder how those two unrelated messages from Germany will be received. France is now in exactly the position Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, has warned about: in a monetary union in which the voice of France counts for little and a geopolitical situation in which the UK is the more reliable partner.
Mr Macron’s enthusiastic support for European integration contrasts with the unchanged political reality that France and Germany are no longer natural allies. Unlike in France, the pro-European parties in Germany are in retreat. Ms Merkel’s party lost 1m votes to the Free Democrats and the Alternative for Germany, both of which advocate policies that would lead to the destruction of the eurozone. Sixty CDU/CSU MPs voted against the Greek support programme in 2015. If faced with a similar rebellion today, the grand coalition would no longer have a majority.
Does this make eurozone reform impossible? I do not think so. The June deadline for eurozone reforms was chosen because Mr Macron needs something concrete to show before the European elections in May 2019.
As a longstanding advocate of eurozone reform, I am finding myself in the unusual position of favouring a tactical retreat. It would be better to wait for a better moment to push the two issues that really matter, neither of which is on the agenda right now: the creation of a single safe asset, or a eurozone bond; and the legal and political separation of national governments and their banks.
Reformers should exploit the fact that the large and persistent current account surpluses of the northern eurozone countries make them vulnerable to a sudden disruption of trade flows. Only an existential crisis that threatens the very survival of the eurozone has the potential to concentrate minds in the northern eurozone. A very large current account surplus makes you strong in good times, but weak in bad. Now is not the moment to extract concessions from Germany or the Netherlands.
The alternative is wasting scarce political capital on weak reforms. We would also have to accept conditions that might add to financial instability, like Germany’s demand for a semi-automatic debt restructuring or caps on bank holdings of sovereign bonds. If the alternative is a big leap in the wrong direction, standing still would constitute relative progress.
IMF SHOWS POOR TRACK RECORD AT FORECASTING RECESSIONS / THE FINANCIAL TIMES
| Etiquetas: Forecasting, IMF, Recession, World Economic And Political
IMF shows poor track record at forecasting recessions
Economic predictions presented as precise numbers are far from that in reality
Valentina Romei and Keith Fray
Blowing hot and cold: The difficulty in getting forecasts right is not unique to the IMF
The IMF is set to release its twice yearly global outlook on Monday, providing economic growth forecasts for almost every country in the world.
However, a closer look at its record on reading the future suggests it is unlikely they will accurately predict even how many economies will expand or contract this year.
The FT looked at the number of countries that the IMF expected to be in recession for every year since 1991 and compared it with the number of economies that turned out to have actually contracted.
Over the last 27 years, the IMF has predicted every October that an average of five economies will contract the following year. In practice, an average of 26 have contracted. This suggests that the six countries that the IMF predict will be in recession for 2018 could rise to as many as 31.
The difficulty in getting forecasts right is not unique to the IMF. “All macroeconomic forecasters are poor at predicting downturns,” David Turner, head of the economics department at the OECD told the FT.
“Recessions are not rare,” echoed Prakash Loungani, a macro-economist at the IMF. “What is rare is a recession that is forecast in advance.” Despite an increased amount of economic data being available, “the ability to predict downturns remains dismal”, he told the FT.
“Extreme volatility during the global financial crisis complicated economic forecasting” said the OECD. In October 2008, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the IMF forecast that seven countries would be in recession in 2009 and it predicted global output would expand by 3 per cent. In reality, world GDP contracted by 0.1 per cent and 91 countries went into recession.
In that October, the IMF predicted an economic expansion for 2009 for both the US and Japan. Instead, the world’s largest economy contracted by nearly three percentage points and Japan’s economy shrank by 5.4 per cent, its worst annual performance since the second world war.Also, the IMF sometimes gets the countries wrong.
Greece, for example, is one of the eight countries that the IMF expected to be in recession in 2016, but it is not among the 25 countries that the IMF now considers to have been in recession in that year.
The fact that forecasts are “typically over-optimistic for horizons beyond the current year” is not necessarily the result of economist optimism. They “fail to forecast strong booms, just as they fail to predict recessions,” said Mr Loungani, suggesting that economic forecasts “are too rooted in thinking that things stay close to normal or will revert to normal soon”. Economic models are “not precise and they are based on lots of assumptions that may not turn out to be true, ” said Paul Donovan, the chief economist at UBS Wealth Management.
The problem is not only with models and assumptions, but also with hard data. Economic data are continuously revised, sometimes in a significant way, even in countries with usually reliable data.
In the last 24 years of UK quarterly GDP data, almost every final figure has been different from the initial release, sometimes by one full percentage point.
The US economy expanded by an annualised rate of 3.2 per cent or contracted by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2015 according to different revisions of the same data. Similarly, in Q1 2011 the US economy was revised from registering a strong expansion to a strong contraction.
The IMF’s April outlook is often more accurate. This is because it is easier to get a forecast right for the current year than the following year. The April report is better able to signal a recession for the current year than the October publication, “but one that is much milder than what transpires”, says Mr Loungani, author of several studies.
Economic forecasts should provide “broad trends, not specific numbers” said Mr Donovan, they should assess whether an economy is growing about trend, below or above trend. “Specific forecasts create an illusion of precision,” he added. Having decimal points in forecasts is “purely to prove that economists have a sense of humour” said Mr Donovan.
BLOW FOR BLOW: A TRADE WAR BETWEEN AMERICA AND CHINA TAKES SHAPE / THE ECONOMIST
| Etiquetas: China, Trade Wars, U.S. Economic And Political
Blow for blow
A trade war between America and China takes shape
The two countries threaten to descend into a sequence of tit-for-tat retaliations
TALK of tariffs is in danger of developing into cries of trade war. On April 3rd America published a list of some 1,300 Chinese products it proposes to hit with tariffs of 25%. Just a day later China produced its own list, covering 106 categories. “As the Chinese saying goes, it is only polite to reciprocate,” said the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC.
According to the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think-tank, America’s list covers Chinese products worth $46bn in 2017 (9% of that year’s total goods exports to America; see graphic). China’s covers American goods worth around $50bn in 2017 (38% of exports). The sums were enough to move markets on April 4th, though the S&P 500 index soon made up lost ground.
Both countries’ lists are, for now, no more than threats. Over the next two months America’s list will be open for public consultation (there is no deadline for the tariffs to come into force). China has said that it will wait for America to move. There is still a chance the two sides will choose a deal over a trade war. Although America’s list was drawn up in response to China’s alleged theft of American firms’ intellectual property, Mr Trump regards the trade deficit with China as a separate affront. Tariffs might yet be avoided by China agreeing to buy more American stuff.
But this skirmish follows others. On March 23rd America imposed tariffs on steel and aluminium from some countries, including China. That prompted tariffs covering around $3bn of American exports to China. More retaliation is expected, as the Chinese react to separate American tariffs on solar panels and washing machines.
Historians of trade have an advantage over those who study wars of the military kind. Each side in a trade dispute lays out in detail the products to be affected. That makes it easier to analyse their strategies.
Mr Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium turn out to be rather crude. They are an attempt to protect a single industry by blocking foreign competition, guided by a mistaken belief that this will make it stronger. By contrast, China’s retaliation, and the latest American threats over intellectual property, are more sophisticated. Rather than coddling one industry, they are meant to prod a trading partner into changing its behaviour. They are means, not ends.
This week’s American list is designed to hit products benefiting from China’s industrial policy, including its “Made in China 2025” plan to dominate certain strategic sectors. Industrial robots, motors for electric vehicles and semiconductors are all in its sights. (At least 90 products, including aircraft parts and cars, recorded no Chinese exports to America in 2017 and may be intended as a pre-emptive strike.)
That might seem fair in Mr Trump’s eyes. But bureaucrats crafting trade-protection policy face a trade-off between punching the other country and protecting their own consumers. Even before the latest announcement, some offending products had been dropped from America’s list after government analysts identified them as “likely to cause disruptions to the US economy”, or “subject to legal or administrative constraints”. The final choice took account of the availability of substitutes from elsewhere. Analysts at Goldman Sachs, a bank, estimate that of the products proposed for tariffs, only around 20% of America’s imports in 2017 came from China (the share is higher for LEDs, televisions, and printers and copiers).
The element of surprise
Some parts of America’s strategy were unexpected. Minimising disruption to businesses would suggest tariffs on finished goods rather than their inputs. Some companies may not realise that their suppliers are buying from China, so higher costs for intermediate goods could travel along supply chains in unpredictable ways. Pricier parts could make American manufacturers less competitive than foreign rivals. However, although the two biggest tariff lines by value on America’s list were colour-screen televisions and passenger vehicles, consumer products accounted for less than 20% of the affected imports.
What of China? In response to America’s tariffs on steel and aluminium, it placed tariffs on $0.2bn-worth of iron and steel tubes, pipes and hollow profiles, and $1.2bn-worth of aluminium waste. This echoed Canada’s response to the American Smoot-Hawley tariff of 1930, when it raised tariffs on eggs as retaliation for America doing the same. Douglas Irwin of Dartmouth College reports that the number of eggs Canada exported to America fell by 40% between 1929 and 1932. But the number going the other way plunged by 99%. Such tit-for-tat retaliation is intended to demonstrate that trade barriers make industries weaker, not stronger.
The list China published on April 4th is even bolder. It makes no effort to comply with World Trade Organisation rules, and aims at pressure points in America’s democracy, including industries with powerful lobbies, such as aircraft and soyabeans, as well as products from politically sensitive states. Wisconsin is home both to Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and a sizeable share of America’s cranberry exporters. Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader of the Senate, represents Kentucky, home to America’s bourbon exporters. Both products are included in China’s $50bn tariff threat.
Such methods have worked before. In 2003, when the European Union threatened to put tariffs on American products, including oranges, in retaliation for George W. Bush’s tariffs on European steel, Mr Bush yielded. (Florida, a crucial swing state, is home to many orange-growers.) Mr Trump’s pronouncements do not suggest he is ready to sue for peace. Nor does he seem aware of the risks of failure.
HOW MUCH LONGER CAN THE AMERICAN EMPIRE RUN ON FAKE MONEY? / DOLLAR COLLAPSE
How Much Longer Can the American Empire Run on Fake Money?
Excerpted from Jay Taylor’s Gold & Energy Stocks Newsletter:
Gold rocketed to nearly $1,365 on Wednesday in New York, which is well above the $1,350 that Michael Oliver suggests is when technical price watchers will finally start to head into the yellow metal and related investments like gold stocks. But alas the banking cartel had other ideas and exercised a 100-tonne “pretend gold” smackdown in the gold paper futures markets starting at about noon that day, just to make sure the greatest competition in the world to the dollar didn’t start to lead to a loss of confidence.
This of course is nothing new. The Gold Anti Trust Action Committee (GATA) has been documenting paper market manipulation of the gold markets now for decades. Isn’t it interesting that more virtual gold trades in one day on the LBMA than is mined in an entire year. Whatever it takes, including endless wars to try to keep the petrodollar alive and trillions of dollars spent on blood and treasury. I truly believe Eisenhower’s fears of the endless power of the Military Industrial Complex are now playing out. It should be eminently clear now that “the President is not really the President of the United States.” That was established by the “Deep State” under Kennedy. If you have doubts about that, you might do well to read “Unlike Trump, Kennedy never bent a knee,” by Jacob G. Hornberger, the founder of The Future of Freedom Foundation and a former trial attorney in Texas.
While another war or two might buy a bit more time for the Anglo-American Empire, it should also be very clear that the U.S. military, like the U.S. budget, is out of control with no one specifically in charge. What it is instead is an amorphous powerful monster that needs more lands to conquer to justify more military spending that in turn will continue to keep massive parasitic bureaucracies ever expanding so that hundreds of thousands of Americans can continue living a splendid lifestyle while Americans who produce things of value find their living standards ever in decline.
If you are not questioning the legitimacy of the war just started this evening by the Neocons who run America you should be. Stop to ask yourself why for a second year in a row the Syrian leader would implement a gas attack on his own people a mere week after Trump said he would pull troops out of Syria, if the result of that would be to have bombs rain down on his country.
Also ask yourself why the U.S. refused to let an impartial country like Norway do an independent investigation into who actually was responsible for the recent gas attack. In fact, like the weapons of mass destruction that dragged us into Iraq, there never has been any proof of last year’s gas attack or this most recent one.
This may very well lead us into a hot war with Russia, a nuclear power. That is unthinkable but then who said the Military Industrial Complex, like a cornered animal being threatened by death, is doing much thinking? As I say, America is an empire that is out of control. Nothing but the hand of God will stop the enormous evil we are inflicting on country after country, rendering nations into death and poverty wherever we go.
Trump couldn’t keep his campaign promises because the President is not the President.
Kennedy tried to be. He never had time to realize he wasn’t the President, but the rest of us should have begun to understand that long ago, rather than quietly accepting the Warren Report, which I think had no more credibility than all other manner of CIA reporting that serves the out-of-control Imperial State monster whose heart resides in Washington.
What does this have to do with the gold markets and gold shares? I would submit to you it has a great deal to do with it. The one currency that would put all nations on an even playing field would be gold. A gold standard would mean the U.S. would have to earn its way to wealth rather than print money to pay for endless wars, death, and destruction. Nixon took us off the international gold standard in 1971 for that very reason, which enabled banks and financial institutions to get rich by impoverishing Americans with debt and job losses funded by bankers who have access to printing-press money. It also made it possible for America to fund endless wars with debt. But to keep the dollar viable, its leading competitor had to be held at bay. Hence smackdowns like the one this past Wednesday.
But the Russians and Chinese and a host of other countries are sick and tired of being told they have to use dollars for trade when doing so helps fund the U.S. that is outright hostile to those nations and seeks their overthrow. Led by the massive wealth gained by China over the years, financial institutions and a currency backed by gold appear to be well underway so that they can compete with the immoral monetary system the U.S. set up on August 15, 1971.
Now this gets directly to the issue of gold. Watch very carefully when in a week or so the first petro yuan contract comes due on the Shanghai Exchange. You know that countries that sell their oil to China will have to get paid in yuan. If they are a bit shaky on accepting yuan, they can hedge against yuan by taking delivery of gold (not paper delivery but real gold) on the Shanghai Gold Exchange, which, unlike the LBMA in London, is an honest, physical gold market. So while American economists with PhD’s in economics thumb their noses at gold as money and worship Keynesian lies that suggest nations can get rich by printing endless amounts of money no matter how far into debt and insolvency that takes them, the Russians (who are largely debt free) and the Chinese (not to mention the Iranians and other nations of Asia) are building up their gold reserves for the day when the U.S. self destructs, financially or otherwise.
As an American I don’t wish for that because when that happens there will be untold pain in our country. But clearly, the stage has been set. The bombing of Damascus by Trump today may be the start of an unfathomable war that he had little chance of avoiding given the obvious control of our government by the Deep State.
I believe we are on the cusp of a major breakout in the price of gold. It is taking more and more paper gold to hold it down and if/when those who buy paper gold, thinking that will protect them as well as the real thing, find out that isn’t true we may see a run on physical gold that could send the yellow metal to prices undreamed of by the most bullish of gold bulls. [Technician Michael Oliver]’s initial target once we get through $1,350 at the end of this month or a month in the near future is $1,700. By that time, it’s hard to imagine that there won’t be quite a number of people trading in their marijuana and cryptocurrencies for gold and gold mining shares.
THIS REALLY IS THE EVERYTHING BUBBLE: EVEN SUBPRIME MORTGAGE BONDS ARE BACK / DOLLAR COLLAPSE
| Etiquetas: Credit Bubbles, Economics, U.S. Economic And Political
This Really Is The Everything Bubble: Even Subprime Mortgage Bonds Are Back
Record student loan balances? Check. Trillion dollar credit card debt? Check. Six tech stocks dominating the Nasdaq? Check. Subprime auto loans at record levels? Check.
All that’s missing is subprime mortgages and we’d have every bubble base covered. Oh wait, those are back too, just under a different name:
Subprime mortgages make a comeback—with a new name and soaring demand
They were blamed for the biggest financial disaster in a century. Subprime mortgages – home loans to borrowers with sketchy credit who put little to no skin in the game.
Following the epic housing crash, they disappeared, due to strong, new regulation, and zero demand from investors who were badly burned. Barely a decade later, they’re coming back with a new name — nonprime — and, so far, some new standards.
California-based Carrington Mortgage Services, a midsized lender, just announced an expansion into the space, offering loans to borrowers, “with less-than-perfect credit.” Carrington will originate and service the loans, but it will also securitize them for sale to investors.
“We believe there is actually a market today in the secondary market for people who want to buy nonprime loans that have been properly underwritten,” said Rick Sharga, executive vice president of Carrington Mortgage Holdings. “We’re not going back to the bad old days of ninja lending, when people with no jobs, no income, and no assets were getting loans.”
Sharga said Carrington will manually underwrite each loan, assessing the individual risks. But it will allow its borrowers to have FICO credit scores as low as 500. The current average for agency-backed mortgages is in the mid-700s. Borrowers can take out loans of up to $1.5 million on single-family homes, townhomes and condominiums.
They can also do cash-out refinances, where borrowers tap extra equity in their homes, up to $500,000. Recent credit events, like a foreclosure, bankruptcy or a history of late payments are aceptable.
All loans, however, will not be the same for all borrowers. If a borrower is higher risk, a higher down payment will be required, and the interest rate will likely be higher.
“What we’re talking about is underwriting that goes back to common sense sort of practices. If you have risk, you offset risk somewhere else,” added Sharga, while touting, “We probably are going to have the widest range of products for people with challenging credit in the marketplace.”
Carrington is not alone in the space. Angel Oak began offering and securitizing nonprime mortgages two years ago and has done six nonprime securitizations so far. It recently finalized its biggest securitization yet — $329 million, comprising 905 mortgages with an average amount of about $363,000. Just more than 80 percent of the loans are nonprime.
Investors in Angel Oak’s nonprime securitizations are, “a who’s who of Wall Street,” according to company representatives, citing hedge funds and insurance companies. Angel Oak’s securitizations now total $1.3 billion in mortgage debt.
Angel Oak, along with Caliber Home Loans, have been the main players in the space, securitizing relatively few loans. That is clearly about to change in a big way, as demand is rising.
“We believe that more competition is positive for the marketplace because there is strong enough demand for the product to support multiple originators,” said Lauren Hedvat, managing director, capital markets at Angel Oak. “Additionally, the more competitors there are, the wider the footprint becomes, which should open the door for more potential borrowers.”
Big banks are also getting in the game, both investing in the securities and funding the lenders, according to Sharga.
“It’s large financial institutions. A lot of people with private capital sitting on the sidelines, who are very interested in this market and believe that as long as the risks are managed well, and companies like ours are particularly good at managing credit risk, that it’s a good investment opportunity,” he said.
So today’s subprime mortgages are being written with lots of common sense safeguards. But demand for the resulting bonds is soaring and lots of new players, big and small, are getting into the game.
Wonder what that means for underwriting standards going forward…
PREPARING FOR WAR / CASEY RESEARCH
| Etiquetas: Donald Trump, U.S. Economic And Political, Wars
Preparing for War
by Jeff Thomas
The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer the master of policy, but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.
Recently, the US government announced the replacement of its National Security Advisor. The existing military man—a combat veteran Lieutenant General, was replaced by someone who was, amazing though it may seem, more hawkish.
This came as a shock to the world and Americans in particular, as the new advisor, John Bolton, is seen publicly as aggressive at best and a psychopath at worst.
The New York Times recently said, “There are few people more likely than Mr. Bolton is to lead the country into war.”
In other comments, The New York Times has said:
Mr. Bolton, in particular, believes the United States can do what it wants without regard to international law, treaties or the political commitments of previous administrations… He has argued for attacking North Korea… which could set off a horrific war costing tens of thousands of lives… he has called for bombing Iran… He has also maligned the United Nations and other multilateral conventions… Mr. Bolton has largely disdained diplomacy and arms control in favor of military solutions.
Pretty scary stuff.
But then, the president’s cabinet is increasingly about scary stuff. From the beginning, it was loaded up primarily with generals, as well as central bankers. Since that time, the turnover of staff has leaned ever further in the direction of aggressive military men.
In learning of the latest appointment, an American associate complained to me, “Look who they’ve chosen to be in charge of National Security. Don’t they know that this guy is so hawkish that, no matter what the situation, he’ll push the US toward war?”
Well yes, that’s quite so. However, the question suggests that the US government is presently weighing the possibility of a major war. I doubt very much if this is the case.
I’m very much afraid that the logic in the question is, in fact, backwards.
The US made the decision to go to war some time ago. What they’re now doing is lining up the people they’ll need to assure that the wartime advisors are aggressive enough to see it through.
Any cabinet member who actually considers both war and peace to be equally viable must be removed and replaced with someone who’s committed to the decision that’s already been reached.
Another concern amongst Americans is that President Trump has reversed his campaign promise to “work with Putin and other world leaders,” and is now threatening warfare on multiple fronts. An increasing concern amongst Americans is that he must be made to see reason, or he’ll lead the US to war.
Again, I believe that the logic is the wrong way round. Mister Trump is irrelevant. The Deep State—that conglomerate of governmental agencies and corporations that rule the US—have long-since baked war into the cake. The current president will be expected to get into line.
This is evidenced by Mister Trump’s repeated claims in the morning that he intends to work with others, only to announce in the afternoon that he will do the exact opposite. Mister Trump has an exceptionally strong ego and does all he can to maintain his image of being in charge, but time after time, he’s had to reverse his public statements, often within the same day.
This is not the behaviour of a man who is truly in charge.
Looking back half a century, President Eisenhower’s final task in office was reputedly to advise the incoming President Kennedy that the recently formed CIA was rapidly becoming a monster and needed to be dismantled at all costs. Mister Kennedy agreed and attempted to do just that.
His effort did not end well. Since that time, the Deep State has grown far stronger. It remains faceless by design, yet it rules, in toto, from behind the scenes. Its leaders rise from within and are not subject to election or public acceptance. They’re independent of both the party system and the constitutional balance of the three branches of government.
Mister Bolton was not chosen in spite of his belief that the US should be an active aggressor in every instance—he was chosen because of it.
The US is going to war.
Historically, when political leaders decide to go to war, they do three things. First, they build up their military might. They explain this to the people as being “necessary for defense.” They then create a war council—a group of advisors who are not only willing to go to war, but are eager to do so. (This assures, as much as possible, that they will stay the course, often obsessively, when the going gets tough. But this is also the reason why leaders often fight to the bitter end, even when all hope is gone, costing excessive and pointless loss of life... after the writing is already on the wall.)
Finally, they create a justification for invasion. This is normally achieved either with a false-flag act of aggression, or a provoked attack by the intended opponent. It matters little which method is used, as the result is the same—a “justification” for invasion.
This was done by the US to justify the Spanish-American War, both World Wars, Viet Nam, and each of the American invasions into the Middle East.
In the war that is to come, the US is doing all it can to provoke attacks from other countries in both the Middle East and Asia, whilst providing the media with propaganda, claiming that the US is only invading and planning to invade foreign countries for reasons of “defense.”
In essence, the way this works is much like the behaviour of the schoolyard bully. He doesn’t strike his intended victim. He pushes him, again and again, until his victim can no longer tolerate the humiliation of being pushed and strikes back in some small way. This gives the bully the justification to claim that he’s been attacked, and then he follows with an immediate, full-force retaliation.
At present, the US is actively provoking a host of small countries and has already invaded quite a few of them in the last two decades.
The alarming factor in the US aggression is that these countries are all very far away from the US, yet right next door to Russia and China.
As the old saying goes, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend.” Therefore, this shoving match instigated by the US—which is taking place in the backyards of Russia and China—is almost certainly going to ally those two great powers in opposition to the US.
In addition, many other countries in the world have become tired of the ceaseless aggression by the US and have already formed alliances with Russia and/or China. (We cannot yet know to what degree they will take part once a major war breaks out.)
Further, unknown to most Americans, many of its former allies are becoming increasingly disenchanted with US sanctions that threaten their trade with those other powers. When they’re asked to join together in warfare against them, they’re very likely to refuse—or worse, change sides.
The world, if not America, sees the US government as the aggressor… and the war to come is not likely to end well for the US.
TRADE WARS IN A WINNER-TAKE-ALL WORLD / PROJECT SYNDICATE
| Etiquetas: Global Trade, Protectionism, Tariffs, Trade Wars
Trade Wars in a Winner-Take-All World
BRUSSELS – With President Donald Trump’s new trade tariffs, the United States has been transformed from the global multilateral trading system’s leading champion and defender to its nemesis. But it would be very difficult for an erratic politician suddenly to overturn long-established structures and mechanisms, were it not for a more fundamental economic shift.
The first formal manifestation of today’s trade tensions occurred in the steel sector – an “old economy” industry par excellence, one that is plagued, especially in China, by enormous excess capacity.
Excess capacity is a recurrent phenomenon in the steel sector, and has always produced friction. Back in 2002, President George W. Bush’s administration imposed steep tariffs on steel imports, but relented when a World Trade Organization dispute-resolution panel ruled against the US. Although Trump administration trade hawks remember this ruling as a loss, most economists agree that it was ultimately good for the US economy, which does not gain from taxing a major input for many other industries.
In any case, today’s tariffs differ from Bush’s in a crucial way: they specifically target China. Under section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 – which empowers the president to act if US industry has been damaged by a foreign government’s unjustified actions – Trump has imposed steep tariffs on some $50 billion worth of Chinese imports. And China has already hit back, introducing steep tariffs on imports of 128 US-made products.
So why is Trump risking a trade war? His administration’s main complaint is that China requires foreign companies to reveal their intellectual property (IP) as a condition of access to the domestic market. And it is true that this requirement can do serious damage to US tech companies – as long as those companies are dominant in their industries.
For a major player in social networks or search engines, for example, the cost of entering a new market is essentially zero. Since the existing software can easily serve many more millions of users, they just need to translate their interface into the local language, meaning that entering a new market mostly means more profits. But if such companies are forced to reveal their IP, their business models are destroyed, as local players can then compete effectively in that market – and potentially in others.
This is not the case for companies operating in competitive industries. For them, producing and selling more abroad costs much more, limiting the marginal profits that can be reaped. In other words, in the more competitive “old” economy, the gains of opening new markets are much smaller. That is why lobbying by potential exporters for better access to markets with high tariffs has usually been muted – hence the lack of resistance to India’s protectionism.
This is changing in the new “winner-take-all” tech economy: with IP-owning winners missing out on massive profits when a big market like China is protected or closed, trade conflicts become more acute. Meanwhile, trade policy becomes focused primarily on re-distributing rents, with employment and consumer interests viewed as secondary. (Under competitive conditions, policymakers place a higher priority on maximizing trade’s potential to boost productivity and create high-quality employment.)
Monopoly rents translate into high market valuations. And, indeed, the new economy giants have a much higher stock-market value than their “old economy” equivalents. The three largest US tech companies are worth over 50 times more than the three largest US steel producers.
The looming trade war promises to be asymmetric. The US – home to all the dominant tech firms – will struggle to find allies against China. After all, in Europe and Japan, IP-owning companies operate mostly in more competitive industries, meaning that China’s demand for that IP will have less of an impact.
Making European support even harder to come by, some European governments are eager to secure their share of rents from US firms. This is the ultimate aim of European efforts to raise taxes on the profits of digital multinationals, though such a tax is unlikely to do the job.
Proponents of that tax argue that profits should be taxed where they are earned, with the implicit argument being that they are earned where the consumers are. But this is an arbitrary criterion. US firms can legitimately claim that their “European” profits are just a return on their IP, which can formally be localized anywhere, preferably in a low-tax jurisdiction. A European tax on these companies is thus unlikely to yield substantial revenues.
In the old competitive economy, trade wars might be easy to win for a country with a large trade deficit. But in the emerging winner-take-all economy, a trade war launched with the goal of forcing the rest of the world to open up, thereby allowing the aggressor’s own winning firms to earn higher rents, is an altogether different proposition.
So the US government is essentially arranging its diplomatic guns behind its Internet giants, while Europe and China are baying for their monopoly profits. This is more destructive than a zero-sum game: it will do serious damage to the global trading system, leaving everyone worse off.
Daniel Gros is Director of the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies. He has worked for the International Monetary Fund, and served as an economic adviser to the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the French prime minister and finance minister. He is the editor of Economie Internationale and International Finance.
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– Karine Dupre and Ruwan Fernando"/>
A Community Project: the students have their say, what can we learn?
– Karine Dupre and Ruwan Fernando
The Gold Coast of Australia is noted for its real estate development around artificial canals connected to the Pacific Ocean. The coastline has been altered from the growth of both the tourism industry and the population, from 8,400 inhabitants in 1947 to over 555,000 inhabitants today (ABS 2015). Several districts have emerged from this process and Surfers Paradise is one of them, standing as an example of the densified waterfront, concentrated services, tourist attractions and housing.
In this context, one would expect that all the coastal land that bound the main hubs of the Gold Coast (Surfers Paradise and Southport being key examples) would have also undergone rapid urbanization during this period. Yet, an exception to this comes as the Spit, a strip of land of about 180 hectares between the districts of Southport and Surfers Paradise (Fig. 1).
1. The Spit © Dianne Dredge
Born from a series of storms that have reconfigured the sand dunes at the mouth of the Nerang river (GCCM, 2006), this land protects the Southport district from the extreme weather from the Pacific Ocean and creates a bay that appeals to water activities and navigation.
The Spit has quickly become an attraction to the Gold Coast residents with strong social and cultural significance (Bosman & Strickland 2015). Embracing this phenomenon, the city committed to dredging the marine environment to counteract the Spit’s erosion and maintain the Broadwater (the shallow water estuary which includes the Spit and Wavebreak Island). Yet, for the last fifty years the site has also seen many proposals for development and just as many protests and opponents. Some proposals, related to tourism and commercial development, have been approved despite the protective regulations in place, for example the theme park ‘Sea World’, a shopping precinct, a commercial fishing wharf, an exclusive resort complex and an international hotel and apartment complex during the 1990s. Since then, development has been frozen, though new proposals are regularly introduced, feeding the development controversy of the site and the counter-reactions of locals. Conflicts over development versus place-value seem to dominate the Spit discourse in recent times (Dupre & Bosman, 2017).
The Student Brief
It is in this historical context that first year Master of Architecture students at Griffith University (Australia) were asked to participate in the debate. Since 2005, there have been proposals to build a cruise terminal and related services on the secured part of the Spit. After many resurgences as well as protests, these have been abandoned with the proposal of a casino (in 2016) being the latest controversy.
The 30 students were asked to design a casino for the city of Gold Coast with the Spit as their site. The majority of the students reside on the Gold Coast (83%). Furthermore, 40% of them consider themselves to be ‘locals’. The students gained direct information from advocates both pro and against development. They had 14 weeks (the length of a semester) to propose a master plan for the site and a more detailed version of the casino. A design competition was organised to evaluate the projects.
Methodologically, we implemented two types of assessments. The first one consisted of three analytical criteria to assess the students design ethos:
Does their nationality impact the perception of the site’s cultural value?
Does the site’s cultural value diminish in light of the the full account of key planning challenges?
How do their casino designs compare with traditional and current trends in casino design?
The second assessment was evaluated by external practicing architects, who constituted the jury of the competition. The jury included the city architect, two architects not residing on the Gold Coast, a local architect, the architect from the official proposal and one architect from the local association fighting the project. Their evaluation criteria related to the quality of the concept and design process; the architectural quality of the design proposal; and the the quality of the presentation (graphic and oral). The following report summarises the students views, values and the lessons we can learn from them.
Observations of the Student Proposals
Firstly, being international or domestic student did not have a significant impact on the students’ perception of the site’s cultural value. All the students valued its natural (and protected) environment and saw it as a strong element in their urban proposal. More than 80% had their casino completely surrounded by a huge park (Fig. 2), sometimes completely hiding the casino underground (Fig. 3). As such, it confirms the idea that a site has its own genius locus, visible and perceived by all, as described by Norberg-Schulz (1980).
2. Master plan with predominant park, proposed by C. Villegas
3. Section through the below ground casino proposed by S. Smith
The second observation regards the planning of the precinct. The Spit in its current state, forms a cul-de-sac with regular heavy traffic congestion. All the students addressed this issue in their proposals, not only showing their awareness of linking each project with the city, but also, for some of them, transforming this into a key feature (Fig. 4). As such, it demonstrated that, despite their full acceptance of the site’s cultural value, they avoided both traditional design outcomes as well as non-situated (or sculptural) designs. Not only does it confirm that students at this stage have integrated the variety of scales in their address, but also show problem-solving techniques to help them to prioritise and hierarchise strategies.
4. Master plan, proposed by D. Lovell
The last observation is that the the majority of students did not want their casino to ‘look like a casino’. The projects took many forms including of a resort village, a hotel, a commercial center, art gallery or hybrid types suitable for a public institutions (Fig. 5). There was a strong resistance to adopt the more traditional idea and aesthetic of a casino, with the view that many of the most well-known examples showed kitch and were insufficiently imbued with architectural ideas. Conversations with students showed that they were more concerned with the buildings connection with public space and the long-term appropriation of the building into the site. Adaptive reuse is common in the Gold Coast and the students were anticipating a change of use within a short period. Their interest in having the building very private with high security requirements as part of a general public-perceived complex also demonstrates their attachment to the Spit, as defended and valued by the locals. This is a value unanimously praised by the competition jury for the three first prizes.
5. Projects by J. Hon (top) and B. Campbell (bottom)
Comments from the Jury
Although the two second entries (see Fig. 6) also clearly created a dialogue with the city of Gold Coast’s reputation (‘glittering’, ‘iconic’… or ‘ugly’ (Boyd, 1960)), the first prize design took a completely different approach.
6. Second exaequo entries Master plan, proposed by V. Nunan (top) and M. Trifunjagic (bottom)
As the history of the development of the Spit is part of a cycle of conflicts quite recurrent in the city, the student chose to develop an offshore proposal to create zero footprint on land and raise awareness of climate change and its impact on sea level. By proposing a submersible jetty around which small cabins, which can accommodate gambling areas or bedding, are floating, the student aimed at introducing the notion of risk and awareness of the fragility of our constructions. The choice of timber also aligned with this narrative as a mean to express a more humble attitude (than heavy concrete docks for example), as well as a return to the basics of sustainable development. Most importantly, by thinking out of the box and already for tomorrow, the jury praised the new type of destination that this project would provide if it was ever built: a mixture of activism, poetry and design skills.
7. 1st prize masterplan (top) and perspective of the project underwater (bottom), laureate Sobi Slingsby
Unanimously praised by all the members of the jury, the lead project with its strong sustainable approach, not only reunited developers and local architects but also shifted the debate: the city as we know it today cannot be looked at in the same way again. The environmental approach, in a region where floods and cyclones are regularly leading news, is to become a priority for our urban analysis and practices. Again, one might say it is not new, yet one can wonder why it is not implemented. The student works were locally widely covered by the media, discussed in architecture firms, and by the general public on Facebook. Whether it had an influence on the consultation that followed three months later is difficult to ascertain.However, it definitively feels that the students felt empowered in participating actively in the debate. At a time where everyone has a say on everything and often without commitment, it seems crucial that the agents of change for tomorrow get educated in participation.
– Australian Bureau of Statistics, National Regional Profile: Gold Coast (Statistical Division), http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/307Population/People12004-2008?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=307&issue=2004-2008 [accessed May 2017].
– Bosman, C. & Strickland, J. (2015) “The Value of Place” in Mr. Gjerde & E. Petrovic (eds) Proceedings of UHPH 14 Landscapes and ecologies of urban history and planning, pp. 47-60.
– Boyd, R. (1960) The Australian Ugliness, Melbourne: F.W. Cheshire.
– Dupre, K. & Bosman, C. (2017) Development versus coastal protection: the Gold Coast case study (Australia) in Etudes caribeurbanennes, 36.
– GCCM (2006) Changing nature of the Spit and Broadwater, Information sheet 7, http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/100925/GCSMP7.pdf [accessed 06/12/2013].
– Norberg-Schulz, C. (1980) Genius Loci: Towards a Phenomenology of Architecture, New York: Rizzoli.
Karine Dupre is an architect, teaching at Griffith University. She has a special interest in urban studies, and particularly in the interrelationships between Cities and Tourism. As an educator, she is passionate on empowering the students with critical thinking and comprehensive approach.
Ruwan Fernando is a lecturer in Parametric Design at Griffith University. He graduated in Architecture from the Victoria University and received his PhD in evolutionary design modelling from Queensland University of Technology.
Volume 1, no. 2 Summer 2017
Categories Short Articles
Tags COASTAL DEVELOPMENTGOLD COASTSTUDENT PROPOSALSTHE SPIT
Urban Formats
Urban Gating: a Swedish take on the Gated Community
– Karin Grundström
Spaces of care and spaces of insecurity: homelessness and precarity at a north London night shelter and beyond
– Ruth Ellenby
Green Urban Lab
– Urban Gorillas
– Maria Kostareva
Moloch & Adventureland
– Virginia Garfunkel
What happened, Major Tom?
A fantastical vision of Cairo’s elevated highway
– Amin El-Didi
, Mina George, Hussein Salem
Tourism and the City
Publishing Editor
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KJZZ Manager Reassigned At Rio Salado College Following Investigation
By Jeff Tyler
Published: Thursday, September 13, 2018 - 10:22am
Updated: Thursday, September 13, 2018 - 11:39am
moran-investigation-20180913.mp3
Download mp3 (1.69 MB)
Sky Schaudt/KJZZ
Rio Salado College in Tempe.
KJZZ's associate general manager of news, Mark Moran, has been demoted and will no longer work in the newsroom. The move follows an investigation by Moran’s employer into his workplace conduct.
Rio Salado College is part of the Maricopa County Community College District.
Moran was put on administrative leave in May. He returned to Rio Salado on Sept. 4.
Rio Salado College released a copy of the investigation report Thursday morning.
The report finds that Moran violated policies, including a failure to perform job duties.
An independent investigator hired to consider multiple allegations concluded that he did not sexually harass women at the station.
But the investigator did suggest that Moran should be required to get sexual harassment training, and she found that he “made a false statement to this investigator.”
Moran admits to some of the allegations.
“I’m really sorry for offending people with what were perceived as insensitive comments in the newsroom," he said.
But he would not comment on allegations that he kissed a former intern. The woman was no longer associated with the station at the time. And Moran disagreed with one of the investigator’s conclusions.
"It is not accurate that I was untruthful to the investigator. I felt that things were said about me that I needed to correct and set the record straight," he said.
Moran worked for KJZZ for almost 20 years. He had been on administrative leave since May, pending the results of the investigation. As part of his demotion, Moran will take a 5 percent pay cut.
Earlier this week, Moran started a new job in the marketing department at Rio Salado College.
KJZZ is licensed to the Maricopa County Community College District. Jeff Tyler is an independent journalist hired by KJZZ to report on this investigation.
(Download PDF of the report)
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Up from Conservatism
by Michael Lind
For nearly a decade, Michael Lind worked closely as a writer and editor with the intellectual leaders of American conservatism. Slowly, he came to believe that the many prominent intellectuals he worked with were not the leaders of the conservative movement but the followers and apologists for an increasingly divisive and reactionary political strategy orchestrated by the Republican party. Lind's disillusionment led to a very public break with his former colleagues… (more)
For nearly a decade, Michael Lind worked closely as a writer and editor with the intellectual leaders of American conservatism. Slowly, he came to believe that the many prominent intellectuals he worked with were not the leaders of the conservative movement but the followers and apologists for an increasingly divisive and reactionary political strategy orchestrated by the Republican party. Lind's disillusionment led to a very public break with his former colleagues on the right, as he attacked the Reverend Pat Robertson for using anti-Semitic sources in his writings.
In Up From Conservatism, this former rising star of the right reveals what he believes to be the disturbing truth about the hidden economic agenda of the conservative elite. The Republican capture of the U.S. Congress in 1994 did not represent the conversion of the American public to conservative ideology. Rather, it marked the success of the thirty-year-old "southern strategy" begun by Barry Goldwater and Richard Nixon. From the Civil War to the civil rights revolution, the southern elite combined a low-wage, low-tax strategy for economic development with a politics of demagogy based on race-baiting and Bible-thumping. Now, Lind maintains, the economic elite that controls the Republican party is following a similar strategy on a national scale, using their power to shift the tax burden from the rich to the middle class while redistributing wealth upward.
To divert attention from their favoritism toward the rich, conservatives play up the "culture war," channeling popular anger about falling real wages and living standards away from Wall Street and focusing it instead on the black poor and nonwhite immigrants.
The United States, Lind concludes, could use a genuine "one-nation" conservatism that seeks to promote the interests of the middle class and the poor as well as the rich. But today's elitist conservatism poses a clear and present danger to the American middle class and the American republic.
Non-Fiction History Social science Political science Political Ideologies Religion
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From the same collection
Publisher: Free Press (August 06, 2013)
Collection: Free Press
Parent ISBN: 9780684831862
Page count: 304 pages
Social science >
Political science >
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Security Council Press Statement on Situation in Lebanon (19 December 2017)
SC/13130
The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Koro Bessho (Japan):
The members of the Security Council welcomed Prime Minister Saad Hariri's return to Lebanon and his decision to continue his term. In that context, they commended the convening in Paris on 8 December 2017 of a ministerial meeting of the International Support Group for Lebanon, chaired by the United Nations and France and attended by the Prime Minister of Lebanon, and the joint statement issued at the end of the meeting. They also welcomed previous efforts which contributed to the resumption of the Council of Ministers on 5 December 2017.
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their strong support for the stability, security, territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 1701 (2006), 1680 (2006) and 1559 (2004), as well as other relevant Security Council resolutions and statements of the President of the Security Council on the situation in Lebanon.
The members of the Security Council recalled the need to protect Lebanon from the crises that are destabilizing the Middle East. In this regard, the members of the Security Council called upon all regional States and organizations to work for the political, social, economic and financial stability and security of Lebanon, in full respect of its sovereignty and integrity.
The members of the Security Council called upon all Lebanese parties to implement a tangible policy of disassociation from any external conflicts, as an important priority, as spelled out in previous declarations, in particular the 2012 Baabda Declaration.
The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their support for the ongoing efforts of the Lebanese authorities to restore normal functioning of institutions and prepare for the holding of legislative elections by May 2018. They also called upon the Government of Lebanon to further accelerate its programme of reforms in order to ensure political and economic stability built on a functional, transparent and democratic State, with full participation of both women and men.
The members of the Security Council reiterated the need for full implementation of all relevant Security Council resolutions, including resolutions 1559 (2004), 1701 (2006) and 2373 (2017). They commended the role of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in maintaining calm along the Blue Line and its cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces with the aim of extending the control of the Government of Lebanon over all Lebanese territory. The members of the Security Council recalled the proactive steps that UNIFIL has taken to operationalize resolution 2373 (2017) and encouraged UNIFIL to continue these efforts.
Given the security challenges faced by Lebanon, particularly the terrorist threat, the members of the Security Council commended the role played by the Lebanese Armed Forces and by all security institutions of the State in protecting the country, its borders and its population. They recalled the importance of implementing previous commitments which require that there will be no weapons other than those of the Lebanese State and called on all Lebanese parties to resume discussions towards a consensus on a National Defence Strategy. They recalled that the Lebanese Armed Forces are the only legitimate armed forces of Lebanon, as enshrined in the Lebanese Constitution and in the Taif Agreement.
The members of the Security Council commended the generous and long-standing efforts made by the Lebanese people and the Lebanese authorities to host Syrian refugees. They recalled that any returns of refugees, when conditions allow, must be in full compliance with international law, including international refugee law, and with respect for humanitarian principles, and the principle of non‑refoulement.
The members of the Security Council encouraged the international community to continue and increase its support to Lebanon's political, social and economic stability, including through the appropriate provision of assistance for Lebanese host communities and refugees in Lebanon.
They took note of the agenda set out in the International Support Group for Lebanon Final Declaration in support of Lebanon.
The members of the Security Council urged the International Support Group for Lebanon to continue its work, in coordination with the office of the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, to seek opportunities to help address the challenges to Lebanon's security and stability.
Ministerial meeting of the International Support G...
UN SECRETARY GENERAL APPOINTS PERNILLE DAHLER KARD...
Secretary-General's remarks at press stakeout [scr...
Statement attributable to the Spokesman for the Se...
TTHE SECRETARY-GENERAL’S PRESS ENCOUNTER
Readout of the Secretary-General’s meeting with H....
Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokespe...
LEBANESE MINISTER OF DEFENSE VISITS UNIFIL HEADQUA...
MESSAGE FROM THE UNIFIL MISSION: UNITED NATIONS SE...
Statement by the Spokesperson following the adopti...
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San Francisco’s Vaping Ban Is Doomed To Go Up In Smoke
Since last September, the Food and Drug Administration has engaged in a “historic crackdown” of the vaping industry to curb an alleged “epidemic” of underage vaping. A short list of its heavy-handed crackdowns included demanding that five e-cigarette companies provide it with comprehensive plans on how they will prevent teen vaping and raiding e-cigarette company headquarters and confiscating their documents. The agency also fined over 1,300 retailers for allegedly selling to minors.
But the FDA planned to intervene further. Then FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb also proposed banning flavored e-juices, banning convenience stores from selling e-cigarettes, and imposing age-verification mechanisms for online sales. Although never enacted, vaping industry leaders were preparing for these and other changes to take effect. However, Gottlieb resigned from his position this April. With his departure, the agency’s involvement in regulating the vaping industry has stalled.
But where Gottlieb and the FDA have stopped, the city of San Francisco has continued and doubled-down.
San Francisco recently became the first U.S. city to outright ban e-cigarette sales. The ban also includes flavored tobacco products and online purchases shipped to a San Francisco address. The ordinance does allow certain restrictions to be lifted once a vaping product has undergone a premarket review by the FDA. However, no vaping product has undergone a premarket review to date.
Preventing minors from vaping and becoming addicted to nicotine is the ban’s primary motive. As Mayor of San Francisco London Breed expressed, “We need to take action to protect the health of San Francisco’s youth and prevent the next generation of San Franciscans from becoming addicted to these products.” City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who authored the ordinance, similarly believes, “This is a decisive step to help prevent another generation of San Francisco children from becoming addicted to nicotine.”
Will it work? Unfortunately, governmental efforts to reduce or eliminate vices are often spectacular failures.
The Drug Awareness and Resistance Education Program (often shortened to DARE) was designed to educate children about the dangers of illicit drug use in hopes they would reframe from using them later in life. Despite receiving considerable funding from government sources and having a presence in 75 percent of the nation’s school districts, research finds the program resulted in more drug experimentation. Similarly unsuccessful, anti-obesity campaigns launched by government agencies have resulted in comparatively higher obesity rates.
The same shortcomings occurred previously in the e-cigarette market. Before the FDA began regulating the e-cigarette market, such matters were left to the states. By 2014, forty states had banned e-cigarette sales to minors. The FDA first passed regulation banning e-cigarette sales to minors in 2016. However, teen vaping rates have increased since the agency became involved.
But it could be worse.
Government efforts to regulate away vices can also motivate more dangerous or unhealthy behaviors. Regulations limiting physicians ability to prescribe opioids frequently motivate patients to seek out illicit alternatives (such as heroin) to cope with their addiction. Taxing soda entices more consumption of acholic beverages or switching to sugary fruit drinks. Research published in the Journal of Health Economics finds taxing fast-food meals encourages over-consumption of fatty foods at home, amounting to less healthy eating.
San Francisco may be the first U.S. city to ban e-cigarette sales, but it will certainly not be the first city to cause considerable harm from enacting overzealous vice policies. Let’s hope San Francisco learns from the past before it serves as another example of a well-intended but disastrously harmful policy.
Previous: Top 5 Benefits Of Using Vaporizers
Next: Banning E-cigarettes Is Not The Way To Address Fears About The Harms Of Vaping
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Pakistani judge who jailed former PM sacked over blackmail claims
Islamabad (Reuters)Â :
A senior Pakistani judge was sacked on Friday following a scandal over blackmail claims relating to the jailing of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on corruption charges, the law ministry said.
The removal of accountability court judge Arshad Malik prompted immediate calls  Â
by Sharif's PML-N party for the release of the 69-year-old former premier, who is serving a seven-year jail sentence. "The decision against Nawaz Sharif should be dismissed and he should be released immediately," party spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb said, adding that Sharif's conviction should be considered "void". Sharif was convicted and jailed last year after failing to prove the source of income that had led to his ownership of a steel mill in Saudi Arabia. Under Pakistani law, this is taken to prove corruption. The PML-N has disputed the conviction and last week party leaders presented a video apparently showing Malik saying he had been pressured into ruling in favor of conviction by individuals with compromising footage against him. Malik later issued a statement denying he had been blackmailed to convict Sharif and saying the video had been manipulated. He also declared in an affidavit he had been offered bribes followed by blackmail threats by figures close to Sharif to rule in favor of the former premier. After days of growing pressure, Islamabad High Court asked the law ministry to remove him from his position. "Judge Arshad Malik was asked to stop working on the basis of the alleged video and the press release," Law Minister Farogh Naseem told a news conference. The scandal adds to an already heated political climate in Pakistan where Prime Minister Imran Khan's government, which came to power last year vowing to root out corruption, has been facing increasing economic difficulties. Earlier this month it agreed to a $6 billion bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund, which has demanded a tough package of austerity measures. As the problems have mounted, opposition parties have stepped up attacks, accusing the government and its allies in the powerful military establishment of crushing dissent and orchestrating Sharif's removal from power and conviction.
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5 more fishermen found dead in Cox's Bazar
UNB, Cox's Bazar :
Bodies of five of 17 fishermen, who went missing after they were caught up in a storm in the deep sea, were washed ashore on Thursday.
Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of Cox's Bazar Sadar Model Police Station, said they recovered three bodies from Diabetic Point of the beach around 10pm on Thursday. Two more bodies were recovered from Sugandha beach and Dhalaghata area around noon.
Apart from these, six bodies were recovered from different points of the beach on Wednesday, said the OC, adding that they also rescued two fishermen.
Amid a 65-day fishing ban in the Bay, at least 17 fishermen from Bhola's Charfesson went to deep sea for fishing on July 4. But their trawler sank after it was caught in a storm on July 6.
All of the fishermen had been missing since then.
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lip lit: things my mother taught me
Danielle Croci
What is the role of a mother? And how does the relationship between a mother and her child shape that child’s life and actions? What makes some children grow up to be like their mothers, while others are motivated to turn away and do something completely different?
The new book Things My Mother Taught Me seeks to examine some of these questions, by featuring the stories of high profile Australians, including leader of the Australian Sex Party Fiona Patten and writer Benjamin Law, and their mothers. These stories have been told to and lovingly transcribed by non-fiction writer Claire Halliday. The chapters cover a variety of upbringings—some are warm and fuzzy with a touch of humour, while others make for difficult reading, due to familial experiences of sexual abuse, suicide and alcoholism.
There are some common threads that run throughout the memoirs. In particular, the immigrant experience of women, who often followed their new husbands to a new and strange country, is prominent in a number of stories. Writer Benjamin Law and comedian Greg Fleet describe growing up with mothers who had moved with their husbands for a better life, and were then required to make a single life for themselves in Australia. This takes a certain kind of courage that is seldom acknowledged.
More importantly, many of the storytellers in this book are forced to reflect upon their own role as a parent. For better or for worse, how has their experience being mothered shaped the way that they parent? Chinese-Australian ballet dancer Li Cunxin admits that he initially found it nerve-wracking to even send his daughter to school camp. In comparison, at age 11, his mother let him leave the family village for a dance academy in Beijing, an act that he can now truly appreciate as a parent. Jacqueline Pascarl, who had her own family drama when her ex-husband kidnapped their children, was inspired to do her best as a mother by her horrific childhood in which her own mother was initially absent and then abusive. Claire Halliday has carefully woven the experiences of parenting between generations to add another layer to the stories.
Sadly, women in particular often note that their mothers didn’t have ‘big’ lives, offering it as inspiration for how they wanted to be different from their mothers. Interior designer and TV personality Shaynna Blaze looked at the life of her mother, who had little ambition to travel or learn, and aspired for more. The mother of make-up artist Napoleon Perdis immigrated to Australia at age 17 from Greece after a traumatic childhood, which left her with no dreams, just a ‘desire to survive’. Alternatively, author Kathy Lette’s mother worked in a powerful position when she was growing up, which Lette says ‘ingrained’ into her that women are capable of anything.
Similarly, the book is also partly an ode to the often unspoken and underappreciated role of the mother as nurturer. Li Cunxin describes his mother, and her laughter in particular, as the ‘glue’ that held his family together, despite his father doing the manual labour to feed their family. Napoleon Perdis’s mother was able to pacify his traditional father, who was initially uncomfortable with his son’s decision to pursue a career in make-up. In this sense, Things My Mother Taught Me has more to say than just retelling individual experiences. It implicitly examines the role that we expect our mothers to play.
Author Clare Halliday, who has carefully documented these stories, leaves her own story to the end of the book. She had a loving relationship with her mum early on, but began to rebel when she discovered she was adopted at the age of 11. To her disappointment, Halliday’s birth mother was largely disinterested in making contact with her. It’s fascinating to delve deeper into the author’s own experience and is perhaps the reason behind Halliday’s decision to write this book, and provides a neat personal touch.
Things My Mother Taught Me is a great book to dip into at various moments, with some stories hitting the mark better than others. While each chapter is interesting in itself, it’s the common experience and expectations of the mother–child relationship that reveal a lot about the role of mothers in our society.
Things My Mother Taught Me by Clare Halliday
Echo Publishing, 2016
PB, RRP $29.99
This entry was posted in Arts, Books and tagged book review, books, childhood, domestic violence, feminism, lip lit, motherhood, Review, sexual abuse, suicide, writing. Bookmark the permalink.
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Their vertically integrated supply chain is one of longest in the industry. In addition to running plants, they own organic farms. They have farms in Brazil, Mexico, and the state of Washington where they grow and harvest key botanical ingredients like echinacea, spinach, alfalfa, watercress, and cherries. They then take those products and manufacture intermediates. Cherries, for example, are processed for Vitamin C. These intermediates they both use in their own products and sell to other companies.
That's because this form of marketing relies on what Ken McDonald, regional vice president at Amway North America, calls "high touch." This is what amounts to the need for agents or distributors to reach out and touch people they personally know, in order to make a sale. Almost all Amway sales start with face-to-face contact between people familiar with each other" (Inter@ctive Week).
On its face, the debate over right-to-work is about an arcane bit of labor law—whether workers under a contract that was collectively negotiated by a union should have to pay dues to that union, regardless of whether they’re members. But that debate is a proxy for a larger battle that is less about employment law than political jockeying: Unions tends to align with Democrats, and as a result, if it becomes more difficult for unions to collect dues, they’ll be weakened and less able to advocate for the political causes of their choosing.
This hard truth belies Amway’s populism, its promise that success depends merely on getting in on the ground floor, and that every floor is the ground floor. Deep down, Josh may have realized that an Amway easy enough for even him to master would soon self-destruct. This buried consciousness surfaced, for example, in the way he consoled himself with weird probability statistics. He knew how many levels deep he had to extend his downline (something like six) before he was certain to recruit someone with a knack for huckstering, providing a rising tide on which Josh could float. It was unlikely, of course, that a guy like Josh could spawn a six-level downline without the help of such a person, but that simply masked a deeper improbability: that there were enough of these theoretical master salesmen to go around to every schlub who couldn’t succeed otherwise.
Hi Ben. LTD is a Line of Association or approved provider, not a company. LTD has no rights to require you to purchase any business materials. Everything offered by LTD is optional to IBOs due to the Rules of Conduct which is approved by federal government. But I believe LTD is a really nice LOA, because I know some really intelligent LTD leaders. Amway would not suspend your business for no reasons, because it's not benefitial to Amway either. And the arbitration company you talk about is called Independent Business Owner Association International, which is a non-profit association previously named as American Way Association founded in 1959, not company either. All the IBOAI Board Directors are elected from Diamond IBOs and above by votes from Platinum and above. If you have conflicts with Amway, you may appear for an infromal and formal hearing conciliation in IBOAI, which is held by IBOAI Board Directors not Amway administrators. And the IBOAI will stand out for IBOs' benefits, not Amway's. Amway usually accept IBOAI's recommendation for the results of hearing conciliations. You must understand that Rules of Conduct was writting by both Amway Rules Dept and IBOAI directors, and approved by government. That means the content in the Rules is legal and obeying the Federal Laws and the spirit of the Contitution. Amway has to fight you by the rules, and IBOAI will help you fight back by the rules. However, if you break the rules, nobody can help you. Is this the reason why you wrote your comment like this? And you know what, you can sue Amway Corp, because I know someone who did it and won the case. It has proved that this business has helped a lot of people earning extra income or achieving dreams without violating the Rules Of Conduct. And if your upline overcommitted you something, please don't blame it on this business and other IBOs in this business. Nobody should tell you that you only need 10 hours a week to be successful, nobody can make this statement, and nobody should believe it. I strongly suggest you to contact with me, and I would like to show you what a correct approch to Amway Business is. And I still believe you may find a way to make extra income in this business.
Their first product was called Frisk, a concentrated organic cleaner developed by a scientist in Ohio. DeVos and Van Andel bought the rights to manufacture and distribute Frisk, and later changed the name to LOC (Liquid Organic Cleaner).[19] They subsequently formed the Amway Sales Corporation to procure and inventory products and to handle sales and marketing plans, and the Amway Services Corporation to handle insurance and other benefits for distributors.[20] In 1960, they purchased a 50% share in Atco Manufacturing Company in Detroit, the original manufacturers of LOC, and changed its name to Amway Manufacturing Corporation.[21] In 1964, the Amway Sales Corporation, Amway Services Corporation, and Amway Manufacturing Corporation merged to form the Amway Corporation.[22]
In the 1960s and ’70s, Ed and Elsa Prince advanced God’s Kingdom from the end of a cul-de-sac just a few miles from Lake Michigan. There, they taught their four children—Elisabeth (Betsy), Eileen, Emilie and Erik—a deeply religious, conservative, free-market view of the world, emphasizing the importance of self-reliance and sending them to private schools that would reinforce the values they celebrated at home, small-government conservatism chief among them.
When HIV first came out, President Reagan formed a commission and I was honored to be on that commission. I listened to 300 witnesses tell us that it was everybody else’s fault but their own. Nothing to do with their conduct, just that the government didn’t fix this disease. At the end of that I put in the document – it was the conclusion document from the commission – that actions have consequences and you are responsible for yours. AIDS is a disease people gain because of their actions. It wasn’t like cancer. We all made the exceptions for how you got it, by accident, that was all solved a long time ago.
USA Today and ESPN also publish a top 25 college baseball poll for NCAA Division I baseball, known as the USA Today/ESPN Top 25 coaches' baseball poll. The poll began in 1992.[8] The poll appears in the preseason, then begins weekly after week 2 of the season through the end of conference tournaments. A final poll is released after the conclusion of the College World Series.
“Here we are three years into [the Herbalife battle] and it’s no clearer than it was at the beginning,” Keep told me when we spoke. If the government had rules about where the line was between an illegal pyramid scheme and a legal multilevel marketing company, there wouldn’t be any such dispute. It’s ridiculous that we have to guess what’s illegal.
The Club Level at the Amway Center -- between the Terrace and the Promenade -- splits into several types of premium seating. There are suites, including the Founders Suite which can accommodate 16 and the larger Presidents Suite, each providing a plush and roomy space from which to enjoy the game. Loge seats are among the most popular though, combining great additions like all-inclusive food and drink with a close-to-the-action feel.
So, after hearing the Amway rhetoric on an endless loop, recruits start to make disastrous decisions, and each one is applauded by their peers. In Kyritsis' case, his "friends" at Amway even encouraged him to give up on his education. "They would actually compare having an Amway business with getting royalties, like from a book or a song. That you build a network once, and it pays you forever, even if you stop working. So, why go to college when I can make a successful Amway business without any degrees? For me, as a 21-year-old idiot who never had a full-time job and lived with his parents, that was reason enough to drop out of college, and I never got my degree."
Disappointments like this got Sherri down, and keeping her outlook positive was beginning to strain even World Wide Dreambuilders, LLC. At one First Look, Dave Duncan (Greg and Brad’s father, a straight-talkin’ Montanan who had given up a successful construction business to build dreams with Amway) reassured her with a timeline he drew on the eraser-board showing that you could make millions within ten years. Afterwards, however, during the mingling—while Dave warned a young couple that, sure, some brain surgeons did well, but only the ones at the top—Sherri started eyeing the evening’s hosts with despair. They were crosslines, Direct Distributors who had broken 7,500 PV with an all-out one-summer campaign. Sherri, almost beside herself, insisted that Josh, Jean, and I have a meeting to “figure out what we’re going to do. Because we’ve got to do something!”
I got sucked into this program only to find out to get started you have to spend $300 in your store each month. This wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't stuck part-time at Wal-Mart. I could flex my schedule to fit my mentor's just fine, I already thought the way they want you to in the first place, and I welcomed learning new things but I just couldn't afford it and no one is going to help you because they're all trying to make their own business succeed. Then I tried talking to my mentor and he seemed more selfish than anything. I would have to starve myself on perfect water and protein bars and he only thought about how me leaving would affect HIM. I hate people, always will and this just made my social seclusion worse. If you are reading this to because you just got dragged into too, don't follow through with it unless you have extra money to throw around. I was also learning nothing I didn't already know. And you'll always hear people saying "Well if you knew how, why aren't you successful like us?" Well my answer is because I haven't tried yet. Every meeting you hear the exact same things. I even had the infortunity to go to this year's Spring Leadership. The most interesting part of it was the band at the very beginning. Every person had the same thing to say, the only diversity is how they got to where they are now. My mentor is extremely unequipped to teach anyone. He may have been mentored by the most famous Diamonds in Edmonton but in two years he's not even Eagle.
I can see how one bad experience or one negative anecdote can turn you away from something–in this case, a business. But if you took the time to find out more information you’d see that this is really quite, quite far from the truth. Amway has been certified as a legal, non-pyramid scheme, and you’d know that if you just did a simple google search.
The reason some people received $84 was because they didn’t work hard enough to earn more. This business isnt for everyone. Just try the products and of you dont like them then return them you have 6 months to return them. Just dont start stating facts that aren’t true just because you lost a friend. They probably left because they trying to be with people who were trying to succeed. Take it from me im 16 years old and this business has not failed me yet.
‘No,’ says Dale. ‘I’ve only been playing seriously for six or seven years, and I don’t have much time, working in hospitality. But I love playing at Bayou Club. You join a private club hoping that during season when every other golf course is swamped – I mean, we own a public course nearby, and they’re running on six-minute tee times. They’re herded through there like cattle. It’s tough during season, and it’s not enjoyable golf. Because if you’re playing golf, especially if you’re kind of a quick player, when you run into someone else and then you have to stop and you have to wait for those people to play ahead of you, to get out of the way, it interrupts your rhythm playing the game.’
Entering the poll for the first time this season is Texas A&M, which is 2-1 with first-year coach Jimbo Fisher following a 48-10 win over Louisiana-Monroe. Can the Aggies stay ranked, though? A road trip to Alabama is next on the schedule. Also, UCF jumped Boise State essentially by not playing North Carolina in Week 3 due to Hurricane Florence. Meanwhile, the Broncos plummeted from No. 17 to No. 24 after a 44-21 loss to Oklahoma State. That puts the Knights as the highest-ranked Group of Five team.
Ha ha. My poor neighbour tried to sell me Amway cleaning products stating that they were organic and so pure that you can spray it on plants. She never read the list of ingredients. When it is written “keep out of reach of children and pets” and “may be harmfull is swallowed” chances are it will also kill your plant. People who refuse to see the scheme with the “new age buzzwords” that is Amway are doomed.
“Our family story inspires others to build legacies of their own,” he said. “They see success through the generations and the impact it has on your family and community. The opportunity is open to anyone, but it really suits those who are hungry for something more. You have to have goals and be willing to do the work in order to achieve your dreams.”
The next week, I decided. I would never learn the truth about Amway until I joined. I left a message on Josh’s Amvox voicemail telling him I had the $160 check ready. A week later, I left another message. By my third attempt, I got Josh himself (who had been intending to return my calls) and was finally able to arrange a time to separate me from my money. It wasn’t the last time I felt he and Jean weren’t exactly cut out for the rigors of The Business.
Nike and Apple have been partnered for 3 years. They don’t need to market and advertise that to create volume. That’s what we do. Also, amway is designed initially to be part time,no full time. I worked a full time job, while putting in time to build a business online. I don’t need to explain what we make now but it’s enough to make a living. Look up the BBB if you want to do “research”.
It's sad to see that people think that Amway is a Scam. When it really is a business that doesn't give you what you want right away. My father and I are in Amway and have made more money than other jobs have given us. The reason why people really think that it's a scam is because it's a waste of their time. And that's sad to hear because this business gives you opportunities. Like not to long ago my father went platinum and we got to go to Disney world. Other businesses just hand you that as a reward of not doing anything. But what gets me is if Amway is a scam why hasn't Amway gone away or why hasn't stopped them? Can you answer that for me?
Yet the Amway rules have never been codified into regulation — they’re really more like suggestions — nor have they ever been proved to mitigate the harm pyramid schemes do in taking advantage of recruits or lying to them about the potential to get rich. (A vast majority of those who sign up for pyramid schemes lose money, sometimes lots of money.)
In 2001, after the majority of Amway Independent Business Owners (IBOs) had transferred to the new company, Quixtar completely replaced Amway as the marketing venture for Amway/Alticor products in North American regions. The Quixtar business model differs from the earlier Amway business model in many aspects, such as the way distribution is performed as well as the products and services offered through partner stores. Rather than ordering product from a distributor who delivers them in person, Quixtar customers can place orders online and have the products shipped to them directly. In mid-2007 however, Quixtar announced they were phasing back in the Amway name over two years and discarding the Quixtar name. Along with the re-branding campaign, Amway Global is investing over 580 million dollars into both increased compensation for IBOs and for extensive advertising of the new brand name.[12]
My uplines’ despair made me reluctant to add to their failure. But I had stayed in too long already. Having run out of other things to buy, I had resorted to subjecting my cat to Amway pet food. And I began to sense that when Josh and Sherri looked at me, they—in their last-ditch hopes—saw Diamonds. Before I disappeared from their lives, however, I accompanied them to one last Rally.
My husband rides in the front of the golf cart with Dale; I ride in the back. We strike out over the gently rolling fairways. ‘We’re a longer course,’ says Dale. ‘Total length, if you play from back tees, seventy-one hundred yards. No one, not even the younger guys, play from the tips. I’m just going to show you the prettiest part and then head back so we stay dry.’
In this Presidential election, companies that cut their labor costs by engaging in offshoring have come in for heavy criticism. Amway, one of the world’s largest direct selling companies, is a U.S.-headquartered global company that would be hard to criticize on these grounds. Many of their products that are largely sold overseas, actually leverage “Made in America” as a key selling point.
Even so, among the DeVoses’ skeptics, there are those who strike a hopeful, if cautious, tone. “I think Mrs. DeVos could potentially be a really good secretary of education if she allowed parents and school districts to make policy at the local level,” says Daniel Quinn, executive director of the Great Lakes Center for Education Research and Practice, a nonprofit that receives a portion of its funding from the National Education Association. “But at the same time, I’m concerned.”
Pyramid scheme or not, Amway is creepy and functions as a cult. These crazies nearly sucked me in. What made me really question them though was when after they explained to me their “business plan”, I told them that i’d take a few days to think about it, to talk with family about it. They immediately tell me not to tell my family about them, that my family would be skeptical about the opportunities amway would bring me, that my family would discourage me from doing it. What kind of shady business doesn’t want you to tell your family about them???
In 2006, Quixtar, in partnership with the IBOAI (IBO Association International) launched the "Quixtar Accreditation" program in order to address concerns about the companies that provide Business Support Materials to Quixtar IBOs. North American Diamonds (high-level IBOs) and their associated training companies may apply to Quixtar to be accredited by the corporation. Among other things, accreditation specifically states that promotion of particular religious or political viewpoints is unacceptable. Additionally, accredited programs must agree to a range of other guidelines, including "full" transparency in any compensation paid for Business Support Materials. The "full" transparency only applies to the IBO's who are participants in the BSM income, for most groups this means Platinums and above, representing a very small percentage of IBO's. Accreditation lasts two years and is enforced through reviews of materials and surveys of IBOs. The full guidelines are listed in the IBO Communications Platform.[21] In April 2006 "eFinity" became the first Quixtar affiliated support organization to receive accredited status.
The Amway Board of Coaches is made up of 65 head coaches at Bowl Subdivision schools. All are members of the American Football Coaches Association. The board for the 2018 season: Blake Anderson, Arkansas State; Major Applewhite, Houston; Dino Babers, Syracuse; Mike Bloomgren, Rice; John Bonamego, Central Michigan; Terry Bowden, Akron; Jeff Brohm, Purdue; Neal Brown, Troy; Troy Calhoun, Air Force; Rod Carey, Northern Illinois; Bill Clark, Alabama-Birmingham; Dave Clawson, Wake Forest; Geoff Collins, Temple; David Cutcliffe, Duke; Mark Dantonio, Michigan State; Bob Davie, New Mexico; Butch Davis, Florida International; Dana Dimel, Texas-El Paso; DJ Durkin, Maryland; Herm Edwards, Arizona State; Luke Fickell, Cincinnati; Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M; P.J. Fleck, Minnesota; James Franklin, Penn State; Willie Fritz, Tulane; Scott Frost, Nebraska; Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech; Turner Gill, Liberty; Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State; Bryan Harsin, Boise State; Clay Helton, Southern California; Tom Herman, Texas; Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia; Mike Jinks, Bowling Green; Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech; Brad Lambert, Charlotte; Mike Leach, Washington State; Lance Leipold, Buffalo; Tim Lester, Western Michigan; Seth Littrell, North Texas; Rocky Long, San Diego State; Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern; Mike MacIntyre, Colorado; Gus Malzahn, Auburn; Doug Martin, New Mexico State; Urban Meyer, Ohio State; Jeff Monken, Army; Dan Mullen, Florida; Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh; Ken Niumatalolo, Navy; Jay Norvell, Nevada; Barry Odom, Missouri; Ed Orgeron, LSU; Gary Patterson, TCU; Chris Petersen, Washington; Bobby Petrino, Louisville; Nick Saban, Alabama; Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State; Kirby Smart, Georgia; Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee; Charlie Strong, South Florida; Dabo Swinney, Clemson; Jeff Tedford, Fresno State; Kyle Whittingham, Utah; Everett Withers, Texas State.
The next evening (Sunday because that's URA's phone session night) I received a call from the girl. I missed the call but immediately called her back thinking she was wanting to make dinner plans or something along those lines. She began talking about this cool business opportunity she has and felt like we would be perfect for it! The way she explained it made it sound legit. She said it was a company who endorses major brand products online, etc., etc. I was intrigued at first. They had us in the palm of their hands. When I hung up the phone, my husband immediately said "They're using us. This is some MLM scam." I believed him, but I had liked the couple so much I didn't want to lose their friendship, so we decided to just try it out. See if it's for us.
The next five days saw large protests on the Capitol grounds, culminating with an estimated 12,500 demonstrators on December 11, the day the House voted on the legislation. Two-thousand demonstrators flooded into the Capitol, sitting in the hallways and laying down in the rotunda. They stomped their feet, chanted familiar slogans, sang “Solidarity Forever”—a cacophony that some in the House chamber one story up initially confused for thunder.
But there is one thing that we need to understand here. Like in an MLM scheme which is a Ponzi scheme, the business that an Amway distributor does, depends on finding new distributors and then hoping that these new distributors sell Amway products and at the same time are able to appoint newer distributors. If a distributor is successful at this he makes more and more money. The trouble is that we go along it becomes more difficult to appoint new distributors. Lets try and understand this through an example. Lets say the first distributor that a genuine MLM company appoints, in turn appoints five distributors.
if people are simply looking to become rich quickly by signing up as many people as they can, yeah, it can be a sh*t program to get into. but if people are actually looking to help each other out and create a supportive atmosphere, then its a good thing to be around. the things i’ve learned at the meetings and conferences have helped me immensely in all areas of my life because i’m way more confident now to pursue my own dreams outside of amway.
ADA, Mich., March 13, 2018 – As Americans continue to demonstrate positive attitudes towards entrepreneurship, Amway’s new report reveals that more men are interested in becoming entrepreneurs than women and that as individuals get older, their desire to start a business lessens. The report dives into the key drivers behind the entrepreneurial spirit and the impact internal and external factors have on attitudes and perceptions about entrepreneurship.
The problem for Amway distributors (or any other genuine MLM company) entering the game late is that it is difficult for them to sponsor new distributors. It is also difficult for them to sell Amway products given that there are so many distributors already operating in the market and they have selling relationships in place. Also, products sold by MLM companies typically tend to be more expensive than similar products being sold in the open market, making it more difficult to get customers willing to buy.
On August 9, 2007, a group of Quixtar distributors, including founders of the TEAM training organization, filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin Quixtar from enforcing its distributor contracts, including the non-competition and non-solicitation provisions. The plaintiffs alleged that the company knowingly operates as a pyramid scheme, and prevents its distributors from leaving the organization through the aforementioned provisions.
To test these claims I took my new Amway wholesale price list down to the local supermarket for a price comparison. As it turned out, Amway wholesale prices were only slightly better than supermarket retail prices, although a few Amway products, like freezer bags, were significantly cheaper. And this was giving The Business the benefit of many doubts: I factored in its claim that its detergents are more “concentrated” than other brands; I compared Amway with high-quality brand-name products, not store brands or generics; and I compared only regular prices, ignoring the fact that the supermarket, unlike Amway, always has items on sale (not to mention coupons).[8] The same results obtained at the local drugstore in comparisons of vitamins and cosmetics. All in all, the 30 percent Basic Discount was nowhere to be found.[9]
Ackman says Herbalife is a pyramid scheme because the only way people can make any money is by recruiting others, not by selling the company’s protein shakes. Herbalife says its business model is on the up and up because it is selling a real product to consumers who sign up more to get product discounts than to become part of a recruiting network. Parloff, after months of investigation, came down more on Herbalife’s side than Ackman’s, though in truth, that’s just his best guess. The F.T.C. wouldn’t talk to him, either.
Amway's eSpring water filter was introduced in 2000. According to Amway, it was the first system to combine a carbon block filter and ultraviolet light with electronic-monitoring technology in the filter cartridge and it became the first home system to achieve certification for ANSI/NSF Standards 42, 53, and 55.[53][54] According to Amway, eSpring was the first water treatment system to receive certification for all fifteen NSF/ANSI 401 contaminants which include pharmaceuticals, pesticides and herbicides.[53][55] The company also claims that, in addition to these 15 contaminants, eSpring is certified for more than 145 potential contaminants, including lead and mercury.[53]
ORLANDO, FL - MAY 25: An general exterior view of the Amway Center on May 25, 2012 in Orlando, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2012 NBAE (Photo by Fernandp Medina/NBAE via Getty Images)
Today, the FTC announced a settlement with Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing (FHTM), a company that operated an illegal pyramid scheme disguised as a multilevel marketing program. Over 350,000 people were scammed out of a total of at least $169 million. The settlement bans FHTM from the multilevel marketing business and from deceiving consumers. FHTM will fork over at least $7.7 million, which will be returned to consumers.
We follow her up the stairs. There are two large bedrooms separated by a bathroom and a linen closet – the children’s rooms. I step into the one on my left, which is smaller than I expected. It has wood floors and a closet with sliding mirror doors. Out the window, the neighboring house is less than ten feet away, and the space between is filled with broad-leafed palm trees. I hear the faint twang of the radio on the pool deck, playing ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’
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Robots in Love in the Time of Chlorella; "Wanted": A Heart and a Brain
directed by Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo”)
voice work by Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, others; funny cameo by Fred Willard
You don’t often hear the words “Disney” and “dystopia” in the same sentence. Not until now, that is. Leave it to Pixar to change that—and shortly after its return to the Disney fold, no less. Amusingly, and no doubt a bit harrowingly for the studio execs who negotiated the Pixar deal, “WALL-E” may be the most un-Disney movie to come out of the house that Mickey built. That’s not to say it’s lacking in cute protagonists, shiny visual treats, moral messages, or a happy ending: it has all these elements in spades. But what it does with them is very different from anything we’ve seen from the Magic Kingdom, or even, for that matter, from Pixar.
The year is 2700, and the film begins on an Earth that has turned into one vast, desolate landfill, so palpably evoked you can practically smell it. Flickering holograms, tattered banners, and other lingering signs reveal the decline of human society from dominance by a Wal-Mart-like corporate empire to uncontrollable profusion of consumer-generated trash, to the eventual escape of humankind to floating space-station communities that offer all the 24-7 pleasures of a cruise ship. The sole remaining Earthling is a rusty, scrappy (in all senses) robot called WALL-E—short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth class—who bears more than a passing resemblance to Johnny 5 from the “Short Circuit” movies and who dutifully labors, day in and day out, to compress the seemingly endless supply of garbage into compact little squares and stack them into towers that dwarf all other remains of humanity. WALL-E is also something of a pack rat, as well as a sentimentalist: from the detritus of a lost civilization, he plucks random objects (which furnish some of the film’s best, nonverbal jokes) and brings them home to decorate his robot pad, ranging from festoons of Christmas lights to kitchen utensils to cheap cigarette lighters and a Rubix cube. His most prized possession is a videotape of the movie musical “Hello, Dolly!”, which he watches over and over again, every night before going to “sleep.” His daily dose of singing, dancing Technicolored love seems to assuage the loneliness of his existence, otherwise relieved only by the companionship of a cockroach he’s adopted as a pet.
The roach proves as loyal as it is indestructible, but WALL-E plainly yearns for a deeper emotional connection. Enter EVE, a sleek, silver-white egg-shaped robot dispatched from the mother-cruise ship to Earth, on a targeted mission that does not concern or include WALL-E. (Hint: her name stands for Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator.) WALL-E, nonetheless, is instantly smitten and courts the exotic lady with indefatigable gallantry, despite the fact that her attention is clearly focused elsewhere. When EVE finally accomplishes her objective, shuts down and returns to the mother ship, WALL-E follows and finds a world run by robots catering to a population of soft, blobby, overpampered humans who have literally forgotten how to walk and how to see anything that isn’t on a screen before them. He doesn’t seem to notice the blobs, though, so fixated is he on getting EVE to pay attention to him. Fortunately, all ends well as he wins her love and, in the process, helps her save humanity.
The horrors that go unremarked by WALL-E are likely to register more strongly with the audience, though the implications may be lost on younger viewers. I’m not sure, in fact, that “WALL-E” is an ideal movie for very small children, notwithstanding the cuteness of the robots and the chase scenes late in the movie that culminate in a somewhat rote climax. After all, the first half is practically a study in solitude and largely one-sided attempts to communicate, unbroken by any dialogue other than robot beeps, while most of the humor in the second half is of a pointedly satirical nature that’s obviously tailored to appeal to liberal, ecologically minded adults. In fact, from its dark projections of the unchecked corporatization of human society to its skewering of modern man’s dependence on machines, the film’s vision of the future has all the bleakness of classic dystopian sci-fi flicks.
While that’s not a bad thing in itself, if “WALL-E" has a weakness, it's how heavily it borrows from these earlier films, including “Blade Runner,” “Idiocracy,” “Alien,” “The Matrix,” and, perhaps most directly and nakedly, “2001: A Space Odyssey.” There’s a fine line between paying tribute to and cribbing from a classic, and for the most part “WALL-E” stays on the right side of it. Still, one of the distinguishing features of Pixar productions up till now has been how self-contained they are as narratives and how little they depend on any specific cultural references outside the context and universe of the film at hand. It’s hard not to look back, for example, to last year’s “Ratatouille,” which was built on themes as ageless as any in “WALL-E,” yet managed to be a true original in almost every way. It’s also hard not to notice—particularly in light of Steve Jobs’s connection to Pixar—how comfortably the visual design of EVE's world could fit into an ad for the Apple Store. This super-subtle form of product suggestion, if not placement, casts the movie’s indictment of excessive consumerism in a somewhat ironic light.
That said, “WALL-E,” at its core is as much a love story as it is a cautionary parable of human development. And at its best, the romance has a charming Chaplin-esque quality that plays deftly between the comic and melancholy shades of WALL-E’s devotion. There are points, however, where it veers close to being overly cute. Romantic love has never been the central theme of a Pixar film before, so the tonal shakiness may just be a matter of adjusting to that framework. Or it may just be an effect of the contrast between the lilting sweetness of the courtship and the sobering, near-grotesque futuristic setting in which it takes place. Still, the film is organic enough that the happy ending feels emotionally earned at both the micro and macro levels of the plot, which is as much as anyone jaded by years of rom-com and sci-fi letdowns can reasonably expect. If I expect more from the Pixar wizards, it’s only because they’ve proven, time and again, that they can exceed my expectations.
directed by Timur Bekmambetov
starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman
Was I just criticizing "WALL-E" for being derivative? Well, maybe I shouldn't have been. You want derivative, go see "Wanted." But don't take the kids to this one.
The director behind the Russian blockbusters "Night Watch" and "Day Watch" (haven't seen 'em, but I have a vague idea they were about "Underworld"- or "Blade"-style vampires) makes his American debut with this jacked-up action thriller starring current It Guy James McAvoy as the insignificant, put-upon Nobody who becomes Somebody and Angelina Jolie as a recruiter from a circle of top-secret, supercompetent assassins who take their hit orders from a textile loom (I kid you not) presided over by our favorite actor-cum-deity, Morgan Freeman. The result is flashy, splashy, shallow, hyperviolent, and dumber than a box of rocks.
I haven't read the graphic novel(s?) on which "Wanted" is based, so I have no idea whether anything was lost in translation. All I know is that as adapted by Bekmambetov et al., the narrative plays like a cross between the "Fight Club" fantasy of re-masculating the bloodless white-collar male through bone-crunching violence and "The Matrix" fantasy of eroticized guns and superhuman powers of mind-over-matter. The difference is "Fight Club" and "The Matrix" actually managed to get us invested in the characters to at least some degree. Here, McAvoy's unlikely hero is such a whiner that even though that's the point, and even though he ultimately turns into a surprisingly convincing badass, his search for an identity is so perfunctory it's hard for us to care what happens to him. Jolie, of course, is badass personified (though she could stand to gain a pound or twenty), with her coolly amused gaze and her catlike half-smile, and she does get a back story that makes her assassin somewhat more interesting and sympathetic than McAvoy's. Ultimately, though, both of these paper-thin characters take backseats to the real star of the show, which is the nonstop relay of special effects-enhanced action sequences, each one more preposterous than the last. It's entertaining, all right, but it's all empty cinematic calories. Eat your popcorn and have a nice day.
posted by lylee at 3:08 AM
LVJeff said...
Hi Lylee. I'd have to disagree about the weakness of "cribbing" that you cite in this case. All movies borrow, and Pixar hasn't been immune to this (for instance, one of their best, The Incredibles, is chock full of references). And I don't think WALL-E crosses the line -- most of its homages are in film geek territory, and the uses of them in the first place were pretty deliberate, as evidenced in interviews with Andrew Stanton. And I think this is an extremely unique take on the dystopian sci-fi future. That they were able to apply to the story's surface a veneer of delight, over a tone that is otherwise quite bleak, is something of an amazing high-wire-act achievement to me.
lylee said...
Hey Jeff - mileage definitely varies on this, and I actually agree with you that "Wall-E" puts its film-geeky references to a deliberate (and generally worthy) purpose. It definitely doesn't even come close to the triviality of other animated movies that fall back on references not as homage but as cheap entertainment. It's just, at the end of the day, it got me thinking too much about other movies than about the one I was watching.
I do take your point about the film's skill in conveying the dystopic aspects without losing the basic warmth and glow we've come to expect from a Pixar movie. Though there are those who find that balancing act ultimately a bit of a copout.
I think that guy's analysis is a bit simplistic, mind you, but I do find certain points of consonance.
Ok, I'm not sure why that link didn't work, but here's the html address:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-scifi13-2008jul13,0,1537347.story
Tonio Kruger said...
Well, the end of WALL-E is a tad Panglossian--and no, it doesn't help to see WALL-E and EVE as the robotic equivalent of Candide and Cundegonde though I did think it was cute that WALL-E appeared to be pronouncing EVE's name in a Latin manner--but it's still a good movie.
It was much better than I expected, though I must admit that I liked the scenes with the robots a lot better than the scenes with the humans.
And the movie gets props for avoiding the most obvious gag one would expect in a movie which has a character named EVE.
I don't like what I have been hearing about Wanted though. Borrowing ideas is okay, but it generally helps if you do something imaginative with your borrowings. And anyway, I've already seen Fight Club...
I like the Candide comparison, except I really don't think the filmmakers meant "WALL-E" to be a satire. It's almost touching, their fallback on faith in the human spirit, and it doesn't feel disingenuous.
And yeah, don't waste your time on "Wanted." The longer time passes, the less substantial it becomes in my brain.
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contact@lastplaces.com
Set Departures
Ancestral voices of the Himalaya
Travel Infomation
Why Pakistan?
Last Places team of anthropologists and historians visited Pakistan for the first time in 2015. By then Pakistan had experienced a sharp downfall in tourism due to its not-so-great reputation in Western media. In a selfish way we were delighted not to see tourists in most the regions we visited. During that first prospective trip we realised the great potential of that country, mixture of India and Iran, home to the unique Kalash shamanic mountain people, and home to some of the last true nomadic tribes in Asia. Besides our passion for ethnographical encounters, the historical and architectonic heritage is overwhelming. It is a haven for history and art lovers.
With a local Pakistani partner, a former mountain guide, we opened an office in Chitral (base to explore Kalash Valleys and to plunge into the Hindu Kush) and since then we have been offering tailor made trips and ethnographic and historical set departures to the Last Read More
With a local Pakistani partner, a former mountain guide, we opened an office in Chitral (base to explore Kalash Valleys and to plunge into the Hindu Kush) and since then we have been offering tailor made trips and ethnographic and historical set departures to the Last Places of Pakistan. Read Less
Also known as Kalasha or Kafir.
Population & Ecosystem
3.000 Kalash live in 3 valleys of Chitral namely, Rumbur, Brumbret and Birir. The valleys are surrounded by the Hindu Kush mountain range.
Economy & Society
Historically a goat herding and subsistence farming people, the Kalash are moving towards a cash-based economy whereas previously wealth was measured in livestock and crops. Tourism now makes up a large portion of the economic activities of the Kalash. To cater to these new visitors, small stores and guest houses have been erected, providing new luxury for visitors of the valleys. People attempting to enter the valleys have to pay a toll to the Pakistani government, which is used to preserve and care for the Kalash people and their culture. After building the first jeepable roa Read More
Historically a goat herding and subsistence farming people, the Kalash are moving towards a cash-based economy whereas previously wealth was measured in livestock and crops. Tourism now makes up a large portion of the economic activities of the Kalash. To cater to these new visitors, small stores and guest houses have been erected, providing new luxury for visitors of the valleys. People attempting to enter the valleys have to pay a toll to the Pakistani government, which is used to preserve and care for the Kalash people and their culture. After building the first jeepable road in the Kalasha valleys in mid 1970s the people are engaged in other professions like tourism and also joining services like military, police and border force etc.
Besides their unique culture and Animistic rituals the Kalash people outstand for their physical appearance. Surrounded by dark hair, dark skinned and brown eye Pashtuns and Khos, most people of Kalash Valleys are white skinned with golden brown hair and blue eyes. Up to nowadays, the origins of Kalash still remain unresolved as their history is shrouded behind a number of theories, mysteries and controversies. Of these many theories, three carry with them great significance and are considered closest to reality.
The grandest of all is that the Kalashas carry a romantic view of being the descendants of Alexander the Great. On the other hand, many historians believe that they are indigenous tribe of the neighboring area of Nuristan also called Kafiristan (the land of Kafirs). It is believed that in 1895 Amir Abdul Rahman, the king of Afghanistan, conquered the area of Nursitan and forced the inhabitants of the area to convert to Islam. It was during that time that many people fled to Chitral to avoid conversion. The third theory claims that the ancestors of Kalashas migrated from a distant place in South Asia called Tsiam. The Tsiam is considered to be the traditional home of these people. The Kalasha folk songs and fables hint the existence of Tsiam and that their roots belong in that region.
The people of Kalash are extremely particular about their religion and break ties with anyone of them who converts to Islam. The converts are not allowed after the conversion to be a part of their community. They keep their identity strong.
The people of Kalash differ from the people of the surrounding areas in a number of ways. There is no separation between males and females in Kalash and are allowed to keep contact and communicate without any fingers being raised at them. Moreover, the females of Kalash are sent to live in a bashaleni when they are considered to be impure for e.g. during the child birth period and other occasions. These women are only able to live this place after they regain their purity and have undergone the ritual of restoring purity.
The people of Kalash march to a different drummer. Their customs and traditions are as different as day and night, especially vis–à–vis the concept of marriage. Marriage by elopement is more frequent in the Kalash valley and is also common amongst women who are already married to another man. In fact, wife elopement is considered to be one of the great customs of the people of Kalash.
When a man and woman get married the man pays the woman’s family a certain amount in order to have her. When a woman wants to leave her current husband and marry some other man, she offers herself to that man and informs him of how much her current husband had paid for her. In order for the man to marry an already married woman he has to pay double the amount to have her.
Culture & Religion
The women of Kalash wear long black loose robes with colourful embroideries and cowrie shells. These women are also found wearing colourful beads and necklaces that further distinguish them from the other women of the Chitral region. They accessorize their black robes by making use of colorful long braided head wears. The males of the Kalash on the contrary have adopted the Pakistani national dress i.e. the shalwar kameez and are often found wearing waistcoats over them. They also wear hats common to the northern area of Pakistan.
The Kalash are polytheistic believing in 12 Gods and Goddesses. A renowned linguist Richard strand, is of the view that the people of Kalash practice an ancient form of Hinduism which gradually developed locally and got influenced by the neighboring areas of pre Islamic Nuristan.
They believe in a number of Gods e.g. Yama Raja also called Dezau and Khodai who is the creator deity. Another god is the Balumain who is the cultural hero and taught the people of Kalash how to celebrate the winter festival. Other gods include Destak, Munjem, Dezalik. Like all the other religions, the Kalasha also have different religious rituals and practices. In Kalash the rituals are the means of generating economic activity and are gift giving festivals. The numerous Gods and Goddesses have shrines and altars all over the valley where goat sacrifices are offered regularly. Crows that are considered to be their ancestors are frequently fed with their left hand at a number of places including tombs. Moreover, the people of Kalash do not bury their dead under the ground rather their coffins are left out in the open. They believe that the soul was excited to leave the human body and reunite with the already departed souls. It is for this reason that they celebrate the funeral of a dead person by singing and dancing rather than mourning over their bodies.
Bakarwal
Also known as Gujjar, Gujar or Gurjar.
300.000 Bakarwal nomads live in cold and desolated pastures of Deosai Plateau, in the Himalayas.
As sheep and goat rearing transhumants, the Bakarwal alternate with the seasons between high and low altitudes in the hills of the Himalayas. The economy of Bakerwal tribe is primarily based on the rearing of sheep and goats. To fulfil day to day needs a Bakerwal tribe to trade sheep and goats with the Mutton traders in the local areas and to the sheep and goats traders in bulk during the season of Eid-ul-Zuha. Bakerwals used skins of sheep and goats to store foodstuffs during their migration and transport this on the back of their Mules, horses. Although they are now part of the mainstream economy, they continue to practice the ancient barter system as the supply of food and essential items is restricted in the hamlets located in the upper ridges of the Himalayas.
The Bakarwals are the scholars of nature. They know the seasonal flowering, grasses and medicinal herbs of various kinds. They are the doctors of their herd and apply the medicinal herbs to the cattle’s whenever they are sick. Some of the Bakarwals collect medicinal herbs during their travels which are sold in the market at handsome price. Milk, curd, butter, ghee, etc are the ingredients sold by these nomads to make their both ends meet. They also sell raw wool.
Nomadic communities of Bakarwals are struggling to continue with their centuries-old migratory lifestyle. In recent decades, urbanisation and environmental conservation efforts have put pressure on their livestock based subsistence economy- like never before. Still, some Bakarwals possess the spirit to undertake a long and arduous journey from the winter pastures in the Potohar region of Punjab to the Deosai plains in the Gilgit Baltistan region, accompanied by their livestock. The Bariyankhel clan undertakes the longest annual migration of 400 kilometres, cross four administrative units of the country and which covers at least seven ecological zones. Their roaming region is marked with extremes, both in gradient and temperature. Their happiest time is spent in the far north in their summer pastures where they have the comfort of companionship of their kinsmen, abundant grass to feed their herds and the least amount of interference from the state functionaries.
Bakarwals always move in groups. A single kabila may consist of several families together. Each family used to have a head of the family and all of these heads combine together to elect their leader. Generally it is unanimously decided and the most active one or the most powerful and rich is elected to perform the duties of a leader. This headman of the herds is popularly known as Mukadam. These Mukadams were, once upon a time, the most powerful persons who used to decide the fates of the feudal lords. Even now they play an important role in deciding the trend in the general elections in the area. All the quarrels of the families are settled by these headmen of the clan. Even the major disputes between the clans are solved mutually among themselves. The deciding person used to be the Mukadam whose verdict is supposed to be final. Bakarwals seldom go to courts for getting justice. It is only when they are forced that they knock the doors of the courts.
Nowadays, at least 16 out of 24 clans of Bakarwals have permanently sedentarised and left their annual migration temporarily for good. These Bakarwals have forsaken their traditional dress code, food habits and specific cultural traits and have adapted themselves in order to enjoy education, health and job opportunities in cities.
Bakarwal men wear long shirts and salwars of dark colours. Jackets of black or dark colour are always in use but pattu coat is in vogue during winter only. They use white turban in the style of Turks. Big leather shoes are in vogue which are nailed heavily at the soles. The females are thin and tall. Their attire is almost similar to that of their male counterparts. They are very fond of braiding their hair. Numerous small braids divergently appear from the upper part of the forehead and convergently slide down to a single braid of hair at the back. They usually wear a dark coloured cap on their head covering the turning point of the braids. They carry their younger kids on their back in cloth cradles fastened around their backs. Sometimes young lambs are also cradled. Newly born lambs are always carried on the backs to lure the sheep mothers. The free hands are always busy.
Bakarwals are Sunni Muslims but preserve some pre-Islamic rituals. The rituals and other celebrations are very simple. Almost every celebration starts with the distribution of ghee and shakkar among the poor and the kith and kin’s followed by the chanting of the folk songs. At the time of new births and also during marriage ceremonies hilarious folk songs are chanted. They are generally the love epics popularly known as Masnavis. Thus Masnavis like Saifal Malook, Heer Ranja, Laila Majnu, etc. are recited accompanied by folk music instruments like bag pipe, algoja, mattian, flute and drums.
Pawindha
Also known as Povindah or Kohistan Gujjar.
50.000 Pawindha nomads live in the mountain plains of Kohistan and travel every season towards the plains on Punjab on a centuries old route on foot, near Taxila.
Their main source of income is their livestock, which travels with them and serves as transport for the elderly, women as they travel through the countryside, and pitch tents wherever they stop. The Pawindha clans live in makeshift dwellings and own few possessions. They migrate during each season, heading from Kohistan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa carrying household items and accompanied by hordes of animals, such as goats, sheep, mules and horses, down the Silk Road to the plains of Punjab in the winter, and back to the mountains in the summer.
The Pawindha have their own customs, culture and language, although they also speak the language of their traditional wintering places too. So those spending the winter in Punjab speak Punjabi as a second language as this is necessary for them to conduct business plus, as some of them are appointed as agricultural labourers, it is a must that they can converse with their employers in order to understand the jobs to be done.
Surprisingly enough, these people rarely eat meat as they consider their animals far too valuable to kill. Their diet largely consists of milk, cheese, yoghurt, edible wild plants which they gather from their surroundings while keeping in mind never to harvest too much from one place as this would mean that there may not be a crop the next time they are passing through. They also eat lots of roti — buying sacks of flour from the income they make by selling animals now and then, and they wash everything down with endless cups of tea, tasting of smoke from the campfires over which they cook.
Pawhinda ladies are in the habit of plaiting their hair in hundreds of tiny plaits from which they hang a variety of highly decorative hair ornaments. When in camp, they also spend hours on end embroidering their clothes with traditional designs, echoing these intricate patterns on the cushions, blankets and mats with which they furnish their tents and also on the bridles, saddle cloths and ornaments used on their ponies and mules which are a colourful site to see as, fully loaded with goods, they traverse the roads from one place to another.
The Pawhinda nomads are Sunni Muslims thought some pre-Islamic customs and believes survive among them.
Also known as Kuchi, Pawanda or Kadwal.
2 million Kochis live in the mountains and dry plains between Pakistan and Afghanistan and migrate with their animals every year from Damaan to Khurasan.
Given that they are herders, the Kochi’s main source of income is their livestock. All their basic needs — such as milk, cheese, yoghurt, ghee, meat and wool — come from their goats and sheep. Though they contribute immensely to the local market in terms of dairy items, meat and wool during their semi-annual migration, the people of nearby villages do not allow them to set camps on their grazing land though they stay everywhere temporarily.
The word Kochi is a derivative of the Pashto word ‘Koch’ meaning migration.
The Kochi people are always on the move, migrating to Pakistan in the autumn and returning to Afghanistan in the spring and follow the historical caravan routes during their semi-annual migrations. Accompanied by their herds of cattle and carrying items of daily use, they travel on foot using the same route as their ancestors did for hundreds of years. The Kochis speak a rustic dialect of the Pashto language and live on the margins of main cities.
During their travels, the Kochis are accompanied by fierce dogs that protect the caravans, the camps and people. These dogs are often colloquially referred to as the Kochi breed as well. Children and the elderly, travel the thousands of kilometres on camels and donkeys. Kochi people always say that their destination depends on weather and season. While life may be harsh for Kochi women, their nomadic existence means they are able to lead a more liberal lifestyle — Kochi women don’t use the veil as conservative Pashtun woman traditionally do. The women are often busy contributing to the community — collecting water, making dairy products and cooking food. They spend their free time embroidering traditional designs on clothes and weaving rugs. The newly-wed brides can easily be spotted as they wear brightly coloured dresses which are heavily embroidered and decorated with traditional mirrors and sequins that clink as they move.
Kochi women still tattoo their cheeks, forehead, and chin with green natural ink, and wear silver saucers in their ears, bangles up and down their arms, and dress in red and green velvet clothes.
Kochis are Sunni Muslims but practice several pre-Islamic rituals related with their animals and the surrounding nature.
Khana Badosh
Also known as Punjab Gypsies, Pakhiwa, or Ghonpar Patti.
22.000 nomadic or semi-nomadic Khana Badosh live in various districts of southern Punjab. Every one or two years, communities of Khana Badosh migrate from one location to another depending upon the availability of work, livelihoods, and places to set up their huts. They choose places which are near the banks of rivers or outside urban localities. Most live around major cities like Lahore.
The main occupations of the Khana Badosh of Pakistan are: Begging, Singing and Dancing, Garbage Collectors, Labor, Bangle Makers and Sellers, Snake Charmers, Acrobats, Making Mud Toys, Hunting, Cane-Makers, Cattle Keepers. Khana Badosh keep moving from one place to another because they have no proper homes, that’s why they are also called Ghonpar Patti (house on your shoulders). They tend to stay put for a few weeks, months, or sometimes even years in Lahore.
They usually live in temporary huts made with cloth, straw and bamboo (wooden pillars support the structure of the cloth made hut). Thus, they make these handmade temporary huts which consist of 25-50 in each colony and live in small or large groups where they have to live according to their norms and principals. They bear the hardships of cold winters and very hot summers in these huts and also strong winds, thunder storms, and rainy seasons as well. Normally, a family consists of a man and wife and their 5 to 10 children. Children are married at an early age (12-15 years). Because of early age marriage the number of children increases and the family is unable to fulfil their basic needs, and the children are always at risk of dying at an early age or being disabled.
Khana Badosh Gypsies preserve a distinct look from the surrounding Punjabi people. Both women and men pierce their earlobes and many women also pierce their nostrils with metal rings. They like make up and dress Rajasthan-style clothing. Singing and dancing is an essential part of Khana Badosh culture.
The primary religion practiced by the Khana Badosh is a light informal form of Sunni Islam. Many pre-Islamic rituals are still practiced among the nomadic groups.
Also known as Baloch or Baluchi.
50.000 Baluch still spend most of their year in tents or other temporary dwellings with their families and flocks rather than opting for jobs in the booming Gulf Emirates. Baluchistan is a semi-desert, sparsely populated area comprising some 350,000 km² of western Pakistan and a further 400,000 km² in south-eastern Iran and southwestern Afghanistan. It is probably the poorest and least developed area of each of the three countries.
The Baluch are important for the economy of the area. They provide valuable milk products and are an indispensable source of labour for the date harvest which coincides with the slack season in the pastoral cycle. They are also agricultural producers themselves: much of the agricultural production of the area depends on unpredictable river flow and runoff, which only the Baluch understand. Small pockets of soil scattered throughout the area produce crops when a downpour happens to bring water, but only if a nomad is there to apply it. In addition to their economic role, the nomads are even more important for the morale of the total population. Their way of life embodies the values to which the rest of the population subscribes. Baluch values derive from the conditions of the nomadic life. Their moral code encompasses the major rules of honour, hospitality, asylum and compensation for homicide, governing relations with strangers, refugees and criminals, and between men and women. The contribution of the nomads to Baluch society cannot be quantified as it is not so much economic as cultural. The nomads generate the Baluch view of the world, which is the cultural basis of the whole society, nomadic and settled. Without the nomads, Baluch society as a whole will lose the cultural glue that holds it together. In Makran especially (the southwestern Division of the Province, approximately 38,000 km², continuing westward across the border into Iran), but to some extent throughout Baluchistan and even beyond, these Baluch nomads are considered a people apart. It was they who somewhere between 500 and 1,000 years ago brought into the area the language, the identity and - most importantly - the values which have come to constitute the culture of Baluchistan.
The decline of the Baluch, which now threatens Baluch society, is due to a syndrome familiar in other pastoral areas of the world. Changes in the larger political economy as well as changes in dominant values in the larger consumer-oriented society have altered the day-to-day economic and political balance between farmers and nomads. Nomadism, as a way of life, is rarely explicable simply as ecological adaptation. In modern conditions, seasonal movement could in many cases be accomplished by commuting shepherds as well as by migrating families. But the intimacy and commitment nomadism forges between the family and the range in marginal conditions is probably unattainable by any other means and more promising ecologically in the long run than any other feasible use strategy. Moreover, the nomads' knowledge and understanding of the total territory is an important support for other sectors of the economy and for the society's general conception of nature, the relationship between the total society and its environment.
Gold ornaments such as necklaces and bracelets are an important aspect of Baluch women's traditions and among their most favoured items of jewellery are dorr, heavy earrings that are fastened to the head with gold chains so that the heavy weight will not cause harm to the ears. They usually wear a gold brooch that is made by local jewellers in different shapes and sizes and is used to fasten the two parts of the dress together over the chest. Traditional clothing for the Baluch man is a long, loose shirt that reaches below the knees, worn with baggy trousers, and a turban. The turban is a long cloth wound around a turban cap on the head. Leather shoes or palm-leaf sandals are worn. A shawl or wrap provides extra warmth in winter but can also be used as a towel, sash, or head cloth; it can be used to carry things. Women wear a long shift reaching to the ankles, with a wrap used to cover the head, shoulders, and upper body. The wearing of trousers under the shift has been restricted to women of high status. Bright colours are usually avoided, but scarlet is popular among girls of marriageable age. Widows wear black.
Music plays a role in all ceremonies except death rituals. Dancing accompanies many events, such as weddings and other festivals. Men's dances reflect the warrior traditions of the Baluch i. The drum, the lute, and the shepherd's flute are the most common instruments for accompanying the singing and dancing.
The Baluch are Muslim, mostly Sunni, but also including members of the Zikr sect. Zikr live mostly in southern Pakistan. They are followers of a fifteenth-century Islamic messiah Nur Pak (Pure Light).
Bhil
Also known as Thari.
480.000 Bhil live in desert but fertile plains of Thar in Tharparkar District of Sindh Province. More than 10 million Bhir live scattered throughout neighbouring India.
The Bhils live mostly in rural areas, where many are migrant farm workers who follow the seasonal crops to bring extra income to their families. In Pakistan many work for Muslim landowners. Wheat and millet are staple food crops, followed by rice, cotton lint, and corn. For the farmers, the arid land requires irrigation. Monsoon rains are the key to their existence.
The Bhil peoples are low on the social totem pole in Hindu society of Pakistan where the caste system is still in effect despite Islam being the dominant religion.
Bhils have rich and unique culture. The Bhilala sub-division is known for its Pithora painting. Ghoomar is a traditional folk dance of Bhil tribe. Ghoomar is the symbol of womanhood. Young girls take part in this dance and declare that they are stepping into the shoes of women. Bhil painting is characterised by the use of multi-coloured dots as in-filling.
In India most Bhils are Hindu or animistic, but in Pakistan they mix Islam with traditional religion. There are many Hindus among the Bhil people in Pakistan. Some Bhil in isolated communities near the Indian border continue to worship tribal deities such as Dev Mogra Mata and Sitla Mata.
Banjara
Also known as Lambadi, Mareecha, Marrecha, Rohi or Cholistani nomads.
200.000 Banjara live in Cholistan Desert. The majority of Banjara live in Thar Desert across the border in India and number several millions.
Living off the land and raising cattle (mainly camels), the Banjara also are skilled craftsmen. Historically they were nomadic and kept camels, goats, and cows, traded salt, and transported goods. Now, most of them have settled down to farming and raising cattle or grain. Others still trade in salt and other commodities. In some regions, a few hold white collar positions or work as government servants. Not only do the Banjara usually have more than one occupation, they also use additional skills to supplement their incomes, depending on the societies needs at the time. Some specialize in making items such as broomsticks, iron tools, and needles. They may also repair tools or work with stone. Others believe that one does not have to work for a living and gain income by "religious begging." They sing and wear special make-up while begging in the name of a specific deity. Many live in grass huts, often with extended families. The Banjara families are closely knit, having minimal relationships with other castes. The role of leader of the community is passed down to the leader's son. All biological sons get an equal share from parental property. Marriages may be arranged, especially to avoid the union of relatives to three generations back. In some groups, however, cousins are allowed to marry.
The brightly coloured, detailed designed clothing embellished with bright beads, coins, and discs that many of the Banjara women wear is made by their own hands. Many of them can fashion tools that their society needs, anything from needles to broomsticks. The Banjara delight in music, dancing, and stories, and their love for art can be seen in their paintings, tattoos, and embroidery. They are known throughout India for their work sewing mirrors, animal bones, silver, gold, plastic, beads, disks, coins, and more onto their merchandise and clothing. The Banjara love music, playing folk instruments, and dancing. The Banjar are also acrobats, magicians, tricksters, story-tellers, and fortune-tellers.
The majority of Banjara are Hindu; some have combined Hindu practices with their own Animistic beliefs. Other groups follow Islam. Banjara often follow folk beliefs, and mixed with these religious beliefs are many taboos (things one must never do.) One Hindu taboo is that a woman's hair must not be combed or let down long in the presence of men. Another is that a woman should not pass in front of a man who is sitting, but rather behind him. Even though Banjara are unreserved in speech, many have high moral standards. For example, chastity is very important. In the past, some girls who were involved in prostitution were buried alive. Unmarried girls are still discouraged from going into the cities, and they usually wear veils over their hands and feet while sitting with strangers.
Shinwari
Also known as Kasi or Tribal Pashtun.
400.000 Shinwari live in the mountains valleys between Landi Kotal (Pakistan) and Jalalabad (Afghanistan), as well as in Parwan province of Afghanistan where they are concentrated in Shinwari.
The most important resource for this tribal society is land. Everything is organized around land ownership. The landowners are one of the highest-esteemed castes and they are the richest people from the tribes. Being a Pashtun is in a sense synonymous with being a landowner. The caste of Pashtun – or the landowners, in translation – is higher than even the caste of the priests and it is overcome in hierarchy only by the caste of Saints. Only the castes of Pashtuns and Saints maintain a wide range organization. But the statuses and rights from castes are defined contractually, not patrilineal. Patrilineal descent, as mentioned above, functions as a first order relationship for the division of labour. The castes limit only the range of positions for a man to aspire to, otherwise, they are free to choose their profession and tribe. And there can be labour turnover within the system of castes and of patrilineal kin once there is an increasing demand for a certain service and shortage of labour supply. This was the example of the herders turned into muleteers.
Pashtunwali refers to an ancient self-governing tribal system that regulates nearly all aspects of Pashtun life ranging from community to personal level. One of the better known tenets is Melmastia, hospitality and asylum to all guests seeking help. Perceived injustice calls for Badal, swift revenge. Many aspects promote peaceful co-existence, such as Nanawati, the humble admission of guilt for a wrong committed, which should result in automatic forgiveness from the wronged party. These and other basic precepts of Pashtunwali continue to be followed by many Pashtuns, especially in rural areas. Another prominent Pashtun institution is the loya jirga or 'grand council' of elected elders. Most decisions in tribal life are made by members of the jirga, which has been the main institution of authority that the largely egalitarian Pashtuns willingly acknowledge as a viable governing body.
As a chiefly rural and tribal population, the Pashtun dress of Pakistan is typically made from light linens, and are loose fitting for ease of movement. The Pashtun dress includes local forms of the shalwar kameez. The traditional male dress includes the Khet partug and Perahan wa tunban. Males usually wear kufi, Peshawari cap, turban, sindhi cap or pakul as traditional headgear. Pashtun Leaders sometimes wear a karakul hat, like former monarchs of Afghanistan. The traditional female dress is the Firaq part?g. Women typically wear solid-coloured trousers, a long kam?s shirt with a belt. Sometimes they will wear an encompassing burqa over this outfit. More elaborate and fancier dresses are detailed with gold threading, gold beads, and come in many different colours on silk fabrics. These dresses are usually worn to special occasions and weddings.
The overwhelming majority of Pashtuns follow Sunni Islam, belonging to the Hanafi school of thought. There are some Shia Pashtun communities in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. Pre-Islamic traditions, dating back to Alexander's defeat of the Persian Empire in 330 BC, have survived in the form of traditional dances, while literary styles and music reflect influence from the Persian tradition and regional musical instruments fused with localised variants and interpretation. Pashtun culture is a unique blend of native customs with some influences from South and Western Asia. Like other Muslims, Pashtuns celebrate Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr. Some also celebrate Nouruz, which is the Persian new year dating to pre-Islamic period.
Brokpa
Also known as Brogba, Drokpa, Dard, Shin, or Minaro.
2000 Brokpa live in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. They are found in Chechethang mountain valleys in Baltistan.
The Brokpa economy has shifted from agro pastoralism to wage labour, and the division of labour that relied on stratifications of age and gender is now obsolete. The Brokpa transition to private property, monogamy, nuclear families, formal education, wage labour, and their incorporation into a highly militarized economy of soldiering and portering illuminates the complex workings of modernity in their mountains.
Despite the over 2000 years long tradition of veganism, recent developments have forced the Brokpa to take up alternative diets, comprising milk, eggs and meat. Even high up on the Himalayas, climate change has made summers longer and winters warmer, bringing on pests and jeopardizing the health of the soil. Crops are not as prosperous as they used to be, potatoes or barley don’t grow as well above certain temperatures, causing the introduction of more fruits and less carbs into their diets. The shortages caused by this are more and more often complimented by cow meat, butter and milk. Changes within the culture are also propelled by the influx of tourists, emphasizing the importance of their identity over spirituality or social structures.
For centuries, the Brokpas have been indulging in public kissing and partner swapping without inhibitions. Their cultural exuberance is reflected in exquisite dresses and ornaments. Their features are pure Indo Aryan and they have preserved their racial purity down the centuries.
Their culture and religious practices are very similar to ancient pre- Buddhist religion known as Bon-Chos. Both the men and women folk adorn headgears made with handpicked fresh flowers, every single day. Read Less
Festivals of Pakistan
Kalash Festivals
The inhabitants of the Kalash Valleys celebrate a number of festivals all year round. The 3 predominant festivals are as follows:
Joshi Festival: It is celebrated in May and marks the arrival of spring. People wear new clothes and women accessorize heavily, girls are sent to the hill side for dancing and singing. Women decorate their houses and collect milk from the cattle, One year old babies and their mothers are also purified in this festival.
Uchau Festival: This festival takes place in mid-August at the altar of Mahandeo where newly made cheese is brought from the pastures. Dancing and singing again forms an integral part of the festival.
Caumus or Choimus Festival: It is the most important festival held in mid-December.
The Kalas Read More
The Kalash worship the many gods of Kafiristan like Balomain, the heroic demi-god of the Kalash whom the Choimus Festival celebrates. Balomain’s spirit is said to pass through the valley counting the people of the Kalash and collecting their prayers returning them to Tsiam, the mythical land of the Kalash.
Much dancing in giant circles around bonfires and chanting in mesmerising repetitions – with just a drum beat accompanying the voices. The girls wear intricate costumes with dresses made of cowry shells, coins and beads with intricate hair braiding and headwear. The heavy headdress weighing several pounds is presented to the girl by her uncle. Other jewellery includes necklaces made from apricot kernels, a traditional gift during Choimus. Women often paint their faces with ink (replacing earlier customs of facial tattooing). Single woman are expected to find themselves a husband during these festivals. Just before the main festival, seasonal foods are offered to the ancestral spirits and a kotik, light for the ancestors, is lit. After this ritual the food, considered impure, is offered to the elderly women to be eaten.
During the festival, purity is paramount and celibacy is enforced throughout the days of the event so all the people will be in pure mind when Balomain visit the valley. All the people must be cleansed in a ritual bathing the week before the festival begins. During the men’s purification ceremony, they must not sit down at all during the day and at night the blood of a sacrificed goat is sprinkled on their faces. Special bread is eaten cooked away from the main village which is prepared by men only during the purification ceremony. Other bread called jaou or choimus breadis prepared for the festival which is stuffed with crushed walnuts and goat’s cheese.
Special dance halls exist for the purpose of dancing at festivals. They are decorated with ornate carved wooden pillars and goat-like figurines. The music and dance is a performance of set songs: the Cha or clapping song is the simplest song with a lilting dance, sung by the elders, with an energetic round dance and the women cry like goats. The drajahilak songs are long and slow, sometimes one song can last up to 2 hours and it is a kind of solo and chorus using improvisation and variation techniques. The Dushak combines the styles of Cha and Drajahilak, presenting both traditional songs and new compositions. The dancing involves side stepping, fast and rhythmical.
During the festival prayers, a procession is made to a high plateau outside of the village in Balanguru where the long night of dancing begins. The festivals continues for many more day moving on to different locations within the valleys.
Bumburante is the largest and most accessible place for a tourist to view the festivities.
Other Himalaya Festivals
Nauroze: (21-23 March)
Celebrated only in Gilgit, Hunza, Skardu and Chitral. Polo, foot-ball, volley-ball and hockey matches, folk dances and music.
Gianni Festival (21st June to 25th June)
The traditional “Ginani’’ festival has been celebrated in Central and Lower parts of Hunza valley, with traditional zeal and fervour. Main gatherings were organized in Altit and Aliabad villages. The local community has performed rituals at central places and also performed traditional dances on local tunes. Special traditional dish locally known as Dirum Pitti has been prepared to mark the festival.
Before the construction of KKH, the local community was totally dependent on subsistence farming and during the winter seasons most of the families were also facing shortages of foods. This festival was thus celebrated to mark the beginning of new harvesting season. During the time, when Hunza was an independent principality, these rituals were performed at royal courtyard. This event is called Ginani and Chineer in Hunza, Strublah in Baltistan and Ganoni in Gilgit.
Shandur Polo Festival
Shandur Top (el. 12,200 feet (3,700 m) located in District Ghizer (Gilgit-Baltistan Province), Shandur-Top in Shandur is often called the ‘Roof of the World’. The top is flat, a plateau and can be crossed between late April and early November. The grade is very gradual, and the area is crossed by small streams of trout. Grazing in summer is plentiful.
Every year there is a Polo match played on Shandur Top between the home teams of Gilgit-Baltistan and guest teams from Chitral. Shandur Pass is one of the major mountain passes of Gilgit-Baltistan; the people who live on both sides of Shandur Top speak the Khowar language.
Shandur Polo Festival held from 7th to 9 July
Shandur invites visitors to experience a traditional polo tournament which since 1936 has been held annually in the first week of July between the local teams of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral. The tournament is held on Shandur Top, the highest polo ground in the world at 3,700 meters (the pass itself is at 3,800 meters). The festival also includes Folk music, dancing and a camping village is set up. The polo tournament is featured in the first episode of Himalaya with Michael Palin.
Various teams of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral have always played the game of polo closest to its original form. In the past, the British Rulers were the patrons of the game.
Free-styled mountain polo is arguably polo in its purest form. This version of the game played at Shandur-Top has attained legendary status and is of great interest to international and domestic adventure tourists alike. There are no umpires and there are no holds barred.
In order to decide the final teams to play at the Shandur Polo Festival preliminary matches are played both in Gilgit and Chitral in which the best horses and players are chosen for the final games by the local juries. The festival begins on the 7th of July with a polo match between the local teams of Ghizer Gilgit-Baltistan with the guest teams coming from Chitral (KPK). During the course of the tournament A, B, C and D teams of Gilgit and Chitral battle it out on the polo field. Each team has six members with 2-4 reserve players in case of injury etc. The match duration is usually one hour. It is divided into two halves, with a 10 minutes interval. During intervals the locals enthral the audiences with traditional and cultural performances. The game decided in favour of the team scoring nine goals. The final is held on 9 July.
Joshio Chilmjusht (14th -15th May)
Function is organized to pay thanks to Almighty. They celebrate the arrival of spring season with new hopes and aspiration.
Silk Route Festival (Cultural Experience On The Roof Of The World)
Festival on the Roof of the world where natural environs, landscape, privileged location in the highest mountains of the world, breath-taking spectacles of sheer scenic beauty, wildlife and nature, awe-inspiring snow peaks, glittering glaciers, serene valleys of lush green foliage and fruits, gleaming and scintillating streams of unpolluted water, rich diversity of people, culture, folklore, arts, crafts and heritage, await you.
Wagah - Attari Border Closing ceremony by India & Pakistan
This ceremony takes place every evening immediately before sunset at the Wagah border, which as part of the Grand Trunk Road was the only road link between these two countries before the opening of the Aman Setu in Kashmir in 1999. The ceremony starts with a blustering parade by the soldiers from both sides, and ends up in the perfectly coordinated lowering of the two nations' flags. It is called the Beating Retreat border ceremony on the international level.
One infantryman stands at attention on each side of the gate. As the sun sets, the iron gates at the border are opened and the two flags are lowered simultaneously. The flags are folded and the ceremony ends with a retreat that involves a brusque handshake between soldiers from either side, followed by the closing of the gates again. The spectacle of the ceremony attracts many visitors from both sides of the border, as well as international tourists. The soldiers of this ceremony are specially appointed and trained for this auspicious ceremony. They also have a beard and moustache policy for which they are paid additionally.
Shab-e-Barat
Religious festival celebrated on 14th of Shaaban, the 8th Islamic month. Prayers, fireworks, exchange of sweet dishes and visits.
Religious festival celebrating end of fasting month on 1st of Shawwal, the 10th month of Islamic Calendar. Special prayer after sun-rise, exchange of sweet dishes, visits.
Sibi Festival: (Last week of February)
At Sibi (Balochistan). Traditional sports, handicrafts exhibition, folk music and dances.
Sindh Horse & Cattle Show: (Last week of February)
At Jacobabad (Sindh). Similar activities as in Sibi Festival.
Jashan-e-Larkana (Last week of February)
At Larkana (Sindh). Traditional sports, exhibition of handicrafts, folk music and dances.
Bassant or Basant
With the advent of spring Basant Festival is celebrated with pomp and show in mid-February every year in Lahore. In other words this is the spring festival. Alleging that kite flying is a Hindu event is also sheer ignorance. The sport originated in China about 5000 years ago, when Hinduism was in non-existent. Why single out kite-flying then, especially when it is a source of joy for the old and the young men and women? The simple reason is that Hindu at Basant Festival fly kites for enjoying Basant. With times Muslims who were living together with Hindus in the sub-continent also join them in kite-flying. Since then Muslims are taking participation in just kite-flying at the time of Basant connotating it as Pala Urant. Now a day’s people of Lahore enjoy it by kite flying competition and by visiting the shrine of Saint Madho Lal Hussein, where they assemble to pay their benediction. Lahore is becoming the main focal point for the celebration of this festival in Pakistan. People traditionally fly kites on the roofs of their buildings. It is commonly observed that rest houses, hotels and house of relatives of the participants are fully packed with guests from all over the country. Moreover some five star hotels also arrange this function on their roof top for foreigners and other high class gentry. They also arrange variety of dishes with musical concert. Sometimes Lahorities on this occasion become emotional and in this state create law and order problems for the administration. Some of them use metal thread for kite-flying. Such a deed often imposes, besides life threat, a serious problem for WAPDA when the thread touches the live wires. In spite of the fact Basant Festival which has no links with the Muslim culture is becoming very popular and being celebrated in Lahore regularly every year with zeal and fervent.
Pakistan Day (23 March)
Commemorating the anniversary of Pakistan Resolution passed on March 23, 1940. Military parade at provincial capitals and Islamabad.
Mela Chiraghan or Festival of lamps (Last week of March)
Held for 01 week outside Shalimar Gardens, Lahore.
Horse & Cattle Show (End of March till 1st week of April).
At Dera Ismail Khan. Local games, folk dances, music, cattle races and exhibition of local handicrafts.
Jashan-e-Shikarpur: (In April for 01 week)
At Shikarpur, Sindh. Cultural activities, local sports and handicrafts exhibition.
Religious festival commemorating the great sacrifice offered by Prophet Abraham. Celebrated on 10 Zilhaj, 12th month of Islamic Calendar. Collective prayers after sun set, sacrifice of goats, sheep, cows or camels and distribution of meat among relatives, friends and poor.
Eid-e-Milad-un-Nabi
Birth Anniversary of Prophet Hazrat Mohammad. On 12th of Rabi-ul-Awwal - the 3rd month of Islamic Calendar.
Independence Day (14 August)
Meeting, processions, rallies, decorations and illustrations all over the country.
Defense of Pakistan Day (06 September)
Parades and exhibitions of military equipment at Rawalpindi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi. Visits to the war memorials. (No national holiday except Armed Forces).
Air force Day (07 September)
Display of latest aircraft of Pakistan Air force and air shows at Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta.
Lok Mela (1st week of October, for one week)
Folk Festival held at Islamabad. Folk Music, songs, music contests, folk dances, craftsmen at work, exhibition and sale of handicrafts. The festival presents a unique opportunity to watch the culture and craft of the whole country at one place.
National Horse & Cattle Show Lahore (dates vary: end of February, or first week of March, or 3rd week of November. It lasts for 5 days).
Held at Fortress Stadium, Lahore. Cattle races, cattle dances, tent-pegging, tattoo show, folk music, dances, bands, cultural floats and folk games. Additional attractions include a subtle interplay of lights to weave enticing patterns at night and breathe taking acts by foreign groups.
Baloch Culture Day
Baluch people celebrate every 2nd of March their Cultural Day. It is celebrated in Quetta, Balochistan capital but also in other major cities in Pakistan where many Baluch people live. The Baloch Culture Day consists in Baluch or Baloch people wearing traditional dress, diverse cultural activities including exhibition of Baloch costumes, and the performance of Balochi traditional musicians and dancers.
Cultural Heritage of Pakistan
Pakistan is endowed with a large number of ancient sites and historic structures. These historic assets are our link with our past and, as the custodians, it is incumbent upon all Pakistanis to stabilize and conserve them so that they could survive for many centuries more.
In an age when globalization is all pervasive, it is Pakistan’s ancient lineage that provides us with a distinct identity. Lest we forget —since this seems to be our best kept secret from the outside world — Pakistan is a treasure-house of ancient heritage, spanning over scores of centuries.
Pakistan is home to Mehargarh, Moenjodaro and Harrappa —it is the land that beckoned Alexander to sail down river Jhelum with purple flags fluttering; the spectacular Gandharan civilization as the seat of Buddhism; the devotional carvings of the Hindu Shahi temples of the Salt Range and Tharparkar; the stately funerary clusters of Makli, Multan and Ucch Sharif, a fusion of local trabeated and imported arcuate, representing successive Sultanate dynasties; the heart-expanding chahar-baghs and jewel-like edifices of the greatest kingdom in the world, established by the young ruler of Farghana; the Sikhs emulating the Great Mughals, and the shared legacy of eclectic architecture with its European overtones, a bequest of the British who colonized this land.
It is not only the ancient sites and historic monuments, but equally the historic urban cores, stretched from the peaks of the Khyber in the farthest north to the southern-most edge of the mighty river Indus — Peshawar, Multan, Thatta and Karachi, and scores of other living cities with their historic environments, all valuable in our search for, and understanding of our cultural diversity.
There are the Walled Cities, a depository of irreplaceable architectural heritage, with their organic morphology and the meandering streetscapes, which need to be saved from destruction, and revitalized to continue to endow our fast-growing urban centres with distinction, and historical flair. These footsteps of history are a reflection of a traditional value system, tempered over centuries, but needing support to meet the demands of contemporary life without losing their inherent radiance — the traditional lifestyles determined by, and themselves determining the historic environments.
Type of Tangible Heritage
Pakistan’s heritage is among the country’s best kept secrets. The country has several World Heritage sites as well as countless sites of national and local importance.
For ease of safeguarding, tangible heritage of Pakistan is considered in the following categories:
a. Archaeological sites
b. Historic Monuments
c. Urban Historic architecture
The Antiquities Act of the Federal Government provides protection to archaeological sites and historic monuments, however, urban historic architecture in most cities remains largely un-catalogued and unprotected.
Through the efforts of Heritage Foundation the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act 1994 was promulgated by the Sindh Assembly. Through the heritage act, almost 600 heritage sites of Karachi, catalogued and published by the Foundation were provided protection. This is the largest number of protected heritage sites in any province of Pakistan. However, most of the historic towns in Sindh are in the process of losing the valuable heritage.
Under the Punjab Premises Act, a few dozens historic buildings have been provided protection in the entire province. The walled cities have suffered a great deal of degradation and loss of the historic environment. The recent proposal of Punjab Government at the revitalization of the Shahi Guzargah in the Walled City, originally identified by Yasmeen Lari in her Lahore Heritage Guide, is likely to bring the value of heritage for economic regeneration into sharp focus and it is hoped that it will be instrumental in revitalizing of other historic towns and districts.
Although Peshawar walled city is among the most exciting traditional environments, because of lack of protection, the city as well as other historic cities in the Frontier are in grave danger of losing their valuable heritage. The recent steps by the NWFP government, taken under the direction of Additional Chief Secretary, in establishing a Heritage Fund and the Documentation Centres as proposed by Yasmeen Lari, are likely to initiate a process of cataloguing and protection through participation of the private sector.
There is no protection to historic environments of Balochistan and its historic architecture is extremely vulnerable.
Pakistan possesses remains of several ancient civilizations. The most famous is Indus Valley Civilization which dates to 3,000 BC.However, due to investigations in Balochistan the remains of Mehergarh have stretched the antiquity even further back in time to 5,000 BC. The most famous sites of Indus Valley Civilization are Moenjoaro (Sindh) and Harrappa (Punjab).
The other famous ancient sites are evidence of Buddhist civilization that flourished in this land. There are several of them and are found in the northern part of Pakistan. They are situated in Taxila (Punjab) and Takht-e- Bahi (NWFP).
Most archaeological sites are protected under the Federal Antiquities Act.
The historic monuments are standing monuments or ruins which are found all over Pakistan. They represent various periods of our history and demonstrate the rich cultural milieu of the land. Thus, we can find historic Hindu temples in Tharparkar (Sindh) and Punjab, Sultanante period monuments in Makli Tombs, Thatta, in Multan and Ucch Sharif, and Mughal monuments in Thatta,Multan, Lahore etc. Many monuments are protected under the Federal Antiquities Act; however, there are thousands of others which still need to be provided protection.
Urban Historic Cores
There are many historic urban areas that are found in various provinces. Most of them had been constructed as walled cities e.g. Peshawar, Multan, Lahore etc. Although the walls have long since disappeared, the special urban morphology continues to provide them with a special character. Although there has been a lot of destruction in the past years, many of the historic structures continue to endow them with a special flavour. Unfortunately, due to lack of protection, we continue to lose a large number of valuable historic structures. There is an urgent need to provide protection to them in order to save the special flavour that the historic urban cores possess.
Most cities of Pakistan have a shared legacy with Britain. This shared legacy is equally important for the growing urban centres of Pakistan. The British built centres are now part of the Central Business Districts of major cities, gifting them with a special flavour. Except for Karachi, where over 600 buildings identified and published by Heritage Foundation, have been provided protection under the Sindh Cultural Heritage (Preservation) Act 1994, and Lahore where over 3 dozen historic buildings have bene provided protection under the Punjab Premises Act, historic structures in most cities are gravely threatened. As part of growing metropolis, the compulsions for modernity is destroying valuable heritage.
Classification of Tangible Heritage
Heritage assets are rated according to their intrinsic heritage value according to the study and research that might have been carried out up to a certain date. It does not mean that the classification is static and cannot be changed if more information is gathered or more research is conducted.
The number of world heritage sites that a nation possesses is a measure of how high heritage is rated in any country. Most countries strive hard to have their heritage sites placed on the World Heritage List. The World Heritage Committee which meets at regular intervals examines the dossiers on each application and depending upon how the case is put forward, accords approval for it to be placed on the List.
The acceptance of these sites signifies that they contain universal values which are valuable for the entire world. As such the safeguarding and conserving them is also the responsibility not only where they are located but also of the world.
To date Pakistan has 7 sites on UNESCO’s World Heritage list:
• Moenjodaro Archaeological Site, Sindh
• Thatta Monuments or Makli Necropolis, Sindh
• Lahore Fort and Shalamar Gardens, Mughal Monuments, Punjab
• Rohtas Fort, Pre-Mughal Monument, Punjab
• Takht-e-Bahai, Gandhara Archaeological Site, NWFP
• Taxila Archaeological Site, Punjab & NWFP
National Heritage
All the provinces in Pakistan have a large number of national heritage sites. The Federal Department of Archaeology has traditionally been the custodian of these sites. However, in the recent past there have been moves to shift the custodianship to the provinces. Although so far only some monuments in Punjab have been handed over to the provincial department of archaeology, it is likely that gradually all sites in the provinces will become the responsibility of the respective provinces.
360 archaeological sites and historic monuments have been placed on National List, with purview of their being provided protection under the Federal Antiquities Act.
Under the act, it is incumbent upon the custodians to ensure that measures are taken for safeguarding and conserving them.
These heritage sites are located in different parts of Pakistan. Where it is necessary that the federal department should conserve them, it becomes important that each Pakistani also participates in their safeguarding.
There are hundreds of monuments that are found in all provinces of Pakistan. Although rudimentary, some form of inventories have been prepared by various provinces; however, due to lack of funds, most of the monuments are in a greatly deteriorated state. Many of them, which were recorded, are probably no longer in existence. This is a grave state of affairs which needs to be rectified through a collective effort.
It is clear that local heritage is of extreme importance to the community and local initiatives are needed to catalogue and preserve the sites. Heritage Foundation has prepared a Catalogue of Heritage Assets of the Siran Valley as part of the work being carried out in the Earthquake Area. There is a need to develop many more such catalogues which would initiate the process of heritage safeguarding in various areas.
Pakistan has a wealth of historic cores as part of various cities that back to Mughal and post-Mughal period. Even those that were developed during the 19th century British rule have areas which are extremely valuable as representative of a shared heritage with Britain. Since many historic cores have become part of the downtown, the historic assets in these cores are gravely threatened. There is an urgent need to declare conservation districts in order to apply special zoning and building byelaws for maximizing their value as heritage assets, which can enhance the distinctiveness of various cities.
Heritage Foundation has carried out the work of cataloguing extensively in Karachi Old Town, as well as in Lahore, Peshawar and the Siran Valley in Mansehra. The catalogues are published as part of the National Register of Historic Places of Pakistan.
Where the identified and protected monuments suffer from natural threats and causes, historic architecture found in Urban Historic Cores and Urban Centres is gravely threatened due to wilfull destruction. Since most urban centres are now growing at a rapid pace, the planning byelaws allow a higher Floor Area Ratio than the original planning parameters. This has resulted in pulling down of valuable structures and replacement with modern buildings. The chaotic condition in many of the inner city areas is due to destruction of heritage buildings. There is an urgent need to save them through a campaign for identification and protection, as has been done in Karachi.
Indus Valley Civilization
For history passionate Indus Valley (South of Pakistan) is the place to explore. In Last Places we collaborate with Pakistani archaeologists who come in the tours with our tour leader so our clients can learn more about what they are observing.
During the British colonial period, archaeologists excavated numerous ancient cities, among them Mohenjo Daro, Harrappa and Kot Diji, which have a uniform, appropriate structure with broad roads as well as well thought out sanitary and drainage facilities. The majority of the discovered brick constructions are public buildings such as bath houses and workshops. Wood and loam served as construction materials. Large scale temples, such as those found in other ancient cities are missing. With the collapse of the Indus Valley civilization the architecture also suffered considerable damage. View of Mohenjo-Daro towards the Great Bath.
Unfortunately little is known about this civilization, often called Harappan, partly because it disappeared about 1700 BC for reasons unknown and because its language remains undeciphered; its existence was revealed only in the midst of the 19th century (your text says the 1920s), and excavations have been limited. Surviving evidence indicates a sophisticated civilization. Cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro (the "City of the Dead") had populations of some 35,000, they were laid out according to grid system. Inhabitants lived in windowless baked brick houses built around a central courtyard. These cities also had a citadel, where the public and religious buildings were located, large pools for ritual bathing, granaries for the storage of food, and a complex system of covered drains and sewers. The latter rivalled the engineering skill of the Romans some 2,000 years later.
Mohenjo-Daro
People living in the contemporary world show great interest in the oldest known civilizations of the world. The civilizations died thousands of years ago but still have their remains which give an idea about their culture and the lifestyle they had. This thing comes naturally to people that they show interest in knowing about history by visiting different museums and other historic sites. The historians are another big source for developing interest in general public with the great true stories that they come up with in different magazines, journals and history books. Mohenjo-Daro is one of the oldest known civilizations of the Ancient Indus Valley which was in place around 2600 BC. Mohenjo-Daro archeological site is in Sindh, province of Pakistan. It is regarded as the oldest urban settlement of the world which still has it remains in the today’s world. The Mohenjo-Daro got abandoned in the 19th century BC era and was rediscovered in 1922. The archeologists from different parts of the world gathered here for the considerable excavation conduction at the site which was later acknowledged by UNESCO in the year 1980 as a World Heritage Site. There are some threats to the site by improper restoration and erosion which needs to be addressed for preserving it for a number of future generations.
Mohenjo-Daro is actually the contemporary name of the site which is in Sindhi language and it means ‘Mound of Dead’. The original name of the place is still unknown but according to some historians, he possible ancient name was ‘Kukkutarma’ which means’ City of Cockerel’. This name is not authentic and for this reason it never gained any official status. Cock fighting in the Mohenjo-Daro used to be a very sacred and religious ritual. The disciplined chickens were bred in the region in the ancient times for very sacred purposes. Mohenjo-Daro is also touted as the main area of diffusion of the domesticated chickens worldwide.
Mohenjo-Daro was built in 26th century BC. It is known as the largest city of the Indus Valley civilization which is also famously known as the Harappa Civilization. The Harappa Civilization was built in 3000 BC having the prehistoric Indus culture. The Indus Valley Civilization of today spans more of what is now Pakistan and the Northern side of India. On the western side, it extends towards the Iranian border and towards the State of Gujarat in India at the southern side. Moreover, on the Northern side, it goes to the area of Bactria. The major urban centers are at Mohenjo-Daro, Harappa, Rakhigari, Lothal, Dholavira and Kalibangan. The most notable thing about the ancient city of Mohenjo-Daro is that it was one of the most developed cities of the era. There was some incredible urban planning and outclass civil engineering done by the then people, as reported by the historians. At the time when the Indus Valley Civilization declined in the 19th century BC era, the great Mohenjo-Daro was also abandoned. The Mohenjo-Daro Civilization is 4000 years old which is only the second known civilization after the great Chinese Civilization which is 7000 years old.
The remains of the remarkable Mohenjo-Daro ancient city were left undocumented for more than 3700 years. It was with the efforts of R.D. Banerjee who took the initiative of rediscovering the site. R.D. Banerjee who was also famously known as Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay was part of the Archaeological Survey of India as a renowned archaeologist. He actually went to the site for the identification of the stupa of Buddhists from the 150 to 500 CE eras which was supposedly there. He came across a flint scraper which eventually convinced him that it is a very old ancient site. He returned again in the year 1922 for further excavation and this time John Marshall (an archaeologist) was accompanying him as well. It was in 1930 when some serious excavations were performed at the Mohenjo-Daro site which was led by John Marshall, Ernest Mackay and D.K. Dikshitar. Then, things came to a halt until the year 1945 where again the exaction conductions took up in pace. His time, the notable archaeologists were Mortimer Wheeler and Ahmad Hasan Dani. The last most notable excavations at the site were conducted in the year 1964-65 under the leadership of Dr. George F. Dales. It was soon after this time in 1965 when a ban was imposed on further excavations due to the potential threat to the exposed structures through weathering damage. However, there were still some considerable projects carried at the site which includes the surface surveys, conservation projects and the salvage excavations but no hardcore excavations were performed at all. It was then in the year 1980 when Italian and German archaeology survey teams came under the leadership of Dr. Maurizio Tosi and Dr. Michael Jansen. They came with innovative and sophisticated techniques which used very less invasive approaches which includes the likes of localized probing, architectural documentation and the surface surveys. This effort helped the archeologists with lots of information about the Mohenjo-Daro civilization which soon became public.
The architecture of the Mohenjo-Daro site give glimpses of an urban infrastructure which those people had in their times. It was evident because of their much planned layout which was primarily based on a street grid for giving the then advanced and developed rectilinear buildings. Most of the construction at that time was done using the mortared and the fired bricks. There are some traces found of the wooden structures and also the use of sun-dried mud brick in a variety of construction projects. The covered area of the site is about 300 hectares. The population of Mohenjo-Daro with a weak estimation at their peak time was around 40000.
The big geographical area of Mohenjo-Daro and the sophisticated facilities and the public buildings of that time give an indication of having a top level social organization of that time. The city of Mohenjo-Daro is divided into two major parts which are the Lower city and the Citadel city. The names are fictitious because of lack of evidence. In the Citadel City, there is a mud brick mound that is 12 meter in height. It is also known to have the public washrooms and a vast residential structure which can accommodate 5000 people at a time. Moreover, two spacious assembly halls were also there which were used for varied purposes. The Citadel City also had a common marketplace and a big well. The individuals and also the groups of household used the wells for satisfying their water needs. The waste water was intelligently channelled to cover all the drains going through the major lanes/ streets.
Some of the residential structures which presumably belonged to the wealthy inhibitors of the time used to have attached bath with their rooms. There were also some traces found of an underground furnace (hypocaust) which most probably was used for heated bathing. Most of the residential buildings at the time had courtyards along with doors which opened towards the side-streets. Moreover, there were several houses which were double-story.
It was during the excavation of 1950, led Sir Mortimer Wheeler who actually identified a vast structure as the ‘Great Granary’. It was a huge wooden structure with wooden wall divisions which served them as a grain storage area. The structures, surprisingly also had the air ducts for the purpose of drying the grain. According to Sir Wheeler, people used carts for bringing grain from remote areas and the offload grain directly in the storage bays. Just next to the Great Granary is a grand public bath which also is known as the Great Bath sometimes.
The Mohenjo-Daro site is a great heritage site and it is the responsibility of the law-makers to take serious steps about its preservation. There were some recent threats to the site due to some cultural programs arranged in the area by the local Sindh government. However, timely intervention by the head of Archaeology Department from Punjab University Pakistan did a great job in its preservation. There is a need of some serious efforts to make sure the preservation of this incredibly unique Mohenjo-Daro site.
Situated strategically on a branch of the Silk Road that linked China to the West, Taxila reached its apogee between the 1st and 5th centuries. It is now one of the most important archaeological sites in Asia. The ruins of the four settlement sites at Taxila reveal the pattern of urban evolution on the Indian subcontinent through more than five centuries. One of these sites, the Bihr mound, is associated with the historic event of the triumphant entry of Alexander the Great into Taxila. The archaeological sites of Saraikala, Bhir, Sirkap, and Sirsukh are collectively of unique importance in illustrating the evolution of urban settlement on the Indian subcontinent. The prehistoric mound of Saraikala represents the earliest settlement of Taxila, with evidence of Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age occupation. The Bhir mound is the earliest historic city of Taxila, and was probably founded in the 6th century BC by the Achaemenians. Its stone walls, house foundations, and winding streets represent the earliest forms of urbanization on the subcontinent. Bihr is also associated with Alexander the Great’s triumphant entry into Taxila in 326 BC. Sirkap was a fortified city founded during the mid-2nd century BC. The many private houses, stupas, and temples were laid out on the Hellenistic grid system and show the strong Western classical influence on local architecture. The city was destroyed in the 1st century by the Kushans, a Central Asian tribe. To the north, excavations of the ruins of the Kushan city of Sirsukh have brought to light an irregular rectangle of walls in ashlar masonry, with rounded bastions. These walls attest to the early influence of Central Asian architectural forms on those of the subcontinent.
The Taxila serial site also includes Khanpur cave, which has produced stratified microlithic tools of the Mesolithic period, and a number of Buddhist monasteries and stupas of various periods. Buddhist monuments erected throughout the Taxila valley transformed it into a religious heartland and a destination for pilgrims from as far afield as Central Asia and China. The Buddhist archaeological sites at Taxila include the Dharmarajika complex and stupa, the Khader Mohra grouping, the Kalawan grouping, the Giri monasteries, the Kunala stupa and monastery, the Jandial complex, the Lalchack and the Badalpur stupa remains and monasteries, the Mohra Moradu monastic remains, the Pipplian and the Jaulian remains, and the Bahalar stupa and remains. The Giri complex also includes the remains of a three-domed Muslim mosque, ziarat (tomb), and madrassa (school) of the medieval period.
Bhir Mound (6th-2nd centuries B.C.)
The Bhir mound is all that remains of a thriving city that flourished from the 6th to the 2nd centuries B.C. Built on a small plateau in the open fields, the city took advantage of the various trade routes crisscrossing central Asia. Though fortified, the city was no match for Alexander the Great, who conquered the area in the 3rd century B.C. It was here that King Ambhi received Alexander and his Greek armies. Little survives of the city beyond foundation stones, but these tell us that the streets were narrow and the house plans very irregular. There is little evidence of planning—most of the streets are very haphazard. The houses were probably made of stone rubble with wooden ceilings. Settlement at the Bhir mound site ended when the Bactrian Greeks built a new city called Sirkap (also archived on this website).
Jain Stupa (6th-2nd centuries B.C.)
Just a few dozen meters from the Shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle sits the Jain Stupa, a relic of the Sirkap city period (2nd century B.C. to the 2nd century A.D.). The shrine is badly ruined. Nothing of the superstructure survives. The persepolitan columns with lion ornamentation that sit on the four corners were brought here from the ruins of the courtyard.
Jandial Temple (built 2nd century B.C. to 2nd century A.D.)
Located in Jandial, about 1.5 kilometers from the north gate of Sirkap, are the remains of Jandial temple, one of the most unique buildings in Central Asia. Probably intended as a Zoroastrian temple, the building closely follows the paradigm of the temples of classical Greece, consisting of a central shrine with four Ionic columns supporting a porch. The main shrine is rectangular in plan, but instead of the usual colonnade found in Greek temples, the wall is solid masonry with pierced window openings. Behind the main shrine is a set of stairs that leads to a platform where a Parthian fire Sanctuary probably existed in the 1st century B.C.
The Greek influence is not surprising, as Hellenic culture spread through the area in the wake of Alexander the Great's conquest in the first few centuries B.C.
Mohra Moradu Monastery (3rd to 5th centuries).
The Mohra Moradu Monastery is located in a small valley between Sirkap and Jaulian. It was heavily damaged by treasure-hunters who split apart the main stupa hoping to find gold inside. The lower portions of the stupa were protected, however, as earth covered most of the site before excavation began under the auspices of John Marshall earlier in the 20th century. A Buddhist shrine, the monastery was once a place of meditation in the rural areas outside of busy Sirkap.
The stupa is famous for the many bas-reliefs of Buddha that adorn its base. The monastic cells around the stupa are badly damaged, but yielded such treasures as the stone stupas shown in images 5 and 7.
Sirkap City Remains (2nd century B.C. to 2nd century A.D.)
After the Bhir Mound site was abandoned, Sirkap became the major city of Taxila in the 2nd century B.C. The city is heavily influenced by Greek city planning principles introduced to the area after Alexander the Great's conquest in the 3rd century B.C. Now a ruin, the city once boasted a 6-meter thick, 5 kilometre long defensive wall made of course rubble. As in ancient Greek cities, there was a fortified "acropolis" or high ground within the defence perimeter.
The streets of the cities were more regular than those at Bhir, and the houses were mostly made of coursed stone. There were temples, houses, shrines, and stupas all along the main north-south street.
On the east side of the street are several notable structures, such as the Shrine of the Double-Headed Eagle, the Apsidal Temple, and a palace at the south end of the streets. Next to the Apsidal Temple is a small stupa which was probably constructed by a private owner. In the house near the stupa was found several items such as a bronze statue of the Egyptian child-god Harocrates, a silver Dionysus head, and gold and silver jewellery.
Sirkap flourished under several different regimes, beginning with the Greeks, then the Scythians, Parthians, and finally the Kushanas. The city lost its importance after King Kanishka of the Kushan dynasty founded another city at nearby Sirsukh.
Forts of Pakistan
This one arguably is the best fort in Pakistan. It was constructed by the famous king Sher Shah Suri in 1547 AD. It is situated in the town of Dina, which is near Jhelum city and also not far from the capital, Islamabad.
Rohtas Fort, or Qila Rohtas as the natives call it, is a garrison fort with great historical value. It is located in Pakistan’s most populated province, Punjab, on the GT road. It is at a distance of approximately 8 km from the city Dina in district Jhelum. The Afghan king, Farid Khan, more commonly known as Sher Shah Suri, had Todar Mal build this fort in the 16th century. Farid Khan is the founder of the Suri Empire. The circumference of the fort is 4 km. Its construction took as many as 8 years for completion. Meanwhile, Sher Shah Suri died on 22 May 1545 during the siege of Kalinjar Fort due to a fire erupted in result of a gunpowder explosion in his store room. The fort with its distinct architectural style, massiveness and historical significance is enlisted as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 A.D.
Derawar Fort
This fort is just near Bahawalpur City and the area is known for the historic monuments and forts. This is one of the largest square type fortresses in the country. The walls of the fort are 30 meters high and have a circumference of 1500 meters. This was the residence of the Royal Family of Bahawalpur and was constructed in 1733. Derawar Fort is located 100 kilometres from Bahawalpur, Pakistan. This stronghold is the largest and most magnificently sustained fortress of Cholistan.
Ranikot Fort
This fort is also famously known as the great wall of Sindh. It is situated in the Jamshoro District and is a talismanic wonder of the country. It was build way back in 836 AD but it was again reconstructed in the year 1812.
Bala Hissar Fort
Bala Hissar Fort is located near the Peshawar City which was the residents of the Afghan kings in the early 19th century. The fort has seen good and bad times in the times of wars which resulted in destruction of the fort. But, still it is preserved in reasonably good condition which fascinates the visitors.
This famous fort in Muzaffarabad is also popularly known as Muzaffarabad fort. The Chuk rulers of the area initially began with its construction but was completed much later by Sultan Muzaffar Khan in 1646.
Sheikhupura Fort
The construction of Sheikhupura Fort is traditionally accredited to Emperor Jahangir, but there is no conclusive evidence of this.
The most impressive buildings inside the fort are the magnificent havelis (mansions) that were largely the product of the Sikh period and the latter Mughal era (the mid-17th to early 19th centuries). One famous occupant of the havelis was Maharani Datar Kaur (died 1838), the wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh of the Sikh Empire.
Altit Fort
This ancient fort is located in the picturesque Hunza valley and the collage of history with nature creates a majestic spell for the visitors. The rulers of the Hunza state constructed it some 1100 years ago for their private residence.
Altit Fort is a spectacularly sited defensive work overlooking the Hunza river valley in Gilgit-Baltistan. Carbon-14 dating of its central shikari (watchtower) has shown that at least part of the central tower of the fort was built over a thousand years ago, predating nearby Balit Fort by at least 300 years. However, many of the fort's buildings probably date from later periods, as indicated by dates corresponding either to 1583 or 1581 that were discovered on a lintel of a door frame in the shikari. Traditionally, village lore holds that the fort was constructed by craftsmen from Baltistan, who came here at the behest of the Balti princess Ayashu who was married to the Mir of Hunza, Shah Khan. Although the primary purpose of the fort was defensive, it also served as the seat of power of the Mir of Hunza before the political center moved to nearby Baltit (modern-day Karimabad).
The architecture of the fort is heavily influenced by the square layout common to Pamir, Hindukush, Karakorum and the Western Himalayas. One of the oldest areas, apart from the watchtower, is a lantern-roofed room on the second level that was likely used for official receptions. Its distinguishing features are the four trapezoidal columns which taper from floor to ceiling, reflecting the cosmological concept of the 'pillar of the world', or axis mundi. These columns, which are often feature elaborately decorated woodwork, are to be found throughout Altit village in private homes. The earthen platform behind these columns is generally reserved for the use of men even today.
In the late 1990s the fort and the surrounding village were in a precarious state as local residents built modern dwellings outside the village, threatening the upkeep of the town and its architectural heritage. Recognizing the historic value of the site, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture developed and implemented a comprehensive rehabilitation plan from 2006-2009. Their work involved stabilizing and repairing the fort and also providing clean water and electricity service to the village. Since that time, the population of the village has stabilized and many residents have returned.
Baltit Fort
This is another ancient fort just near the Altit fort which is also on the tentative list of World heritage of UNESCO. It is 700 years old fort and alterations and rebuilds were done over the centuries.
Skardu Fort
It is situated in the Skardu valley which used to be the royal residence of the kings of Skardu. It was constructed in the 16th century and because of its so much charm, Emperor Aurangzeb of the Mughal tried to capture the fort but in vain.
Quetta Fort
Quetta fort in the province of Baluchistan is a military garrison fortress which was constructed by the British Empire in the late 19th century. Its historic relevance and impeccable beauty makes it one of the finest forts in Pakistan.
Ramkot Fort
Ramkot Fort stands on the summit of a hill in Mirpur, Pakistan. It is surrounded on three sides by the Jhelum River. It was likely built no earlier than the late 16th century following the Mughal emperor Akbar's visit to Kashmir in 1589. At present it stands just inside the boundaries of Jammu and Kashmir in an area controlled by Pakistan. Excavations at the fort have uncovered the remains of a Hindu temple and relics from the 5th through the 9th centuries. However, the chronology of the fort's construction and even its age remain open questions.
Although maintenance of the fort is nominally in the hands of the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department very little has been done to preserve this historic site.
Lahore Fort
The fort at Lahore is the most important historical construction in Lahore and is the result of many centuries' work. The earliest reference to the fort comes in a history of Lahur (Lahore) compiled by Al-Biruni, which refers to a fort constructed in the early 11th century. The early history of the fort is subject to debate, but it is known for certain that the fort was extensively upgraded during the reign of Emperor Akbar (mid-16th century). Sometime before 1566, the mud-brick fort was demolished and replaced with burnt bricks. The exact date is not known for certain since the records first refer to a fort at Lahore in connection with the rebellion of Muhammad Hakim in 1566.
The fort was greatly expanded during the reigns of Jahangir, Shah Jahan, and Aurangzeb. During the period of Sikh occupation, Ranjit Singh added several pavilions on the upper ramparts. Modifications to the fort were even made during the British colonial period beginning in 1846, but consisted mainly of converting older buildings into hospitals, barracks, and other colonial functions. Perhaps worst of all, portions of the gardens were converted into tennis courts, but abuses such as this have been corrected as preservationists have slowly restored portions of the fort to its pre-1846 appearance.
Lahore Fort Akbari Gate (early 17th century)
The Akbari Gate served as the main entrance to the fort during the Mughal era. It is physically less impressive than the Alamgiri gate which replaced its counterpart at the west side of the fort during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb.
The gate is also known as the Masti (Masjid) Darwaza after the Maryam Zamani Masjid adjacent to the fort. Its outer facade comprises a central arch flanked by two semi-octagonal bastions topped with a crenellated wall--the same overall design used at the Alamgiri gate, though less boldly ornamented.
Lahore Fort Alamgiri Gate (built 1674)
The Alamgiri Gate is the only major addition to the fort built by Emperor Aurangzeb. It was likely constructed at the same time as the Badshahi Masjid which it faces.
Lahore Fort Diwan-i Amm Hall (Public Audience Hall)(built 1628, rebuilt 1846)
The Diwan-i Amm Hall occupies a place of prominence within Lahore fort, sitting immediately to the south of the royal jharoka (royal audience dais) which had been in use since the reign of Jahangir. The hall was destroyed by cannon fire in 1841 during the succession struggle following the deaths of Kharak Singh and his son Nau Nihal on the same day. The British reconstructed the pavilion in 1846 when they took control of Lahore.
Lahore Fort Hathi Paer Stairs (built 1631-32)
The Hathi Paer stairs are located at the northwest corner of the fort, just south of the Shah Burj Quadrangle. They were designed with extremely wide treads and shallow riser height to allow royal elephants to ascend from ground level to the top of the fort. The stairs form a three sided courtyard with the south wall having been demolished to create a modern path into the fort from the southeast. The only original entrance to the courtyard was through the Hathi Pol, a large gateway at its southwest corner. The exterior of the Hathi Pol is integrated into Jahangir's Paint Wall ensemble.
Lahore Fort Jahangir Quadrangle (built late 16th century onward)
Jahangir's Quadrangle occupies the northeast corner of the fort and is the largest quadrangle along the north wall. Akbar's influence can be seen in the use of column brackets that are carved in the form of animals--a typical feature of Akbar's syncretic architecture. Although it is a British-era reconstruction of the original, the north wall is thought to have survived from Jahangir's era.
Lahore Fort Kala Burj Tower (Black Pavilion) (built 1617-31)
This summer pavilion stands in the northwest corner of the Khilawat Khana quadrangle. Its present form differs substantially from its original design during Shah Jahan's reign. During the Sikh period an upper level was added, and the British made numerous alterations including the addition of a liquor bar. The interior frescos dating from the Mughal and Sikh era were also plastered over at this time.
Lahore Fort Khilawat Khana (Room of Solitude) (built 1633)
This quadrangle was constructed in 1633 as the private residence of Emperor Shah Jahan. It is divided into northern and southern portions with the south area comprising the Paien Bagh (Lower Garden) and the north section containing the private apartments of the Emperor and his harem. The quadrangle was a self-contained world, equipped with a mosque in its southwest corner and rooms for guards and servants along the perimeter, as well as baths (hammam).
Lahore Fort Lal Burj Tower (Red Pavilion) (built 1617-31)
Like the nearby Kala Burj (Black Pavilion), the Lal Burj was built during the reign of Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Octagonal in plan, it was used as a summer pavilion with its primary windows open to the north. The surviving interior frescoes are mostly from the Sikh period, as is the upper level.
Lahore Fort Maktab Khana (Clerk's Quarters) (built 1654)
The Maktab Khana is a small cloistered court immediately adjacent to the Moti Masjid. The word Maktab Khana is a corruption of the word makatib khana, or Clerk's Room, suggesting that this was a place where clerks (muharirs) recorded entry into the fort. It is a Persian-style compound with pointed-arch arcades and deep iwans at the center of each of the four sides. However, an inscription found above the main entrance records that it was built under the supervision of Ma'mur Khan in 1617-18 and identifies the site as the "Daulat Khana-i-Jahangiri", the "Residence of Jahangir". It is therefore likely that the Maktab Khana is a surviving fragment of a much larger mansion complex serving the Emperor.
Lahore Fort Mosque (probably built 1633)
At the southwest corner of the Khilawat Khana courtyard is a small, heavily damaged mosque that originally served the women of Shah Jahan's court. Stripped of its red sandstone and marble veneer and lacking a roof it is almost unrecognizable but for its distinctive orientation toward Mecca and its surviving mihrab (niche) at the center of the west wall.
Lahore Fort Moti Masjid (built 1654)
The Moti Masjid, or Pearl Mosque, is a relatively small structure located at the western side of the fort. It is built entirely of white marble mined from the town of Makrana in contemporary Rajasthan. The mosque is one of the few buildings inside the fort that deviate from the overall north-south orientation of the complex, satisfying the liturgical requirement that the mosque's mihrab (central niche) face directly toward Mecca.
Lahore's Moti Masjid was not the only "Pearl Mosque" built in the Mughal era. Mosques with the same name may also be found in Agra and Delhi, as it was common Mughal practice to name mosques after precious stones. The word "Pearl" also refers to the lustrous surface of the marble, resembling pearl, as well as the mosque's comparatively small size.
Lahore Fort Paint Wall (built 1624-32)
Like his grandfather Babur, Emperor Jahangir enjoyed spending time in nature and taking part in hunting expeditions in the countryside (for example, at Hiran Minar). Beginning in 1624, Jahangir ordered that the northwest facade of Lahore Fort be tiled in nearly 7000 square meters of mosaics depicting hunts and royal recreation. Scenes include polo games, animal hunts, and views of trees and vegitation. The mosaics do not form a coherent narrative and can be viewed in isolation. Most scenes are framed in geometric borders and inset slightly into the walls, providing modest protection from the elements.
Although Jahangir died before the paint wall was completed, his son and successor Shah Jahan completed the project in 1632.
Lahore Fort Shah Burj Quadrangle (built 1632 onward)
The Shah Burj Quadrangle stands at the northwest corner of Lahore Fort. Built by Shah Jahan in 1632, it served as the residence of the Empress when she visited Lahore. Largely spared the damage and abuse that other areas of the fort suffered during the British Occupation and Sikh period, it remains the grandest and most opulent reminder of Mughal splendor in Lahore today.
Beneath the quadrangle is an extensive basement area that served as the Empress's summer residence.
Lahore Fort Shah Jahan Quadrangle (built 1645)
The Shah Jahan Quadrangle is a classic chahar bagh (four-part garden) dominated by the imposing Diwan-i-Khas (Hall of Special Audience) at the north end of the courtyard. Here, the Emperor would meet with his subjects in the daily darshan ceremony. The Diwan-i-Khas is square in plan with five bays of lobed arches on three sides. The north facade includes delicate jali screens that overlook the northern ramparts of the fort. A shallow fountain sits at the centre of the pavilion. The emperor ordered the construction of these rooms in 1633 while travelling from Lahore to Kashmir. Unfortunately, the structure has been mostly stripped of architectural ornament except for the delicate jali screens along its south facade.
Lahore Fort Shish Mahal Basement (built 1631-32)
Beneath the Shish Mahal and the Shah Burj Quadrangle is an extensive series of interconnected chambers often referred to as the 'Lahore Fort Dungeons'. In fact, the area was likely used as a summer residence as the massive stonework and minimal fenestration kept the chambers naturally cool during the warmer months. During the Mughal, Sikh, and British eras the basement chambers were wholly off limits to the public. Only in 2006 did the Punjab Archaeology Department begin opening the chambers for visitors, and then only for short periods to host various exhibitions.
Historical Monuments of Lahore
Akbari Serai (built 1640s)
The so-called Akbari Serai is a 470 by 365 meter courtyard situated between Jahangir's Tomb to the east and Asaf Khan's tomb to the west. The most impressive feature of the courtyard is the gateway on its east side leading to Jahangir's mausoleum. Opposite the gateway is a small mosque. The north and south ends of the courtyard are punctuated with gateways providing access to the whole ensemble.
Ali Mardan Khan Tomb (built 1657)
Ali Mardan Khan was a high official in the Mughal Empire under Shah Jahan.
As the tomb sits within the confines of a modern-day rail yard, the authorities have built a kilometre long passageway from the street to the tomb in an effort to prevent visitors from trespassing on the rail yard grounds.
Anarkali Tomb (built 1615)
The tomb of 'Anarkali' traditionally belongs to Nadira Begum, the lover of Prince Salim (the later Emperor Jahangir). According to legend Anarkali(Pomegranate Bud) was a member of Akbar's harem. The tomb originally stood at the center of a large garden in the manner of the Asaf Khan Tomb. In the early 1800s it was occupied by Kharak Singh, the son of Ranjit Singh, and was later converted to a residence for General Ventura, a French officer in the Sikh army. In 1851 it was converted to a Christian church and substantially remodeled with the arched openings largely blocked off. At the present time it is used as a library for the Punjab Records Office.
Asaf Khan Tomb (built 1642)
Asaf Khan was the brother of Nur Jahan, foremost of Emperor Jahangir's twenty wives. He was also the father of Mumtaz Mahal, wife of Emperor Shah Jahan and the woman for whom the Taj Mahal was built.
Badshahi Mosque (built 1672-74)
Badshahi mosque is one of the few significant architectural monuments built during Emperor Aurangzeb's long rule from 1658 to 1707. It is presently the fifth largest mosque in the world and was indisputably the largest mosque in the world from 1673 to 1986 when the Faisal Mosque was constructed in Islamabad. Although it was built late in the Mughal era in a period of relative decline, its beauty, elegance, and scale epitomize Mughal cultural achievement like no other monument in Lahore.
After the British took control of Lahore in 1846 they continued to use Badshahi Mosque as a military garrison. It was not until 1852 that the British established the Badshahi Mosque Authority to oversee the restoration of the mosque so that it could be returned to Muslims as a place of worship. Although repairs were carried out, it was not until 1939 that extensive repairs began under the oversight of architect Nawab Zen Yar Jang Bahadur. The repairs continued until 1960 and were completed at a cost of 4.8 million rupees.
Bradlaugh Hall (built 1900)
Bradlaugh Hall was built at the tail end of the 19th century along Lahore's Rattigan Road. The name of the building honors Charles Bradlaugh, a British MP in the late Victorian era who was fond of India and outspoken in his belief in social justice. Mr. Bradlaugh visited India in 1889 and attended the 5th annual session of the Indian National Congress
Although the building was used by the school for several decades the institute closed down in the late 1990s. The management then rented the building out to teachers of nearby government schools and other short-term clients. Tragically, the partitioning and renting out of small portions of the hall to various tenants who had little understanding of the historical value of the property lead to widespread damage to the interior of the building. In its present state, the building is nearly a ruin, but enough of it is salvageable that a determined rehabilitation program could restore it to its rightful glory.
Buddu Tomb (built mid-17th-century)
Traditionally, this tomb is attributed to Buddu, a brick manufacturer during the reign of Emperor Shah Jahan (r. 1628-58). However, it may in fact be the tomb of the wife of Khan-i-dauran Bahadur Nusrat Jang, a high-ranking nobleman in the court of Shah Jahan. The domed tomb likely once stood amidst a garden, but all traces of landscaping have vanished.
Chauburji Gate (built 1646)
The Chauburji gate is the only remnant of a large garden that has all but disappeared. It now stands alone in a grassy roundabout at the intersection of Multan Road and Bhawalpur Road. There is considerable uncertainty regarding who constructed it. An inscription on the monument gives the date 1056 AH (1646) and attributes it to "Sahib-e-Zebinda Begam-e-Dauran". According to the 19th century historian Syad Muhammad Latif, the full inscription reads:
The design of the minarets with their distinctive flairing capitals is a stylistic variant found only in Lahore.
Cypress Tomb (Sarvwala Maqbara) (built mid-18th century)
The so-called 'Cypress Tomb’ is located about 200 meters north of Dai Anga's tomb. It was originally surrounded by a garden--perhaps one abutting Dai Anga's tomb, but no evidence remains of its former boundaries or dimensions.
Dai Anga Tomb (built 1671)
Dai Anga's tomb is located at the site of Bulabi Bagh, an earlier garden of which the only the gateway, Gulabi Bagh, survives. The exterior of the tomb was originally covered with mosaics, but in the manner of many tombs in Lahore, most of these have been worn or stripped away over the centuries. However, the tomb does retain its original four chattris (kiosks) at each of its corners, which contribute a certain lightness to the otherwise weighty structure.
Gul Begum Bagh Garden (built 1850s)
Gul Begum was the wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, whom she married in 1831 when he was 51 years old. Curiously, although the garden was relatively small by Lahore standards, nearly a square kilometre of present-day Lahore is known as the Bagh Bul Begum neighbourhood. One hopes that this now-dilapidated garden may one day be refurbished to make it an integral part of the neighbourhood that has taken its name.
Gulabi Bagh Gateway (built 1655)
The Gulabi Bagh Gateway is the last remnant of a pleasure garden built by the Persian noble Mirza Sultan Baig in 1655. Gradually over the centuries the garden was encroached upon by urban development so that the only remaining portion of the garden is the narrow yard running from Gulabi Bagh to Dai Anga's Mausoleum.
Hazrat Mian Mir Tomb (built 1630s)
Mian Mir (c. 1550 - August 11, 1635) was a Sufi saint of the Qadiri order of Sufism. The tomb remains popular with Muslims as well as Sikhs to the present day.
Hazuri Bagh and Baradari (present form, early 19th century onward)
The Hazuri Bagh, or garden, is a vast quadrangle sandwiched between Lahore Fort to the east and the Badshahi Mosque to the west.
In recent times the garden has seen a few significant additions such as the tomb of Allama Iqbal, one of the leaders of the Pakistan Movement. Built in the late 1940s, it is constructed of red sandstone and is located in the southwest corner of the garden.
Jahangir's Tomb (built 1627-37)
The tomb of Jahangir is located in Shahdara, a suburb of Lahore to the northwest of the city. The area had been a favorite spot of Jahangir and his wife Nur Jahan when they resided in Lahore, and the area was commonly used as a point of departure for travels to and from Kashmir and Lahore. When Jahangir died in 1627 he may have initially been buried in Shahdara in one of its many gardens. His son, Shah Jahan, ordered that a mausoleum befitting an Emperor be built as a permanent memorial.
Today, the tomb of Jahangir holds special significance for Pakistanis as it is the only Mughal tomb located in present-day Pakistan. Its image appears on the 1,000 rupee banknote and it remains one of Lahore's most popular attractions.
Kamran's Baradari (built 1520s or mid-17th-century)
Kamran's Baradari is the ostensibly the earliest known Mughal monument in Lahore, said to have been built by Prince Kamran in the 1520s.
The baradari originally stood at the edge of the Ravi River, but over time the course of the river changed and the site became an island. Sometime over the course of the centuries the river flooded, taking half the baradari along with it. As Mughal buildings are generally symmetrical, it was possible for historians to infer the design of the lost portion and it was rebuilt in 1989. Unfortunately, the restoration extended to the remaining half and resulted in the total effacement of its surface decoration including the few fragments of original decoration to have survived. Of the gardens, very few traces survived in the late 20th century and a new garden based partially on Mughal motifs was built to the west of the Baradari.
Khan-e-Jahan Bahadur Kokaltash Tomb (built ~1697)
Khan-e-Jahan Bahadur Zafar Jhan Kokaltash was a high-ranking officer during the reign of Emperor Aurangzeb Alamigir. He served as subahdar (governor) of the Panjab from April 11th, 1691, but was dismissed from office in 1693. He died four years later on November 23, 1697, and was presumably interred here shortly thereafter. Overall, the tomb is in a poor state of preservation. At some point in the past, most of the east facade collapsed. Fortunately, the dome was spared, but it is now supported by a brick pillar of modern design. The muqarnas at the tops of the alcoves are substantially damaged, revealing the underlying brickwork. Significant restoration is urgently needed to avoid further dilapidation.
Khwaja Mehmud Tomb (built mid-17th-century)
Khwaja Mehmud (also known as Hazrat Eishan) was a Sufi religious leader from Bukhara who moved to Lahore during the reign of Shah Jahan. He was a contemporary with Hazrat Mian Mir and was also noted as a great scholar and physician.
Mai Dai Tomb (likely built mid-18th century)
The so-called "Mai Dai" tomb is located in an alley off the beaten path in the Kot Khwaja Saeed neighborhood of Lahore. In urdu, "Mai" and "Dai" are words that both mean "Respected Lady" and are polite titles used to refer to women. This oral tradition suggests the tomb is associated with a woman, but there is no definitive knowledge of who was buried here. It bears a strong resemblence to the nearby 'Cypress Tomb', which was built by a pious widow who wished to elevate her grave out of site of the public eye.
Unfortunately, the tomb is not a protected monument and it is currently occupied as part of a house.
Maryam Zamani Mosque (built 1614)
The Maryam Zamani Mosque is named after Queen Maryam Zamani, the wife of Emperor Akbar. It is the earliest surviving Mughal mosque in Lahore and is the first to exhibit the five-bay facade that would become typical of nearly all future mosques built by the Mughals. It is a comparatively small structure, measuring just 50 meters east-west and 50 meters north-south. Often called Begum Shahi Masjid, the mosque stands just opposite the Masjidi Gate of the Lahore fort.
Mian Khan Tomb (built 1670s)
This is the tomb of Nawab Mian Khan, the son of Nawab Saadullah Khan who served as Prime Minister during the reign of Shah Jahan. It is built in the form of a baradari (literally, 'twelve doors') with a tripartite facade on four sides.
Nadira Begum Tomb (built 17th century)
Nadira Begum was the wife of Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Shah Jahan and heir-apparent to his throne. In 1657 a power struggle broke out between Dara Shikoh and his three brothers over succession to the throne after Shah Jahan fell ill. Initially, fate seemed to favour Dara Shikoh. He prevailed in battle against his brother Shah Shuja and gained signifiant support from his father, who recovered enough to assist Dara Shikoh in his bid for power. However, father and son could not overcome the combined strength of his two other brothers, Aurangzeb and Murad.
The tomb stands on a raised platform at the centre of what used to be a vast water tank. The tank was dismantled during the British period.
Nau Nihal Singh Haveli (built mid-19th century)
The word "Haveli" is used to refer to mansions in India and Pakistan. The word is derived from the Persian word "hawli", meaning "an enclosed place". Havelis typically were built by wealthy aristocrats to house themselves and their extended families, and were often constructed several stories high with one or more courtyards in the interior.
Nawankot Monuments (built 1646)
The so-called Nawankot Monuments are the remains of the eastern wall of the tomb garden of Zeb-un-Nisa, comprising two corner turrets and the east gate. The ensemble is difficult to distinguish in the crowded district, as the monuments are hemmed in on all sides by contemporary houses and roads. In the Mughal era, the three Nawankot monuments were linked together by a brick wall forming the eastern edge of the garden, and were in turn linked to two turrets that delineated a square area of greenery with Zeb-un-Nisa's tomb at the centre. No trace of the western turrets and walls survive and the gardens have disappeared under urban sprawl. The Nawankot monuments themselves are in considerable danger from the effects of neglect, urban encroachment, vandalism and environmental stress.
The eastern gate is the most impressive of the monuments. It is a two story structure measuring 11.1 meters east-west and 13.0 meters north-south. It was once almost entirely covered by kashikari (enameled mosaic work) but large areas have worn away.
Nur Jahan Tomb (built 1640s)
Nur Jahan was the daughter of I'timad-ud-Daula, Jahangir's prime minister.
In 1626 the emperor was captured by rebels while on his way to Kashmir.
Nur Jahan's tomb is stylistically similar to Jahangir's tomb, but is about half the size and lacks corner minarets. The tomb suffered substantial damage in the 19th century when its marble decoration was plundered for use in other monuments. The destruction extended even to the sarcophagus, which is no longer extant. The present cenotaph at the centre of the tomb is a modern restoration. More recently, over-zealous rehabilitation of the tomb has resulted in the loss of some of the remaining fragments of original ornamentation.
Prince Pervez Tomb (built early 16th century)
Traditionally, this tomb is attributed to Prince Pervez, one of the sons of Emperor Jahangir. In any case, the tomb is in a deplorable state of conservation. This is all the more unfortunate as its octagonal plan suggests that a high-ranking nobleman or member of the royal family was buried here. Originally, the tomb likely stood at the center of a large garden with gateways on four sides (similar to the layout of Asaf Khan's tomb tomb and landscape ensemble). No traces of the gates or gardens survive and modern housing has encroached nearly to the edge of the tomb itself. The remaining portion of the tomb stands denuded of much of its surface decoration which likely included marble cladding and bas reliefs. The marble sarcophagus it once housed was removed in the 19th century or earlier and replaced with a crude brick replica.
Shahi Hammam Bathhouse (built 1634)
The Shahi Hammam bathhouse, also known as Wazir Khan, is the only remaining bathhouse of its type in Lahore. During the Mughal era, hammams (public baths) were introduced based on Persian models and flourished for a time, though their popularity never reached the level maintained in Persia as public baths were not an established cultural institution in the Punjab. The Hamman was first established in 1634. The interior of the Hamman is mostly intact and preserves frescos dating from the Mughal era. Unfortunately, the actual bathing facilities were filled in and tiled over in the mid-1990s when the building was briefly converted to another purpose by its private owners. In recent years the site has been acquired by the Tourist Information Centre of Lahore and is being conserved. About 75% of the interior area is now open to the public.
Shalamar Gardens (built 1633-42)
Lahore is often described as the "city of gardens". Although deserving of this title, few of its historic gardens survive to the present day and even fewer are preserved in something close to their original state. Shalamar is a grand exception to this trend. Comprising nearly forty acres on three broad terraces, its majesty brings to life the Mughal genius for landscape architecture like no other monument in Lahore. Many of the present structures are largely reconstructions in plaster and brick.
Sunehri Masjid (Golden Mosque) (built 1749)
The Sunehri Masjid is a relative latecomer to Lahore's traditional cityscape, having been built in 1753 during the waning years of the Mughal empire by Nawab Bhikari Khan, the Deputy of Lahore during the tenure of Governor Mir Mu'in al-Mulk Mir Munoo. It stands on a small plot of land where one street diverges into two. When Nawab Bhikari Khan acquired the property, it was a vacant parcel of land at the chowk (square) of Kashmiri Bazaar. He was required to obtain a special fatwa from Muslim scholars to construct the mosque, as the local authorities has been concerned that the construction of a building in the square would interrupt the flow of traffic.
Shah Ali Akbar's Mother's Tomb (late 16th century)
This small tomb stands to the southeast of Ali Akbar's own tomb. Its cube-shaped form is consistent with a long tradition in Multan of rectangular flat-roofed tombs, a contemporary example being the late 16th-century tomb of Shah Yousef Gardezi.
This monument—and Shah Ali's tomb, along with other monuments in Multan and Uch Sharif—also follow the Suhrawardi archetypal practice of aligning the main entrance along the southern axis, which stands in opposition to the preferred orthodox practice (in South Asia) of placing the entrance on the east so that the worshipper enters the building facing Mecca and departs with his back to Mecca, symbolizing the expansion of Islam into the wider world.
Bahauddin Zakariya Tomb (early-mid 13th century)
The tomb of Bahauddin Zakariya stands in central Multan in the northeast corner of the former fort at the heart of the old city.
The tomb houses the mortal remains of Bahauddin Zakariya (1170-1262), a noted Sufi wali (saint) who brought the Suhrawardiyya order of Sufism to Multan. He was also the grandfather of Rukn-e Alam, a noted saint in his own right who is buried at a magnificent mausoleum 500 meters to the southwest.
In his youth, following the death of his father at age 12, Zakariya traveled widely around the Islamic world and visited Khurasan, Bukhara, and Medina. He later reached Baghdad and studied under the Sufi master Abu Hafs Umar Suhrawardi (c.1145-1234), the nephew of the founder of the Suhrawardiyya order, Abu Najib Suhrawardi. Abu Hafs Umar saw such great potential in him that he cut short Zakariya's studies after 17 days and ordered him back to Multan to set up a Suhrawardiyya khanqah there (a khanqah is a building or compound for Sufi gatherings). While Zakariya was not immediately welcomed—the city already had such a profusion of Sufi notables that many were skeptical of adding another to the roster—the khanqah continue to prosper under Zakariya's guidance which lasted over a half century. As the Suhrawardiyya order did not eschew poverty (unlike other Sufi orders), Zakariya grew rich over the course of his long life, particularly after he gained the support of local elites and the favor of regional rulers such as Nasir al-din Qabacha, the Muslim-Turkic governor of Multan and Uch Sharif. Despite holding no formal political office, Hasan Ali Khan notes that "In time, Zakariya commanded a near absolute say in the decision making process in Multan" (Khan, p. 31).
The base of the tomb measures 15.9 meters on each side and its dome rises 23.6 meters above ground level. The monument is enclosed in a vast quadrangle measuring 62 x 79 meters with entrances on all sides but the north. At the southeast corner of the courtyard is a small mosque which stands immediately adjacent to the ruined Prahlad Mandir, a former Hindu temple which was destroyed by a mob in 1992 in retaliation for the razing of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, India by a Hindu mob.
Khawaja Awais Kagha Mosque (unknown age)
The Khawaja Awais Khaga mosque is a Mughal-era building directly adjacent to the eponymous saint’s tomb. The mosque has undergone a partial restoration, which appears to have been tastefully done with full fidelity to the original design.
Khawaja Awais Kagha Tomb (early 14th century)
The Khawaja Awais Kagha tomb is located in a cemetery in Dera Basti, Multan, about 1.6 kilometers southwest of the old city center. It was probably built around the year 1300, corresponding with the death of Khawaja Awais Kagha, a noted Sufi wali, or saint.
Khuddaka Mosque (built 1873)
The Khuddaka mosque is located in a dense neighbourhood about 750 meters WSW of the Shah Rukn-e Alam tomb. At present the mosque remains in active use and was thoroughly and tastefully restored in the mid-2000s.
Shah Ali Akbar Tomb (1585 onward)
Shah Ali Akbar was a great-great-grandson of Shah Shams Sabzwari, an early proselytizer of Isma'ili Islam in South Asia active in the mid-to-late 13th century.
Shah Rukn-e-Alam Tomb (1320-24)
The mausoleum of Shah Rukn-e Alam is located in central Multan and houses the graves of the Sufi saint Sheikh Rukn-ud-Din Abul Fateh (1251-1335) and dozens of his disciples and family members.
Shah Shams Sabzwari Tomb (originally early 14th century, largely rebuilt 1770s)
Shah Shams Sabzwari’s tombs stands about 1.5 kilometres east of the former Multan fort.
Shah Yousuf Gardezi Tomb (built c. 1152, rebuilt 1548)
Shah Yousuf Gardezi's Tomb is located about 600 meters southwest of the former fort of Multan.
Shahi Eid Gah Mosque (1735 onward)
The Shahi Eid Gah Mosque is a late-Mughal era mosque built on the northern outskirts of Multan during the reign of Emperor Muhammad Shah (r. 1719-48). In 1891 the building was restored to its original function and has remained active ever since.
Sheikhupura
Hiran Minar (built 1606 onward)
Hiran Minar (literally, the "deer tower") is a hunting retreat built by Emperor Jahangir to the northwest of Lahore. It was constructed in memory of an antelope named Mansraj that was beloved by the emperor. The memorial tower stands 30 meters high and is 10 meters wide at its base.
Unlike nearby Lahore, the surrounding countryside is thinly populated and remains largely rural. A belt of forest surrounds the site, further insulating it from the modern environment, allowing the visitor to experience the Mughal garden in a landscape that has changed relatively little since its inception.
Jandiala Sher Khan Baoli and Mosque (built 1542)
The town of Jandiala Sher Khan is located about 13 kilometers northwest of Sheikhupura, an important provincial town in the Mughal Empire. Although the town was located on a floodplain, there were no nearby sources of water, requiring local residents to dig wells to irrigate their crops.
As late as 2010 or thereabouts, the baoli was in extremely poor condition and partially collapsed. It was recently restored with a total reconstruction of the destroyed portions. Although the reconstructed pieces lack the ornamentation and elegance of the original design, they allow the visitor to experience the scope and grandeur of Sher Khan's vision.
Thatta
Makli Necropolis (primarily 15th - 17th centuries)
The Makli necropolis is one of the world's largest cemeteries, containing a half million tombs in a 15 square kilometre area. The mosque was restored during the 1960s and 70s. The mosque has been on the UNESCO tentative World Heritage list since 1993 but has not yet achieved official recognition.
Uch Sharif
Baha'al-Halim Tomb (late 14th century)
The tomb of Baha'al-Halim stands in the northwest corner of Uch Sharif on a low hillside, the site of an old fort, amid the ruins of several other architecturally significant tombs, among them the tombs of Ustad Nuria and Bibi Jawindi. The tomb requires active ongoing conservation to shore up and stabilize the remaining walls, turrets, and decorative features.
Bibi Jawindi Tomb (1494)
The tomb of Bibi Jawindi stands in the northwest corner of Uch Sharif on a low hillside, the site of an old fort, amid the ruins of several other architecturally significant tombs, among them the tombs of Ustad Nuria and Baha'al-Halim. The tomb requires active ongoing conservation to shore up and stabilize the remaining walls, turrets, and decorative features, but overall it is in better shape than the nearby Baha'al-Halim tomb. Five of the original eight turrets have survived in partial form, versus three at Baha'al-Halim. From certain angles enough of the tomb survives to present a clear impression of its original magnificence.
Fazaluddin Ladla Bukhari Tomb & Mosque (age unknown)
This is a domed mosque and a flat-roofed tomb associated with the Sufi saint Hazrat Fazaluddin Ladla Bukhari. The front of the tomb building features a projecting wooden veranda that is typical of residential architecture from the 19th century.
Jamaluddin Khandan Rau Tomb (age unknown)
This is another typical flat-roofed tomb of the type commonly found in Uch Sharif. It may also be known as the shrine of Hazrat Syed Jamal Khandan.
The architect and historian Kamil Khan Mumtaz notes that the age of many of these buildings in Uch is uncertain. All of them were definitely standing by the 19th or early 20th centuries, but they are likely restorations of far older structures, some of which may be faithful reconstructions of 13th or 14th century originals.
Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahangasht Tomb and Mosque (possibly late 14th century onward)
The tomb of Makhdoom Jahaniyan Jahangasht is a fine example of the flat-roofed tomb building tradition at Uch Sharif. This tomb, as well as many others in Uch Sharif, remains a site of popular devotion.
Ustad Nuriya Tomb (early 16th century?)
The tomb of Ustad Nuriya stands in the northwest corner of Uch Sharif on a low hillside, the site of an old fort, amid the ruins of several other architecturally significant tombs, among them the tombs of Bibi Jawindi and Baha'al-Halim. It is thought to honor the architect of Bibi Jawindi's tomb, suggesting that it is the newest of the three major monuments on site. However, as with the others, this tomb was partially damaged in major flooding in 1817.
Rajan Qattal Tomb and Mosque (19th century or earlier)
The tomb of Rajan Qattal is a fine example of the flat-roofed tomb building tradition at Uch Sharif.
Abdul Nabi Khan Mausoleum (early-mid 17th century?)
About a half kilometre northeast of the village of Kotli Maqbara, the Abdul Nabi Khan Mausoleum rises elegantly from the fields.
Atmaramji Shrine (late 19th, early 20th century)
The Atmaramji shrine is located in central Gujranwala at the junction of the Grand Trunk Road and Parao Road. The building is no longer in active use by the Jain community as the local police commandeered the property in 1984 for use as a police station, though most officers moved to a new building in 2003. According to the Pakistan Express Tribune, traffic wardens and officers fighting vehicle theft continued to use the building until 2015. Currently only the central chamber remains occupied by the police, used as the personal office of the Gujranwala Deputy Police Superintendent.
Lodhi-era Mosque of Eminabad (late 15th, early 16th century)
Along the east side of a small reservoir built in the era of Jahangir stands a modest one-story brick mosque.
Mahan Singh Samadhi (c. 1835)
This samadhi (tomb) marks the cremation site of Mahan Singh (r. 1770-92), the father of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who founded the Sikh Empire.
At present, the samadhi is ill-maintained and is marred by a number of holes tunnelled through the walls of the tower. Graffiti and rainwater infiltration have almost wholly ruined the interior murals, with only fragments still legible. The ground floor level is difficult to access as it stands adjacent to newer dwellings, with a number of openings crudely bricked-up. Inside, trash and debris clog most of the available space. Despite these problems, the building appears to be in reasonably good condition (as of early 2018) and could still be restored to much of its former glory with a determined and comprehensive restoration.
Ranjit Singh Birthplace (built 18th century or earlier)
Ranjit Singh, the future leader of the Sikh Empire, was born in this stately haveli (mansion) on November 13, 1780. His father, Mahan Singh (1756-1792) was the leader of the Sukerchakia Misl, one of many small principalities that arose in the Punjab as Mughal rule faltered.
The mansion is shaped as a long rectangle, oriented north-south but canted to the northeast in the prevailing direction of Gujranwala's urban fabric. In the late 18th century it was likely surrounded by more greenery and open space, but today it stands in an extremely crowded environment surrounded by illegally built makeshift dwellings. The interior is an oasis of calm, far quieter than it would have been in Ranjit Singh's time when its courtyards and halls rang with the to-and-fro of Mahan Singh's domestic servants and the many members of his extended family. In 2012 or 2013 the ground floor portion of the haveli beneath the front porch was converted into shops for vegetable vendors. This also resulted in the destruction of the main stairway which was converted into a parking lot for two-wheeled vehicles. It is feared that further such encroachments may result in the destruction of the main building, which so far survives, though in a perilous state of neglect.
Chiniot
Chiniot Mosque (built 1646-55)
The Chiniot Mosque in central Chiniot is attributed to Saad Ullah Khan (1595- 1655), the prime minister of Emperor Shah Jahan.
One somewhat atypical feature of the mosque is the use of columns to support the arcades in front of the mihrab (prayer niche) facing Mecca. A similar prototype may be found in the Moti Masjid mosque in Lahore Fort, also from the Shah Jahan era.
Omar Hayat Mahal (built 1923)
The Omar Hayat Mahal is a five-story wooden haveli (mansion) built by Sheikh Omar Hayat in 1923. Local lore holds that it was intended as the residence for his new-born son, who was born in the same year. However, the son died shortly after his marriage 15 years later and was buried in the ground floor chamber alongside his mother, who died the same year. These graves are still present today.
By the late 1930s the mansion had begun to fall into disrepair as the descendants of Omar Hayat's servants took up residence there. Later, the organization Anjuman-e-Islamia Chiniot attempted to convert the mansion into a girls' school, but it was converted into an orphanage instead. By the 1970s the upper story was in such unsound condition that the local municipal authorities demolished it. The level beneath it was itself destroyed in the 1990s when heavy rains caused it to collapse.
Although the mansion is currently being used as a library it remains in precarious condition. The inside and front facade are relatively well preserved due to restorations conducted during the late 1980s. However, the partially destroyed upper floor and exterior woodwork is not protected from the elements and the lack of effective drainage means that continued damage to the building is inevitable. One can only hope that the local authorities in Chiniot will recognize the value of this cultural treasure and take action to protect it.
Vernacular Architecture of Pakistan
Vernacular architecture is commonly recognized as the fundamental expression of the world’s cultural diversity. The desire for modernization and the well-known globalization phenomenon are some of the most frequent evoked issues responsible for endangering the survival of vernacular heritage in Pakistan. In Last Places we aim to highlight the outstanding universal value of vernacular architectural heritage in Pakistan and to raise awareness to the increasing need, not only the protection of these structures’ integrity but also for the preservation of such ancient and sustainable building techniques as a living heritage.
In Pakistan vernacular architecture can be divided in 7 eco-regions:
1-The Delta Region
2-The Indus Plain
The NGO Heritage Foundation of Pakistan, under the leadership or renowned architect Yasmeen Lari is doing a superb job documenting and conserving the traditional and historic built environment of Pakistan. Heritage Foundation of Pakistan and sensitive tour operators such as Last Places are creating an awareness of Pakistan’s rich and diverse historic architecture and art; and promoting cultural heritage for social integration, peace and development through responsible tourism.
KaravanGhar
The KaravanGhar programme was carried out by Heritage Foundation of Pakistan from November 2005 to March 2006 as part of Emergency Phase Housing. The KaravanGhar was built by salvaging stone and wood from the debris from the earthquake that affected the region in 2005. The programme was carried out in 75 remote and dispersed villages of the Siran Valley, Mansehra.
Philosophical Basis of KaravanGhar
• Correspond to lifestyles, cultural norms and traditions of the community
• Avoid imposition of culturally inappropriate interventions
• Avoid use of alien forms which negatively impact topographic environment
• Restore pride in vernacular construction techniques
• Maximize use of volunteers in rebuilding lives
• Utilise building activity for community regeneration
Karakoram Architecture – Hunza Valley
The Karakoram Mountains contain a most remarkable number and variety of historic buildings of monumental and domestic scale. Their survival up to the present shows how well they have served their inhabitants; it is proof of excellent material qualities, of superb construction detailing, of regular maintenance and of minimal external pressures for change.
Since the opening up of the region by the Karakoram Highway (KKH), this important architectural heritage has become readily accessible for tourists and for specialist research. Meanwhile, this very event and the ensuing recent development trends also constitute a considerable threat to the survival of the Northern Areas cultural heritage.
The historic buildings of Hunza included many magnificent old strongholds, now represented by the surviving Baltit and Altit forts and the fortified village of Ganish. These forts bear testimony to the times of the historic Silk Routes from China to northern India and Europe (which provided the local principalities with rich raiding opportunities), while in the late nineteenth century, the local kingdoms became involved in the ‘Great Game’, the political and military ‘tournament of shadows’ between the British and Russian Empires. There are still good-quality structural remains of other traditional forts and palaces found to the south and west in Gilgit, Gupis and Yasin. Further east, intact structures are to be found, for example at Rondu, Skardu, Shigar, Kiris and Khaplu.
On a smaller building scale, historic villages are still intact, mostly including ‘core’ cluster housing with associated animal byres, stores, simple shops and mosques and other religious buildings. Historic mosques and tombs of saints (astanas) are found throughout the Karakoram landscape and are spectacular pieces of architecture. Up in the remoter side and high altitude valleys and summer pastures, individual farms and small clusters of houses tend to cling to the most precarious mountainsides.
All these traditional buildings are characterised by the use of building materials found at hand, that is rubble and dressed stone, soil (as ‘adobe’ blocks or ‘pisé’ rammed earth) and timber(softwoods today but mostly deciduous hardwoods in the past). These materials were used in the most simple of ways for ordinary buildings. Important buildings involved itinerant craftsmen proudly showing off high-quality structural engineering skills and carving. The older monuments, probably dating back more than a thousand years, illustrate indigenous features and also cultural influences derived from the west (typically from Afghanistan but from as far as western Turkey) and the south-east (Ladakh and Kashmir). Within the region, the use of ‘cator and cribbage’ construction techniques has reached its zenith, presenting us with wonderful testimonies of elaborate timber building techniques.
Today, traditional buildings and settlements in the main valleys are rapidly being replaced and upgraded – much construction work being done in the self-help mode or by governmental and non-governmental organisations in the field of health, education and agriculture. The first signs of change go back to the 1980s with the early construction works of the Public Works Department. This was then followed by some initial development schemes sponsored by the Ismaili communities and dramatically increased with the later activities of the Aga Khan Development Network programmes.
Many of these recent building activities have resulted in new architectural styles and structural technologies related to those found around Rawalpindi, for example. The more sophisticated buildings, including schools and hotels, are now characterised by concrete frames of columns and beams with infilled panels. New ordinary houses are typically built with concrete block load-bearing walls. New roofs are made of corrugated galvanised sheet steel. These new self-built structures commonly show poor architectural and engineering designs, as well as crude craftsmanship, since little construction practice is being transferred from previous vernacular craft skills. At the same time, the historic houses and monuments are becoming rare ‘antiquities’ and are threatened by decay.
Therefore, efforts to understand, revive and adapt traditional building techniques are needed, both for new construction and for restoration purposes. Hence, this article aims to throw some light on the vernacular construction techniques of the region and on the morphology of its most prominent historic structures – the forts and palaces.
Recovering Cultural Heritage in Hunza Valley
Astana Syed Mir Muhammad
Astana Syed Mir Muhammad is located in the historic town of Khaplu in Baltistan region of Pakistan. Astanas are places of eternal rest for saintly persons so are held in reverence and visited frequently by public. Astana of Syed Mir Muhammad was built around 310 years ago by Syed Mir Muhammad's descendants. Like most astanas in Baltistan region, it is a square building topped with a conical tower. The astana has an inner square chamber enclosed by wooden jallie (carved lattice-work screens) in the Kashmiri style, with geometrically-shaped perforation.
In 1999, when Aga Khan Cultural Service, Pakistan (AKCS-P) initiated the technical study of the astana, the building was in an advanced state of deterioration. The entire structure was fragile and out of alignment, leaning 30 cm to the south west. Also half of the roof top tower was missing and the erosion of the earthern roof top had resulted in the decay of major structural members and jallie pieces. The entire structure was first documented followed by careful analysis and then actual work with low-intervention approach was started.
Similar to other projects of AKCS-P, the guiding principle in this project was also minimum intervention and maximum retention. With this framework, original features were maintained while structural changes were minimized except those needed to increase strength and durability. The building’s aged patina and historic character were carefully retained through skillful and sensitive conservation techniques. Furthermore the approach of using local materials and construction techniques ensured that restoration work is carried out in accordance with vernacular architectural practices and can be maintained in a sustainable manner.
In the process some of the major interventions carried out were, replacement of decayed roof members, water proofing of roof, strengthening of foundation, repairs of cribbage boxes, internal finishing including replacement of wooden jallies and finally staining and oiling to prevent termites.
Gulabpur Khanqah
Gulabpur Khanqah is located in Gulabpur village of Shigar valley in Baltistan. It was among the six Khanqahs constructed in Shigar around 1679AD, when local population converted from Buddhism to Islam on the direction of Syed Mir Yahya, a descendant of Shah Syed Muhammad Noorbaksh. For the local population Khanqah holds the highest value in architecture as it is used for daily and Friday prayers and also used during Islamic festivals. Khanqah is also used for resolving social issues.
The conservation of Gulabpur Khanqah has saved this 331-year old historic monument which served as the long-time centre of social, cultural, religious activities for the surrounding communities. The project demonstrates the inclusion of yet another building typology in the grassroots conservation movement already actively underway in Shigar. From a state of severe deterioration and degeneration, the building has been lovingly restored through the collaborative efforts of local community members, external funders and technical advisors. A process of intensive research and documentation created a thorough understanding of the building’s structure and dilapidation and informed the subsequent conservation work, which drew upon locally-available materials and artisans trained from previous restoration activities. The project has sensitively maintained the building’s patina and sense of history, while accommodating new building services such as electricity deemed necessary for its on-going function as a space of prayer, meditation, and communal mediation. A great sense of commitment was demonstrated by the Gulabpur community, which makes the project an examplar of community-led architectural restoration undertaken with a view towards sustaining living cultural traditions. Read Less
Central Karakoram National Park
Central Karakoram National Park is among Pakistan's best snow leopard habitats.
The Central Karakoram in the Gilgit-Balitstan of Pakistan is a mountain area endowed with rich biodiversity, natural beauty and important resources. The Park compasses the world’s largest glaciers, outside the Polar Regions. It was declared as the Central Karakoram National Park (CKNP) in 1993: today it is the largest protected area of Pakistan, covering over 10,557.73 km2 in the Central Karakorum mountain range and the highest park all over the world, it is characterized by extremes of altitudes that range from 2,000 m a.s.l. to over 8,000 m a.s.l., including K2, the second highest peak in the world. It falls into four administrative districts of Gilgit-Baltistan Region.
In order to facilitate the maintenance of Central Karakoram National Park ecological integrity while, at the same time, providing sustainabl Read More
In order to facilitate the maintenance of Central Karakoram National Park ecological integrity while, at the same time, providing sustainable management opportunities for local communities and visitors, a zoning system has been implemented.
This consists of two main zones, the Buffer Zone and the Core Zone, for a total of 10,557.73 Km2. The Buffer Zone, which is part of the Park and the Core Zone, which includes areas with a higher degree of protection and corridors for tourists with basic facilities.
The Buffer Zone (BZ) is supporting a harmonic interaction between nature conservation and the use of the natural renewable resources through a sustainable way. This promotes the conservation of landscapes, traditional forms of land use, together with social and cultural features. It is considered a part of CKNP and is spreading for about 2,950.9 square kilometres. It is not continuous around the whole Park, but it is present mainly near the human settlements and near to the areas where there are unsustainable activities and therefore a transition zone is needed.
The Core Zone, with a surface of about 7,606.83 square kilometres aims at preserving a unique ecosystem, representative of the CKNP area. It is populated by important species, where long-term conservation and preservation have to be ensured. On the one hand, this area is impressive both for flora and fauna, on the other hand, the presence of a relevant number of high peaks, many of them over 7.000 m, and glaciers covering about the 38% of the whole Park surface, is attracting a relevant number of visitors. To preserve the nature integrity, the Park has designated specific corridors where tourists are allowed to enter, with basic facilities to reduce as much as possible their impact on this fragile, yet highly valuable, zone. Read Less
Pakistan Visa
A valid passport and a visa are required for travel to Pakistan. Applications for visas have to be made in advance in the travelers’ home country. Last Places assists all travelers that need any type of help applying for the visa at the embassy. We recommend that passports be valid for six months from date of arrival.
Bring 50 passport & visa photocopies. It is good to bring loads of photocopies because, at some check posts, if you have a passport copy, you do not have to get out of the car. Otherwise, you are going to waste your time.
Vaccines and Travel Health in Pakistan
There are no mandatory vaccinations needed to enter or travel through Pakistan. Said this, Polio is still a threat in some parts of Pakistan. Make sure that you have been vaccinated. Read More
There are no mandatory vaccinations needed to enter or travel through Pakistan. Said this, Polio is still a threat in some parts of Pakistan. Make sure that you have been vaccinated. Dengue, malaria and chikungunya are also present. Repellents and netting provide protection. You may require antimalarial tablets based on your itinerary.
Security in Pakistan
Pakistan is a vastly misrepresented country in the Western media. The grand majority of Pakistan is very safe for travellers. In the past, political instability has led to outbreaks of violence and some of this is still ongoing. The best parts of Pakistan, the ones that attract the most foreign attention, are safe for tourists. Whilst you might have to travel with an armed police escort in some places (for example Kalasha Valleys in Chitral), you should not let that put you off the great unique experience that is visiting these remote tribal communities and stunning mountains ecosystems.
When to go to Pakistan
Travelers can visit Pakistan all year around. Last Places offers trips to Pakistan all year around (May - October Pakistan’s summer, November - April Pakistan’s winter. Said this Pakistan’s High Season would be from May till October and Low Season from November till April (cold). The best time to visit Pakistan depends on where you wish to travel. May - October is generally the best season to visit, as the weather is rather dry and warm throughout the country. If you want to visit the north-west regions of Pakistan, like Pakhtoonkhwa, Sindh, Punjab, or Balochistan, October - February would be a good time to travel, as the weather will be cool enough for you to enjoy your trip.
Currency in Pakistan
The official currency of Pakistan is the Pakistani Rupee (PKR).
Time in Pakistan
Pakistan Standard Time (PKT) is 5 hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
Electricity in Pakistan
The standard voltage is 230 V and the standard frequency is 50 Hz.
In Pakistan the power plugs and sockets are of type C and D. Check out the following pictures.
Type C: also known as the standard "Euro" plug. This socket also works with plug Eand plug F.
Type D: mainly used in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and some African countries. This socket only works with plug D.
Communications in Pakistan
The international dialing code for Pakistan is +92. There are many more mobile telephones than fixed lines and the mobile coverage is much more reliable than fixed lines. Internet access is available at most hotels. Except in Gilgit-Baltistan, the internet works reasonably well throughout the country.
Language in Pakistan
The official languages of Pakistan are English and Urdu. In remote rural areas most people do not speak neither of them and the figure of a translator guide will be needed.
Prohibitions in Pakistan
Do not take photographs of government buildings, or use binoculars near them, as this could lead to arrest. We recommend asking permission to people before taking their picture to avoid uncomfortable situations.
Since 1977 alcohol consumption is forbidden in Pakistan except for non-Muslim minorities such as Hindus, Christians and Zoroastrians who are allowed to apply for alcohol permits. The ban officially is enforced by the country's Islamic Ideology Council, but it is not strictly policed. A foreign non-Muslim person can drink alcoholic beverages in Pakistan. However, consumption of alcoholic drinks in public places is strictly prohibited. In many hotels, the foreign people can purchase alcoholic drinks upon presenting proof of foreign national ID and age. Read Less
Pakistán: Tribus remotas y reinos medievales
Ruta apta para todo tipo de viajero ya que no requiere gran esfuerzo físico. Es importante saber que se visitarán regiones remotas donde las pistas o carreteras están en mal estado y el alojamiento es sencillo. Durante la estancia en ciudades optaremos por alojamientos con encanto y bien situados. Ruta diseñada para convivir con diferentes etnias tradicionales, recorrer valles perdidos donde el turismo todavía es escaso, explorar centros urbanos históricos y ver interesantes Patrimonios de la Humanidad.
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HomeMarch 1: Celebrate Ethiopia’s Defeat of Italy At Adwa; A Victory Against European Imperialism
March 1: Celebrate Ethiopia’s Defeat of Italy At Adwa; A Victory Against European Imperialism
February 28, 2019 Lawrence Addis Ababa, Adwa, Berlin Conference, Djibouti, East-West Railroad, Emperor Haile Selassie, EPRDF, Ethiopia, European Imperialism, Grand Renaissance Dam, hydropower, Italy, Meles Zenawi, Menelik II, Organization of African States, Scramble or Africa
This article was published in the March 2017 Newsletter of the Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC. If you read the headlines of the European press following Italy’s defeat in 1896, you will see that this battle shook the foundations of European Imperialism to its core.
Victory at Adwa- A Victory for Africa
Ethiopia’s victory against Italy at Adwa on March 1, 1896, profoundly shaped the future of Ethiopia.
Lawrence Freeman
The battle of Adwa is probably the most renowned and historic battle in Ethiopian history. This celebrated victory by the Ethiopian army helped define the future of their nation, as one of only two non-colonized countries in Africa. The defeat of a European colonial empire by an African country, following the “Scramble for Africa” after the 1884-1885 Berlin conference a decade earlier, is not only a source of enduring pride and nationalism for Ethiopians, but also an inspiration to other Africans, who took up the fight for independence six decades later. Some historians suggest that this victory also led to the idea for the Pan-African movement. As a result, it is no surprise that on May 25 1963, Ethiopia under the rule of Emperor Haile Selassie was a founding member of the Organization of African States-OAS.
Adwa, also known as Adowa, and in Italian Adua, was the capital of the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia. A late comer to grabbing territory in Africa, Italy began colonizing Somaliland and Eritrea in the 1880s. It was from the vantage point of Eritrea from where Italy launched its campaign against Ethiopia. The immediate pretext of the invasion was a dispute of Article 17 of the 1889 Treaty of Wuchale. Italy insisted that the treaty stated that Ethiopia had to submit to its imperial authority, thus effectively making Ethiopia a colony of the Kingdom of Italy. The Ethiopians resisted Italy’s military enforcement of its version of the treaty, leading to the outbreak of war in December 1894, with the Italian imperialists occupying Adwa and moving further south into Ethiopian territory. On March 1, 1896, King Menelik II, who, commanded a force of over 70,000, defeated the Italian army, killing 7,000 of their soldiers, wounding 1,500, and capturing 3,000 prisoners, routing their enemy, and forcing them to retreat back to their colony of Eritrea. It has been speculated that, if Menelik had pursued the retreating Italian troops, and driven them off of the continent, it might have prevented a second Italian invasion. On October 3, 1935, Italy led by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, launched its second military incursion into sovereign Ethiopia territory. Five years later in 1941, Ethiopia once again drove the Italian invaders out of their country. The 1896 defeat of a European nation, considered an advanced country, by Ethiopia, viewed as a backward Africa country, led to riots on the streets of Italy and well deserved consternation in the capitals of European powers.
Without taking the time now to review the ninety years of Ethiopian history following this famous battle, the military defeat of Ethiopia’s dictatorial Derg Regime in 1991 brings us to the beginning of contemporary Ethiopia. When the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front-EPRDF assumed control of the government in 1991, it was led by the now deceased, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who initiated the economic policies that have guided Ethiopia for over 25 years. It was Meles Zenawi’s intellectual leadership, in particular his understanding of the indispensable role of the state in fostering economic development that distinguishes Ethiopia today from all other sub-Saharan African nations. For him the state was not “a night watchman,” but rather an active participant promoting economic growth for the benefit of its people. Ethiopia is a poor country. with a population approaching one hundred million, not endowed with rich mineral or hydrocarbon resources, and repeatedly struck by drought. Yet it has emerged in recent years with a rapidly growing economy. This is the result of Zenawi’s legacy that created a leadership with a self-conscious commitment to use the powers of the state to build an integrated infrastructure platform, which has served to drive the economy forward. This is clearly evident in Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plans I and II, which set ambitious economic goals five years into the future, along with its proposed thirty year road construction plan. Since the EPRDF took over the responsibility of governing the nation, more than thirty new universities have been created, graduating more students that can be easily employed.
In collaboration with China, Ethiopia operates the first electrified train in sub-Saharan Africa, traveling 750 kilometers in seven hours from Addis Ababa to Djibouti, establishing a port to export Ethiopia’s products. Their highway system consisting of toll roads, highways, and all weather roads will connect their light manufacturing industries to the port in Djibouti via their new rail line. As a result of coherent policy planning in energy infrastructure, the Gibe III hydroelectric power plant has now added 1,872 of megawatts to the country’s electricity grid, and over the next two years, the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) will add an additional 6,000 megawatts, making Ethiopia the second largest producer of power in sub-Saharan Africa, behind South Africa. The next step to develop the Horn of Africa is for Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya to extend their rail lines to become the eastern leg of an East-West railroad. Thus would transform Africa by connecting the Gulf of Eden/Indian Ocean with the Atlantic Ocean , creating an economic corridor that would literally revolutionize the economic power of the continent; contributing to the ending of poverty, hunger, and war.
One cannot deny the success of Ethiopia’s unique path of development, nor can one omit the important role contributed to this process by Ethiopia’s successful resistance to foreign occupation; thus never having to suffer the dehumanizing effects of colonialism.
← China Friend or Foe? Published in AU’s “Invest in Africa” magazine
Italy Wisely Becomes First G-7 Nation to Join China’s Belt and Road: Financial Predators Upset →
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Experimental Marketing|
MediAvataar's News Desk
Exploring How Culture, Age, and Technology Impact Relationships
Snap Inc. eleased a global study of 10,000 people across Australia, France, Germany, India, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UAE, U.K., and the U.S. to explore how culture, age, and technology shape preferences and attitudes around friendship.
Ten experts on friendship from around the world contributed to the report to contextualize the data.
“Snapchat was designed from the outset as a platform to enable self-expression and deeper relationships with your real friends, which has driven our interest in the complexities around friendship and differences across cultures,” said Amy Moussavi, Snap Inc. head of consumer insights. “While friendship looks very different across the world, we know it plays a central role in our happiness and we remain deeply committed to finding new ways to celebrate and elevate it through Snapchat."
Across all markets surveyed, people’s average social circle consists of 4.3 best friends, 7.2 good friends, and 20.4 acquaintances. Globally, most people meet their life-long best friend at the average age of 21. Respondents noted that “honesty” and “authenticity” are the most important qualities of a best friend and “having a large social network to tap into” is of least importance when making friends.
The Friendship Report sheds new light on the nature of friendship, including:
● How different cultures interpretation of friendship impacts friendship circles and values.
● How friendship is linked to happiness, but that the nuances of what we share and how we feel when we talk to friends can vary substantially based on our circle size, gender, generation, and more.
● The generation we’re born into heavily influences our attitudes towards friendship—and that Gen Z is adjusting their approach away from the millennial desire for widespread networks in favor of the closeness and intimacy of a smaller group.
“The big thing that differentiates friendships from other relationships is the fact that they’re voluntary,” said Miriam Kirmayer, therapist and friendship researcher. “Unlike relationships with our family, partners, and children, there is no outright expectation with our friends that we have to stay involved in each other’s lives. We continuously need to choose to invest in our friendships—to remain involved and to show up. It’s an ongoing implicit choice that makes our friendships so hugely impactful for our sense of happiness and self-esteem.”
A sampling of insights gained from this global survey include:
● In India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, people report having three times the number of best friends than those in European countries, the U.S., and Australia. Saudi Arabia has the highest average number of best friends at 6.6, whereas the U.K. has the lowest at 2.6. People in the U.S. have the second lowest average number at 3.1 best friends, and are more likely than any other country to report having only one best friend.
● Having friends who are “intelligent and cultured” is more valued by those in India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, whereas being “non-judgmental” matters more to those in the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
● Those in India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia are four times more likely than other regions to say that a “large social network” is an essential quality to have in a best friend. In fact, on average globally, “having a large social network” is the least important quality people seek out in a best friend.
Friendship Circles and Communication
● Globally, 88% of people enjoy talking to their friends online. Our respondents were able to select multiple options to explain what they enjoy about online communication, and there is agreement about the benefits. Across all regions, 32% of people chose the ability to “talk to their friends faster and more easily” as their favored explanation.
● Interacting with friends, whether in person or online, leaves us feeling overwhelmingly positive emotions: “happy,” “loved,” and “supported” are the three most reported globally. However, women are more likely to report feeling these emotions than men following online conversations.
● We see that when it comes to the average number of types of friends, users of more public platforms have larger groups of connections, but less true friends than those who prefer private communication platforms. Snapchat users have the highest number of “best friends” and “close friends,” and the fewest number of “acquaintances,” while Facebook users have the fewest number of “best friends;” and Instagram users have the highest number of “acquaintances.”
Generational Influences
● Globally, Gen Z and millennials are unsurprisingly emphatic in their love for talking with friends online—only 7% and 6% respectively said they don’t enjoy it, compared with 13% of Gen X and 26% of baby boomers. Younger generations also see value in visual communication—61% believe that video and photos help them to express what they want to say in a way that they can’t with words.
● Throughout the research, millennials globally come out on top as the most “share happy" of the generations. Millennials are the least likely to say “I wouldn’t share that” across all categories surveyed. Millennials will also share issues publicly via platforms like Instagram or Facebook more than any other generation. Furthermore, they are more likely to want a best friend who has an extensive social network. Millennials are also more likely to want “as many friends as possible” than any other generation.
● Gen Z doesn’t appear to following in millennials’ footprints, rather they are seeking intimacy in their friendships, and craving open and honest relationships more than any other generation.
● Boomers are the most conservative with regards to the topics they discuss with their best friends, contrasted again by millennials. More than one-third of boomers say they wouldn’t talk about their love life (45%), mental health (40%), or money concerns (39%) with their best friend. Only 16%, 21%, and 23% of millennials wouldn’t talk to their best friends about these same topics, respectively.
Published in MARKETING
Apple offers a look at new emoji coming to iPhone
New emoji characters are coming to iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch this fall.
To celebrate World Emoji Day, Apple is previewing a selection of new emoji coming this fall, revealing the newest designs that bring even more diversity to the keyboard, alongside fun and exciting additions to popular categories of food, animals, activities and smiley faces.
In a major update to the Holding Hands emoji typically used to represent couples and relationships, users will now be able to select any combination of skin tone, in addition to gender, to personalise the people holding hands, opening up more than 75 possible combinations.
Following Apple’s proposal to the Unicode Consortium last year to introduce more disability-themed emoji, a new guide dog, an ear with a hearing aid, wheelchairs, a prosthetic arm and a prosthetic leg will be available in the emoji keyboard. Celebrating diversity in all its many forms is integral to Apple’s values and these new options help fill a significant gap in the emoji keyboard.
Many additional emoji categories are getting exciting updates with a new smiley face for yawning, a one-piece swimsuit, new food items including a waffle, falafel, butter and garlic, and new animals like the sloth, flamingo, orangutan and skunk.
Fifty-nine new emoji designs will be available this fall with a free software update for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. Thousands of emoji are currently available, including emotive smiley faces, gender-neutral characters, more professions, various clothing options, food types, animals, mythical creatures and more. New emoji are created based on the approved characters in Unicode 12.0.
Discovery India announces New Organizational Structure
Discovery Communications India has made organizational changes which will help intensify focus in key strategic areas. The erstwhile division of roles basis mass and premium networks has been done away with; the new structure has distinct verticals for content development and marketing to drive deeper focus and offer greater leverage across the 13 network channels. A dedicated vertical for digital has also been created.
The company announced that Issac John will take on the role of Business Head for Digital with singular focus to build a strong D2C presence via Digital Product offerings. Sai Abishek will lead the content vertical for factual & lifestyle entertainment while Vednarayan Sirdeshpande will take over Marketing portfolio for the network including factual, lifestyle & kids as well as trade.
Speaking on the occasion, Megha Tata, Managing Director – South Asia, Discovery Communications India, said, “We have made select changes in our org structure in light of the opportunities available in the evolving media landscape. The sharper focus on functional areas will help us become more potent, more agile.”
Discovery Communications India’s leadership team led by Megha Tata includes: -
· Vijay Rajput, Sr Vice President - Affiliate Sales & Product Distribution
· Vikram Tanna, VP, Head of Advertising Sales and Business Head of Regional Clusters
· Ruchir Jain, Senior Director – Finance
· Gaurav Garg, Senior Director - Consumer Insights and Research
· Issac John, Director- Digital Business
· Uttam Pal Singh, Channel Head - Discovery Kids
· Sai Abishek, Director, Content- Factual & Lifestyle Entertainment
· Vednarayan Sirdeshpande, Director-Marketing
· Ruchi Kuthiala, Director – Director- People & Culture
· Mansha Shukla, Director – Legal Affairs
· Sameer Bajaj, Director – Corporate Communications & External Affairs
· Praveen Chaudhary, Associate Director – Strategy
Published in TV
Assume the people you consider to be the most loyal customers on the planet are, in fact, disloyal. Because 92% of the time, you’ll be right.
New Nielsen findings demonstrate that just 8% of consumers consider themselves to be firmly committed loyalists.
Yet the marketing tactics and investments rarely reflect these realities. A whopping 46% of consumers tell us they are more likely to try new brands than they were five years ago; a clear signal to a trend we should expect to intensify. Yet we see few signs that adjustments have been made to marketing initiatives or innovation pipelines to match these numbers.
The implications of not dramatically rethinking campaigns that focus on winning or retaining loyal customers are meaningful. The drag effect of consumer demand for choice and voting with their wallets will overwhelm existing marketing and product development efforts.
Of course, the tension for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) retailers and manufacturers of all sizes is palpable. Sure, there’s the so-called Amazon effect that expands choice and enables price awareness…but it’s more than that. It’s WeChat groups in China on the hunt for deals or even brokering deals. It’s unbranded fresh food, delivered to the door in the U.K. at prices that go head-to-head with supermarkets. And it’s traditional grocery retailers that are trying to find ways to retain profitability levels in a world where home delivery undermines margins.
Yet brands, on all parts of the consumer journey, continue to throw money against marketing efforts aimed at holding or growing loyalty without a clear benefit proposal. We think that’s a mistake that needs to stop being repeated.
A helpful lens to determine a new approach may start with considering degrees of loyalty and disloyalty. Apart from that 8% group of firm loyalists, it’s rarely binary.
Consider this: consumers are actively on the lookout for new brands as the gamble of buying a new product is de-risked by levers like rising income levels in developing markets. A massive 42% of global consumers say they love trying new things, and a further half (49%) of consumers—while preferring to stick with what they know—can be moved to experiment. With the overwhelming majority of consumers actively or passively open to unfaithful actions, the risks for brand owners have never been greater.
This information alone tells us that “conventional” product innovation is no longer about being first to market, delivering the next best attribute or even greater value, but extends to identifying a brand’s larger purpose, for connecting with more discerning and fickle consumers.
There are also some truisms that tend to shine through. Price matters. Price sensitivity is real, but less important than value. We see that coming through in both developed and developing markets, though often in different ways.
In the developed markets of North America, Asia-Pacific and Western Europe consumers have for decades had access to an array of large and small, local, destination, online and organized hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores, and they all come with well-stocked shelves and multiple product options in a variety of flavors, pack sizes and price points—or simply much more choice. One-third of these consumers love new, as opportunities to be distracted and disloyal have been around for much longer.
On the flipside, a larger proportion of consumers (closer to half) in Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Latin America are enthralled with new products. Retail and product assortment in developing markets has traditionally been informal and limited, often with only two or three product options on shelf per category.
As more products are “born and bred” in these markets, consumers are now also exposed to more choices that appeal beyond the power of big brands. The power of local products and local supply chains is running hard and fast against the longtime global players.
In all environments, there will continue to be better quality and more quantity on the way. ‘Gaining ground’ or ‘loving the latest’, regardless of market specific circumstances, is the new battleground for brands. Consumers are less likely to form strong, long-lasting bonds with brands, especially when ties may have been weak, or at best forced, due to a lack of alternatives.
Being a slave to choice will not be an option for brands…and that’s a far cry from marketing campaigns that chase loyalty or innovation efforts that rely on the power of a master brand.
Consumers are also aware and engaged with broader competitive sets than five years ago. Amid the growing product repertoires, consumers are more careful about those they are associated with and ready to walk away from brands that do not resonate with their lives and ideals.
A further multiplier to the equation we’re to consider is that a quarter (24%) of global consumers are reviewing products across broader ranges than ever. We call this group “conscious considerers” and they’re important because, even though they are choosing more widely than ever across brands, they tell us they prefer to stay with those they’ve tried in the past. It will take more to convince these consumers to change, but they still send signals of disloyalty that are ringing louder every day. Marketers can move their decisions to force disloyalty, especially if their current brands haven’t given them compelling reasons, conditions or characteristics to stay.
What is also fundamentally evident, is that consumers are mostly less strongly bound to familiar brands, which means brand halo effects risk losing even more power over time. This is good news for new, unknown brands but a signal to the well-known, heritage brands, that the trust ties are loosening. For brands of all sizes, marketing to the growing traits of disloyalty, instead of the declining rates of loyalty will be key.
Written by Scott McKenzie, Nielsen Intelligence Leader
Coca-Cola India & South West Asia announces changes to its leadership team
Changes are in keeping with developing business needs and investment in talent development
Coca-Cola India & South West Asia, a leading beverage company that offers a range of beverage choices to consumers, today announced changes to its leadership team. The new structure is designed to enable the India & South West Asia business to be a growth engine for The Coca-Cola Company by capitalizing on emerging opportunities while continuing to build on talent development.
Announcing the change, T. Krishnakumar, President, Coca-Cola India & South West Asia said, "We believe there are significant opportunities that lie ahead of us to grow our portfolio and meaningfully penetrate the market. It is our constant endeavor to strengthen the leadership team for a strong sustainable future growth and address developing business needs. It also reinforces our commitment towards investing in talent development.”
To lead this change, Sarvita Sethi has taken over as Vice-President– M&A and New Ventures from her earlier role of Vice President Finance India & South West Asia. In this new role, Sarvita will provide leadership to Business Incubation through Alternate Revenue Streams in New Ventures. She will also continue to lead the M&A priorities for our business in India & South West Asia. Sarvita has garnered multi-functional experience throughout her career, including Strategy, Marketing, HR and Procurement apart from Finance, and she has also worked across several industries including Retail, Marketing and Food Service sectors. In addition to this, she has international experience, having worked across both North Western Europe and Central and Southern Europe, before her appointment in India & South West Asia. A qualified Chartered Accountant, Sarvita holds a BSc. (Joint Honors) in Economics & Accountancy from City University, UK. This new appointment enables her to run a full-fledged business, thereby providing her the opportunity to further build upon her multi-functional experiences by gaining general management and operations exposure.
Harsh Bhutani has been appointed to the position of Vice President – Finance (CFO), Coca-Cola India & South West Asia, effective 1st August 2019. Harsh currently heads Finance and Business Services verticals for Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. as Executive Director & Chief Financial Officer for over three years. He has been an integral part of the Finance Function at Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. for more than two decades and had joined HCCB in 1999 from ABB Limited. He is a seasoned professional who has had the opportunity to work in the Zonal and Corporate Finance teams of HCCB. As a System Resource, he brings in multifaceted experience from almost all the domains of finance encompassing business strategy, planning & execution, treasury, tax & risk management to name a few. Harsh is a Commerce Graduate from Delhi University and a qualified Chartered Accountant.
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