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__label__cc	0.515591	0.484409	Nigeria VS South Africa, an interesting game CAF NCNigeria VS South Africa, an interesting game Posted Wed, 10 Jul 2019 08:35:07 GMT Match Time:7/11/2019 03:00 Thursday(GMT+8) African Nations Cup---Nigeria VS South Africa Nigeria: Critics are silenced ( Recent Form: L W W L W ) In recent weeks, the Nigerian selection has received some criticism in their own country, and that criticism was often justified. According to many Nigerians, national coach Gernot Rohr would play too cautiously with his team and that also had some truth in it. For example, Nigeria only scored twice in three group matches and that caused some criticism of the Nigerian camp. Rightly so, because Nigeria was in a group with the weaker countries Burundi, Guinea and Madagascar. Still, the Nigerians were having a hard time in the group stage and therefore there was quite a bit of tension in the eighth final against Cameroon. The Super Eagles have at least been a little concerned with the criticism, because the Cameroonians found the net no less than three times against Cameroon. On the other hand, the Nigerian goalkeeper, Daniel Akpeyi, also had to pass two goals against a Cameroon that has more quality on paper than Nigeria. In fact: Cameroon was one of the title candidates for this tournament. So Nigeria succeeded in sending the Cameroonians home and that is why The Super Eagles are yearning. With South Africa as an opponent, there are at least enough opportunities for Nigeria to reach the semi-finals. However, Nigeria is the King of Third Place in the Africa Cup, because no country took bronze more often than The Super Eagles. South Africa: Won in the lion's den ( Recent Form: D L W L W ) That South Africa is in the quarterfinals is remarkable. The South Africans finished in third place in a group with Ivory Coast, Namibia and Morocco. In the end, that third place was enough for Bafana Bafana to secure a spot in the knockout phase, although it needed the help of Kenya and Angola for that. A duel with Egypt then awaited in the eighth final and Stuart Baxter's South Africa was deemed hopeless in advance. Still, Bafana Bafana managed to win in the lion's den last Saturday. In a sold-out Cairo Stadium, where of course mainly Egyptians were in the stands, South Africa won 0-1 against the host country. A counter from the booklet caused South African Thembinkosi Lorch to shoot his team to victory five minutes before time. And to be fair: the South Africans played an excellent game against Egypt. If you can win from Egypt then you can win from everyone they will now think in South Africa and Bafana Bafana is definitely not a chance against Nigeria. During the qualifying series, Nigeria and South Africa were in the group together, and in Nigeria the South Africans won 0-2, while the opponent was held at a 1-1 draw in Johannesburg on Wednesday evening. After all, Nigeria's attack is achieving high performance with the sharpness of Odion Ighalo. The striker will receive the help of excellent satellites Alex Iwobi and Ahmed Musa. Nigeria will help the next match with many goals scored. Nigeria VS South Africa O/U Pick: Over 1.75 Goals Previous: Tokyo Verdy VS Hosei University, with a home victory Next: Nigeria VS South Africa, an interesting game	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16080
__label__wiki	0.662023	0.662023	Hoja And His Shadow: Deconstructing Orhan Pamuk’s White Castle Nicolas Sampson The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk is a mystifying tale of confused identity, self-reflection, and a world caught between two versions of itself. More than that, it’s a meditation on modern Turkish culture and its complex relation to the West, a cultural and psychological deliberation written in a way that evaded the censors of the day. The Republic of Turkey was founded by General Ataturk after the Great War. The state was conceived as a modern secular entity with Western aspirations. Ottoman tradition was shed in favour of a progressive outlook. Religion was separated from state affairs, and the Turkish alphabet adopted Latin characters. Turkey was transformed ‘overnight’ into a Europe-oriented nation, opening a new cultural front, and over time became an entity caught between East and West, between tradition and change, self and other. This is the underlying basis of The White Castle, and it is given through the interaction of the Italian narrator and the Turk Hoja. The story takes place in 17th-century Ottoman Empire. “We were sailing from Venice to Naples,” the narrator says, “when the Turkish fleet appeared … We were caught in a violent broadside volley – our ship would surely sink if we did not give up at once – we decided to raise the flag of surrender.” Even though the narrator, a scholar, is taken to Istanbul and sold as a slave, a type of quietude overcomes him, to which he resigns himself without hesitation. But when he ends up in the hands of Hoja, a man who, as fate has it, is his doppelganger, life takes a turn for the bizarre. According to the narrator, Hoja – which means Master in Turkish – is a peculiar fellow, aloof, self-involved, obsessive, and self-hating. He is a curious man, progressive in relation to his fellow countrymen and -women, but arrogant and troublesome. He respects neither the common folk nor the administrators of the city, and deems the Ottoman Empire backward and prejudiced. Even so, he seeks the imperial court’s approval. Desperate to climb the ladder and become part of the elite, he will do anything to catch a break and gain the Sultan’s favour. The Sultan is a young boy, not of age yet, and Hoja is eager to befriend the young ruler and convince him to modernise the empire. The court is a tough place to infiltrate. No one understands Hoja’s claims on the stars and their motions, or the possibility that the earth revolves around the sun, and that the heavens are not made of spheres from which celestial bodies hang – that the heavens are in fact defined by invisible forces that hold the universe together. Everyone’s pattern of thinking, Hoja surmises, is complacent and unable to grasp the world as it truly is. The court officials, in their collective ignorance – like the masses below them – are living in ignorance, inside which they are trying to absorb him, desperate to turn him into one of them, Hoja feels. To increase his chances of impressing the Sultan, Hoja engages in long conversations with his Italian captive, from whom he extracts useful scientific and personal information. The discussions prove enlightening. Some of the data corroborate Hoja’s own theories, which inflate his ego even more, while much of the information is new, unheard of, as unnerving to him as it is to those he subsequently preaches it to. The interaction between captor and captive becomes a test of character for both individuals. Acting as each other’s mirror, the two savants are forced to come to terms with parts of themselves they had not heretofore faced. The ambitious master, challenged by his learned captive, has an especially hard time reconciling his limitations with the world’s awesome potential. The Italian points out his faults, but Hoja rejects all feedback, finds no fault in himself, only in others. Forever looking to gain the advantage over his surroundings, he twists the knowledge he acquires to suit his needs and manipulate others. Tormented by the very knowledge he pursues, Hoja drives himself deeper inside his insecurities and self-loathing, feeding his self-hatred, his revulsion for his culture, his heritage, even his Italian teacher, whom he secretly holds in high esteem. He loves the Italian and despises him at the same time, much as a child adores and loathes a stronger and more informed sibling. The Italian, in turn, wishes to escape Hoja’s shadow. He cannot abide by his master’s whimsical and cruel nature, and yet he develops a strange affinity for him. Just as Hoja needs his knowledgeable hostage, the Italian needs his captor. Made manifest is a case of Stockholm Syndrome. The Italian’s burning desire to regain his freedom is tempered by a peculiar sense of belonging. He thinks of his master with fondness. He is relieved when Hoja tracks him down after a failed escape attempt, and is glad to be brought back ‘home’. But that doesn’t change the fact that the Italian is a slave. Hoja, desperate for control, plays nasty mind games with his captive. When the bubonic plague breaks out, the Italian declares that the disease is contagious, and that they should remain indoors, and Hoja responds by roaming defiantly the disease-ridden streets and then touching the Italian, taking pleasure in frightening him. He calls the Italian an infidel and a coward, and invokes God in ways that contradict his sceptical outlook. He taunts the Italian with threats, tells him he will possess his spirit, even take his place. To deal with his anxiety, the Italian embraces his situation and launches his own counteroffensive. He plants ideas in Hoja’s mind, all of them scientific, all of them geared to invoke a type of thinking the Italian can live with. Through this rancorous interaction, Pamuk seems to be addressing the complexity of sibling dynamics. In a Paris Review interview he noted that his theme of impersonation was inspired by his relationship with his older brother, which was riddled with jealousy and admiration. The two competitive siblings were different in many ways (Pamuk liked games, his brother preferred rules), and the motifs of resemblance, identity overlap, rivalry, conflict, dependence, and existential crisis, and the volatile and almost sadomasochistic arrangement between The White Castle’s protagonists, would appear to have their roots in that complicated relationship. But there’s more to the book than the psychology of twin-like characters engaged in a game of cat and mouse. Pamuk, through Hoja and the Italian, is speaking about the Turkish psyche in general. Their relationship is a metaphor for the complex dynamics behind Turkey’s ambition to be accepted by Europe; an exploration of a traditional state with Western aspirations. The device is seamless and effective. Pamuk discusses modern Turkey’s polar state of mind and the tumultuous psychology that comes with it through a historical setting that focuses on the scientific and technological shortcomings of 17th-century Ottoman Empire (a stand-in for the Turkish Republic). The Empire is in desperate need of modernisation, and Hoja is the one who pushes for change against the wishes of the majority, the Italian supporting him from the shadows. One could read this setup any number of ways, involving anything from political intrigue and geopolitical allegory to symbolic interactionism. Most telling of all is the way the characters themselves act and react. Hoja, in a cruel spell of irony, is tormented by the knowledge he endorses, caught in an existential gauntlet that undermines his sense of identity. His uncanny resemblance to the Italian scholar makes matters even worse. The slave, valuable as he is, is an ironic reminder of what Hoja may one day become, should the Empire catch up with Europe – and Ottoman ignorance is eliminated – or, if no progress is made at all, he toys with the idea of abandoning his land of birth and emigrating to Italy. The years pass, and Hoja manages to befriend the Sultan. Aided by the Italian, he proceeds to lecture the despot on the minds of men, the instincts of beasts, the wonders of science and technology, even the stars themselves. The Sultan, although positively disposed to some of the new ideas, is not swayed by their impact. He acts on them on whimsy, if at all, and little progress is made. The imperial circles wax and wane around this petulant sovereign whose inclinations favour hunting and philosophy more than the office of government. Hoja’s plans fail to materialise. He has indeed moved up the ladder, but nothing of great consequence has changed. His mindset is torn over two irreconcilable viewpoints – science-driven scepticism and God-fearing traditionalism, depending on the circumstances – earning him the scorn of his neighbours and almost everyone he knows. He grows older and more jaded, speaking of fools who understand nothing, of ‘us’ and ‘them,’ of all the things one needs to know to become a better person, of all the thoughts that go through one’s mind, of all the memories that make up one’s life, and, in the end, of stories that help their author understand what he has experienced in life – things he deems crucial to his development. The need for taking transcripts to accommodate the growing information. The fears and aspirations that drive a person to excellence. Hoja obsesses over these issues, desperate to make sense of his life, trying to remember what he may have forgotten or dismembered over the years. He forces these insights on his doppelganger, anxious to make him understand, too. By default, the Italian’s plans have also been frustrated. Science is not advancing, change is not being made, and Hoja is neither triumphing nor collapsing, either of which outcomes might have led to freedom. Stretched out on a circle of moderate highs and lows, life drags on. The two doppelgangers cannot escape each other’s influence. Locked in a pattern, they merge psychologically. Over and above the sublime mind games and the existential tarantella the protagonists are engaged in, Pamuk’s story operates on a cultural and quasi-historical level, as already mentioned. The metaphor on Turkish identity and psychology is striking, and because it can be tricky to address one’s cultural identity in critical terms, the author uses another astute device: an external perspective, namely, the narrator – an Italian Christian i.e. an infidel among Muslims, a shameless outsider. No one can hold this character’s words and perspective against the author himself. The device works. It offers Pamuk latitude to explore aspects of Turkish history, society, and identity in ways that he would not be able to had he written an essay or novel from his personal (or a Turk’s) point of view. It’s important to note that The White Castle was published in 1985 when it was dangerous to be critical of Turkish culture (now it’s more so than then). Freedom of the press did not apply in cases where the state, its founders, or Turkish identity and history in general were deemed to be insulted. If an author wished to make a critical point on the subject matter but escape the censor – or a grave destiny – one had to be inventive with one’s narratives. Pamuk’s Borgesian, quasi-historical, almost surreal style added the padding needed to soften the novella’s content. The setting was real enough to deliver its message, but not real enough to invite the ire of would-be censors and autocrats. Although a novella, The White Castle’s narrative spans a number of decades, making possible the convincing merger of the protagonists. The writing is pensive, and the result is one of parochial ambience that is deftly, and with erudite precision, interspersed with passages overflowing with passion and ferocity, explosive in nature, dominated by political and psychological intrigue, by characters whose lives clash like clouds in a storm, much like the civilisations they represent. Hoja and the Italian represent the clash between tradition and enlightenment, research and blind faith, the ‘occidental’ and the ‘oriental’, and if these divisions sound ham-fisted by today’s standards, perhaps even stereotypical, it’s worth noting that Pamuk raises them with authority. In Turkey they were real issues when he wrote about them, and still are. The divide between East and West dominates the national/cultural debate to an extent not readily understood by those not familiar with Turkey. The narrative sheds light on these conflicts, and on the fragility of Turkishness as an identity, the way in which its members – and state – relate to other cultures, especially when looking westward, toward Europe, a world that Turkey – according to Pamuk’s subtext – both craves and loathes to be a part of. The novella, though courageous and inventive – if not precisely because of these very qualities – can be frustrating and confusing. Pamuk’s incisive yet fantastical frame at times feels contrived and circular, repeating the same motifs: Hoja and his slave are at odds; they work on a specific project, each to their own ends; they achieve something, which opens up new possibilities for them, then gain an official’s favour, which results in ‘Hoja’ rising in stature, only to meet with disappointment and falter, slump, fall, and fade to the edge of the imperial circle, their anguish now a test on their relationship. After taking it out on each other a hiatus follows, and after that a new task presents itself, which brings about a new initiative, another upturn, etc. The circles are laborious, and yet it is through this laborious and repetitive turn of events, this rumination of character and psyche that the two protagonists assume each other’s identities to the extent that everyone’s understanding of them – the reader included – is hazy. In time, Hoja and the narrator become an inseparable entity working its way through the Ottoman Empire. Where one ends, the other begins, and they have spent enough time with each other for the premise to feel convincing. The palindrome gives rise to a myth, one where the Muslim and the infidel, the slave and the master, the insider and the outsider come together. Their differences and conflicts give way to a remarkable bond. It’s not so much about the bridging of religious differences, or the erasure of religion altogether, as it is about ‘otherness’. Hoja and the Italian represent two antithetical, yet, partially compatible forces. Self meets Other, curiosity sparks interaction, knowledge begets knowledge, fear induces fear and suspicion leads to inventiveness that galvanises the protagonists. Their will to survive coaxes them into using each other’s attributes to augment each other’s lives. The story finishes in the shadow of a white castle in the land of the Poles where the Sultan has led his ambitious military campaign. The super-weapon designed by Hoja and the Italian doesn’t live up to the task. It gets stuck in a swamp, and the campaign ends in failure. There, in the wake of defeat and shame, the Italian and Hoja switch places again, this time for keeps. Hoja takes off for Italy, and the Italian stays behind. When we rejoin the story many years later, the narrator is living out Hoja’s life in the Ottoman Empire, and refers to his counterpart as ‘He’, and speaks about Him with the Sultan, with a travel author, with just about anyone who asks about Him. Some people suspect that a switch has taken place, but nothing is brought to a head. The illusion is maintained. The charade takes over, and the narrator is over time unable to tell whether his past life in Italy was real or just a story he invented. He can’t even be sure if He was real. In fact, we get the feeling that the whole story may be the narrator’s fabrication, an extension of a man’s wild imagination and his burning desire to travel mentally, get involved with outlandish characters, explore oneself and one’s surroundings in a way reality would never permit – a vicarious experience of something grander than what he had been bequeathed. A way to give meaning to his past life. The questions, of course, mount: Has one character made the other up? If there are two characters after all, who is ‘He’? Hoja or the Italian? Who, in other words, is the narrator? Pamuk offers no answers or resolutions. He leaves us guessing, and, most likely, eager to reread the book, or ask someone who’s read it. Herein lies the genius of the narrative. It makes one re-evaluate the text and seek out fresh perspective. Things are not always understood on the first attempt, Pamuk tells us in so many words. To understand something we must revisit it, and even then its meaning may evade us. What matters is the experience, the imagination that drove it, the ability to reflect on it and make sense of it. The narrative succeeds precisely because it refuses to provide clear answers. Delivered through the recounts of a narrator revisiting his torturous but in hindsight eventful and cherished life – a period in which anything that ever mattered to the narrator took place, all of it in the unnerving but fulfilling company of that ‘other’ (whether ‘He’ was real or imaginary) – The White Castle offers the reader a chance to understand not only what it means to be Turkish, not only how we are all the same even when we are different, but also how everything is a result of stories, and that stories in whatever form have the power to shape us even as we’re shaping them. Nicolas Sampson is the Books Editor of Panorama. Ferit Orhan Pamuk is a Turkish novelist, screenwriter, academic, and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature. Much of his work, like The White Castle, centers on Istanbul. You can find his books at all major independent bookstores, as well as Amazon.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16081
__label__wiki	0.580515	0.580515	President Kenyatta Leaves For Ethiopia And Jordan To Attend Security Meetings On April 18, 2015 In Latest News President Uhuru Kenyatta this morning left the country for Ethiopia where he is scheduled to attend a security summit that focuses on how to confront the politicization of religion. The President will attend the fourth Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa that is being held at Bahir Dar, Ethiopia with the theme 'Secularism and Politicised Faith'. He will later in the afternoon proceed to the Kingdom of Jordan for the Horn of Africa Coordination Meeting hosted by Jordan and whose focus is how to fight terrorism and radicalization. The Tana forum in Ethiopia, which will be attended by more than 200 participants including Heads of State, focuses on finding African solutions for Africa's security challenges. This year's meeting is dedicated to addressing the dangers posed by the increased politicization and manipulation of religion at a time many countries in Africa including Kenya are faced with violence perpetrated by criminals who exploit and mask their activities with religion. It has attracted panels of African heads of state, eminent African personalities, academics, and policy makers who will talk on African secularism and faith-branded security threats. At the Horn of Africa Coordination Meeting at Aqaba, Jordan, President Kenyatta will speak on the status of the war against terrorism and how the Government is dealing with its complexities. One of the issues President Kenyatta will speak on is the danger posed to Kenya by the continued instability in Somalia. “The continued state of instability in Somalia – which is compounded by inability to control territories that have been liberated or that are still in the hands of the Al Shabaab is limiting Kenya’s ability to deal with the threats,” the President is expected to say in his speech. President Kenyatta will also highlight the risks posed to Kenya by the continued presence of more than half a million refugees – who have now been here for 24 years – and will present Kenya’s position that it is no longer an issue of humanitarian nature but of a security nature. “In many ways, this complex (refugee camps) has brought the war frontier –right inside Kenya. It is this reality that explains the imperative to facilitate repatriation of refugees” the President will say in his speech. The President will also touch on how terror networks are exploiting the democratic nature of Kenya and its Constitution. “Because we are an open society, with a range of constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and rights, we have been victims of terrorists and their agents, who appropriate these democratic values to hurt, maim, kill our people and destroy our property” he is expected to say. The meeting, hosted by King Abdullah II, will be attended by other leaders from the Horn of Africa. Before entering JKIA, President Kenyatta toured a modern car screening yard at the entrance of the airport. The 16-lane car screening yard enhances the safety of the airport and also makes it faster to screen vehicles entering the facility. The President was seen off at the airport by Deputy President William Ruto and other senior Government officials.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16089
__label__cc	0.525601	0.474399	Fiction: Running From the Law Running From the Law Words by Leah Mueller Image by Steven Joseph McCrystal Prolonged anxiety has a tendency to make me sleepy, and I was in the midst of a troubled mid-afternoon nap when I heard the doorbell ring. I stumbled off my futon, which rested on the floor underneath a mound of blankets. As I staggered to my feet, the doorbell rang twice more, sharply, like the report of a shotgun. I lived in Chicago in an apartment building that a group of sadistic urban planners had erected directly beside a busy el station. To compensate for this disadvantage, and to encourage the occupancy of responsible renters, the building's owner had remodeled the apartment to within an inch of its life-including track lighting, two huge and fully functional stone fireplaces, and an island kitchen that faced the tracks. For the past two months, I had shared the apartment with two men, Dirk and Ken, neither of whom interested me even remotely as romantic prospects. Dirk was a wood-worker, house painter and drunk, who would have been more at home in the wilds of Arkansas, except for the fact that he had been raised by wealthy parents in Wilmette, and Ken was an alcoholic high school buddy of Dirk's. Although Ken seemed incredibly stupid, he had a surprising affinity for Miles Davis, and owned every commercially released recording that Miles had ever made. He often stayed up past the break of dawn in a stupor, drinking and intently listening to “Bitches Brew.” Occasionally, his attention was diverted by a sudden urge to grope drunkenly at me or some friend of mine, but these efforts were always met with derision. The most horrible thing about Ken was his treatment of his two stunted white German shepherd puppies, who had spent most of their young lives barricaded in the kitchen. Ken's drinking schedule kept him busy until at least 6 AM, after which he collapsed into bed until roughly 3 in the afternoon.. During this extended sleep period, his two dogs, imaginatively named “Whitey” and “Snow” spent their time in the kitchen, with a limited amount of food and water, and no access to a yard. We didn't really have a yard, since our back door opened directly underneath the el tracks. Dirk and I had tripped on mushrooms behind our building two months beforehand, after Dirk had scored a fabulous rent deal on the apartment. We sat in the snow at two in the morning, and waved at people as they climbed the stairs to the platform, welcoming them to our yard. Most of them found it funny, or so it seemed through our psilocybin goggles. All three of us were in our mid-twenties; we had no need for a yard anyway. The doorbell rang three more times before I reached the front door. I knew exactly who it was; the very source of my anxiety. The door had a couple of locks on it, and a curtained window—through that window, I could make out the gaunt form of my mother, a cigarette in one hand, and a dark, bulging garbage sack in the other. “Hurry UP!” she implored me through the glass. “It's fucking cold out here! How in the hell can you live in weather like this?!” Polly was conveniently forgetting that she had spent her first forty-eight years in the Midwest, until a series of cataclysmic events, including the suicide of my stepfather, had caused her to flee for a warmer climate. Though her decision to move to Mexico after Gil's death had seemed insane on the surface, it actually made a certain amount of pragmatic good sense. With her monthly social security check and VA benefits, she was able to rent an attractive hacienda with maid service in San Miguel de Allende. Still, once the money was spent, it was gone until the first of the following month, and there could be a long stretch of time in between, when cash was scarce. My mother sought to bridge that gap with the contents of her garbage sack, which she triumphantly hauled into my living room as soon as the door was open. She hurled the sack onto the floor as if it were a dead antelope. “Two pounds”, she announced. “Extremely fresh—harvested just last week. Cured in crème de menthe.” She opened the sack, which had not been secured by so much as a twist tie. “Smell” she commanded me. I took a quick, apprehensive sniff. Sure enough, I could detect an overpowering odor of mint, mixed with the trademark, herbal scent. “There's hardly any seeds” my mother announced proudly, as if she had just given birth to the contents of the sack. “And there are nine more sacks just like them, waiting outside in the spare gas tank.” My mother had warned me a couple of months earlier that I should expect such a visit from her, but I honestly thought she was joking. Although her entrepreneurial drive was undeniably strong, her ability to act upon her schemes was spotty, at best. Even when she announced that she had purchased an old Chinook camper, with a handy spare gas tank, I felt certain that she intended to use it for camping. My mother was a terrible camper. She camped with the family out of a grim sense of maternal obligation, combined with a stubborn refusal to spend money on a motel, but I still did not believe that she actually intended to haul twenty pounds of high-grade marijuana across the Mexican border. Three days earlier, she had called me from a pay phone in Laredo, Texas, announcing that she had made it across the border, without so much as a second glance from the guards, and was headed in my direction. Could I call all of my friends, and let them know she was on her way? Did I know anyone who was interested in a few pounds of killer Mexican pot? The question, of course, was not whether I knew anyone who was interested in a few pounds of pot—all of my friends would be extremely interested—but whether I knew anyone who could afford to buy more than a dime bag at one time. I stared at the garbage bag, and tried to mentally calculate how many months it would take us to sell even the contents of that container. There were sixteen ounces in a pound; I remembered this from grade school. Therefore, half a pound equaled eight ounces, and a dime bag was slightly less than a quarter of an ounce. Of course, I would have to multiply everything by two. My mind began to bend over backwards upon itself; I was too terrified to be able to calculate. Math has never been my forte anyway. “Where's your roommates?” my mother demanded. “I'm gonna need some help bringing those bags inside.” As if on cue, Ken's bedroom door opened, slowly at first, then with increasing velocity as he took note of the new addition to the living room. It had been a late night for Ken; he had finally made it to bed around 8:00 AM, and, although it was already dark outside, he had just awakened. Ken tottered slightly on his knobby, oversized feet, and pushed a hunk of greasy hair out of his eyes with his fists. He blinked, and then blinked again. “Is that what I think it is?' he asked, gaping at the open bag. Ken was so astonished that he did not indulge in his usual waking ritual of staring into the kitchen at the numerous excretions left by his dogs. This ritual always made Ken profoundly unhappy, since the kitchen floor was coated with a layer of feces and urine. The dogs, upon hearing Ken's voice, ran to a corner of the kitchen and cowered there, anticipating their master's hangover-fueled rage. Ken was prone to disciplining his dogs violently, while screaming such phrases as “I can't BELIEVE it! Piss and shit—every day!” This would have been hilarious if the scene wasn't so hideous. The beatings would continue unabated until either Dirk and I put a stop to them by yelling, “Ken! That's ENOUGH, man!” Ken would then drop whatever dog he'd been working on, and stare at us with a sheepish expression on his face. The dogs whimpered in the corner and then began to thrash their tails around wildly, amazed by the fact that they had miraculously escaped a beating. For once, Ken was focusing his early-evening attention on something other than retribution. “Jesus”, Ken said, still rubbing his eyes. “That's the most reefer I've seen in my entire life.” He did not look happy. “There's nine more bags”, my mother said, loudly. “You're a strong man, right?” Her eyes darted around the apartment for a frantic moment, then she asked, “You got an ashtray? I wouldn't want to get ash on the floor. Not that it would matter. It might actually be an improvement.” I easily located an ashtray, and shoved it in her direction. Relaxing slightly, my mother continued, “You've got another roommate, right? Where's he? The job will go faster with two guys.” From long experience, I knew that when my mother ordered a person to do something, that individual would almost always comply. It was easier than listening to a long diatribe filled with a strange mixture of gutter-level profanities and bizarre literary allusions. My mother had never finished college, but she possessed an imperious certainty that she was intellectually superior to everyone—a trait I both loathed and admired. “Dirk?” I called out, tentatively. “My mother is here. She wants to meet you.” Dirk pushed open his door and entered the living room. I had warned him of my mother's imminent arrival, and he was neither pleased nor surprised. Dirk was also nursing a hangover, but unlike Ken, he possessed gainful employment, and usually arose at a reasonable hour. To facilitate his timely awakening, Dirk had requested the bedroom closest to the el tracks. Every morning, his alarm clock rang promptly at seven-thirty. It continued to ring, punctuated by the shrieking sounds of the el train rounding the curve outside his window, until I pounded on his door and screamed at him to get his ass out of bed. This process usually took no less than half an hour. I had a job in Evanston, working as an intern at a Montessori school, so I was always up early. Often, I functioned on less than three hours of sleep, but I possessed a grim, Germanic sense of responsibility, which made it possible for me to drink beer until four in the morning, and still be up by seven. "You must be Polly”, Dirk said laconically, extending a filthy hand. Dirk had been enmeshed in his woodworking project, a bust of a rather demonic-looking troll. “Leah has told me so much about you.” He snickered slightly, and my mother stared at him, trying to gauge the reasons for his amusement. “I'm sure she has” she said, dryly. Polly paused for a moment, tossed her cigarette into the ashtray. “Gentlemen, I have a problem” she announced. “I have eighteen pounds of marijuana in my truck. It needs to be brought inside NOW. The truck is parked underneath the el tracks; I'm not sure whether that is legal.” What a skewed sense of reality my mother had—she had driven two thousand miles, across two nations, with more pot than most people buy in a lifetime, and she was worried about having to pay a parking ticket. I waited for Dirk and Ken to snap into gear; they did not. It hadn't quite dawned on them that they were being recruited to haul garbage sacks out of my mother's truck, in full view of the evening's commuters, and house the bags in our apartment for an indefinite period of time. Both of them wandered, in a daze, out the back door, towards the camper. Another couple of minutes later, the first four sacks arrived, and then four more, and finally, my mother herself entered the apartment again, carrying the last bag. The sight of ten garbage bags stuffed with buds in the middle of my living room floor filled me with a strange combination of glee and fear. “I can't believe you got all of those sacks inside the spare tank”, I said. I was being invaded by a growing horror. I knew no one who would have the faintest idea what to do with the contents of those sacks. It was preposterous, as close to the exact opposite as it could possibly be from my usual state of affairs, drug-wise. This was the first time in my life that I'd ever seen too much pot, accustomed as I was to scraping for dime bags of the cheap stuff. Chicago was a very financially-stratified city, and I was not in touch with anyone who made significantly more money than I did. Off the top of my head, I was only able to think of about ten friends who were in imminent need of marijuana, a group whose combined worth was about two hundred dollars. Of those ten, two lived under the same roof as I, and the others were unlikely to be home at 6 PM on a Friday, even if it was the dead of winter. I ran to the phone and began dialing frantically. The first person I called was Pete, a friend from Artist in Residence, a building I had recently vacated in favor of my current living arrangement. Often referred to lovingly as “Alcoholics in Retirement”, the AIR building housed some of the most interesting people I had ever met, including Professor Eddie from the Mighty Joe Young blues band, Bethany, a former Miss Chicago (who, close-up, had a severe acne problem), and a transvestite named Trevor who performed in local clubs with chains and garbage can lids. Pete was a budding pianist, who would often play the theme from Snoopy when we were hosting parties in the downstairs performance space. This was appropriate, because his personality was quite similar to Schroeder's—he was melancholy and sarcastic, traits that never fail to attract my interest. “She really did it” Pete declared. “Well, I might be able to spring for a half ounce—just to help you out. And to meet your mom. I think it might explain a lot of things about you.” I did not care to delve too deeply into the similarities between Polly and me. Such a distinction had been made many times, although it was usually followed by the statement, “Well, you seem calmer and more reasonable.” The fact was that my mother had such an overpowering personality that it had been impossible not to have it rub off on me. I had spent most of my early adulthood attempting to purge myself of my mother's influence, and I resented her for it. It didn't help any that she expected my idiot roommates and me to be accomplices in her drug trade. Pete assured me that he would be there in an hour. I furiously dialed my other friends, most of whom still lived at the Artist in Residence building. My old next-door neighbor, Brad, told me that it would take him a couple of hours, and he would only be able to spring for a dime bag. This was typical of him. We'd had an affair the previous summer, which started one night when we drunkenly began to enact a scene from “Cat's Cradle”--a book neither of us had actually read. We were intrigued by the idea that people could make love by pressing the soles of their feet together, and finally, having lusted after each other every night for a week, we decided to see what would happen if we tried boko-maru for ourselves. The results were surprisingly positive, and I had hoped for much more, but Brad already had a girlfriend. Brad also had a hot Camaro that I secretly admired, since I was more of a Volkswagen van sort of gal. Dirk had a Volkswagen van, which he could barely drive, but this held no interest for me at all. I had ridden beside Brad in his Camaro only a couple of times, but it was a thrilling experience. Brad was accustomed to driving his own automobile, so the experience definitely had more meaning for me than it did for him. This precisely summed up the balance of power between the two of us—he had what I considered to be an unfair advantage. The last time I had seen Brad had been only a month beforehand, when he made a surprise appearance at my twenty-fifth birthday party. I asked him for a birthday ride in his Camaro, but he refused, saying that he had to get up early in the morning for work. I wasn't sure what had prompted him to show up in the first place, despite long, frustrating experience in trying to second-guess his motives. Pete arrived in forty-five minutes. He must have left his apartment seconds after hanging up the phone, and his jaw was agape before I even opened the door. “I can smell it” he announced as he entered the apartment. Wordlessly, I gestured towards the living room, and the sacks. One of the sacks was bursting slightly at the seams—it was just like my mother to try to save money by purchasing cheap garbage bags for her drug haul. A huge clump of buds had disgorged itself from the hole, and rested on the floor. I estimated that the clump represented at least three ounces, which would be more than enough for all of my cheap-assed friends. “I've never seen anything like it” Pete exclaimed, with such awe that it was as though he was standing before a work of art. My mother stepped forward. “You must be Pete” she said. “How much do you want?” Pete was unflustered by her directness. “Well, I'd like at least a pound, but I'll settle for half an ounce” he said coolly, pulling some bills from his wallet. My mom snatched them from his outstretched hand without so much as a glance at him. She grasped the bills in one hand and rifled through them quickly like a syndicate moll, counting out loud. “You owe me five bucks” she announced. Pete hesitated for a moment, and then silently extracted a bill from his wallet and handed it to her. My mother reached down into the exposed pile of marijuana, grabbed a large handful, and stuffed it into a small baggie. “That should about do it” she said. Pete stared at her. “You don't own a scale?” he asked tentatively. Pete realized intuitively that he needed to tiptoe around my mother as if she was a minefield loaded with caps of nitroglycerin. However, my mother was in a forgiving mood. She gave a dismissive shrug. “I know what a half-ounce looks like” she said. “No complaints” Pete said, unzipping his backpack. My mother looked at him for the first time, appreciating his lean frame and purposeful movements. “Nice-looking man” she said loudly. “Really, Leah, you could do worse than him.” The doorbell rang, and I sprinted from the room. I knew who it was before opening the door—Brad, who smiled lewdly as soon as he saw me. Brad seldom let more than a couple of seconds pass before complimenting me on my appearance, but today he had more important things on his mind. His gaze shifted immediately from my breasts to the pile of sacks on the floor. “Holy mother of God” he said. Brad was Catholic. “No, this is the work of my mother” I said briskly. Polly stepped forward. “You said you just wanted a dime bag?” she barked. She reached down to the pile, and extracted a small fistful of buds. To my eyes, it looked as though my mother was being uncharacteristically generous, perhaps as a gesture of goodwill towards my closest friends. Brad, however, immediately begged to differ. He accepted the bag, and stared into the contents with a vague sneer on his face. Pushing one forefinger into the plastic interior, he prodded the buds. He shoved his nose inside the bag, inhaled deeply and then re-surfaced, looking very unhappy. “There are seeds in here” he finally whined. Pete glared at him with such contempt that Brad was taken aback. “Well, man, sometimes you have to take the bitter with the sweet” Pete said venomously. Brad wordlessly handed a ten dollar bill to my mother, and shoved his purchase into the rear pocket of his jeans. My eyes traveled to Brad's ass appreciatively for a moment, but then Brad broke the spell. “I have to go” he announced. “Nice seeing all of you.” He strode to the front door, flung it open, and was gone. “What a dipshit” my mom said dismissively. “Do you know him well?” I shrugged. “Sort of” I muttered, looking at the floor. Pete placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. “Some people just want more than they really need” he said. The evening limped on, and a few other people from Artist in Residence showed up with small bills. After several hours, the three ounces that had spilled onto the floor were completely gone, but the garbage bags remained full. My tiny bedroom was saturated with the heavy smoke of marijuana and my mother's cigarettes. I pried open a window, which caused blasts of arctic wind to waft into the room, rippling the bags slightly. “Is that it?” my mother demanded. “I'm afraid so” I whimpered. “You don't know anybody else?” she persisted. I shook my head. “Jesus Christ, Leah” my mother exploded. “What the hell am I going to do with these bags?” It was a terrifying query, and I stammered an answer, without thinking. “I suppose I could call my ex boyfriend Alec tomorrow. He's the only person I know who has the ability to traffic in this much pot. He's not really a dealer, but he knows dealers, and I think he could unload the stuff rather quickly.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew that I had made an awful mistake. “Ex boyfriend” was a more grandiose term than Alec deserved. It was more accurate to say that we'd had sex for about three months, and then he dumped me for Melody, another woman who lived in the AIR building. I had repressed my emotions about this betrayal with copious amounts of alcohol. Finally, one especially drunken evening, I burst into Alec's apartment with a six pack, bent on reconciliation, but instead I encountered Melody, who was in the process of disrobing. At this point, I flew into a shrieking, whiskey bottle flailing rage, which culminated with the arrival of two policemen. Alec had called the police himself, which was ironic, because the previous week he had decorated his walls with original cartoons of the CPD, festooned with the thick necks and pig ears that were typical of such artwork. I pointed out Alec's drawings to one of the cops, who shrugged dismissively. “Yeah, sure, everyone hates the cops” he said. He had the stereotypical, nasal accent of a working class guy from the Bridgeport neighborhood. “Come on, now, you need to leave, or we'll have to arrest you.” The cops led me downstairs to my own apartment. “What do you do for a living?” the other policeman asked. “I'm a.....preschool teacher” I managed to sob. The two men looked at each other, raised their eyebrows, and shook their heads. “You can do better than him” the second cop insisted. “I mean, the guy draws on his own walls.” Even in my disturbed, inebriated state, I knew he had a point, and I nodded. The cop snickered mirthlessly. “But you love him, right?” he said. After I entered my apartment, the police retreated, warning me that there would be dire consequences if they had to return. There was no way I was going to go back to Alec's apartment, I was utterly broken. As I stumbled towards my futon, I noticed that Dirk was passed out on my floor, wearing one of my skirts. Earlier in the evening, several of us had dressed him up in some of my clothing, and then giggled when he suddenly collapsed onto the floor and lost consciousness. He had not moved since then. I knelt on the floor and shook Dirk until he awakened. This took a long time, and I was awash with tears by the time he finally opened his eyes. “It's Alec, isn't it?” he asked. I nodded. “I'm sorry” Dirk said, throwing his arms around me. He rocked me back and forth on the floor as I sobbed. “It really hurts, doesn't it?” Dirk asked. It was one of the most compassionate gestures I had ever experienced from anyone. I would never have thought that Dirk was even capable of such empathy. Two weeks later, Dirk announced his plans to move out of the building, and the same month, Alec and Melody exited as well, for a basement apartment in Humboldt Park. I had not spoken to them, but tales of their debauchery had reached me through mutual friends. The two of them were unemployed, they were drinking every day, and there were rumors of frequent cocaine and even heroin use. This behavior was not unusual for Artist in Residence alumni, but it had reached epic dimensions which caused me to feel rather glad that Alec had dumped me. I was in no mood to see him, however, and now it was too late for me to rescind my offer. “Well, let's hope THAT leads to something” my mother said. “I mean, I can't just take this stuff back to Mexico.” She glanced around at my room, with its minimalist crash-pad decor, as if seeing it for the first time. “I can't sleep here” she said, to my immense relief. “I'd better just go and stay in that hotel on Sheridan.” My mother was referring to the Sheridan-Chase Motel in Rogers Park, a squalid dump whose in-room televisions, when turned on, immediately belched out the grunting sounds of people having sex, since they were always tuned to porn stations. Other channels existed, of course, but were rarely watched. These were the days before pay-per-view, when porn channels were offered for free by enterprising motels of a certain caliber. My mother liked the motel just fine, because it was inexpensive. I had the impression that actual nightly rates were beyond the comprehension of the management, accustomed as they were to an hourly clientele. Therefore, when put on the spot for a nightly rate, the bewildered desk clerks would simply blurt out whatever number popped into their heads, and this figure was always open to negotiation. I sighed with relief when my mother left the apartment, promising to return the following morning. After her retreat, I locked the door and returned to my bedroom. The sacks of marijuana remained on the floor. Pete was sitting on the edge of my futon, staring at them intently, as if anticipating their escape. He appeared to be permanently dazed. “I still can't quite take it in” he whispered. “Are you hungry? You want to order a pizza?” The ingestion of THC had failed to have its usual appetite-enhancing effect upon me, and I wasn't hungry at all. Still, I nodded vigorously, as if pizza was what I wanted more than anything in the world. I wandered back into the living room, dialed the number of a local delivery place, and went back to my own room to wait. It was almost midnight, and I was tired. I placed my head delicately on Pete's shoulder, and he put his arm around me. “I guess you're not too thrilled about talking to Alec tomorrow” he said with characteristic understatement. I shook my head. “I'll do what I have to do” I said grimly. “If I don't get rid of this pot, I'll never get rid of my mother.” Pete stroked my face tenderly with his free hand, removing a small hunk of hair from the corner of my mouth. “This has to be difficult for you” he acknowledged. His hand traveled slowly to my shoulder, and then to the top of my left breast. “I can't even imagine it” he said soothingly. He removed his other arm from my shoulder and started to massage both of my breasts, eyes downcast. “So frustrating” I said, as though nothing unusual was happening. Since the incident with Alec, Pete and I had spent almost every day together, cooking stir-fries and drinking beer and listening to music, but neither of us had broached the topic of sex. We had an unspoken understanding that sex would ruin our friendship, and so we shied away from discussing it openly. Perhaps Pete was just showing compassion by caressing my breasts, but I was inclined to doubt it. With impressive deftness, Pete unbuttoned the tiny buttons on the front of my peasant blouse, and my breasts fell out into his hands. I had large breasts, and I didn't wear a bra, so my breasts were always spilling onto something. Pete inhaled sharply, then composed himself and stuck his tongue into my mouth. He sucked on my tongue while gently squeezing my breasts, and I felt peaceful for the first time that evening. Suddenly, I heard the sound of maniacal laughter, and my bedroom door burst open, revealing the drunken, swaying forms of Dirk and Ken. In one hand, Ken grasped an oblong box, which dripped a small amount of grease onto one of the garbage bags. “Your pizza's here!” Ken yelled. This caused both men to collapse onto the floor in fits of laughter. “You owe me ten bucks” Dirk said, almost apologetically. I reached into my purse, pulled out a ten dollar bill, and handed it to him. “SO sorry to interrupt” Ken yelled. He stumbled to the door and exited, leaving the door open. Dirk stared at my breasts, a curiously benign smile on his face. “Enjoy your pizza” he snickered. He staggered from the room, slamming the door behind him. I was livid, but Pete was undeterred. Pushing me onto the futon, he pressed his groin against me. I shimmied out of my shirt and moaned as his hands found my breasts again. Pete grabbed my hand and pulled it towards the bulge in his pants. I always loved it when guys did that, and I began to rub his member through the fabric. Quickly I unbuckled his belt, then tugged on his zipper, freeing him from his jeans. Pete's dick was long and slender and eager-looking. It had been my experience that men's penises often echoed their body types. Pete's member, thankfully, was no exception to the rule. I shimmied out of my underwear, and Pete pushed his dick into me, moving quickly until I suddenly had an orgasm. It seemed to come out of nowhere; I had never climaxed from coitus before, and didn't understand why my body had chosen that particular moment. Perhaps my senses were heightened by the emotional intensity of the evening. Pete seemed to be in his own world; his eyes were closed and he moved as though he had a train to catch, somewhere other than in my room. Finally, he collapsed onto me and smiled. “That was a nice surprise” he said. I didn't have a handy response. As far as I was concerned, the experience had not been surprising at all. It had been, simultaneously, disappointing and profoundly erotic. This duality was to be a hallmark of many of my future erotic encounters, but at the age of twenty-five, I was just beginning to grasp its complexity, and I did not have any words to describe it. I was too exhausted for thought, and rapidly fell into a deep sleep. When I regained consciousness, I saw that Pete was already awake. He lay on one side, facing away from me, staring at the bags with a disoriented expression on his face. I reached over to touch him, and he sat bolt upright, as if suddenly terrified. His right foot kicked the previously untouched pizza box, causing an odor of rancid grease to rise suddenly into the room. “I think I'm already late for work” he said. He glanced at his wrist. “Oh shit, I am. I'd better go.” Swiftly, he rose, leaped into his pants, and strode across the room. “It was nice seeing you” he said, tentatively. “I'm certain that we'll see each other soon.” I had a strong intuition that it would be at least a few days before we saw each other, but I didn't say so. My hands were full with my new responsibilities as an associate marijuana saleswoman, and undoubtedly Pete would be a distraction. The innocence of our friendship was forever sullied, and neither of us had the faintest idea what the new rules might be. It was best for us to avoid each other for a while. Pete bent down, kissed my forehead, and raced out of the room. I rolled over to face the wall, desperately trying to will myself back to sleep. It wouldn't be long before my mother would be at my doorstep, Benson and Hedges cigarette blazing away in her right hand, demanding that I get my ass out of bed. To my amazement, it was nearly noon when my mother appeared at my door. She stomped on the porch for a couple of minutes to dislodge the snow from her cheap Sears-Roebuck sneakers, then rang the bell, but only once. “I rented a studio apartment for you” she announced as soon as I opened the door. “You can't possibly continue to live in this hellhole. Besides, the bags of pot won't be safe around Dirk and Numbnuts.” My mother had ceased to refer to Ken by name, preferring the moniker “Numbnuts”, which was fine with me. Shaking her head, she wandered over to the stereo and plucked Ken's copy of “Kind of Blue” from the pile of records. “I just can't understand it” she said, shaking her head. “How can someone so stupid have such good taste in music?” This had always been a mystery to me, and I had no explanation. Even more inexplicable, however, was my mother's sudden act of generosity, which had involved an expenditure of cash that must have set her back several hundred dollars. This was a woman who had once stood next to a cash register at Denny's, refusing to leave even when the police arrived, because the cashier had shortchanged her by ten cents. “Where is this apartment located?” I asked tentatively. “Oh, just up the road from the hotel” Polly answered breezily. She jammed a cigarette into her mouth, inhaled, and then exhaled explosively. “It's right on Sheridan” she explained. “I was driving around and saw the for rent sign. It's a month to month lease, I forged your signature. The owner didn't seem to mind.” My doubts about the questionable legality of this arrangement were overshadowed by a tremendous sense of relief that I would be no longer be subjected to Ken's dog training rituals and marathon drinking sessions. The few objects that I possessed would fit in the back of my mother's camper, facilitating an easy move. “Have you called Alec yet?” my mother demanded. I sprang immediately to action, found the number on a matchbook cover that Dirk had tossed beside the phone, and dialed furiously. Alec picked up the receiver on the sixth ring. His voice was groggy and hostile, as if he had just awakened, and deeply resented the intrusion. “This is Leah” I stated flatly. “I'm not calling to chat, so don't worry. My mother has twenty pounds of high-grade Mexican pot. I want to bring it over, and see if you can help us unload it. There will be some money in it for you, of course.” There was a long silence. Finally, in an overly casual tone, Alec said, “That's a hell of a lot of reefer. There might be a few people I could call. Could you bring it here right away?” He gave me an address on Humboldt Boulevard, and I hung up, promising to be there in an hour. Forty-five minutes later, my mother and I pulled up in front of a dingy two flat, with four of the bags in tow. In her infinite wisdom, Polly had determined that it was best to start small, with only eight pounds of marijuana, rather than overwhelm Alec and Melody with the task of unloading the entire bundle. Humboldt Boulevard was teeming with street life. Clusters of young Puerto Rican men sat on the stoops, even though the temperature was only in the mid-twenties. The boulevard had long been a hotbed of gang activity. The predominant gang was the Latin Kings, whose ornate graffiti adorned the sides of many of the boulevard's residences and business establishments. The Latin Kings' supremacy was constantly being challenged by the Insane Unknowns, a rival gang who claimed nearby Wicker Park as their turf. These disputes were often settled with gunfire. Ignoring the appreciative whistles of a couple of males who couldn't have been more than sixteen, I strode to the door of Alec's basement dwelling. There was no bell, so I rapped on the door, with as much velocity as I could muster. My mother stood behind me, clutching one of the garbage bags. We waited patiently as Alec rustled around the apartment, had a brief coughing fit, and then opened the door. It was the first time since the cop incident that Alec and I had been in the same room, and we stared at each other for a long, uncomfortable moment. Alec was dressed in his trademark outfit—ragged jeans with long underwear protruding from the knee rips, a sleeveless tee shirt bearing the snarling visage of Sid Vicious, and black motorcycle boots. Alec had never actually ridden a motorcycle, but he didn't need to do so. He was the sort of man who could appear regal and composed even when dressed in rags, at least as long as he didn't run out of cigarettes. My mother and I stepped into the apartment. A strong odor of unwashed dishes permeated the air, mixed with the smell of ashtrays and spilled beer. I shoved a pile of clothing from one end of the couch to the other, and sat down carefully. At that moment, Melody emerged from the bedroom, looking terrified. Refusing to look at me directly, she smiled at my mother. “You must be Polly” she said. Her eyes traveled to the sack on the floor. “I guess this must be the goods, huh?” She giggled nervously. Melody was prone to nervous giggling, which, all by itself, was enough to make me dislike her intensely. She was slightly over five feet tall, with a tiny waist, enormous breasts, and an unruly head of dark hair that made her look strangely like Betty Boop. She had a tendency to lean perpetually to one side, as if she was in danger of toppling at any moment. Several months earlier, when we had all been friends, Alec had told me that Melody had been born with various internal abnormalities. The most notable was the fact that she originally emerged from her mother's womb with three kidneys. One of them was surgically removed, and the other had simply expired, leaving her with only one functional kidney. It was a wonder, really, that she was still alive. “I brought three more bags” my mother announced. “They're in the camper.” Melody's eyes became huge. She and Alec glanced at each other quickly, and then leveled their gaze on my mother. “Eight pounds” Polly explained. “Extremely fresh. I just brought it across the border from Mexico two days ago.” Alec strode across the room and peered into the bag. He had a way of moving that was at once both feral and languid, as if he could pounce on something and devour it, if only he could find the energy to do so. “There's really two pounds in here?” he asked. My mother nodded. “I think I can unload it. Let me make a few calls. It might take a couple of days for me to reach everybody, and for them to come up with the money. But I'm sure that at least one of the people I know will be very interested in this.” “There will be a twenty five percent cut for you” my mother announced. She tossed her truck keys to Alec. “Bring in the other three bags, and we'll be on our way.” Alec sprang suddenly to action and strode to the door. A minute later, he returned, smiling slightly, clutching the other three bags. “That was easy” he said. Back in the truck, my mother suddenly became pensive. “I do hope he can sell the contents of those bags” she said fretfully. “I really don't want to hang around Chicago in the meantime. It makes me too nervous, and this is costing me a lot of money. I think I'll drive up to Grandma's for a couple of days.” Polly was in the habit of referring to her own mother as “Grandma” for reasons that I did not entirely understand. There was nothing even remotely grandmotherly about Mildred, a woman so formidable that she often reduced my mother to a mute, quivering puddle of acquiescence. Mildred was several inches shorter than my mother, but she was capable of commanding an entire army. She had made decisive gains in the material realm, marrying a wealthy dentist in Racine, Wisconsin shortly after the Depression ended. Mildred had been Harry's receptionist, and the combination of her Danish looks and her drive for financial supremacy attracted his attention. Harry was actually Mildred's second husband. My mother's biological father was a charmer who was never at home, preferring to roam the highways of the United States and Mexico in an ancient, dusty car, smuggling contraband goods and impregnating women. My grandmother certainly was never going to make that mistake again, and her later life was a testament to clever planning and the restrained enjoyment of wealth. During the summer, she tended to her enormous flower garden, allowing herself exactly one hour of leisure in her outdoor pool when all of her tasks were completed. In the winter, she stayed busy with indoor duties. Her house was filled with artifacts from her international travels, including many chairs that were off-limits for actual sitting. My grandmother often proclaimed that the reason why she had possessions was because she took care of them. There was no denying this, and the best response was always to smile meekly and agree. Obviously, Mildred felt that both my mother and I were extremely deficient when it came to caring for our belongings, and because of this, we would come to nothing. It puzzled me that my mother wished to subject herself to Mildred's scrutiny, but I wasn't about to argue. Undoubtedly she would construct an elaborate excuse for her visit. Perhaps, for a moment, Mildred would believe that her daughter's devotion was so strong that she was willing to drive to Wisconsin from Mexico in February on a mere whim, just to be in her presence. None of it was any of my concern, of course. I was just glad to be rid of Polly for a few days. The next four days passed swiftly and pleasantly. I spent my mornings at my preschool job and my evenings selling dime bags to Artist in Residence occupants. My avocation added a new dimension of strangeness to my life, one to which I adapted readily. Brad called at midnight one evening to request that I come to visit him, emphasizing that he would make it worth my while. I told him that I was preparing to go to bed, but I would be happy to have him visit me. Brad balked at my offer, explaining that he had scored a good parking spot in front of the AIR building, and he didn't want to leave it, since it would surely be gone when he returned. I hung up the phone, telling him to find himself a blow-up doll. Possessing nearly twelve pounds of pot had filled me with a strange arrogance, which enabled me to choose my friends according to whim. The power was intoxicating, and I used it to its fullest advantage. I turned down an offer from an ex-neighbor named Erik who called to request a dime bag and a back rub. He had recently dislocated his shoulder while skateboarding, and wanted me to help him with his pain. I laughed loudly, both at his pain and his request, and slammed down the receiver. Erik had undoubtedly burned through his stable of women at the AIR building, after impregnating one and chasing another down the hall with a knife. He was both an idiot and a sociopath, and I had never understood his popularity. The strangest call came from a fellow named Joseph, an old high school buddy of Brad's, who had lived down the hall from us. He was engaged to be married, and the wedding was only a week away. Joseph wanted to come right over and buy some pot from me. He also wanted to watch “Reefer Madness” which was scheduled to air at two o'clock in the morning. I told him that I didn't own a television, and he promised to bring one with him when he came to my apartment. Four hours later, at 1:45 AM, Joseph appeared at my door with ten dollars and a tiny black and white television. We plugged the TV into a wall socket, fired up a joint, and stretched out on the floor in front of the screen. As the images flickered, we passed joints back and forth. When “Reefer Madness” ended, Joseph collected his television and his marijuana purchase and left my apartment, as mysteriously as he had arrived. I strongly suspected that he had promised himself a final fling before marriage, and for some reason, I had come to mind. When faced with an actual opportunity, he was too terrified to follow through. This was fine with me, since I had barely noticed him when I lived in the building. I was certain that sex with him would have been both guilt-ridden and mediocre. The one person who did not call was Alec, but I assumed he was busy rounding up connections, and I didn't want to pressure him. Finally, on the fourth evening following our delivery visit, my phone rang suddenly. I was in a jovial mood, even when I discovered that it was Melody on the other end of the line. “Hey, it's good to hear from you” I said expansively. “Any luck?” “I have terrible news” Melody said in a tiny, choked voice. “I don't know how to tell you this, so I am just going to say it. Someone broke into our apartment this afternoon. All of the pot is gone. We weren't able to sell any of it. Alec and I don't have any idea who might have done such a terrible thing. I'm so sorry.” She gulped abruptly, as if suppressing a sob. “Oh God, it's so awful. You don't know how bad it makes me feel to tell you this.” For some reason—perhaps it was the barely concealed hysteria in her voice, or a genuine note of contrition in her tone—I immediately knew that Melody was telling the truth. The possibility existed, of course, that she and Alec had simply sold the pot and kept the money, then made up a tale about a robbery—but somehow I realized she wasn't lying. Alec was an excellent liar, but Melody was a poor one—she was too nervous and transparent for subterfuge. If there was a lie to be told, Alec would surely have been the one to call. “All of it is gone?' I managed to ask. “All of it” Melody affirmed. “We'll be asking around, of course, and we'll try to get the pot back, but I don't hold out much hope that we'll find it.” I was in a panic when I hung up the phone. My mother was due back from Wisconsin in a couple of hours. Though the situation was not my fault, I felt somehow responsible, and knew that there would be hell to pay. I paced nervously around the apartment, then wandered over to my refrigerator and opened the door. Since the move, I had been storing the pot in my refrigerator, hoping that it would stay fresh long enough for me to sell it. There was no additional room in the refrigerator for food, so I had been eating all of my meals in restaurants, paid for by the proceeds from my ill-gotten spoils. The bags appeared to be just as menacingly large as they had looked when I first saw them. It was going to take a long time to unload them at my current rate of three dime bag sales a day. An hour and a half later, my mother pounded on the door. I opened it tentatively, fearing that she would pounce on me before she even heard the bad news. Polly was tired from her drive, and intent upon serious relaxation. In one hand, she held a six pack of Schlitz malt liquor; in the other, a cigarette that had burned down to her fingers. “Anything to report?” she demanded. I felt certain that she already had grasped the bad news by means of telepathic divination, a method of communication at which she excelled. I shook my head, looked directly into her eyes, and said, “Yeah, there's plenty to report, and the news isn't good. All of the pot is gone. Someone broke into Alec and Melody's place today and stole every bit of it.” There was a long silence, during which my mother gaped at me with an expression of incredulous fury. Finally, she broke the silence. “BULLSHIT!” she sputtered, slamming the six pack onto the floor. “You don't believe that, do you?!” There was no way for me to explain my utter certainty that Melody had been telling the truth. My conclusion was intuitive and faith-based rather than logical, and I didn't understand it myself. “I'm....not sure” I stammered. “She sounded so upset. I think it really did happen. They live in a terrible neighborhood, you know.” My mother emitted a high-pitched wail of frustration, collapsed into the apartment's only chair, then buried her face in her hands. “You certainly are naive” she said bitterly. “Jesus Christ, you've always been such a sucker for a bogus sob story.” This was an immutable fact, there was no denying it. My mother ripped the top off of one of her beer cans and took a huge chug. She glared at me and shook her head in fury, then abruptly burst into tears. “I don't know what I'm going to do now” she sobbed. “I put all the money I had into purchasing that stuff, and now almost half of it is gone. I don't know what the hell I'm even going to do with the other half.” I stared at my mom, and for the first time, I allowed myself the luxury of compassion. The poor woman was in her mid-fifties, and possessed neither the grim patience of her own mother, or the entrepreneurial shrewdness of her father. She had been a failure as a wife, and a worse failure as a mother, having given birth to four children, none of whom were able to tolerate her existence. Now, she had failed at marijuana sales, a field which had appeared to be a slam-dunk, given the popularity of the drug. There was nothing left for her except a life of social security checks and squabbling with the Mexican street vendors over the price of bruised avocados. My sympathy, however, was short-lived. My mother was just warming up verbally, and she lit into me with everything she had. It was all my fault, she claimed. I had been a disappointment to her from the very beginning, since she had thought I was somehow special, and destined for wonderful things. With this in mind, she had given me everything she could, but I was not appreciative. I hadn't even bothered to clean my room before she arrived in Chicago the previous week, that's how little I thought of her. None of it was true, of course. I'd had a miserable, Dickensian childhood, filled with deprivation and abuse. Despite frequent attacks of pneumonia and other, assorted illnesses, my mother had spent the majority of her money on beer and cigarettes. I had often gone without Christmas or birthday presents as a result of her indulgences. Finally, after Polly tucked into her fourth beer, she excused herself and went into the kitchen. I heard the refrigerator door open, and then slam, followed by the flushing ot the toilet. A minute later, the toilet flushed again. A high-pitched wail arose from the bathroom. My mother was simultaneously weeping and yelling, a terrifying combination that I had experienced many times during my childhood. “What a terrible mistake” she sobbed. “I'm just going to get rid of it. I don't even care any more.” Suddenly, I was invaded by an awful suspicion. I tiptoed into the bathroom and stood near the doorway, peering at a scene of carnage that left me paralyzed and incredulous. My mother upended one of the garbage bags over the toilet, and marijuana cascaded into the bowl and onto the floor. Polly paused to scoop up some spilled buds. She tossed them into the swirling toilet water and flushed again, sobbing louder as they disappeared. I felt a strange, calm detachment as I watched the clumps of marijuana make their way into the building's ancient plumbing, where they would be treated with chemicals and swept from our lives forever. This detachment was tempered with the knowledge that I still had half a pound stashed at Dirk and Ken's place, awaiting my return. For some reason I no longer remembered, perhaps an unconscious intuition, I had placed some of the pot into a smaller bag and stashed it in the closet of my old bedroom, shortly before I had moved. The contents of the bag would ensure that I would be able to pay the rent on my new place, at least for the next couple of months. “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked my mom. “I'm absolutely sure” she stated calmly. Then, quite suddenly, a new wave of hysteria overtook her. “It was all just bad karma” she sobbed. “I'm getting rid of the bad karma.” She snatched another bag from the floor, and resumed her ritual of dumping and flushing. The concept of karma was never one that my mother had explored in much depth, and I wasn't entirely certain that she was able to grasp it now. “You're going to be sorry you did this” I said simply, and I left the room. It was her pot, after all, she was entitled to do whatever she wanted with it. I had merely been her reluctant accomplice. After several minutes, the flushing stopped, and my mother staggered back into the main room. “Now I really have no idea what to do” she sobbed. I stared at her without expression. “What do you think I should do, Leah? This is all your fault.” With as much calmness as I could muster, I replied, “You can leave my apartment immediately, get in your camper, and go back to Mexico. I don't want to hear any more of your diatribe, and I certainly don't want to concern myself further with a problem that is not of my own making. I'm sorry, but I no longer have time for this discussion.” My mother heaved herself to her feet and grabbed her remaining two beer cans by the plastic ring. She gathered her purse from the floor. “I knew you were just the kind of ungrateful piece of shit that would say something like that” she stated. She sounded almost calm, but with a deadly undercurrent that I remembered from childhood; it was the same sort of calm that usually preceded a physical attack with a hairbrush or other small object. “I don't ever want to see you again” my mother said. She sounded oddly haughty, as though I was an ex-lover who had dropped in on her unexpectedly. “As far as I am concerned, I am no longer your mother.” She strode to the door, drew herself up forcefully to her full six foot height, and then was gone. This wasn't the first time my mother had said something of that nature, and I had no reason to believe it would be the last. If Polly's and my argument bode poorly for our relationship, I was unconcerned. She would go away for a few weeks, and then one of us would call the other and pretend that nothing had ever happened. It had always been that way, the rules of our interaction were set by a director who would permit no variation. In the meantime, the Chicago winter was blisteringly cold, and I had to get through it with a half pound of marijuana and my minimum wage preschool job. I sank wearily into bed, and fell into a deep sleep. Fortunately, the following day was Saturday, and I was able to sleep for a full eight hours, for the first time in many days. When I awakened, I dialed Dirk and Ken's number and waited for one of them to stagger to the phone. Ken answered on the eighth ring. He sounded surprisingly sober and well-rested. “Yeah, the reefer's still here” he assured me. “I'll be around all day. You can come by for it whenever you want.” An hour later, I stood on the stoop of my old dwelling and rang the bell. The dogs barked briefly, and Ken yelled at them furiously to shut up. I could hear him shuffling to the door in his bare feet. He fumbled with the locks, swearing under his breath. Then the door abruptly flew open, and Ken stood above me, leering in a friendly manner. I greeted him briefly, and strode into my old bedroom. Throwing open the closet door, I peered inside anxiously. To my immense relief, the garbage bag was right where I had placed it, several days beforehand. In an organizational fit borne of emotional distress, I had divided the garbage bag's contents into eight more-or-less equally sized freezer bags of pot. Each bag contained roughly an ounce. I plucked the eight freezer bags from the larger bag, and placed them into the pockets of my down coat, four in each pocket. I owned an absurdly huge and puffy winter coat that fell to my knees, with a hood so large that it almost covered my eyes. There was no way of telling that my pockets were stuffed with marijuana. Ken stood beside me as I prepared for my departure, shaking his head. “I'm sorry things didn't work out for us” he said, sounding genuinely contrite. “Really, in spite of everything, I don't think you were a bad roommate at all.” Ken's sense of reality was as skewed as my mother's—he had convinced himself that I was at fault, but since he was in a magnanimous frame of mind, he was willing to forgive me for everything. I wasn't in the mood for argument, so I just smiled. “Yeah, I feel the same way, Ken. Thanks. If you don't mind, I'll be going now.” Ken shook his head. “You're going on the subway with your pockets full of marijuana?” he asked. He sounded genuinely concerned. “I don't think that's a good idea. Let me drive you home. It's the least I can do.” I briefly weighed the risks of subway travel against the perils of Ken's driving, which I had experienced on only one occasion. Ken owned an ailing twenty-year-old Buick, but he drove as though he was auditioning for “Death Race 2000”, weaving in and out of traffic while honking his horn and laughing maniacally. My new apartment was five miles away, however, and my subway transfer had expired, which meant that I would have to scrounge in my wallet for my last dollar. “All right” I said. “Can we go now? I'm in a hurry.” “No problem” Ken assured me, smiling broadly. Five minutes later, we climbed into his car, which was parked in the same illegal spot where my mother's camper had once stood. Ken turned the key, and the engine sputtered briefly, then roared to life. Ken pulled into the alley with a squeal of tires and accelerated through the stop sign onto Sheridan Road, narrowly missing a van that was unloading a shipment of groceries. “What's your address, again?” he yelled. I calculated that we had nearly forty blocks to go before I would reach the safety of my own apartment, blocks that would seem interminable, despite our speed. “It's right on the border of Evanston and Rogers Park” I said nervously. “Could you slow down a little, please? I'm not in THAT much of a hurry.” Ken emitted a scornful, dismissive laugh. “I have everything under control” he assured me. He swerved in front of a small foreign car and surged forward, causing the needle on his ancient speedometer to jump to sixty. The speed limit was 35, but it was not rigidly enforced. I gripped the edges of my seat and stared grimly at the road in front of me. At the rate we were going, it wouldn't be long before I would be home, and Ken would be out of my life forever. Suddenly, Ken began to pump the brakes frantically. His face assumed an expression of abject terror. “Oh my God, it's the Feds” he managed to choke out. “Look at the car next to us. We're in big trouble now. I'm going to have to pull over.” I had no idea how Ken knew that the car next to us contained agents of the federal government, so I swiveled my neck for a closer look. In the left hand lane, a medium- sized navy blue car had pulled up so that it was directly adjacent to ours. The car twitched slightly, as if the driver was throwing a fit and could barely hold the steering wheel in his hands. A man who looked to be in his mid-thirties sat beside him. The second man pressed an open wallet to the window glass, revealing a large, star-shaped FBI badge. His face contorted with rage as he yelled at us repeatedly to stop the car. Ken pulled to the side of the road and cut the engine. Both the passenger and driver doors of the agents' vehicle flew open, and two men raced over to Ken's car. The driver yanked open the door on Ken's side and pulled Ken from the seat, hauling him onto the sidewalk. Ken fell heavily onto the concrete, but the agents heaved him to his feet. Then they threw him up against the hood in a no-nonsense manner that I recognized from cop shows on television. “You worthless little asshole” the driver said, running his hands down the sides of Ken's grimy trousers. “Who the hell taught you to drive like that, asshole? Your senile mother?” The badge-wielding man was on a mission of his own. He popped the hood latch, ran around to the rear of the car, and threw the contents of the trunk into the street. Returning to the front of the car, he groped behind the seat cushions, but found nothing of interest. Finally, he reached around my knees and tore open the glove compartment, shoving the contents around furiously while cursing under his breath. It was obvious to me that the agents were in search of two things—guns and drugs. Up to that point, for reasons I couldn't fathom, they had acted as though I wasn't in the car, but that wouldn't last forever. Finally, the driver let go of Ken, came around to the passenger side, and stared at me for a long moment. The two agents had unconsciously saved the best for last, because I was the one who had half a pound of marijuana in my pockets. I envisioned a stiff prison sentence, with iron beds and pale, malnourished women fighting over institutional food. If I wanted to avoid this fate, I would have to speak fast. “I'm so sorry that we gave you this trouble” I said, as calmly as I could muster. My voice seemed to come from somewhere outside of myself, as if it was a wise, disembodied entity that was inexplicably intent upon saving my foolish ass. “Ken isn't really a bad person. He's just very irresponsible.” The agent stared at me quizzically. He looked almost sympathetic, so I continued, “I used to be his roommate—not his girlfriend or anything, just a roommate. I was reluctant to get into the car with him, because he's a terrible driver, but it's so cold outside, and he offered me a ride home.” An expression of calm relief flooded the agent's face, then he smiled. “It's okay, miss” he said. “We'll let the two of you go on your way now.” He turned towards Ken and resumed his former, stern expression, but only for a moment. “You watch your driving, son!” he barked. Ken nodded mutely. The two agents climbed back into their car, pulled into traffic, and were gone as suddenly as they had arrived. Ken paused for a moment, then strode to the side of his car. The contents of his trunk remained in the gutter, half-submerged in a filthy snowbank. Ken tossed his possessions back into the trunk and returned to the driver's seat. Shaking slightly, he pulled his vehicle into the traffic. “That was a close call” he mumbled. “I could have gotten into a lot of trouble. Good thing I knew how to handle those guys.” I stared at him incredulously. “What the hell are you talking about, Ken?” I hissed. “I got us out of that mess. I have half a pound of marijuana in my pockets, so I'm the one who would have gotten into trouble.” Ken snickered. “Well, you have a point” he said. He jammed his foot onto the accelerator, and the car roared forward. It picked up speed quickly. Ken gunned past the cars in the left-hand lane, tore through a light just as it turned red, and continued on his way at sixty-five miles per hour. It was impossible for me to fathom the depths of arrogance that would cause a man to resume the same behavior that had attracted the notice of the Feds only minutes beforehand. “Ken, what are you doing?” I cried. “You almost got nailed by the FBI, man! Why are you still driving like this?” Ken seemed astonished that I would even ask him such a question, when the answer was so very obvious. He turned his head and looked directly at me, narrowly avoiding a parked school bus. “Well, they're gone” he said calmly. “They won't pull me over a second time.” Suddenly, all of the events of the past week welled up inside me, and I came dangerously close to losing control. The velocity of my emotions was so great that I felt as though I was in danger of being propelled from the car, so I took a deep breath instead. “Ken, pull the car over right now!” I screamed. “I'm not riding with you for another minute.” Ken continued to gape at me with amazement. “Why not?” he asked. “There are still about three more miles to go before we get to your apartment.” “I don't care!” I shrieked. “I'd walk to Topeka now if I had to. Let me out of this goddamned car.” Shaking his head sadly, Ken jerked the vehicle to a stop, and I threw open the door. I slammed it furiously and stormed onto the sidewalk, which was, fortunately, completely devoid of other pedestrians. Without looking back at Ken, I began the long walk to my apartment. I could hear the sound of his engine revving, and then receding, as he drove away. It had been a long cold season, but at least it was half over. February was a short month, and March would bring the spring thaw, which always made me feel grateful that I had managed to make it through another Chicago winter. I still had half a pound of pot, and three remaining months of employment as a preschool teacher before the school year would come to an end. Despite my obstacles, my luck could easily have been worse; I could have been on my way to federal prison, rather than making my way up the sidewalk on a sunny winter afternoon. I reached into my pocket and squeezed the bags of pot, just to make certain that they were still there. Only three miles to go; then I would be home, where I would finally have the luxury of relaxation, and the opportunity to think about what I was going to do with the rest of my life. #Unreal #Fiction #Obstacles #Life #Future #Wonder Kate Crowe I remember this story Leah. So good to see it published. It is some engaging work. Congratulations! Leah Mueller Thanks Kate--still my longest and most ambitious story to date, but I am working on more. Nora Portis Well done, Leah. Keeps one's attention to the end. Thanks for bringing back the details of the Chicago of my youth as well. Well written. Thanks! Three words: Sheridan/Chase Motel. Valerie Jeans Brilliant work, Leah. You've captured an amazing array of events and emotions that very few who have lived through could write about. Exceptionally crafted work. Yep, if you can remember the 80s, you weren't really there...oh, those were the 60s! RIGHT.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16096
__label__cc	0.540852	0.459148	Goods That Are Shipped Most In The United States By Quick Transfer on March 6, 2014 in Trucking Services Across the United States, goods are being placed onto trucks and rail systems to be delivered to companies, distribution centers, customers and ships for overseas trade. Besides shipping finished products to consumers, freight companies are transporting raw products and materials to manufacturers to create a variety of products from automobiles to computers. Most Shipped Goods [...] What Is the Difference Between Highways and Parkways? By Quick Transfer on February 26, 2014 in expedited shipping, Intermodal, Trucking Services As we go about our daily tasks, commuting to work or school and running errands, we often take driving for granted. When going long distances, our mission is often to head out on the highway and get to our next destination as expediently as possible. In the course of your adventures, you may have received [...] Freight Shipping: Fast & Affordable By Quick Transfer on February 19, 2014 in expedited shipping, Intermodal, LTL, Trucking Services Many small, medium, and large companies look for the best way to transport their materials in a timely yet cost-efficient way. One of the best methods is finding a freight broker like Quick Transfer USA. The fact is that they take the time to listen to every customer’s needs in order to connect them to [...] Freeze Protection and Temperature Monitoring Made Easy By Quick Transfer on February 12, 2014 in Trucking Services With the expertise of Quick Transfer USA, even your most sensitive freight is moved from place to place with care and precision. It is often very important for businesses and shippers to have a service that provides comprehensive control over all factors, including the transfer environment. With carriers that offer temperature sensitivity, it is possible to [...] Top Trade Shows By Quick Transfer on February 5, 2014 in Trucking Services Trade shows give consumers and fellow business owners the chance to learn more about various companies. Somewhat like a brochure come to life, visiting trade shows gives the public a three-dimensional sense of a company and its products and services. Since exhibits and trade shows take place all around the country, participating companies reach out [...] Service Options for Smaller Shipments By Quick Transfer on January 22, 2014 in LTL, Trucking Services Not every company requires a full truckload to transfer goods from one location to another. Some shipping companies charge a flat fee or require smaller businesses to pay for a full truckload even if they don’t have one. But Quick Transfer USA realizes that an inability to ship due to rigid rules and prices can negatively impact [...] Truck Routes: Route 66 By Quick Transfer on January 15, 2014 in Trucking Services Route 66 was referred to as “the super-highway” during its planning stages in 1926, and the idea represented freedom for Americans to travel West. While other east-west highways already existed, most were linear and didn’t access rural communities. By 1938, the 2,300 mile super-highway connecting Chicago and Los Angeles was complete, connecting the Rocky Mountains [...] A Winning Relay Team: Efficient Negotiation of Intermodal Shipping By Quick Transfer on January 8, 2014 in Intermodal, Trucking Services Intermodal shipping is like a relay race in which a transportation team, involving a number of companies and modes of transportation working together to get products from start to finish line rapidly. To succeed, this intermodal system requires smooth, secure connections between truck and rail companies, careful shipping to avoid product damage and a reasonable [...] Truck Routes: Badlands By Quick Transfer on January 2, 2014 in Trucking Services Did you know that the two largest T. Rex dinosaur skeletons ever discovered were found in South Dakota? The area is rich in natural history and geological wonders that existed long before trappers, miners and homesteaders came. If you head east from the Black Hills on Highway 36 to 79 to Interstate 90, after 50 [...]	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16097
__label__cc	0.72248	0.27752	October 1, 2012 RayB Comments 0 Comment Saturday saw me at Billericay Town FC for their home match against Basingstoke Town FC (two “BTFC’s” for the price of one? Bargain!) which meant a chance to catch up with fellow London and music enthusiast, Dave Cristy, or DC, as he is known. I’d not seen him since Basingstoke played Brentford last November, and DC, as is his way, was able to recall the date and result without missing a beat. It was really good to see him and fill him in on everything that has been going on in my hula-hoop since then, which took some time! The game ended 1-3, but to me it was a side issue – it was more about catching up with a friend than the result. I had a fairly busy and important day planned for Sunday, so no alcohol was consumed post-match; yes, it IS actually possible to cover a game and stick to tea! I was up quite early (for some) on Sunday at 7am. I’d recently obtained an album called “Original Musiquarium” by Stevie Wonder (1982) following fellow presenter Louis Barfe playing one track from it on a recent programme. I’d not yet listened to it, but woke up on Sunday with the tune in question “Do I Do” stuck in my head, or as is more commonly known, an “earworm”. The only known cure is to listen to the earworm in question until it goes away. Three plays later it is still lodged firmly within, and at 10:31 in length, this is a worm of Olympic proportions. So, I decide to listen to the whole album. Okay, the scene: 7:30 am, Sunday morning, Stevie Wonder being belted out at a fairly boisterous level, with me adding vocal support where appropriate and maybe, just maybe doing the odd jig, as one might when one is on one’s tod! Having seemingly shifted the worm, I moved onto Al Jarreau, with much the same input from me whilst I got the kit together. It will surprise some that I could listen to Stevie Wonder for so long (a 2-cd album) and to be honest, I surprised myself – hitherto I could hardly be described as one of his fans, but Musiquarium is brilliant and if you’ve not listened to it, do consider giving it a go. So, what was the agenda for the day? There was the Pearly Kings & Queens Harvest celebrations at the Guildhall from 1pm and then it would be off to Chinatown for the end of the Chinese mid-autumn celebrations in the evening. I was being joined for the day by the same person I’d ventured South of the River (did I REALLY do that???) with on Wednesday. We met up at Liverpool Street a little after 12 and decided to have a walk over to the Guildhall, but not on the main road – there are dozens, if not hundreds of little passages and streets that make up the area, some going back centuries and as Alex is interested in architecture it seemed like a good way to indulge our interests whilst heading to our first port of call. Now, as regulars will have gleaned, I am a big fan of EC4, which is effectively St. Paul’s and westward – but we were in EC2 and I am nowhere near as familiar with this part of the City, so it was a joy to go exploring. Before much longer we were at Guildhall. An arena had been set up for displays of maypole and morris dancing as well as somewhere for the various marching bands to perform. The agenda was an arena event from 1-3pm, then a parade to the nearby St. Mary-le-Bow church for the harvest festival. We’d first discussed coming to this event on Friday and Alex had done some research into the Pearly Kings and their origins. At this point I’ll mention that she is not from the UK but Poland, and although she has lived here for 8 years or so, hasn’t had the opportunity to dig into the history of London’s traditions. Naturally, that is changing. I’d briefly explained the significance of the Pearly suits with the buttons but her research told her more than I ever could. As I’ve mentioned before, tradition is something that London does very well and it was wonderful to see so many people wearing costumes and taking part; it’s been a busy year for these people and it is a credit to them and the City that after all that has happened they still turn out and put on a show. It makes me feel very proud to call London my home when I get the chance to go to these events and to be able to discuss them with someone who is not as up to speed on some of the items makes it even more special. The marching band were in the arena and began to play a medley of traditional Music Hall songs. Bear in mind this is London, celebrating a generally east-end tradition and the average age of the audience would have been (conservatively) in the mid 70’s – a full blooded sing-song was quickly underway. Having been brought up in the east end for the most part, I knew a lot of the songs and as regulars will know, I’m not shy when it comes to belting out a tune! I was talking to Alex afterwards and said to her that I am probably of the last generation that really know and understand the Music Hall traditions – my maternal grandmother died last year at the age of 91; she would have loved being here and would have known all the words to all the songs. She passed this on as best she could, but the lack of flashing lights and “apps” related to the topic means that the traditions we were witnessing today will be all but extinct in maybe 50 or so years. I hope not, but I do fear that there isn’t the interest there once was. The next part of the afternoon saw all the performers and distinguished guests form up for the parade to the church. We stayed to watch this leave the square and then decided to go in search of a warm drink. As we walked along Cheapside towards St. Paul’s the parade caught up with us and we did a bit more watching, something I never tire of where traditions are involved and Alex seems to like it too, which is really great. A quick look around inside the hideous One New Change shopping centre proved what I’d feared – nowhere to go and just get a tea/coffee and a bite – full blown restaurants only! As we went back onto Cheapside we both saw something which pleased and upset us in equal measure – Starbucks! As I may have said before, I am no fan of identikit high street coffee chains. Give me Pellicci’s in Bethnal Green, Balans or Bar Italia in Soho any day of the week. On the other hand, the need for refreshment was becoming increasingly urgent; Alex was freezing! So Starbucks it was. Now, I really, really do not get these places. There is clearly a set of conventions or rules that people have to follow, vis. placing an order, paying for it and then having to move to another area to collect their purchase. But they are not all the same and it is quite a daunting prospect for someone who is an infrequent patron of such establishments. At this point I must offer a word of apology to DC – he’ll be spitting feathers knowing I gave in to the corporate coffee chains! That is the other thing – I Just. Wanted. Coffee. Not a thingy-chino, or a cuppa-mucha, choco-bollocko or whatever they are called. Just. Ordinary. Coffee. When I mentioned this to the woman behind the counter she made me feel as though I was from another planet. So, in an attempt to be as unambiguous as possible, I added “no froth, no bits, no sprinkles, just plain old coffee”. “Oh, I can do you filter if you like?” I readily accepted and also ordered the Hot Chocolate that Alex was growing ever more anxious to get on the outside of. Another point of clarification. My entry for the 2nd September included 875 words on Tea. I would have loved to have Tea and so would Alex. But we are of one mind when it comes to Tea in such places as that in which we found ourselves – just don’t. When we attend our next outdoor event I think I’ll take my flask – I should have thought of it this time, but, well, I’d had a long day, already! We took time over our drinks; although we wanted to get to Chinatown as it was the last day of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival, and I was keen to see how it was being celebrated in London, there was plenty of time. We walked past St. Paul’s as I wanted Alex to see Paternoster Square – it is a good example of modern building blending in well with established sites of importance, and they don’t come more established or important than St. Pauls, do they? As luck would have it, access to the square was blocked because a crane was in operation. A pity, but there will be other days. We had a look at the exterior of the Cathedral instead. I remarked how it was great that the building had been given a full external clean in recent years – it must have taken the thick end of a decade to do it, but she really does look majestic. I can recall seeing it in the 70’s and 80’s, with all the dirt and grime of London traffic resting on it – I really hope the advances in fuel technology means the building can stay clean for several years yet. We needed to be heading west and as we walked down Ludgate Hill, Alex noticed that the church of St. Martin’s had its doors open and wanted to take a look inside. It is a building I’ve been past hundreds of times but have never been in, so I was all for it. As might be expected for a church in the City, it was not on the large side, but it was immaculate. We were greeted by a Chinese lady clutching a baby who told us that they hold a service there every Sunday afternoon and that they had just finished so we were welcome to look around. She asked if either of us had been to China and I mentioned that I’d been twice, albeit for only a few days on each occasion in 2006. Alex hasn’t been, although a cousin is working there at present and she is rather keen on going to visit. When I mentioned that I had been in Beijing, our host asked what I’d thought of it. It was a bit of a mixed bag for me; a time of several “firsts” and it was great to see another totally different culture, but the really heavy pollution was a real downside and is something I’d not experienced before or since. I relayed this as best I could without trying to be too negative and it was something of a relief when she agreed with me! She told us that we should visit Hong Kong, which I have actually thought about, as there are some stunning night views to be captured. We chatted some more and then went on our way – I will go back there at some point soon, as I’d love to photograph the interior. Being a mild early evening (it had warmed up compared to earlier on), we decided to take a walk along Fleet Street as it would be heading in the right direction for Chinatown. Alex needed to make a call so we left the main street and wandered into the churchyard around St. Bride’s, which was free of traffic noise but we were treated to the sounds of a choir from within the church. I wandered around the outside to have a look but mainly so that Alex could make her call. Once she’d done we decided to make use of one of the many benches around the church – it was so quiet apart from the lovely sound coming from within the church – hard to grasp that Fleet Street was about 100 yards to the north! After what seemed like no time at all, but in reality was the thick end of an hour and a half, we decided it was time to head west. Alex ambled off in the general direction of the gate whilst I took the opportunity to pop the flash onto the camera and re-arrange a few things – I knew it would be busy so it was easier to rig where I was. I soon followed Alex and she was heading back towards me, with a really worried look on her face. All she said was “We have a problem – the gate is locked”. Right; we are incarcerated in a churchyard, in the middle of the City of London on a Sunday evening. I had absolutely no reason to doubt her, but as you would, I went and checked the gate for myself. A bit like when someone says “that paint is wet” – you have to touch it and see, don’t you? Don’t you? Anyway, having confirmed it for myself, a quick look around the grounds was in order to see if an alternative means of exit was available – there was, but alas that too was locked. I’m not aware of anyone being charged with “Breaking & Exiting” but I wasn’t prepared to be the test case. Alex is busy looking at ways to scale the railings (which are a good 8-12 feet high) but there is a drop of an additional 5 or 6 feet on the other side as the churchyard is raised above street level. I foresaw broken bones and bruised pride, so quickly discounted the idea of playing the Great Escape. Alex was beginning to look terrified and the last thing we needed was panic stations. I put a call through to the Met control room and explained the situation. Barely able to hide his laughter, the operator said he’d pass it to CoL as we were on their ground – but when you dial 101 in London all calls go through to the MPS desk. I had a call back within a few minutes from the CoL at Wood Street. The operator was also having some difficulty in keeping a straight face, which was amusing. She said they were trying to raise a keyholder and she’d call back when there was news. I relayed this to Alex who was beginning to find it within herself to smile – it was bloody funny, really. After a short while, someone walked up to the gate and shouted a greeting. It seems the CoL desk had called him to see if he had contact details for anyone connected with the church, as he was responsible for another site nearby. As luck would have it, he did and had called the Vicar and explained our predicament. As he was updating us, two officers from the CoL Police arrived wearing grins that would give that bloody cat from Cheshire cause for concern. We were chatting to them through the gate and generally passing the time when another two officers arrived. I jokingly asked if it was a slow night as we now had 7 people involved and they all grinned something about having “grave” concerns for our safety – remember where we were? Yes, quite. The latter two said that they were only stopping by to offer assistance and were “ghouling” off duty now, in any case. I was beginning to realise how animals in a zoo must feel… We all stand chatting about everything and nothing when we are joined by another, but from behind Alex and I, who are locked in! To add to what is rapidly becoming a farce, this new person is clad in pyjamas and a dressing gown! I kid you not, dear reader. He is the Vicar and is holding a bunch of keys. He was quite laid back and asked where we had been at lock-up . I told him where we were and he said that the grounds should have been checked so apologised and let us out. Apparently there is another gate at the back but is easily missed unless you know it is there – it leads to the vicarage! The caretaker from the neighbouring building dashes off with our thanks, the Vicar goes back to whatever he was doing and we exchange a few words with the remaining CoL officers who then get a call and have to dash off. As soon as they are out of sight, Alex and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Once we’ve calmed down we resume our journey to Chinatown, but opt for the 15 bus to Piccadilly – after all, what could possibly go wrong? Well, nothing, thank gawd. I was expecting great things from the Chinese community, but to be honest it was a bit of a damp squib – either they don’t go a bundle on it over here or they were celebrating in private. After a mooch around we popped into a small eating house for something to eat, which was lovely, then it was time to head home. But as weekends go, it was one of the best I’ve had in ages. Stripping down a people carrier on the A406 at midnight and the trauma of dealing with an e-bay seller…	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16102
__label__wiki	0.697576	0.697576	Home Life > Explore School of the future in the city of the future Swiss international scientific school in Dubai launches boarding school for boys & girls As Dubai’s first day and boarding school, Swiss International Scientific School offers multilingual education in French, German, English and Arabic. Currently in its third year of operation, SISD is home to more than 1000 day and boarding students from over 60 nationalities. “It is the school of the future. SISD has a unique look and feel, which is very modern, unlike boarding schools around the world. We also promote STEM- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math as an additional focus to our studies. We try to move away from the classical and traditional international boarding schools to something more progressive,” Omar Danial, Founder of SISD told Saudi Gazette. He said the school is a great fit for GCC families due to close proximity and for those who want to stay in touch with their roots. “Boarding is something of a privilege. Families recognize that and they want the best for their children, which is why they send them to the best schools. We are one of the schools who provide that kind of environment. That is clearly the message we get from students and children who look us up. A lot of the culture is now driven by the children; they have access to information and they want to influence the choices of their parents. Which also shows that parents support kids and their choices. They recognize that they have to delegate a bit of their trust to their kids for them to grow up and become independent and happy,” he added. Danial said apart from the great advantage of Dubai’s location, the exceptional benefits of not being in US, Switzerland or UK is the safety, alcohol and drug free environment which makes boarding much easier to implement. “These help us guarantee the safety and well being of our students which makes it easier to offer boarding here versus other locations.” The boys boarding currently has 10 full time students and the girls boarding school premises opens in September this year. SISD was awarded the patronage of the Canton du Valais laying the foundation for the introduction of the Swiss Baccalaureate in the UAE and wider region. The Canton is recognized for its high academic performance and will support SISD in an advisory capacity on academic matters. In an event held on February 19, the delegation of the Canton du Valais and SISD’s leaders spoke at an event that was followed by a press a conference with Swiss and GCC journalists. “SISD’s journey to date has been a big success in providing a unique learning opportunity to children across the UAE and neighboring countries. The official inauguration of our campus and boarding houses is yet another milestone. This achievement is the result of tireless efforts by the school’s representatives, teachers, pupils and parents who work together to form a tight knit international community offering a challenging as well as supporting learning environment. Over the past few years, we worked hard to expand our campus to provide our boarding and day students with the best living and learning facilities in a cosmopolitan environment that stimulates academic development and personal growth. This hard work led to positioning ourselves as one of the leading boarding schools in the UAE and wider GCC in delivering first class education,” Beat Sommer, Head of School at the Swiss International Scientific School in Dubai told Saudi Gazette. He said the location is key and being in Dubai, makes the school geographically accessible. “This provides parents with the option of allowing their children to experience world-class boarding without sending them to the more conventional, far away, boarding destinations. Dubai also has great weather for outdoor activities and is considered a safe city for young people, which play a massive part in parents’ decision making. For children whose parents’ jobs necessitate frequent globetrotting, boarding school can be the perfect solution offering stability in their education – and lives,” he added. Even though boarding is a relatively new concept in the GCC, he said more families understand that it allows children to develop a range of key life skills and prepares them for the future, whether it is for university or later in their careers. “They learn skills such as organization, leadership, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, empathy, responsibility and cultural agility. In an ever-changing world and at a time where the Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the nature of profiles required in the labor market, we teach our students creative and critical thinking and make sure they develop their cognitive abilities, to ensure they receive ‘future proof’ skills in the global competitive market,” Sommer said. Garry James, Head of Boarding for boys said the boarding school allows children to become independent in a conducive atmosphere that doesn’t just focus on education but on overall development and progress. “I am like the father figure here. I am always available and live on campus. We try and do a lot of fun things with the boys, be it taking them on excursions to the desert or Wild Wadi among other places, we try and do what they want to keep them busy and happy here,” he told Saudi Gazette. The campus has an Olympic sized swimming pool; high end indoors sports hall and fitness training rooms, IAAF standard 400m running track and grass playing field for students. SISD is an IB World School authorized to deliver the IB MYP program, and a candidate school for the IB PYP and DP programs. School Address: Dubai Healthcare City, Phase 2, Al Jaddaf, Dubai Email: info@sisd.ae Heroes welcome for 2 Saudi climbers Monte-Carlo SBM woos Saudi tourists	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16104
__label__wiki	0.940007	0.940007	Punk Freedom to Create Metal in my blood 100 Greatest Rock Albums Dani's Corner Rock 'n' Roll in my blood - Quotes Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia A-C Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia C-D Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia D-F Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia G Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia H-I Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia J-N Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia N-O Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia P-Q Rock 'n' roll Encyclopedia R-S Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia S Rock 'n' Roll Encyclopedia T-Z Rock & Roll Heaven 50's & 60's Rock & Roll Heaven 70's Rock & Roll Heaven 2000's Rock & Roll Heaven 2010- 2016 42 years ago David Bowie released The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (often shortened to Ziggy Stardust) is a 1972 concept album by English musician David Bowie, which is loosely based on a story of a fictional rock star named Ziggy Stardust. It peaked at No. 5 in the UK and No. 75 in the US on the Billboard Music Charts. The album tells the story of Bowie's alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, a rock star who acts as a messenger for extraterrestrial beings. Bowie created Ziggy Stardust while in New York City promoting Hunky Dory and performed as him on a tour of the UK, Japan and North America. The album, and the character of Ziggy Stardust, was known for its glam rock influences and themes of sexual exploration and social commentary. These factors, coupled with the ambiguity surrounding Bowie's sexuality and fuelled by a ground-breaking performance of "Starman" on Top of the Pops, led to the album being met with controversy and since hailed as a seminal work. The concept album is about a bisexual alien rock superstar, and includes use of a series of atonal and rhythmically irregular tape effects. The concept album sheds a light on the artificiality of rock in general, including issues of politics, drug use, and sexual orientation. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars has been consistently considered one of the greatest albums of all time, with Rolling Stone magazine ranking it the 35th greatest ever. It was ranked the 20th greatest album ever in a 1997 British survey, the 24th greatest of all time by Q magazine and one of the 100 greatest releases ever by Time magazine. A concert film of the same name, directed by D.A. Pennebaker, was released in 1973.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16105
__label__wiki	0.767707	0.767707	Home Forums > Philosophy > Ethics, Morality, & Justice > Some facts about guns in the US Discussion in 'Ethics, Morality, & Justice' started by James R, Dec 17, 2012. billvon Valued Senior Member sculptor said: ↑ Time and money on one side of the balance and a human life on the other side . . . . An excellent argument to pursue AGW mitigation strategies. billvon, Jul 2, 2015 sculptor Valued Senior Member billvon said: ↑ Kinda why I went carbon negative over 20 years ago---------------just in case I'm wrong about my views on the agw claims I just like trees and eschew travel. sculptor, Jul 2, 2015 iceaura Valued Senior Member Washing your personal hands is missing the point. It's a political matter, and adults are responsible for their politics. It's like being a responsible gun owner or gun eschewer, and absolving oneself thereby of the consequences of one's politics in that matter. iceaura, Jul 10, 2015 pjdude1219 The biscuit has risen Valued Senior Member iceaura said: ↑ so than you admit every time someone kills with an easy access gun its on yours and the rest of the anti gun safety crowds hands. good to know you accept responsibilty for deaths your selfishness and ignorance of law cause. to bad it doesn't make you more responsible. pjdude1219, Jul 11, 2015 Bells Staff Member Ah, the well armed militia.. Gun-toting citizens are showing up at military recruiting centers around the country, saying they plan to protect recruiters following last week's killing of four Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The citizens, some of them private militia members, said they're supporting the recruiters, who by military directive are not armed. "We're here to serve and protect," Clint Janney said Tuesday, wearing a Taurus 9mm handgun as he stood in a parking lot across from a recruiting center on the west side of Columbus. "What the government won't do, we will do." Similar posts have been set up outside recruitment centers in several cities around the country, from Spanaway, Washington, to Hiram, Georgia, and including Madison, Wisconsin; Other sites are in McAllen, Texas; Auburn Hills, Michigan; Phoenix; and several locations in Tennessee, including Murfreesboro. And they literally were, patrolling outside of these recruitment centers, uninvited and unwanted by the military personnel they were supposedly there to protect. But they came anyway, some toting their stools, drinks and their many guns. "To serve and protect".. And then this happened.. Volunteer civilian "guards" have been kicked off the grounds outside a military recruiting center in Lancaster, Ohio, after one of them accidentally fired his weapon. No one was injured. "Listen, it was a mistake. No one was injured and I owned up to it immediately with the police," 28-year-old Christopher Reed, who is accused of firing the shot, told the Lancaster Eagle-Gazette. "I'm glad no one was hurt. I am willing to take the punishment." His gun was confiscated pending a court appearance next week. Armed volunteers have been turning up at military recruiting centers since the shooting deaths of four marines and a sailor last week in Chattanooga, Tennessee. They say they want to protect recruiters, who are not armed. “They won’t give these guys any weapons to carry or keep in a safe. If we don’t do it, who is going to do it?" armed volunteer and Marine veteran Kenneth Casteel, who had been keeping watch over the recruiting center where the shot was fired, told the Columbus Dispatch prior to the incident. "It’s a matter of safety.” Reed was apparently trying to clear the ammunition in his AR-15 rifle when he accidentally fired a shot into the ground, according to WCBE, an NPR station in central Ohio. "I was out here and was talking to a guy who wanted to look at my AR-15," Reed told the Eagle-Gazette. "I was trying to clear the weapon and hand it over to him when it went off. I thought it was empty and must have missed it." Something something about "public safety" goes here... This is not the first time Mr Reed has "accidentally" discharged a weapon in public. Reed has been charged with accidental discharge in city limits. The Dispatch said he was convicted of the same offense in 2013, and paid a $50 fine. He told the paper he is a "gun enthusiast." “I’m nobody special,” he told the Dispatch. “I’m just a guy doing my job because my own government wouldn’t do it.” If the Government's job is to endanger people going about their daily lives, then we can say that Mr Reed is doing a brilliant job. After the incident, U.S. Properties Group, which owns the strip mall where the recruiting center is located, asked local police to "escort all armed civilians from our property," according to WBNS-10, the local CBS station. Volunteers were angered by the order to keep away. "If something happens here and hopefully it don't and if it does I hope they hang the people who own the place," Castelle told Fox 28. Except that something did happen. One of the gun toting goons, sorry, "protectors", could have killed someone. I think the people who own the property would be remiss if they did not ask them to move on and keep off their property for the sake of public safety. Bells, Jul 24, 2015 Dr_Toad likes this. idiots or brave fools? the guy holding the "gun" becomes the target anyone wanna guess the average IQ of the guys who showed up carrying weapons? flip side the weapon was discharged into the ground at least he had the good sense to control where the muzzle was pointed sculptor, Jul 24, 2015 Yes. Thankfully. And we can be thankful he didn't shoot someone in the foot, and that the gun did not ricochet and hurt someone. There are many things to be thankful for in this scenario. The only thing we shouldn't be thankful for is that someone so irresponsible was allowed to keep his guns after he did something similar the first time. I don't want to guess the average IQ of the people who showed up with their weapons on display. I personally like the guy who brought his child. Because standing outside with loaded weapons "guarding" these recruitment centers against possible attack is the great place to bring kids. If a shooter did take aim at any of the offices they were protecting, I sincerely doubt their ability to duck and roll. Interesting tee shirt "he who dies with the most tattoos wins" Personally, I think these guys..............................silly ........................................................................................ "Me........Me........Choose ME.............I wanna be cannon fodder." Oddly pleasing to know that they still got the spirit. Carrying chambered and not indexed doesn't show good sense. I've had 2 ADs in my life, both with completely unfamiliar weapons, both were in a safe direction, and both times I was verbally abused for days by everyone who knew about it. That's in 50 years of owning firearms, Sloppy, I admit. But really... Dr_Toad, Jul 25, 2015 One AD, remington model 41 targetmaster bold action 22, when I was about 10-12 years old. To cock you pull a knob at the back of the bolt. To uncock, you hold the knob as you depress the trigger, then slowly ease the knob forward--------- I slipped and fired down through the livingroom floor----------fortunately, it was carpeted, which hid my OOPS quite nicely. Ain't nobody's perfect.(Not even me.) Fraggle Rocker Staff Member Upon graduating from a typical U.S. police academy, a new officer has spent 70 hours on the firing range, but only one day learning how to defuse a tense situation. Fraggle Rocker, Jul 26, 2015 Guns and alcohol.. Mix them all together and shake them all about, 'cos that's what it's all about! Commissioners in Daytona Beach, Florida, approved a measure Wednesday that will allow the opening of a 12-lane gun range connected to a booze-filled restaurant. Commissioners were "leery" at first, because alcohol and guns don't mix, but they came around to the idea, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. The paper reports: I've gone back and forth on this," said Commissioner Pam Woods, who later cast a yes vote. "I was leery," echoed Commissioner Patrick Henry, who also supported the business. Commissioner Ruth Trager wasn't won over by the new business' developers at the meeting who explained the precautions they'll take, and she cast the lone no vote. She drilled the business partners with questions about how they'll know if someone is sober or a felon. They were reportedly swayed by the business' strict rules against shooting after drinking. Everyone who eats or drinks at the restaurant will have to submit to an ID scan, and if they've had alcohol, they won't be allowed to shoot at the range that day, WFTV reports. In addition, guns won't be allowed in the restaurant, though commissioners pointed out that the policy won't stop people with concealed carry licenses from entering. Wonderful, they have strict rules in place against shooting after drinking. I was thinking breath testing where they can read if you have consumed alcohol, maybe.. I mean, that would be the logical thing, yes? Business owner Ron Perkinson said they'll track those drinking alcohol by using their driver's licenses. He said those people will not be allowed to shoot if they're drinking. Perkinson insists serving drinks is not his focus, and families and gun safety are. He said safety would start by separating guns from the café where alcohol is served. "Guns, whether you're planning to have a drink afterwards or not, will not be allowed in the café area at all," he said. Perkinson said those wanting to drink will have to swipe their ID, which would then ban them from entering the shooting range. "Once your license is scanned for an alcoholic beverage, you'll be void of going on our range for 24 hours," he said. Shame about the guy or girl who gets someone else to buy their drinks for them so they can escape notice. /End sarcasm.. Bells, Aug 21, 2015 Tiassa Let us not launch the boat ... Staff Member So ... right. Via WaPo↱: Since April 20, there have been at least seven instances in which a 1- , 2- or 3-year-old shot themselves or somebody else in the United States: • On April 20, a 2-year-old boy in Indiana found the gun his mother left in her purse on the kitchen counter and fatally shot himself. • The next day in Kansas City, Mo., a 1-year-old girl evidently shot and killed herself with her father's gun while he was sleeping. • On April 22, a 3-year-old in Natchitoches, La., fatally shot himself after getting hold of a gun. • On April 26, a 3-year-old boy in Dallas, Ga., fatally shot himself in the chest with a gun he found at home. • On April 27, the Milwaukee toddler fatally shot his mother in the car. • That same day, a 3-year-old boy in Grout Township, Mich., shot himself in the arm with a gun he found at home. He is expected to survive. • On April 29, a 3-year-old girl shot herself in the arm after grabbing a gun in a parked car in Augusta, Ga. She is also expected to survive. Last year, a Washington Post analysis found that toddlers were finding guns and shooting people at a rate of about one a week. This year, that pace has accelerated. There have been at least 23 toddler-involved shootings since Jan. 1, compared with 18 over the same period last year. Eighteen of the twenty-three have involved the self-inflicted wounds, including nine deaths. The other five involved the toddler shooting someone else, netting two more fatalities. Meanwhile, looking back to the beginning of last year: Georgia is home to the highest number of toddler shootings, with at least eight incidents since January 2015. Texas and Missouri are tied for second place with seven shootings each, while Florida and Michigan are tied for fourth, with six shootings apiece. You might think that toddler shootings are simply a function of population―the more people who live in an area, the more toddlers are likely to shoot someone. But that doesn't appear to be wholly the case. California and New York are two high-population states that have seen only three toddler shootings between them since 2015. And Illinois, home to infamously high rates of gun violence in Chicago, has not seen a single toddler shooting since 2015. So it goes. There are very few answers, in no small part because Congress has restricted data collection; CDC, for instance, can't even survey people about gun ownership and practices. Ingraham, Christopher. "Toddlers have shot at least 23 people this year". The Washington Post. 1 May 2016. WashingtonPost.com. 1 May 2016. http://wapo.st/1X3hN7C Tiassa, May 2, 2016 Just to gig the dead frog, do you think it isn't a good thing to let the stupid die? Sterilize the toddlers, but give them the vote, by God! And driver's licenses, and all that entitlement shit. Merry Christmas! Turn out the lights. Dr_Toad, May 2, 2016 I have to ask, do you think small children killing themselves, others or harming themselves or others, is something joke worthy? But hey, it's all part and parcel of the whole big picture, isn't it? Back in 2013, this was also discussed, as it is just about every year.. Cases like these are among the most gut-wrenching of gun deaths. Children shot accidentally — usually by other children — are collateral casualties of the accessibility of guns in America, their deaths all the more devastating for being eminently preventable. They die in the households of police officers and drug dealers, in broken homes and close-knit families, on rural farms and in city apartments. Some adults whose guns were used had tried to store them safely; others were grossly negligent. Still others pulled the trigger themselves, accidentally fracturing their own families while cleaning a pistol or hunting. And there are far more of these innocent victims than official records show. A New York Times review of hundreds of child firearm deaths found that accidental shootings occurred roughly twice as often as the records indicate, because of idiosyncrasies in how such deaths are classified by the authorities. The killings of Lucas, Cassie and Alex, for instance, were not recorded as accidents. Nor were more than half of the 259 accidental firearm deaths of children under age 15 identified by The Times in eight states where records were available. As a result, scores of accidental killings are not reflected in the official statistics that have framed the debate over how to protect children from guns. The National Rifle Association cited the lower official numbers this year in a fact sheet opposing “safe storage” laws, saying children were more likely to be killed by falls, poisoning or environmental factors — an incorrect assertion if the actual number of accidental firearm deaths is significantly higher. In all, fewer than 20 states have enacted laws to hold adults criminally liable if they fail to store guns safely, enabling children to access them. Legislative and other efforts to promote the development of childproof weapons using “smart gun” technology have similarly stalled. Technical issues have been an obstacle, but so have N.R.A. arguments that the problem is relatively insignificant and the technology unneeded. Because of maneuvering in Congress by the gun lobby and its allies, firearms have also been exempted from regulation by the Consumer Product Safety Commission since its inception. Even with a proper count, intentional shooting deaths of children — including gang shootings and murder-suicides by family members — far exceed accidental gun deaths. But accidents, more than the other firearm-related deaths, come with endless hypotheticals about what could have been done differently. The rifle association’s lobbying arm recently posted on its Web site a claim that adult criminals who mishandle firearms — as opposed to law-abiding gun owners — are responsible for most fatal accidents involving children. But The Times’s review found that a vast majority of cases revolved around children’s access to firearms, with the shooting either self-inflicted or done by another child. You'll have to excuse me, but I don't find anything at all funny or worthy of glib commentary.. Meanwhile, laws that could reduce these numbers, laws such as requiring safe storage of firearms and bullets, for example, are stymied by the NRA. “We don’t understand the problem of child gun deaths fully, and so we don’t understand how we can prevent it. In this country we take the death of children very seriously – we have laws to prevent children getting stuck in freezers, or drowning in pools, yet we turn a blind eye when it comes to firearms. This is a national tragedy and it has to stop,” she said. The researchers found that some 70% of the deaths identified during the 12 months of the survey could have been prevented given simple measures to store and lock guns in the home unloaded. About a third of American children live in homes with guns – a product of the ubiquitous nature of weapons in society – and studies have suggested that 1.7 million kids live in homes with guns that are both loaded and unlocked. Paradoxically, eight out of 10 of the deaths occurred in places where children are supposed to be coddled and safe: their homes or in homes of relatives, or in the family car. Basic childhood curiosity appears to have been behind many of the disasters, particularly of boys, with 77% of the victims and 82% of the shooters being male. The ages of two to four, and 10 to 13 are particularly perilous in terms of gun deaths. Two-thirds of the incidents involved guns that were legally owned by family members, usually a parent. In almost half of those cases, no charges were brought against the gun owner for negligence or other reckless behavior. The report highlights other ways in which the NRA has been seminal in preventing the introduction of gun safety laws directed at children. It has lobbied vociferously against the recommendations of several professional bodies including the American Academy of Pediatrics that doctors should be allowed to advise patients about the importance of gun safety measures in the home. The NRA has also opposed moves to introduce smart technology that only allow weapons to be fired by their biometrically-identified owners. But I forget. In your world and within the gun rights belief system, which even prevents doctors from advocating gun safety measures in the home to prevent their children from killing themselves or others accidently, children have no right to feel safe or even feel free of fear or risk of being shot.. Because the rights to bear arms trumps that. Turn out the lights indeed... Bells, May 2, 2016 It difficult for an outsider to understand the right to bear arms. I am an outsider and I do try to understand how folk regard it as extremely important. I find it difficult to understand why seemingly sensible laws which most certainly would reduce deaths from shootings are opposed. I have owned shot guns and competed in skeet and trap shooting. I kept my guns unloaded in a safe and cartridges seperate in another safe. The guns were only loaded when at the shooting station. Safety was of prime concern. There appears to be safety issues in U. S. A. which if addressed would save lives and not take away ones right to bear arms. One would think it would be the gun owners who would be demanding suitable laws rather than opposing them. It is so sad to read about so many deaths that could have been prevented for the want of a reasonable responsible approach to the problem. Perhaps the big problem is most do not even think there is a problem. Xelasnave.1947, May 2, 2016 Xelasnave. 1947 said: Firearm ownership is also an identity politic; that much is clear. But beyond that, it depends on who you ask. For instance, the way I express it is that our firearms discourse in the U.S. includes the right to kill people under the right to bear arms. And that right, in the end, is apparently expected to include the right to kill the wrong people. Bells, you misunderstand. Still, or purposefully. How do so many children have the opportunity? Why do parents leave their weapons unsecured, off-safe, with a round chambered? Again, making laws and enforcing them will not prevent stupidity. We seem to be breeding for stupidity these days... A large portion of parents who leave their guns unsecured, out of a safe and loaded and/or with a round chambered face no punishment from the law when their child kills themselves, injures themselves or another person.. It is deemed an accident. Do I think making laws and enforcing them will prevent stupidity? Yes, I do. Currently, there is very little requirements in place for gun owners to store their firearms safely. There is also a general push from gun advocates to prevent scientists and law enforcement from even gathering data on gun violence, even gun violence which involves a child using said gun to either shoot themselves or anyone else. So we cannot even be sure of the exact figures. Doesn't it strike you as strange that gun advocates lobby to prevent even the gathering of such information? What could they possibly have to fear from knowledge? Why would they even deny doctors and medical personnel the right to warn parents of the dangers of not storing firearms safely in the home if they have children in the house? Doesn't that trouble you at all? Doesn't it make you question why go so far as to prevent encouraging safe gun storage in the home? Who does it hurt? Who would stand to lose if there were laws in place requiring safe storage of firearms? Whose rights are being infringed if such laws were put in place? The parents who own guns? They can still own whatever guns they desire. All that is required is that those guns be stored safely away and if they are not, and a child gets their hands on said guns, then the parents should be held responsible (which in more than half the cases of children getting their hands on the family firearms and shooting others or themselves, the parents get away with their irresponsible behaviour without any charges).. It certainly would not hurt the children. Let me ask you this, do you agree with drink driving laws, that can result in you losing your driver's license if you are over the limit? For example, say your child is with you in the car, and you are 4 times over the limit, and you crash your car and your child ends up being gravely injured or dies as a result. Should you be arrested and charged? Or should they just put it down to a tragic accident and declare you have suffered enough and let you go off, give you your driver's license back and off you go? That wouldn't happen, would it? You'd be charged. You'd lose your driver's license. Probably your car too.. Drink driving laws and enforcing them stops stupidity. Sure, some people still do it, but they are arrested and charged when caught. But if you leave a loaded firearm within reach of your child and they shoot themselves with it by accident, you can walk away, without facing any criminal charges and you would get your gun back to go on your merry way because they would declare that you had suffered enough and it was a tragic accident.. Does that sound right to you? I'll leave you with this: More than two-thirds of these tragedies could be avoided if gun owners stored their guns responsibly and prevented children from accessing them. Of the child shooting deaths in which there was sufficient information available to make the determination, 70 percent (62 of 89 cases) could have been prevented if the firearm had been stored locked and unloaded. By contrast, incidents in which an authorized user mishandled a gun — such as target practice or hunting accidents — constituted less than thirty percent of the incidents. You said that you did not believe that making laws would stop stupidity.. Do you think doing absolutely nothing to stop stupidity that results in loss of life is a good way to stop it? Do you think passing laws and/or lobbying to encourage and enable parents to be stupid when it comes to guns and access to guns for their children, is a good thing? Would you do nothing if you noticed that someone had left a loaded gun within reach of their children, because you can't stop stupidity? You want to know what is really stupid? 72 of the young victims either pulled the trigger themselves or were shot dead by another kid. In those 72 cases, only 4 adults have been held criminally liable. The stupidity stems more from gun rights advocates who demand that no measures be allowed that would restrict children's access to firearms.. The NRA doesn't speak for gun owners, I think, but the gun manufacturers. They certainly don't speak for me. I agree with most of what you say, most of the time..	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16106
__label__wiki	0.812758	0.812758	Researchers Develop Prototype of Fully Internal Cochlear Implant June 5, 2014 adminTechnology American researchers have developed a prototype cochlear implant which would be entirely internal, with no visible hardware on the outside of the head. Cochlear implants that electrically stimulate the auditory nerve have granted at least limited hearing to hundreds of thousands of people worldwide who otherwise would be totally deaf. Current devices, however, require that a transmitter about an inch in diameter be affixed to the skull, with a wire snaking down to a combined microphone and power source that looks like an oversized hearing aid. Researchers at MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories collaborated with physicians from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary to develop a new low-power signal-processing chip that could lead to a cochlear implant with no external hardware. It would be wirelessly recharged and would run for about eight hours per charge. They also developed a prototype charger that plugs into an ordinary cell phone and can recharge the signal-processing chip in roughly two minutes. “The idea with this design is that you could use a phone, with an adapter, to charge the cochlear implant, so you don’t have to be plugged in,” says Anantha Chandrakasan, a professor of electrical engineering and corresponding author on a paper by Marcus Yip, PhD ’13, presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference. “Or you could imagine a smart pillow, so you charge overnight, and the next day, it just functions.” Existing cochlear implants use an external microphone to gather sound, but the new implant would use the natural microphone of the middle ear, which is almost always intact in cochlear-implant patients. Normally, delicate bones in the middle ear, known as ossicles, convey the vibrations of the eardrum to the cochlea, the small spiral chamber in the inner ear that converts acoustic signals to electrical ones. The new device would employ a tiny sensor that detects the ossicles’ vibrations, relaying their signal to a microchip implanted in the ear. That microchip would convert it to an electrical signal and pass it on to an electrode in the cochlea. Lowering the power requirements of the converter chip was the key to dispensing with the skull-mounted hardware. Among other innovations, Chandrakasan’s lab developed a new signal-generating circuit whose waveform—the basic electrical signal it emits—requires 20 to 30 percent less power to produce than those used in existing cochlear implants. The researchers showed that the chip and sensor can pick up and process speech played into the middle ear of a human cadaver. They also tested the new waveform on four patients with cochlear implants and found that it did not compromise their ability to hear. Read more http://www.technologyreview.com/article/526226/invisible-cochlear-implants/	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16107
__label__cc	0.575945	0.424055	Play for the Hawks Spring Valley Hawks 04/20/2019 - Rumblings from the diamond: The wait is over SPRING VALLEY, WI - Believe it or not, our 2019 season is going to start when we originally scheduled it. Tomorrow, less than 16 hours from now, the 2019 version (well, a part of them) of the Spring Valley Hawks will be taking the field to take on the Eau Claire Rivermen. A few hours later, we will play our second game against the Jim Falls Sturgeons. Barring an unforeseen weather disaster, baseball will be played. Who knew, right? Not a bit more than two weeks ago we were dumped on with about 8 inches of snow, and the misery of the 2019 winter continued. However, for some reason, with a bit of good luck and some good fortune, the snow is about all gone and sunshine is here. Tomorrow's forecast could not be any better - 70s and sunny. Perhaps a good omen for the 2019 season? That remains to be seen. Exactly 251 days ago our 2018 season ended. Abruptly. Unexpectedly. Too soon. I didn't know the exact number of days, but I knew it was around this same time of the month back in August. We lost to a terrific baseball team in the Eau Claire Bears. To summarize what some of our guys said about them, "those guys could rake." They beat our top two pitchers. Heck, we scored 8 runs against their tough pitching staff without two of our best hitters that day. Sometimes in baseball, and in life, the stars just don't align. That day, August 11th, it just did not happen. That same weekend, the community and my family directly was impacted by a far greater loss. The sudden and abrupt loss of an individual that left an impression on many people. Someone that had been a Hawk many years ago and someone that was close to my family. It was a jolt for many, and it put things into perspective that weekend. While losing is never easy, and something that I do not accept easily, it offered a sense of reality. The reality that you must take the opportunity you have every day of your life to be the best possible version of yourself. To tie this into baseball, that is our expectation for the 2019 season. The group of players making up the 2019 Spring Valley Hawks. To be the absolute best version of ourselves every time we step onto the field. As with many other town ball teams, depatures happen. That happened to us this off-season. Longtime Hawk Dylan Willett has decided that now was the time to hang up the cleats after a terrific Hawks career. Willett was a Hawk since the very beginning back in 2011. You could typically find him manning one of the corner outfield spots and getting a couple hits a weekend without the ball leaving the infield. That was Dylan, but to his credit, he was about as consistent as it gets. While injuries did handcuff him at times, when he was healthy, he was one of the more consistent players for the Hawks. We hope that someday he returns, but he has a big spring and summer ahead with getting married and taking the next step in his life. We will miss him. The other Hawk to leave, we hope, is going to be more of pause. While we don't know when he will be back, we certainly hope it is sooner than later. Another longtime Hawk Joey Helmer has gone into the military, and is currently away at basic training. His basic training is supposed to be done in June sometime, and it remains to be seen what the next step is once that is done. Maybe he returns to his shortstop position when he gets back, who knows. We just know that he has been wanting this opportunity for a long time, and we could not be more proud of him for taking on the challenge of serving our country. We commend him, and will miss him. We just hope someone can step in and fill his position, much like Dylan. Two significant losses, but the rest of our team remains the same. The usual additions to help fill those voids and add a little more depth as well, which will supplement our roster as well. We are excited to add those guys, and cannot wait to see how they do. Typically with this opening day Rumblings from the diamond, we do some bold predictions. Some are about as obvious as Christian Yelich hitting a HR right now, while others are a bit off the wall and less likely to come true. Either way, we enjoy providing some sort of entertainment to the readers of this website. With that said, here are a few bold predictions for the 2019 season: Scott Sayles joins an exclusive, exclusive club of 200 career hits, 100 career RBI, and 100 career runs. While we mentioned above that Willett was about as consistent as they come, Sayles is one step ahead. He is the Khris Davis of Hawks baseball. He boasts a better average than Davis, but you get the point. Sayles is well within striking distance of this feat, and he would be the first Hawk (post 2011) to reach that plateau. To say this would be a great accomplishment is an understatement, and we look forward to watching him accomplish this in a Hawks uniform. Brett Weinfurter finally joins the 100 hit club. Yes, we know. This was a bold prediction for the 2018 season. However, as I mentioned above, sometimes the stars just don't align and things don't go your way. While Weinfurter didn't reach this career milestone last year, he will this year. Guaranteed. Heck, it may even happen tomorrow. Let's go with that and make this prediction super bold - he will reach 100 career hits tomorrow, April 20th, 2019. He will then carry that baseball within around his parents house on Easter Sunday, asking if anyone wants his autograph. Too bad his family are huge Casey Ryan fans instead. One of the new guys hits the first HR of the 2019 season. Who knows, it would be a cool thing to experience and be a nice way to get accustomed to your new team. We won't say who specifically, or even attempt to guess that, but we will go with it. It sounds cool, right? Let's just hope that Brandon Walczak doesn't poop his pants in excitement for the new guy. Another Hawk will get engaged. I mean, it has to happen, right? As our team gets older and uglier, a number of our guys have found women that can tolerate them and allow them to play baseball. We certainly don't have any 10s on this team as far as looks go, which makes the fact that the majority of them having significant others that much more impressive. A number of our guys, heck all of them, have certainly outkicked their coverage but props to them. It is about the personality and the person on the inside anyway, right? We have 3 Hawks getting married this spring and summer, which is about the max as far as I am concerned. I am not sure Aaron Esanbock could survive another one; he barely survived a winter trip to Chicago. Anyway - there are plenty of candidates for this. Probability says it has to happen. Kyle Duex makes it happen again during River Falls Days. No, this isn't a baseball reference. We all know how that homecoming went last July. It certainly was not like LeBron returning to Cleveland. This was less exciting for Duex and his new baseball team. Thankfully, there were no jersey burnings when Duex left. However, he ended up having a pretty successful evening following the baseball game. However, this wasn't without assistance and help from TJ Walenski, who is arguably one of the best wing men to ever live. Without Walenski, Duex doesn't get the job done...again. Cam Hirshfeld reaches 50 career stolen bases. Rumor has it that Willett actually hung up the cleats because he realized he would not be able to reach Hirshfeld in career stolen bases. With that, Hirshfeld should be able to build on his career mark of 44 stolen bases and take a commanding lead. A bold prediction, but who knows. Speculation is that Aaron Rodewald is itching to steal more bases this season and has been working on his quick twitch muscles and explosiveness this offseason by eating bacon and drinking Busch Light. Bold strategy. We will see if it pays off. Alright, that is enough. You get the point. Regardless, if these things happen, it will be a fun and exciting season. Even if they don't, we expect to have a fun and successful 2019 season. Expectations are again high, and goals have been set. We have reached our goals in the past, but still have not reached our ultimate goal. It goes without saying, and we look forward to continuing that mountain climb and will hopefully be able to experience that sooner than later. We are excited and grateful for your support, and look forward to representing the Spring Valley community and the history of Hawks Baseball. Follow the Hawks on Facebook & Twitter (@SVHawks) for more news, scheduling updates, announcements, notes, & more! Powered by Atomic Leagues - get your FREE team, league, and organization websites today! \| Atomic Leagues\|Sign In	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16116
__label__wiki	0.879833	0.879833	Sinlung / Mizoram YMA Rail blockade Threat Over Train Timings By Satananda Bhattacharjee Hailakandi, Jun 9 : The Young Mizo Association (YMA) has threatened to block all trains at Bairabi in Mizoram from June 25 if the timings of the Badarpur-Bairabi (via Hailakandi) passenger train are not changed. At present, the train leaves Bairabi at 6am and reaches Silchar via Hailakandi at 10am. Thereafter, it leaves Silchar at 4pm and reaches Bairabi at 8pm. The association has demanded just the opposite — the train should reach Bairabi in the morning from Silchar and return in the evening in the greater interest of the farmers of the locality. A majority of the farmers prefer to send vegetables and fruits to markets in Barak valley in the evening. In a memorandum to railway authorities, the association has threatened to block all trains for an indefinite period from June 25 if the timings are not changed. Two goods trains were stopped for two days at Bairabi station by the members of the association. The Hailakandi district unit of the Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) has condemned the association’s threat. “We condemn the demands of the YMA and will be compelled to launch a movement if the association’s demand is considered by the railway authorities,” KMSS leader Jahir Uddin Laskar said. He also threatened that all goods trains towards Mizoram would be stopped at Hailakandi station if they block the tracks. Laskar said the KMSS has pressed for two trains along the route for the benefit of the passengers and urged the members of the association to extend their co-operation. The KMSS has also submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner of Hailakandi asking the administration to retain the present timings. Railway officials in Hailakandi, however, refused to comment on the Mizo organisation’s demand.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16120
__label__wiki	0.544542	0.544542	How We Met the Mother It's finally over. I say that as someone who is sad to see one of his favorite television shows end and as someone who hates to see good shows languish on the line. How I Met Your Mother joins the small echelon of shows I've watched from beginning to end at the time they aired that also lasted at least five seasons. Before HIMYM, only Boy Meets World (1993-2000) and Smallville (2001-2011) made that list. Only three shows. Other shows I picked up a couple seasons in, some I quit watching because, to me, they were done. HIMYM almost fell into that category. I started watching How I Met Your Mother because the premise intrigued me. I was at a time in my life where I, too, was looking for Mrs. Mosby and it didn't hurt that the characters were similar in age to me. It wasn't long before I met someone and I could show them this amazing show. I had bought the first season DVD collection and that first season is just the best television I've seen in a long time. There is not a flaw in it and no other modern TV series has a first season like it. I loved cuddling with my girlfriend and watching it with her. Unfortunately, just like Ted's failed relationships with Robin, Victoria, Stella, Zoey and many other women that just lasted one date, we broke up but after the mandatory mourning period, I kept Ted in mind as he was still positive and upbeat knowing that his The One was right around the corner. Even though Ted soon became a supporting character in his own story, I still enjoyed following him around every Monday. Then the finale happened. I try not to go into series finales with grand expectations but I have dedicated half an hour nearly every Monday night for nine years on this show and I expected closure. Instead what happened was a callback to the magnificent pilot. Don't get me wrong. I'm pretty sure that if I were in the Ted and Robin camp, the finale would've made me happy. I'm sure I've written and mentioned before that the last scene with the kids was filmed before the second season began and that was back in 2006. I learned last night that had the show only lasted one season that Victoria (Ashley Williams) would've been the mother but the ending would've been the same. The Mother would've died and the story would've been about Robin. I loved Ted and Robin in the beginning. I stopped loving them when their relationship was beaten into the ground with a dead horse which was about the time Barney and Robin got together. Unfortunately, I feel the story--whether it's Ted and Tracy or Ted and Robin--was marred by fans who, for some reason, wanted to see Barney and Robin together, Victoria come back and CBS for milking the show after it should've ended. The original plan, from what I remember, was six seasons which then became eight. CBS then ordered one last ninth season. I'm just going to point you to this chart again about what happens to TV shows beyond the seventh season. To make bigger, click here. But what about Tracy? The titular mother who was introduced at the end of the eighth season and we got to know and love over the coarse of the ninth season? She wound up just being another catalyst in getting Ted and Robin together. The way I see it, Tracy is still, despite her and Ted loving each other, having two kids, getting married, Ted's second choice. Ted and Tracy don't get married immediately, it takes them about seven years or so. They never give an excuse why. Was he still waiting for Robin? It's all up to the viewer. I think the biggest problem is having Tracy die. We never saw Ted mourn nor did we see Tracy fully interact with Ted's friends. We saw how Robin was drifting away from the group and that Ted was seemingly the only one who kept her close all because the writers (and creators) felt like they had to finish the story they started back in 2005 despite the ending not following the spirit of the show. Ah, Mrs. Mosby, we hardly knew ye. HIMYM was always a comedy bordering on a dramedy akin to The Wonder Years but in the finale, the tone changed drastically with Bob Saget's usually upbeat and positive narration of Future Ted replaced by the dour and mostly depressing narration from Josh Radnor, who plays present Ted. I didn't understand the change just like I didn't understand why Bob Saget was doing the narration in the first place. The only thing I can think is that the change in narration signified the change from a story about Ted and the Mother to a story about Ted and Robin. But yet, the story was never about how Ted met their mother, it was always about how much Ted loved Robin, wasn't it? And that's why, to me, this finale ended badly. I wanted to see Ted with the mother, not Aunt Robin. Until next time, I remain... ~Brian by Brian Hall at 4/02/2014 12:30:00 PM Labels: How I Met Your Mother, television, Whiz Bang While This Site Goes on Hiatus, Check Out Our Othe... This Land Is My Land..... Arrr, Marriage Is Terrible, I'm In Hell Where Was He Going to Put the Shell Pieces Anyway?... No. 48: Prairie City When Life Gives You Cherry Pits, Make Cherry Pit J... So When Did the World Become Colorized? What's With the Look On Her Face? Veeblefester's Rich So He Can Afford Life Support This Could've Easily Been a Daily Strip Mickey Rooney, 1920-2014 WANTED! A few people to create content to fill a c...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16123
__label__wiki	0.650937	0.650937	Cinema as Gallery: Goya Exhibition on the Big Screen The recent release of a film about paintings by Goya highlights the increasing trend of using cinema as a complement to—not to say substitute for?—actually visiting museum galleries. For this film is not about Goya, nor about his paintings per se, but about an exhibition of his paintings in the National Gallery in London. This, as far as I know, is a new genre of filmmaking (although pointers to the contrary would be greatly appreciated!). It emphasizes the experiential aspect of an exhibition, somewhat like the Van Gogh Alive show that immerses its viewers in floor-to-ceiling projections of excerpted details from Van Gogh paintings—creating a surreal landscape in which experience, not the stuff of traditional exhibitions, takes center stage. The Goya film, like the others by Exhibition on Screen, does not go so far as this, but still does focus on a luscious experience of the exhibited material and its historical context (see the period reconstructions in the trailer) more than, say, Frederick Wiseman's film National Gallery, which centered on life in the museum itself. It seems a wonderful way to inspire audiences to visit museums (I'm in the camp that believes that people will mostly use resources like this as an impetus, not a substitute, for going to museums themselves). I wonder what the partnership looks like between the museums and the filmmakers, and what the audience numbers are for these films. See the Writing on the Wall: Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin Way-finding signage in the Kunstgewerbemuseum Berlin. Photo collage: German Design Council (website linked through photo). Well-designed signage is a rare and precious gem. In a museum, signage can set the tone for a visitor's entire visit: because if she starts by buying a ticket, checking her coat, using the bathroom, and then finally entering the gallery she most wants to see, she's already had to locate at least four separate areas of the museum, probably by following signs. And if that process was easy—i.e., well-signed—she'll ideally be in a fine mood; but if it was difficult, she may enter the galleries feeling grumpy or frazzled, and that will color her experience of the whole museum. So kudos to Berlin's Kunstgewerbemuseum (the museum of decorative arts and design) for putting writing on the wall that no one can miss, and winning a design prize along the way. The eye-catching size and color of the signage creates a certain aesthetic effect that not all museums would want, but it accords well with the all-parts-visible idea behind Rolf Gutbrod's 1960s building. Even award-winning signage has two potential weak points, however. First, it has to be wriiten in a certain language—here German, which some visitors may not understand. Second, there is a compelling argument (nicely presented in an airport example in the addictive design podcast 99% Invisible) that the architecture itself, not just signage, should help guide the people in it. But since purpose-built buildings are not in the cards for most museums (and even if they are, wayfinding is only part of their mission), it's worth taking signage seriously. Conservation Made Visible: Alte Nationalgalerie Who doesn't love a peek behind the curtains? At least when the venue is a museum, a look behind the scenes (or curtains, in the German idiom) is always thrilling. Making visible all the work that goes into readying objects for display is not only a highlight for visitors but a well-deserved kudos to the conservation teams whose hard work is rarely recognized by the public—because ideally, their work is invisible! The conservators at Berlin's Alte Nationalgalerie are now earning appreciation in a special exhibition about their three years of work restoring Caspar David Friedrich's two most famous paintings, Monk by the Sea and The Abbey in the Oakwood. Numerous series of photographs in the exhibition show the progression from yellowed, cracked, poorly-restored pieces to the radiant paintings now finally back on show. A few of the photographs even showed the conservators' coded markings and notes for planning the restoration, as well as the X-ray images they used to better understand the underdrawings and primer layers. Two full-size photographs of the unrestored paintings (seen above) allow viewers to compare the earlier with the present state (much clearer and less jaundiced!). It is an exciting story to see laid out like this—and today, at least, many people were there to enjoy it. Better Together: Eastern mediterranean in the Louvre Museum View into the galleries "East Mediterranean in the Roman Empire." Photo: http://www.louvre.fr/en/hours-admission/schedule-room-closures A catalog published by the Louvre, L'Orient romain et byzantin au Louvre, underscores the power of perhaps the most fundamental matter of display: which objects are next to which. The catalog accompanied the opening of a new set of galleries featuring objects from three different departments—Greek, Etruscan, and Roman; Egyptian; and Near Eastern—now displayed together in a permanent exhibition space. The goal, the Louvre said, was that "these long-dispersed items could at last be assembled in a single space, and thereby placed in their geographical, cultural, and artistic context." It's a poweful example of how simply juxtaposing certain objects allows them to communicate in ways that they cannot individually or in other groupings. You can read the full press release here, including the museological mission statement and a room-by-room description, while this document offers more detail, photos, and spotlights on a few objects.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16127
__label__wiki	0.537728	0.537728	Rainforest to Gold Rush Explorer and Alaska Adventure North America - Seabourn Sojourn SPEAK TO ONE OF OUR North America SPECIALIST CONCIERGE FREE PHONE 08082026105 Home/Finest Collection/North America, Canada and Alaska/Custom Package Rainforest to Gold Rush Explorer and the Ultimate Alaskan Explorer Experience the stunning Canadian Rockies with this epic adventure. Your holiday begins in the city of Calgary, where you'll enjoy a nine-day escorted tour through Alberta and British Columbia. Along the way you'll enjoy a helicopter tour over the Rockies and board the Rocky Mountaineer train alongside top hotel accommodations and guided tours. Your escorted tour ends in Vancouver, where you'll spend four nights relaxing and exploring at leisure before beginning your 12-night cruise on-board Seabourn Sojourn. Visit the ports of Wrangell, Sitka, Inian Islands, Juneau, Ketchikan, Prince Rupert, Klemtu, Alert Bay and Vancouver. As you cruise around Alaska you'll travel to places less visited by other ships, providing you with an intimate connection to this awe-inspiring land. In Vancouver, you will disembark your ship and travel back to the UK. 20 June 2019 Fly from the UK to Calgary. Transfer from the airport to your hotel and spend the rest of the day sightseeing on your own in 'The Heart of the New West'. Spend the night in Calgary. 21 June 2019 Calgary to Banff. Depart Calgary this morning for a full-day tour ending in Banff. Journey to Kananaskis where you will enjoy the highlight of today, a 12-minute Panoramic Helicopter Tour over the remarkable landscape of the Rockies. Continue on to Banff for a sightseeing tour including Bow Falls, Lake Minnewanka, Surprise Corner and the Hoodoos. Banff Gondola included. Your tour ends on arrival in Banff late this afternoon. Overnight hotel stay in Banff. 22 June 2019 Banff to Lake Louise. A half-day tour takes you into Yoho National Park to view some of its natural wonders. Among the attractions are the Spiral Tunnels, Emerald Lake and a natural rock bridge spanning the Kicking Horse River. The tour ends in Lake Louise where the remainder of the afternoon is at your leisure to enjoy this magnificent location. Overnight in Lake Louise Please note: While arrival at The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise will be approximately 1:00 p.m., scheduled check-in time is not until 4:00 p.m. In the event that your room is not ready, your luggage will be stored and you are free to enjoy the amenities of the hotel. 23 June 2019 Lake Louise to Jasper. Enjoy a sightseeing tour of Banff and Jasper national parks via the Icefields Parkway. Among the highlights are Bow Lake, the Columbia Icefield, Glacier Skywalk and Athabasca Falls. The Columbia Icefield is one of the largest accumulations of ice south of the Arctic Circle and one of the most accessible icefields in North America. Here you will ride on an Ice Explorer to the middle of the Athabasca Glacier to learn more about its geological features. Lunch is included at the Columbia Icefield Glacier Discovery Centre. Arrive in Jasper late this afternoon. Overnight hotel stay in Jasper. 24 June 2019 Jasper. Jasper National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Canadian Rockies’ largest national park. Today you will enjoy a scenic half-day tour of some of the park’s natural attractions and rugged peaks, and perhaps catch a glimpse of the wildlife that calls this region home. The remainder of the day is free for you to explore more of Jasper independently. Overnight hotel stay in Jasper. 25 June 2019 Jasper to Quesnel. Travel on-board the Rocky Mountaineer from the mountain resort of Jasper in the Canadian Rockies to the charming rural town of Quesnel, gateway to the North Cariboo. Pass through the Rocky Mountain Trench, with the steep Rocky and Cariboo Mountains either side, and on to the rolling hills and vast forests of British Columbia’s Northern Interior. Highlights include Mount Robson, the highest peak in the Canadian Rockies, Yellowhead Pass and Moose Lake. Your day concludes as the Rocky Mountaineer passes through the town of Prince George and follows the Fraser River into Quesnel. Overnight hotel stay in Quesnel. Please note that all accommodation in Quesnel is of moderate standard. Breakfast and lunch included on-board. 26 June 2019 Quesnel to Whistler. Your journey continues south today to the four-season resort of Whistler. Enjoy breath-taking and varied scenery, from the desert-like conditions of the Fraser Canyon, through the rolling hills and vast ranchlands of the Cariboo Plateau, to the river canyons and lush farmland of the Pemberton Valley. Highlights include sweeping views of the Fraser Canyon, the crossing of Deep Creek Bridge, one of the highest railway bridges in the world, and the shorelines of glacial-fed Seton Lake and Anderson Lake. Your rail journey today ends on arrival in the resort town of Whistler, host of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games alpine events. Overnight in Whistler. Breakfast and lunch included on-board. 27 June 2019 Whistler to Vancouver. The morning is free to explore Whistler Village at your leisure. This afternoon return to Vancouver on-board the Rocky Mountaineer through the stunning scenery of the Sea to Sky Corridor. Highlights of the trip include the Cheakamus Canyon, the dome peak of Mount Garibaldi, Brandywine Falls, and breath-taking views of Howe Sound and the Coast Mountains. An afternoon meal is served canapé style. Your rail journey ends upon your arrival in Vancouver. 28 June 2019 Vancouver. Spend four-nights at your own leisure in Vancouver and explorer what this wonderful city has to offer. 2 JuLy 2019 Transfer from the hotel to the port. Embark Seabourn Sojourn for your 12-night Ultimate Alaska Cruise. 3 July 2019 Cruise the Queen Charlotte Sound. 4 July 2019 Rudyerd Bay (Misty Fjords). 5 July 2019 Wrangell. Likely the earliest European community on America’s northwest coast, the town was located on Wrangell Island in Alaska’s Inside Passage. Its location at the mouth of the Stikine River was important for millennia to the Tlingit people of the region for trade with the interior. The Russian Baron Ferdinand Wrangel built his Fort St. Dionysius adjacent to an existing Tlingit fortress in 1811, attracted by the abundant otter, seal and beaver populations. In 1839, the fort was leased to the British Hudson’s Bay Company, which renamed it Fort Stikine. Initial Tlingit resistance to the British appropriation of the Stikine River trade route was stifled by catastrophic smallpox epidemics among the natives. But within a decade the Company managed to decimate the fur resource. Fishing and timber remained important to the local economy, as they do today. But the fortunes of Wrangell were transformed by its strategic location on the routes of the Klondike Gold Rushes. The Stikine River was the earliest route of prospectors into the Klondike goldfields, and the town remained an important staging area for successive waves of miners en-route northward. The whole history of the town is wonderfully presented in the small but impressive Wrangell Museum. Visitors are thrilled by close encounters with black and brown bears at the nearby Anan Bear and Wildlife Observatory. They also are enchanted by the prehistoric artworks at Petroglyph Beach State Historic Park, and the colourful reproductions of Tlingit cultural icons at the Chief Shakes House and Totem Park. 6 July 2019 Sitka. Alaska’s first capital had been an active village of native Tlingit people for over 10,000 years when the Russian Alexander Baranov arrived by sea in 1799 and established his Fort Archangel Michael. His presumption as the Tsar-appointed Governor of Russian America evidently aggravated the Tlingits to the extent that in 1802 they stormed the fort and decimated the Russian population, taking a number captive and forcing the others to flee. Baranov returned two years later with a military force and re-established the community which he renamed New Archangel. It served as the capital of Russian America until the purchase of Alaska in 1867. The reminders of its Russian heritage are everywhere in Sitka, and the city contains 22 buildings that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Among the most recognizable are the copper-domed St. Michael’s Cathedral, the Pioneer Home and the Russian Bishop’s House. It was here that the contract of sale was signed that ended Russia’s American adventure and transferred the Alaska territory to the United States. Ironically, Sitka saw the first Native Alaska Brotherhood formed here in 1912 to oppose race discrimination against native people, and the Native Brotherhood Hall was built in 1914. Favourite sights for visitors include traditional Russian performances by the New Archangel Dancers and visits to the fascinating Alaska Raptor Centre. Sport fishing for salmon and halibut are also popular, as are various activities in the nearby Tongass rainforest including fly-in hikes and jet-boat tours to view wildlife in the surrounding waters. 07 July 2019 Inian Islands. The Inian Islands are a half-dozen small, rocky islands situated at the Pacific Ocean end of the Icy Strait between Chichagof Island and the Glacier Bay National Park. They are a part of the 23,151-acre Pleasant/Lemesurier/Inian Islands Wilderness, preserving the pristine natural splendours within Icy Strait. Physically, the islands are characterized by their rugged, rocky shorelines and the distinctive, wind-formed forests that cling to them. Their western coasts are subject to the effects of Pacific weather and waves, and the narrow channels between them funnel the oceanic tides into and out of the Lynn Canal and other inland waterways. This creates high-velocity Venturi-effect currents giving rise to nicknames such as “The Laundry Chute” for some passages during tidal changes. It also provides a continual bath of nutrient rich water to the islands, supporting a plentiful density of marine life including whales, seals and sea lions, otters, and sea birds. The islands also support populations of brown bears, Sitka blacktailed deer, land otters, mink, squirrels and land birds. Access to the wilderness is only by float plane, and motor or human-powered boats. Our fleet of Zodiac inflatable boats and sea kayaks will provide up-close access to Seabourn guests during Ventures by Seabourn excursions guided by their expert expedition staff. 8 July 2019 Juneau. Alaska’s capital is inaccessible by road, due to the rugged surrounding terrain. Set beside the deep Gastineau Channel in the state’s Southeastern panhandle, it was founded as a mining camp by Joe Juneau in 1880, and was the first Alaskan town officially established after the purchase of the territory by the United States. It was designated as the capital in 1906, after its important mining and fishing industries eclipsed the waning whaling and fur trades at the former capital Sitka. Today seasonal tourism is its second most important enterprise, after only government administration. The town receives visitors with colourful floral displays in summer, and offers an impressive range of options for experiencing its heritage and the bounty of natural attractions nearby. In the mountains back of town, the huge Juneau Icefield spawns no fewer than 30 glaciers, including the mighty Mendenhall Glacier, the only glacier within a city’s limits. Juneau’s extensive limits enfold over 3,200 square miles, making the borough larger than the U.S. states of Rhode Island or Delaware. It is also the only state capital that shares a border with a foreign country (Canada). Popular adventures for visitors include flight tours by seaplane or helicopter, many including landing on glaciers; whale-watching and wildlife viewing excursions by boat; sport fishing for salmon or huge Alaskan halibut; dogsled mushing and panning for gold in sites such as Gold Creek. Hiking tours visit the Tongass National Forest, and there is also a breath-taking mountain tramway at Mt. Roberts. 9 July 2019 Scenic cruising Tracy Arm or Endico 10 July 2019 Ketchikan. The South-eastern most town in Alaska is also arguably its most colourful. Ketchikan’s early history is forever tied to the rollicking brothels lining the raised wooden catwalks that snake along Creek Street. Here a pioneering population of enterprising women provided rest and recreation for the predominantly male workforce powering the timber and fishing industries of the Southeast. Founded in 1885, the town is the state’s oldest continuously governed municipality, having been incorporated in 1900. But Ketchikan also celebrates its earlier heritage. The city is a treasury of Native American culture, with the largest collection of Native totem poles in the world. The Totem Bight State Park, Potlatch Park, Saxman native village and the Totem Heritage Center display both originals and reproductions created over the years by carvers trained in the traditional symbolism and craft. A restored salmon cannery shows how the city became the Salmon Capital of the World, and a visit to a hatchery reveals contemporary efforts to ensure the continuation of this vital resource. Tours of the nearby Misty Fjords National Monument are available by air or sea, and sport fishing is also popular with visitors. A visit to the Native American village of Metlakatla on Annette Island provides an in-depth look at the local Tsimshian and Haida-Tlingit cultures both past and present. 11 July 2019 Prince Rupert. Like many towns on the Pacific coast of North America, Prince Rupert was founded on the site of First Nations communities that had thrived for millennia. The town was founded in 1910 and named for Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the 17th century Duke of Cumberland and governor of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The vision of the current city was that of Charles Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, who recognized its deep, ice-free harbour as the natural north-western terminus of the North American railway network. He traveled to Europe to solicit development funds for his dream, but perished during his return on the ill-fated liner Titanic. Prince Rupert is today the closest year-round rail terminal to the vast markets of Asia. It is also an important centre for tourism, being a hub for ferry, cruise and rail traffic between Canada, Alaska and the lower forty-eight U.S. states. The town itself offers visitors sites of interest such as the attractive sunken gardens located behind its City Hall. The Museum of Northern British Columbia and its Totem Carving Shed illustrate the First Nations and later historic development of the town. The North Pacific Cannery Museum reflects the importance of fishing as a local industry, and the Kwinitsa Station Railway Museum preserves one of the few remaining stations of the Grand Trunk system. Many visitors are drawn by the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, which features one of the densest populations of these magnificent creatures anywhere. Hikes at the Butze Rapids Park and Trail and along the elevated catwalks and suspension bridges at the Metlakatla Wilderness Trail provide more direct access to the area’s lush coastal rain forest. 12 July 2019 Klemtu. On Swindle Island in the fjords of the British Columbia coast, Klemtu is a town of fewer than 500 people belonging to the Kitasoo Native Band. No one really knows how long the Kitasoo and the Xais-Xais groups occupied the site, but there were permanent villages here long before Europeans arrived. In the 1920s, the China Hat Cannery was established, which is now owned by the Band and is the main employer. Another source of income is the expert interpretive guiding of visitors to the region and performances of traditional dances. The town has a Big House as well as a gallery and museum. The town is located adjacent to the Great Bear Rainforest, a preserve dedicated to the protection of the native populations of grizzly, black and Kermode bears. The Kermode bears, sometimes called Spirit Bears, are an indigenous race of bears that seasonally change from white to light gold or tan in colour, and have long been considered sacred to the Kitasoos. They are a separate race, and not albinos, having black eyes and noses. Visitors are attracted by the exceptional opportunity to see a Kermode bear in the wild. 13 July 2019 Alert Bay. This tiny Namgis First Nations community on Cormorant Island welcomes its few visitors with rare insights into the region’s aboriginal cultures. Aside from the town, the rest of the island comprises two Indian Reserves. Totem poles can be viewed from the road at the island Burial Grounds, and the town boasts the world’s tallest totem. In the early 20th century, the Canadian government attempted to quash the traditional potlatch wealth distribution rituals of the First Nations people by confiscating the masks, baskets, copper plates and other regalia that were used in the ceremonies. After persistent negotiations, the Namgis have had their artifacts restored, and these rarities are displayed at the U’mista Cultural Centre. A traditional Namgis Big House is also located at Alert Bay, and traditional rituals are sometimes performed there. In the nearby forest, it is possible to view old-growth cedar trees which have been uniquely scarred by generations of Namgis artisans stripping their bark for use in creating clothing, baskets and for other traditional uses. 14 July 2019 Vancouver. Disembark and transfer back to the airport for your overnight flight back to the UK. Explore the Canadian Rockies in luxury. Travel for three days on the luxurious Rocky Mountaineer in GoldLeaf Service. Enjoy a 12-night luxury cruise discovering the beauty of Alaska. Overseas transfers. Eight-night Rainforest to Gold Rush Explorer which includes three days on-board Rocky Mountaineer in GoldLeaf Service and luxury hotels stays in Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Quesnel, Whistler and Vancouver. Four-night night hotel stay in Vancouver. Tours including Vancouver Lookout, Jasper Highlights Tour, Icefields Parkway Tour, including Ice Explorer, Jasper to Lake Louise, Yoho Park Tour, Lake Louise to Banff, Oceanview Suite	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16135
__label__wiki	0.857689	0.857689	SATURDAY FEB. 16 \| 1:15 PM Afternoon Matchup: On Saturday, the San Jose Barracuda and San Diego Gulls connect for the fifth meeting on the eight game season series. Since San Jose beat the Gulls 5-3 on Dec. 3, San Diego has won the last four-consecutive meetings, outscoring San Jose 19-to-eight in those games. The New Guys: On Tuesday, the Barracuda recalled forward Colby McAuley from the Orlando Solar Bears and signed veteran forward T.J. Hensick from the Toledo Walleye. McAuley skated in Tuesday’s win, registering two penalty minutes. Hensick leads the ECHL in scoring (17 goals, 41 asssits) in 47 games. Among active AHL players, Hensick, 33, is 11th in games played (630), eighth in goals (166), third in assists (402) and second in points (568). The Howell, Michigan native spent the last two years in Ontario with the Reign. In head-to-head matchups against San Jose over the last two seasons, Hensick led Ontario in scoring both seasons (2016-17: 1+7=8, 2017-18: 1+8=9). Dazzling Dezzy: On Tuesday, sophomore d-man Nick DeSimone netted a late-tying goal to force overtime in an eventual 2-1 San Jose shootout win against Tucson . On Sunday, he collected a pair of helpers and is now third on the Barracuda in points (29), T-fifth in goals (9), third in assists (20) and second in power-play goals (4). DeSimone Is currently riding a five-game point streak (two goals, four assists), the longest such streak of his career. DeSimone is T-12th among all AHL defenseman in points and T-8th in goals. Backstop Bullies: San Jose’s goalie combo of Josef Korenar and Antoine Bibeau have combined for the AHL’s best goals-against average (2.47) and second-best save percentage (.915). The 20-year-old rookie Korenar is second in the AHL in GAA (2.28), T-fifth in SV% (.920), T-6th in wins (16), and T-second in shutouts (3). Bibeau is T-8th in the league in GAA (2.55) and is T-5th in SV% (.915). Frank the Tank: Acquired from the Ottawa Senators in the Erik Karlsson trade, third-year pro Francis Perron is second on the Barracuda in points (32), first in goals (15), T-fourth in assists (17), first in power-play goals (7), first in shooting percentage (19.5%), second in game-winning goals (3), and first in multi-point games (8). Perron scored the shootout game-winner on Tuesday, the first shootout goal of his career in six attempts.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16136
__label__wiki	0.947389	0.947389	If We Don't Make It We'll Fake It Bottom/ Scissor Sisters did it again with the gay/hedonist anthem "Filthy/Gorgeous" (Polydor, 2005), the seventh track on their self-titled debut album. Scissor Sisters is an American band named after a sex position between two women. Their style draws from disco, glam rock, pop and the club scene of New York City. Their first hit was in 2004 with the release of a disco cover of the Pink Floyd classic "Comfortably Numb". Several media outlets have noted that Scissor Sisters 'stick out like a sore thumb' on the list of artists who have sold over 2 million copies of an album in the UK in the 21st century — the others being James Blunt, Robbie Williams, Keane, Dido, Coldplay, and Norah Jones — all artists considered 'mainstream' or 'middle of the road', as opposed to the Scissor Sisters' brash and controversial image. Middle/ After a seven year wait, The Prodigy's fourth studio album Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned (XL Recordings) was released in Summer 2004. It is the first studio album by the electronica act after 1997's The Fat of the Land and its highly controversial single "Smack My Bitch Up". The Prodigy are an electronic music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990, in Braintree, Essex, England. Along with The Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method, and a few other lesser-known acts, they were pioneers of the Big Beat genre. The Prodigy are a difficult band to classify, because they have developed significantly with time and continue to innovate. Their music consists of various styles ranging from rave, hardcore, industrial and drum & bass in the early 1990s, to alternative rock and big beat with punk vocal elements in later times. They have sold over 16 million records worldwide which is unequaled in electronic music history. Top/ Canadian dance punk duo Death From Above 1979 played loud synth-infused drum and bass combination. Romance Bloody Romance: Remixes & B-Sides (Last Gang Records, 2005) is a collection of remixes of songs featured on the album You're a Woman, I'm a Machine. Myths Of The Near Future Truth Doesn't Make A Noise Lazer Guided Melodies	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16138
__label__cc	0.723973	0.276027	Report sets out new vision for urban freight - 'Delivering the future' calls for new national freight strategy - A new report from pteg highlights the essential role of urban freight in ensuring the effective functioning of the UK economy and presents a fresh vision designed to safeguard this role, as well as protect the environment and quality of life for communities. ‘Delivering the future: New approaches to urban freight’ could provide a starting point for a broader, nationwide freight strategy to provide direction and leadership to this vitally important industry and its stakeholders. The freight and logistics sector contributes £100bn to the UK economy and employs 1 in 12 of the country’s working people, delivering everything from the food in our supermarkets to the medicines in our hospitals, with cities frequently the ultimate destination for consignments. The report finds that the approach taken to freight is a key factor in determining our success, not only in boosting economic growth, but also in tackling other issues high on the policy agenda including creating safer conditions for cyclists and pedestrians, improving air quality and developing smart cities. Geoff Inskip, lead Director General for Integration at pteg said: "For our urban areas, getting freight right is part of a much wider debate about what kind of cities we want to live in and how we want them to look and feel. The movement of goods brings enormous benefits, but also challenges for our cities. Smart cities will embrace the opportunity this report presents to create cleaner, safer and more attractive environments for residents, businesses and investors alike." To maximise the industry’s ability to positively affect these areas, ‘Delivering the future’ sets out a new vision for safe, smart and clean urban freight. It envisages that every opportunity should be taken for freight to make its way to urban areas by rail or water, either directly into those areas, or into the major distribution parks that serve them. It argues that those distribution sites should be located so that it is practical for goods to travel the last mile(s) into urban centres using zero/low emission modes. These last mile journeys should be achieved as safely, unobtrusively and with as little environmental impact as possible. The report explores a number of ideas that could assist in achieving this vision, from making more use of city rail stations as out-of-hours freight hubs to incentivising and enforcing good industry standards and from a last mile innovation challenge fund to improving vehicle design and the training of road users. Geoff Inskip continued: "We hope that the vision for urban freight presented in this report will provide a starting point for a national freight strategy, one which will help to fill the current policy vacuum on freight at national level and ensure that freight operates in a way that is efficient for the industry and taxpayer, but which is not at the expense of communities and the environment." For more contact Jonathan Bray on 0113 2517204 / 0781 804 1485 ‘Delivering the future: New approaches to urban freight’ and an infographic summarising the key findings can be downloaded below. Delivering the future: New approaches to urban freight This report highlights the essential role of urban freight in ensuring the effective functioning of the UK economy and presents a fresh vision designed to safeguard this role as well as protect the environment and quality of life for communities. It envisages that every opportunity should be taken for freight to make its way to urban areas by rail or water, either directly into those areas, or into the major distribution parks that serve them. It argues that those distribution sites should be located so that it is practical for goods to travel the last mile(s) into urban centres using zero/low emission modes. These last mile journeys should be achieved as safely, unobtrusively and with as little environmental impact as possible. The report explores a number of ideas that could assist in achieving this vision and calls for a broader, nationwide freight strategy to provide direction and leadership to the industry and its stakeholders.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16139
__label__cc	0.614103	0.385897	Live music performances this week on television shows include: August 14, 2018 at 12:00a.m. v Sting and Shaggy: Today on “Live with Kelly & Ryan” v Death Cab for Cutie: Wednesday on “Jimmy Kimmel Live” (ABC) and Thursday on “Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS) v Ariana Grande: Wednesday on “Late Late Show with James Corden” (CBS) v Aerosmith: Thursday on “Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” (NBC) v Florence + the Machine: Friday on “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS) “America’s Got Talent” (8 p.m., NBC): After hundreds of acts auditioned for the chance to win the $1 million prize, the competition is down to just 36 acts. Twelve performers will take the stage live tonight from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood as judging is turned over to the American viewing audience. “Castaways” (10 p.m., ABC): This new reality series tests the human need for companionship under extreme circumstances, as each contestant learns there are other castaways out there but are unaware of how many, their locations or when they will be rescued. Tonight, a chance encounter between Tim and Krichelle takes them by surprise, while Eric finds himself on a solo path. TV listings, C3 French youth choir at St. Columba The Les Moineaux choir of Paris, France, will perform in concert at St. Columba Cathedral at 7 p.m. Aug. 25. Les Moineaux choir members range in age from 10 to 18 years old. The concert will feature music of the16th century and the well-known “Hallelujah” chorus from Handel’s “Messiah, “Ave Maria” from Gounod, and pieces from the French folklores. A free will offering will be taken during the concert. The choir’s CD will also be available for purchase. YSU art students plan exhibition An exhibition of works by Youngstown State University art students will open Aug. 22 in the Judith Rae Solomon Gallery, located on the street level (second floor) of Bliss Hall. The exhibition, which will be open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., is a sampling of the strongest work developed during academic year 2017-18. This work is displayed at the beginning of the fall semester each year so that incoming freshman who are taking art courses can see the best work recently produced in the same courses they are taking currently. The work of approximately 50 students will be displayed during the exhibition, which closes on Sept. 14. Parking will be available in the M30 Wick Avenue parking deck for a nominal fee. December 11, 2018 midnight Live music performances on television shows this week include: July 12, 2016 midnight	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16140
__label__wiki	0.704572	0.704572	Cincinnati council OK’s severance for manager – if he quits CINCINNATI (AP) — Cincinnati's council has approved an eight-month severance package for its embattled manager – if he decides to resign. The 7-1 vote today for an estimated $174,000 came a day after a proposed 18-month package worth some $423,000 fell one vote short. City Manager Harry Black on Wednesday apologized to Mayor John Cranley and anyone else he has offended and said he’d like to continue as manager, expecting “many more successes.” Cranley has pushed for Black’s ouster, saying he has had a pattern of unprofessional behavior, such as a strip club visit by Black and three city police officers during a business trip two years ago. The standoff between the two strong-willed government leaders is in its fourth week. Cincinnati to act on $393K buyout deal Cincinnati’s City Hall standoff in week 4 amid racial unease Parking, streetcar key issues in Cincy mayoral race Catholic faithful demand change after sex-abuse scandals March 11, 2016 1:05 p.m. Cincinnati: Money on hand for $1.2 million streetcar deficit	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16141
__label__cc	0.597708	0.402292	Applications must be received by Wednesday, September 3, 2008, 5:00 p.m., at the Town Office in order to be eligible to cast your ballot in this election. Sample Ballots Liberty Union Party Progressive Party WARNING -- VERMONT PRIMARY ELECTION -- SEPTEMBER 9, 2008 A statewide Primary Election will be held on TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2008 to vote for candidates for the following offices: U.S. Representative Governor State Treasurer Secretary of State Auditor of Accounts Attorney General State Senator(s) State Representative(s) High Bailiff The polls will open at 7:00 a.m. and will close at 7:00 p.m. The polling place is located at the Waitsfield Elementary School. CHECKLIST: posted at town clerk's office by August 10, 2008. If your name is not on it, then you must register to vote. SAMPLE BALLOTS POSTED: August 20, 2008. PARTY CHOICE: You don’t have to tell which party you favor, but you can only vote for candidates on one party ballot in the primary election. (There is no voter registration by party in Vermont.) EARLY or ABSENTEE BALLOTS: You can request early absentee ballots at any time during the election year. The latest you can request ballots for the Primary is the close of the town clerk's office on September 8, 2008. You or a family member can request early ballots in person, in writing or by telephone. An authorized person can request ballots for you in writing. Ways of voting early absentee in the 30 days before the election: Vote in town clerk's office before September 8, 2008. Voter may take the ballots out of the clerk's office for himself and return in same manner as if the ballots were received by mail. Have ballot mailed to you and return it to clerk's office before Election Day or to polling place before 7 p.m. on Election Day. If you are sick or disabled, you may ask the town clerk on or before September 5, 2008, to have two justices of the peace bring a ballot to you at your home on any of the eight days preceding the day of the election or the day of election. IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED FOR FIRST TIME REGISTRANTS BY MAIL: If you have never voted in Vermont before and you registered individually by mail, you must provide identification before you can vote a regular ballot: current valid photo I.D., or a utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document showing your name and current address. If you do not provide I.D., you will be offered a provisional ballot. CASTING A PROVISIONAL BALLOT: If you accept the offer to vote a provisional ballot, you must complete a sworn affidavit on the provisional ballot envelope swearing that you are qualified to vote in Vermont and in the polling place where you are, and that you submitted an application to register to vote before the deadline. You will be given a card explaining how you can find out if your ballot was counted one week after the election by calling the Vermont Secretary of State's Office at 1-800-439-8683. If your name was dropped from the checklist in error, or has not been added even though you submitted an application before the deadline for applications: Explain the situation to your town clerk or presiding officer and ask that your name be added to the checklist today. The town clerk or presiding officer will investigate the situation and then either have you complete a sworn affidavit and then add your name to the checklist or explain why you cannot be added. If the town clerk or presiding officer cannot determine that you are entitled to be added to the checklist on Election Day, you may appeal to a superior court judge, who will give you a decision on Election Day OR you may vote a provisional ballot. It is your choice. Any voter who wants assistance for any reason may bring the person of his or her choice into the voting booth to help or may ask for assistance from two election officials. Voters who cannot get from the car into the polling place may have a ballot brought to a car outside the polls by two election officials. Any U. S. citizen and resident of a Vermont town or city who submitted an application to register to vote before the deadline is entitled to vote regardless of race or physical ability. THE LAW PROHIBITS THE FOLLOWING--DO NOT: Vote more than once per election, either in the same town or in different towns. Mislead the board of civil authority about your own or another person's eligibility to vote. Socialize in a manner that will disturb other voters inside the polling place. Offer bribe, threaten, or intimidate a person to vote for a candidate. Hinder or interfere with the progress of a voter going into or from a polling place. Vermont law provides that a person cannot campaign within a polling place, but does NOT specify any number of feet that campaigners need to be away from the polls outside. The Presiding Officer will set reasonable rules for where campaigners can stand. The Election Officials at the polling place are here to serve you. If you have any questions, or need assistance while voting, ask your town clerk or any election official for help. If you do not understand something, or you believe a mistake has been made that has not been corrected, or you have a question that cannot be answered to your satisfaction at the polling place: Call the Elections Division, Office of the Secretary of State 1-800-439-VOTE (439-8683) (Accessible by TDD) If you believe that any of your voting rights have been violated, you may call the Elections Division at 800-439-8683 or (802) 828-2464. You may also file an Administrative Complaint with the Secretary of State’s Office, 26 Terrace Street, Montpelier, VT 05609-1101. If you believe you have witnessed efforts to commit any kind of fraud or corruption in the voting process, you may report this to your local United States Attorney’s Office, the County State’s Attorney or the Vermont Attorney General. If you have witnessed actual or attempted acts of discrimination or intimidation in the voting process, you may report this to the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice at (800) 253-3931. VOTING PROCESS--INSTRUCTIONS FOR VOTERS Go to the entrance checklist table, give your name, and if asked, your street address to the election official in a loud voice. Wait until your name is repeated and checked off by the official. If you want to use the new Vote-by-Telephone voting system to hear an audio ballot instead of marking a paper ballot, tell the entrance checklist official at this time. An election official will take you to a tabletop voting booth with the telephone, will call the system, enter a security code and a ballot code, and then hand the telephone to you for you to press any number to begin voting. More details about how you can practice and preview this telephone voting system are available on our website at http://www.sec.state.vt.us, click on Elections, then click on Voters, then click on Vote-by-Telephone. Take the 4 ballots from the election official and enter a voting booth. In a Primary Election, you may vote for candidates of ONLY 1 Party on only 1 ballot, or your vote will not count. Once inside the voting booth, decide which PARTY Ballot you want to vote. To vote for a candidate, fill in the oval to the right of the name of the candidate. Do not vote for more candidates than the “Vote for not more than #” for each or office. If you vote for more than the “Vote for not more than #,” your vote will not count for that race. WRITE-IN candidate(s). To vote for someone whose name is not printed on the ballot, use the blank "write-in" line on the ballot and either write in the name or paste on a sticker, then fill in the oval. If you make a mistake or change your mind, DO NOT try to erase. Return your spoiled ballot and ASK an election official for a new ballot. If you make a mistake again, you may ask for another ballot and you may want to ask for assistance. Each voter may have up to 3 ballots. After completing your ballot, fold the 3 unvoted ballots in half and give the unvoted ballots to an election official to be deposited in the “Unvoted Ballots” ballot box. To cast your voted ballot: either insert your voted ballot into the tabulating machine, or in a hand count town, fold your voted ballot and insert it into the ballot box. Go to the exit checklist table, if any, and state your name. Wait until your name is repeated and checked off by the official. Leave the voting area immediately by passing outside the guardrail. All voters who are in line at the polling place at 7 p.m. will be permitted to vote. No voter can enter the polling place to vote after 7 p.m. Town Meeting and Local Elections Citizen's Guide to Vermont Town Meeting Vermont League of Cities and Towns What Is Town Meeting? Advisory Town Meeting Articles Role of the Moderator Australian Ballot Voter's Guide to Town Meeting Procedure JENNIFER PETERSON Waitsfield Town Office Waitsfield, VT 05673 Phone: (802) 496-2218 ext. 11 Vermont Secretary of State ELECTIONS DIVISION 26 Terrace Street Web: http://vermont-elections.org/soshome.htm	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16143
__label__wiki	0.562032	0.562032	Victoria Mack Acting for the Camera – Adjunct Professor Victoria Mack received her MFA in Acting from NYU’s TIsch School of the Arts and has been acting, directing and teaching professionally for 15 years. She directs at the Stella Adler Studio of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and at the Stella Adler Evening Conservatory, where she most recently directed The Cherry Orchard and Eve Ensler’s Necessary Targets. She recently directed a salon of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at TACT. She has taught Acting all over the city and as far as Chile. She is a resident Shakespeare instructor at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and a resident faculty member at the Rhode Island School of Design, where she teaches Directing to film majors. This summer she will teach a 10-week course in Acting for TV and Film at the Stella Adler Studio. As an actor she’s worked on Broadway and extensively off-Broadway. She’s also done considerable regional work, including two world premiere Theresa Rebeck plays; starring roles at Syracuse Stage, Milwaukee Rep, Cincinnati Playhouse, Denver Center, Pittsburgh Playhouse, and 14 productions at the Shakespeare Theatre of NJ, most recently Ellen Tree in Red Velvet; as well as a self-produced collection of two-person, ten-minute plays that played in New York City and then traveled to Santiago, Chile. With TACT she performed in Natural Affection, Hard Love and Happy Birthday as well as many roles in TACT salons, and has been a company member since 2012. Victoria has shot two pilots as well as “The Good Wife,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “Unforgettable,” “Black Box,” “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” and “Orange is the New Black.” Film includes The Letter, with Wynona Ryder and James Franco, A Song in the Shell, Atlantis, Resolutions.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16145
__label__cc	0.54411	0.45589	Buy The Movie Request A Screening Educational Sales Our Participants Our care Providers The Mama Sherpas How did you secure partnerships with the hospitals featured in the film? Midwife Whitney Pinger, who is featured in the film, suggested that we contact the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM). ACNM advised us on top models and we were able to secure cooperation of Baystate Medical Center and Sutter Davis Hospital. Our academic advisor, Professor Adrea Lawrence, was a patient at Physician and Midwives Collaborative Practice in Alexandria and made the introductions for us. We then began an extensive permissions process with the hospitals and practices. How long were you in production? A little over two years. Why did you choose “The Mama Sherpas" as the title? The genesis for the move title came on my first day of filming in August, 2011. The midwife explained to an expecting mama that midwives "acted like sherpas to guide the women through the birthing process." It was an incredible moment and although it didn't end up in the final version of the film, it stuck with me. At that very moment, we began playing with the title of The Mama Sherpas and later did an audience survey to test the name as well as discussing it with ACNM's national office and local midwives. The name resonated as it reflected the spirit of how midwives practice. My concern as a filmmaker is that it was a bit obscure OR the intentionality could be misunderstood as something with negative connotations. So, I waited to finalize the title until right before we completed the film...literally. We went through many, many discussions. Finally, days before "picture lock" I spent an afternoon meditating on it. As I sat in my office, with my head down for a bit, it finally came to me that this had to be the title of the film. Like Sherpas guiding hikers to Mount Everest, midwives don't take the glory, they're the guides, this is their life's work and it's always about mama and baby. Without getting too political, I recognize that the Sherpa people have been exploited time and time again. And, choosing to use the word "sherpa" which is also a noun to mean "expert and guide" was always meant with the utmost respect, with the meaning to guide women to a safe delivery of their baby. Midwives put the woman and baby first, never in it for the glory, it's their calling. And with that nod of respect, we found The Mama Sherpas. What was the most challenging shoot? The shooting process was much easier than anticipated. The hospitals and practices were very supportive and provided us pretty much unfettered access. The main challenge was at Baystate and Sutter Davis, we would be flying in for a few days at a time monthly or bimonthly and as you cannot predict labor, we were never sure whether we would be successful in what we were able to film. We definitely made several trips where we’d arrive at the hospital after what had been an extremely busy period only for us to experience days without births. Some care providers joked they appreciated my arrival because it meant it would be quiet. We stuck with filming long enough though that this was not always the case. Keep in mind, that in California and Massachusetts we didn’t have mamas lined up ahead of time so we would ask when they came in already in labor, not the optimal time to ask, “oh and can we film your interactions with midwives.” Despite that possible obstacle, we ended up filming some pretty amazing families and birth stories. How did the editing process help the film come together? The biggest challenge is telling a story that will be as accessible as possible to a wide audience. There is an inherent tendency to want to edit to the audience of the mothers and care providers who are already in the know, rather than editing so the film is accessible to any woman and partner who is thinking about becoming pregnant or pregnant and may have not even heard of the concept of midwives working in hospitals. At the same time, we want to make sure that we avoid short-handing anything; it’s a careful tightrope act to balance the two for sure. Was there something that you learned that you weren’t expecting to encounter? The expansive role that midwives play in women’s lives. They do so much more than catch babies, that’s a big part and at the same time a small part of what they do. Many are trained as primary care providers and work on the front lines of poverty. They care for women from puberty past menopause and often advise women beyond health care and are counselors to the patients they serve. I always left a film shoot inspired and hopeful because midwives were in the world. If you had to do it over again, what would you do differently? I don’t think we’d do anything differently. Well, to be honest, the biggest obstacle to production is funding. We made this film on an absolute shoe-string. If we had more funding, we would have breathing room and certainly more money for post- production and outreach, which we still may need to fundraise for, but we were very blessed to have the care providers, mamas, and families trust us. No amount of funding would have helped us gain the intimacy that we had to tell their stories. What do all the different terms mean? CERTIFIED NURSE-MIDWIFE (CNM): An individual trained and licensed in both nursing and midwifery. Nurse-midwives possess at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education and are certified by the American College of Nurse-Midwives. CERTIFIED MIDWIFE (CM): An individual trained and certified in midwifery. Certified midwives possess at least a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education and are certified by the American College of Nurse-Midwives. CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL MIDWIFE (CPM): An individual trained in midwifery who meets practice standards of the North American Registry of Midwives. DIRECT-ENTRY MIDWIFE (DEM): An independent individual trained in midwifery through a variety of sources that can include: self-study, apprenticeship, a midwifery school, or a college/university program. LAY MIDWIFE: An individual who is not certified or licensed as a midwife but has been trained informally through self-study or apprenticeship. For press inquiries, contact hello@bondinfluence.com	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16153
__label__wiki	0.895012	0.895012	Biography and True Stories : General Biographies Boy, Lost a Family Memoir Title: Boy, Lost a Family Memoir Author: OLSSON KRISTINA Kristina Olsson's mother lost her infant son, Peter, when he was snatched from her arms as she boarded a train in the hot summer of 1950. Yvonne was young and frightened, trying to escape a brutal marriage, but despite the violence and cruelty she'd endured, she was not prepared for this final blow, this breathtaking punishment. Yvonne would not see her son again for nearly forty years.Kristina was the first child of her mother's subsequent, much gentler marriage and, like her siblings, grew up unaware of the reasons behind her mother's sorrow, though Peter's absence resounded through the family, marking each one. Yvonne dreamt of her son by day and by night, while Peter grew up a thousand miles and a lifetime away, dreaming of his missing mother.& Boy, Lost tells how their lives proceeded from that shattering moment, the grief and shame that stalked them, what they lost and what they salvaged. But it is also the story of a family, the cascade of grief and guilt through generations, and the endurance of memory and faith Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude & Salvation in the Heartland Title: Boys in the Bunkhouse: Servitude & Salvation in the Heartland Author: BARRY DAN With this Dickensian tale from America s heartland, New York Timeswriter and columnist Dan Barry tells the harrowing yet uplifting story of the exploitation and abuse of a resilient group of men with intellectual disability, and the heroic efforts of those who helped them to find justice and reclaim their lives. In the tiny Iowa farm town of Atalissa, dozens of men, all with intellectual disability and all from Texas, lived in an old schoolhouse. Before dawn each morning, they were bussed to a nearby processing plant, where they eviscerated turkeys in return for food, lodging, and $65 a month. They lived in near servitude for more than thirty years, enduring increasing neglect, exploitation, and physical and emotional abuse until state social workers, local journalists, and one tenacious labor lawyer helped these men achieve freedom. Drawing on exhaustive interviews, Dan Barry dives deeply into the lives of the men, recording their memories of suffering, loneliness and fleeting joy, as well as the undying hope they maintained despite their traumatic circumstances. Barry explores how a small Iowa town remained oblivious to the plight of these men, analyzes the many causes for such profound and chronic negligence, and lays out the impact of the men s dramatic court case, which has spurred advocates including President Obama to push for just pay and improved working conditions for people living with disabilities. A luminous work of social justice, told with compassion and compelling detail, The Boys in the Bunkhouseis more than just inspired storytelling. It is a clarion call for a vigilance that ensures inclusion and dignity for all." Bradley Wiggins My Time - an Autobiography Title: Bradley Wiggins My Time - an Autobiography Author: WIGGINS BRADLEY A full-length, in-depth and intimate memoir by Bradley Wiggins charting his journey to become the first Briton ever to win the Tour de France and his country's most decorated Olympian. & & & & & On July 22, 2012 Bradley Wiggins made history as the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. Ten days later at the London Olympic Games he won the time trial to become his country's most decorated Olympian. In an instant 'Wiggo', the kid from Kilburn, was a national hero. & & & & & Two years previously, however, Wiggins had been staring into the abyss. His much-hyped attempt to conquer the 2010 Tour de France had ended in public humiliation. Poor results and indifferent form left him facing the sack from Team Sky. And then he was hit with the tragic news of the death of his granddad, George, the man who had raised him as a young boy. At rock bottom, Wiggins had to reach deep inside himself and find the strength to fight his way back. & & & & & Outspoken, honest, intelligent and fearless, Wiggins has been hailed as the people's champion. InMy Timehe tells the story of the remarkable journey that led him from his lowest ebb to win the world's toughest race. In his own words he reveals the personal anguish that has driven him on and what it's like behind the scenes at Team Sky: the brutal training regimes, the sacrifices and his views on his teammates and rivals. He talks too about his anger at the spectre of doping that pursues his sport, how he dealt with the rush of taking Olympic gold and above all what it takes to be the greatest. Bradley Wiggins: My Time Title: Bradley Wiggins: My Time On 22 July 2012 Bradley Wiggins became the first British man ever to win the Tour de France. In an instant 'Wiggo' became a national hero. Ten days later, having swapped his yellow jersey for the colours of Team GB, he won Olympic gold in the time trial, adding to his previous six medals to become the nation's most decorated Olympian of all time. Outspoken, honest, intelligent and fearless, Wiggins has been hailed as the people's champion. In My Time he tells the story of the remarkable journey that led to him winning the world's toughest race. He opens up about his life on and off the bike, about the personal anguish that has driven him on and what it's like behind the scenes at Team Sky: the brutal training regimes, the sacrifices and his views on his teammates and rivals. He talks too about his anger at the spectre of doping that pursues his sport, how he dealt with the rush of taking Olympic gold and above all what it takes to be the greatest. Bradman's Invincibles Title: Bradman's Invincibles Author: PERRY ROLAND In 2008, Australia celebrated two important anniversaries 60 years since the triumphant Invincibles Ashes tour of England, and 100 years since the birth of Sir Donald Bradman. At last, here is the definitive account of that amazing tour. It is very much an inside account : Roland Perry conducted long, in-depth interviews with Sir Donald while writing his biography some years ago and now writes of them for the first time. In addition, Roland Perry has interviewed many of the surviving team members. Much more than an account of a series of cricket matches, this is also a portrait of a collection of great characters all different, but all making a unique contribution. This incredible combination of sportsmen won 34 matches in a row over one gruelling summer. They were truly great and they were captained by the best cricketer the world has ever seen. BRADMAN'S INVINCIBLES is the story of what they did, and how they did it. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Title: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness Author: CAHALAN SUSANNAH Brain on Fire is the stunning debut from journalist and author Susannah Cahalan, recounting the real-life horror story of how a sudden and mysterious illness put her on descent into a madness for which there seemed to be no cure. 'My first serious blackout marked the line between sanity and insanity. Though I would have moments of lucidity over the coming days and weeks, I would never again be the same person ...' Susannah Cahalan was a happy, clever, healthy twenty-four-year old. Then one day she woke up in hospital, with no memory of what had happened or how she had got there. Within weeks, she would be transformed into someone unrecognizable, descending into a state of acute psychosis, undergoing rages and convulsions, hallucinating that her father had murdered his wife; that she could control time with her mind. Everything she had taken for granted about her life, and who she was, was wiped out. Brave Genius: a Scientist, a Philosopher, & Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize Title: Brave Genius: a Scientist, a Philosopher, & Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize Author: CARROLL SEAN B In the spring of 1940, the aspiring but unknown writer Albert Camus and budding scientist Jacques Monod were quietly pursuing ordinary, separate lives in Paris. After the German invasion and occupation of France, each joined the Resistance to help liberate the country from the Nazis, ascended to prominent, dangerous roles, and were very lucky to survive. After the war and through twists of circumstance, they became friends, and through their passionate determination and rare talent they emerged as leading voices of modern literature and biology, each receiving the Nobel Prize in their respective fields. Drawing upon a wealth of previously unpublished and unknown material gathered over several years of research, Brave Genius tells the story of how each man endured the most terrible episode of the twentieth century and then blossomed into extraordinarily creative and engaged individuals. It is a story of the transformation of ordinary lives into exceptional lives by extraordinary events--of courage in the face of overwhelming adversity, the flowering of creative genius, deep friendship, and of profound concern for and insight into the human condition. Bravemouth: Living with Billy Connolly Title: Bravemouth: Living with Billy Connolly Author: STEPHENSON PAMELA Billy, the ground-breaking biography of the famed iconoclast, gave millions of readers a fascinating insight into the personal and professional life of the genius that is Billy Connolly. Now, in the sequel to that bestselling book, read by the author, the award-winning Pamela Stephenson celebrates life with the Scottish beastie as he hits the big six-oh. Here we relive colorful and epic moments from Billy's early life in Glasgow--the background to an intimate portrait of his marriage with Pamela and his life in Scotland, Los Angeles, and the rest of the world. Witty, insightful, and intimate,Â this biographyÂ draws the reader into two very different worlds--hers of international sexology and the serious psychology of humorists, his of incontinence pants, being married to a shrink, and the finer points of banjo playing. Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World Title: Breakthrough: How One Teen Innovator Is Changing the World Author: ANDRAKA JACK A compelling and engaging memoir by globally renowned teen scientist Jack Andraka.Jack Andraka was just 15 when he invented an early detection test for three types of cancer. After a family friend passed away from pancreatic cancer, Jack began to research the subject. He learned that the lack of a rapid, low-cost early screening test contributed to the poor survival rate among individuals. While sitting in biology class, he hit upon an idea. Then he came up with a plan and budget to put his idea in motion.In 2012, working with the team at John Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Jack created a test that can detect pancreatic, ovarian, and lung cancer in its earliest stages. It costs only three cents to run and has an accuracy rate higher than 90 per cent.Now, at 17, Jack is a renowned scientist. He has won numerous awards globally and speaks to packed audiences about his research, his story, and his ideas for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education reform.In Breakthrough, Jack encourages members of his generation to approach their pursuits, whatever they may be, with determination and optimism. Jack shares his experiences of bullying, rejection, hard work, and international success. In doing so, he illustrates how the curiosity and perseverance of one teen could potentially save the lives of millions. The power to change the world is within each of us, if only we have the courage to realise. Brief Candle in the Dark: More Reflections on a Life in Science Title: Brief Candle in the Dark: More Reflections on a Life in Science Author: DAWKINS RICHARD "In An Appetite for Wonder Richard Dawkins brought us his engaging memoir of the first 35 years of his life from early childhood in Africa to publication of The Selfish Gene in 1976, when he shot to fame as one of the most exciting new scientists of his generation. In Brief Candle in the Dark he continues his autobiography, following the threads that have run through the second half of his life so far and homing in on the key individuals, institutions and ideas that inspired and motivated him. He paints a vivid picture, coloured with wit, anecdote and digression, of the twenty-five postgraduate years he spent teaching at Oxford. He pays affectionate tribute to past colleagues and students, recalling the idiosyncrasies of an establishment steeped in ancient tradition and arcane ritual while also recording his respect for the profound commitment to learning and discovery that lies at its core. He invites us to share the life of a travelling scientist, from fieldwork on the Panama Canal to conferences of stratospheric eminence in exotic locations in the company of some of the most prominent of the world's scientific luminaries. And he describes his experiences Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science Title: Brief Candle in the Dark: My Life in Science In An Appetite for Wonder Richard Dawkins brought us his engaging memoir of the first 35 years of his life from early childhood in Africa to publication of The Selfish Gene in 1976, when he shot to fame as one of the most exciting new scientists of his generation. In Brief Candle in the Dark he continues his autobiography, following the threads that have run through the second half of his life so far and homing in on the key individuals, institutions and ideas that inspired and motivated him. He paints a vivid picture, coloured with wit, anecdote and digression, of the twenty-five postgraduate years he spent teaching at Oxford. He pays affectionate tribute to past colleagues and students, recalling with characteristic wry humour the idiosyncrasies of an establishment steeped in ancient tradition and arcane ritual while also recording his respect for the profound commitment to learning and discovery that lies at its core. He invites us to share the life of a travelling scientist, from fieldwork on the Panama Canal to conferences of stratospheric eminence in exotic locations in the company of some of the most prominent - and some of the most eccentric - of the world's scientific luminaries. And he describes his experiences with his many publishers, television producers, interviewers and partners in debate, not least in the heady period when, after publication of The God Delusion in 2006, he is dubbed the world's most outspoken and controversial atheist. Most important of all, for the first time he reviews with fresh and stimulating insights the evolving narrative of his ideas about science over the course of his highly distinguished career as thinker, teacher and writer. In Brief Candle in the Dark we are invited to enter with him a constantly stimulating world of discovery and to meet a fascinating cast of exceptional characters described by the talented pen of one of the most exceptional of them all. Brief Lives: Sigmund Freud Title: Brief Lives: Sigmund Freud Author: CARTER DAVID Born to Jewish parents in mid-19th-century Austria, Sigmund Freud is a controversial figure needing no introduction, yet his reputation owes as much to myth as to the facts of his life and his work. Here, David Carter uncovers the man buried beneath the mythology, tracing the life of this inimitable figure from his origins as the gifted first born of eight children, through his stellar academic career and his relationships and rifts with famous figures such as Josef Breuer. Also explored is why, despite his groundbreaking work on psychoanalytic theories--including the functioning of the subconscious, the repression of trauma, and the psychological import of dreams--Freud has frequently been the subject of derision and ridicule. Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz Title: Brief Stop on the Road from Auschwitz Author: ROSENBERG GORAN & DEATH SARAH (TRANSLATOR) On the 2nd of August 1947 a young man gets off a train in a small Swedish town to begin his life anew. Having survived the ghetto of Lodz, the death camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the harrowing slave camps and transports during the final months of Nazi Germany, his final challenge is to survive the survival.In this intelligent and deeply moving book, Goran Rosenberg returns to his own childhood in order to tell the story of his father; walking at his side, holding his hand, trying to get close to him again. It is also the story of the chasm that soon opens between the world of the child, permeated by the optimism, progress and collective oblivion of postwar Sweden, and the world of the father, darkened by the long shadows of the past.Melancholy, wise and beautiful, A Short Stop on the Road from Auschwitz is a measured examination of the past and a loving portrait of a father. Bright Star Beatrice Hill Tinsley Astronomer Title: Bright Star Beatrice Hill Tinsley Astronomer Author: CATLEY CHRISTINE COLE A New Zealand hero brought out of obscurity in this fascinating 445 page biography by author Christine Cole Catley. Beatrice Hill Tinsley showed astronomers new ways of thinking and taught teachers new ways of teaching. A lover of nature and a conservationist who idealised New Zealand, she was also a musician, a feminist, a battler for zero growth population growth and a champion of the oppressed. Her life is a classic study in the interaction of nature and nurture, genetics and environment. It is also an inspiring and unforgettable picture of a girl determined to be a scientist who grows up in provincial New Zealand and wins through to world renown. Brighter Than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists Title: Brighter Than a Thousand Suns: A Personal History of the Atomic Scientists Author: JUNGK ROBERT; CLEUGH JAMES (TRANSLATOR) An account of the remarkable scientists who discovered that nuclear fission was possible and then became concerned about its implications. Index. Translated by James Cleugh. Brilliant Outsider Title: Brilliant Outsider Author: WAINWRIGHT ROBERT The first full-length biography of George Ingle Finch - maverick Australian mountaineer, scientist, concert pianist and father of actor Peter Finch. George Ingle Finch, mountaineer, soldier, scientist, rebellious spirit, boy from the bush, was in his day one of the most famous men in the world. In 1922 he stood at the highest point on Everest, a feat not bettered for 30 years. He invented the predecessor to the puffer jacket and pioneered the use of oxygen in climbing. A World War I hero whose skills also helped save London from burning to the ground during the Blitz of World War II, he was a renowned scientist who was personally chosen by Nehru, the first Indian prime minister, to help lead his nation into the modern world. With a private life torn by war and misguided by social norms, a reputation as an outsider among the British alpine climbing establishment, and some rough and ready 'colonial' habits, Finch was a brilliantly colourful character - so why has he vanished from the pages of history? In this first full-length biography, Robert Wainwright surveys the man who is now best known as the father of Academy award-winning actor Peter Finch - but who was so much more. Bulletproof Vest: the Ballad of an Outlaw & His Daughter Title: Bulletproof Vest: the Ballad of an Outlaw & His Daughter Author: VENEGAS MARIA Maria Venegas had been estranged from her father for fourteen years when she finally made the journey back from the US to Mexico to visit him in the old hacienda where both he and she were born. As they begin spending summers and holidays together, herding cattle and fixing barbed-wire fence posts, he starts to share stories with her, tales of a dramatic life filled with both intense love and brutal violence - from the final conversations he had with his own father and his extradition from the US for murder, to his mother's pride after he shot a man for the first time at age twelve.In spare, gripping prose, Venegas traces her own life and her father's through the stories she inherited from him and gradually comes to understand the violent undercurrent that has shaped them both. Maria Venegas has been estranged from her father for fourteen years when she finally made the journey back from the US to Mexico to visit him in the old hacienda where both he and she were born. As they begin spending summers and holidays together, herding cattle and fixing barbed-wire fence posts, he starts to share stories with her, tales of a dramatic life filled with both intense love and brutal violence - from the final conversations he had with his own father and his extradition from the US for murder, to his mother's pride after he shot a man for the first time at age twelve. In spare, gripping prose, Venegas traces her own life and her father's through the stories she inherited from him. Burden: A Preacher, a Klansman & a True Story of Redemption in the Modern South Title: Burden: A Preacher, a Klansman & a True Story of Redemption in the Modern South Author: HARGRAVE COURTNEY THE TRUE EVENTS THAT INSPIRED THE UPCOMING MAJOR MOTION PICTURE starring Forest Whitaker, Garrett Hedlund, and Usher, and produced by Robbie Brenner (Dallas Buyers Club) A harrowing true story of the modern Ku Klux Klan and an act of compassion that shook a community in the Deep South. In 1996, the town of Laurens, South Carolina, was thrust into the international spotlight when a white supremacist named Michael Burden opened a museum celebrating the Ku Klux Klan on the community's main square. Journalists and protestors flooded the town, and hate groups rallied to the establishment's defense, dredging up the long history of racial violence in this formerly prosperous mill town. What came next is the subject of an upcoming major motion picture starring Forest Whitaker, Garrett Hedlund, Tom Wilkinson, Andrea Riseborough, and Usher Raymond. Shortly after his museum opened, Michael Burden abruptly left the Klan at the urging of a woman he fell in love with. Broke and homeless, he was taken in by Reverend David Kennedy, an African American preacher and leader in the Laurens community, who plunged his church headlong in a quest to save their former enemy. In this spellbinding Southern epic, journalist Courtney Hargrave further uncovers the complex events behind the story told in Andrew Heckler's upcoming film, Burden, which won the 2018 Sundance Audience Award. Hargrave explores the choices that led to Kennedy and Burden's friendship, the social factors that drive young men to join hate groups, the intersection of poverty and racism in the divided South, and the difference one person can make in confronting America's oldest sin. But Enough About Me: a Memoir Title: But Enough About Me: a Memoir Author: REYNOLDS BURT; WINOKUR JON Beginning with Reynolds s adolescence as a notable football player and the devastating car accident that ended his sports career, "But Enough About Me" takes readers from the Broadway stages where Reynolds got his start to his subsequent rise to fame." Butler: a Witness to History Film Tie-in Title: Butler: a Witness to History Film Tie-in Author: HAYGOOD WIL When acclaimed "Washington Post" writer Wil Haygood had an early hunch that Obama would win the 2008 election, he thought he d highlight the singular moment by exploring the life of someone who had come of age when segregation was so widespread, so embedded in the culture as to make the very thought of a black president inconceivable. He struck gold when he tracked down Eugene Allen, a butler who had served no fewer than eight presidents, from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan. During his thirty-four years of service, Allen became what the Independent described as a discreet stagehand who for three decades helped keep the show running in the most important political theatre of all. While serving tea and supervising buffets, Allen was also a witness to history as decisions about America s most momentous events were being made. Here he is at the White House while Kennedy contemplates the Cuban missile crisis; here he is again when Kennedy s widow returns from that fateful day in Dallas. Here he is when Johnson and his cabinet debate Vietnam, and here he is again when Ronald Reagan is finally forced to get tough on apartheid. Perhaps hitting closest to home was the civil rights legislation that was developed, often with passions flaring, right in front of his eyes even as his own community of neighbors, friends, and family were contending with Jim Crow America. With a foreword by the Academy Award nominated director Lee Daniels, "The Butler" also includes an essay, in the vein of James Baldwin s jewel "The Devil Finds Work," that explores the history of black images on celluloid and in Hollywood, and fifty-seven pictures of Eugene Allen, his family, the presidents he served, and the remarkable cast of the movie. Caligula #17 Title: Caligula #17 Author: SUETONIUS 'Because of his baldness and hairiness, he announced it was a capital offence for anyone either to look down on him as he passed or to mention goats in any context.'The biography of the brutal, crazed and incestuous Roman Emperor Caligula, who tried to appoint his own horse consul. Camelot's Court Inside the Kennedy White House Title: Camelot's Court Inside the Kennedy White House Author: DALLEK ROBERT In Camelot's Court, acclaimed JFK biographer Robert Dallek takes an insider's look at the brain trust whose contributions to the successes and failures of Kennedy's administration were indelible. Kennedy purposefully assembled a dynamic team of advisers noted for their brilliance and acumen, but the group was an uneasy band of rivals engaged in fiery debates behind closed doors. Dallek details the contentious issues of Kennedy's years in office, including the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban missile crisis, civil rights, and Vietnam. He illuminates a president who believed in surrounding himself with the best and the brightest but often found himself disappointed with their recommendations. The result is a striking depiction of a leader whose wise resistance to pressure and adherence to personal principles offer a cautionary tale for our own time.Meticulously researched and masterfully written, Camelot's Court is an intimate tour of a tumultuous White House and a new portrait of the men whose powerful influence shaped the Kennedy legacy. Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person a Memoir in Comics Title: Cancer Made Me a Shallower Person a Memoir in Comics Author: ENGELBERG MIRIAM Capability Brown: Father of Landscape Gardens Title: Capability Brown: Father of Landscape Gardens Author: RUTHERFORD SARAH One of the most remarkable men of the 18th century, Lancelot "Capability" Brown was known to many as "The Omnipotent Magician" who could transform unpromising countryside into beautiful parks that seemed to be only the work of nature. His list of clients included half the House of Lords, six Prime Ministers and even royalty. Although his fame has dimmed, visitors still enjoy many of his works today at National Trust properties such as Croome Park, Petworth, Berrington, Stowe, Wimpole, Blenheim Palace, Highclere Castle (location of the series "Downton Abbey") and many more. This book tells his triumphant story, uncovers his aims and reveals why he was so successful. Illustrated throughout with color photographs of contemporary sites, historical paintings and garden plans, this is an accessible resource for anyone who wants to know more about the man who created a landscape style which for many defines the English countryside. Captain & the Cannibal: an Epic Story of Exploration, Kidnapping, & the Broadway Stage Title: Captain & the Cannibal: an Epic Story of Exploration, Kidnapping, & the Broadway Stage Author: FAIRHEAD JAMES Sailing in uncharted waters of the Pacific in 1830, Captain Benjamin Morrell of Connecticut became the first outsider to encounter the inhabitants of a small island off New Guinea. The contact quickly turned violent, fatal cannons were fired, and Morrell abducted young Dako, a hostage so shocked by the white complexions of his kidnappers that he believed he had been captured by the dead. This gripping book unveils for the first time the strange odyssey the two men shared in ensuing years. The account is uniquely told, as much from the captive's perspective as from the American's. Upon returning to New York, Morrell exhibited Dako as a "cannibal" in wildly popular shows performed on Broadway and along the east coast. The proceeds helped fund a return voyage to the South Pacific--the captain hoping to establish trade with Dako's assistance, and Dako seizing his chance to return home with the only person who knew where his island was. Supported by rich, newly found archives, this wide-ranging volume traces the voyage to its extraordinary ends and en route decrypts Morrell's ambiguous character, the mythic qualities of Dako's life, and the two men's infusion into American literature--as Melville's Queequeg, for example, and in Poe's Pym. The encounters confound indigenous peoples and Americans alike as both puzzle over what it is to be truly human and alive. Captain James Cook Title: Captain James Cook Author: HOUGH RICHARD Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: a Biography Title: Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton: a Biography Author: RICE EDWARD Captain's Duty Title: Captain's Duty Author: PHILLIPS RICHARD 8th April 2009 was just an ordinary day for 53 -year-old Richard Phillips, captain of the United States-registered cargo vessel, the Maersk Alabama, as it headed towards the port of Mombasa. Ordinary that is until, two hundred or so miles off the east coast of Africa, armed Somali pirates attacked and boarded the freighter. It was the first time an American cargo ship had been hijacked in over 200 years. What the pirates didn't expect was that the crew would fight back, nor did they expect Captain Phillips to offer himself as a hostage in exchange for the safety of his crew - a courageous gesture that resulted in his being help captive on a tiny life-boat off the anarchic, gun-plagued coast of Somalia. And so began a tense five-day stand-off, which ended in a daring high-seas rescue by U.S. Navy SEALs. First published in the US as A Captain's Duty in 2010, this is Captain Phillips' own story - the story an ordinary man who did what he saw as his duty and in so doing became a hero - it is both a thrilling true tale of adventure and courage in the face of deprivation, death threats and mock executions and also a compulsively readable first-hand account of the terrors of high-seas hostage-taking. Title: Carmen Miranda Author: SHAW LISA This is the first book-length study of Carmen Miranda in English. It traces her origins as a radio singer, recording artist and film star in Brazil in the 1930s, before exploring in depth her Hollywood screen roles and the construction of her long-lasting star persona in the USA. Carroll Shelby: the Authorized Biography Title: Carroll Shelby: the Authorized Biography Author: MILLS RINSEY Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys Title: Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journeys Author: COLLINS MICHAEL The years that have passed since Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins piloted the Apollo 11 spacecraft to the moon in July 1969 have done nothing to alter the fundamental wonder of the event: man reaching the moon remains one of the great events - technical and spiritual - of our lifetime.In this remarkable book, Michael Collins conveys, in a very personal way, the drama, beauty and humour of that adventure. He also traces his development from his first flight experiences in the air force, through his days as a test pilot, to his Apollo 11 space walk, presenting an evocative picture of the joys of flight as well as a new perspective on time, light and movement from someone who has seen the fragile Earth from the other side of the moon. Carrying the Fire: an Astronauts Journey Title: Carrying the Fire: an Astronauts Journey Casey Stoner: Pushing the Limits Title: Casey Stoner: Pushing the Limits Author: STONER CASEY 'If you never give up, anything can happen'. Casey StonerShowing anything is possible when determination meets talent, two-time World MotoGP champion Casey Stoner shares his inspirational journey from Queensland toddler, with an extraordinary ability on a motorbike, to his decision to retire at twenty-seven with nothing left to prove.For the first time, he tells of his early family life, the development of his riding skills and why his parents decided to sell everything and travel from Australia to Europe to chase the dream and support his aim to become World Champion when he was only fourteen years old.As fearless with his opinions as he is on the racetrack, Casey includes all the highs and lows of his life so far. Author: CASEY STONER Showing anything is possible when determination meets talent, Casey Stoner will share his inspirational journey from Queensland toddler, with an extraordinary ability on a motorbike, to his decision to retire at twenty-seven as two-time MotoGP World Champion.For the first time, Casey will tell of his early family life, the development of his riding skills and why his parents decided to sell everything and travel from Australia to Europe to chase the dream and support his aim to become World Champion when he was only fourteen years old.As fearless with his opinions as he is on the racetrack, Casey Stoner will include all the highs and lows of his life so far: his thoughts on racing as it stands today, the riders' hierarchy, the politics of racing, the importance of family, his battle with illness and why he decided to turn his back on a multimillion-dollar contract when he was still winning. And he will let us in on some of the new goals he has set for himself.This is an inspiring story of a young Australian who took on the world on his terms and won.The book will be written with the assistance of renowned MotoGP journalist Matthew Roberts. Caspar Lee Title: Caspar Lee Author: RIORDAN LEE EMILY "Unbeknownst to Caspar, his mum secretly signed a deal to write his life story. Luckily, he discovered her plan and dashed to the printers, just in time to correct some of her allegations. The story of Caspar's crazy life so far is brimming with hilarious anecdotes, including how he tried to kill his mum on his first day on earth, his 'eventful' time at school, and how he always was a hit with the ladies... THE must-have book for Caspar's fans around the world." Cast Away Stories of Survival from Europe's Refugee Crisis Title: Cast Away Stories of Survival from Europe's Refugee Crisis Author: MCDONALD-GIBSON CHARLOTTE On April 19th 2015, when over 700 men, women and children perished in the Mediterranean, Europe's leaders were swift with a chorus of outrage and promises of action. But this was a catastrophe which could have been prevented. Since 2011, increasing numbers of people fleeing conflict and poverty in the Middle East and Africa have been risking their lives on Europe's sea and land borders to try and forge a better future for their families, but instead of offering sanctuary, EU governments have scaled back life-saving search and rescue operations and refused to overhaul the bloc's inept asylum system. Charlotte McDonald-Gibson has spent years reporting on every aspect of this story, and here she offers a vivid glimpse of the personal dilemmas, pressures, choices and hopes that lie beneath the horrifying headlines. We meet Majid, a Nigerian teenager who exchanged the violence of his homeland for Libya, where he was driven onto a rickety boat during Colonel Gaddafi's brutal crackdown on migrants. Mohammed was studying in Damascus until his name appeared on the draft and his parents urged him to seek safety in Europe. Instead he found himself clinging to a life raft watching his friends drown in the dark waters of the Mediterranean until rescuers finally took the traumatised survivors to Malta, where he remains stranded, unable to work and surrounded by the sea on all sides. Hanan, a mother of four from Syria, is forced to gamble her children's lives on the chance of safety for her family in Europe.While the politicians wrangle over responsibility, and the media talk in statistics, Cast Away brings to life the human consequences of the one of the most urgent humanitarian issues of our time. Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet & the Birth of the Information Age Title: Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet & the Birth of the Information Age Author: WRIGHT ALEX The dream of universal knowledge hardly started with the digital age. From the archives of Sumeria to the Library of Alexandria, humanity has long wrestled with information overload and management of intellectual output. Revived during the Renaissance and picking up pace in the Enlightenment, the dream grew and by the late nineteenth century was embraced by a number of visionaries who felt that at long last it was within their grasp. Among them, Paul Otlet stands out. A librarian by training, he worked at expanding the potential of the catalogue card -- the world's first information chip. From there followed universal libraries and reading rooms, connecting his native Belgium to the world -- by means of vast collections of cards that brought together everything that had ever been put to paper. Recognizing that the rapid acceleration of technology was transforming the world's intellectual landscape, Otlet devoted himself to creating a universal bibliography of all published knowledge. Ultimately totaling more than 12 million individual entries, it would evolve into the Mundaneum, a vast "city of knowledge" that opened its doors to the public in 1921. By 1934, Otlet had drawn up plans for a network of "electric telescopes" that would allow people everywhere to search through books, newspapers, photographs, and recordings, all linked together in what he termed a reseau mondial: a worldwide web. It all seemed possible, almost until the moment when the Nazis marched into Brussels and carted it all away. In Cataloging the World, Alex Wright places Otlet in the long continuum of visionaries and pioneers who have dreamed of unifying the world's knowledge, from H.G. Wells and Melvil Dewey to Ted Nelson and Steve Jobs. And while history has passed Otlet by, Wright shows that his legacy persists in today's networked age, where Internet corporations like Google and Twitter play much the same role that Otlet envisioned for the Mundaneum -- as the gathering and distribution channels for the world's intellectual output. In this sense, Cataloging the World is more than just the story of a failed entrepreneur; it is an ongoing story of a powerful idea that has captivated humanity from time immemorial, and that continues to inspire many of us in today's digital age." Title: Catch Me If You Can Author: ABAGNALE FRANK W Frank W. Abagnale, alias Frank Williams, Robert Conrad, Frank Adams, and Robert Monjo, was one of the most daring con men, forgers, imposters, and escape artists in history.In his brief but notorious criminal career, Abagnale donned a pilot's uniform and copiloted a Pan Am jet, masqueraded as the supervising resident of a hospital, practiced law without a license, passed himself off as a college sociology professor, and cashed over $2.5 million in forged checks, all before he was twenty-one. Known by the police of twenty-six foreign countries and all fifty states as "The Skywayman," Abagnale lived a sumptuous life on the lam-until the law caught up with him.Now recognized as the nation's leading authority on financial foul play, Abagnale is a charming rogue whose hilarious, stranger-than-fiction international escapades, and ingenious escapes-including one from an airplane-make Catch Me If You Can an irresistible tale of deceit. The uproarious, bestselling true story of the world'smost sought-after con man wasimmortalized by Leonardo DiCaprio inDreamWorks' feature film. "I stole every nickel and blew it on fine threads, luxurious lodgings, fantastic foxes, and other sensual goodies.I partied in every capital in Europe and basked on all the world's most famous beaches." Catherine of Braganza: Charles II's Restoration Queen Title: Catherine of Braganza: Charles II's Restoration Queen Author: WATKINS SARAH-BETH Catherine of Braganza, a Portuguese princess, married Charles II in 1662 and became the merry monarch's Restoration queen. Yet life for her was not so merry - she put up with the king's many mistresses and continuous plots to remove her from the throne. She lived through times of war, plague and fire. Catherine's marriage saw many trials and tribulations including her inability to produce an heir. Yet Charles supported his queen throughout the Restoration, remaining devoted to her no matter what. Outliving her husband, she ended up back in her home country and spent her final days as queen-regent of Portugal. 1 .. 2 3 4 5 6 .. 41	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16158
__label__wiki	0.970416	0.970416	February Contents \| Gazette Home Hoop Dreams Can Come True Two former Palestra partners are playing in the NBA By Noel Hynd IT IS NOT UNUSUAL for Penn alumni to pick off good jobs after leaving the University, but two members of the Class of 1995 have done it in a higher profile fashion than most. Jerome Allen, W'95, and Matt Maloney, C'95, two mainstays of Penn's basketball dynasty of the early 1990s, have gone on to greater and more prominent things in -- where else? -- the National Basketball Association. Jerome Allen, two-time Ivy League Player of the Year, was the 49th player chosen in the 1995 NBA college draft. At the time, Jerome Allen, who wears No. 53 to honor his mother, took the tradition from the Palestra to the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Allen was picked by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but attracted the notice of several teams, including the Indiana Pacers. Penn Men on the road: burgers, blowouts and Barkley. Allen started his rookie season with a fair amount of playing time at point guard for the Timberwolves -- as much as twenty minutes some nights -- and occasionally started for coach Bill Blair. But after clocking 279 minutes in the first 27 games, he saw only 83 minutes from January 1 onward, after Blair was replaced as coach by Flip Saunders. "[Jerome] did a really good job when I was there," Blair said recently. "But when I left they went with Derrick Martin, instead." Last summer, Allen became a free agent and, to the surprise of no one, landed on his feet -- in Indiana, which had earlier been interested in him and where Blair had by then been hired as an assistant to coach Larry Brown. "Larry Brown is a teacher of the game, and I call myself a student," says Allen, a Philadelphia native. "[A] lot of guys can't do the simple things. I just try to listen and be attentive." Indiana has used Jerome almost entirely in a defensive role, primarily as a back-up for Travis Best, but he has been playing regularly again. As of January 6, Allen had appeared in all 30 of the Pacers' games and logged 401 minutes. Those who watched him on the court at Penn are not surprised at his tenacious defense. Something else about Jerome's game looks familiar this year, too. He again wears the number 53 he wore at Penn in honor of his mother, who was born in 1953. A key improvement in his professional play this year is his increased accuracy from three-point territory (17-35, .486). Indeed, Allen is second on the team (behind Reggie Miller) in three-pointers, even though playing a primarily defensive role and coming off the bench. Matt Maloney spent half a season with a minor-leagure team before making the jump to starting point guard with the Houston Rockets. ALLEN'S FORMER PARTNER at guard for Penn, Matt Maloney, has had an even splashier season so far. After leaving Penn, Maloney -- also an Ivy League Player of The Year -- was undrafted by any NBA team. Undeterred, he went to training camp with the Golden State Warriors and was one of the last players cut. Still undeterred, he then went to Grand Rapids of the Continental Basketball Association and -- with the same hard work and court intelligence that he demonstrated at Penn -- turned himself into a starter in the CBA, averaging 12 points and five assists per game. "I felt coming out of college, fundamentally, I was sound enough to play in the NBA," Maloney has said. "But there's a lot of things to learn about the league. I was fortunate to have a coach in Grand Rapids, Brendan Suhr, who taught me a lot. He let me make all the mistakes and learn from them." There couldn't have been too many mistakes, for Maloney had caught the eyes of NBA scouts by mid-season of last year, demonstrating, as Coach Suhr phrased it, "the toughness, the courage, the defense, the positioning" that any smart coach would want on his team. Those qualities also fit into the overall category known as "fundamentals," which is what one would also expect from the son of a coach. Maloney's father, Jim, who passed away suddenly last May 3, was the long-time assistant to John Chaney at Temple. Jim taught his son well, on the court and off, and it has shown this season. "My father established himself as someone who was respected," Matt commented recently. "If I can be the legacy he left behind, if I can put that on the floor, it will be a tribute to him." Signed by the Houston Rockets in September, Maloney was one of a crew of "no name" reserves to join an NBA club whose two championship seasons in 1994 and 1995 are all that have interrupted the Chicago Bulls' six-run for league supremacy. "Just Who Are These Guys?" asked The Houston Chronicle in an October headline. Certainly, no one needed a scorecard to identify front-court regulars Charles Barkley, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, all future Hall of Famers and all three recently chosen as among the Fifty Greatest NBA players of all time. But the anonymity of the new back-court players even carried into the Houston dressing room, where the following conversation was overheard this past October. Drexler: Hakeem, can you believe those new point guards? Olajuwon: I know they can play. All of them. Drexler: Do you know who they are? Olajuwon: No. Fate then played a strange hand. Starting point guard Brent Price went down with a broken arm just before the current season began, and Emanual Davis, the other "starting" guard blew out a knee for 1996-97. Maloney then stepped in and won the vacant starting position from the other reserves. What followed was fairy tale stuff. Matt found himself as the Rockets' starting point guard on opening night and responded with 8 points and only one turnover in a 96-85 victory over Sacramento. In the next game, while Charles Barkley was accumulating a spectacular 33 rebounds, Maloney contributed 17 points and four assists, getting all five of his field goals from the three- point range -- no shock to Palestra fans. Suddenly, the Rockets were on a roll, amassing a won-lost record of 12-1 and 17-2 to start the season. Maloney was on a personal roll as well. Against Portland, Maloney sank a game-tying field goal to force overtime. Against Boston he scored 21 points and made two game-turning steals against Washington. There were some clutch buckets against the Golden State team that had cut him a season earlier. And then there was the first game against Philadelphia as a Houston Rocket, a game that began with a Maloney-to-Barkley-to-Maloney-for-3 and concluded in a 123-108 clubbing of the 76ers. Maloney ended the evening with another 21 points, tying Barkley for the team high score -- and contributing five to a new Houston club record of 16 treys in a single game. By December, USA Today was referring to Maloney as "the surprise rookie of the season." Through January 6, he averaged 10.2 points per game and was the one Rocket to start each of the club's 32 contests. "He can play. He's tough and he can shoot," commented Olajuwon, who was by then more familiar with his new point guard. Coach Rudy Tomjanovich echoes many of the same thoughts. "The kid has toughness. It's like big brother, little brother out there." One of the big brothers phrases things in an earthier fashion. "I tell [Matt] if he messes up we're going to waive his butt," Charles Barkley jokes -- maybe. Not that Maloney ever gets a night off playing defense. In one three-game stretch he successfully guarded potent scorers Kenny Anderson (Portland), Nick Van Exel (Los Angeles) and Mark Price (Golden State). "It's a good experience just to go out there and defend these guys," Maloney commented recently about such match-ups. "[Defense] is something I've worked on my whole life." "It's technique," observes Tomjanovich, "but also smarts in knowing when to back off a guy to negate some quickness. But then it's also guts. Matt doesn't quit. He just keeps fighting." Maloney's success in his first few months in the NBA has generated a generous amount of newspaper attention, particularly in Houston and Philadelphia. But Matt tends to let his confident game and his belief in himself do the talking. He also lets the fundamentals of life and basketball that he learned from Jim Maloney carry him. While he says it's "great" to be on a team like Houston, he adds, "I've always been on a winning team. And I'm just playing basketball still." No matter how impressive the results have been, in other words, the basics don't change. It's still fundamentals. Conventional wisdom would suggest that Brent Price, whom Maloney replaced, is odds-on to reclaim his starting job after the broken arm heals early in 1997. "[Price is] making too much money just to sit around," comments Dale Robertson, a basketball writer for The Houston Chronicle. Price also owns the league record for consecutive three-pointers made. Conventional wisdom is often wrong, however, which might be one reason why, at this writing, Maloney is still a starter for the team that figures to have a title showdown with the Chicago Bulls in June. Dislodging him from a starting position will definitely not be easy. With the team off to a 24-8 start with the current line-up, why tinker with success? "I'm willing to play as many minutes as they want me to play," Maloney commented recently. "Whenever they call me, I'm going to be ready to respond." Said like a true professional. And like former teammate Jerome Allen, after leaving the Palestra, Matt Maloney is giving Penn hoop fans another fantastic encore. NOEL HYND, C'70, is the author, most recently, of the novel Rage of Spirits. February Contents \| Gazette Home Copyright 1997 The Pennsylvania Gazette Last modified 7/7/97	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16159
__label__cc	0.709343	0.290657	The Weekly Standard has weighed in with its version of the lie that Arafat's negotiating history demonstrates that he will accept nothing less that the complete destruction of Israel, so it is senseless to negotiate with him. It is true that the late 2000 Barak offer was less awful than the Summer 2000 Barak offer, but it was still unacceptable, regardless of the percentage of the Occupied Territories offered to the Palestinians (not to mention that the percentage of territory numbers bandied about by the Israeli apologists are inflated). Since all the settlements are illegal, why should the Palestinians accept less than 100%, particularly considering the recent (i.e., since 1993) history of what the Palestinians have lost? The late 2000 offer still did not grant the Palestinian state control of its own borders or control of the water under it. What kind of a state would that be? It was not quite as small and broken as the state contemplated by the Summer 2000 offer, but was still a bantustan. The argument made in the Weekly Standard seems to be that the attacks on the Barak offer are being made on the basis of his Summer 2000 offer, and not his generous late 2000 offer, but that is simply not true. Either offer is unacceptable. Any arguments based on Arafat's reaction to the terms of either Barak offer are ridiculous, as neither offer could have been accepted. You also have to remember that by late 2000, the Palestinian attitude towards Barak's bona fides had significantly changed, as they had seen how Barak had allowed Sharon to make his provoking walk on the Temple Mount (and don't forget that the Taba negotiations continued into 2001, when a much more generous Israeli proposal temporarily appeared, and only stopped when Sharon was elected). Until the Israelis stop fooling around making offers they know are unacceptable in order to score propaganda points, they will never get an agreement. If they think Arafat will never accept any offer, why don't they make him an offer of 100% of the Occupied Territories, with control of its borders and water, East Jersulem (which the Israelis need to get rid of anyway, for demographic reasons), a fair treatment of the holy sites, and some form of compensation to be internationally funded to take care of the end of any right of return? After all, if he won't accept any offer, he will turn this one down as well. Only then will they be able to honestly make the argument that Arafat's only goal is the destruction of Israel. Mohamed Atta is everywhere: The original, and i... Some U. S. and Canadian university researchers hav... John O'Neill was the former FBI agent who died in ... If you were an diabolical terrorist mastermind liv... It is interesting to see how the Bush Administrati... I've been wondering about the oddness of the fact ... Let's say, for the sake of argument, that George B... Here is the most comprehensive list of warnings re... Bush was told about the second WTC crash shortly a... Given the support that the Bush administration has... Waleed (or Walid) Alshehri is alleged to be one of... Dick Cheney says it is thoroughly irresponsible to... It starting to look like the U. S. government is g... If Bush is admitting that he was informed of a thr... Isn't is odd that of all the airports passed throu... The Bush Administration now admits that it had for... I don't want to sound like a spy novel, but I've b... There is reason to believe that Mohamed Atta atten... Three comments on recent Israeli actions: The I... Flight 93 was the flight that ended up on the grou... Here I am being ridiculously suspicious again, but... I don't usually care for the theories that the pow... Part of the general plan of ethnic cleansing being... I find it interesting that everyone is advocating ... United States Attorney General John Ashcroft stopp... Consider what we know about the hijackers: The ... Some people are questioning why Daniel Pearl was m... This article (and question-answering session) by K... Mohamed Atta was in Florida in April 2000, attendi... As far as I can tell, the United States has broker... CNN has covered the new French book on September 1... The Weekly Standard has weighed in with its versio... An anti-racketeering suit has been brought against...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16161
__label__cc	0.597448	0.402552	'Guns in the hands of good people' A testament to Second Amendment rights BRIAN FENTIMAN (Daily Record/Sunday News - Samantha Dellinger) June 28, 2008, was a defining moment in my life. It was the day I shot and killed a man in the defense of my life and the lives of others. We all have defining moments. They might not be as tragic as taking another man's life, but they are events that change the way we look at things -- or even, perhaps, how we live our lives. Before that muggy Saturday evening in June, I would have said my defining moments were many: graduating from high school; enlisting in the Army; getting married; having children; getting run over by a tow truck; and especially, meeting my fiancée, Maria. All of these events, and more, have happened in my life and changed me. On June 28, only two days after the Supreme Court announced its 5-4 ruling that Washington, D.C., citizens have the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment to the Constitution, I found myself standing in a pool of blood in York, from a man I had just shot. It was not my intent that evening to test the Second Amendment or kill somebody, but events unfolded to make it necessary for me to draw my weapon to defend myself and others. My fiancée Maria and I had spent the day showing real estate investors our investment properties in York. We were driving to nearby Hanover to visit my mother when we came across what looked like a rear-end traffic accident. Instead, a man, Douglas Need, had been driving recklessly when he swerved in front of a car and was hit in the rear. In a fit of road rage, he stormed out of his car, went back to two young women and a baby in the car that hit his, reached through the driver's window and started beating the driver very violently. She was able to break free and drive her car to the only place she could go -- the parking lot next to the street. Need ran back to his car, squealed his tires into the parking lot and looked as though he was going to broadside the women's car with them still inside. At the last moment, he swerved his car around and blocked hers from going anywhere. I pulled into the parking lot, got out of the car and yelled at Need to leave the women alone while Need's passenger was in the parking lot. My gun was still holstered by my side. The woman got out of her car and escaped into the store. He followed but only moments later exited the store back into the parking lot. Both Need and the man with him were uncontrollably enraged and seemed deranged past the point of caring who they hurt. As they continued to threaten that they had guns and were going to kill people, for some unknown reason Need ran to the driver's side door of my car and started pounding on the window, shouting at my fiancée who was inside the car with the engine running. Fearing that Maria's life was in danger because of his previous death threats, that's when I drew my weapon. I ordered Need to step away from my car, which he did. He then returned to the center of the parking lot, according to witnesses, and continued with threats and deranged behavior. I went to my car and stood at the driver's side door. Need turned back to me and started coming at me with his arms waving and shouting "just shoot me." I ordered him to stay back, but he kept coming. Then, when he was about four or five feet from me, he put his hand into his pants pocket, and that is when I fired my first shot into his left thigh. It didn't stop him from coming at me. He grabbed my shirt, ripped off the top button and grabbed my right arm. That's when I shot him the second time point-blank into his thigh. I was told later that the bullets had severed his femoral artery and he had bled to death at York Hospital. I was truly sorry he died, but knew I had made the right decisions. There is an aftermath of emotions and events that follows even the justifiable taking of a life. Being taken in handcuffs to the police station is traumatic. Waiting for three weeks to find out the district attorney's ruling on your case is also something not easily endured. Even knowing the truth was on my side with several witnesses backing my testimony, it is still unnerving. There's a feeling that everything in your life needs to be put on hold. You feel remorse over what happened and second-guess yourself as the entire scenario is played over and over again in your head. The question of "what would I do if I actually needed to use my gun" is answered. There's anger at the perpetrator for compelling the use of deadly force, and at times yourself for the realization of your capacity to use deadly force. Lastly, there is the fear that your loved ones and friends will not trust your judgment in needing to protect yourself and others from grave harm. Our brave soldiers in the Middle East seem to be expected to somehow handle the killing of others better that we "regular citizens." We expect that since they kill enemies of the United States it somehow makes the taking of a life more palatable. However, killing another human being is not something to be taken lightly, no matter how corrupt or evil the person might be. What gives us the strength to deal with what we've done, whether soldier or civilian, is the understanding of the greater good we performed by our actions. We were responsible for the safety and welfare of other innocent lives. This is comforting. Criticism has come from both sides of the gun control issue with Second Amendment advocates saying I should have shot to kill him in the first place. People not in favor of the individual right to bear arms have both criticized me for stopping to help the women in distress and in using my weapon to defend myself and others. Online commentator "Computer Steve" responded to a newspaper article saying, "His concealed weapons permit should be revoked. You cannot just intervene on behalf of someone else." He went on to say, "I witness crimes and call 911 on a weekly basis and there is nothing I can do but watch the crime take place and relay the information to 911. If I had known that I was able to intervene I could have stopped a violent sexual assault in front of the YMCA on Tuesday evening. So what's the law? Are we intervening on our own now or what?" Another online respondent, "Forgot to Mention," implied that the women deserved what they got by becoming involved in a road rage encounter. This respondent commented, "I would never engage in road rage or pull over to fight with someone who did. Why did that women (woman) place herself and her passengers in such a dangerous situation?" Nothing could be more ludicrous, given the facts and the innocence of the women who were victimized. In the Supreme Court's majority decision, the court said, "It is not the responsibility of the police to protect the individual, but society as a whole." I take this to mean that any American who witnesses the wrongdoing of an innocent has the lawful right to intervene on behalf of that victim. So how can people like "Computer Steve" and "Forgot to Mention" possibly live with themselves knowing they could allow heinous crimes to take place before their very eyes and just sit and watch without intervention? This does not mean I am advocating vigilantism and want all Americans to rush out and purchase weapons. A great deal of responsibility comes with owning and carrying a gun. The York Daily Record editorial dated July 24 posted the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act laws regarding the justifiable and non-justifiable use of firearms by civilians. Not only should gun owners know and understand these laws, they should have the motivation and desire to practice with their weapon on a frequent basis to become familiar and proficient in its use. Even then, to go out looking for trouble just because you have a firearm is dangerous and irresponsible. In my almost 51 years on this earth, never have I come across a situation as violent as the one on June 28 and hopefully, I never will again. When I was assigned to the 709th Military Police Battalion in Frankfurt, Germany, I would occasionally observe the MPs perform their duties on patrol. The most I saw in the form of violence was an occasional bar brawl or domestic violence situation between a husband and wife. But nothing had ever escalated to the point where deadly force was needed. However, the MPs on the military installations had a similar problem to cops in the U.S. Response times were delayed for lack of staffing and the sheer numbers of people they had to police. Our police officers here at home are taxed to their limit. We complain that there is never a police officer around when we need one and joke how you can always find a cop at the doughnut shop, but fail to realize that many communities are under-staffed with officers. In York alone, there are only about 100 officers to police a city with a 42,000 population. As with other communities in the state, some of its officers are National Guard or Reserve members and have been deployed to the Middle East. This makes it even more difficult because those officers are guaranteed their jobs upon return from military service and cannot be replaced. However, it will never be possible for a police officer to be immediately available in every instance that someone is in danger or in need of help. I believe that it is our personal responsibility to care for each other as Americans. A person doesn't have to own a gun to help an elderly man hit by a car lying in the middle of the street while cars swerve to miss him and pedestrians stand on the sidewalk and stare at him like he was road kill. That seems heartless to me, and we Americans are not a heartless people. I stepped into a dangerous situation to protect the lives of two young women, a baby and my fiancée, and some have said that makes me a hero. I'm not sure what I did was heroic. I did what I did for the same reason other Americans do what they do when any tragedy takes place - it is the right thing to do, we step forward and rise to the occasion and if that's heroic - then OK. Our military men and women, our police officers and firefighters, however, demonstrate this every day and for that we should truly be thankful because they are heroes. There has been an outpouring of responses that have been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. On the other side are people who seem to have a belief that no private citizen should carry or use a gun. One responder to my story, with the screen name "He is no Saint," claims to know me and has accused me of murdering someone's son. This person says, "If Mr. Fentiman would have never stopped, a bystander or the police would have brought justice to that man." I was the bystander who stopped to help. If I had not, and everyone had waited for the police, what would have been the cost to Need's victim? I did not intervene with my gun waving in the air. I pulled it only when my fiancée was directly threatened. Furthermore, it was not my intent and not the job of the police to have "brought justice to that man." Punishment for crimes is for the court system and a judge. "He is no Saint" writes without taking into consideration the exact sequence of events that evening. Apparently, they also mistakenly believe I would not have stopped if I had no gun. Nothing could be further from the truth. Anti-gun advocates argue that the more guns off the streets, the fewer deaths by gun fire. Somehow they believe that if a legally permitted gun carrier flees from a life-threatening situation with an out-of-control perpetrator this will defuse the danger and stop the criminal from causing harm to others. The problem with this argument is it assumes the criminal element will realize their mistakes, repent and give up their guns during one of the many amnesty gun turn-ins cities have in an effort to reduce gun-related crimes. In reality, what usually happens is the innocent become victims of gun crimes and the perpetrator isn't caught, or if he is, only goes to jail while the victim lives for the rest of his or her life with the consequences of the crime. This imbalance of justice should not be acceptable to any American. I believe that those of us who grew up in the'60s and'70s have been lax in protecting each other and have passed this attitude on to our children. Some of us developed this complacent attitude that someone else, especially the government, is responsible for supporting us or solving our problems. But they are not. The fact is that guns in the hands of good people can help deter the crimes of bad people. Good people with legal gun permits do not suddenly turn into villains and go on killing sprees because the gun feels so good in their hands. They also don't holster their weapons and cruise the streets looking for bad guys. They are hard-working Americans who either carry because of their exposure to the criminal element from their jobs, or they keep a gun in their house to protect their families. For me, my job exposes me to a criminal element that can be out of control. I carry to protect myself, my fiancée and my customers from the squatters who might be drug addicts or dealers working out of the vacant properties we buy in York, Harrisburg and Reading. To ignore this potential threat would be irresponsible to the people I love, honor and care about. People might ask why we choose sometimes dangerous inner-city areas to buy distressed properties to renovate. In addition to being a source of investment income, transforming derelict houses into comfortable and safe homes has a tremendously positive impact on the many good people who live in these communities. We love the cities where we work and are proud of what we do to make them better. I never thought I would be threatened in a situation outside my job or need to come to the aid of someone else being threatened. However, I would have been devastated had I awakened the next morning and read in the newspaper, or watched the television news, to see that one of those young women had been beaten and killed by Mr. Need because I chose to drive by and not intervene. Bad people make poor choices and do bad things. The guns and other weapons of bad people have typically been obtained illegally and will most likely be used to commit crimes. We know what a weapon in a criminal's hands will do. As long as there are bad people, no gun control law will prevent criminals from obtaining all the guns they desire. The America we live in today is not the same country my father and mother experienced. Dad was a World War II veteran and recipient of two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts, and Mom was a "Rosie the Riveter" who built ships in Long Beach, Calif., during the war. They were a generation that helped each other. They were neighbors who watched out for the interests of their neighbors. A large part of the population was involved in WWII, and they had to depend upon each other for their very survival. Sometimes the only thing these military men and women had in common was the fact that they were Americans. Yet they cared for each other. We live in a dangerous society where the criminal element seems to have no regard for human life, let alone the ability to leave people alone. We need to take a more courageous attitude toward the safety and welfare of our fellow law-abiding citizens and teach our children to have the same values. And if it is deemed that carrying a firearm is necessary to protect ourselves and others - then so be it. America's greatness won't fall because we fight enemies who commit atrocities. Our greatness will end if we tolerate the atrocities of our own against ourselves. Decay starts from within - and so does the cure. Brian Fentiman lives in Allentown. Fred William Minnich, 38, of the first block of Kings Arms at Waterford in Springettsbury Township, was charged with simple assault, disorderly conduct by engaging in a fight and public drunkenness. He had been a passenger in a car involved in a road rage encounter June 28 in York. Douglas Allen Need of Hellam Township was shot and killed by Brian Fentiman, 50, of Allentown, during the encounter. The York County District Attorney ruled the shooting justifiable. Minnich remains free on his own recognizance pending his Sept. 5 arraignment in York County Court. Know your rights and responsibilities as a gun owner under state law: Read the Pennsylvania Uniform Firearms Act at www.acslpa.org/pa_uniform_firearms_act.htm. DAILY RECORD / SUNDAY NEWS -- SAMANTHA DELLINGER	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16162
__label__wiki	0.545195	0.545195	register to friends' club I want to receive communication directly from Winter Moods partners Winter Moods to Celebrate 30 Years with a Special Concert on 13 June Winter Moods will be holding a special and intimate concert to celebrate their 30 year anniversary. This was announced today during a press conference at Fort St Elmo, Valletta where the concert will be hosted on Saturday 13th of June. Winter Moods are renowned for producing some of the most popular songs in Malta. Their memorable 2010 concert at the Granaries in Floriana attracted a record-breaking crowd of over 10,000 people. ‘This time we wanted to do something different,’ said Ivan Grech, frontman of Winter Moods. ‘We are going for a smaller venue, to be able to give our audience a more intimate performance. The newly restored Fort St Elmo is the perfect historical backdrop for our concert, it is spectacular. ‘We promise a special performance which will take us through a journey of 30 years of Winter Moods. We also wanted to make it unique by adding another element to the concert. Every single cent from the ticket sales will be donated to Puttinu Cares,’ said Ivan. ‘It has been our dream for a while, we wanted to organize an event for Puttinu, where they receive all the proceeds, not just the profits. Thanks to the partners who have joined us for this event, it will actually happen.’ Tickets are now available from www.ooii.com.mt at €15 for general standing and at €25 for the inner circle which also includes a copy of Winter Moods’ latest album ‘The Journey’. The audience will be limited to 3000 people. ‘Winter Moods are Malta’s top band, and their concerts have always attracted the biggest crowds in terms of local performances. The band has consistently superseded itself and we are delighted to be part of this special 30th anniversary performance’, said Rennie Zerafa, of Puttinu Cares. ‘Puttinu has a special relationship with Ivan and Winter Moods, we have worked very closely together in recent years. Their Xemx/Miss You EP raised thousands of Euros for our projects. We are looking forward to the 13th of June for another unforgettable night.’ Earlier this year Winter Moods released their sixth album, The Journey, which has been hailed as their best work to date by music critics. The album includes hit songs ‘Days of my Life’, ‘Everlasting’ and ‘Flowers and Cash’. The concert is supported by BOV, Coca Cola, Jack Daniels, Hard Rock Café, Renault, BMIT, Nexos Lighting and Best Team Audio. This entry was posted on Thursday, May 21st, 2015 at 7:14 pm and is filed under Latest News, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16166
__label__cc	0.71173	0.28827	Home Euro Clubs Premier League Arsenal’s level shows they can’t compete for title Arsenal’s level shows they can’t compete for title Premier League – Opening Week. It is only the first game of the new season but we can already say that Arsenal will not be crowned champion of England by next June. Arsenal starts season with a logic 2-0 defeat at home against England’s best team. The Gunners played a very disappointing game and the difference between the champions Manchester City and Arsenal was blatant. After only 15 minutes Sterling found the net to score the first goal for the Citizens this year. Coach Emery has an immense task in front of him if Arsenal wants to have a chance to compete for Champions League qualifying spots. The Spaniard coach comment son the loss for his first game at Emirates: “Today, Manchester City’s performance showed us that we need to continue in our process to improve. I think they deserved this result, but we were improving in the 90 minutes, like I think we need to do for the next week and the next match on the pitch. In the second half, it’s the moment that maybe we had chances to get a better result. I want to continue the process to build our team. I think we finished with the spirit I want and the team, for 90 minutes, they ran, they tried and they pushed. But I think we need to improve collectively and also individually. But I think this process is normal today against a great team like Manchester City. In the next week we are continuing this work and against Chelsea we are going to analyze the opposition. We are going there to win, with this intention against Chelsea.” https://www.arsenal.com/ Previous articleBusiness as usual for Manchester City Next articleLA Galaxy dropped two points at home Sergio Aguero saved Manchester City from defeat 90Soccer - January 23, 2016	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16171
__label__wiki	0.533992	0.533992	Press Release - June 7, 2011 Air Lease Corporation Issues $120 Million in Unsecured Notes LOS ANGELES, CA, June 7, 2011 – Air Lease Corporation (ALC) announced today that it has issued $120 Million in Senior Unsecured Notes in a private placement to institutional investors. The notes contain a 5% coupon for a 5-year term with a maturity of June 6, 2016. “The issuance of these notes sends a strong signal from the investment community about ALC’s stated goal of tapping unsecured financing to fund our future fleet acquisitions,” said Jim Clarke, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of ALC. The issuance constitutes the first time ALC has obtained long term unsecured financing under the SEC’s Regulation D in a private placement to institutional investors. Forward-Looking Statements: This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on current expectations and projections about our future results, prospects and opportunities and are not guarantees of future performance. Such statements will not be updated unless required by law. Actual results and performance may differ materially from those expressed or forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors, including those discussed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Launched in 2010, Air Lease Corporation (ALC) is an aircraft leasing company based in Los Angeles, California that has airline customers throughout the world. ALC and its team of dedicated and experienced professionals are principally engaged in purchasing commercial aircraft and leasing them to its airline partners worldwide through customized aircraft leasing and financing solutions. For more information, visit ALC's website at www.airleasecorp.com. Director, Strategic Planning and Investor Relations Air Lease Corporation	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16177
__label__wiki	0.812102	0.812102	Perry, Perry On The Wall … Who’s the Biggest Brother Of All? Posted in America, British Raj, Current Affairs, Desert Bloc, Media, Pax Americana, politics, Propaganda by Anuraag Sanghi on September 29, 2012 For reasons not quite clear, Perry Anderson does a hatchet job on India, using selective data on police, prisons, surveillance. Better data leads to conclusions different from Perry Anderson’s. After millions of agents and billions of dollaqrs … \| Cartoon By Dwayne Booth, Mr. Fish – 9/25/2006 12:00:00 AM; source & courtesy – cagle.com Changing spots Employed with an American university (UCLA) for 30-years, Perry Anderson, a Marxist professor of British origin, has been completely taken up with India. Published in July was his first-post, Gandhi Centre Stage (LRB 5 July 2012), and his next post was After Nehru (LRB 2 August 2012). Between these two posts, Perry Anderson has come up with some 33,000 words. Enough material for a 100-page book. Cleverly mixed with his reluctant admissions of truths, half-untruths, and complete lies, it is unclear why he has taken up such a project. Why India? As a Marxist, wouldn’t Communist China or Socialist Russia be an easier – and more interesting objects for Perry Anderson’s affections? For me, Socialist Germany is the most interesting country-study one can do today. As a Marxist, it is again rather puzzling that Perry Anderson has so much thinly-veiled pride for colonial-imperial Britain – and such antipathy towards an earnest, wannabe-socialist India. This is the third of the posts for a 2ndlook at some issues that Perry Anderson raises in his posts. Perry, Perry on the wall? Should he West not be worried miore about itself? \| Justice Is Suspicious Character in Sanford Florida; By RJ Matson, The St. Louis Post Dispatch – 4/17/2012 12:00:00 AM Perry Anderson makes an interesting point on India. the role and character of the army, the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Home Guards, let alone the clandestine powers and activities of the Intelligence Bureau (a vast military, paramilitary and surveillance complex, totalling upwards of two million operatives), receive even passing mention in most of the literature on the world’s largest democracy. via Perry Anderson · After Nehru · LRB 2 August 2012. Perry Anderson does not provide any comparative aggregates, for any other country. Either at a gross level or on a per-capita basis. Except India. Perry Anderson expects us to accept his surmise at face-value – without further examination, data or evidence? By not providing comparative data Perry Anderson attempts to imply that the numbers he provides for India is a large number – and other comparable countries are lower. Which is completely untrue! But, not to worry! Cross country statistics are hard to come by. Takes some searching, but on some country pairs, some data is available. For instance, India and USA. Increasing data on this subject have been available to 2ndlook readers for the last 5 years. Does Perry Anderson’s India numbers include army, police, para-military, industrial security forces? 150 years after Emancipation; 50 years after civil rights movement, we are left with this \| Disney World By Keith Knight, PoliticalCartoons.com – 3/27/2012 12:00:00 AM Half Untruths Let us check out some data to see how valid Perry Anderson’s claim is about India’s ‘vast military, paramilitary and surveillance complex, totalling upwards of two million operatives’. Before going further let us look at some data on Indian police & military size. CRPF – 3 lakhs BSF – 2.5 lakhs Railway Protection Force – 0.65 lakh CISF – 0.25 lakh Civilian Police – 10 lakhs Total Police – 16 lakhs (total of 1-5 items). Indian Armed Forces – 13.25 lakhs State Total – 30 lakhs Private Security Total – 30 lakhs I wonder from where does Perry pull out the 2-million figure – when the actual is closer to 3 million? Let us look at USA – the only Western country close to India in terms of size, diversity, population. US Police & Military US Armed Forces – 15 lakhs US Civilian Police – 10 lakhs US Secret Police – 30 lakhs US Industrial Security – 20 lakhs Total US Military & Police apparatus – 75 lakhs Indian population is 120 crores and the US population is 31 crores. The American military-police apparatus is bigger by 25% for a population, that is a quarter the Indian population. Bigger technology, larger police, more secret policemen. More prison ers, more killings b y the State. \| Cartoon titled Intelligence Bureaucracies By Huffaker, Politicalcartoons.com – 5/8/2006 12:00:00 AM Macro Numbers US Census Bureau says, 63% of US population, is between the age of 18-65 – numbering 19.5 crores (from 31 crores). US DoJ data release for the year-2011, says the number of people in correctional system (probation, parole or prison) excluding under prosecution, is more than 70 lakhs – mostly from 18-65 years group. That is 70 lakhs people out of 19.5 crores – nearly 4% (3.63% to be exact). Anyway you look at it, it is more than any other country in the world. Each year, the US system has to deal with 2.1 crore people in prison, on probation or parole, or being prosecuted. Ranged against 2.1 crore law-breakers are 60 lakhs in the various types of police plus 10 lakhs in judiciary. This totals to 2.8 crore people who are law-breakers or law enforcers from a working age population of 19.5 crores. With every seventh adult in the business of (il)legal-activity, makes US clearly a leader of the ‘Free’ World. Custodial Deaths Perry Anderson then goes onto wite about the excesses of the Indian Police. Arvind Verma writes that 53,000 people were arrested under the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Act, of whom just 434 could be convicted seven years later, he underlines some daily realities of Indian democracy: ‘Torture is routinely practised in most police stations and death in police custody is a frequent phenomenon’ Before looking at Indian numbers, let us look at some American numbers. In the words of the BoJ-Statistics department report, ‘At yearend 2007, federal and state prisons and local jails held just under 2.3 million inmates (2,293,157).’ The US Bureau of Justice reports a total of 32,834 custodial deaths in the USA for 2001-2007 period. This has been broken up into local prisons with 8,097 inmate deaths from a local prison population of 782,595. This data is for local prisons only – which are lower level prisons. State prisons accounted for 21,936 deaths and Federal prisons for 2801 during 2001-2007, totalling 24,737 custodial deaths in State and Federal prisons for the 2001-2007 period. This does not include arrest-related deaths. For India, a activista report gave out the statistics. “Torture in India 2011” states that a total of 14,231 persons i.e. more than four persons per day died in police and judicial custody in India from 2001 to 2010. This includes 1,504 deaths in police custody and 12,727 deaths in judicial custody from 2001-2002 to 2009-2010 as per the cases submitted to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). These deaths reflect only a fraction of the problem with torture and custodial deaths in India as not all the cases of deaths in police and prison custody are reported to the NHRC. via 14,231 Persons Died In police And Judicial Custody In India From 2001 To 2010 By Suhas Chakma. A comparison could be made by taking data on a pro-rata basis. Some 8,900 custodial death among 400,000 prisoners in India (2.23%) compared to nearly 33,000 deaths from a prisoner base of 2 million (1.65%). This means 19 additional deaths each month in India. Does this speak of unspeakable torture and human abuse in a country of 120 crores, with a State policing apparatus that uses nearly 3 million ‘operatives’? How many of these deaths could be due to pre-existing illnesses? India after all has the largest numbers of people affected by TB, diabetic, cardiac diseases. Prison conditions could easily result in higher mortality due to these illnesses. Poorer healthcare in Indian prisons? Is this vastly different from mortality rates between general population in India and USA? UPSA – United Police State of America Overwhelming data point towards the fact the US is a police State beyond comparison. With 7 million people under some kind of correctional supervision – prison, parole or probation. With 2 million prisoners Some 3 million employees in US secret services (FBI, CIA, NSA, etc). 1 million civilian police as per FBI data More than 14 million prosecutions yearly (2002), to keep these 1 million police personnel busy. The US prosecutes more people than the next 45 countries for whom data is available. It is fashionable in the US to moan over how powerful ‘secret police’ has become of late. But this is not new. For 48 years, Edgar Hoover headed FBI. No POTUS (President of the US), no GOTUS (Government of the US), no SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the US) could touch him. He had a file on everyone. Including musicians (like John Lennon) to many Hollywood starlets. No State has taken so much offence against its own citizens as the GOTUS. Of late, the US Government made more requests to Twitterto reveal confidential information, than all other Governments in the world put together. Was the persecution of Julian Assange useful, or essential for any other reason ? \| Julian Assange Siege By Paul Zanetti, Australia – 8/16/2012 12:00:00 AM Police Killing – In India & USPA Coming to the point about Indian police killing civilians. First, let us take data for people killed by US-police during line of duty. Looking for the number of burglaries last year in Devils Lake, N.D.? How about the increase in property crimes in Caribou, Maine? The answers (34 and 23 percent, respectively) are readily available from the FBI. Want detailed information on how many people were shot by police in the United States last year? That’s not so easy to find. The nation’s leading law enforcement agency collects vast amounts of information on crime nationwide, but missing from this clearinghouse are statistics on where, how often, and under what circumstances police use deadly force. In fact, no one anywhere comprehensively tracks the most significant act police can do in the line of duty: take a life. “We don’t have a mandate to do that,” said William Carr, an FBI spokesman in Washington, D.C. “It would take a request from Congress for us to collect that data.” Congress, it seems, hasn’t asked. via National data on shootings by police not collected – 142 Dead, and Rising – Deadly Force – ReviewJournal.com. But let me confess. I am wondering is this is a case running and hiding … A Pulitzer prize winning investigation by Washington Post, on Washington DC police practices concluded that the extent and pattern of police shootings have been obscured from public view. Police officials investigate incidents in secret, producing reports that become public only when a judge intercedes. In a small hearing room closed to the public, nine of every 10 shootings are ruled justified by department officials who read the reports filed by investigating officers but generally hear no witnesses. In the internal records used to track shooting trends, D.C. police undercounted by nearly one-third the number of people they killed from 1994 to 1997, tallying only 29 fatal police shootings. The Post investigation confirmed 43 fatal police shootings in that period. Seven fatal shootings were missing from police shooting trend records, and seven other fatal shootings were mislabeled as nonfatal. The rise in police shootings in the mid-1990s went largely unnoticed among the top officials charged with policing the police. “No one said there was a problem with shootings,” said Stephen D. Harlan, former vice chairman of the D.C. financial control board. Former D.C. chief Larry D. Soulsby, who presided over the department from 1995 to 1997, said the rise in shootings “was not a hot topic among police officials.” Off-duty shootings have added to the total of District police shootings in the 1990s. When shooting incidents peaked in 1995, 36 percent of the shootings occurred while officers were off duty, considerably more than the 17 percent to 22 percent that various studies over the years have found in other large cities. Even more striking, more than half of the District’s 16 fatal shootings in 1995 happened off duty — compared with a national average that ranges from 9 percent to 16 percent, according to a study by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Many experts consider off-duty shootings problematic for several reasons: The officers are not readily identifiable; they may have been drinking; and they are usually acting alone without backup officers, making them more vulnerable and fearful. The lawsuits that often follow off-duty police shootings have been costly to District taxpayers. via Washingtonpost.com: Deadly Force. It appears that while FBI is not publishing or releasing this data, it is nevertheless available – as this 2008 report reveals. The number of justifiable homicides committed by police and private citizens has been rising in the past two years to their highest levels in more than a decade, reflecting a shoot-first philosophy in dealing with crime, say law enforcement analysts. The 391 killings by police that were ruled justifiable in 2007 were the most since 1994, FBI statistics show. The 254 killings by private individuals found to be self-defense were the most since 1997. Police are justified, the FBI says, when felons are killed while the officer is acting in the line of duty. Rulings on these deaths are usually made by the local police agencies involved. Some law enforcement analysts say the numbers represent changing attitudes on the streets, where police have felt more threatened by well-armed offenders. via FBI: Justifiable homicides at highest in more than a decade – USATODAY.com. What in the USA are called officer-involved shootings, in India are called police-encounters. But there is marked difference in the way this has been handled. Indian courts (including the Supreme Court), media, bureaucrats have been monitoring these cases – and passed strictures on some policemen and departments. Killings of people from minorities (Muslims in India, like the US Blacks) arouses the systems’ ire. In the Sohrabuddin case, a high-ranking politician (Amit Shah) and a high-ranking police-official (DG Vanzara) are being prosecuted. The Batla House shooting continues to to be debated years after the incident. This is only of course, anecdotal evidence. Quantitative data is also given which dilutes Perry Anderson’s critique to nothing. Meanwhile in the Washington, DC, USA Three times in the last three years, police have shot fellow officers, killing two and wounding the third. In all three instances, white officers shot black officers in civilian clothes, including a pregnant female officer, after mistaking them for criminals. India’s National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has been meticulously compiling data and publishing this data. Media and civil activists have been involved in this. Given below is an extract from a report carried by an American magazine (Time) – which gives indicative data. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who ia is worst of them all. \| Lawless OWS Hippies By Pat Bagley, Salt Lake Tribune – 10/27/2011 12:00:00 AM the violence is for real: public records show he has personally gunned down 87 gangsters in the mean streets of India’s film and organized crime capital since 1990. The 41-year-old’s scorecard has made him the country’s deadliest cop ahead of two other inspectors, Praful Bhosle, 46, and Vijay Salaskar, 45, who have clocked scores of 82 and 40, respectively. All three are from Bombay’s elite Criminal Intelligence Unit, which, as Mob crime spiraled out of control in the early 1990s, was tasked with taking down the bad guys, guns blazing if necessary. Few mobsters went quietly: police shot 71 in “encounters” in 1997, 83 in 1999 and 97 in 2001. In all, since records of shoot-outs began in 1982, police have killed 1,200 gangsters in and around Bombay. The effect on India’s crime capital has been dramatic. From two a week at the height of the violence in the early 1990s, intergang gun battles are down to two a month. Once almighty syndicates are losing scores of men and millions of dollars because of the disruption to their businesses. Arun Gawli, who describes himself as a former Mafia don, sees himself as a virtual prisoner in his own mansion, living behind a phalanx of armed guards, CCTV and four separate locked gates, out of fear of what he calls “police contract killings.” “In a democracy, these sorts of killings are unlawful,” he says. Gawli, 51, claims he has lost a total of 60 associates to encounters in the past decade. “O.K., there were days a while back when I went astray. But this sort of murder campaign is way beyond acceptable.” That’s a view shared by human-rights groups. Lawyer Seema Gulati even warns that the “growing trend of police killings” is endangering India’s democratic foundations. “They’re just bumping them off,” she says. Police bosses counter that they are being criticized merely for being better shots than the Mafia. They add that none of the hundreds of complaints alleging staged shoot-outs or executions filed by victims’ relatives or human-rights groups or even a handful of official inquiries has ever led to a conviction for extrajudicial killing. “The allegations of fake encounters are baseless,” says Pradeep Sawant, Bombay’s deputy police commissioner. “It’s not that we always go to kill. Our idea is to arrest the gangsters. We only retaliate if we’re fired upon.” Many in India argue that there are few alternatives, since the country’s judicial system is tainted by corruption and crippled by backlog. Kanwar Pal Singh Gill, India’s most famous cop for helping put down the Sikh insurgency in Punjab state in the 1990s, is blunt: “Our legal system doesn’t work at all. If there are no legal remedies, there’ll be extralegal ones.” By and large, this is a compromise the public accepts. “We know the vast majority of encounters are fake,” says Hindustan Times editor Vir Sanghvi. “We do not think that this is a perfect situation, but in common with the rest of the middle class we have come to the regrettable conclusion that there is no real alternative.” For a professional enforcer like Sharma, success isn’t just measured in body bags or reduced gang violence, but invitations to celebrity parties and near unanimous media praise. “I don’t enjoy killing,” says Sharma. “But after we shoot some mobster, his victims look at me like God. That’s the best part of the job.” via Urban Cowboys – TIME. Based on official monitoring of such ‘encounters’ an updated Wikipedia entry gives more data. According to the National Human Rights Commission of India, there were 440 cases of alleged fake encounters in the country during 2002-2007. Most of these happened in the states of Uttar Pradesh (231), Rajasthan (33), Maharashtra (31), Delhi (26), Andhra Pradesh (22) and Uttaranchal (19).[2] From 2008-09 to June 2011, NHRC recorded 369 cases of alleged fake encounters. By June 2011, NHRC had resolved 98 of these cases, while the rest were pending settlement. The states with high number of cases were Uttar Pradesh (111), Manipur (60), West Bengal (23), Tamil Nadu (15) and Madhya Pradesh (15).[3] via Encounter killings by police – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Though officially not published or collated, investigations by civil rights groups reveal indicative data about police officer-involved killings in the US. The problem of fatal police shootings in America goes beyond a few bad apples. It points to persistent and systemic problems that lead to ongoing tragedies for communities of color. Between 1980 and 2005, close to 9,600 people were killed by police in America — an average of about one fatal shooting every day. However, the real number may be higher due to underreporting by some departments to the federal government. For example, the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a Freedom of Information Act request by claiming there were 79 fatal police shootings from 2000 to 2005. Yet only 38 fatal shootings were reported to the federal government for the same period. While the precise number may not be clear, it is apparent that fatal shootings are not inevitable. Washington, D.C. had the nation’s highest rate during the 90s. It’s also clear that shootings are not distributed evenly throughout the population. In Chicago, for example, more than two-thirds of the shootings happened in black and Latino neighborhoods, and the majority of the incidents occurred in poor neighborhoods. African Americans are particularly at risk of being killed by police. Black people were overrepresented among victims in each of America’s 10 largest cities. This contrast was particularly glaring in New York, Las Vegas and San Diego, where the percentage of black people killed was at least double their share of the general population. “There is a crisis of perception where African American males and females take their lives in their hands just walking out the door,” said Delores Jones-Brown, interim director of the Center on Race, Crime and Justice at John Jay College in New York. “There is a notion they will be perceived as armed and dangerous. It’s clear that it’s not a local problem.” The shootings may be explained in part by implicit bias on the part of police officers, according to research by University of Chicago Professor Joshua Correll. In New York, connecting negative stereotypes with racial identity was considered as a factor in the 1999 fatal shooting of Amadou Diallo and the 2006 shooting of Sean Bell — both of which involved black male victims being killed by more than 40 shots fired by officers. Another key part of the equation: a disturbing lack of internal accountability from local police departments. In Chicago, nearly half of the officers sued in those shootings had been sued for previous violations. Most had been sued at least twice. Although being sued does not mean an officer is guilty, multiple lawsuits against the same officer should draw the department’s attention. Yet little seems to happen to these and other officers accused of killing residents. Chicago’s initial “roundtable” investigations of 85 officers cleared all but one of them — and that officer got a promotion two years later. (Police officials said they did find fault among other officers but could not provide any statistics.) A similar situation exists in Phoenix, which had the highest rate of fatal police shootings among the nation’s 10 largest cities. Although there were more than 100 incidents of officer-involved shootings in the city during the past five years, and numerous shootings in neighboring jurisdictions, only one shooting in the county has resulted in criminal charges being filed against the officer who fired — and that was for the fatal shooting of a white woman. This broken system hurts everyone. via Too many police shootings: More than a few bad apples. Multiple reports and studies seem to converge to an estimate of roughly 400 officer-involved fatalities in USA. The 2008-report extracted above also gives a similar figure. The latest Wikipedia listingof officer-involved fatalities for 2012, of the last 9 months is close to 400. Full year figures will cross 500 – unless there is intervention. The US Secret Service Colombian prostitute scandal. Secret service agents on the POTUS detail ignored their job – and spent time on hiring prostitutes. \| Cartoonist Jimmy Margulies in 2012 So, while in the USA, officer-involved deaths are around 400 per annum. In India the comparable figure is 75-80 ‘encounter’ deaths. Roughly in the same 4:1 to 5:1 prisoners ratio between US and India. So the major difference in arrest-related deaths is the noise levels. While noise levels seem lower in US, in India these encounter deaths have evoked a significant backlash. Even mobsters like Arun Gawli thinks he can protest against these deaths. Secret Police With the biggest secret service in the world, the largest prisoner population, in addition to one of the the largest police forces in the world. Regarding figures for people employed in pure intelligence work, India has some 25,000 people in the Intelligence Bureau. Compared to 30-lakh employees in US Secret Service. So, Perry-bhau, we are talking of 25,000 intelligence operatives in India – versus US that has 30 lakhs. The predominant target of the US secret police are the 70 million American males in the 18-60 years of age. Thousands of organisations, controlled by 17 apex American secret service agencies track these 70 million people. If Perry Anderson would like to include the CISF, in India’s ‘vast military, paramilitary and surveillance complex’, then would he like to include its Western equivalent – like private security, which has the same function? A report commissioned by the US-DoJ estimates that the private sector provides about 1 million employees for industrial security. Another million by provided to US defence and government establishments by Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office (DISCO) through contractors. That is a total of two million private security personnel. Indian private security industry is estimated at Rs.25,000-30,000 crores by value – and about three million by head count. The elite did manage to drive away the ‘usurpers’. \| After the evacuation of OCCUPY WALL STREET By Patrick Chappatte, The International Herald Tribune – 11/21/2011 12:00:00 AM Remember Bradley Manning. Dare I remind you of the another marine Brandon Raub. Probably you don’t have the courage to advise your Government after Obama has signed the NDAA Bill. So, no bail, only jail, if Daddy does not like you. You got problems at home. Save your ideas and lectures where it is needed most. Nearly a 100 countries in the world have a population that is lesser than the number of US citizens in prison, on parole or probation, or under prosecution by the State. Of course! It clicks now. After all, Britain the mother-country of Anglo-Saxon Bloc, first annihilated the native populations and then populated the entire continent of Australia with such people. ‘A staggering number of laws that sanction the use of coercive powers have been enacted in India,’ Arvind Verma writes. Noting that 53,000 people were arrested under the Terrorism and Disruptive Activities Act, of whom just 434 could be convicted seven years later, he underlines some daily realities of Indian democracy: ‘Torture is routinely practised in most police stations and death in police custody is a frequent phenomenon,’ while – nominally outside the jails themselves – ‘the police practice of getting rid of suspects through staged encounters is unfortunately all too common. Suspects against whom the police are unable to bring substantial evidence or those who are perceived to be dangerous are simply murdered.’ Nor, while the police are at work, have the military been idle. In the 1960s, the army was deployed ‘in aid of the civil power’ some 476 times, and in 1979-80 alone, 64 times; often ‘openly stationed so as to provide a perpetual reminder, and on occasion an actual expression, of the fact that the existing social and political order in India is only to be challenged by its critics at their peril’. Let us compare again. Big talk also means Big Walk. Questions on Assange By Paresh Nath, The Khaleej Times, UAE – 8/28/2012 12:00:00 AM Behind Bars – Benchmark USA Under all laws, all statutes, for all reasons, at all stages of prosecution, India has custodial population of 400,000 compared to the US with 2 million. N on -custodial prosecution figures are excluded from these figures. Without getting technical or delicate, if we include all disappearances, encounter deaths as State Executions, the figure is less than the people executed in the US. Perry-bhau If our Indian Government wants to foolishly follow the Yumm-Rikan example, we will take care of it. Our Government! Our problem. Our solution. Don’t need no silly mindless, hectoring from you. But I will limit it to one simple, suggestion. Give your gyaan to your YummRikan Government. After Nehru (3quarksdaily.com) Retrieving a History: Responding to Perry Anderson on India (3quarksdaily.com) The Kashmir Story: A Western Narrative (quicktake.wordpress.com) Disposable America (counterpunch.org) Ken Macleod on George Orwell, Perry Anderson, Politics, and the English Language (delong.typepad.com) The Big Lie About Police Brutality (counterpunch.org) Tagged with: Marxism, Perry Anderson	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16181
__label__wiki	0.881602	0.881602	2005 4BR Awards - 4BR Special Award Every year we make a special award to someone, or an organisation who we believe has enhanced the brass band movement, not only in the past 12 months but perhaps throughout their lifetime. This year we are proud to make that award to David Gallaher of the 4BR first came across David Gallaher in somewhat strange circumstances. At the European Brass Band Championships held in Glasgow in 2004, and a few hours after the announcement of the results, we had decamped to the bar of the hotel to enjoy a well earned lemonade shandy and chew over the proceedings with the rest of the assembled press pack. After a while Alan Jenkins, the doyen of banding writers, and now Editor of Brass Band World magazine, introduced a very polite and serious looking chap to 4BR. It was David Gallaher, and he was in the UK for a dual purpose; firstly to listen to the bands at the contest and find out more about the repertoire they were choosing to play, and secondly to try and find a soprano player to come to New Zealand to play with the Woolston Band at the forthcoming National Championships. Buoyed by the shandy and the misplaced recommendation by Alan Jenkins, David agreed to sign the 4BR Editor up for the contest and so we were able to go to New Zealand to enjoy the banding scene there a couple of months later. Once there it became very apparent, both his band as well as others held the highest respect and regard for David Gallaher � and that applied to the whole of the banding movement in New Zealand. The reason for this can be taken from his biography which appears on the New Zealand Brass Band Association website for his tenure as Musical Director of the National Band of New Zealand on their European Tour in 2005 to the World Brass Band Championships held in Kerkrade: David Gallaher's involvement in brass bands began as a cornet player in the St Kilda Junior Band of Dunedin in the mid 1960s. Brief flirtations with orchestras and jazz bands followed. A teaching transfer to Invercargill came after study at Otago University and Dunedin Teachers College. By this time the passion for brass bands had taken hold and was nurtured in New Zealand's southernmost city. A change of instrument to tenor horn preceded selection in the 1980 National Band of New Zealand. David was also selected in the horn sections of the 1985 and 1992 National Bands. In 1984 David became the first southern hemisphere performer on tenor horn to have been made a Fellow of Trinity College, London. David began teaching brass instruments in schools while in Invercargill. He has made a significant contribution in this field. Many of his students have gone on to gain selection in National Youth Bands and the National Band of New Zealand. It was in this field of endeavour that he was to come under the influence of the late Mervyn Waters who provided much early encouragement and inspiration. Ken Smith is another significant musical influence. Following Mervyn Water's death and Ken Smith's appointment to Woolston Brass, David was invited to be Woolston's Deputy Conductor and moved to Christchurch. After Ken's retirement, David assumed the conductorship of Woolston Brass, now know as New Zealand Community Trust Woolston Brass. David's prowess as a Music Director is evident when that Band won the �A' Grade National Championship Contest in 1997 (in his first year) was followed with further successes in 2000, 2001 and 2002. Under David's direction "The Band of the Year" title was Woolston's in 1997, 1998, 2002 and 2003. As you can see, he has given a great deal of his life to the banding movement. It is a rarity to meet such a genuine man who also happens to be such a talented musician, conductor and teacher. That respect from his peers and contemporaries has been hard earned and is very genuine indeed. There was not one person we spoke to in New Zealand who didn't think David was a top man, a top musician and a top conductor. We have to agree. He steps down from his post as MD of Woolston next year after a period when he has delivered them a golden period of success. Such is the character of the man that he will continue to help with the development of young players within the organisation (he also plays a nifty trombone and baritone) and will continue to teach and nurture numerous young players in his professional job. When we first met him in Glasgow possibly the secret of his success was evident: He had come half way around the world to find out what the best bands in Europe were doing and to learn from them. Once he had done that part of the job, he went about enjoying himself � and he was excellent company � all through a very long night. He enjoys his rugby (he is a descendent of the first All Black Rugby captain to tour the British Isles in 1905 � and hasn't forgotten Wales beat them that year!) and an avid brass band anorak. That shows a man of character, man of talent and a man who can hold his own up against some seasoned old night owls! His contribution to the banding movement in New Zealand has been significant to say the least. We wish him well in whatever he chooses to do next, and we are sure he will be a success. The 4BR Award we hope will make up for the one poor piece of judgement he ever made in picking a dodgy Welsh soprano player on a �blind' recommendation! He is a most worthy recipient of our Award. Past Winners: 2004: David Read 2003: Salvationist Publishing and Supplies Ltd 2002: Frank Hodges 2001: Alan Jenkins	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16182
__label__wiki	0.845141	0.845141	#AskHerToStand #SignUpToStand Get Elected Political Turmoil can Lead to Radical Change By Frances Scott, Founder and Director 50:50 Parliament The fight for political equality is still on – #AskHerToStand #SignUpToStand #5050Parliament 2018 was a fantastic Suffrage Centenary year with numerous celebrations to mark some women winning the right to vote. So how far have we come in the last hundred years? Since 1918 5000 MPs have been elected but fewer than 500 were women. Men still outnumber women by two to one in the House of Commons and three to one in the Lords. At the last election only twelve extra women won seats, at this rate it will take over 50 years to achieve gender balance in the UK Parliament. More than 40 countries already have better gender balance in their governments. Our view at 50:50 Parliament is that the UK should be leading the way for women’s political equality! 50:50 have been called modern day Suffragettes. We are a cross-party, non-partisan campaign with a clear aspiration: better gender balance at Westminster. We are putting pressure on Parliament and the political parties and we are taking action with our #AskHerToStand and #SignUpToStand programmes to inspire, support and encourage women along the path to elected office. 50:50 recognise that some women face multiple hurdles and will need more support to gain fair representation. Parliament is currently in disarray over Brexit. Although the Prime Minister is a woman it is still mainly men at Westminster who are working their way through this problem. Research showed that the debate in the lead up to the Brexit referendum lacked women’s voices. Analysis by Loughborough University revealed that men dominated 85% of press coverage and 75% of TV time. Women accounted for 29% of MPs but they had less than 16% of parliamentary press and media coverage. Even in 2018 women are not heard! Deeds and words On 21 November 50:50 organised a massive #AskHerToStand day at Westminster. This was to celebrate the centenary of the passing of the Qualification of Women Act which allowed women to stand for the first time ever. On that day 50:50 was loud and proud in the heart of Parliament calling for “equal seats and equal say” (see ITV News and other press coverage). Many MPs have shown support for our cause (see our “Get Inspired” page) with both Amber Rudd and Harriet Harman amongst others, championing 50:50 and #AskHerToStand that day. Over 300 women from all over the UK came to Westminster at the invitation of over 200 MPs. It was an inspirational event and in the weeks that have followed hundreds of women have gone on to #SignUpToStand through www.5050Parliament.co.uk bringing the total number this year to around 400. Our volunteers are a “new girls network” who are now helping these women take the next step along the path to Parliament, introducing them to the right people in parties and other supportive organisations. We will monitor their progress in the expectation that some of these talented women will be selected for winnable seats. We only need 116 extra women to be elected to the Commons to have equal seats. From a population of 32 million equality in the Commons is not a big ask. 325 women sitting on the green benches would amount to one women in every 100,000 having a seat in Parliament. There is some evidence that women need to be asked three times before they will consider standing and are half as likely to consider a career in politics but our #AskHerToStand campaign works. Rosie Duffield was a 50:50 supporter who we inspired to stand and against all the odds she went on to win her seat in the 2017 election. Since the 50:50 petition was launched in 2013 and our evidence to the Women and Equalities Select committee was submitted in 2016, it seems that Parliament might be listening. Two reports have been commissioned which provide a blue print for the changes that need to be made: the Improving Parliament and The Good Parliament Report. The political parties have also responded: Labour have stated that they want to achieve a 50:50 gender balance amongst their MPs at the next election, the Conservatives are aiming for 50:50 candidate shortlists, the SNP put gender balance at the heart of government and the Lib Dems have adopted all women shortlists for some seats. So as we approach the end of this Suffrage Centenary it seems that Westminster does want to welcome women. 50:50 want the best. We want a Parliament that draws upon the widest possible pool of talent and experience, including that of the 32 million UK women who account for over 51% of the population. We want the best of both, men and women running the country and planning the future together. Diversity leads to better decision making so 50:50 want women to be able to contribute equally to all the big decisions that our country will face in the years to come. In future, Brexit will be done and dusted but there will be other major decisions in which women should participate equally such as: climate change, foreign policy, defence spending, health and welfare budgets, education and parenting policy. Representation shapes policy. When asked why there was tax on tampons President Obama said “because men were making the laws when those taxes were passed” and this is the tip of the iceberg. It was women MPs that campaigned for women to have equal pay and more recently pay transparency. There are numerous issues where women’s experience is needed to shape policy and legislation properly. Women make a massive contribution to the country with their paid and unpaid work. Their experience counts and our political and Parliamentary systems should be equally accessible. On 14 December 1918, just a few weeks after the Armistice, women could participate in democracy for the first time ever. After nearly a hundred years of campaigning they could at last vote and stand in the general election. The “progressive” legislation that allowed this was passed at the end of the first world war, a war in which women’s voices had played no part. It took another ten years before women over 21 could vote, on the same basis as men. As in 1918, maybe political turmoil will once again lead to radical change. Perhaps Brexit will be a catalyst for citizens and politicians to reflect on the nature of our democracy. For many, now is the time, not just to rebuild the facades of the buildings at Westminster, but also for us to consider the fabric of our democratic systems and assess their inclusivity and accessibility. Surely, we are ready for the diverse majority of the population that are women to have equal seats and equal say in Parliament. Sometimes upheaval leads to renewal. So, if you know a woman who would make a good MP go to our website and #AskHerToStand, if you are a woman who might consider a career in politics at some point #SignUpToStand via 50:50, we are here to help women get elected and monitor their progress along the path to Parliament. Join 50:50 Parliament today, let’s build a better democracy together. It would be a great legacy, 100 years after the Suffragettes won their victories! Inspiring, supporting and encouraging women on the path to Parliament with our #AskHerToStand and #SignUpToStand programmes. Join at www.5050Parliament.co.uk #AskHerToStandcampaignsEventsgender balanceMPwomen in parliament 50:50 Blog contact@5050parliament.co.uk © 50:50 Parliament 2013 This website is using anonymous cookies to help us campaign more effectivelyOk, got it!	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16183
__label__cc	0.578392	0.421608	Shout Out to All you Step-Birth Fathers! (It’s Officially a Thing) What else would you call the husband of a child's birth mother? Jeanette Green February 21, 2015 My son’s birth mom just got married, and it was one of the best weekends I’ve had the privilege to be a part of. Not only did she get married, she got married to one stellar man. Stellar. Lindsey and Steve met many years ago but reconnected when she was pregnant. They were just friends. Like, for real just friends. Not the just-friends-for-now-and-hope-this-turns-into-something-sounding-more-like-forever friends. See, Steve was adopted, himself, and he grew up with an open adoption. He was there for Lindsey to share his side of adoption–what it was like for him, how he feels about his parents, and how he feels about his birth mom. The first time we met Lindsey, she told me her mom and friend would be there. Um, more like her mom and her body guard! Steve is no little man. He hovered over me and my husband, maybe even needing binoculars to see our faces. Okay, that’s absurd. He’s not THAT tall, but he’s tall. Steve, from the beginning, was always around Lindsey, just there when she needed him. They were clearly becoming best friends as Lindsey tried to wrap her head about life. And now, they are married. The awesome thing about Steve is that he gets it. He gets that Micah is important to Lindsey–not just important, but a part of her. And I dare say he loves her more deeply because of it. He was there when we all first met and has been there ever since. Steve was there in the room while Lindsey was in labor. He made his departure and left us ladies when things started to really progress, but he was among the first to hold that precious little boy after he was born. Steve became a part of our family when Lindsey did. About a year ago, Lindsey referred to Steve has Micah’s step-birth father, and then stated, “Yep, I’m calling it a thing.” Sure Micah’s genetic make-up doesn’t involve Steve’s genes, but uhhh…neither do mine or my husband’s, and I still call us family. At Steve and Lindsey’s wedding, my heart was pouring out so much love for Lindsey. I was so overjoyed for her. To see what has transformed over the past three years, and how she has transformed, is a true testament to the power of compassion, forgiveness, and love. But I spent a lot of time thinking about Steve. See, he didn’t have to be by her side while she was pregnant. He didn’t have to be with her when she cried or be with her when she was scared. But because he was, he also had the privilege of being there with her when she wanted to celebrate happiness… and when she was ready to fall in love. As mentioned, I think Steve is pretty stellar. But what hit me is that there are a lot of guys like him: guys who marry birth moms and don’t think twice about their past–or maybe they do, and that’s what makes them love these beautiful women even more. I’ve had some conversations with birth mothers who have feared not being able to find someone who would love them after “all this.” It’s a heartbreaking thought. And let’s be truthful: There will be some boys who feel like having a birth son or daughter somewhere out there may make things messy. BUT, there are also those men who will embrace you and proudly walk with you for the rest of your journey. Those men are real. They are out there. And there are more of them than you’d think. So here’s a shout-out to all those step-birth fathers: those who step up and are there when maybe the the biological one is out of the picture. Here’s to the man who embraces the adoptive family and feels the joy in adoption along with the rest of us. The man who has been adopted into the adoption journey via a whole lot of love. Here’s to Steve. And here’s to you. Jeanette Green Jeanette Green is a mother to three beautiful children--two through the blessing of adoption. She is a firm believer that we never walk alone, the sun continues to shine even when we canât feel its rays, and you canât get sick from raw cookie dough. Various life experiences have taught her that life never turns out like we expect. But if weâre patient, we learn that itâs better that way. To learn more about Jeanette and her crew, visit The Green Piece	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16188
__label__wiki	0.815985	0.815985	Eddie Roane (instrumentalist : trumpet) Source: Decca Search Eddie Roane on wikipedia.org = Recordings are available for online listening. = Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters. Show only matrixes with audio online Matrix No. First Recording Date Decca 71126 10-in. 7/21/1942 What's the use of gettin' sober Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71127 10-in. 7/21/1942 The chicks I pick are slender tender and tall Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71128 10-in. 7/21/1942 I'm gonna leave you on the outskirts of town Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71129 10-in. 7/21/1942 That'll just 'bout knock me out Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71130 10-in. 7/21/1942 Dirty snake Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71131 10-in. 7/21/1942 Somebody done changed the lock on my door Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71132 10-in. 7/21/1942 Five guys named Moe Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71133 10-in. 7/21/1942 It's a low-down dirty shame Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71134 10-in. 7/21/1942 De laff's on you Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71818 3/1/1944 How high am I? Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71820 3/1/1944 The truth of the matter Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71821 3/1/1944 Hey! Now let's jive Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71871 10-in. 3/15/1944 Mop mop Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 71873 10-in. 3/15/1944 You can't get that no more Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 93783 10-in. 11/15/1941 How 'bout that? Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 93784 10-in. 11/15/1941 Teacher (How I love my teacher) Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 93785 10-in. 11/15/1941 Mama Mama blues (Rusty dusty blues) Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 93786 10-in. 11/15/1941 Knock me a kiss Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 93821 10-in. 11/22/1941 The green grass grows all around Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 93822 10-in. 11/22/1941 Mister Lovingood Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 93823 10-in. 11/22/1941 Small townboy Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca 93824 10-in. 11/22/1941 I'm gonna move to the outskirts of town Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca L 3204 10-in. 10/4/1943 Ration blues Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca L 3205 10-in. 10/4/1943 Is you is or is you ain't my baby Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca L 3206 10-in. 10/4/1943 Deacon Jones Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca L 3207 10-in. 10/4/1943 The things I want I can't get at home Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca L 3477 10-in. 7/26/1944 (Yip yip de hootie) My baby said yes Bing Crosby ; Louis Jordan Decca L 3478 10-in. 7/26/1944 (Yip yip de hootie) My baby said yes-2 Bing Crosby Decca L 3479 10-in. 7/26/1944 Your socks don't match Bing Crosby ; Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca N 1797 10-in. 3/1/1944 I like 'em fat like that Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Decca N 1920 10-in. 3/15/1944 G.I. jive Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Eddie Roane (instrumentalist : trumpet)," accessed July 18, 2019, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/151155/Roane_Eddie_instrumentalist_trumpet. Eddie Roane (instrumentalist : trumpet). (2019). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved July 18, 2019, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/151155/Roane_Eddie_instrumentalist_trumpet. "Eddie Roane (instrumentalist : trumpet)." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2019. Web. 18 July 2019.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16189
__label__cc	0.73052	0.26948	HANSARD 1803–2005 → 1950s → 1958 → January 1958 → 27 January 1958 → Written Answers (Commons) → MINISTRY OF SUPPLY Short Bros. and Harland, Limited HC Deb 27 January 1958 vol 581 cc13-5W 13W § 82. Mr. Currie asked the Minister of Supply to what extent the research department of Short Bros. and Harland Limited at Castlereagh, is now engaged in the development and investigation of aeronautical design and of specialised products of commercial application; and whether he is satisfied that such work is not at present being handicapped through lack of financial support. § Mr. Aubrey Jones About 70 per cent. of the work being done by the research department at Castlereagh is being undertaken on my Department's account and14W the remainder on commercial account. I have no reason to believe that the work of the department has hitherto been handicapped through lack of financial support. Unless the company gets more orders in the future, however, it may not be able to maintain its present labour force. As my hon. Friend knows, I cannot place orders without some form of requirement merely in order to provide employment. As regards the commercial work, this is a matter for the company's commercial judgment. asked the Minister of Supply the number of persons formerly employed by Short Bros. and Harland Limited at Castlereagh, and at Newtownards, who have been declared to be redundant, and who have been dismissed and/or have resigned, respectively, from their employment with that firm since the month of October, 1957. Twenty-two clerical and shop floor workers at Newtownards, some of whom have been given employment at the firm's main factory. At Castlereagh the number employed has risen by three. asked the Minister of Supply whether Short Bros. and Harland Limited have submitted tenders for the modification of British Overseas Airways Corporation's aircraft engineers' panels, and for the Canberra Drone contract; whether the firm is willing to submit tenders for drawing office sub-contract work; and whether Her Majesty's Government, as majority shareholder, will take steps to increase the prospect of employment for technical and shop-floor workers at Castlereagh and at Newtownards by ensuring that the firm undertakes work of that or a similar nature. Short Brothers and Harland Limited did not submit tenders for the modification of the British Overseas Airways Corporation's aircraft engineers' panels because they were not invited to do so. They are at present negotiating a contract with my Department for Canberra Drone aircraft. The Company is willing and anxious to undertake design work on a sub-contract basis for other companies as it has done in the past. The last part of the Question therefore does not arise. § 87. Mr. Knox Cunningham asked the Minister of Supply whether he will state the number of persons employed by Short Brothers and Harland Limited at their Altona factory in Lisburn and their Bally-dare factory who have been declared to be redundant or have been dismissed or resigned from their employment at these factories since July, 1957. Short Brothers and Harland are in process of closing both factories and transferring the work to their main factory at Queens Island. It is expected that about 75 per cent. of those employed at Altona and Ballyclare will be offered work at Queens Island. Between July, 1957, and January 19th, the labour force at Altona fell by 19 and that at Ballyclare by 57. § 88. Mrs. McLaughlin asked the Minister of Supply the number of men who have been declared redundant at Messrs. Short Brothers and Harland Limited, since September, 1957; and what are the prospects of these persons being re-employed by Messrs. Short Brothers and Harland in the near future. On 1st January, 1957, the firm employed 8,996 people. By August, 1957, the total had risen to 9,136 and the latest available figure for 19th January, 1958, is 8,640. The prospects of re-engagement are dependent on any additional contracts that the firm may be able to secure. Back to Departmental Expenditure Forward to HOSPITALS	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16195
__label__wiki	0.793619	0.793619	Hogan, School Districts Respond To Efforts Made To Reverse Schools Opening After Labor Day ANNAPOLIS, Md. — "Heavy-handed tactics," is what Gov. Larry Hogan is calling efforts to turn back his executive order forcing school districts to start classes after Labor Day. 'Heavy-handed tactics,' is what Gov. Larry Hogan is calling efforts to turn back his executive order forcing school districts to start classes after Labor Day. The legislation has passed both Houses of the General Assembly. This is a hot button issue that affects every single Maryland school district. They may be a step closer to deciding when to start and finish their school year. Most school districts have run out of snow days for the year and it's forced many of them to revise their calendars in order to abide by the governor's executive order to end classes in mid-June. But a bill to put school boards back in charge of their calendars could soon become law. To that, Hogan fired off this statement, “This is just politics at its worst. As if it isn’t bad enough that members of the legislature are attempting to reverse our common sense initiative to start school after Labor Day, they are now using heavy-handed tactics to unfairly influence the ballot process and any petition to bring this issue directly to Maryland voters. In 2016, after years of public outcry, I took action to return to the tradition of starting school after Labor Day. This is the same action that was recommended by the legislature’s own commission, supported by the former governor and favored by more than 70 percent of the people of Maryland. Now this popular idea is being threatened by out-of-touch politicians and special interests. Members of the Maryland Senate should heed the calls of the overwhelming majority of Marylanders -- reject this legislation and repudiate this thinly-veiled attempt to manipulate the will of our citizens." Most school systems said this latest development is causing them to wait and see. "Do we want to amend it and go back before Labor Day, hypothetical, knowing that in two years you could have a referendum that puts it back after Labor Day and do you want to do that and play ping pong with the calendar if that's the way it ends up," said Bob Mosier, of Anne Arundel County Schools. Baltimore City Pubic Schools, another school system out of snow days, issued a statement saying, "Should this legislation become law, at minimum it will improve the district's ability to schedule for snow days without needing to remove important opportunities for teacher professional learning or infringe on holiday breaks." Last month, the governor sent out this warning to lawmakers regarding a bill to overturn his executive order, "Any local school system that attempts to evade the law and start school before Labor Day would be required to put that decision on the ballot." But aides to the governor admit that a bill he supports, which called for a local referendum on this issue, is all but dead or very unlikely to pass this session. School calendars have already been set for this year, but school boards reserve the right to make changes. The Military Prosecution will file indictments against a career soldier and a soldier for removing weapons from the military and arms trading authorities and selling them to Arabs The MPCID investigation revealed that the military officer removed two M-16 assault rifles, two MAG rifles, two MAG barrels, some 48 rounds of ammunition, and three stun grenades. He sold the weapons and ammunition to an Arab citizen from Wadi Ara who was arrested by the Israel Police Department. Read more at Arutz Sheva.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16199
__label__cc	0.570626	0.429374	Reaching out to refugees and asylum seekers in Teesside Welcoming the stranger has taken on a fresh and urgent meaning for Stockton Baptist Tabernacle. In a little over a year, members of the Teesside church have responded to the needs of hundreds of refugees and asylum seekers from 34 different nations. With more than 100 baptisms it has seen many come to a meaningful relationship with Christ, and as its ministry grows the church is increasingly connecting with others who are working with refugees and asylum seekers Beginnings and developments The developments began in 2014 when Stockton began seeing lots of asylum seekers on its Alpha Course. “Part of the attraction to Alpha was the meal and welcome they received,” says church secretary Peter Chapman. “But the people running Alpha, as they got to know their guests better, were becoming overwhelmed by the major issues the asylum seekers and refugees were facing.” The church wondered if, and how, it could meet some of these needs. Two other churches in the town – Portrack Baptist Church and the Parish church were already involved in ministry to asylum seekers and provided excellent advice and guidance. After much research and prayerful consideration, it set up a weekly asylum drop-in in November 2014 - a place that above all offers welcome. “We didn’t intend to offer a service, we began by simply offering friendship, food and drink,” explains Peter. “There was no defined objective other than friendship.” There is table tennis, pool, clothes people can buy very cheaply, alongside coffee, tea and food. (Those who are destitute can also pick up food parcels there). In order to encourage more women – many come from a culture where men and women don’t mix – it offers quieter things for them and their children, such as crafts. Two members began offering English language classes and we now have a variety of weekly classes catering for about 80 people at different stages of learning. Part of the friendship has been helping with issues that arise in people’s asylum claims, talking about costs, driving to solicitors or to hearings, which could be in Tyneside, or further afield in Liverpool or London. A couple of members have a role in the technical side of someone’s asylum case. Throughout 2015 interest in the drop-in, the general friendship and assistance offered, and the Christian faith underpinning it all, snowballed: in the last 15 months the church has baptised around 100 people. “The nature and character of our church is changing,” Peter says. “On any Sunday there are between 50-70 from an international background. Part of the service is translated into Farsi. “It has been extraordinary”. Why so many have sought baptism In terms of the baptisms it’s a story of people coming from an Islamic culture that does not generally welcome questions, Peter explains. Iranians are the dominant group, making up about two-fifths of the asylum seekers in the town. Many arrive disillusioned with Islam and the vengeance they have experienced. They hear about a God who loves them; they discover at an Alpha Course they can discuss this openly, and the practical experiences of friendship they receive, are quite simply an expression to them of God’s love. It’s a contrast to their repressive experience of Islam. “Many have come to a wonderful and genuine faith in Christ,” Peter says, and want that to be known in a public way, not least as a witness to their Islamic friends and family. The response of members Naturally there has been a corresponding impact on established members. “One of the real joys when we said we wanted to offer friendship has been the response of the congregation,” Peter adds. “We have had 40/50 people, in their 60s and 70s, for whom this is the thing they have been waiting for.” Approximately 25 volunteer each week to staff the Drop-in activities and English classes, as well as the countless examples of both giving and receiving hospitality. It has been a great encouragement to hear what God has done in the lives of many of our friends. New issues A year on and new issues are beginning to emerge. Quite a number have been given refugee status. Many have come from a professional background, are used to a particular standard of living, but have fled from political or Christian persecution. They may have refugee status, but now have to adjust to different circumstances. “The reality begins to dawn,” says Peter. “They realise they’re unlikely to reach the same levels in their career and standard of living. Contact with family will be difficult from now on. As they begin to face these new realities they can hit a period of depression.” Many fall into the cracks of the system, where there is a delay between the granting of refugee status and being able to work. A number of asylum seekers, having failed in their claim to asylum, may have grounds for submitting a Fresh Claim, having become Christians whilst being in the UK. This often results in a period when they have no accommodation or income and are destitute. We try to help in various ways. The church is beginning to reach out to other groups who are working with asylum seekers, developing partnerships that complement each other's strengths and forming a more cohesive framework in which to work across the Tees Valley. Some of their friends are attracted to London and other cities to look for work where they may have friends or families. However they often report that they don’t find the same welcome there, and can become disillusioned. It means Peter and the church are keen to make connections with other churches, especially in the big cities, and give thought to what a genuinely welcoming church is. “We would love to have a list of churches that offer a proper welcome, so we can point the people who leave here to them.” Peter and a colleague are members of the Tees Valley Cities of Sanctuary Group. They are also exploring the feasibility of visiting other churches with an asylum team, to tell them about their journey and share learning experiences. The reasons people leave their countries “People have fled for a variety of reasons” says Peter, explaining that the Syrians are fleeing war; an Albanian woman fled from an abusive husband. Some Iranians have become Christians in their own country. Many Eritreans are delightful Christians who have suffered persecution. A Pakistani young man fled because he was persecuted for his faith. He came from a Christian family, he was badly beaten up at the Christian school his father ran. “We don’t know the basis of why everybody has come” he continues. “We feel we need to slowly build friendships so they get to a place where they are able to tell us. Advice for churches interested in helping refugees and asylum seekers Peter offers the following points: 1 The first thing to do is find out information about asylum issues to discover the reality, and explode the myths. The perceptions of the general public are often inaccurate, and real contact with asylum seekers will begin to dispel this. The 2nd thing is to find a way to simply offer to be friends with people. This is best if there is somewhere that asylum seekers can receive warmth and food - a safe and welcoming place where people can talk, and share their concerns and their stories, and just get to know each other. Even if there is a big language barrier, you can always ask a name. Don’t ask inquisitive questions until you have met them several times - and only in a way that you can offer help. Be sensitive to cultural differences, and particularly the way men should greet women. 3 If churches in the area already doing work with asylum seekers and refugees, make contact with them, and do things together. Combined Christian witness both to the asylum seekers and to the town is really effective. 4 Encourage the learning of English - find out where there are language courses and how to get registered etc. Learning English is empowering, and a crucial part of coping in a strange and new location and culture. Anybody who would like to spend time at Stockton Baptist Tabernacle to see its ministry to refugees and asylum seekers at work is welcome to do so. They are invited to spend both a Sunday and Monday there, so they can be part of a service and the weekly drop-in. Let the church know you are coming by contacting the office (01642 602223) Exploring science and Christian faith Minister partnership for two churches New Year's Honours for Baptists Searle appointed to Northern Pioneer role Baptist climate campaigners lobby MP Baptists oppose proposed coal-mine Reaching refugees and asylum seekers Forty days of Good News One hundred years of conscience Website award for Baptist church Bake-off in Baptist church Refugees: a message from the North East	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16200
__label__wiki	0.780907	0.780907	The great thing about the Osaka Asian Film Festival is that it gives me chance to watch a lot of Southeast Asian films that I would never be able to see in Hong Kong. That was the focus of my third day at the festival. Singing in Graveyards This Malaysian-Philippines co-production has a hell of a concept: Legendary rocker Pepe “Joey” Smith plays both himself and an impersonator who longs to get one last shot at fame. Bradley Liew’s film is a character study of a frail old man who yearns to break free of being in someone else’s shadow. At the Q&A for the screening (its 17th film festival play), Liew and his co-writer/producer Bianca Balbuena explain that they wanted to show Smith outside of his famous stage persona. They also revealed that Smith suffered a stroke before the shoot and could only work for six hours a day, which explains Smith’s almost zombie-like physical state in the film. Kita Kita (I See You) The latest film by The Philippines’ Sigrid Adrea P. Bernardo is a modern fairy tale about Filipino expats in Hokkaido. When Lea (Alessandra De Rossi) suffers temporary blindness from a devastating breakup, her neighbor and “Kabayan” (countryman) Tonyo (Empoy Marquez) steps in and offers her the kindness that she needs to move on. After the story’s major twist, it switches perspective and tells the story from Tonyo’s side. The film was presented as a world premiere in the OAFF competition. P. Bernardo, De Rossi, producer Piolo Pascual (also an actor) and cinematographer appeared after the screening for a Q&A. They talked about casting the unlikely pair (This is the first romantic role for De Rossi, who says that she usually only plays in the lead in poverty porns, and Empoy Marquez.) and choosing Hokkaido because it’s the only place that the director hasn’t been to in Japan. A Filipino expat also stood up and thanked P. Bernardo for the film, while several members of the film’s Japanese crew also attended in support of the film. My Stupid Boss Prior to the screening of this immensely popular Indonesian comedy, the festival held the award ceremony. You can see the results here. The ceremony was especially interesting coming from someone who hasn’t attended one of these (HKIFF doesn’t have a competition section, and I’ve also never caught the live announcement of HK Asian Film Festival’s Asian New Talent Award). The ceremony was attended by many of the guests and audiences who have seen other films at the festival, so you can hear the excitement in the air when something that audiences like wins an award. Something that wasn’t in the story: Director Ho Yuhang jokingly announced that the Grand Prix winner was La La Land in the moment that got the biggest laugh of the night. Most of the festival guests cleared out after the award ceremony (there was an afterparty I didn’t attend), and about two-thirds of the audience remained to watch the film. Based on the four-part novel series, My Stupid Boss is about the psychological warfare between Diana (Bunga Citra Lestari) and her eccentric, incredibly incompetent boss (Reza Rahadian, unrecognizable under all that makeup). Written and directed by Upi Avianto, the office comedy struck enough chords that it was also the third highest grossing Indonesian film of 2016. It was one of the few films in the program that did not have a Q&A, but the audience seemed to enjoy the over-the-top antics of the boss. After the film, I was asked by a fellow guest to attend the Philippine Night party, which is the second party after the first afterparty. I chatted with Ho Yuhang, whom I had interviewed that afternoon, about Hong Kong cinema and the types of films he wants to do. I chatted with other overseas guests and used my broken Japanese with a few of the young Japanese indie directors. I generally don’t do very well at parties, but I’m glad the OAFF creates these intimate gatherings for its guests rather than the usual big flashy film festival/market parties. Next: The final day at OAFF DistributionHong KongIndonesiaMalaysiaPhilippines Previous Previous post: Asia in Cinema at the Osaka Asian Film Festival – part 2 Next Next post: Jia Zhangke and Marco Mueller launch film festival in Shanxi Province	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16203
__label__wiki	0.607585	0.607585	Home News EU News EU-UK Brexit Talks Set To Begin EU-UK Brexit Talks Set To Begin British ambassador to the EU Tim Barrow (L) hands the Brexit letter to European Council President Donald Tusk in Brussels, Belgium (Xinhua/POOL/YVES HERMAN) (djj) The European Union (EU) and the UK will begin their Brexit talks on June 19 as expected, according to a joint statement by EU and the European Commission (EC)….reports Asian Lite News The new statement dismissed all rumours that Brexit negotiations may delayed due to the poll debacle faced by Prime Minister Theresa May and they will ask for some more time to start the process. According to the statement issued on Thursday, the EU and the UK are set to begin negotiations on Article 50, which was triggered on March 29 and sets out the procedure for withdrawing from the 27-member bloc, reports Efe news. “Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s Chief Negotiator, and David Davis, Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, agreed today to launch Article 50 negotiations on Monday, June 19,” the statement said. The negotiations are scheduled to last approximately 18 months, from June to November 2018, a short period of time given the number of subjects that will need to be covered as the UK breaks free of the EU. UK Prime Minister Theresa May had hoped to enter negotiations with a strong bargaining hand, but the recent snap general elections have left her without a majority in Parliament and mired in talks between her Conservative Party and the minor Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland in a bid to achieve a ruling pact. May gambled that a strong election win, as forecast by some pollsters, would boost her majority in the House of Commons in time for the Brexit talks, but instead, her party surrendered 13 seats in the lower chamber. Among topics that need to be agreed upon is the status of UK citizens living and working in the EU, as well as that of European nationals doing the same in Britain. Also, the size and scope of the “divorce” settlement must be decided, the statement added. Previous articleIndia vs Pakistan in Champions Trophy Final Next articleTurkey-US Relations Hit Snag	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16204
__label__cc	0.708801	0.291199	Image courtesy of Atlanta Celebrates Photography ACP Film Series: Nine Days from My Window in Aleppo Sun, Oct 22 7pm – 8:30pm Reserve tickets at acpinfo.org ACP's Film Series explores the close connection between photography and film. Issa Touma is a self-taught photographer & film director based in Aleppo. His work can be found in several international collections, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London & FOMU Museum in Antwerp. His movie “9 Days from my window in Aleppo” was awarded Best Short Film by the European Film Awards; Best Short Film at the London Film Festival and the Tribute Award at the International Short Film Festival in New York. Iyanla Vanzant Macon Film Festival Jimmy Carter Presidential Library & Museum 441 Freedom Pkwy. www.jimmycarterlibrary.gov Atlanta Celebrates Photography	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16207
__label__cc	0.622517	0.377483	The Pet Economy Roars Ahead The Global Debt Machine Digests Another Crisis Boomers Go "Hog Wild" Comments Off on Boomers Go "Hog Wild" Published on Oct 15, 2007 in Issue 054 - October 2007, Consumer Tactics, Demography In a typical Sunday afternoon this autumn in the upper Midwest, you’ll find the highway crowded with “gangs” of motorcyclists. But few of these motorcyclists fit the stereotype of the motorcycle riders of the ‘50s and ’60s, who were typically young, rebellious, and poorly groomed. Today’s bikers are older, wealthier, and more likely to be investment bankers than bouncers. They’re also more likely to be women than in the past. One in every 12 motorcycle owners today is a woman, according to the motorcycle industry. The Associated Press1 reports that Harley-Davidson now sells 30,000 motorcycles a year to women, up from just 600 in 1986. That’s one reason Harley-Davidson, the iconic brand of American motorcycles, is enjoying record sales. However, it’s not just Harley that’s benefiting: Other motorcycles are also selling well, with more than 1 million bikes sold in 2006. According to the latest available sales figures from the Motorcycle Industry Council, Honda controls 24 percent of the overall motorcycle market, followed by Harley-Davidson and Buell at 22.6 percent, Yamaha at 15.9 percent, Suzuki at 11.9, and Kawasaki at 9.1 percent.2 The new breed of bikers, as shown in the recent movie Wild Hogs, likes to ride machines that can cost as much as $30,000, so they tend to be well-educated, with high-paying jobs. Often, they’ve put off riding while focusing on their careers and raising their children. Now, instead of confronting an empty nest, they’re hitting the open road. A survey by the national non-profit Motorcycle Safety Foundation found that people who have stopped riding and then started again do so after an average layoff of 13 years. The study revealed that 29 percent of those who returned to motorcycling were in their 40s, 37 percent were in their 50s, and 18 percent were in their 60s or older. According to motorcycle industry analyst Donald Brown, the Baby Boomers — people born between 1946 and 1964 — are fueling the sales of motorcycles. A study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2006 backs up his assertion. The percentage of motorcycles owned by people over the age of 40 has increased from 21 percent in 1985 to 53 percent today. And the number of bikes owned by those over 50 has gone up from 10 percent in 1990 to more than 25 percent today. As Brown told the St. Petersburg Times,3 Boomer riders prefer the larger, slower motorcycles known as “cruisers” and “touring bikes,” instead of the high-speed sport motorcycles that appeal to younger riders... Boomers Continue to Be the Focus of Marketing Efforts Active Baby Boomers Set America's Economic Pace	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16208
__label__cc	0.62496	0.37504	Finest Standup Specials To Stream On Netflix Written by Joseph Santiago Netflix has really been doubling down on the content of All Kinds recently. From Cartoon to stand up, it seems like there is nothing Netflix is not inclined to throw money at. While all this new content serves its own purpose and keeps us tuned in, it can be tough to find exactly what you’re looking for. With that said, we have taken the time that the amass some of the greatest standup specials on Netflix, so you don’t need to spend another 4 decades looking for something to watch. Let us go ahead and dive into to find out what a few of the funniest comedians on Netflix need to offer you. 10. DAVE CHAPPELLE: THE AGE OF SPIN You’d be hard-pressed not to have heard of Dave Chappelle’s enormous comeback deal on Netflix. For quite a long time, Dave was among the most respected and revered comedians across the world. After The Chappelle Show ended it seemed like we might never have heard from the acclaimed comic again. Luckily, Netflix had the spare cash to just keep tossing at Chappelle till he agreed to a taped standup special comeback. He may have been out of the public eye for quite a while, but he has not lost a single step because of his heyday. His performance in the Hollywood Palladium (his first at Los Angeles in ten years) is spectacular, showing precisely why Netflix is willing to throw the big bucks at him. 9. HASAN MINAJ: HOMECOMING KING You will recognize Hasan Minaj out of his work on The Daily Show: With Trevor Noah or from his new show on Netflix, The Patriot Act, however between those two series he published a hilarious standup special for Netflix. Hasan’s Homecoming King dives into everything from the”immigration crisis” in America to spending far too much money on Jordans. His unique perspective about the American dream and what it means to strive for that fantasy coming from immigrant parents is both eye-opening and rib-tickling. It wasn’t just a fluke which Netflix chose to offer him a series of his own. 8. PATTON OSWALT: TALKING FOR CLAPPING Whether you are on Hulu watching Bob’s Burgers, Netflix seeing Parks And Recreation, or some of those additional random places he pops up, Patton Oswalt is somewhat difficult to escape. That’s not exactly the worst thing, however, especially when it comes to his hysterical standup specials. It feels like Patton Oswalt really hits his stride when he’s on stage, engaging with an audience which can barely manage to remain in their seats. Patton goes into everything from San Fransisco’s snarky coffee shop baristas into the folly of this straight child’s prom in a standup special you’re not likely to forget anytime soon. 7. DONALD GLOVER: WEIRDO You’re likely familiar with Donald Glover from either of his hit series Community or his much more recent Atlanta, or possibly his job in the music business under the name Childish Gambino. While Donald has been getting a great deal of attention lately for all the amazing things he is doing in the entertainment business, it can be easy to overlook a number of his earlier work as a standup comedian. As Donald might say, “Some people like to refer to me as a triple threat. Personally, I’d like to think of myself as just a threat.” It seems like there’s not a lot that Donald Glover is not fantastic at. 6. CHELSEA PERETTI: ONE OF THE GREATS While you likely understand Chelsea Peretti from her funny role as Gina on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, what you may not know is that she’s also a devastatingly funny comedian. Her stand-up special One Of The Greats dives into everything from dating someone inside the sector to the bravado and unearned confidence of some of her male counterparts. Chelsea’s brilliant standup is packed with laugh out loud moments (both on and off the point, so keep an eye out). We can only hope that she will return to the point after her announcement that she will soon be leaving the cast of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. 5. JIM JEFFERIES: BARE Jim Jefferies is probably one of the most outrageous, irreverent, and dark comedians working the stage now. But do not let this prevent you from experiencing the Australian comic unique brand of comedy. Jim doesn’t care much for your comfortability, in actuality, he would much rather make you uncomfortable that you consider leaving your chair. In Bare, Jim Jeffries’ 2014 standup particular, Jim does bare all. If he is going into politics, faith, or the mother of his kid dating the center for the Miami Heat and partying with Madonna, you’re able to reliably bet he’s going to cross a few lines you’ll feel absolutely awful for laughing. 4. MIKE BIRBIGLIA: MY GIRLFRIEND’S BOYFRIEND Mike Birbiglia has been on the stand-up humor scene for a long time, and whether he is working to confront his awkward tendencies or weaving them in to make a weirdly inspirational story, he is one of the largest working comedians of the time. Like most of his comedy specials, My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend has Mike invited us in his life with the private stories of the past. From the absolutely painfully embarrassing stories about sexuality, marriage, and friendship with his heartwarming messages about finding the power to confront yourself, along with your”A” outfit. Even if it’s an oversized button-down that looks like it should have been the backup shirt. 3. JOHN MULANEY: THE COMEBACK KID JOHN MULANEY IS ONE OF THE MOST PROLIFIC COMEDIANS (STANDUP OR OTHERWISE) WORKING TODAY. HAVING WORKED ON EVERYTHING FROM SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE AND HBO’S CRASHING TO SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE, IT’D BE HARD TO A PROJECT THAT JOHN HASN’T BEEN A PART OF. JOHN IS NO STRANGER TO BIG STANDUP SPECIALS, AND HIS PERFORMANCE AT CHICAGO’S OWN THE CHICAGO THEATER IS NO DIFFERENT. THE SHARPLY-DRESSED COMEDIAN GOES INTO EVERYTHING FROM THE STRUGGLES OF TRYING TO Receive HIS PAUL GIAMATTI-LOOKING DOG TO EAT, TO THE COMPLEXITIES OF DEALING WITH GROWN-UP THINGS LIKE 30-YEAR MORTGAGES AND EVEN PRESIDENT JONATHAN TAYLOR THOMAS. 2. HANNAH GADSBY: NANETTE Over the course of the year, you’ve probably heard a great deal about Hannah Gadsby’s amazing standup Particular Nanette. Inside her 2018 stand-up special, ” she dives into everything in the intricacies of growing up lesbian in her hometown of Tasmania, in which homosexuality was outlawed until 1997, to the awkwardness of being mistaken for a man by angry boyfriends. Hannah Gadsby’s honest and reflective standup shines a light (albeit a humorous one) on the struggles of growing a little different than the folks around you. Something most people can relate to. 1. BO BURNHAM: MAKE HAPPY Bo Burnham’s meticulously intended one-piece series would make it on the peak of the list just based on the sheer quantity of effort he clearly put into it. Everything from the excellent songs he has created and the perfectly timed audio pieces to his awkward winding throughout the point he somehow manages to utilize for comedic effect, everything about Bo Burnham’s unique reeks of preparation and careful thought. Therefore, if you’re searching for a great laugh with tunes you are just as likely to sing along with as you are supposed to burst out laughing, then Bo Burnham’s Make Happy is the thoughtful, and often courageously honest, special for you.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16210
__label__cc	0.654657	0.345343	What's a "gay conservative"? Do gay liberals ask for too much "attention" from political candidates? Today, Gay Patriot has a blog entry “Gay Conservative Voters Don’t Need Gay-Specific Appeals.” It goes on to lead to the libertarian position” believe that if the government just leaves us alone, private institutions will effect the changes we need.” I reflected on that sentiment in my first book, where I used “gay conservative” in the title, and find that many people find that combination of words an oxymoron. But Andrew Sullivan has developed a great deal of public “notability” (as Wikipedia defines it) as a “gay conservative” or specifically and simply conservative in the sense that is close to libertarianism, but still pragmatic, somewhat along the lines of the Cato Institute. He tells Metro Weekly “I'm a small government, low taxes, strong foreign policy, individual liberty kind of guy. I'm not [for a] big government, moralizing religious right.” What’s important for conservatives is to address some of the more existential challenges to freedom (even beyond religious hegemony) that look toward some abstract and sustainable idea of “justice”, and Giuliani mentioned this in the debates before he dropped out. Sullivan’s treatise on all this was “The Conservative Soul: How We Lost It, How to Get It Back" (Harper Collins, 2006) ISBN 0060188774. I’ve felt it necessary to dissect these existential problems in some long previous entries on this and on my main blog. Gay Patriot takes us to an America Blog entry by John Aravosis, “Hillary’s Gay Problem.” OK, Hillary doesn’t mention gay issues as often as Barack Obama. Maybe. I haven’t really noticed. Obama seems a little bit further to the left, and some of his proposals could accidentally hurt gay people. For example, expanding Medicaid’s reach could accidentally drag more childless people into states future efforts to enforce filial responsibility laws. The AmericaBlog entry offers a five-minute YouTube / Logo interview by Jason Bellini of Hillary Clinton offered before Super Tuesday. She talks a little about mowing down the Marriage Amendment, but the most interesting part of the interview deals with the prospect of repealing “don’t ask don’t tell.” She gives a pretty good answer, first pointing out that most of our major allies have done it with no problems (most recently, Britain, our most important partner in Iraq). She reminds the audience that as president she cannot do this by herself. Congress passed the 1993 law in a “veto-proof” environment, she says. She says we need to build a broad political coalition to lift the ban. That makes it sound difficult at the outset. One place to start is to ask more members of Congress and (beyond refreshing their minds on Marty Meehan's bill) to go back and read the detailed 1993 Rand Corporation report on just how to do it, commissioned by the Clinton Administration (Les Aspin) itself then. The book is "Sexual Orientation and U.S. Military Personnel Policy: Options and Assessment" and it’s on Amazon, but expensive. Posted by Bill Boushka at 7:05 AM No comments: Labels: gay conservatives, gay libertarians, gays in the military HIV an issue with Foreign Service (State) and Peace Corps HIV infection has been an issue for federal employment overseas (regular and volunteer) many times, because some countries will not allow HIV-infected people from outside to work there. The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (LLDEF) litigated in 2003 in behalf of Lorenzo Taylor, who had been turned down for state department employment in the Foreign Service because he told them about HIV positive status. (Their link on this case “Taylor v. Rice” is here. ). However, recently the State Department has begun a policy of looking at HIV status on a case by case basis in Foreign Service assignments, probably because of pressure from the litigation. However, now there are new stories about issues within the Peace Corps. Jeremiah Johnson was terminated from the Peace Corps after testing positive for HIV in Kiev while on a Russian Language Program. The ACLU posts his termination papers here (PDF): “365” has a story on his case “Peace Corps Fires Man with HIV” here. The Peace Corps is supposed to consider these on a “case by case” basis, partly to comply with the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. As with Foreign Service, advances in the effectiveness in anti-HIV drugs should make overseas employment much more realistic. Stephen Barr has a “Federal Diary” column in the Business Section, p D1 of The Washington Post, D1, Monday April 28, 2008 “For Volunteer, Early Exit Adds To Disease’s Pain,” link here. I considered volunteering for the Peace Corps in 2002, after my “retirement,” but found that I didn’t have the volunteer experience in volume sufficient for an effective application. In 1988, I was interviewed by Mitchell Systems in Washington DC for a position doing applications programming for the State Department’s Payroll System. I took a different position, and even then, I really didn’t want to have to worry about a security clearance. It is said to be much better now. Posted by Bill Boushka at 10:12 AM No comments: Labels: gays and security clearances, HIV issues LGBT people could be affected by talk of "demographic winter" Recently I leafed through the Monarch Notes for Crane Brinton’s history text “A History of Civilization” when I took both semesters of world history at GW the summer of 1963. On p 53 there appears a summary of “social Darwinism” with brief identifications of Herbert Spencer, Cecil Rhodes, and ideas like eugenics, "Rascism" (that's how they spelled it), and elitism, as they developed in the 19th Century. (Charles Darwin alone was not the “culprit.”) Even in those days, before the Civil Rights movement blossomed fully, college texts and professors had to treat these subjects (they seem to go back to ancient Sparta) with great respect and care. World War II was a much fresher memory. I noticed that I underlined some ideas, not to agree with them but because I thought I would need to remember them for exams. Even given my personal experience at William and Mary in 1961 and then as a “mental patient” at National Institutes of Health in 1962, I did not fully grasp how ideas could shape my own life yet. As I would discover in the early 70s when networking with activists, leading to my own “second coming,” the practical effect of capitalism is to have a world where some people are better off than others, and where we want to associate their station in life with some idea of their worthiness – we call it “meritocracy.” John Stossel even says that some times: “our system is supposed to be a meritocracy.” How do we separate ourselves from the horrific abuses of this type of thinking in the past? For one thing, we believe in giving everyone a chance. The Americans for Disabilities Act has sometimes enabled to the personal development of some of our most productive people in the workplace, especially in fields like information technology. The same can be said about special education, which (as with autism) sometimes really does work. Our legal system embraces the libertarian notion of non-aggression and non-coercion, or at least it’s supposed to. My own mental perception of this idea as an adult has been more the viewpoint of objectivism. I devoured “Atlas Shrugged” while in the barracks in the Army (as did several other “buddies”) and it certainly influenced my adult thinking. One more critical concept is "equality before the law" but not necessarily in outcomes; yet in practice this sometimes invokes arbitrary prerequisites and group identity. I bring this up on my LGBT blog, because it does relate to how I have experienced my own life as a gay man and with the pressures I feel today from some people. In the 1990s, particularly, objectivism, and a focus on “personal responsibility” (developed out of necessity during the AIDS epidemic) became popular within some segments of the gay community, such as Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty. It was “logical.” In fact, that’s where I have a bone to pick with religion. Christian faith generally stresses the idea that one cannot always be “lord of his own jungle,” that one needs others, one needs God, one needs Grace (especially -- I like to mediate that with karma), and sometimes has to accept living life on the terms of others despite one’s best efforts. (I remember a 1972 sermon on “The Rich Young Ruler” – “only God is good” and “don’t pander me.”) That seems counter to freedom. “Righteousness” and “justice” are not always equivalent concepts. I have sometimes encountered expectations that I be willing to center my own life on the needs of another person(s), even if I did not elect to do so by marrying and having children. In a few cases the demands on me are quite determined. There is resentment that I would even enter the public limelight and “catalog” political issues “objectively” without first having more personal accountability (even as an adult) to other people. I should experience the same exposure to material and emotional risk as anyone raising a family, before being heard from; otherwise, anything I say seems (to them) to float on top of an attitude of detachment and contempt. One way mandatory family responsibility can develop is with eldercare. In some families, single people have been called upon to raise siblings’ children after family tragedies. I don’t want to go into more personal detail than necessary, but I don’t think I am the only gay man stumbling into this kind of quicksand. I wrote about the limelight issue in 2005 with an essay “The Privileged of Being Listened To” and that created a bit of a stir. Some people reacted with, “well, why not run for office then” or at least be willing to work for political candidates? It seemed more important to win converts that win arguments. There is something particular about all this, that the therapists at NIH made a lot of during my “hospitalization” in 1962: the “upward affiliation” (a favorite term of conservative pundit George Gilder) that I’ve often mentioned. During my “second coming out” in the 1970s, I did have to focus a lot of attention on my own “social needs”. (People who remember my participation in the talk groups at the Ninth Street Center then will testify to that.) I eventually found that if I accepted being alone for stretches and developed my own skills (whether social, professional, or expressive, as with writing or music) I could attract the people that I “wanted.” I would tend to “feel” (like a “psychological subjective feminine” in Center terminology) for those men with whom I could “affiliate” – those men whom I perceived as “better” by some personal set of “standards,” which could include appearance. But I would remain emotionally distant from everyone else (including blood relatives). I found that this approach to life would actually “work,” because my capacity for emotion was channeled where I wanted it to go; it seemed to express “integrity”. But as my life progressed through time and past all of these political issues and changes, others with needs and who perhaps believed I owed them an emotional debt came to express the idea that this approach to life was unethical, unfair, and deprived others of the support that they had once given me. The idea of "fairness" seemed to them an abstraction, as were all of these global Internet expressions; "real life" was to comprise codependent familial or communal relationships for their own sakes, regardless of inevitable externally imposed hardships. One way they would sometimes deal with this is to present me with an “opportunity” that fit their agenda for political and social (and maybe religious) correctness, adjusted for the 21st century world. I would be asked to serve as a “role model” and become emotionally involved with certain people (children or boys) in situations that I would not have chosen and that I did not believe to be appropriate. It seemed that my serving in this manner could make them feel better about themselves, and perhaps less exposed to criticism for their own “weaknesses”. This struck me as an odd turnabout, after decades of “urban exile” and political debates about keeping the exclusion of open gays from the military and from adoption or involvement with children. Suddenly, the world realized it needed everyone, partly because of the eldercare caregiving crisis, and because of the need for teachers, and because of the possibility of a “demographic winter.” My reaction to all this is two-fold. First, I would be more willing to “change” how I related to people (and consider jobs where typical parental “socialization” is needed) if there were certain legal reforms, like ending “don’t ask don’t tell.” If you need everyone to be able to “serve”, come clean about this, please, and admit it openly. Another reaction is that accepting “leadership responsibility” in areas in which I had never worked or made any significant individual contributions toward, would disrupt my own “psychologically feminine” psyche and ability to respond according to my identity. Some people, however, are particularly taken back by this sort of proclamation. Gay men don’t often say things like this in polite company, but on the recesses of the Internet, on some message boards and chatrooms, one finds comments by some men that they want “relief” from the “responsibilities” of initiation expected of men, and particularly the expectation that they can “protect” families with women and children. (In the modern world, most women, it seems, want to protect themselves and want their own independent lives anyway, they say.) This is not the same thing as a trans-gender identity, but sometimes it leads to consideration (and glorification) of certain self-destructive acts. Although gay men generally aren't thinking about "political defiance" during intimacy, others may perceive the public openness about it as rejecting one's own "blood" in a competitive and sometimes hostile external world. Families of these men may feel jeopardized by such statements. School systems find this particularly problematic with male teachers. Where does this all lead? An easy way out is the "politically correct" and partially scientifically valid idea of homosexuality as immutable. There are problems with this, when comparing to some other possibly genetic "behavioral" inclinations. But to me, it seems insulting: it ultimately panders to the notion of homosexuality as a quasi-disability, because if interferes with almost obligatory biological reproduction and "life affirmation". With some people, this seems to lead to a moral principle that everyone should be accountable to someone else and prove that he or she can provide for others (especially blood family members) regardless of actually having children and marrying. If you don’t have your own kids, some other responsibility will be assigned to you. This sort of thinking would seem to confound the notion of marriage as we know it today (even before considering gay marriage). In the past, however, the maze of apparently logic-driven ethical contradictions could be skipped with a prohibitionistic policy toward homosexuality (especially for men, with its “upward affiliation”). Now, it is coming back. It could reintroduce a world where having children becomes a cultural and economic necessity. Parents will behave as if marriage needs to be pampered, honored, and sheltered from distraction if lifelong monogamous commitment is to remain "worth it". I do think that modern generations have lost sight of this problem: this is how it was, folks, in the 50s. It started to “break down” with the Civil Rights movement in the 60s, and then will all that followed: the violent year 1968, then Stonewall, the collapse of the Vietnam war, and Watergate. Libertarians will say that this is a matter that should be resolved within families (as with wills). But the law does get involved. States, under financial pressure, might start enforcing filial responsibility laws, and that could target GLBT people. (The gay establishment doesn’t want to talk about this, because of a fear that publicity would bring it on. But the coming "crisis" comes in large part from medical practice that can prolong life without vigor and independence, while at the same time families are smaller.) Tax policy obviously will pay more attention to dependents (unless we could some day have a Forbes “flat tax” or a Huckabee “Fair Tax” but even then, there will be issues.) Employers have to deal with family leave, and paid family leave can become a political issue where the childless subsidize the childed. We do need to start talking about this openly. In that regard, discussions about “demographic winter” that seem to have originated with the political Right may be welcome, even if some of their assumptions are flawed. Correlated post, here. That post presents a more integrated "material" view of karma, whereas this one is more about the psychological, familial and emotional view. Labels: personal ethics PA: Tricky constitutional amendment ("functional equivalent" of marriage); FL; VA A battle over an anti-gay-marriage constitutional amendment in Pennsylvania, hyped in the media before Tuesday’s Democratic presidential primary (that has little to do with it), sounds a bit like the battle over the Marshall-Newman amendment in Virginia. The Equality Advocates Pennsylvania “Take Action” Amendment is here. They also have a “take action” page and form letter here. The text of this amendment S 1250 can be found at this link. The critical wording is: 4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 5 hereby resolves as follows: 6 Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution of 7 Pennsylvania is proposed in accordance with Article XI: 8 That Article I be amended by adding a section to read: 9 § 29. Marriage. 10 No union other than a marriage between one man and one woman 11 shall be valid or recognized as marriage or the functional 12 equivalent of marriage by the Commonwealth. That would seem to ban what we call “civil unions” (“functional equivalent” wording) too. However, many groups have claimed that it could prevent people from leaving estates to same-sex partners, or interfere with other rights from housemates separately arranged by contract or power of attorney. For example, one law professor, Bridget Crawford at the University of Pittsburgh, provides this legal analysis (PDF), here. The text of that 2006 house proposal to amend the constitution, similarly worded, can be found at this link: The text reads ONLY A MARRIAGE BETWEEN ONE MAN AND ONE WOMAN SHALL BE VALID 3 OR RECOGNIZED AS A MARRIAGE IN THIS COMMONWEALTH, AND NEITHER 4 THE COMMONWEALTH NOR ANY OF ITS POLITICAL SUBDIVISIONS SHALL 5 CREATE OR RECOGNIZE A LEGAL UNION IDENTICAL OR SUBSTANTIALLY 6 EQUIVALENT TO THAT OF MARRIAGE FOR UNMARRIED INDIVIDUALS. There has been considerable litigation about a previously legislated gay marriage ban, as with this link: As I’ve noted, Pennsylvania has adopted some particularly biting “pro family” legislation, such as in 2005 when it moved filial responsibility laws from the welfare code to the domestic law section, implying that adult children have a responsibility for parents comparable to what parents had for them as minors. So far this has not been enforced as far as I know. (See this link, July 12). In other states, Florida has been trying to enlist senior citizens to support its constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage (AP story, Washington Blade, April 18, 2008, link here. There is also an ongoing legal battle where a former lesbian partner from Vermont kept visitation rights when her partner separated and moved to Virginia, by Joshua Lynsen, March 19, 2008 link here. The case will go to the Virginia Supreme Court. Here is the Lambda Legal link for the case, "VA Supreme Court Hears Interstate Custody Case". Labels: gay marriage Pope's moralistic sermons still a bit ambiguous for LGBT people The Pope apparently waved at Dignity and kept the tone of his moral remarks within bounds. He talked about balancing “rights and responsibilities” and the human tendency to appeal to relativism and “lower common denominators,” the need to understand the downstream effects of one’s choices, and most of all to honor “Divine Plan” which includes family identity was well as an individual’s. This is not to pay undue heed to the priest’s scandal, which is not anymore a “gay problem” than the recent takeover of an FLDS compound in Texas is a “straight” one. (In saying this I have to take the state's "probable cause" at its word, and maybe it's early to do that -- Larry King Live has presented the women's side; see here, toward end of posting. Also, the overwhelming majority of perpetrators on NBC’s Dateline TCAP stings were heterosexual.) I personally think that banning married men from being priests is like banning gays from the military – even though there are theological doctrines. There’s more about this on the issues blog Feb. 22. No, the Pope’s multiple sermons on this visit seem to address the futility of human attempts to design absolutely perfect social justice on his own terms. There is always some kind of ideological rationalization for any political solution (and the history of the past century with Communism, which Pope John helped President Reagan bring down, and Fascism), which will justify the worst kinds of totalitarianism (which is almost never tolerant of gays). I’ve noted on these blogs that the arguments about individualized social justice get tricky indeed. They go beyond taking responsibility for personal choices (whether supporting children one has fathered or preventing STDs and pregnancy with “precautions”) to a broader sense of sharing both responsibility and risks (which procreation inherently does, something the Vatican always points out), and accepting some contingent level of interdependence even while expressing freedom. I’ve sometimes called this the “pay your dues” moral philosophy. Even these arguments, however, probably don’t fully respect the inherently transitory nature of self-interest. When I prance on the disco floor at the TownDC, the assembly of people, mostly young adults (men) that I see still represent a snapshot in time. They were kids once, and most of them will be old some day, my age. That’s basic modern physics, call it general relativity. Religious faiths constantly seek to give men institutions (marriage) that coax them to change their perception of self-interest. Anti-gay "Levitical" moral codes (whatever the distinctions between "identity" and "conduct" and all the stuff about "objective disorders" from the 1980s) often seem like a convenient canard for keeping the moral ideas "simple" enough for the majority of people to follow, when the details about how real peoples' lives play out get very complicated. Institutionalism tries to tell the majority of people "how to live" to meet majoritarian needs, and is counter-libertarian. I’ve said that a proper moral debate would focus on what “society” should expect of and how it should treat someone who is differently wired, in such a way that he or she will not approach taking on family responsibility in the “normal” way. Yet, it seems that the Pope’s comments ultimately leave this up in the air, as “divine purpose” and institutions deal only with large numbers of people. That is one reason it is so hard to win the gay marriage debate on the grounds of just “individual rights and responsibilities.” I have an older essay on Vatican ideas of sexual morality here (2004). Picture: GLBT issues presented in Free Speech exhibit in just-opened Newseum in Washington DC. Posted by Bill Boushka at 1:23 PM No comments: Labels: Religion and homosexuality Gay couples often struggle more on Tax Day As tax day approaches, some LGBT people and couples anticipate mad midnight rushes to post offices with returns, as they may be more likely to owe money because of lack of access to the benefits of joint federal filing. While possible for state income taxes in MA only, the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 would preclude any such possibility for federal returns. The major story "Gay couples face higher tax bills" appeared on CNN today, link here. Some gay partners get health benefits through their partners' work, but they actually have to declare that as income, the article points out. The federal government regards a gay couple as two separate households. However, there may be some circumstances where that is and advantage. There has always been a lot of noise from social conservatives over the "marriage penalty," as discussed here on Wikipedia, including uneven attempts to eliminate it. In earlier times, the marriage penalty could be significant enough that sometimes single people actually paid less in taxes. Conservatives claim that legalizing gay marriage jeopardizes (First Amendment) religious liberties Back in 1980, before the coming crisis with AIDS was publicly known very much, the gay community in the south, particularly Dallas, where I lived then, was dealing with the likelihood of the need for assistance from an expected influx of Cuban refugees. There was an expectation that the refugees would include many gay men, fleeing Communist Cuba (remember the film “Before Night Falls”). There was talk, especially within gay churches, as to how they would be housed. I thought about becoming involved, and even took a Spanish course in downtown’s El Centro College (and the term was refugiados cubanos). In September 1980 I went to talk to Catholic Charities about this, in their low rise facility on Lemmon Ave., ironically in Oak Lawn and the heart of Dallas’s “gay neighborhood”. I met a young man named Mr. Perez inside, and after a few sentences, I heard the words “But the fact that you say you are gay ends this conversation.” That incident comes to mind, as I look at an op-ed on p. 19 of the Monday, April 7, 2008 DC Examiner, by Roger Severino, “Legalizing gay marriage will spark lawsuits against churches,” link here. He discusses, besides the legal outcome (of Goodridge) in Massachusetts, current litigation over same-sex marriage in California and Connecticut. He tries to argue that constitutionally guaranteed religious liberty could be undermined by decisions favoring gay marriage. Why? Largely because religious charities often consider legal marriage (and expect to find opposite sex couples and parents) when they deliver services. They often run into state laws, including public accommodations laws, that prohibit discrimination already on the basis of sexual orientation. In the situation I mention above in Texas, there was no such law, but in some other states Mr. Perez probably could not have said (at least today, if the circumstances repeated) what he said then. Severino writes that in Massachusetts, Catholic Charities was forced out of the adoption placement business as an indirect result of the state’s definition of same-sex marriage. The big problem with Severino's argument seems to be his presumption that the delivery of services by charities needs to be intertwined with the support of government and the state, a situation that libertarians have always wanted to decouple. In this regard, it’s understandable that some states (as Maryland now proposes) will want to consider defining-down “marriage” as civil union for everyone, and then write laws say that churches and private charities are free to treat couples any way they like in the assignment of services, as long as they don’t take public monies. That’s hard to pull off. When I was editor of The Quill for Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty in the 1990s, Gene Cisewseki wrote a cutting 1996 op-ed “License Expired” (direct link) (or go to GLIL and look under archives in a separate HTML frame). Of course, this gets back to the privileges and perks (and yes responsibilities) that marriage brings. Sometimes unmarried people have to subsidize them. That’s part of the rub. A pastor David Ensign at Clarendon Presbyterian Church in Arlington dramatized the issue when he refused to perform legal heterosexual marriages in his church, making couples go to the County for the official legal recognition. For example, see the story by Elizabeth Weill Greenberg in The Washington Blade, Nov. 25, 2005, “Presbyterian church nixes weddings for all: protest against ban on gay marriage by Va. Presbyterians,” here. Posted by Bill Boushka at 5:38 AM 1 comment: US Appeals Court rules that roommates service may not "ask" sexual orientation Some visitors to my blogs are familiar in my story about my expulsion from William and Mary in November 1961 for admitting "latent homosexuality" to the Dean of Men. The story is on my main blog here. There was a roommate issue in the sequence that led to this. How times have changed. The Ninth Circuit has ruled that a commercial website roommates.com may not ask the sexual orientation of clients, even though some people believe that it would be relevant. Prospective college students often use the site. The site has a rather detailed "terms of service" that does not mention sexual orientation. The main story is by Adam Tanner on Reuters, "Straight or gay? U.S. court says Web site can't ask," link here. The story also appears on MSNBC. The Court made a comparison to asking religion or race by phone before conducting business. So this is a "don't ask" without a "don't tell." There are reports that co-ed dorms are more common. When I stayed in McCollum Hall at the University of Kansas in the 1960s as a graduate student, the dorm was co-ed my last year there, with a partition in each floor's lobby to separate the genders. Two wings were for men, one for women. I recall other anomalies of the period: undergraduate women had curfews, men did not. Schools believed that they acted in loco parentis. Steven Menashi has a somewhat convoluted discussion of the issue of sexual orientation in college dorms in the Dartmouth Review from Oct. 2, 2000, "Colleges' Housing Hypocrisy," link here. The article discusses the objection from many mainstream and elite schools from the military "don't ask don't tell" policy (and the Solomon Amendment) as it can affect the enrollment in their ROTC programs on campus, and as it also affects their receipt of needed DOD funds. Yet the schools do sometimes have issues with gay students in dorms. Sometimes a few of them have separate wings, and many of them will separate roommates on request of the straight student. (I recall somewhere seeing Moskos note that with regard to Northwestern University.) A few apparently will not. The situation may be changing gradually, is this article is now seven years old. In my case, I believe that William and Mary should simply have separated us (and waited until completely after Thanksgiving Weekend to call me in). Had the Dean simply done that, I might be a W&M graduate rather than a GWU graduate, and might have led a different life, and had a much better social experience in college, even in the early 1960s. My life might have been very different. Who knows, maybe I would have gone to med school, and become a CDC epidemiologist when AIDS broke out in the 1980s, or been an NIH researcher. (I'm more of a content, numbers and research person than a patients person.) Either life would have appealed to me. Times do change. I have an earlier posting on the tendency for parents to check out assigned or prospective roommates with Facebook and other social networking sites (based on a USA Today story), here. Update: Breaking News, April 6: John McCain today, speaking in Pensacola FL, called for military expansion. He said resuming the draft was neither "necessary" nor "desirable." But then he called "disgraceful" the practice of many universities of trying to deny access to ROTC. He did not say or admit that this problem is related to the "don't ask don't tell" policy and the Solomon Amendment, but he said that the "rights" of all students should be fully respected, as if to hint that he could someday be open to repealing DADT. Labels: gays in the military A gay male teacher as "surrogate family?" A very dicey notion A few days ago, ABC News gave us a story about how some school districts were encouraging teachers to act as “surrogate family members” to help underprivileged kids stay in school. I gave the link and some notes in this posting, toward the end of the posting on the Issues blog: I have some more reaction to all this, and some of it may sound a bit brutal, as well as frank. In making some of these comments, I’m recalling how overwhelming, overbearing, and downright intimidating Paul Rosenfels could become in those talk groups at the Ninth Street Center in New York back in the 1970s. “Be cause I said so, it is so.” I did sub for about three years (with one long break), and I did run into this. There were situations where kids needed a surrogate father. I found myself (as a sub) in some delicate situations a couple of times. And I realize that this complicates things further, because the story was intended to apply to permanent teachers. You can guess the political context: gay teachers, tracking back to gays in the military and “forced intimacy.” That’s right. To present a news story like that with all the “politically correct” hype about inner cities is a bit reckless without looking deeper. My own reactions are complicated enough to wonder whether they fit “Weekly Standard” or “Mother Jones” most closely, because they run both ways. What some kids need is emotional connection. There is a similar problem, at a very basic level, with eldercare. What seriously disabled parents need is unconditional love and emotional connection from the kids, regardless of all the political and moral arguments that run around the situation (“personal responsibility,” etc.) There is an element of forgiveness, Christian style. Because we are dealing with problems that should not happen except for neglect and wrongdoing. Who throws the first stone? What I find is that I am most unwilling to give out that emotional connectivity gratuitously, to suspend my own emotional selectivity (which was a good thing in the Ninth Street Center’s world – up to a point). Particularly, I cannot make something "right" that I don't think is right just by "protecting" someone or talking down to their emotions. I also find that, at age 64, I would be much more open to doing so in teaching jobs (especially dealing with disdanvantaged kids) had I married and had kids myself. It might even be OK had I married and created a lineage, and then divorced because I was gay. I still would have experienced procreation and the emotional responsibility it creates. Then I would be ready for this. But I never did that. I spared the two young women that I dated in the early 70s the grief of any pretense of this. They both married happily an monogamously, and had good families, with real passion, as far as I know. On some assignments, students (usually teenage girls) would as if I was married and had kids, and then, “why not?” It went beyond just asking “are you gay” (the obvious DADT question). A couple times I got them off the subject by talking about episodes in TheWB’s Smallville, Everwood, and particularly One Tree Hill (teenage girls seemed to like Chad Michael Murray). But they less privileged kids were especially suspect. Why did I not think enough of my own blood or family to want to continue it? In their world, where culture may give no other expressive opportunities or than family formation, that’s how they seem to see this situation. As I indicated back in February 2008 (Feb 18), I was somewhat of a social outcast as a kid. I was reminded that I was not “manly” or “competitive” enough, and that was taken to mean that I should not have a family, given the “overrationality” of my teenage brain and the way it calculated “self-interest”. I would have a psychological interest not only in (“psychologically feminine” in Rosenfels terminology) “submission” but in judging, at least privately, who was “worthy.” A lot of this goes on under the table in the gay male community. I see a “Mr. Right” somewhere and my gut emotional reaction is that this is someone whose appearance demonstrates “virtue” or represents my values. Soon, nothing else is “good enough” to be worthy of sexual attention. Imagine, then, my sense of personal affront. I am supposed to pretend (in front of immature teenagers) that I really am “competitive” enough to have had a wife and kids and kept one wife for a lifetime, when “rationally” that’s not true. Maybe this is utilitarian thinking or “radical individualism” run amok, to the point that its own logic force contradictions. Almost nothing could be more offensive. That kind of expectation of connection and fake “intimacy” borders on sexual harassment. That is how I experience it. If I were a 22 year old gay male who could present himself as competitive (even better an African American) and chose teaching because of the obvious need for young male teachers (even as surrogate "role models"), being expected to do this might well be all right. But not for a 64 year old who has lived in a separate “dominion” (urban “exile”) for three decades. There is just too much history, social and political hostility to overcome. But I am also forced to realize a couple of other things. One is a moral precept to be sure. If I can be critical of others for their “failings” (which are many) when they demand emotional attention that I don’t want to give them, why can’t they be just as judgmental about me for failing to even try to reproduce? That does represent the “moral thinking” in many religious areas. After all, the world is a dangerous place. It doesn’t guarantee a smooth ride. It demands hardships, and they are not always allocated equally. (Think about Job.) Then, why not at least say that someone who will enjoy some of the perks of a more privileged life should at least take the risk and responsibility of continuing a biological lineage before insisting on how own agenda, most of all me, an only child: The only answer that the conventional gay community offers is “how you are born” or “who you are.” But that doesn’t work for other areas. Then, again, there is “personal responsibility.” Remember how in the 1980s, the religious right wanted to hold gay men accountable for their own afflictions during the AIDS epidemic. They talked about “behavior based disease.” There was an “element” of truth to this. But then, twenty years later, we are faced with the enormous problems or aging and degenerative disease, and with the idea that much of this could also be prevented with “lifestyle” or “behavior” (never smoking, reducing calories and fat, exercise, etc) or “personal responsibility.” Sounds like the same convenient finger pointing. There is almost no reason, ideologically, not to blame the afflicted for their own “sin” if one insists. The “reproduction” problem leads to another twist that comes back into focus, and helps explain the “public morality” of the past and the vehemence with which I was expelled from college in 1961 (other blogs). In many social circumstances, the presence of gay men provokes less secure straight men into fearing that they too will have trouble “performing” because of lack of “competitiveness,” that they too, can fail physically, This is the great dirty little secret of McCarthyism that no one wants to admit, even today (although Randy Shilts pointed this out in his massive “Conduct Unbecoming” about gays in the military). In fact, gay male “culture” sometimes “brags” that it can judge “who has it”. Understandably, this puts a lot of people on edge, perhaps intentionally. This whole process may help explain the popularity in the past of male “rites of passage” or “tribunals” or outright hazing. It was supposed to make all young men see themselves differently, accept their fungibility, and be prepared to function as husbands and fathers, however troubled their past adolescence “competitively.” Recently, evangelicals Jackson and Perkins in their book “Personal Faith, Public Policy” (review: ) pointed out the dangers of “utilitarianism”, however circuitously; back in 1990, Allan Carlson had discussed the dangers of “the logical consequences of radical individualism” in his “Family Questions.” (In this regard, it’s interesting to see the unconditional emotions that surface in the eldercare issue in the three recent programs on eldercare on PBS and ABC; see my TV blog on April 1-2). They do have a point. Philosophers have debated how design a world that offers “absolute justice” in human terms, winding up with our “isms” at times. Consider how, under communism, fascism, extreme Christian fundamentalism, and radical Islam, various people believe in an absolute moral ideology (religiously based sometimes) that seems to “rationalize” results that work to the advantage of those who grew up in the respect system and became conditioned (even sexually) to respond to its values. The effect of these ideologies, with their self-righteousness, is to remove individuals from personal emotional risk. They do not have to take the chances that they can be wrong if they have to become more open emotionally to others on terms not of their choosing. They have an ideology that protects them and helps them function. Sometimes they do not even see the downstream results of their beliefs for others, until outside influences (the West, sometimes through wars) force them to. Then to avoid “religious”, ideological or personal shame, they will sometimes even surrender their own lives in spectacular fashion, as history has shown. Freedom always entails some risk like this, taking the chance that you can be wrong about everything, because there is no way to make everything just. This observation takes the idea of “responsibility for others” or involuntary family responsibility, linked to the gay marriage and adoption debates, to a whole new level. Labels: gay teachers What's a "gay conservative"? Do gay liberals ask f... HIV an issue with Foreign Service (State) and Peac... LGBT people could be affected by talk of "demograp... PA: Tricky constitutional amendment ("functional e... Pope's moralistic sermons still a bit ambiguous fo... Conservatives claim that legalizing gay marriage j... US Appeals Court rules that roommates service may ... A gay male teacher as "surrogate family?" A very d...	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16212
__label__wiki	0.656761	0.656761	Ode To Jackie On April 15, 2014 By R. James TurleyLeave a comment Double-play He did it before Martin Luther had a dream. He did it before Rosa Parks refused to get up. He did it because one man had the courage to say not haveing a black man in Major League Baseball is wrong. He did it with the courage and conviction to not fight back. He did it with dignity, humility and grace. He changed how baseball was played, and how it was watched. He played with such recklessness that he earned the respect of his peers. He was rookie of the year, competed in All-Star games, won pennants and a World Series Championship. He was the pioneer of a nation of pioneers. He was Jackie Robinson, the man, the ball player, the crusader.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16213
__label__cc	0.728169	0.271831	Browse: Home » 2006 » July » Migration management 10/07/2006 · by Sokari · in Europe, Fortress Europe, Racism, Refugees Nigeria! What’s New left this link to a photo essay on a comment to the “Gold Diggers of the Sahara” poem. I wrote “this is a lament – a dedication to those men and women who spend their lives toiling for little or nothing – for all those that walk the desert and foreign lands in search of the means to support their families – exiles from their lands – young men and young women.” The photo essay is testimony to these people. A couple of weeks ago a local Granada paper had a story on a Spanish NGO that was opening a school in Senegal for 800 students. 50% women and 50 young men to educate them but more specifically to train them in the hope that they will find jobs at home and not be compelled to make the journey to Europe. There are millions of young people presently trying to migrate to the North – this new policy would have to replicated hundreds of times in countries throughout West, North and East Africa as well as S E Asia, the Middle East and beyond. The school is a positive step but the reality is it is a bag of flour amongst a million people and where are the jobs once these young people are trained? The EU is planning and funding a series of transit camps across the continent and North Africa (from Ukraine to Libya) as part of a holistic “system of control” along with the Schengen agreement, the closing of the two Spanish enclaves in Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla, that will effectively “barbed wire” Europe. The contradiction is that many European countries such as Britain and Spain are in desperate need of increased migration due to falling birthrates and emmigration of their own indigenous citizens. There are some 4 million Spanish working abroad and only 2 million foreigners in Spain. The way around the need for migrant labour – professional, skilled and unskilled – is to dress wanted and therefore “legal” immigration in terms of economics and meeting temporary needs, whilst using asylum seekers and refugees as a way of rejecting “illegal” migration on ethnic and nationalistic grounds. In terms of legal rights and status, migrants can be divided into three groups: the educated elite and experts, who are subject to very few restrictions and social disadvantages; the mass of migrants who usuallly seek seasonal work, whose rights are severely restricted and whose situation is characterised by poor working conditions, high unemployment, and poor living conditions; and “illegal aliens” who are needed on the labour marked, but are politically excluded and have no rights whatsoever”. The irony is that only 30 years ago thousands of seasonal Spanish migrants especially from Andalucia spent their summers in working in northern Europe, in Germany and France mainly picking fruit but also working on building sites and as casual labourers – just like the Moroccans and West Africans are doing in Spain today – the same jobs but in those days the borders were open and movement between countries was not controlled and of course skin colour was not an issue. Tags: Fortress Europe, Immigration, Immigration Europe, Racism, Refugees beauty 11/07/2006 at 09:37 · In the meanwhile, however, Shell, NAA, Chevron, Exxon, GM, Coke and many more sponsors another “lets rape Africa” summit, scheduled for Abuja from July 17 to 20. Former President of the United States of America, “Randy Bill” Clinton, President of the World Bank, Dr Paul Wolfowitz and 15 presidents and heads of government are among dignitaries who have confirmed their participation at the Sullivan Summit. “Continent of Opportunities” or “rape of a people”. It is billed to facilitate communication between participating investors, African governments and corporate leaders in strategic area representing oil and gas, energy, telecommunication and agricultural sectors. Sorry boys, China has been here and gone! Who is interested in stopping these few from stealing our wealth and stashing it in “the West”? The West should refuse to see any African leader (including the presidents, governors etc) for 24months until they have shown measurable benefits to their citizens in terms of basic infrastructures like schools, universities, roads, basic medical care, water, public transport, security, and life and power generation. Migration management will work when there is a two-way traffic, our people (life) will always find a way out of poverty, despair and disease. Aba Boy 11/07/2006 at 13:52 · Migration management that is based on skin colour is prejudiced. The migration of people is a natural process. People move to simply satisfy a need (either theirs or that of their host). Artificially stopping it by building schools or holding places doesn’t address the problem. Assuming migration IS a problem. Black River Eagle 12/07/2006 at 17:49 · The Spanish, Portugese, Italians, Poles, Hungarians, Czechs, Russians, Turks, Croats, Bosinians, Serbs, etc. are still here in Germany doing jobs that the Germans once wouldn’t do and still refuse to do. Can’t get rid of them (immigrants) either which makes a lot of people here totally upset. Of course, with an unemployment rate averaging between 9.5-11.5% for the past decade or so and a birthrate hovering around ZERO, the Germans are in a real bind with this immigration controversey (issues). I mean, who’s gonna pay (via assorted taxes) for the Germans’ retirements when more than half the population will be over 55 years old within the next few decades? I just love watching this from an American point-of-view, since the Europeans have always pretended to be so advanced in their cultures and social politics in comparison to the U.S.A. Now they just look very screwed up. Of course, watching 10’s of thousands of Africans (North and sub-Saharan) risk and lose their lives trying to reach Europa in shoddy boats and suffocating cargo containers is no laughing matter, is it? Then you have the huge number of very desperate people trying to migrate to Western Europe from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and parts of Asia. Are they building any “holding areas” for potential illegal immigrants over in those countries? I doubt it even though it may appear in the EU plans. Looks like a clear-cut case of selective immigration to me. I wonder who is going to be “selected” by the Europeans in the long run, the educated elites or the downtrodden masses? P.S. The H.L. Sullivan Foundation is the organizer of the 2006 Sullivan Summit taking place in Abuja, Nigeria this month. Andrew Young (U.S. civil rights leader and former head of the SCLC with Dr. Martin Luther King, former mayor of Atlanta, GA., former U.S. Ambassador, etc.) along with the daughter of the late Reverend L.H. Sullivan are in charge of organizing and running this yearly trans-Atlantic business summit for Africa. I don’t think that either of these leading African-American figures are into “raping and robbing” Africa, but heh, I could be wrong. Your readers can read all about the Sullivan Summit here: http://www.thesullivanfoundation.org/summit/ Now the PR China in Africa, that’s a whole ‘nother bowl of Chop Suey. Sokari 12/07/2006 at 18:17 · BRE – Andrew Young? His real self was exposed recently over at Black Commentator: – Andy Young, The Shameless Son Also see my post: Loads of $$$$ in which i comment on this article: The Aspen, Bill Clinton, Sullivan and many more Foundations, now add Arthur Anderson. This is a basket of failures. Management consultants and international advisers have for many decades helped African leaders grapple with their acquired power. Who are these shameless consultants? “Nigeria is a country that does not work, Schools, universities, roads, hospitals, water, the economy, security, life.” lamented Chinua Achebe. Yet these consultants continue to milk the situation. “I don’t think that either of these leading African-American figures are into “raping and robbing” Africa, but heh, I could be wrong.” Oh yes, you ARE wrong. Ooops! I hadn’t seen that article about Andrew Young over at the Black Commentator website. Maybe we should all look at the L.H. Sullivan Summit in Abuja, Nigeria a bit more critically? Another African-American icon bites the dust. First O.J., then Michael Jackson, and now this. What’s the world coming to? P.S. I thought that the financial consulting firm Arthur Anderson bit the dust during the Enron scandal… or at least they changed the corporate name of what was leftover after the breakup of the firm. Lisa 29/11/2006 at 07:09 · Nice Topic… this was a great Idea that what went wrong with the immigrants…my contention is with the illegal immigrant… that is eating our labor market ← Fighting follicular colonisation! Hao Wu released →	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16214
__label__cc	0.531909	0.468091	The Murders, Myths and Reality of 10 Rillington Place …an enduring controversy… 12th December 2016 21st November 2016 by John Curnow Welcome to the blog. The launch of this site now seems appropriate as the upcoming BBC drama ‘Rillington Place’ is set to air at the end of the month (November 2016) and so there is likely to be much to talk about. The book that I have written details the long journey taken from an initial interest sparked in childhood up until the present day and is the result of as much independent research as could be undertaken and from primary sources wherever possible. This has led me to a viewpoint far removed from the widely-accepted (so-called ‘Standard Version’) of events as propounded by Ludovic Kennedy in his 1961 book and subsequently in the 1970 film. A piece that appeared last week in the The Telegraph (11 November 2016) suggests that accuracy will, alas, once again be an early casualty in the telling of this harrowing tale, with errors of fact and speculative assertions being made that are unsupported by the evidence. Nevertheless, it is good to see the story receiving the attention that it deserves and perhaps a wider discussion will, in time, bring about a better understanding of where the truth really lies. I hope the blog will make a worthwhile and thought-provoking contribution. Categories BBC 2016 drama seriesTags BBC Post navigation ‘Rillington Place’ – episode 1, BBC 29 November 2016 The Murders, Myths and Reality of 10 Rillington Place is the culmination of a lifetime’s fascination and years of research which challenges the standard version of events and reveals a whole mythology surrounding every aspect of the story... © 2019 10-rillington-place.co.uk https://blog.10-rillington-place.co.uk/2016/11/21/60/	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16216
__label__wiki	0.914257	0.914257	Profiles in Time: Winston Churchill Winston Churchill is best remembered for his service to the British people and Allied powers during the Second World War. But his colorful life in the military and as a journalist and author shaped him into the fearless leader we remember him as today. Winston Churchill: The Early Career Churchill began his career in the British Army in 1895, at twenty-one years old. In the Army, Churchill dabbled in journalism, writing military reports for newspapers, like The Pioneer and the Daily Telegraph. In 1898, at the age of twenty-four, he wrote his first book on his military experiences. After publishing two more books, he decided to pursue writing full-time. Churchill left the Army and started working for a daily newspaper, the Morning Post, as a war correspondent. At the age of 26, Churchill took an interest in politics, winning an election to be a Member of Parliament. In the years leading up to the First World War, he received an appointment to the Prime Minister’s cabinet and later the head of the Royal Navy. He resigned just after the start of the World War I and rejoined the British Army. After World War I After the war, he returned to politics, again serving on the Prime Minister’s cabinet. In the following years, Churchill’s political career declined. People felt his views were out of touch and too extreme, so he took time off to pursue writing again. But as global politics heated up before the onset of World War II, he rejoined the political realm. In September 1939, Britain declared war on Germany. England reappointed as the head of the Royal Navy and as a member of the war cabinet. By May 1940, Parliament issued a motion of no-confidence against the Prime Minster, and King George VI appointed Churchill as the Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. He quickly made moves to keep the resistance against the Nazis alive and formed key alliances with the United States and Soviet Union. After WWII, Winston Churchill took a brief reprieve from politics and returned to writing, publishing two more books and receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature. In 1951, at the age of 77, he was re-elected as Prime Minister but retired four years later. He remained a Member of Parliament until shortly before his death, at the age of 90. The Watches Churchill’s timepieces have almost become as iconic as the man himself. He was a collector and known to have some of the most magnificent watches. Some standouts include Rolex’s 100,000th chronometer—a customized gold Datejust with his coat of arms on the back, given as a gift from Rolex founder Hans Wilsdorf—and a Lemania Chronograph made entirely of 18-karat yellow gold, from its case to its hands and hour markers. But Churchill was an old soul. Despite the impressive wristwatches in his collection, his favorite timepiece was his custom yellow gold Breguet pocket watch. It was a commission in 1890 by his uncle, John Spencer-Churchill, the 7th Duke of Marlborough. Later, Churchill received the watch as a gift. He gave it an affectionate nickname: “the Turnip.” The now-famous pocket watch was as much a part of Churchill as any other appendage—he was never seen without it. To this day, the treasured timepiece remains in the family and resides with his great grandson. Check out our other Profiles in Time, like President Harry S. Truman. Breguetpocket watchesRolex Datejustvintage watcheswatches in politics 7 Iconic Pilot Watches Ralph Lauren's Watches Willi Patterson \| October 22, 2017 Reply \| “Churchill youre drunk!”. “I am madam. But TOMORROW morning I shall be sober and you’ll still be ugly.” Tomas Jonsson \| October 15, 2017 Churchill was such an impressive man (and apparently with a great taste for timepieces). He was truly the right man at the right time to get the job done. And his quotes are timeless: “Champagne should be dry, cold and free.” 🙂	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16220
__label__wiki	0.972869	0.972869	Coca-Cola to foray into pure dairy with milk-based beverage 'Vio' To pit Vio against with Amul, Britannia and Nestle beverages November 30, 2015, 08:53 IST Updated: November 30, 2015, 08:58 IST Soda and juice maker Coca-Cola is working on an ambitious plan for the Indian market — an entry into the pure dairy segment, which will pit it against Amul, Britannia and Nestle. The maker of Thums Up cola and Minute Maid juice plans to introduce its global milk-based beverage brand Vio in India — without any carbonation. “This will be an entirely India innovation,” said an official aware of the development. “The rollout could happen as early as January next year or by next quarter at the most. The front-end and back-end are being fine-tuned,” said another official aware of Coca-Cola’s plans. Coca-Cola has roped in dairy giant Schreiber Dynamix Dairies for its milk drink, one of the officials said. The plan is to introduce bottled Vio in locally relevant flavours in the first phase. “We already have an offering in the dairy space — Maaza Milky Delite — which has a presence in select markets. Vio is a global brand and is, therefore, an option available to us. It is too early for us to comment on a possible launch of this brand in India,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said. Maaza Milky Delite is made of mango and milk solids. Schreiber Dynamix officials could not be reached for comment. The company’s customers include Pepsico, Nestle, Britannia and Mother Dairy, according to its website. Coca-Cola’s move to tap the dairy market comes as fizzy drink sales have been struggling with low single-digit growth over at least the past five quarters. While aerated drinks are a Rs 14,000-crore category, they are driven by seasonality and remain an indulgence consumption. Packaged dairy is aRs75,000-crore market that’s growing at about 15%. Packaged milk alone contributes as much as Rs 50,000 crore. Devendra Chawla, group president, food and FMCG, at retailer Future Group, said: “It is worth the challenge because if it works, it can be a game changer for Coca-Cola. Unlike colas, dairy is a traditional, culturally deep-rooted and high-involvement daily consumption category and could bring Coca-Cola into the daily grocery consumption basket, bringing its brands very close to the Indian consumer.” In the US, Vio is a carbonated, skimmed milk-based beverage. In India, the plan is to introduce it as a flavoured milk drink without carbonation. Vio, introduced by the beverage giant in 2009 as a carbonated ‘vibrancy’ dairy drink, comes with skimmed milk and flavours such as citrus, peach and berry and is positioned as a drink free of preservatives and fortified with vitamin C. Marketers believe pure dairy could be a huge challenge for a cola maker. “It could be a DNA challenge for a soft drink company to do dairy, which is not its core business. It’s similar to a non-ayurvedic company getting into Ayurveda,” Chawla said. Vio isn’t the first milk-based drink from the Coca-Cola deck. Late last year, it had launched Fairlife in the US, a premium product introduced through a joint venture with dairy farmers and made using a proprietary milk filtering process. The product is relatively new and hasn’t yet found much consumption traction.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16223
__label__wiki	0.767547	0.767547	For Obama, terrorism is a four-letter word: Bush January 5, 2010 — budsimmons By BYRON YORK, The Washington Examiner Obama fears Bush more than terrorists The attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was more than just al Qaeda’s latest attempt to bring death and destruction to American shores. It was also, in its still-unfolding political aftermath, a head-on collision between Barack Obama’s soaring rhetoric and the reality of terrorism. Obama’s first response to the incident, or nonresponse, did not surprise anyone who followed his 2008 presidential campaign. As a candidate, Obama repeatedly accused the Bush administration of using terrorism to spread fear among the American public for political gain. “Since 9/11, we’ve had a president who essentially fed us a politics of fear,” Obama said at a December 2007 Democratic debate in Iowa. “We have been governed by fear for the last six years,” he said two months earlier in Philadelphia. “We’re tired of fear,” he said still earlier at a debate in South Carolina. Obama pledged a new, quieter approach. He would improve America’s image in the world, reach out to Muslims and dial back the fear. Behind Afghan Bombing, an Agent With Many Loyalties NOTE: The moral of the story is that no Moslem can be trusted to be loyal to us. A faithful Moslem must be loyal to Islam, first and foremost. Because of the tenets of Islam, a Moslem must be disloyal either to Islam or to us. Also, please note that the jihadist recruited new jihadists by quoting from the Koran. The role of the Koran in violent jihad must not be underestimated. It is crucial. By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr., MARK MAZZETTI and SOUAD MEKHENNET This article is by Richard A. Oppel Jr., Mark Mazzetti and Souad Mekhennet. Notes from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and other areas of conflict in the post-9/11 era. Go to the Blog » ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The suicide bomber who killed seven C.I.A. officers and a Jordanian spy last week was a double agent who was taken onto the base in Afghanistan because the Americans hoped he might be able to deliver top members of Al Qaeda’s network, according to Western government officials. The bomber had been recruited by the Jordanian intelligence service and taken to Afghanistan to infiltrate Al Qaeda by posing as a foreign jihadi, the officials said. But in a deadly turnabout, the supposed informant strapped explosives to his body and blew himself up at a meeting Wednesday at the C.I.A.’s Forward Operating Base Chapman in the southeastern province of Khost. The attack at the C.I.A. base dealt a devastating blow to the spy agency’s operations against militants in the remote mountains of Afghanistan, eliminating an elite team using an informant with strong jihadi credentials. The attack further delayed hope of penetrating Al Qaeda’s upper ranks, and also seemed potent evidence of militants’ ability to strike back against their American pursuers. It could also jeopardize relations between the C.I.A. and the Jordanian spy service, which officials said had vouched for the would-be informant. The Jordanian service, called the General Intelligence Directorate, for years has been one of the C.I.A.’s closest and most useful allies in the Middle East. In a telephone interview, a person associated with the Pakistani Taliban identified the bomber as Humam Khalil Mohammed, a Jordanian physician. Western officials said that Mr. Mohammed had been in a Jordanian prison and that he was recruited by the Jordanian spy service. The bomber was not closely searched because of his perceived value as someone who could lead American forces to senior Qaeda leaders, and because the Jordanian intelligence officer had identified him as a potentially valuable informant, the Western officials said. [NOTE: So, our brilliant CIA officers placed all their lives in mortal danger by trusting a Moslem!!!] The Western officials and others who were interviewed spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter. Current and former American officials said Monday that because of Mr. Mohammed’s medical background, he might have been recruited to find the whereabouts of Ayman al-Zawahri, the Egyptian doctor who is Al Qaeda’s second in command. Agency officers had traveled from Kabul, the Afghan capital, to Khost for a meeting with the informant, a sign that the C.I.A. had come to trust the informant and that it was eager to learn what he might have gleaned from operations in the field, according to a former C.I.A. official with experience in Afghanistan. The former official said that the fact that militants could carry out a successful attack using a double agent showed their strength even after a steady barrage of missile strikes fired by C.I.A. drone aircraft. “Double agent operations are really complex,” he said. “The fact that they can pull this off shows that they are not really on the run. They have the ability to kick back and think about these things.” The death of the Jordanian intelligence officer, Capt. Sharif Ali bin Zeid, was reported in recent days by Jordanian officials, but they did not confirm exactly where he was killed or what he was doing in Afghanistan. Jordanian intelligence officials were deeply embarrassed by the attacks because they had taken the informant to the Americans, said one American government official briefed on the events. The official said that the Jordanians had such a good reputation with American intelligence officials that the informant was not screened before entering the compound. [NOTE: Only our intelligence officials’ ignorance of the basics of Islam could allow them to be so careless.] Jarret Brachman, author of “Global Jihadism: Theory and Practice” and a consultant to the United States government about terrorism, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Mohammed had used the online persona Abu Dujana al-Khorasani and was an influential jihadi voice on the Web. “He’s one of the most revered authors on the jihadists’ forums,” Mr. Brachman said. “He’s in the top five jihadists. He’s one of the biggest guns out there.” In many of the posts under his online persona, Mr. Mohammed used elusive language filled with references to literature and the Koran to describe his support for violent opposition to the United States-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “When a fighter for God kills a U.S. soldier on the corner of a tank, the supporters of Jihad have killed tens of thousands of Americans through their connection” to the opposition, he wrote in one posting. Mr. Brachman said that Al Fajr Media, which is Al Qaeda’s official media distribution network, conducted an interview with Abu Dujana al-Khorasani published in Al Qaeda’s online magazine, called Vanguards of Khorasan. The name of the bomber was first reported by Al Jazeera, which identified him as Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi. The television network reported that Mr. Balawi was taken to Afghanistan to help track down Mr. Zawahri. The attack was also embarrassing for Jordan’s government, which did not want the depths of its cooperation with the C.I.A. revealed to its own citizens or other Arabs in the region. A statement by the official Jordanian news agency said Captain Zeid was killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday “as he performed his humanitarian duty with the Jordanian contingent of the U.N. peacekeeping forces.” The United States, and the C.I.A. in particular, are deeply unpopular in Jordan, where at least half the population is of Palestinian origin and where Washington’s support for Israel is roundly condemned. King Abdullah II and his government, while working closely with Washington in counterterrorism operations and providing strategic support for operations in Iraq, try to keep that work secret. The Pakistani Taliban had previously said the bomber was someone the C.I.A. had recruited to work with them, who then offered the militants his services as a double agent. The General Intelligence Directorate has received millions of dollars from the C.I.A. since the American invasion of Iraq, where the Jordanian spy agency played a central role in the campaign against Iraqi insurgents. In the past, Jordanian officials have privately criticized American intelligence services, saying they relied too heavily on technology and not enough on agents capable of infiltrating operations. In 2006, the Jordanians were credited with helping to locate and kill Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, leader of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia. The C.I.A. declined to comment about the circumstances of the bombing in Afghanistan. Current and former American intelligence officials said the C.I.A. base in Khost was used to collect intelligence about militant networks in the border region. The C.I.A. officers on the base used the information to plan strikes against Qaeda and Taliban leaders, along with top operatives of the Haqqani network. United States officials have been applying pressure to the government of Pakistan to drive out the Haqqani network, whose fighters hold sway over parts of Afghanistan, including Paktika, Paktia and Khost Provinces, and are a serious threat to American forces. A second former C.I.A. official said that Mr. Zeid’s presence on the Khost base was a sign that the Jordanian intelligence agency was using a spy to infiltrate militant networks in the region, and most likely to penetrate cells of Arab Qaeda militants. “If the Jordanian intelligence officer had been vouching for this guy, the C.I.A. would definitely have wanted him on the base,” said the former officer. The remains of the seven C.I.A. officers killed in the attack arrived in a military plane on Monday at Dover Air Force Base, where a private ceremony was held. The event was attended by Leon E. Panetta, the C.I.A. director, as well as by family members of the slain officers. Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Souad Mekhennet reported from Islamabad, and Mark Mazzetti from Washington. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington, and Michael Slackman from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Nadia Taha contributed research from New York. Death of a Theory The Left can’t give up its operating theory of terrorism, no matter how tattered. Death of a Theory The Left can’t give up its operating theory of terrorism, no matter how tattered. Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab couldn’t ignite the bomb in his underwear on Flight 253 on Christmas Day. All he managed to blow up was a worldview. His failed attempt put paid to the notion that terrorism is the byproduct of a few, specific U.S. policies and of our image abroad. This view dominates the Left and animates the Obama administration. It informs its drive to shutter Guantanamo Bay, to get out of Iraq, and to cater to “international opinion.” If we are only nice and likable enough, goes the theory, the Abdul Mutallabs of the world will never be tempted to violent mayhem. Only the young Nigerian didn’t appear the least bit moved by Pres. Barack Obama’s commitment to close Gitmo in a year. He didn’t seem to care that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will get a civilian trial in New York. He didn’t appear to be fazed at all by Obama’s Cairo and U.N. speeches, or a year’s worth of international goodwill gestures. He just wanted to destroy an airliner. It shouldn’t be hard to fathom why. Abdul Mutallab was in the grip of a violent ideology with an existential hatred of the United States at its core, an ideology promoted by a global terrorist conspiracy under the loose rubric of al-Qaeda. This is the essential fact that the Left tends to minimize or deny. Obama called Abdul Mutallab an “isolated extremist” in his initial statement on the incident, and left the same impression about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the terrorist of Fort Hood. How coincidental that we are beset by isolated extremists believing the same things and inspired by the same people — in the cases of Abdul Mutallab and Hasan, the radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. A totalist rejection of the United States, this ideology will never lack for particular reasons to hate us. For years, we were told that the Iraq War was al-Qaeda’s best recruiting tool. Now, new recruiting tools are at hand. Hasan reportedly was disappointed that Obama stayed in Afghanistan. In taking responsibility for Abdul Mutallab’s attempted attack, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed it was in retaliation for a U.S.-sponsored strike against its leadership in Yemen. If we pull our troops from Afghanistan, they’ll object to our missile strikes in Pakistan. If we stop the missile strikes, they’ll object to our training of foreign militaries. If we stop that, they’ll object that we have the temerity to maintain a blue-water navy. Nothing short of suicidal abdication will suffice. The other great reputed recruiting tool was Gitmo. But what’s worse — holding terrorists in a facility condemned by the world’s scolds, or releasing them to re-invigorate al-Qaeda’s franchise operations? AQAP got a critical boost from one former Gitmo detainee who, according to the New York Times, is “the rising star of the local movement,” and another who is “the mufti, or theological guide.” The Wall Street Journal says eleven Gitmo returnees have joined the ranks of Yemeni militant groups, making the detention facility AQAP’s farm team. No matter. Just before Christmas, the Obama administration returned six more Gitmo detainees to Yemen, home to about 90 of the 200 remaining prisoners. Obama counterterrorism adviser John Brennan pledges to keep sending them back, and insists that “several” or “many” of the six latest returnees are in Yemeni custody. Whatever that means. Yemeni government is not a model of Prussian precision. In February 2006, AQAP managed a mass break from a Yemeni high-security prison. The environment there is so treacherous that we were just forced to shut our embassy temporarily. The administration is loath to admit that vacating Gitmo has itself proven a powerful tool for the terrorists. It can’t give up its operating theory of terrorism, no matter how tattered. Instead of designating Abdul Mutallab an enemy combatant and interrogating him, we have granted him all the protections our justice system provides a civil defendant. Whatever comes of this foolish act of generosity, we can be sure that the next Abdul Mutallab will be singularly unimpressed. — Rich Lowry is the editor of National Review. © 2010 by King Features Syndicate National Review Online – http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NmI2ZDlhZWIyM2U0ZDRhMjUwYTY4NGQzZjczNjE5Nzg= Massachusetts Earthquake Rumblings? Clarice Feldman I have been watching interest the campaign for the January 19th special election to fill former Senator Ted Kennedy’s seat with. Online, of course, as the major media seem to have just assumed Democrat Martha Coakley will walk away with it. But the first Rasmussen poll is consistent with what on the ground reports there have been: there’s a great deal of interest in the Republican ,Scott Brown, and he may just pull off a win. If he does win, he says he’d vote against the health care bill. Legal Insurrection has the story this morning: Rasmussen is the first major polling organization to poll the Massachusetts Senate special election, and the “pre-released” poll numbers show Martha Coakley (D) with just a 9% lead over Scott Brown (R), which would be consistent with other polls. This post will be updated with further analysis once the official numbers are released. [See Update No. 2 below – official results released – Brown within 2% among people who definitely will vote and has a large lead among independents.] This is better than I expected for Brown. Coakley has been a statewide figure for years, and has much better name recognition, SEIU and other union support, and the Massachusetts Democratic machine behind her. Obama won the state by over 20%, and Coakley should have had at least a mid-teens lead at this point. But as I have noted, Coakley’s tactic of acting like the election already is over may be backfiring. While Brown was hitting the pavement the past three weeks, Coakley took a six day vacation. Wrong message. Coakley is ducking a one-on-one debate with Brown. Wrong message. Thomas Lifson adds: What goes around comes around, even in Massachusetts. One the oldest dirty tricks in Bay State politics is to run someone with the same name as a popular pol to siphon away votes from your opponent. It just so happens that a man named Joseph Kennedy is running on the Libertarian ticket in the Senate race, and could well draw brain dead Democrats away from Coakley. There certainly are enough of them in Massachusetts to make a difference in a race as close as this one is shaping up to be. The often delightfully arch website Hillbuzz notes that Coakley is alarmed enough to change her position on a debate: Until recently, Martha Coakley, the Democrat in the race, has been refusing to do any debates for the special election insisting, “I’ve already won this, there’s no point in wasting any time debating. I’m on vacation.” But, suddenly she had a change of heart – but only if Joe Kennedy was allowed to debate too. She did not want to appear with just Scott Brown alone. That tells us two things: (1) Martha Coakley is a crazy person, because have you seen Scott Brown? We’d spend time alone with him anytime, anyplace, twice on Sundays. That man is Hottie McAwesome in our book. (2) Martha Coakley wants a chance to tell Massachusetts voters that Joe Kennedy is not one of “THE Kennedys”, the ones that cover up murders and rapes and treat Massachusetts as their personal fiefdom. We think Coakley’s been quietly polling in secret and believes enough voters will be confused and muscle-memory vote KENNEDY on January 19th that she needs to come out and force Joe Kennedy to say on radio and television that he’s not a member of the “American royalty” Kennedys. Given the malaise afflicting Democrats and the enthusiasm powering conservatives, it is barely possible that Brown could win. If that were to happen, it could rock American politics. Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/01/massachusetts_earthquake_rumbl.html at January 05, 2010 – 11:40:42 AM EST A Failed Anti-Terror Strategy A Failed Anti-Terror Strategy – by Jamie Glazov Posted By Jamie Glazov On January 4, 2010 @ 12:16 am In FrontPage \| 19 Comments Robert Spencer is a scholar of Islamic history, theology, and law and the director of Jihad Watch [1]. He is the author of ten books, eleven monographs, and hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism, including the New York Times Bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) [2] and The Truth About Muhammad [3]. His latest book, The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran [4], is available now from Regnery Publishing, and he is coauthor (with Pamela Geller) of the forthcoming book The Post-American Presidency: The Obama Administration’s War on America (Simon and Schuster). FP: Robert Spencer, welcome to Frontpage Interview. What do you see as the key lessons of the failed terror attempt on Northwest Flight 253? Spencer: The chief lesson of the attempted jihad attack on Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day is that our entire anti-terror strategy is a huge and abject failure. Flight 253 revealed a massive failure not only of airline security procedures, but also of the larger strategy that America and the West has been pursuing against jihad terrorism. As for airline security procedures, Abdulmutallab was able to get on the airplane without a passport, and with ingredients for an explosive that would have destroyed the plane and killed everyone in it. TSA officials are busy tightening security procedures with new Abdulmutallab-inspired rules such as forcing passengers to stay in their seats for the last hour of the flight, but these new measures will do nothing to prevent another attack. One thing we have seen over the years since 9/11 is that airport security is always one step behind the jihadists: after jihadist Richard Reid attempted to set off a bomb hidden in his shoes, we all have to take off our shoes and send them through security scanners. After a group of jihadists tried to sneak onto planes explosive chemicals hidden in drink bottles, we can’t carry drinks through airport security terminals. Because Abdulmutallab attempted his jihad attack just before the plane landed, now we can’t get up during the last hour of the flight. The one thing that the TSA should have learned, but hasn’t, is that next time the jihadists will do something else, not just repeat what they did before. And even if every passenger were given a full body cavity search, they will find some way to get around it. But attempt a new approach based on sensible profiling? The TSA would rather fold up shop altogether. FP: Liberals love to portray Islamic terror (this is when they are forced to even admit it exists) as the result of American capitalism and imperialism and how it has subjected poor people into misery. But Abdul Mutallab doesn’t fall into this narrative very neatly. Maybe it has something to do with some stuff he was reading while he was enjoying material wealth, personal comfort and relaxation thanks to capitalism? Spencer: They constantly ignore the possibility that the jihadis might not always be reacting to things America has done, but may hate us for reasons of their own, independent of our actions. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was a classic recipient of Western largesse designed to win over the loyalties of Muslims – he was educated at the British International School in Lome, Togo. Yet contact with solicitous and friendly non-Muslim Westerners obviously did nothing to quell his jihadist fervor. And the son of a rich man (who notified American authorities about his jihadist sentiments, to no avail), Abdulmutallab once again proves false the idea that poverty causes terrorism. The myriad aid programs that are based on this false assumption have done nothing to stop or even slow jihad terrorism, and they never will. Abdulmutallab was, in all likelihood, “radicalized” not by Western oppression but by the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah. All the concerted efforts by the State Department and DHS to ignore the jihad doctrine and reach out to people they deemed to be “moderate Muslims” have likewise not worked. According to the Nigerian newspaper This Day, when Abdulmutallab was at the British International School, “he was known for preaching about Islam to his schoolmates and he was popularly called ‘Alfa,’ a local coinage for Islamic scholar.” This illustrates yet again that, contrary to the popular view, Islamic jihadists present themselves among their fellow Muslims as the exponents of authentic Islam, making their case from the Qur’an and Sunnah — and those Muslims who oppose jihadist violence and Islamic supremacism have never successfully refuted their arguments. Outreach to moderate Muslims has not aided in this effort, and has deceived the general public into thinking that the influence of peaceful Muslims over jihadists is much larger than it actually is. FP: Your thoughts on Obama and Napolitano in terms of how they are handling this this attempted terror attack? Spencer: Napolitano’s initial statement that “the system worked” was incredible, and Obama’s slowness to respond and failure to break off his vacation inexcusable — as was his later reference to this apparent Al-Qaeda operative as an “isolated extremist.” Their abysmal failure to come to grips with the jihad doctrine has left us vulnerable to attacks from quarters they consider safe, as Abdulmutallab himself illustrates: as a rich man’s well educated son, he fits none of the conventional non-Islamic explanations for jihad violence that prevail among government and media analysts. He should be the cause of a wholesale reevaluation of our policies and procedures. But that isn’t going to happen. FP: What we need is profiling, yes? And our culture won’t allow. Tell us the psychology here that leaves us tragically vulnerable. Spencer: We have, as a culture, been sold a bill of goods by leftist ideologues who have convinced us that to make a realistic appraisal of the source of a threat and to react accordingly would constitute “racism” and “bigotry.” Islamic terrorists are generally not grandmothers from middle America — why should everyone be subjected to increasingly annoying and futile airline security procedures when we know what group is committing these attacks, but just don’t want to admit it? Profiling is flawed and will not be a perfect solution, as there is no common racial or any other characteristic that the jihadis share. But a sensibly educated TSA would be able to spot people who might constitute a greater risk, and respond accordingly. Unfortunately, no matter how many young Muslim men blow things up or try to do so, we cannot even have this conversation as a nation, because the race wolf-criers have completely dominated the field. FP: Concluding thoughts? What concerns you the most in what you see happening? What are the grave consequences if we don’t get it right? Spencer: One thing is certain, Jamie: nothing we are doing now will make a recurrence of the Flight 253 incident any less likely. New security methods are needed, as are new strategies to combat the global jihad. But instead, we just keep reapplying the same old failed policies. And they will continue to fail, because of a continuing failure to evaluate realistically the situation we’re in. FP: Robert Spencer, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview. Posted in B Hussein Obama, Barack Hussein Obama, Barack Obama, democrat muslim, Hussein Obama, Islam, islam fundamentalist, Islam sympathizers, Islamic cult, Islamic doctors, Islamic Extremists, Islamic Fifth Column, Islamic history, Islamic immigration, Islamic Imperialism, Islamic Jihad, Islamic perversion, Islamic prison recruiting, Islamic Propaganda, Islamic terrorism, Islamic Women Rights, Obama. Leave a Comment » Morning Bell: A Sham Of A Process For A Sham Of A Bill Posted January 5th, 2010 at 9.34am in Health Care. Speaking at a town hall meeting on August 21, 2008, in Chester, Virginia, then-candidate Barack Obama promised the American people: “I’m going to have all the negotiations around a big table. We’ll have doctors and nurses and hospital administrators. Insurance companies, drug companies … what we will do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents … And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.” The participants around Obama’s fictional big table may have changed depending on where he was speaking, but throughout his campaign the essential promise was always there: “negotiations televised on C-SPAN.” Of course, Obama already broke this promise to the American people months ago. According to PoliFact, the backroom deals Obama cut with drug companies and hospitals last July already violated this pledge. But those were just preliminary negotiations. Surely when it came time for the final health care bill passage in Congress, Obama and his allies would welcome some transparency into the process? No such luck. Politico is reporting that President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will meet at the White House today (joined by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) via conference call) to set the parameters for reconciling the House and Senate versions of health care legislation. However, instead of proceeding with the usual public and open conference committee process, the White House is going to take a very active role in secret behind-closed-door meetings between the House and Senate. The Sunlight Foundation explains the implications for the American people: “Both House and Senate rules require that all conference committee meetings be open to the public unless a majority of conferees votes in open session to close the meetings. Senate rules require all conference committee reports be publicly available for at least 48 hours prior to a final vote. Without conference, there is no mechanism to provide for openness in the final discussions regarding the health care bill.” And there is plenty of reason the American people should demand transparency in the final stages of the legislative process. We previously identified Six Key Differences between the House and Senate bills, all of which deserve their own public debate. But one issue in particular is in desperate need of the disinfectant powers of sunlight: Sen. Ben Nelson’s (D-NE) deal exempting Nebraska from the costs of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Last week, after a group of 13 state attorneys general promised to file suit against Obamacare should the Nelson deal become law, Nelson called South Carolina Attorney General Henry McMaster to “call off the dogs.” According to McMaster’s office, Nelson said the deal was not his idea, was simply a “marker” placed in the bill, and that the issue would be fixed by extending the same Medicaid exemption to all states. Will the budget-busting Medicaid problem get “fixed” for all states? If so, how? The American people deserve to know. There is more than one reason the American people have turned solidly against President Obama’s health plan. Americans believe Obama’s plan will increase their health care costs, decrease the quality of their health care, raise their taxes, and increase the deficit. And as former Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has admitted, Obamacare is not real health care reform. No wonder President Obama wants as little public input as possible. Quick Hits: CSPAN has sent a letter to the House and Senate asking that they “open all important negotiations” to electronic media coverage. Democrats in favor of amnesty have agreed to vote for President Barack Obama’s health care legislation in exchange for an Obama promise for amnesty legislation later this year. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is going to seek a federal bailout to help close the $21 billion deficit his state faces over the next 18 months. The number of Americans filing for personal bankruptcy rose by nearly a third in 2009. According to the British government, MI5 told American intelligence agents more than a year ago that the Detroit bomber had links to extremists. The Biggest Losers A recipe for disaster: the treasury is loaning more to Fannie and Freddie Happy New Year, readers, but before we get on with the debates of 2010, there’s still some ugly 2009 business to report: To wit, the Treasury’s Christmas Eve taxpayer massacre lifting the $400 billion cap on potential losses for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as the limits on what the failed companies can borrow. The Treasury is hoping no one notices, and no wonder. Taxpayers are continuing to buy senior preferred stock in the two firms to cover their growing losses—a combined $111 billion so far. When Treasury first bailed them out in September 2008, Congress put a $200 billion limit ($100 billion each) on federal assistance. Last year, the Treasury raised the potential commitment to $400 billion. Now the limit on taxpayer exposure is, well, who knows? The firms have made clear that they may only be able to pay the preferred dividends they owe taxpayers by borrowing still more money . . . from taxpayers. Said Fannie Mae in its most recent quarterly report: “We expect that, for the foreseeable future, the earnings of the company, if any, will not be sufficient to pay the dividends on the senior preferred stock. As a result, future dividend payments will be effectively funded from equity drawn from the Treasury.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16225
__label__cc	0.689554	0.310446	beatrice benne learning from living systems… My new articles now posted on Medium Please visit me on Medium at https://medium.com/soma-integral to check my latest posts related to Regenerative Development for Organizations and Place-Sourced Communities. What’s Your City’s or Neighborhood’s Vocation? This blog post was published by USGBC Los Angeles Chapter. It can be found here: http://usgbc-la.org/blog/whats-your-citys-or-neighborhoods-vocation/ Understanding and Developing Place as a Living Ecosystem (PART 2) tags: Community Economic Development, Living_Systems, Place, Regeneration, Urban Planning The Bay of Quiberon Workshop in Brittany, France, August 2015 Notes from the Field (PART 2) This is PART 2 of a two-part series about my unique experience facilitating a Regenerative Development workshop in Brittany, France, this past August. PART 1 describes my intentions for the workshop, the process we went through over the 2.5 days, and highlights the key elements that I believe made the workshop a success. PART 2 presents our case study of the village of Crucuno where an ecovillage project is being planned; and the regenerative potential we uncovered for the project and the village. PART 2: A Unique Region; A Fascinating Village The Pays d’Auray on the Bay of Quiberon in the Morbihan, South Brittany, is undeniably one of the most beautiful regions in France. The fact that the whole area includes an exceptionally dense collection of megalithic sites (such as, for instance, the Carnac alignment shown on the picture on the right) makes it a unique and mysterious area. More than 3,000 prehistoric stone formations including alignments, tumuli, dolmen and menhirs have been erected there; many more are still hidden underground. The workshop itself was held on the beautiful site of the ‘Ecole Nationale de Voile’ (National Sailing School), right on the bay. Despite the frequent rain during the workshop, this site provided an immediate contact with the local natural environment. (We decided at the last minute to incorporate a brief solo nature walk during the workshop to break the rhythm and give people an opportunity to see the site and reflect.) The village of Crucuno, which is strangely subdivided in two different municipalities: Erdeven and Plouharnel, is located on a little hill a few kilometers north of the Bay of Quiberon in the countryside. Bernard Menguy, a local architect who participated to the workshop, found out after the workshop that the name of the village in the Breton language is “Krugunou.” “Krug” means a “cairn” that is, a little artificial mount of stones specifically placed to specify a particular place. Menguy did not know the significance of “unou.” A huge dolmen, built c. 4000 years BC and classed as a historical monument, is located at the center of the village on the main plaza, in the municipality of Plouharnel. It consists of 9 massive standing stones supporting a 7.6-meter horizontal slab weighting more than 40 tons. The existing megalith is only the remaining element of a bigger monument—a tumulus, which included a 24-meter tunnel, the whole structure being originally entirely covered with smaller stones and earth. Over the years, people removed the smaller stones to build houses in the village. A house was built just a couple of feet from it, which seemed a violent refusal to acknowledge the likely sacred origin of the dolmen. That house has not been inhabited for many years and there are stories of illness and dysfunctional behavior in the family that occupied it. According to two megalith experts, Howard Crowhurst and his son David Crowhurst (who gave us a tour of the village), the dolmen is geometrically related to other megaliths in the area, including the “Quadrilatere” (another large arrangement of large stone a 10 minute walk from the dolmen) as well as the alignments in Carnac (see above picture), a town about 10 kilometers south of the village. Crucuno is being considered for addition to the UNESCO World Heritage’s list. Originally the village was mainly agricultural to support the local families. Today, farming has disappeared and many non-local people come here to retire. The village includes about 40 habitations, 4 or 5 of them being currently vacant. Crucuno seems lifeless but for the main road that cuts the village in two, which we were told, is mainly used as a shortcut to nearby towns by speeding cars. It is primarily a dormitory for families who work in the local towns of Auray or Vanne. The village has no school; no café; no grocery store; not even a church. An incinerator was built not far from the village, slowing down new developments and keeping property cost low. In 2014, a group organized against the incinerator hoping to have it closed while arguing for more ecological ways to manage waste in the area. ‘Crucun ‘O’ Asis’ – A project of Ecovillage in Crucuno (Note: the name ‘Crucu ‘O’ Asis’ was dubbed by some participants with great humor during the workshop.) Now a man in his early 40’s, Jérôme Collet remembers visiting his grandparents who lived in Crucuno when he was a child (his grandmother still lives in the village). He decided to settle in the village late 2012 with the idea of building an ecovillage based on co-living spaces on a property he owns. Jérôme has an immune system disease and coming back to the countryside was for him an attempt to return to a more healthy life after an early productive career working for an industrial firm. His goal is to create a more conscious ways of living including new approaches to habitat, growing food, healthcare, education, mobility, clothing, and so on. Jérôme’s project is inspired by the Movement Colibris, an organization created by Pierre Rhabi who is one of the pioneers of ecological agriculture in France and internationally renown for his work against desertification. Project Oasis is the organization’s most recent project aimed at facilitating the creation of hundreds of inspirational ecological and co-living places in both urban and rural French areas in less than 5 years. This September Movement Colibris is launching a national campaign with a goal to engage 36,000 French mayors in the Oasis projects. A few of such projects have already been built in France. During the workshop, we considered Jérôme’s project as part of a three-nested system framework (i.e., a holarchy) as shown on the picture. In a holarchy each system’s purpose is to support and generate value for the system within which it is nested. While the ecovillage project has a huge potential to play a regenerative role for Crucuno (the ‘proximate whole’), defining the ‘greater whole’ was less obvious for the group. We felt that the relationship was not geographical; instead, we believed that once it has retrieved its vibrancy and life, Crucuno could become a demonstration village with influence well beyond the local region. This impact could easily be amplified if the ecovillage became an official ‘Project Oasis’ within the network currently created by the Movement Colibris. We found that the regenerative potential of Crucuno was extensive and, if realized, it could affect the ‘Five Capitals’ usually considered in a regenerative project: Human, Social, Ecological, Financial and Manufactured/Produced. Some ideas that we explicitly discussed during the workshop included, for instance, the need to rediscover local practices that were used in the “old days” to bring back local craftsmanship, thereby increasing human capitals. The social capital could be enormous as long as the project and diverse interventions in the village enliven the interest, will and engagement of both local and new inhabitants to regenerate Crucuno, and help them rebuild relationships that have previously been broken. There is a need to reawaken peoples’ self-esteem in order to, for instance, overcome the pattern of alcoholism that has plagued the village. We suggested creating a new local school since there are quite a few children, including Jérôme’s children, in the village. Jérôme is greatly interested in encouraging local farmers and perhaps young people to develop bio-agriculture and permaculture on unused agricultural land. A regional campaign to find new ways to manage waste could facilitate the closure of the incinerator, freeing new land for development and, thus, generating new ecological, financial and produced capitals. Beyond the development of the ecovillage, many in the group mentioned the need to rehabilitate existing vacant buildings, increasing the built capital of the village. It will also be important to keep a close watch on the UNESCO World Heritage’s list as such a label comes with both positive outcomes (e.g., funding opportunities, revenues from tourism, etc.) as well as potentially negatives ones such as loss of tranquility, pollution, unwanted and undesirable development and so on. Since the goal of the workshop was not to perform a ‘Story of Place’ analysis, I never presumed that the group would be able to uncover “who” Crucuno is, i.e., its identity and vocation, in the very short time we had to broadly explore these aspects. We nevertheless collectively had some deep insights, which went well beyond my own expectations. The group intuitively defined the core purpose of Crucuno as one of creating connections: connections between people; between people and place; between the local community and the extended community of individuals interested in creating solutions that facilitate the transition to a more conscious way of life. To achieve its purpose, we suggested that Crucuno was using a core process of transmutation to evolve from one state to another. The core value generated via this process was life giving, creating harmony and health. While we cannot determine what the Essence, Identity, and Vocation of Crucuno are until we have completed the Story of Place research—and I do not know whether our insights are going toward the right direction—the three-fold ideas of ‘creating connections,’ ‘transmutation,’ and ‘life giving, creating harmony and health’ all resonated deeply with the group. Interestingly, we came up with these ideas in the last half an hour of the workshop and the energy in the circle at that time was quite high. I believe we all felt we were getting to something very important. Unfortunately, due to time limitation, we had to adjourn quite abruptly and we did not have time to ponder the implications of these ideas for the ecovillage project. Nevertheless, it seemed to us that we had connected to something quite powerful, which is nicely captured in a note that Jérôme sent me after the workshop in which he wrote: “Merci pour ces 3 jours, c’était magique, tu nous as connecté à plus grand encore qu’imaginé…” “Thank you for these 3 days, it was magical, you connected us to much more than imagined…” And he humbly added: “Ce projet ne m’appartient pas, je suis juste un serviteur pour quelque chose qui me dépasse et qui me guide…” “This project does not belong to me, I am just a servant of something that is beyond me and that guides me…” To me, one of the most significant contributions of the workshop to Jérôme’s project—and one of the main contributions a regenerative process should make—is an increase in the level of energy and motivation of the local actors and stakeholders. Once again in the words of Jérôme: “Nolwenn, Didier et Muriel sont super motivés. Nous allons avancer très vite, des réunions sont prévus dès cette semaine.” “Nolwenn, Didier and Muriel are super motivated. We are going to move forward very fast, meetings are already scheduled as soon as next week.” Feelings, which Nolwenn Bouillaud, who works with Jérôme on the project, confirmed by writing: “Notre petit groupe de travail s’élargit comme la motivation…” “Our little work group expands like the motivation…” There is nothing more rewarding to me than the knowledge that a small group of well-intentioned individuals can over 3 days re-energize their levels of Being and Will to continue to passionately drive the planning, design and development of a project with the potential to regenerate a local community, if not a region. My humble contribution was to simply create a structure and facilitate a carefully designed process while providing some guidance. The village of Crucuno revealed its identity, vocation and desire for becoming to those who knew how to see and listen. The professionals involved observed the patterns and synthesized what they saw and heard while remaining connected to their hearts. Indeed, the whole workshop was impregnated with the participants’ love and care for the village as well as for Jérôme and his project. Love, perhaps that’s the secret sauce! This is why I do this work! tags: city, Community Economic Development, Living_Systems, Place, Regeneration, Urban Planning Anne Monmousseau, Exec. Dr. of the University Terre&Mer These notes are PART 1 of a two-part series about my unique experience facilitating a Regenerative Development workshop in Brittany, France, this past August. PART 1 describes my intentions for the workshop, the process we went through over the 2.5 days, and highlights the key elements that I believe made the workshop a success. PART 2 presents our case study of the village of Crucuno where an ecovillage project is being planned; and the regenerative potential we uncovered for the project and the village. PART 1: A Unique Workshop Experience I was invited by my friend and colleague Anne Monmousseau, Executive Director of the University Terre&Mer (UTM), to facilitate a 2.5-day Regenerative Development learning experience for about 30 participants (architects; city planners; permaculture professionals; local change agents) on the beautiful peninsula of Saint-Pierre-Quiberon, in the Morbihan department, South Brittany, France. The theme of the event was: “Aménager le Territoire Comme un Ecosystème Vivant,” which roughly translates as: “Understanding and Developing Place as a Living Ecosystem.” The overall program included: A 3-hour presentation of the Regenerative Development approach (an approach developed by the Regenesis Group, Santa Fe, NM); (note: the PPT presentation can be seen on Slideshare) A visit to the village of Crucuno, about 10 km inland from the bay of Quiberon, where the future ecovillage will be located; Brief presentations from a few participants on diverse eco-systemic approaches to design and place-making; Multiple small and large groups’ reflections on the impact of the regenerative development approach on design-built professional practices; Application of systemic frameworks on a variety of participants’ projects to give participants ‘a taste’ of the regenerative approach; A preliminary exploration of the identity, vocation and regenerative potential of the village of Crucuno and of the ecovillage project. (Note: the goal of the workshop was not to perform a complete ‘Story of Place,’ a process that takes multiple weeks of work and research for a team of professionals.) My Intent and Process for the Workshop As I prepared for the workshop, I was reminded by my colleagues at the Regenesis Group that, beyond the development of my presentation and the design of the process itself, it was critical I prepare myself, i.e., be clear on my intent and purpose, my state of being and my will during the workshop. This was a great reminder of what Bill O’Brien, who served as CEO of Hanover Insurance, once said when asked to sum up his most important learning experience in leading profound change—he responded, “The success of an intervention depends on the interior condition of the intervener.” To that end, I asked my colleague Craig DeForest to coach me through that personal work. Since it was my first visit in Brittany, I engaged in the process with no preconceived idea about the place, its people, or their past and future needs. I purposely held the attitude and curiosity of an explorer, trusting that what we needed to learn would emerge out of the place itself and the collective intelligence of the group. I aimed at creating a collaborative and co-creative environment where everyone involved could feel s/he had a contribution to make. I saw my role as one of orchestrating the process and guiding the participants in shared reflections and inquiries to help them gain new insights about 1) their professional practices; and 2) the vocation of Crucuno and the role the ecovillage project could play in regenerating the village and the surrounding area. My purpose for the workshop, which I shared with the group on the first day, was: “To engage you in a co-exploration of the potential of the regenerative development method and of its benefits, in a way that helps you develop a new perspective on the role you can play in regenerating Place and local communities, so that you may evolve your practices in a way that increase the regenerative potential and impact of your projects.” As I prepared for the workshop, I reflected on the type of experience I wanted to create for the participants in addition to the delivery of traditional learning objectives. I created a “system of products,” which included: Awareness of the greater potential a project can realize when it is anchored in a deep understanding of the identity, vocation and potential of a Place and when it is understood as an instrument for regeneration (versus ‘an end in itself’). Understanding of the need for design-built professionals to shift from focusing on ‘things’ and problem solving to focusing on potential. Appreciation of the need to let go of professional ‘ego’ and preconceived ideas and, instead, tune in to what a “Place” may reveal of itself. Understanding of the benefits the use of systemic frameworks provide in guiding and expanding the inquiry and thinking process about a project. Awareness of the importance of self-reflection in regenerative work. Energized Participants’ State of Being (during the workshop), allowing them to: Engage in deeper reflections about Place and the regenerative potential of the project. Increase the level of collaboration, cooperation, support and sharing. Create mutually beneficial relationships. Increased Level of Participants’ Will (at the end and after the workshop) to: Be in service of Places and Communities. Continue to explore their regenerative role as professionals. Evolve their design-built practices. I am fortunate to have had for audience a very engaged group of caring individuals and professionals who share the same vision for, and actively work toward, the emergence of a more conscious, mindful, collaborative and creative society where humans and nature co-evolve and live in harmony with one another. I am deeply grateful for the spirit of collaboration and co-creation present throughout the workshop, the depth and quality of the reflections and the numerous insights that were shared. I am also impressed by the level of support, care and love that impregnated the workshop throughout. Over the 3 days, a palpable energy field emerged that carried us through our process, deepening our relationships and investigation, helping us going deeper and deeper into our inquiry. A few process elements, I believe, participated in the emergence of this field: Except during my presentation on the first morning and small-group project activity on day 2, we remained in a large circle thus creating a sense of unity and wholeness at the group level. This sense of wholeness was not broken by the departure or arrival of a few participants throughout the 3 days. Each day, we began with a centering/grounding visualization exercise facilitated by Anne Monmousseau to bring the participants “into the room.” At the beginning and end of each morning and afternoon session, we asked participants to check-in or out by sharing one single word that came to their minds. The approach was not only effective in getting the pulse of 30 people relatively quickly but, more importantly, it helped each person focus on the essence of what s/he was thinking/feeling/processing; this created a collective picture of where the whole group was at different stages of the process. Each session included small-group reflections on important questions. For instance, we began the first day with a reflection on: “Why does the Planet need me to evolve my professional practices and in what way should my practices evolve?” On the second day, after a brief imaging exercise, we broke into 3 groups to perform a Bohmian dialogue around the questions: “What personal or professional transformation is required in order to create and sustain the vitality and viability of the regenerative environment that you have previously imaged? What’s your level of Will to realize that vision?” On the third morning, before engaging in the exploration of the identity and potential of Crucuno and the regenerative role of the Ecovillage project, I asked: “What should we remain aware of, and sensitive about, to ensure the quality of our reflection? What barriers or constraints are we imposing on ourselves that we need to transcend?” The debriefing of each group activities included “meta” level questions, which helped participants reflect on their learning and personal experience. For instance, after the Dialogue on Day 2, I asked: “In what way did this reflection/dialogue change your way of thinking?” and “What did you feel during this exercise? What was your level of energy?” Such carefully designed processes, crafted questions and mindful intentions for the workshop are essential ingredients in creating a powerful container for co-creation and emergence (and are typical of the work of regenerative practitioners who have trained with the Regenesis Group). Intertwined with all of these design elements was the palpable energy of the place itself. Crucuno and its megaliths are unique: the massive dolmen at the center of the village, the “Quadrilatere” not very far from it (another impressive megalith site) and the stories that a local shared all had a huge impact on the group experience. We all felt this unique energy and the sense of Place when visiting the village (you can read about Crucuno in PART 2). The theme of the megaliths remained ever present in our conversations to the extent that some people felt that an over emphasis on them was, somehow, taking us away from our main purpose—that was to uncover the distinctive characteristics of Crucuno and its vocation. Their mysterious aura is indeed impossible to ignore and is reinforced by the fact we know so little about them. A Journey to Be Continued During the afternoon of the last day, a few of us met to debrief our experience and discuss possible next steps. Many participants shared their “positive frustrations” about the fact they felt they had only skimmed the surface and that they were still hungry to learn more about the regenerative approach. A few had assumed the workshop would be a conventional training and had come with the intention to learn a methodology and specific set of tools they could apply afterward. This, however, had never been the intent and in the future, I need to be paying more attention to the way such a workshop is being advertised. My objective wasn’t to deliver a training and I did not expect participants to fully grasp the regenerative frameworks that supported our inquiry. One of my goals was to give participants a sense of the potential of the approach. But more importantly, and as stated in my purpose statement and the “system of products,” my intention was to mainly engage them in a reflection of the greater potential a project can realize when it is anchored in a deep understanding of the identity, vocation and potential of a Place and when it is understood as an instrument for regeneration. I wanted them to appreciate how a shift from focusing on the functional aspects of a project to focusing on how Place and its vocation can unlock the energy around a project and uncover possibilities beyond what could have been assumed at the onset. Considering the desire from many in the room to continue the learning process, I believe we began to realize this objective. Building on the momentum, I suggested the University Terre&Mer (UTM) to create a Regenerative Lab under their umbrella to continue to support the ecovillage project of Crucuno. I committed to work with members of the Regenesis Group to create a course in French that incorporates core elements of The Regenerative Practitioner Series in addition to a “Story of Place” applied training on the village of Crucuno—the whole thing delivered through the Lab. I also plan to work with UTM to define the organizational principles of the Lab, which of course needs to operate as a regenerative entity. UTM will search for funding to support the activities of the Lab and will organize a second workshop on Regenerative Development next year. I want to end these notes with a quote from an email sent to me after the workshop by the architect Bernard Menguy: “Merci à toi également pour le message « régénérant » que tu as fait passer, pour qu’il devienne régénératif, la mise en place de la formation que tu proposes d’étudier est essentielle. Je reste dans l’attente d’en savoir plus.” “Thank you also for the ‘enlivening’ message you brought to us, for it to become regenerative, the course you proposed is essential. I look forward to learning more.” I want to thank my colleagues Ben Haggard and Joel Glanzberg from the Regenesis Group and Craig DeForest, an independent consultant, for their input and support as I prepared for the workshop. Their suggestions on the process and their help in preparing me to facilitate it were tremendous. I am deeply grateful to Anne Monmousseau who saw the potential in presenting the Regenerative Development Approach to a French audience and who fully trusted my ability to deliver a powerful learning experience. There is no magic in that, considering the quality of the events offered by UTM to support the transition to a more sustainable economy, the organization is able to attract people of integrity and high-level consciousness—a strong element that contributed to the positive outcomes of the workshop. Many thanks to the UTM staff and other helpers, who took care of all the logistics, captured pictures, and recorded the event, which allowed me to concentrate on my work. Generative Strategies for Increased Value Creation tags: Collaboration, Creativity, Learning, reframing, Strategy, Sustainability, Systems_Thinking, Transformation In my previous post, I suggested that the process of reframing is essential to opening the door to new possibilities for the future when addressing the root causes of complex problems. The ability to reframe is key to creating disruptive innovations that have a lasting and positive impact on society. Building up on this idea, this new post focuses on generative strategies and the unfolding of solutions for increased value creation. The adjective ‘generative’ means ‘able to produce,’ as in, ‘the generative power of life force’. Generative strategies are life giving because they unlock the potential existing in a system. They emerge out of a learning and creative process in which an organization or group of stakeholders challenge business as usual, disrupt the status quo, and reframe their challenge or situation. Generative strategies deliver outcomes at the whole system level and create value for all key stakeholders involved and beyond. To illustrate the power of generative strategies, I present three stories: 1) A community-based stormwater management strategy in Portland, Oregon; 2) The creation of a new community ecosystem by the Brattleboro Coop in New England; 3) The ‘marriage’ of two different library organizations operating collaboratively under a same roof: the Martin Luther King Library in San José, California. Community-Based Stormwater Management in Portland, Oregon The City of Portland has gained an international reputation for being a leader in the deployment of creative approaches for sustainable stormwater management [1]. Traditional approaches to stormwater management consist of building sewer infrastructure systems to manage sewage and stormwater and prevent overflows into rivers and streams. Prompted by an environmental lawsuit in 1991, the State of Oregon and the City of Portland agreed to build a new Combined Sewer Overflow tunnel on the East side of the Willamette River, for a total cost of $1.4 billion. The new “big pipe” — a tunnel of 22 feet in diameter and six miles long, which was completed in 2011, currently manages more than 94% of the volume of combined sewage and stormwater that used to overflow into the Willamette river [2]. While such infrastructure projects provide an important service to urban communities, they are very costly and cause environmental problems when heavy rainfall exceeds the storage capacity of the pipes and untreated sewage, stormwater and other toxic wastes get discharged into waterways, creating risks for human health and the health of watersheds. In Portland, I have heard that the new CSO would run at almost capacity while just completed. Realizing that the on-going focus on building “big pipes” is a financially and ecologically unsustainable strategy in the long-term, the City of Portland actively sought a more creative and more sustainable approach to its stormwater management problem — one that does not consider stormwater as a waste but instead as a precious asset for the community. In 2006, Portland’s Bureau of Environmental Services (BES) launched the Clean River Rewards program — an initiative that engages the community in the management of stormwater at the source, on private properties [3]. BES grants stormwater utility discounts and provides financial incentives to property owners who invest in stormwater green infrastructure projects. The management of stormwater requires property owners to disconnect their downspouts from the sewer system and manage stormwater with green solutions such as rain barrels, cisterns, rain garden, bio-swales, and green roofs. The program generates a whole range of benefits and positive outcomes for the municipality and the whole community. First, by leveraging private investments, the City is able to reallocate scarce resources to the projects that need them the most. Second, onsite stormwater management techniques create many environmental benefits such as cleaner rivers and streams, healthy watersheds, and wildlife closer to the urban environment. Third, green infrastructures are aesthetically appealing and increase the value of the private properties. Finally, the program supports the development of a local green economy and, potentially, the creation of new jobs, as property owners seek the service of suppliers and contractors to implement the stormwater management projects. The program was certainly not easy to implement and required a shift in the way diverse stakeholders saw their respective roles within the community. For instance, some citizens believed it was not theirs but the responsibility of the City to manage stormwater infrastructure. The community had to be educated on the needs to improve the quality of the watershed and on the benefits of green infrastructures. In addition, not any green infrastructure can be implemented on a given property due to soil characteristics and other physical attributes; thus, the involvement of a technical expert is required to guarantee the correct project design. Despite many apparent barriers, internally within BES and, externally, within the community, the program was nevertheless successfully launched; it included the city’s financial incentives and discounts as well as access to relevant resources and a new online registration process for property owners. Brattleboro Coop: From Energy Efficiency to Creating a New Community Ecosystem Bill Reed, Principal Consultant at Regenesis and Integrative Design Collaborative, presented the story of Bratteboro Coop in his Keynote Address for the AIA National Convention in May 2007 on the theme: ‘A Living Systems Approach to Design’ [4]. The Brattleboro Coop is a wonderful example of an organization that embarked on a journey of creative thinking to generate high value, not only for itself, but also for the community in which it is embedded. In the words of Bill Reed: “The Brattleboro Coop is a Grocery store that wanted to build a high performance LEED building. In particular, they wanted to generate innovative solutions to their energy use. It was observed that the energy expended in shipping food to the store was far higher than the energy used to operate the building (an average of 3,000 miles per bite of food in New England.) Moreover, their high dependence on shipped food made their business highly vulnerable to disruptions in the supply chain (e.g. a trucker’s strike, fuel costs). The project became one of engaging them in a process that looked at the energies involved in the system as a whole. As a result, the coop envisioned an entirely new role for itself. Not only will it work to model low energy use in its building, it has become a sponsor for local agriculture and regenerating the soil that had been significantly compromised after 300 years of poor farming and wood extraction practices. They are discussing the reprogramming of this ‘grocery store’ to potentially grow into an agriculture and soil extension service, a cannery, a place for hunters to dress meat, a day-care center, and a credit union. The overall aim is to catalyze the evolution back to a regenerated system for local agriculture and community sustainability. The aspirations of the people and the patterns of place were aligned and new potential was created in an evolving program. The building process became a catalyst for a long-term and living system perspective. They are now using this work as the basis to develop a 100 year plan for the Coop and the region.” What strikes me in this story is the particular way the challenge was reframed, beyond the short-term need to reduce energy used in the building, to encompass a broader long-term vision that considered the new role the Coop might play within its community. By creating new relationships, the Coop was able generate multiple and diverse outcomes: the revival of a community through the creation of local jobs; the respect of the “place” and its ecology through local agriculture; new community services; and overall, a healthier and more resilient community. I want to emphasize Bill’s last point that “the building process became a catalyst for a long-term and living system perspective.” Any project, initiative or strategic planning process can become a catalyst for the development of generative strategies. The process requires a shift in thinking from ‘fixing a problem’ to uncovering the potential already present in the system; a willingness to ask new questions grounded in a whole system perspective and a long-term view; that an on-going focus on delivering outcomes for the whole system as opposed to achieving isolated goals. Martin Luther King Library: A Miracle on 4th Street, San José, California [5] San José Martin Luther King Library (King Library) is one-of-a-kind in the United States: never before has the ‘mariage’ of two such different institutions as a university library and a city library been attempted. Allowing a community of patrons as diverse as young children, teens, senior citizens, university students and faculty to meet under the same roof is a revolutionary experiment that redefines a library’s mission as one of supporting a whole community, with all its diversity. The idea of a joint library was born in 1996 from the minds of two visionaries – former San José mayor Susan Hammer and former San José State University president Robert Caret – who successfully broke the pattern of indifference and disdain, which had been representative of the relationship between the two entities over decades. Indeed, on the one hand, the city of San José had been struggling over the years with urban decay downtown; the university, on the other hand, faced internal cultural changes and had become very insular. Very little was shared between the two institutions. However, with Caret and Hammer, things began to change. On her side, Hammer viewed the urban university as a main “player” in restructuring downtown. On his side, Caret considered San José State to be a “metropolitan university” and started to develop partnerships that benefited both the university and the community. Both the city and the university had inadequate libraries and were in need of more space; neither of them, however, had a budget that permitted them to expand on their own. Both Hammer and Caret realized that by bringing their resources together, they could build a landmark building that neither could afford alone. The result was a $177.5 million library jointly funded by the university and the city. The challenges faced by the King Library project team were daunting at many levels: contextual, operational, organizational, cultural, procedural, technical and architectural. Because there was no precedent for a joint library, they had to innovate to combine their respective operational needs into a single set of requirements, while maintaining the integrity of two completely different cultures. The library had to provide “seamless services” to its users. But the novelty of the concept was such that many believed the experiment would fail. Opposition to the project quickly developed on both sides: The difference of users’ needs – from a graduate student working on a thesis to a toddler playing near-by – was perceived as a gap that could not be filled. Yet, despite the complexity of the project and the inherent uncertainties faced by the “two-headed” client and the project team, the King Library project was an overall success and the facility was delivered on time, below budget and without a single claim. King Library is not the result of a miracle, as some people believed. The project owes much of its success to an outstanding facilitation process by local architecture firm Anderson-Brulé Architects (ABA) that was hired to facilitate the feasibility study and the development of a joint operation plan and remained an active participant until the completion of the project. When, at the earliest stages of the project, the question in everyone’s mind was “What if…,” ABA challenged the client team to answer questions such as: “How would you do this?” “What gets in your way?” “What would stop you?” “How could you move past that thing that stops you?” The focus on “how” provided a structure to librarians’ discussions and ensured that the team members were maintaining their focus on important questions. ABA encouraged the librarians to work in a creative way, while also providing a structure that allowed the librarians to slowly adapt to their challenge. The more the librarians interacted with one another, the more positive feedback was created, which reinforced the meaning of their collaborative activities. The earlier tensions within the project team slowly evolved into “creative battles” for solving problems in a way that benefitted both organizations. Throughout the process, the client team developed a new “identity” that was formulated around a new operational, functional and cultural personality. The team’s emerging identity and collaborative attitude became contagious and was re-emphasized at each main project phase, as new participants got involved. The project collaborative philosophy helped overcome many obstacles and enabled the alignment of the goals of hundreds, if not thousands, of people involved in making King Library a reality. To conclude, here is a summary of the commonalities between the projects presented: Shift in mindset — from ‘business as usual’ to believing something greater can be achieved. The vision becomes an attractor and a powerful force that brings life and creative energy to the project. Long-term view — because the sustainability and resilience of living systems operate in the long-term. Potential-driven process — these projects do not focus on solving a given problem but on unlocking the inherent potential that exists in a given organization or system to uncover new possibilities. Generative strategies emerge out of the context and history of the place and/or system. Relationship-driven process — the value of collaboration and partnerships is recognized as essential to achieving greater outcomes for the whole community and the environment. By pulling together the necessary skills and resources, new ties are created that are in themselves, generative. Open system — these projects redefine and expand the problem’s boundaries to generate higher value. Reframing — the questions we ask influence our answers. All generative processes are learning processes that are inherently transformative. Focus on the ‘how’— there is nothing more inspiring than joining our efforts to co-create solutions that are truly innovative for the greater good. Trust — often not present at the outset of a project, trust between stakeholders must be consciously developed to enable a cooperative culture. Transformative — generative projects shift the way participants see themselves and the role they play within the larger ecosystem. Development of new capacity — Generative projects offers a creative learning environment where new skills and capacities are being developed. [1] Portland Sustainable Stormwater Management: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/34598 [2] EPA (2009). Portland Launches a Stormwater Marketplace. Nonpoint Source News-Notes. February 2009. Issue #86. [3] Portland Clean Rivers Reward Program: http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bes/41976 [4] Reed, Bill (2007). A Living Systems Approach to Design. Keynote Address for the AIA National Convention in May 2007. [5] Benne, Beatrice (2005). Doctoral Dissertation: Managing AEC Project Organizations at the Edge of Chaos: An Analysis of AEC Projects Adaptive Capacity from a Living Systems Perspective. University of Berkeley. (Note: for King Library story see Chapter 5). Reframing tags: Creativity, Design, Innovation, Learning, Problem Solving, reframing Roughly, this is how the story went: The Stanford Graduate School of Business offers a multi-disciplinary course called Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability. In 2007, the course challenged student teams to design an incubator for developing countries that would cost less than 1% of the price of a traditional $20,000 incubator. Some members of the student teams were sent to Nepal to visit local hospitals, speak with stakeholders, and inquire about users’ needs. During their visit, the members of one team observed that the hospitals had many baby incubators yet these incubators were empty. Intrigued, they inquired with the local doctors and staff about why it was the case. They learned that while price of the incubators is important, hospitals have to deal with the fact that 80% of babies in Nepal are born at home; women living in the countryside and giving birth to a premature baby are usually unable to bring their baby to the city hospitals because it is too costly to do so and because they have no means to transport their baby safely. Indeed, one of the main criteria for babies’ survival is hypothermia: babies are not able to regulate their own temperature; hence babies need a device to keep them very warm. This was a big “Aha” moment for the student team who realized that the ‘users’ were not necessarily the hospitals but mothers in rural areas who need to keep their premature babies warm; however, there isn’t always electricity in rural areas to use a traditional incubator. Moreover, mothers potentially need to transport their babies safely to a hospital for further care. Hence, the team reframed the problem around the specific needs of mothers living in the countryside, with no electricity. The story of the team learning journey and design process is fascinating; unfortunately, it would take too long to recall here. The solution they developed is astonishing in terms of the innovation it represents, its technical ingenuity; its shear simplicity and beauty; and the obvious love and empathy that the product emanates throughout. Now produced by embraceglobal.org — a company subsequently created by some of the student team members — the product is “an innovative, low cost infant warmer” that looks like “a miniature sleeping bag that incorporates a phase change material, which stays at a constant temperature for up to 6 hours.” (See a picture of the Embrace Infant Warmer.) This story offers many important lessons about the process of innovation, creativity and problem solving for social change. Questions that intrigued me most are: • How does a design team learning process evolve from focusing on developing “a cheap incubator” (I like to think of it as a “cheap box”) to a safe warmer device that saves lives? In other words, how does the process of reframing take place? And why is it important? • Why is it that only one of all the teams involved in the design challenge came up with such a reframing of the challenge, hence a completely different solution to the problem? • Why is it that the Embrace team could not find any interest for taking their innovation, i.e., the “low cost infant warmer,” to the next stage of development? Indeed, the organizations involved with the course thought that, “because governments in developing countries are trying to get women to give birth in hospitals instead of at home, the group thought Embrace was “too much for a home setting”[1]. In other words, despite addressing a ‘real’ user need, the Embrace solution did not meet the ‘accepted’ perceived needs and requirements of the main stakeholders. I will not answer these questions directly here. I will only says this: I believe that the teams, groups, organizations, communities, local governments and so on, who are able to successfully address the complex challenges of our times are the ones who are able to reframe their problems — usually by reframing a technical problem (e.g., a cheaper “box”) into an adaptive challenge (e.g., saving babies lives); by moving away from addressing symptoms to uncovering root causes of the issues; and by believing that solutions to deeper issues exist and are achievable. This is indeed hard work. The process is inherently collaborative and requires us to challenge our assumptions and beliefs. It forces us to overcome our doubts and fears about challenging the status quo and fears of potential failure. It demands that we rise to our highest potential and address the “impossible.” But as the Embrace team demonstrates, even what seems impossible can be overcome — with a combination of love, empathy, collaboration and hard work! This is the way I want to address complex problems. Will you join me? Note: I first heard about the story of the Embrace team and of their innovative solution by watching a documentary video produced and realized by Corey Ford, an adjunct faculty at the Design MBA at the California College or the Arts, while I was sitting in Corey’s Venture Studio class early on this year. I found this story deeply moving and rich in lessons on how to address complex social issues. It is a success story on how to make a difference in the world. We need more stories like this one. [1] You can find a more in-depth overview of this story on the Stanford Graduate School of Business website: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/bmag/sbsm1109/embrace_chen.html Summer 2012 Courses tags: Consciousness, Creativity, Emergence, Leadership, Learning, Personal_Development This post is to announce course sessions that my colleague Andrew J. Campbell and I will be co-facilitating this summer. The Art of Spontaneity Andrew will be spending the month of June in the Bay Area and we are offering three learning journeys on the theme: The Art of Spontaneity. We have chosen the Mission District in San Francisco near Dolores Park and Lake Merritt in Oakland as locations for our informal gatherings, which will take place outside in the neighborhoods. Please see the brochure for more background on the learning journeys. The cost of the course is $40 per person and does not include lunch. There are plenty of restaurants and sandwich places in both locations for us to get our lunch. Each session will include a maximum of 10 participants. We will meet at 9:30 AM and will end at 5:30 PM. Please register to the session of your choice and see logistics information for each session in Eventbrite : Mission District (Dolores Park): Friday June 15 — Friday June 22 Lake Merritt: Saturday, June 16 For more information, please contact me: bea.benne@gmail.com Leadership for Emergence Retreat in South of France (Aug 10-12) “The only real way to develop strategy is to use a process where one goes to ‘primary knowing,’ tapping into source and then listening deeply, moment to moment as the path unfolds—walking the path as it is created.” ~ Joseph Jaworski, in conversation with Andrew Campbell, 2008. The above quote says it all. Our ultimate goal for this retreat is to give your the tools you need to develop your capacity for intuition, imaginative foresight and creativity so that you are able to tap into your inner knowing and creative source and thus, capable of addressing any complex strategic questions and issues that come your way, both in your personal and professional lives. The course structure is designed to create en environment that facilitates spontaneous insights and authentic learning—learning that integrates explicit knowledge (knowledge in the mind), tacit knowledge (experience) and transcendental knowledge (wisdom). Those who master this capacity can better navigate today’s complex realities while engaging others in co-creating sustainable strategies for the future. 2012 Leadership for Emergence Brochure and Registration Enjoy the summer! Beatrice and Andrew Blog Updates via Email Adaptive_Leadership Art Biomimicry city Collaboration Community Economic Development Complexity Connection Consciousness Creativity Design Emergence Evolution Innovation Leadership Lean Learning Living_Systems Mental Model Mental Model Language facilitation Organizational_Change Pattern Personal_Development Place Planning Problem Solving Project Management reframing Regeneration Strategy Sustainability sustainablebrands Systems_Thinking Thought Transformation Urban Planning Vision	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16226
__label__wiki	0.743354	0.743354	Mugabe Claims Two Permanent Security Council Seats for Africa ADDIS ABABA (IDN) - Africa’s veteran, though highly controversial leader, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has reiterated the call for reforms of the UN Security Council saying the continent should have the same powers as the five permanent members – Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States. In his opening address to the 26th African Union (AU) Summit on January 30-31 – as outgoing chairperson of the bloc – he repeated the African leaders’ demand who have been pushing for the continent to have at least two permanent seats in the Security Council, with equal veto power. While five countries are permanent members of the Security Council, Africa and the other non-aligned member states from Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean do not have any permanent seat. Attempts since 2005, when the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan undertook the initiative, to launch formal negotiations on expanding the Council have failed. The guiding theme of the Summit in Addis Ababa, the seat of the African Union, was ‘African year of human rights with a particular focus on the rights of Women’. But considering that about 29% of the member nations of the United Nations are the AU states, Mugabe availed of his opening address to reiterate the call Mugabe, who turns 92 on February 21, said: “The bosses of the Security Council say you shall never have the powers that we have as permanent members, and we asked, and asked. Reform! Reform the security council!” Turning to the incumbent UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Mugabe said: “Tell them, tell them we are not ghosts, that we also belong to the world … part of the world called Africa, and Africans shall no longer tolerate a position of slavery, slavery by any other name. By denial of rights, slavery by being treated in a manner we regard as not equal to the manner in which they treat themselves.” Mugabe warned of a mass exodus of African countries from the UN if Africa’s demands went unheeded. “If we decide as we shall certainly do so one of these days, that down with the United Nations, we are not members of it, others are real members of it, we are artificial members of it, and we, we can’t continue to be artificial members of it,” said Mugabe. “If the United Nations is to survive, we must be equal members of it. Equal members, members … who can say when we go to the body, that we can now, speaking truly as members with a voice that is understood, respected and honoured. “ Zimbabwe’s President, who was interrupted often with loud applause and at times standing ovation from the member countries, went a step further and called into question the very location of the UN headquarters in New York and said that the world body should have its seat where the majority of its members are – in Africa and Asia. “Where do you have most of the people?” Mugabe asked, after pointing out that more than three billion just in China, India and Africa, alone. “Now put us together, just us three, and then put those with the white faces and pink noses, put them together against us. How many are there, even man to a man? And do we allow that that group should continue harassing us, even in our independent countries?” In his remarks, Mugabe stressed that unity is key to help overcome social, political and economic challenges blighting the African continent. "We must speak with one voice as we chart a new chapter on our journey to become self-reliant and free from emerging threats like terrorism, dangerous epidemics and conflicts," he said. The two-day summit discussed a range of topics including human rights, women empowerment, financing of the continental body, terrorism and conflicts. African leaders and senior policymakers also discussed progress achieved in the implementation of development projects identified in the Agenda 2063. Mugabe said despite the threat of terrorism and a slump in the commodities market, Africa's socio-economic transformation remained on course thanks to domestic reforms and an improved political climate. "Several AU member states in 2015 conducted fair, transparent and peaceful elections while the outlook for this year is bright. Africa has come of age despite recurrent threats to our common future," Mugabe declared. African countries are united in their quest to eradicate terrorism that currently poses a mortal threat to the continent's stability and development, he said, and regretted that violent extremism has reached crisis levels in the horn of Africa, the Sahel and northern African region hence the need for concerted efforts to stamp it out. "Terrorism is a major scourge in Africa that negatively impacts on our quest for peace, security of our people, development and integration," he noted, adding that creation of an African Standby force with deployable capability will embolden the war against terrorism. African governments have prioritized the war against poverty, unemployment, discrimination and environmental degradation in line with the Agenda 2063 aspirations. "We have endorsed an African resource mobilization strategy to help accelerate economic growth and tackle youth unemployment. There is a consensus on the need to tackle challenges like migration and climate change as a united bloc," said Mugabe, adding that strategic cooperation with emerging economies like China and India will advance economic growth, peace and security in Africa. UN Chief Ban Ki-Moon urged African leaders to promote tolerance, human rights and inclusive development in order to sustain peace and long-term growth. "We must resolutely invest in good governance, women empowerment and human rights as a prerequisite to achieve peace, security and development," Ban said. He stressed the unity of African states was crucial to help address the menace of terrorism, poverty, disease and forced migration. "Africa should provide a shining example on potential of unity and tolerance to help tackle challenges facing humanity. The unity you demonstrated during the Ebola crisis was inspiring," Ban remarked. According to AU Commission Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, African countries will dedicate greater efforts to the advancement of human rights alongside speedy implementation of projects identified in the Agenda 2063 so as to hasten their socio-economic transformation. "We must continue to place our people and their basic human rights at the centre of Agenda 2063. This includes our people's rights to education, nutrition, health, safe water, sanitation and energy," she said. [IDN-InDepthNews – 31 January 2016] Photo: Ordinary session of the African Union \| Credit: AU Ronald Joshua Southeast Asia PANAFEST Islamic Coalition Counter-terrorism African Union Yemen Palestine Opiates Gender equality Myanmar China UNIDO Opinion Development Land degradation CTBTO Mali United Nations World Humanitarian Summit European Parliament	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16227
__label__wiki	0.800207	0.800207	Suu Kyi Slams “Disinformation” As Information War Intensifies BANGKOK (IDN) - The information war on Myanmar’s Bengali/Rohingya problem has intensified as Myanmar’s de-facto leader and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung Sung Suu Kyi finally broke her silence on the issue on September 6 and slammed the international media and human rights organisations for spreading “misinformation” on the conflict. One day earlier, the London-based Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) launched a report in Bangkok bashing Myanmar’s Buddhist majority. The following day India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi making his first official bilateral visit to neighbouring Myanmar pledged Indian support to fight cross-border Islamic terrorism. The Myanmar government information committee said that gunmen affiliated with the Islamic terrorist group of the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) invaded villages in Maungtaw Township in the Rankin state over the weekend and set fire to hundreds of houses. After clashes they have discovered a number of explosive devices and another 80 houses burned in neighbouring townships. The government has put the blame on this carnage on the ARSA a terrorist group of Rohingya refugees believed to be trained in Pakistan and funded by Wahabbi sources in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, BHRN in launching their report on September 5 at a media conference in Bangkok claimed that there is a “systematic persecution of Burma’s Muslim minority” with ID cards denied to them, constant monitoring of their mosques and young people across the country, spread of “Muslim Free” villages and of course military attacks on Rohingyas in Rankin state leading to the exodus of thousands of refugees across the borders mainly to Bangladesh. The so-called “discrimination” against Muslims listed in the report was almost identical to what Muslim minorities are having to cope with in western countries, but, the report constantly referred to “Buddhists” as perpetuators whereas when such discrimination is reported in the West it will be addressed as a national security issue rather than “Christians” as perpetuators. What the Myanmar government is complaining about is this double standard. That they are facing a terrorist threat from IS-linked ARSA. But, Human Rights Watch (HRW) Deputy Director for Asia, Phil Robertson argued during the media conference that they have monitored the “carnage” via satellite images from Bangkok and showed such images where the red dots shown he claimed were Rohingya houses burned by the army. When pointed out by a journalist that the Myanmar government claims that Rohingyas themselves are setting fire to houses, all he could say is “oh, this is Burmese government propaganda”. After the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned of ethnic cleansing and regional destabilization and in a rare letter to the Myanmar government has talked of a spiral of a “humanitarian catastrophe”, Aung Sung Suu Kyi finally broke her silence on the issue on September 6 and blamed "terrorists" for "a huge iceberg of misinformation" on the violence in Rakhine state, but did not address the issue of fleeing refugees. In a statement issued by her office on Facebook, Suu Kyi said the government had "already started defending all the people in Rakhine in the best way possible" and warned against misinformation that could mar relations with other countries. She referred to images on Twitter of killings posted by Turkey's deputy prime minister that he later deleted because they were not from Myanmar. Earlier Suu Kyi had spoken by telephone with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. She said in the statement that “(such) kind of fake information which was inflicted on the deputy prime minister was simply the tip of a huge iceberg of misinformation calculated to create a lot of problems between different countries and with the aim of promoting the interests of the terrorists.” The UN estimates that over 125,000 – most of them women and children – have fled across the border to Bangladesh. There are about 1.1 million Rohingyas in Myanmar whom the locals call Bengali because they believe most of them are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. But, human rights campaigners point out most have lived there for a number of generations. BHRN said in their report that Muslims have to provide documentation that proves a family lineage dating back to before 1824 to gain Myanmar ID cards. While reports in the Myanmar media said that attacks by ARSA terrorists on “Bengali villages” continue. Mizzima news – which won a ‘free media pioneer” award from the International Press Institute in 2007 – reported on 5 September 5 that Indian and Bangladesh intelligence officials have disclosed they have intercepted three long duration calls between Hafiz Tohar, military wing chief of ARSA on August 23 and 24 that hold the key to why the militant group unleashed the pre-dawn offensive against Myanmar security forces. The report said that Tohar has been trained in Pakistan by Lashkar e Tayyaba and while Bnagladesh government is also worried about these terror links, a lack of intelligence sharing network between India, Bangladesh and Myanmar may have prevented the latter from getting prior warning on the threat. During his visit to Myanmar concluded on September 7, Modi told Suu Kyi that he wants to see a peaceful border between India and Myanmar and offered Indian cooperation in the area of security. “We are partners in your concerns over the loss of lives of security forces and innocent people due to the extremist violence in Rakhine State. Our interests in the area of security are common as neighbours. It’s essential that we work together to ensure the stability of our long territorial and coastal borders,” Modi said during the joint media briefing with Suu Kyi in Myanmar’s capital Nay Pyi Taw on September 6. While there have been public demonstrations by extremist Islamic groups in Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh, the governments have been playing a behind the scenes quiet diplomatic role to defuse the situation knowing very well how religious passions could have a negative impact on ASEAN (Southeast Asian Nations) community building process. All three Muslim neighbours of Myanmar practice a very moderate form of Islam compared to its Middle Eastern counterparts, and this issue has the potential to empower the smaller extremist groups in their countries. The same applies to the Buddhists in Myanmar, where the Myanmar government has been closely monitoring the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion — usually referred to by its Myanmar-language acronym, Ma Ba Tha, which is viewed by many of its supporters as a broad-based social and religious movement dedicated to protecting Myanmar’s Buddhist identity and heritage, as well as empowering poor Buddhist communities at a time of unparalleled change and uncertainty in the country. Millions of Buddhists across the country also face same economic hardships the Rohingyas are supposed to be facing. Statistics released from 2014 census indicate that the number of homeless across the country have reached almost 1 million and tremendous housing deprivations exists across the country. The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank, said in a report on "Buddhism and Politics in Myanmar" that the crisis triggered by Rohingya insurgent attacks and massive retaliation by the army has boosted anti- Muslim sentiment nationwide. "While dynamics at play in Rakhine are mostly driven by local fears and grievances, the current crisis has led to a broader spike in anti-Muslim sentiment, raising anew the specter of communal violence across the country that could imperil the country's transition," warned the ICG report. It added that a failure by the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi to come to grips with economic inequality and provide adequate public services such as education, access to justice and disaster relief would allow Ma Ba Tha to gain legitimacy. [IDN-InDepthNews – 7 September 2017] Photo: Kutupalong Refugee Camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. The camp is one of three, which house up to 300,000 Rohingya people fleeing inter-communal violence in Myanmar. Credit: Wikimedia Commons. IDN is flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate facebook.com/IDN.GoingDeeper - twitter.com/InDepthNews Syndication UNAI Military Elephants Peacekeeping FAO WIPO Mo Ibrahim Israel African Union Local langues Canada Think-Tanks Myanmar CTBTO Water OECD OPINON UNCCD Environmental Disaster	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16228
__label__wiki	0.905086	0.905086	ASEAN Chairman Duterte Pushes For Migrant Protection Treaty BANGKOK (IDN) - Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has signaled his intention to push harder for the adoption of a binding regional treaty to protect the human rights of migrant workers during his chairmanship of ASEAN (Association of South east Asian Nations) this year. Though he is strongly supported by Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, human rights advocates in the region fear that ASEAN’s “consensus” based decision making process may hinder these attempts because Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand may not agree to a binding treaty to protect migrant workers in their countries. Though the ‘ASEAN Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers’ was adopted a decade ago, there has been no attempt until now to give it some teeth in terms of a binding treaty. The 2007 declaration was adopted at the 12th ASEAN Summit in Cebu when Philippines last chaired ASEAN and it included clauses such as the obligation of receiving states to “intensify attempts to protect the fundamental human rights, promote welfare and uphold human dignity of migrant workers” and for sending countries to set up policies and procedures to protect their workers during the recruitment process, prepare them for deployment overseas and protect their migrant workers when abroad including repatriation and reintegration to the countries of origin. As the Philippines and Indonesia are the biggest exporter of migrant workers to the region, Philippines chairmanship of ASEAN this year may see some action on this front, especially with a President who is determined to change regional mechanisms. In January, when launching the Philippines’ chairmanship of ASEAN, President Duterte called upon the ASEAN community to “provide opportunities for a truly better life (for all)” and said that Philippines will pace the “people at the core” of ASEAN. A Labour Ministers’ retreat convened by the Philippine at Duterte’s hometown of Davoa on February 19-20 pledged “together in the spirit of ASEAN consensus” to adopt an ASEAN instrument on Labour migration. The ministers are due to meet again in late March to finalise this instrument. While the host country of the ASEAN Summits has the power to steer the agenda in the direction they desire, in an organization where consensus is the king, the question is whether they would be able to agree on a binding treaty or mere guidelines? According to International Labour Organisation (ILO) statistics on deployment of migrant labour across ASEAN countries in 2015, Philippines toped the list with 203,249 workers, while Indonesia came second with 128,646, Myanmar sent 89,031 and Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos had smaller numbers but yet over 10,000 workers. Statistics also reveal that 56 percent of Malaysia’s deployment of 2.1 million migrant workers in 2015 was from ASEAN countries, and Thailand which deployed 1.4 million overseas workers in the same year, almost 90 percent were from ASEAN region. Figures for Brunei and Singapore are not available. The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum Asia) pointed out in 2016 that a majority of migrant workers deployed in ASEAN countries are women who are vulnerable to human trafficking and exploitation. “ASEAN member states have failed to provide women and workers in general with decent work and livelihoods in their own communities and instead encourage policies that drive down wages and provide unsafe working conditions,” Forum Asia said in a statement. "This endless pursuit of cheap labour for the growth of profits for the world’s obscenely wealthy and corporate elites, maintains an unequal balance of power, which has to be condemned,” the statement added. A major source of disagreement between ASEAN member countries is on the nature of the agreement ASEAN will eventually adopt. Source countries want an “international agreement” that will be legally binding, while receiving countries want guidelines that will not be binding on them. Thus, it could be merely called an 'ASEAN Agreement' rather than a 'Framework Agreement' and everyone will claim victory. A contentious issue in the region has been the role of private recruitment agencies many of who act unscrupulously circumventing laws, employing corrupt practices, and exploiting workers. They have been able to function like mafia syndicates with impunity because government agencies have often turned a blind eye, since there are no obligatory legal documents for them to be brought to justice. Many migrant workers have taken for granted many of these exploitative practices such as charging exorbitant “placement” fees from workers that are considered as “debts” incurred by the migrant workers to be paid back once they start working. Thus, for example, Filipino and Indonesian domestic workers employed in Singapore have to give all their monthly salary earned in the first 6 to 8 months to the recruitment agency. It is collected by the Singapore agent, who presumably remits a share of it to their counterparts in the Philippines or Indonesia. This practice is illegal under the existing laws of both countries, but, because the transaction is done undocumented and the migrant workers have not been made aware of the law nor are there any legal redress to claim this money back, it continues unabated. Defining undocumented workers and such transactions has been a contentious issue in the ASEAN negotiation process. Malaysia has strongly opposed the inclusion of undocumented foreign workers in any ASEAN agreement, while Thailand wants a clear distinction between documented and undocumented workers, and they do not want any privileges given to migrant workers, not available the locals. Thetis Mangahas, a former ILO regional director believes that an ASEAN agreement will not be able to do away with the exploitation but it will at least provide the abused workers a way of redress. “They would know what their rights are in the receiving state; they can file complaints (and) they can have access to services guaranteed by all states,” she told Mekong Migration Network (MMN). While the Philippines is amenable to a non-binding agreement, they would need four main parameters incorporated in it: immediate deployment of an action plan with timetables to implement the instrument; negotiations of bilateral labour agreements between ASEAN member states; sharing and documentation of best practices; and designation of focal points on Instrument implementation in all member ASEAN states. The Duterte government is also in the process of setting up a special Departmemt of Overseas Filipino Workers, which was an election pledge of his. While Philippine officials are still mum on resolving the remaining issues, migration experts have told MMN that it may have to do with the legal nature of the instrument. “It’s all about the binding issue. If it’s optional, why are they so contentious when it is up to them? If there’s a stalemate, it’s got to be that. Most likely it is that issue that is holding it back,” says Mangahas. She notes that Malaysia and Indonesia have the two most polarizing views on the legally binding instrument. “Indonesia has an all or nothing mindset, which is understandable as a sending state.” A factor to this is the bilateral relations between the two states. In recent years, Indonesia has condemned Malaysia’s treatment of Indonesian migrant workers, which make up majority of the documented and undocumented workers in Malaysia. Thailand is also believed to have around one million undocumented workers mainly from neighbouring Myanmar. “It is irreconcilable with the other so it’s a question of who gives in between the two. Indonesia doesn’t want to give in on this. Malaysia doesn’t want to give in on this. Indonesia is for a legally binding agreement. They don’t want a diluted instrument. I think they’re all for binding or nothing,” says Mangahas. [IDN-InDepthNews – 27 February 2017] Photo: Cambodian-Thai border courtesy of www.cambodiantr.gov.kh This article is part of IDN’s media project jointly with Global Cooperation Council and DEVNET Japan. Argentina Nuclear Test Individual Journalists Asia-Pacific Daisaku Ikeda Global Citizenship Sustainable Development Goals Netanyahu Miami International Film Festival Myanmar NuclearAbolition Iraq war Development African Union Military News Media Climate Action Hillary Clinton UNODC Interview	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16229
__label__cc	0.580187	0.419813	Overkill as art: Ars reviews the Cyborg R.A.T. 7 It's not easy to justify a $100 price tag for a gaming mouse, but the R.A.T. 7 … The R.A.T. series of mice isn't designed to be subtle. The surface of each model is broken, split, and in many cases adjustable. While it looks like a hot mess in pictures, all it takes is putting your hands on one to understand the method to the madness. In terms of options and features, this is a mouse that offers everything you could ask for—and some things that may have never occurred to you. Let's take a look at what makes this such a special mouse and how it's designed to fit your preferences... whatever they may be. The body is adjustable It has to be said again—in case it's not clear from the images—that this is a comfortable mouse to hold. The palm rest can be moved backward and forward to make the body longer or shorter depending on the size of your hand. This adjustment is handled by a a pressure-sensitive lever on the belly of the mouse. Other elements are adjusted using an allen wrench that's kept inside the mouse itself. That metal nub on the bottom of the mouse unscrews to reveal the tool used to adjust and change the mouse's characteristics. Nifty! On the left side of the mouse you have two programmable buttons and a red toggle to change the sensitivity in case you're sniping. By adjusting a screw on the button of the mouse you can move the entire assembly up or down so the buttons are directly under your thumb... no matter the size of your thumb. Brilliant. Another nice touch: once you've removed the allen wrench from the mouse, you can add or remove steel weights, making the entire mouse either lighter or heavier depending on your preference. The chassis of the mouse is made of aluminum, making it a piece of hardware that feels very solid in your hand. The nub at the bottom is the allen wrench, above it are the weights The mouse also features a horizontal, metal scrollbar near your thumb, and you can use the software to map a clockwise or counter-clockwise spin to any buttons you'd like. Or just use it for horizontal scrolling in your browser. Clicks are strong and surprisingly loud, and underneath the scroll wheel you have a button that allows you to turn your DPI up or down four levels (in addition to the toggle described above). To the left of that is a button that allows you to switch between profiles with your index finger. It sounds like an overwhelming number of buttons and choices, but to the credit of the peripheral's designers, nothing will be hit by accident in normal use. Different palm rests, a place to hold the weights, and optional pinky rests can be added to the mouse The major letdown of the mouse comes in the top scroll wheel. It clicks (I prefer a smooth spin), and said click feels rather weak. It's not a deal-breaker when the mouse does so much other stuff right, but it's disappointing in an otherwise impressive package. I've seen less-expensive mice offer a choice of discrete clicks or a spin, with both feeling great. If I could fix one thing about this mouse, that would be it. The line begins with the R.A.T. 3, but why bother? The entry-level models lack the 5600dpi sensor and adjustment options of their big brothers. We're reviewing the R.A.T. 7, which is fully adjustable and comes with the optional accessories shown above. The next model up, the R.A.T. 9, is wireless. You'll pay for all this lush choice, however: the 7 retails for $99.99 and the 9 sells for $129.99. The various adjustments of the mouse This mouse doesn't look elegant, but all the options, clever decisions, and hidden fun of the hardware gives it personality. After playing with it for a number of days, I've found the best set up for me: the rubber palm rest flush with the body, the precision-aiming button and two side buttons moved up a few turns of the wrench, all the weights in, with the horizontal scroll switching between weapons in FPS games. Everything about this mouse looks bold, but happily all of the bells and whistles are there for a reason. The original preview of the R.A.T. from CES evoked a strong reaction from you guys, and trust us when we say the final product lives up to the chest-beating promise of its design. Verdict: Buy	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16230
__label__cc	0.650795	0.349205	Tragically, Average Child in U.S. Gets Seven Radiation Scans Now the FDA is Going After Vitamin C! The Best Bomb Detectors for Airports - Why Aren't We Using Them? An average child in the United States will undergo more than seven radiation scans by the age of 18. Most of the scans involve X-rays but some children also get CT scans, which entail far more radiation and can raise the risk for cancer. A recent large study found that X-rays of the chest, hand and foot are the most common. Forty-two percent of the children examined had at least one radiation procedure, and 25 percent had two or more just during the three-year study period -- and that doesn't even count dental X-rays, which were not included in the study. Parent Dish reports: "The rapid growth of CT scans, which provide extremely detailed pictures of the body, and other medical imaging in recent decades has led to big increases in the average American's total radiation exposure ... The authors extrapolate from their data that nearly 6 million U.S. children will get at least one CT scan during a three-year period." Americans are now exposed to seven times more radiation from diagnostic scans than they were in 1980 -- a risk for everyone but an even greater danger for children. The average U.S. child will receive more than seven radiation scans by the time they reach age 18 in the form of X-rays and CT scans. However, this study did not include dental X-rays, so the exposure is actually much higher. X-rays are concerning in their own right, but about 8 percent of these kids will get at least one CT scan, often used to screen for brain injuries and appendicitis, while another 3 percent will get two or more. CT scans emit a large dose of radiation that can raise the risk of cancer later in life, and children, whose tissues are still developing, are particularly at risk. As Parent Dish reported, one study found that an infant has an eight times higher risk of suffering from a fatal cancer caused by an abdominal CT scan than a 50-year-old receiving the same procedure, so the risk cannot be taken lightly. Why are Kids Getting So Many Radiation Scans? More than 70 million CT scans per year are now performed in the US, including at least 4 million on children. This is up from just 3 million in 1980. While high-tech imaging can be beneficial in certain cases, it must be used SPARINGLY and only when absolutely necessary because it exposes your body to dangerous ionizing radiation -- radiation that is proven to cause cancer. So why are so many CT scans suddenly being done? Physicians fear being sued for malpractice if they miss something and are using far more CYA (cover your you know what) medicine to make sure they limit their risk of being sued for missing something. Some patients pressure their physicians for scans "just to be safe," especially after hearing advertisements touting the benefits of new hi-tech tests (without disclosure of the risks). Physicians are more often using scans to screen "the worried well" (such as scanning former smokers for lung cancer). Many doctors have purchased their own imaging equipment for their practices. This adds a financial incentive into the mix and sets the stage for overuse of the technology. There's a trend toward commercially advertised full-body CT scans to "find everything wrong with you." Consumers with extra cash lying around (in excess of $1,000 in most cases) are being encouraged to undergo a full-body scan as a preventive measure. CT Scans Will Raise Your Child's Risk of Cancer If you take your child to the emergency room and a CT scan is suggested, you'll want to think, hard, about whether the benefit of the scan is worth the risk. What is the risk? X-rays and other diagnostic tests that rely on ionizing radiation, such as mammograms and CT scans: Cause chromosomal mutations that are often irreparable, and the effects are cumulative (meaning the more x-rays and scans your child receives, the worse the effects will be). Cause DNA changes that are proven to lead to cancer. Cause DNA damage in your arteries, which can lead to cardiovascular disease. Often result in misdiagnosis and false positives, increasing the likelihood of follow up tests—further increasing your radiation exposure. Further, CT scans alone will cause nearly 30,000 unnecessary cancer cases (about 2 percent of cancer cases), which will lead to about 14,500 deaths, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine. A New England Journal of Medicine study from 2007 also estimated that overuse of diagnostic CT scans may cause up to 3 million excess cancers over the next 20 to 30 years. David Brenner of Columbia University, lead author of the study, told USA Today: "About one-third of all CT scans that are done right now are medically unnecessary … Virtually anyone who presents in the emergency room with pain in the belly or a chronic headache will automatically get a CT scan. Is that justified?" What's more, CT scans given to kids are often calibrated for adults, so children absorb two to six times the radiation needed to produce clear images -- and 1,500 may die each year of radiation-induced cancer later in life. Efforts are underway to update CT scanners with alert systems that remind operators to turn down the radiation doses for children, but this is not yet widely implemented. Remember -- There is NO Safe Dose of Ionizing Radiation Any time your child receives an X-ray or a CT scan, there is risk involved (and the risk is much higher from CT scans because the radiation dose is higher; a CT scan of the chest delivers 100 times the radiation of a conventional chest X-ray). Further, cells cannot correctly repair every type of complex genetic damage induced by ionizing radiation, and sometimes cells cannot repair such damage at all. Unlike some other mutagens, ionizing radiation has access to the genetic molecules of every internal organ, if the organ is within the x-ray beam. Within such organs, even a single high-speed high-energy electron, set into motion by an x-ray photon, has a chance of inducing the types of damage that defy repair. That is why there is no risk-free dose-level when it comes to ionizing radiation. And when such mutations are not immediately deadly to your cells, they endure and accumulate with each additional exposure to x-rays or other ionizing radiation. Radiation even damages the DNA in your arteries, which in turn causes the cells lining your arteries to multiply abnormally, decreasing the size of the arterial lumen and effectively "narrowing" your arteries. This radiation-induced tissue inside your arteries is similar to scar tissue, decreasing vessel elasticity and increasing your risk for arterial blockage. According to John Gofman, M.D., Ph.D., evidence indicates that more than 50 percent of deaths from cancer and more than 60 percent of deaths from ischemic heart disease may be X-ray-induced. Radiation Accidents do Happen, More Often Than You'd Like to Think The difference between a routine CT scan and a death sentence is as simple as a computer error causing you to be blasted with errant beams of radiation, leaving you in unspeakable pain, or worse. People know very little about the harm that can ensue when safety rules are violated and these powerful and technologically complex machines go awry, but in January 2010 The New York Times published an article about the alarming rise in radiation-related injuries and deaths. The complexity of medical radiation technology has created new avenues for error by way of software flaws, faulty programming, poor safety procedures or inadequate staffing and training. And when those errors occur, they can be severe -- even deadly. The following types of radiation injuries have been reported: DNA damage and mutations Acute radiation toxicity (burned skin, nausea, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, loss of taste, tongue swelling, hair loss, etc.) Skin burns, including gaping holes in the body that won't close Wounds that won't heal due to damaged blood vessels and chronic inflammation, which deprive the area of nourishment Organ damage Bone death, such as destruction of the jaw, and loss of teeth Always Think Very Carefully Before Using Radiation Scans There may be times when a CT scan might be warranted, depending on your condition, but in general, I suggest avoiding CT scans as much as possible. An MRI can often be substituted for a CT, with far fewer harmful side effects. Remember, too, that children are especially vulnerable to the effects of radiation and this should weigh in on your decision. Do not simply consent to X-rays or CT scans that seem unnecessary or excessive … and if you do go ahead with it, make sure your provider is using the lowest radiation dose possible for the screening, as well as providing protection for other body parts not being screened (such as a thyroid collar). Be aware, also, that CT scans are not only used for brain injuries or abdominal cases. New cone-beam CT scanners are increasingly being used in dentist offices too. The technology provides clear 3-D images of teeth, which dentists and, especially, orthodontists, are using to lure patients, including children and teenagers who need braces. It's actually quite common nowadays for teens to receive one to four cone-beam CT scans during the course of their orthodontic treatment. Cone-beam CT scans are lower in radiation than typical CT scans used in the medical field, but that doesn't mean they are without risk. Further, in the case of cone-beam CT scans, there is an alternative … a tiny digital camera can be used to take 3-D images of your child's teeth, with absolutely no radiation risks whatsoever. So no matter what diagnostic scan you are considering, including an X-ray or a CT scan, always assess the risks versus the benefits before consenting. The UC Berkeley Wellness Letter offers some good suggestions for doing so: Is the test really necessary? What difference will it make in my care? Is there a non-radiation alternative, such as ultrasound or MRI (or digital photographs)? Is the facility accredited by the American College of Radiology? Will the test use the lowest level of radiation for adequate imaging? (Will it be adjusted for my size, or my child's size?) Will the scan be limited to the indicated area, and will nearby areas be shielded? Parent Dish January 4, 2011 Previous Article Now the FDA is Going After Vitamin C! Next Article The Best Bomb Detectors for Airports - Why Aren't We Using Them? Nearly 30,000 Americans Get Cancer From This One Procedure EVERY Year: Will You? Radiation Gone Wrong New Concerns Arise for Children’s Dental X-Rays	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16231
__label__cc	0.674199	0.325801	Why a Decline in Mammography Rates is Really GOOD News Factory Fed Fish: Monsanto's and Cargill's Plans for the Ocean Iron: This Life-Saving Mineral Found to Actually Increase Senility in Many Mammography rates for women in their 40s are declining. Data shows that between January 2006 and December of 2010, mammography rates across the US decreased by nearly 6 percent among women ages 40 to 49 Several studies have determined that mammography in younger women appears to do more harm than good. A Cochrane Database review from 2009 found that breast cancer screening led to a 30 percent rate of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, which increased the absolute risk of developing cancer by 0.5 percent. For every 2,000 women invited for screening throughout a 10 year period, the life of just ONE woman was prolonged, while 10 healthy women were treated unnecessarily Annual Breast Thermography Health Assessment Imaging is a physiological test to monitor your breast health, allowing you the opportunity to address chronic inflammation in your body BEFORE cancer has had the time to develop. Its benefits are proven effective for women of all ages and for all breast densities. It is particularly helpful for women with dense breasts, as they are at a higher risk of developing cancer, and have an increased risk of both false positives and false negatives due to the limitations mammograms have in imaging dense breast tissue The "C" word; probably the most feared word there is in healthcare. Just the mere mention of cancer conjures up images of death and despair. Cancer screening like annual mammograms is the conventional go-to "prevention" strategy. But researchers increasingly agree that mammography is ineffective at best, and harmful at worst... In November of 2009, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a federal advisory board, revised their cancer screening recommendations, saying annual mammograms weren't necessary for women under age 50 and that screenings were recommended only every two years after that1. The panel based the new guidelines on data indicating that mammography does more harm than good when used on younger women. Besides the fact that the ionizing radiation delivered during mammography can cause cancer in and of itself, overdiagnosis of cancer, as well as misdiagnosis, has been shown to be a significant problem plaguing this form of cancer screening. According to a Norwegian study, published in April of this year2, as many as 1 in 4 women are consistently overdiagnosed with breast cancer that, if left alone, would never have caused them any harm. Whistleblowers Claim FDA Approved Dangerous Mammography Equipment On July 15, the New York Times revealed that the FDA has engaged in an intense spying campaign against five whistleblowers within the organization3, as well as "FDA opponents" deemed to be in collaboration with the whistleblowers. According to the NYT: "What began as a narrow investigation into the possible leaking of confidential agency information by five scientists quickly grew in mid-2010 into a much broader campaign to counter outside critics of the agency's medical review process, according to the cache of more than 80,000 pages of computer documents generated by the surveillance effort. Moving to quell what one memorandum called the "collaboration" of the F.D.A.'s opponents, the surveillance operation identified 21 agency employees, Congressional officials, outside medical researchers and journalists thought to be working together to put out negative and "defamatory" information about the agency. ... The extraordinary surveillance effort grew out of a bitter dispute lasting years between the scientists and their bosses at the FDA over the scientists' claims that faulty review procedures at the agency had led to the approval of medical imaging devices for mammograms and colonoscopies that exposed patients to dangerous levels of radiation." As a longtime critic of mammograms, I'm familiar with the kind of harassment the FDA can dish out, so it does not surprise me the agency would stoop so low as to spy on their critics. How can the FDA justify spying on and harassing their own scientists—professionals hired to assess the safety of devices such as mammograms—just because these employees found serious health threats that the agency would rather continue to ignore in order to protect their industry clients? It's completely unconscionable and there's no good defense. Good News: Fewer Younger Women are Getting Mammograms While U.S. Preventive Services Task Force's new guidelines initially ignited fierce protests from cancer advocacy groups, mammography rates for women in their 40s are declining4. According to recent findings by the Mayo Clinic5: "Presented last week at an annual research meeting, the study analyzed data from 100 health plans across the U.S. Looking specifically at the number of mammograms performed from January 2006 to December of 2010, researchers found a drop of nearly 6 percent among women ages 40 to 49. Meanwhile, the number of mammograms among women ages 50 to 64 remained steady, despite the same panel's recommendation that women need only be screened every two years. "We applaud this news," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. She notes that, while too many people still believe there's no harm in getting a mammogram, the task force study demonstrated that this is clearly not the case. "We now have reason to hope that the influence of the USPSTF guidelines will only increase, meaning that we'll see a decrease in the number of women who unnecessarily undergo procedures such as radiation, mastectomy, or lumpectomy." Cancer Overdiagnosis, Still a Serious Concern According to Dr. Otis Webb Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, the term "overdiagnosis" in cancer medicine refers to6: "... a tumor that fulfills all laboratory criteria to be called cancer but, if left alone, would never cause harm. This is a tumor that will not continue to grow, spread and kill. It is a tumor that can be cured with treatment but does not need to be treated and/or cured." The problem, according to a report by CNN published back in April, is related to advances in technology7. As mammograms are able to detect tinier and tinier spots in the diagnostic films, the possibility overtreatment increases exponentially when overzealous clinicians insist that more tests, including invasive MRIs with dye and painful biopsies, be done on women who have the misfortune of having a tiny spot in their X-ray. Concerns about overdiagnosis of both breast- and prostate cancer have increased over the years. (According to Dr. Webb Brawley, an estimated 60 percent of prostate cancers are also harmless tumors that do not need treatment.) The findings from Norway support several previous studies, such as the Cochrane Database review from 20098, which found that breast cancer screening led to a 30 percent rate of overdiagnosis and overtreatment, which actually increased the absolute risk of developing cancer by 0.5 percent. The review concluded that for every 2,000 women invited for screening throughout a 10 year period, the life of just ONE woman was prolonged, while 10 healthy women were treated unnecessarily. Another 200 women undergo psychological stress and trauma for several months due to false positives. Mammograms are especially inaccurate for women with dense breasts. New York and Virginia recently passed laws requiring women with dense breasts to be informed they may need to seek alternative screening methods. Mammography Not Linked to Reduction in Mortality... Another Norwegian study, published in 2010, concluded that the reduction in mortality as a result of mammographic screening was so small as to be nonexistent—a mere 2.4 deaths per 100,000 person-years were spared as a result of the screening9. Yet another study published in The Lancet Oncology late last year10, described the natural history of breast cancers detected in the Swedish mammography screening program between 1986 to 1990, involving 650,000 women. Since breast lesions and tumors are aggressively treated and/or removed before they can be determined with any certainty to be a clear and present threat to health, there has been little to no research on what happens when they are left alone. This study however, demonstrated for the first time that women who received the most breast screenings had a higher cumulative incidence of invasive breast cancer over the following six years than the control group who received far less screenings! The study concluded that: "Because the cumulative incidence among controls did not reach that of the screened group, we believe that many invasive breast cancers detected by repeated mammography screening do not persist to be detected by screening at the end of 6 years, suggesting that the natural course of many of the screen-detected invasive breast cancers is to spontaneously regress." These findings were considered near blasphemous by many, but should we really be so surprised to discover that cancer can regress spontaneously? As stated by Sayer Ji from GreenMedInfo.com in a previous article: "Given that breast cancer is not caused by a lack of breast screenings, surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, it should not be so difficult to understand that if the body is given an opportunity to heal itself, it will often do so. And what better way is there to promote healing than to AVOID unnecessary diagnostic and surgical procedures and chemical and radiation exposures?" False Positives Deter Women from Mammogram Follow-Ups Hopefully, the reduced number of women in their 40's getting mammograms is due to increased awareness of the inherent dangers of the procedure. However, a recent Australian study hints at the possibility that the reduction in mammograms could be related to the high rate of false-positive mammograms, as false-positives seem to deter women from getting rescreened. In Western Australia, the false-positive rate is about 44 in 1,000 women screened. The study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia11 found that 67.6 percent of women who received a false-positive mammogram result were less likely to return for a rescreen in subsequent years. According to the Australian Science Network12: "UWA Epidemiology Professor Lin Fritschi, who oversaw the statistical analysis of the study, says women who have a false-positive mammogram are put through several tests which could result in future deterrence from screening. "It is possible that [further invasive testing] upsets people and they go, 'I don't want that to happen again', and so they don't return," Professor Fritschi says. "I think it is really important when women come in to have their further assessment... It's very important we keep looking because they can develop cancer in the future, so it's very important [the patient] continues to do their screening." Professor Fritschi says any test may have false-positive and false-negative results and the mammogram screening process was not always definitive... "There's no point in just taking out lots of pieces of biopsy or something from somebody's breast just to see if they've got cancer. That's why we have a test that at least pulls out people who are more likely to have cancer and then further tests only them." The authors concluded "mammographic population screening services should keep their false-positive result rates low, to prevent women from being deterred from screening." That's easier said than done, however. Besides, the wisdom of continually radiating your breasts with ionizing radiation, which we know causes cancer, in an effort to detect cancer early enough to treat it is questionable at best... While the medical community certainly needs to focus on reducing false positives to avoid overtreatment, there are other alternatives that can help you monitor your breast health and give you an indication of cancer risk without resorting to ionizing radiation. And while Professor Fritschi was referring to mammography as the test to use to identify those at increased risk and "further test only them," the high rates of false positives tells us mammography is ineffective for this job. False Negatives—Another Hazard of Mammography Besides false positives that lead to unnecessary treatments, there's also the risk of getting a false negative, meaning that a life-threatening cancer is missed. It's important to realize that a negative mammogram cannot be equated with a clean bill of health. All a negative mammogram can tell you is that IF you do have cancer, it hasn't grown large enough yet to be detected. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI): "Overall, screening mammograms miss up to 20 percent of breast cancers that are present at the time of screening." This is particularly true for women with dense breast tissue. Forty-nine percent of women have high breast tissue density13, and mammography's sensitivity for dense breasts is as low as 27 percent14—meaning about 75 percent of dense-breasted women are at risk for a cancer being missed if they rely solely on mammography. Even with digital mammography, the sensitivity is still less than 60 percent. Thermography—A Physiological Test to Help Monitor Breast Health I recently interviewed Gaea Powell about the use of thermography as a safe way to monitor your risk of breast cancer over the long term. Thermographic breast screening is brilliantly simple and completely harmless. It's as safe as having your photograph taken. It measures the infrared heat emitted by your body and translates this information into thermal images. Thermography does not require mechanical compression or ionizing radiation, and can detect signs of physiological changes due to inflammation and/or increased tumor related blood flow approximately 8-10 years before mammography or a physical exam can detect a mass. As explained by Gaea: "Thermography is a physiological test, so it allows you to look for physiological changes at an early stage. As we know, when you go to the doctor's office, the first thing they want you to do is be weighed, have your blood pressure taken and have your temperature taken. Those are physiological tests that can be monitored for stability over time. It's the same type of process. Every single person has their own unique thermal vascular roadmap, and thermography allows us to watch that roadmap over time." Download Interview Transcript It's important to understand that, just like mammography, thermography does not diagnose cancer. It allows you to track your unique temperature data over time, and changes in temperature and symmetry can alert you that changes are taking place, for better or worse. Higher temperature readings indicate higher levels of inflammation, which can lead to cancer. So, if your Thermogram shows areas of high inflammation, it doesn't mean you have cancer, but it lets you know you need to address that inflammation to avoid deterioration, and in some cases that the area needs further evaluation. One of the main things your evaluating doctor will look for is stability and symmetry over time, which is why Gaea recommends getting Thermograms at regular intervals. That way, you're collecting data that can be analyzed and evaluated over the years. To learn more, please listen to the interview above, or read through the transcript. New Yorkers Banned from Filing Medical Malpractice Suits for Botched Mammograms As dangerous and inaccurate as mammograms can be, it's worth knowing that the law in some states shields radiologists against medical malpractice suits for misdiagnosed mammograms. According to David Perecman, a New York personal injury lawyer15: "According to the law in New York, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice is two and half years from the date the malpractice occurs. This statute of limitations period is only postponed if a foreign object is found in a body after surgery or an individual has been receiving continuous treatment from the physical who commits the malpractice. So consider this hypothetical. A 40 year-old woman has a mammogram performed. When the radiologist reads the mammogram film, he or she does not notice a potential tumor. For whatever reason, the woman does not get another mammogram until three years later when she finds a large lump in her breast. A new mammogram discovers the tumor in her breast and an oncologist determines the tumor is cancerous. Under the New York statute, the statute of limitations bars the woman from bringing a medical malpractice suit against the radiologist. Furthermore, under Nykorchuck v. Henriques, toll exception to the statute of limitations does not apply to mammograms. Nykorchuck v.Henriques,78 N.Y.2d 255 (1991)." This is not necessarily true for all states, however. For example, in 2008 a woman with terminal breast cancer won a medical malpractice suit in Tennessee, after receiving a false-negative mammogram diagnosis16, which delayed the discovery of a lethal tumor for three years. How to Help Prevent Breast Cancer According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, 200,000 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed each year in the United States, making it three times more common than other gynecological cancers. Preventing breast cancer is far more important and powerful than simply trying to detect it, which is why I want to share my top tips on how to help prevent this disease. In the largest review of research into lifestyle and breast cancer, the American Institute of Cancer Research estimated that about 40 percent of U.S. breast cancer cases could be prevented if people made wiser lifestyle choices. I believe these estimates are far too low, and it is more likely that 75 percent to 90 percent of breast cancers could be avoided by strictly applying the recommendations below. Avoid sugar, especially fructose. All forms of sugar are detrimental to health in general and promote cancer. Fructose, however, is clearly one of the most harmful and should be avoided as much as possible. Optimize your vitamin D. Vitamin D influences virtually every cell in your body and is one of nature's most potent cancer fighters. Vitamin D is actually able to enter cancer cells and trigger apoptosis (cell death). When JoEllen Welsh, a researcher with the State University of New York at Albany, injected a potent form of vitamin D into human breast cancer cells, half of them shriveled up and died within days. The vitamin D worked as well at killing cancer cells as the toxic breast cancer drug Tamoxifen, without any of the detrimental side effects and at a tiny fraction of the cost. If you have cancer, your vitamin D level should be between 70 and 100 ng/ml. Vitamin D works synergistically with every cancer treatment I'm aware of, with no adverse effects. I suggest you try watching my one-hour free lecture on vitamin D to learn more. Get plenty of natural vitamin A. There is evidence that vitamin A also plays a role in helping prevent breast cancer. It's best to obtain it from vitamin A-rich foods, rather than a supplement. Your best sources are organic egg yolks, raw butter, raw whole milk, and beef or chicken liver. However, beware of supplementing as there's some evidence that excessive vitamin A can negate the benefits of vitamin D. Since appropriate vitamin D levels are crucial for your health in general, not to mention cancer prevention, this means that it's essential to have the proper ratio of vitamin D to vitamin A in your body. Ideally, you'll want to provide all the vitamin A and vitamin D substrate your body needs in such a way that your body can regulate both systems naturally. This is best done by eating colorful vegetables (for vitamin A) and by exposing your skin to safe amounts sunshine every day (for vitamin D). Get sufficient amounts of iodine. Iodine is an essential trace element required for the synthesis of hormones, and the lack of it can also cause or contribute to the development of a number of health problems, including breast cancer. This is because your breasts absorb and use a lot of iodine, which they need for proper cellular function. Iodine deficiency or insufficiency in any of tissue will lead to dysfunction of that tissue, and tumors are one possibility. However, there's significant controversy over the appropriate dosage, so you need to use caution here. There's evidence indicating that taking mega-doses, in the tens of milligram range may be counterproductive. One recent study suggests it might not be wise to get more than about 800 mcg of iodine per day, and supplementing with as much as 12-13 mg (12,000-13,000 mcg's) could potentially have some adverse health effects. Avoid xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens are synthetic chemicals that mimic natural estrogens. They have been linked to a wide range of human health effects, including reduced sperm counts in men and increased risk of breast cancer in women. There are a large number of xenoestrogens, such as bovine growth hormones in commercial dairy, plastics like bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates and parabens in personal care products, and chemicals used in non-stick materials, just to name a few. Improve Your Insulin Receptor Sensitivity. The best way to do this is by avoiding sugar and grains and making sure you are exercising regularly, ideally by incorporating the principles of Peak Fitness. Maintain a healthy body weight. This will come naturally when you begin eating right for your nutritional type and exercising. It's important to lose excess body fat because fat produces estrogen, which can fuel breast cancer. Avoid charring your meats. Charcoal or flame broiled meat is linked with increased breast cancer risk. Acrylamide—a carcinogen created when starchy foods are baked, roasted or fried—has been found to increase breast cancer risk as well. Avoid unfermented soy products. Unfermented soy is high in plant estrogens, or phytoestrogens, also known as isoflavones. In some studies, soy appears to work in concert with human estrogen to increase breast cell proliferation, which increases the chances for mutations and cancerous cells. Drink a quart of organic green vegetable juice daily. Please review my juicing instructions for more detailed information Get plenty of high quality animal-based omega-3 fats, such as krill oil. Omega-3 deficiency is a common underlying factor for cancer. Curcumin. This is the active ingredient in turmeric and in high concentrations can be very useful in the treatment of breast cancer. It shows immense therapeutic potential in preventing breast cancer metastasis. It's important to know that curcumin is generally not absorbed that well, so I've provided several absorption tips in a previous article. Avoid drinking alcohol, or at least limit your alcoholic drinks to one per day. Breastfeed exclusively for up to six months. Research shows this will reduce your breast cancer risk. Avoid wearing underwire bras. There is a good deal of data that metal underwire bras increase your breast cancer risk. Avoid electromagnetic fields as much as possible. Items such as electric blankets can be particularly troublesome and increase your cancer risk. See All References American Council on Science and Health July 3, 2012 Previous Article Factory Fed Fish: Monsanto's and Cargill's Plans for the Ocean Next Article Iron: This Life-Saving Mineral Found to Actually Increase Senility in Many Gaea Powell on Safer Breast Cancer Screening Vitamin D May Help Reduce Breast Cancer Risk Why Mammography is NOT an Effective Breast Cancer Screen	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16232
__label__wiki	0.591656	0.591656	IRVING GREEN R.I.P. ROCK N PERPETUITY! IRVING GREEN 2/6/16 – 7/1/06 What do Sarah Vaughn, The Platters, Brook Benton, Patti Page, The Diamonds, Del Vikings, James Brown, Dinah Washington, Roger Miller, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Laine, The Troggs, Wayne Fontana, the Mindbenders, the Troggs, Leslie Gore, Blue Cheer, Manfred Mann, Steam, Freddie and the Dreamers, Dusty Springfield, Keith, Paul Mauriat, Jay and the Techniques, David Bowie, The Blues Magoos, Spanky and Our Gang, Crispian St. Peters, Jerry Butler, Bobby Hebb, Louie Armstrong. and Rod Stewart all have in common? They all recorded for Irving Green, who owned Mercury Records, a little indie who could… and did… become a major label! He also owned Smash and distributed Phillips records and all of their subsidiaries. He was one of the first champions of Rock and Roll and Mercury was the first major company to promote Black artists to crossover into the Pop mainstream. It also was the first to have an African-American as Vice- President of A+R, Quincy Jones. Although he repeatedly asked me to call him Irv, I always called him Mr. Green, out of respect for his daughter Kelli Ross, who was my partner in Alouette Productions. Not many people knew that Mr. Green was a silent partner in our publishing and administration firm. He was one of the few CEOS I’ve ever known who an artist could talk to. Although he wasn’t a producer, I remember when James Brown recorded briefly for Smash, he wouldn’t go into the recording studio without Mr. Green being there. From time to time he’d ask me to go “undercover” for him. In the last days of Cameo-Parkway records, he asked me to introduce him to my friends Neil Bogart, who was running the label and Bob Reno, who was with the publishing company. He wanted to get them to come over to Mercury, but Neil and Bob wound up going to Buddah Records instead. A few years later, Bob Reno did have a successful stint at Mercury, as head of MRC publishing and later as head of A+R. When the Lovin’ Spoonful were about to re-sign with Kama-Sutra, Mr.Green sent me to Wilkes-Barre to meet up with my old pals and offer them a check for a million dollars to defect to Mercury! When I mentioned to him that he hadn’t signed it, he said, “When they sign a contract…I’ll sign the check!” The last time I saw him it was 35 years ago hanging out at Quincy’s house. He said he would leave the music business when it stopped being fun. I guess it stopped being fun when a big conglomerate bought him out. A few years later he went into semi-retirement and moved to Palm Springs. Although I’d heard he had become a top land developer, I will always remember him as one of the greatest developers of pop music and the human potential. Thank you for believing in me and helping me to believe in myself. Rest-in-Peace, Mr.Green. Respectfully, Artie Wayne Filed in Blog Entries, Blue Cheer, Bobby Hebb, Brook Benton, Crispian, David Bowie, Del Vikings, Dinah Washington, Dusty Springfield, Frankie Laine, Freddie and the Dreamers, Irving Green, James Brown, Jay and the Techniques, Jerry Butler, Jerry Lee Lewis, Keith, Leslie Gore, Louie Armstrong, Manfred Mann, Patti Page, Paul Mauriat, Rod Stewart, Roger Miller, Spanky and Our Gang, St. Peters, Steam, The Blues Magoos, The Diamonds, the Mindbenders, The Platters, The Troggs, Wayne Fontana	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16233
__label__wiki	0.534518	0.534518	HomeFeaturedSystematic reviews – your key to evidence-based medicine Systematic reviews – your key to evidence-based medicine Anna Rouillard 9 January 2017 Featured, Spotlight on 0 Download pdf article Evidence-based medicine is the cornerstone of medical practice, and yet clinicians are rarely offered training in the tricky business of finding, evaluating and making sense of the evidence they need. Anna Rouillard reports on an ESO-Cochrane Masterclass which seeks to fill that gap. With the abundance of scientific literature on cancer treatments available, choosing the right one should be a simple matter of consulting the evidence and identifying which best answers the needs and priorities of your patients. That is easier said than done, however, as around one million papers from clinical trials have been published to date – much of it presenting conflicting results, sometimes derived from poor-quality research methodology, and often addressing questions of marginal interest to patients and practitioners. The ability to find and evaluate all the relevant studies, and draw robust conclusions from the totality of the evidence, takes skill and practice, but it is not generally taught in medical school. So when the European School of Oncology started teaming up with the Cochrane research collaboration to offer a week-long Masterclass on how to use, evaluate and conduct systematic reviews, there was no shortage of applicants. Carlos Cargaleiro, a critical care cancer nurse from Portugal, currently working in the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, explains why he was so pleased to get a place on last year’s course, which was held as usual at Queen’s University, Belfast. For me, giving patients the best possible available care is very important. But this means being constantly up to date on the latest evidence, which is a huge challenge when thousands of new articles are being published every single month,” he says. “As a nurse, I work as a member of a team which uses a specialised protocol. If I am suggesting changing practice based on evidence from a systematic review, I need to be able to present strong evidence to senior nursing staff. For this reason, I need to be confident of the quality of the articles included in the review, and that the review itself was done based on reliable methodology.” The methodology for appraising and synthesising evidence taught at the Masterclass has its roots in an innovation introduced 40 years ago, when the statistician and researcher Gene Glass presented research findings in psychotherapy in the form of ‘an analysis of analyses’ (Educ Res 1976, 10:3–8). The advantage of this type of ‘meta-analysis’ was that it made use of all the available evidence by combining and averaging the results of several studies. It wasn’t until the Cochrane Collaboration was set up in 1993, however, that the methodology of systematic reviews began to be developed across all areas of healthcare, covering how to define research questions, identify relevant studies, assess the quality of the studies, summarise the evidence (which may include meta-analysis), and interpret the results. Now known simply as Cochrane, today it involves a network of 40,000 researchers across 130 countries, working in 52 review groups, and the systematic review has become accepted as a cornerstone of evidence-based medicine. Systematic reviews in cancer Mike Clarke, Director of the Northern Ireland Hub for Trials Methodology Research, who co-chairs the ESO–Cochrane Masterclass, has been heavily involved in systematic reviews for the past 25 years, and says they have played a crucial role in developing our knowledge about the comparative risks and benefits of different cancer treatments. In the seventies and eighties, the early years of systematic reviews, this methodology enabled us to identify some cancer therapies that weren’t working, such as old-style immunotherapy. Some of the big successes of systematic reviews have been in breast cancer, where we’ve shown that drugs like tamoxifen are beneficial, that chemotherapy is beneficial, and that ovarian ablation or suppression in the absence of chemotherapy is beneficial.” Some, such as the breast cancer reviews, are substantial research projects, with a large amount of funding, while others may be done in researchers’ or practitioners’ spare time over several years. Twenty years ago, there were hundreds of reviews available,” says Clarke. “Now there are tens of thousands done, with eight or nine thousand appearing every year.” Their proliferation, he adds, shows that they are increasingly considered good pieces of scientific research that practitioners and researchers want to contribute to. Fergus Macbeth, joint coordinating editor of Cochrane’s Lung Cancer group, says that in some countries, systematic reviews have had a significant impact on clinical practice. “In the UK, every time NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) develops a guideline, a systematic review is routinely conducted.” This is not the case in every country, he adds. “In some countries hospitals rely on national or local guidelines of varying quality, or simply follow the practice set by the most senior person in the department.” Collaborating to improve decision making The Cochrane Collaboration was founded in 1993 under the leadership of Iain Chalmers, then director of the UK’s Cochrane Centre, with a mission to “prepare and maintain systematic reviews of relevant research to help improve decision making in healthcare”. Its roots lay in earlier work done at the UK’s National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit on the effects of care in pregnancy and childbirth, which was undertaken by Chalmers and others after he discovered that some of the obstetrics practices he had been taught were unsupported by reliable evidence. Chalmers’ mentor, Archie Cochrane, said that obstetrics was “the least scientifically based specialism in medicine”, and challenged him to carry out a systematic review of the available evidence. The results were published in a two-volume book, with a shorter paperback version for women. They were also published in a digital format, for ease of updating. The Cochrane Pregnancy and Childcare database formed the start of the Cochrane library. The Cochrane Collaboration was established a few years later. Today it is a huge network comprising more than 40,000 contributors across 130 countries, working in 52 review groups, most of whom do their work on a voluntary basis, using an agreed systematic and transparent methodology. If you are interested in conducting a systematic review to find and evaluate the evidence on a particular topic, you can contact Cochrane to find out how to get involved. http://community.cochrane.org/ Macbeth is an ardent believer in the power of Cochrane reviews to deliver strong evidence for decision making. Over the years, his own lung cancer group has completed 45 reviews, 39 of them on treatments, including multimodality therapy and even holistic therapy, in different types and stages of lung cancer, as well as a few on prevention, diagnosis and early detection. He points out, however, that because Cochrane reviews generally only consider evidence from randomised controlled trials, there are whole areas of oncology that are not well covered. “Clearly some very important questions in oncology are related to the best ways of managing the patient in non-pharmacological ways, and there is too little high-quality research done in these areas. This may be because of the research infrastructure and the way research is funded, which currently prioritises studies on new drugs and genomic medicine. So evidence is sorely lacking in these other areas.” As Clarke explains, systematic reviews are useful when a body of research evidence has built up on a topic, but people are struggling to interpret it, and where bringing all the evidence together and analysing it will bring clarity to the problem. A large amount of evidence is not needed for this exercise to be of value, he stresses. “Reviews that resolve uncertainty and give guidance to decision makers are perhaps the most important, but reviews also need to be undertaken in areas where research is sparse, since they can serve to highlight the fact that there is insufficient evidence available on a particular topic and that the existing research cannot answer the question reliably.” The quality of available research may be as much of a problem as the quantity, as John Ioannidis pointed out in his recent paper ‘Why most clinical research is not useful’ (PLoS Medicine 2016, doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1002049). He highlights frequent problems with transparency, with reports lacking key information on data, methods and analysis that could give readers the opportunity to evaluate for themselves the credibility of the reported results. Highly selective study populations may limit the applicability of findings to real life patient populations. The questions asked, or the endpoints measured, may relate only peripherally to the issues doctors and patients need answers to. And he points out that doing a meta-analysis of flawed studies doesn’t address the flaws, and may in fact compound them. This, says Clarke, is why systematic reviews are so important, because they don’t just aggregate data, they take a critical look at the quality of the available research evidence. “The review can draw attention to how flawed the existing research is, which enables decision makers to realise that what they thought was proven, may not actually be proven.” Non-publication of trial results as well as outright fraud may also jeopardise the reliability of the available evidence, he adds, which is why systematic reviews commonly use funnel plots to identify inconsistent data, which may point to publication bias. Poor quality trials cannot be improved by systematic reviews, he argues, and inadequate and inappropriate review methodologies can lead to unreliable findings, even if the trials are good quality. “It might be called a systematic review”, he explains, “but this doesn’t mean it actually is a systematic review.” That is why it is so important that practitioners learn how to evaluate the quality of a systematic review. “They need to be able to assess how well studies have been sought, and whether the answers actually make sense.” Skills for clinicians Cargaleiro feels his five days at the Masterclass have left him far better equipped for this task. “My ability to analyse and evaluate systematic reviews has improved considerably,” he says, and he lists some key lessons he has learnt about how to conduct these sorts of reviews himself. “You need real teamwork to do systematic reviews,” he says. “Having a broad spectrum of experts at the table is essential to enable you to come up with a good research question. And once you’ve defined your research question, you need to know how to search for studies.” When selecting search terms, he adds, it’s important to be imaginative, as the studies thrown up by a search will depend on the chosen spelling or terminology. ‘Caesarean’, for example, will yield 17,000 results on PubMed, whereas ‘cesarean’ brings up 53,000 results, and ‘c-section’ 48,000 results. Language barriers are another problem. “Not all research is translated into English, and such findings will not be published on sites such as PubMed. If you are doing a review of evidence in English, you need to make sure the results will be applicable to the population it is intended for.” But the Masterclass is not just about the theory. Participants get the chance to put some of the theory into practice, in sessions where they present their own ideas for systematic reviews to one another. “When you have different people listening to your ideas and providing feedback, your project idea can only improve,” says Cargaleiro. “They will help you see that maybe your idea is too broad, and you need to focus on a narrower theme, or that in fact you are trying to answer two questions when you should only be focusing on one.” Clark believes these sorts of skills should be taught far more widely to reduce waste in medical research and ensure that clinically important gaps in knowledge are identified and researched. He argues that no new research should be done until a review is made of what already exists, to avoid duplication and identify gaps – which may seem like common sense, but very often doesn’t happen. He also points out that systematic reviews are, usually, fairly economical to carry out. “They are scientific projects that require resources, but much of the resource use has already been spent by doing the studies. The research studies may have cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and the review is bringing all that evidence together, and, statistically, has potentially much greater power than any individual study.” Cargaleiro agrees, and says that cancer practitioners should look for opportunities to feed into research prioritisation so the right questions are answered, and they should be aware of the available evidence, and how to assess it, or it will go to waste. “It’s important that research is not done just by researchers. They have a key role, but it is also imperative that clinical staff are involved. The worst possible scenario is that research is done that people in the field do not use.” What we learnt Twenty-four participants from 13 countries and from a range of cancer disciplines – surgical oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, urology, nursing and pharmacy – attended the 2016 ESO–Cochrane Masterclass. This is a flavour of what they took away: – “It helped me a lot to have the collaboration of the other participants.” – “I refined my question and that helped me to define with more quality the inclusion and exclusion criteria.” – “Formulation of the question: it emphasises the importance of getting it right from the beginning.” – “I had never received such information before, because it is not taught in my country. Now I can tackle all parts of systematic reviews and know how to do it in the most straightforward and correct way.” – “The practical sessions gave invaluable insights about systematic reviews and allowed me to construct a critical reflection about my own work.” – “The interactive group sessions were probably the best part.” – “It is very helpful to know that there are different kinds of biases and that there are tools to predict the degree of heterogeneity among included studies.” – “I frankly and honestly believe that Mike Clarke is the teacher that all of us should have at least once in a lifetime.” – “My project is still a work in progress but I hope that with the support of my mentors and colleagues I will conclude it soon.” ESO hopes to run a third ESO–Cochrane Masterclass on Systematic Reviews in Summer 2018. metanalysis Cancer clinical trials recruit younger and younger patients News 15 July 2019 0 Patient Voice Living with cancer: advocates define their priorities for advanced disease Patient Voice 1 March 2014 0 Grandround Personalised cancer care: where do we stand today? Grandround 1 July 2013 0 × = ten Best Cancer Reporter Award breast cancer cancer cancer drugs cancer research chemotherapy clinical trials Colorectal cancer communication drugs ESMO ESO Lung cancer media melanoma ovarian cancer palliative care pancreatic cancer personalised medicine prevention prostate cancer quality of life radiotherapy research screening surgery targeted therapies treatment	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16238
__label__wiki	0.758376	0.758376	Home > Volume 82 Issue 8 > GOVERNMENT CONCENTRATES > GOVERNMENT CONCENTRATES Volume 82 Issue 8 \| p. 17 \| Concentrates Issue Date: February 23, 2004 GOVERNMENT CONCENTRATES House questions NIH hiring practice that pays high salaries FDA lists steps to fight fake drugs Report warns of lost U.S. nuclear material Energy bill to return to Senate Mercury rule for chlor-alkali plants disputed Online Exlcusive Revised climate-change research plan should be implemented NRC panel okays human toxicity studies A House Energy & Commerce subcommittee is questioning NIH about its use of Title 42 USC 209(f) of the Public Health Service Act to pay institute directors and other senior NIH officials higher salaries than otherwise might be allowed. The law's provision permits "special consultants" at the agency to be compensated at salaries higher than those possible through the government payroll system. In a letter sent to Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson earlier this month, Oversight & Investigation Subcommittee Chairman James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.) expressed concern that NIH was misusing this special authority by "employing NIH institute directors and other high-level NIH officials, who occupy continuing, full-time positions and exercise broad-based levels of decision-making responsibility," as opposed to using the authority as intended to attract consultants, who by definition have limited responsibilities. The letter asks NIH to justify and provide details of its use of this practice. NIH is expected to reply to Greenwood's request soon. A report by an internal FDA task force lists steps that can be taken to combat the growing problem of counterfeit drugs. Some of the measures can be implemented immediately, and others require further technology development. The steps include adopting track-and-trace technologies, such as radio-frequency identification chips, on drug packages and vials; using authentication technologies, such as taggants and color-shifting inks, on capsules and packages; creating a national list of drugs most likely to be counterfeited; strengthening state requirements governing licensure of wholesale drug distributors; increasing criminal penalties for counterfeiters; developing a system that ensures timely reporting of counterfeit drugs to FDA; and collaborating with the World Health Organization and Interpol to develop strategies to deter counterfeiting globally. "FDA will lead the way in taking the steps necessary to keep our nation's drug supply safe and secure," FDA Commissioner Mark B. McClellan says. A reworked energy bill is expected to come to the Senate floor this week, according to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.). The bill (S. 2095) is a slightly smaller version of an energy bill that cleared the House last year but was blocked from reaching the Senate floor, mostly because of Senate opposition to provisions--now gone--giving product liability protection to methyl tert-butyl ether producers. MTBE is a gasoline additive that has polluted groundwater in several states. The revised bill addresses another stumbling block to passage--cost--by reducing the previous bill's 10-year price tag from $32 billion to approximately $14 billion. It retains several tax provisions, however, including funding incentives for clean coal, natural gas, and conservation. It also contains provisions calling for greater use of ethanol in gasoline. If the revised bill clears the Senate, it must return to the House, where members strongly support the MTBE provisions and some of the tax breaks that were cut. President George W. Bush has said he wants a bill that costs less than $9 billion, and some Senators are questioning whether the bill's cost estimates may be too low, considering that the estimates do not include the price tag for new programs that are required in the bill. Several Democratic senators have also warned that they will add amendments on the floor because this bill, like the last energy bill, was crafted with input only from Republican leadership. The U.S. government has lost control of some 14,000 kg of highly enriched uranium since it began the Atoms for Peace program in the mid-1950s, according to a recent report by the Department of Energy inspector general. An inspector general audit found that DOE had given or sold the material to several countries for research purposes and was unlikely to be able to recover the material, which could be used for nuclear weapons. The inspector general recommends shifting the program from DOE's Office of Environmental Management, which is primarily responsible for cleanup activities, to the National Nuclear Security Administration. The report identified 33 countries that have received U.S. materials and singled out 12 of them--including Pakistan, Iran, Israel, Mexico, and Jamaica--that say they are unlikely to return it. Credit: CHLORINE INSTITUTE PHOTO Environmental groups are suing EPA over a Clean Air Act rule controlling mercury emissions from chlor-alkali chemical manufacturing plants. The rule, issued in December, applies to the nine U.S. facilities that use mercury cells like those shown below to produce chlorine and sodium hydroxide (C&EN, Jan. 5, page 10). The Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club contend that the rule fails to protect public health from the dangers of the neurotoxic metal and violates the Clean Air Act. The rule eliminated a plantwide emissions cap for mercury, a standard that had been in place since the 1970s. EPA replaced it with an allowable release rate for mercury at certain emission points at plants, and the agency established new work practices, such as regular inspection of mercury cells for leaks. The environmental groups contend that EPA needs to set a standard for evaporative emissions from mercury cells. In the rule, EPA acknowledges that "significant mercury remains unaccounted for" by chlor-alkali plants. The environmental groups filed their suit in a federal appeals court on Feb. 17. The Administration's revised research plan on climate change is a great improvement over the previous plan presented last year and should be implemented vigorously, a National Research Council report says. The climate-change plan was written by the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP), a group formed two years ago to coordinate global change research among 13 federal agencies. "Advancing the science called for in the plan will be of vital importance to the nation," says NRC committee Chairman Thomas E. Graedel, professor of industrial ecology at Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. The committee praises the plan's new emphases on technologies to address climate change and on understanding how climate change will affect ecosystems and people. However, the newer and expanded areas of the plan are likely to be underfunded, the panel says. For example, the research budget is not large enough to expand the climate-change observing systems or to improve the computer models used to project future climate changes. The committee also warns that political appointees in CCSP management may exert "political influence" that could interfere with the "scientific independence and credibility" of CCSP's research efforts. A National Research Council panel has concluded that EPA should consider data from studies that involve intentional dosing of humans with toxic chemicals, but only if the experiments meet strict scientific and ethical standards. The NRC report, "Intentional Human Dosing Studies for EPA Regulatory Purposes: Scientific and Ethical Issues" addresses the controversy surrounding whether EPA should accept data from experiments on humans performed by pesticide makers trying to demonstrate that their products might be safer than lab animal tests indicate. The panel recommends a tight framework for approving any human studies of toxic chemicals, including requirements that the benefits to society outweigh individual risks, that the study be scientifically valid, and that all recognized ethical standards and procedures for protecting participants be followed. The panel noted that third-party human experiments are used in other venues. It said specifically that there were similarities between intentional human dosing studies and Phase I pharmaceutical testing, "especially because neither offers a reasonable prospect of direct benefit to the research participant." Reactions to the report's recommendations varied. The Environmental Working Group (EWG), an group active in this issue, is concerned the report will be seen as a "green light" to the industry to do more tests. "If EPA begins to accept human experiments, we expect to see companies take advantage of any and all ambiguities in the guidelines," EWG Senior Vice President Richard Wiles says. The Natural Resources Defense Council says the report is "gravely disturbing" in that it would allow human tests. NRDC takes particular issue with the idea that, even under the most restricted conditions, the report finds it acceptable "for the chemical industry to test toxic chemicals on children." In contrast, CropLife America, which represents agricultural chemical makers, supports the findings of the NRC report. "We agree with the major finding that human testing is ethical, provided there are safeguards and sound science is used," the group says in a statement. The report can be found online at http://www.nap.edu.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16244
__label__wiki	0.659418	0.659418	The Unspoken Compact THE HORROR of the first day — the one in which the bullet and shrapnel-ridden bodies of British and Dominion soldiers had been spattered all over no man’s land and on enemy barbed wire — had passed into history. Even though the received image is of one terrible first day, the Battle of the Somme was a campaign of many months. Its brutalities and terrors persisted throughout. So, like virtually everything else on the western front, did its apparent inconsequentialities. This week saw the British holding on to Contalmaison against strong German counter-attacks, capturing Longueval and the whole of Trones Wood on 14 July and Delville Wood on the following day. But there was never a moment when it threatened to become a war of movement. From the perspective of horrified troops, woods held a particular place in the canon of horror. Tall trees and sprawling foliage evoked ghoulish terrors, and a well-founded apprehension any fighting would be at close-hand and rely on the bayonet as much as the bullet. Corporal H. Diffy of the 15th Battalion, Royal Welch Fusiliers remembered that during the fighting for Mametz Wood, at its height this week: Then came an order that you must not stop to help a wounded comrade during an attack. Those that did were sitting targets for enemy machine-gunners and consequently nobody reached the objective. Nobody knew what was happening or supposed to happen. And newspapers in the UK wrote of tremendous victories and killing Germans as a sport similar to ratting. We could laugh aloud at these reports, plagued by lice and living amongst the debris of war and the legends that sustained our armchair patriots at home. Everyone had a reason to be scared. Sergeant Gottfried Kreibohm, 10th Company, Lehr Infantry Regiment, 3rd Guard Division recorded the fighting for High Wood in his diary on 11 July: At 4 a.m. I left with three men and took up residence in the field of craters between the company’s forward trench and Mametz Wood. We immediately set to work deepening our holes, digging for two hours. Around eight o’clock the English began to systematically strafe the company sector with heavy-calibre shells. Geysers of earth a hundred feet high shot from the ground. With my field glasses I could see past Mametz Wood all the way to the village of Mametz. The entire area was swarming with the activity of English troops, wagons and ambulances moving forward, and prisoners going to the rear. It was a shame we did not have contact with our artillery. We sat watching this panorama until midday. No relief came. The shell fire increased in our vicinity and every fifteen minutes we had to shovel clods of earth from our holes. Pieces of equipment were sent flying out of the Company’s trench while the barbed-wire stakes tumbled crazily in the air. The ground rumbled and heaved with each explosion. Suddenly, a noise like a roaring freight train rushed down on me and I instinctively covered my head with my hands. I waited one, two, five agonising seconds — for the explosion. When nothing happened I opened my eyes and saw, to my immense relief, a large shell half buried in the earth only one and a half metres from me. It was a dud. Thus we waited in our holes for ten hours — the most fearful ten hours I have ever experienced in my life. On Friday 14 July, the cavalry was deployed for what would be the only cavalry charge of the Battle of the Somme. Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade had been a staple of Victorian and Edwardian schoolboys. An impossibly insouciant treatment of the suicidal charge made mistakenly by the British at the Battle of Balaclava in 1855, it sentimentalised a monumental military cock-up. Because much happened in war that would have been otherwise inconceivable, life now threatened to imitate art. Two squadrons each of the 20th Deccan Horse, (part of the 2nd Indian Cavalry Division), and the 7th Dragoon Guards of the Secunderbad Cavalry Brigade, assembled near Crucifix Corner and charged: No troops presented a more inspiring sight than these natives of India with lance and sword, tearing in mad cavalcade onto the skyline. A few disappeared over it: they never came back. The remainder became the target of every gun and rifle. Turning their horses’ heads, with shrill cries, these masters of horsemanship galloped through a hell of fire, lifting their mounts lightly over yawning shell-holes; turning and twisting through the barrage of great shells; the ranks thinned but not a man escaped. The charge took place in the context of a British attack launched against the German position along the Bazentin Ridge. It had enjoyed initial success and brought them within striking distance of Bois des Foureaux, known to the Allies as High Wood. Crowning the summit of the main German defence line through the Flers Ridge to Thiepval and, at a height of a few hundred feet, it dominated the surrounding battlefield. The cavalry were there to achieve a breakthrough. According to another eyewitness: It was an incredible sight, an unbelievable sight; they galloped up with their lances and with pennants flying, up the slope to High Wood and straight into it … They simply galloped on through all that and horses and men were dropping on the ground, with no hope against the machine-guns, because the Germans up on the ridge were firing down into the valley where the soldiers were. It was an absolute rout. A magnificent sight. Tragic. At nightfall, the Deccan Horse withdrew and linked with the Dragoon Guards in a defensive position along the High Wood to Longueval road. The charge had cost the lives of eight cavalrymen with another hundred or so wounded. At least 130 horses were either killed or wounded. Second Lieutenant Norton Hughes-Hallett, 7th Battalion, King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, participated in the largely successful attack on Montauban which took place under cover of darkness on 14 July, following a brief bombardment. His account would be written in hospital as he recovered from his battle wounds: Everything was perfect. Not a sound was made and the Bosche showed no sign of having seen us, even when we were 100 yards or so from his line. At 3.20 a.m. our barrage was going to be put on to their first line, and was to last exactly till 3.25; watches were synchronized when the officers went to Battalion Headquarters. Then the barrage was to lift to their second line and behind it. At that moment, as the barrage lifted, we were to go forward, the first waves crossing the front line, leaving it to the bombers, and going forward to the second and last Bosche line. We had aeroplane photos, correct to July 13th showing us that he had no line beyond his second. The barrage was to allow us two minutes for this, for, at 3.27, it was to lift behind their second line. 3.25, zero time, came and the line suddenly rose from the grass and went forward in dead silence: silence as far as we were concerned, I mean! Immediately rifles and machine-guns started spitting fire at us from the Bosche trench, though I don’t think we got any shells from them; but behind, the Royal Scots, supporting us, did, and I believe got a lot of our own too, while lying out. We reached the wire, but found it absolutely uncut and far too thick ever to get through. For about two minutes we hacked at it, the men falling by scores the while; then I am told the remnant retired as best they could to the sunken road, though without me. I saw Sergeant Davies killed, and Sergeant O’Leary hit. These two were within a couple of feet away from me, and then I got it, and tipped head first into a big shell-hole in the wire. I remember Ainsworth, late company storeman, and sacked for getting drunk, cutting off my equipment and propping me right end upwards and putting a body under my knee. I was found about twelve hours later by the ‘C’ Company stretcher-bearers. When collected I was the only one living of nine on that hole, and when they got me to the dressing-station, I was at first put among the pile of dead. In the end I had to be stretchered back through Montauban to Carnoy, and was then driven to Corbie in an ambulance. This account has a compelling immediacy. Heavy casualties were suffered in the attack: eight officers and two hundred men were killed in Hughes-Hallett’s battalion. His own company lost thirty-eight killed and seventy-four wounded out of a total of one hundred and forty. Relieved to have survived, but bitter about the many who did not, he was particularly incensed by the incompetence of one of his fellow officers who had failed to transmit vital orders before the action: He, like all undeserving people, got a ‘cushy’ wound in the arm, which I hear is quite cured, and nothing worse, tho’ his mistake might have cost many lives. The idea that it was the best who fell and not the worst enjoyed wide currency: its attractiveness to bereaved friends and families is obvious, but hardly reassuring to those who survived, only to fight another day — more like a cruel refinement to the agonies of apprehensions they already suffered. But the more troubling idea, also gaining traction, was of the remoteness of commanders and the yawning distance, physical and moral, which separated them from their men. The former (the so-called brass hats) were often believed to have made ignorant dispositions from the vantage point of safety and comfort. The latter, common soldiers and subalterns, were required to follow their orders unflinchingly. In the context of the carnage which was unfolding, such perfect compliance required astonishing discipline. Private W. Hay of the Royal Scots 1st/9th Battalion, writing later about the ongoing battle for High Wood remembered: You were between the devil and the deep blue sea. If you go forward, you’ll likely to be shot, if you go backward you’ll be court-martialled and shot, so what the hell do you do? What can you do? You just go forward because that’s the only bloke you can take your knife in, that’s the bloke you’re facing. We were sent in to High Wood in broad daylight in the face of heavy machine-gun fire and shell fire, and everywhere there was dead bodies all over the place where previous battalions and regiments had taken part in their previous attacks. We went in there and C Company got a terrible bashing there. It was criminal to send men in broad daylight, into machine-gun fire, without any cover of any sort whatsoever. There was no need for it; they could have hung on and made an attack on the flanks somewhere or other, but we had to carry out our orders… there was one particular place just before we got to High Wood which was a crossroads, and it was really hell there, they shelled it like anything, you couldn’t get past it, it was almost impossible. There were men everywhere, heaps of men, not one or two men, but heaps of men everywhere, all dead … The only possible way to take High Wood was if the Germans ran short of ammunition, they might be able to take it then. They couldn’t take it against machine-guns, just ridiculous. It was absolute slaughter. We always blamed the people up above. We had a saying in the Army, ‘The higher, the fewer’. They meant the higher the rank, the fewer the brains. Hay’s contempt and rage challenges the comforting half-truths used to reconcile friends and families to the dangers faced by all those on active service. Though seldom spelled out as such, the terrors endured by British soldiers were shouldered ultimately as part of a compact — they would take pretty much whatever was thrown at them, but only if it were indispensable to victory. What Hay suggests is that this compact had been broken by leaders who were insufficient and, apparently, callous. This was nothing less than a betrayal. Weary disgust afflicted soldiers in the east as well. Despite the awesome successes of Russian soldiers in recent weeks during the so-called Brusilov offensive, a human and moral cost had been exacted. The future Bolshevik Commissar Dmitry Oskin, a peasant from the Tula region south of Moscow described leading his platoon after the Russians had broken through fifty miles of the Austro-Hungarian line: Right on top of the Austrian trenches. Scattered machine-gun fire whizzing all around, shells falling like hailstones. My soldiers are losing their nerve. Some are trying to retreat. I have to threaten a few flinching cowards with my gun. After about an hour, the shooting subsides. Seizing our chance opportunity, we race towards the barbed wire at full tilt. Luckily, there are some holes in it. During the night of 13 July we receive the order to advance again. Bloody idiots. The Austrians will have reinforced their positions by now. This time we met fierce resistance. For the first time in this whole war, there was a bayonet fight in our trenches. The Austrians fought tenaciously. Our soldiers, too, attacked the Austrians in a frenzy until they retreated into the forest, where it wasn’t so easy for us to use our bayonets. The battle became so vicious that our soldiers started using spades to split Austrians’ skulls. This hand-to-hand fighting went on for at least two hours. Only nightfall stopped the butchery. At dawn, seeing no movement from the Austrian side, we began to survey the forest cautiously. A horrific scene emerged before our very eyes: piles of Russian corpses in front of our trenches, and just as many Austrian dead behind them. Always the dead. Father J.B. Marshall, Roman Catholic Chaplain to the 62nd Infantry Brigade, 21st Division, continued his pastoral work as the battle of the Somme. The succour he offered belonged not to this world but to the next — a safer bet, perhaps. He described a visit made this week to the “moribund tent”, set aside for men “marked out by the doctor as too far gone to be able to spare a place for in an ambulance at the expense of others in better condition”: A tragic place. A bell tent with one, two or three men on stretchers on the ground at close quarters with death — and none with time to stay by them and help them and watch them. Now and again one of the doctors would look in to see developments — and the padres did their best to ease and spiritualize those deathbeds. But they mostly lay alone and died alone — for how could doctor or chaplain spend long hours by their side with the constant stream of war’s victims arriving at the station? There were several Catholics who found their way to the moribund tent — and what a blessed thing the faith was there — such light in the gloom for the sufferer — such definite spiritual business for the priest. One boy who died there — he looked very young — was a Scotch lad in the Black Watch. His was a perforating wound in the abdomen and he suffered terrible agony. When I warned him to prepare for death his first thought was ‘It will kill my poor mother’. I stayed as long and visited him as often as I could. I raised him in my arms from time to time because it eased the awful pain. He made his confession, received extreme unction and prayed with me as well as the torture would allow. It was an edifying death. That last sentence jars, but Fr Marshall was there and we were not. The mood of Britain during this third week of the Somme offensive was one of gravity. Perhaps that much is obvious — the huge casualty and death lists would have seen to that. But it is possible to see it cutting across many of the usual fault lines of British society. Only weeks earlier Prime Minister Asquith told Parliament: His Majesty’s Government, after taking into consideration the very urgent need for a continuous and increasing supply of munitions of war at the present time, have come to the conclusion that it is necessary in the national interest that all holidays — both the general Whitsun holiday and any special local holidays — shall be deferred in munitions areas until after the end of July. Now — and less predictably — the trade unions backed him completely. On 13 July, a further reason for the seriousness of the hour became apparent when there was a rise in the Bank Rate to 6% on 13 July. The bean counters in the Treasury buildings in Whitehall had done a reckoning and announced on 17 July that the war was costing £6 million per day. Perhaps it is a mark of distinction that Britain, embattled as it was, showed its most unforgiving and vengeful face towards those it considered the enemy within. Three miles north east of Whitehall, Roger Casement now languished in the condemned cell of Pentonville Gaol as prisoner No 1270. Irish freedom-fighter to some, invert and traitor to others, he had been found guilty of treason on 29 June, a verdict upheld at appeal on 17 July. He was sentenced to death for the “crime of assisting the King’s enemies, that is the Empire of Germany, during the terrible war in which we are engaged”. His knighthood had been rescinded — a refinement of hauteur that seems unlikely to have bothered Casement much, but presumably made the British people feel better. God knows, they needed a bit of cheering up.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16246
__label__wiki	0.550317	0.550317	Welcome to the official website of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Christchurch Our Diocese is a diverse place, with a wide variety of ministries. These pages reflect the many ways in which we strive to serve God through service to His people. The Catholic Diocese of Christchurch was established by papal brief in 1887. Formerly part of Wellington Archdiocese, the Diocese of Christchurch is currently comprised of 27 parishes covering parts of the West Coast and Canterbury in the South Island of New Zealand as well as the Chatham Islands, the first place in the world to be touched by the sun each day. Since 1887 the Diocese has had nine bishops. The mother church of the Diocese is the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch, which in 2005 celebrated its centenary but was damaged in the February 2011 earthquakes. The Catholic population of the Diocese is 62,715. The diocese covers 51,780 square kilometres (or 20,000 square miles). The diocesan patron saint is St John the Baptist. The current Bishop of Christchurch is Bishop Paul Martin S.M. Bishops that have served the Christchurch Diocese are: John Joseph Grimes S. M.: 26 July 1887 to 15 March 1915 Matthew Joseph Brodie: 27 February 1916 to 11 October 1943 Patrick Francis Lyons: 2 July 1944 to 3 June 1950 Edward Michael Joyce: 16 July 1950 to 28 January 1964 Brian Patrick Ashby: 5 August 1964 to 4 July 1985 Denis William Hanrahan: 4 July 1985 to 1 February 1987 John Basil Meeking: 3 June 1987 to 15 December 1995 John Jerome Cunneen: 15 December 1995 to 5 May 2007 Barry Philip Jones: 5 May 2007 to 13 February 2016 Catholic Business Network Lunch Employment Vacancies Prison Chaplaincy Vacancy A conversation with the “Missionary of Science” Latest Inform now available	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16247
__label__wiki	0.844145	0.844145	Brigham Values We Care. Period. We Create Breakthroughs We Pursue Excellence We’re Stronger Together About Brigham Bulletin Site Display Cheers to 10 Years: Shop on the Pike Celebrates Anniversary From left: Patrick Lally and Wendy Martinez chat in the Shop on the Pike. For the last decade, the Shop on the Pike has brought smiles to shoppers’ faces with whimsical and delightful inventory. “I just love it here,” said Wendy Martinez, a senior administrative assistant in the Center for Advanced Heart Diseases and devoted customer of the shop and its previous incarnation for 18 years. “The team is amazing, and there are always new, fun items to explore.” This month, the shop celebrates the tenth anniversary of its opening on the Tower 2 mezzanine. “We are a part of the Brigham community and, over the years, we’ve become the place many people will turn to when they want to escape for a few minutes during their day,” said Patrick Lally, who has served as retail services manager of the Shop on the Pike since it opened. “It’s wonderful to see so many familiar faces visit our shop every day. Our customers are loyal, and they’re one of the biggest reasons I love working here.” Lally said the best part of his day is when he hears customers laugh as they browse through merchandise. He knows many people are going through difficult times when they visit the hospital, so he and his team try to keep the atmosphere, and the merchandise, light and happy. The Brigham’s original gift shop opened in 1944 and was located near the Emergency Department. Over the years, the Shop on the Pike has transformed from selling medical supplies, such as breastfeeding equipment, to more “gift shop”-type items, such as Brigham gear, greeting cards, toys, jewelry, candy and flowers. In addition, the shop carries necessity goods, such as toothbrushes, tissues, ibuprofen and phone chargers. Store manager Gabina Gonzalez said working at the gift shop for the last 14 years has been an “amazing journey.” “What we do is so much more than working behind the counter,” Gonzalez said. “Sometimes, we are the first people that patients and their families will visit when they come to the hospital. They rely on us not only for our merchandise but also for our friendship. For me, that means everything.” Jonathan Santiago, director of Materials Management, congratulated the team on 10 terrific years: “The Shop on the Pike staff continue to go above and beyond to help customers find that special gift that will leave a moment of joy in someone’s heart.” Lally said the staff’s commitment to exceptional service is a defining characteristic of the team. “We always go the extra mile to help our customers,” he said. “It’s who we are.”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16248
__label__cc	0.558609	0.441391	Vibrating Pokers Replacement Petrol Engines james@keyservicesuk.co.uk Professional Services For The Construction & Hire Industries Key Services Blog New Construction Projects: Kenilworth Is Becoming A Town To Talk About Posted by James Jordan on Nov 6, 2018 4:41:54 PM Tables are about to turn for Kenilworth, which was considered to be a small and quiet Warwickshire town for many years. In 2018, this common opinion is about to become a misconception. Numerous construction projects are helping Kenilworth turn into the thriving location it once was in the late 19th century after the appearance of the railway station. In the modern era, a train station isn’t as important to a town as it once was. However, the closing of the railway station in 1965 led to certain negative changes in Kenilworth, which has several interesting attractions for tourists and plenty to offer businesses. In April 2018, the new and improved Kenilworth railway station began working once again. The opening of the station was delayed several times. However, finally, the station opened to the public with tracks running from Leamington Spa and Coventry. New Developments In Kenilworth The re-opening of the railway station coupled with new demand for commuter housing has led to a rapid revival of the local construction sector. The Kenilworth local authorities are currently considering several new plans to construct hundreds of new homes in the area. At the same time, the demolition and relocation of the local secondary school is planned. The much-needed addition of the new housing, coupled with a first-class school, and a new railway station are expected to bring much-needed new people to the small community of 25,000 citizens. Kenilworth residents are also hoping for some tourist influx, which has become a reality with the appearance of a convenient railway station. The beautiful ruins of Kenilworth castle and St. Mary’s Abbey could become an excellent tourist attraction and source of revenue for local businesses. Kenilworth is ready to welcome new fashion retailers, Michelin-starred restaurants, and 5-star hotels to turn a small old town into a touristic location. There are also plans to build new student property in the town in order to breathe some life into the old streets. Today, a big part of Coventry University’s student population settles in Leamington Spa, which is right “down the road”, the appearance of the railway station can bring the young people to Kenilworth. In order to accommodate this demand, a variety of housing construction projects are being worked out. The influx of students will create a demand for coffee shops, retailers, pubs and restaurants, taking the construction even further. Since the demand for new construction projects is high, Kenilworth is about to turn into a town to visit and live in. Beautiful parks, touristic sites, first-class schools, and a brand new railway station are taking the town to a new level. At Key Services we equip construction contractors with the tools they need to take advantage of new opportunities around the country. Visit our website to view our latest stock availability. Topics: Construction Equipment Petrol Engines (14) Vibrating Pokers (11) Concrete Pokers (7) High Frequency Pokers (1) Vibrating Poker Key Services Ltd. Unit 8, Challange Close Challange Business Park Coventry, CV1 5JG Email: james@keyservicesuk.co.uk Copywright © 2017 All Rights Reserved \| Designed and powered by JDR Group Web Design	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16249
__label__wiki	0.755245	0.755245	Student Information Systems Analysis and Benchmarking Investor documents University of Portsmouth set to transform their student management with SITS:Vision Tribal Group is delighted to announce that the University of Portsmouth has chosen SITS:Vision as its Student Information Management System (SIMS). The University of Portsmouth is a progressive and vibrant university, that delights in creating, sharing and applying knowledge to make a difference to individuals and society. They offer more than 200 undergraduate degrees, 150 postgraduate and doctorate degrees and programmes across all subjects. They are in the top 25 universities in the UK in the Guardian University Guide 2019 and The Economist ranked Portsmouth as the UK’s number one university for boosting graduate salaries, with 97% of Portsmouth graduates in work or further study 6 months after they graduated. The University of Portsmouth was awarded Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the highest rating in the UK Government’s assessment of teaching excellence in higher education. This achievement means they are ranked amongst the top universities in the UK for teaching. They are recognised as “delivering consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for students.” The University required a new SIMS to address their business priorities and improve on business processes in the ever changing Higher Education landscape. Following a comprehensive competitive tender process, they selected Tribal’s SITS:Vision, which will put in place a robust, cloud based digital platform to address their needs. The University of Portsmouth is passionate about the transformative use of technology, SITS:Vision will encourage and support their appetite to be bold with their use of technology. From recruitment and admissions, through to student support, retention and outcomes, SITS:Vision will enable the University of Portsmouth to deliver an excellent experience for their students, throughout their whole University journey. SITS:Vision will also support the University’s key drivers for change, which include: Recognising and sustaining strengths in undergraduate education and growing provision in the areas of postgraduate, part-time, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and flexible modes of study Ensuring every student takes part in career enhancing activities, such as placements, exchanges, enterprise, volunteering or work-based learning Creating a network of strategic global partnerships to support internationalisation Raise expectations and create ladders of opportunity for people in their region to take part in higher education. The project is currently in the early stages of implementation and the contract is for an initial three-year period, with an option to extend to seven years. The University of Portsmouth joins Tribal Group’s UK customer base of leading universities, which includes University of Oxford, King’s College London, University of St Andrews, University of Sheffield, Northumbria University, Glasgow Caledonian University and Cardiff University. Graham Galbraith, Vice Chancellor at the University of Portsmouth said: “The introduction of SITS:Vision will enable us to save time, create a slicker and more integrated experience for our students, and make the right data accessible to our staff. We will able to tailor support for every student, which is crucial to student wellbeing and success. We are excited to be working with Tribal.” Speaking on behalf of Tribal Group, Jon Baldwin, Managing Director, Higher Education said: “We are proud to be working with the University of Portsmouth and we look forward to developing a close partnership with them. SITS:Vision is specifically designed for higher education providers, and will allow the University of Portsmouth to transform every aspect of their student journey.” Discover more about SITS:Vision Stay up to date with news and latest Tribal insights	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16254
__label__wiki	0.737239	0.737239	Conservative Daily > Blog > Conservative Issues > Another Law-Abiding Citizen Arrested! Another Law-Abiding Citizen Arrested! By Joe Otto/ 07/23/2014/ Conservative Issues, Gun Rights, The Constitution, Today's Action Alerts Dear Conservative, As you know, every state has its own gun laws. Even though the Second Amendment says that the “right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” and the Supreme Court ruled in McDonald v. Chicago that this applies to the states, there are a number of gun control states that completely trample on your constitutional rights. The People’s Republik of New Jersey is one of those states. In the State of New Jersey, firearms are banned except for certain exemptions. It is illegal to possess a firearm unless you jump through hoops to receive an exemption. For law-abiding citizens, that means they have to apply for a Firearms Purchaser Identification Card. The law says that police have 30-days to process these applications, but few towns even bother to meet that deadline. Even still, an FPID only allows you to possess a gun within your home or in a locked case on the way to a gun range. If you take a gun outside of your property, you are instantly a felon. The only way to legally take a gun outside your home in these gun control states is to obtain a License to Carry a Firearm, something that is often statistically impossible for about 26% of all Americans. Studies have found that approximately 11.1 million Americans possess a concealed carry permit. That’s up from 4.6 million in 2007. That is significant growth. And while the number of states issuing concealed weapons permits has increased, there is still a minority of states that completely restrict concealed carry. Approximately 3.5% of all Americans possess a concealed weapons permit. These people are certified by their home states and deemed trustworthy enough to carry a gun in public. But in many cases, states refuse to recognize the legitimacy of these permits and law-abiding citizens end up in prison over it! Tell Congress to pass national concealed carry reciprocity NOW! But for Shaneen Allen, a licensed concealed carrier in Pennsylvania, her Second Amendment rights end at the state-line. This is an absolutely tragic story. This woman, unfortunately, wrongly assumed that her concealed weapons permit would be accepted everywhere, kind of like a drivers license. So, when she was pulled over by a New Jersey Police Officer, she wanted to be honest with him. So she told him she was a licensed concealed carrier. Shaneen Allen was pulled over for a minor traffic violation. The police officer alleges that she improperly changed lanes. But, because she handed her concealed weapons permit to the officer along with her driver’s license, she now faces a MINIMUM of three years in prison! The aptly named Graves Act requires that first time gun offenders receive a minimum three-year prison sentence in New Jersey. Shaneen Allen is a black, single mother of two young children. She has no prior criminal record. Before she was arrested, she worked as a licensed phlebologist. When she was robbed two-times in just one year, she made the decision to purchase a gun to protect herself and her family. She went through the process to become a licensed concealed carrier in the State of Pennsylvania. There is zero evidence that Shaneen Allen intended to use the gun for any malicious purpose. Yet, she was still arrested. She spent a whopping FORTY days in jail before she was actually released on bail and even now, she’s facing a felony charge that, if convicted, would bring a three-year mandatory minimum prison term. This woman made a mistake… She admits to that. But while actual criminals cop plea deals to get less prison time, the prosecutor refuses to show Shaneen Allen any leniency! This is a textbook example of why we need National Concealed Carry Reciprocity! But when Republicans tried to insert reciprocity into a Senate bill this month, Harry Reid shot it down! Innocent Americans are being tripped up and having their lives ruined by these ridiculous and unconstitutional concealed carry laws. The Second Amendment is clear… It says our right to bear arms “shall not be infringed.” Yet in states like New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, Maryland, Hawaii, Rhode Island, and Washington DC, the state does just that! And for those who happen to travel through these gun control states, they are forced to decide between disarming and putting their families in danger or defying the law entirely. There shouldn’t even be a law to defy! In 1986, Congress passed the Firearm Owner Protection Act (FOPA). The goal of this was to ensure that people could travel across state lines with their locked firearms without becoming felons. This law MUST be extended to concealed weapons permit holders! There is absolutely no reason that a law-abiding citizen like Shaneen Allen should face the prospect of a felony conviction and prison time for exercising his or her constitutional rights! There is no reason that Americans should have to disarm while traveling through the most dangerous states! The answer is simple. We must demand National Concealed Carry Reciprocity now! What part of “shall not be infringed” don’t they understand?	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16259
__label__wiki	0.813913	0.813913	About Us Artistic Director, Garrick Comeaux Garrick Comeaux Garrick Comeaux, Artistic Director of Consortium Carissimi, returned to the United States in 2005 after 25 years of life in Italy and Germany, with extensive experience in early music, both as a singer and as a conductor. Garrick began his musical formation at an early age in piano studies, bass viol and cello as well as private voice lessons. Comeaux attended Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota and sang under the direction of Paul J. Christensen, then dedicated his energies in vocal studies at Indiana University Music School in Bloomington. In 1981, he moved to Rome, Italy where his studies in voice continued at the Music Conservatories of Santa Cecilia in Rome and F. Morlacchi in Perugia, Italy.He soon took residence in Munich Germany in 1986, continuing vocal studies and performing as a member of the Bayerischer Rundfunk Konzertchor – Munich, Germany Sir Colin Davis, director and sang in concerts and recordings conducted by directors such as Sawalish, Solti, Maazel, Sinopoli, Barenboim and Bernstein. A keen interest in early baroque music began in the years spent in Germany, performing various works and oratories of Schütz, Buxtehude, Bach, Carissimi, Monteverdi and Purcell. Comeaux has worked extensively over the years with various early music groups, predominately in Italy but throughout the European continent. He has collaborated with ensembles and directors such as the Coro della Radiotelevisione Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland, Diego Fasolis; L’Homme Armè, Fabio Lombardo and Andrew Lawrence King; Capella Ducale in Venetia, Livio Picotti; De Labytintho W. Testolin. In 1996, Comeaux founded in Rome Italy, Consortium Carissimi with the aim of presenting – above all – the sacred and secular music of early Roman Baroque. As well as works by Carissimi, the ensemble also performs pieces by his contemporaries that, either because of similarity of style or because of their freshness and inventiveness, have often been mistaken for music by Carissimi. Consortium Carissimi also devotes much of its research and concert activity to composers such as Graziani, Rossi, Pasquini and Sances, thus providing a clearer picture of the extraordinary effervescence that existed in the music world during the early Baroque period in Rome. Comeaux now resides in the United States where a state-side ensemble the Consortium has been established, exploring the larger works of the early baroque for concerts and is also a member of the Basilica of Saint Mary Schola and Choir in Minneapolis.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16260
__label__cc	0.709876	0.290124	Tag Archives: approval voting Could an ‘indicative vote’ break the Brexit logjam? Posted on January 9, 2019 by The Constitution Unit An indicative vote on the government’s Brexit deal has been suggested as a means of determining which of the options available to parliament has the best chance of securing the support of the House of Commons. In this post, Albert Weale examines how an indicative vote process would work, and whether or not it offers a workable solution to what appears to be a parliamentary impasse. Pressure is growing for an indicative vote in the Commons to break the Brexit logjam. Such a vote would allow MPs to vote on a number of alternatives to the government’s ‘deal’, as laid out in the Withdrawal Agreement announced in November. The purpose of such a vote would be to see whether there was significant support in the Commons for each of the specified alternatives. A similar exercise was tried in 2003 when the then Labour government was seeking support for reform of the House of Lords, and in particular what balance of elected or appointed members a reformed upper chamber should contain. It did not work then, but could it work in the case of Brexit? Answering this question depends on three things: how many options are voted on, how the votes are counted, and the extent to which MPs engage in strategic voting. All three elements interact in complex ways. To understand the basic logic, consider a simplified version of the various options that are likely to be proposed. With no abstentions, a majority on a motion in the Commons requires 320 votes to pass. In Figure 1, I have shown five possible motions that could be put to an indicative vote. Other things being equal, the more alternatives there are, the harder it is to obtain a majority for any one of them. Continue reading → Posted in Brexit, Parliament \| Tagged Albert Weale, approval voting, Brexit, Brexit deal, Canada option, Condorcet winner, Deal, Hard Brexit, Indicative Vote, indicative voting, meaningful vote, no deal, no deal Brexit, Norway option, parliament, second referendum, Soft Brexit, withdrawal agreement	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16261
__label__wiki	0.729942	0.729942	Unlike Emilia Clarke, it's highly uncommon to recover from a brain aneurysm Meghan Collie GlobalNews.ca WATCH: How does one know if they’re experiencing a headache, migraine or aneurysm and how do you treat it? Emilia Clarke was in the locker room of her gym, preparing for a workout, when she felt “a bad headache coming on.” In a new essay published March 21, Clarke says she was suddenly extremely tired, but she forced herself through the first few exercises. It wasn’t until she got into plank position that it felt as though her brain were being squeezed by an elastic band. READ MORE: How to tell if it’s a headache, migraine or brain aneurysm — and what to do next “Somehow, almost crawling, I made it to the locker room. I reached the toilet, sank to my knees, and proceeded to be violently, voluminously ill,” writes the Thrones star. “At some level, I knew what was happening: my brain was damaged.” Clarke was right. She had suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), which she defines as “a life-threatening type of stroke, caused by bleeding into the space surrounding the brain.” According to the the Brain Aneurysm Foundation, an estimated six million people (or 1 in 50 people) in the United States have an unruptured brain aneurysm. WATCH BELOW: Against the odds: Brain aneurysm survival During Clarke’s SAH, there would have been bleeding in the subarachnoid space (the space inside the covering of the brain but outside of the brain itself), according to Dr. Brian Drake. He works as a neurosurgeon at the Ottawa Hospital. “That’s bleeding over the surface of the brain,” said Drake. “That’s where the blood vessels, which supply the brain with blood, ” READ MORE: How to treat and prevent migraines naturally What is a brain aneurysm? Basically, an aneurysm is a weak spot or an “out-pouching” in the blood vessel wall of an artery of the brain, akin to a blister or balloon. “They can leak and they can rupture,” Drake told Global News. “When they rupture, they cause bleeding into the brain and over the surface of the brain, which can cause stroke and further brain injury.” According to Drake, one-third of people who have an aneurysm rupture don’t survive. Of the remaining two-thirds who do survive, nearly half of them are left with some type of permanent disability. WATCH BELOW: How learning new things as an adult can change brain chemistry Usually, aneurysms don’t have any symptoms until they rupture. “The risk is dependent on the exact location within the brain and the size of the aneurysm,” Drake said. “Certain locations are more dangerous than others, and as they get bigger, they get more dangerous.” Sometimes they can push on some of the nerves in your brain, which would cause pain, but Drake says this is rare. The most common way people discover an aneurysm is when a scan is needed for something else. “ have a headache or something else and found incidentally.” READ MORE: MRI scans suggest transgender people’s brains resemble their identified gender: study What causes a brain aneurysm? Unfortunately, little is known about what causes aneurysms. “The only really known risk factors are smoking and blood pressure,” said Drake. They can also run in families (though they are more commonly sporadic, or not hereditary). “For screening, the recommendation is anybody who has two first-degree family members with a known aneurysm ,” Drake said. Aneurysms are more common in people in their fifties and sixties. WATCH BELOW: Man with short-term memory loss uses notebook to help him remember What happens when one ruptures? “When they do rupture, the consequences are high,” said Drake. The most common symptoms, which occur immediately after an aneurysm ruptures, are sudden onset severe headache and stroke-like symptoms. “These include numbness or weakness in the arms and legs, difficulty with language — either understanding language or speaking — and trouble with cognitive ability.” Clarke remembers struggling with language, a complication known as aphasia. READ MORE: Washington woman, 19, sings her way through brain surgery in Seattle “…A nurse woke me and, as part of a series of cognitive exercises, she said, ‘What’s your name?’ My full name is Emilia Isobel Euphemia Rose Clarke. But now I couldn’t remember it. Instead, nonsense words tumbled out of my mouth and I went into a blind panic,” writes Clarke. According to Drake, Clarke is very lucky to have made a full recovery. “For somebody to have an aneurysm rupture and survive and be free from disability, she’s already on the very good end of the spectrum,” said Drake. How do you treat a brain aneurysm? When someone has an unruptured aneurysm, the chances of it rupturing are low. However, if the aneurysm has already ruptured once, the chances of it re-rupturing are high. “That risk is highest within the first 24 to 48 hours , and then it decreases,” said Drake. “So the first treatment is to secure the aneurysm, and the only goal from that is not to make them any better from the rupture but to prevent it from re-rupturing.” Patients who survive a ruptured aneurysm are usually in hospital for two weeks, which is the amount of time necessary to ensure a vasospasm doesn’t occur. According to Cedars-Sinai, this is a narrowing of the arteries caused by a persistent contraction of the blood vessels. which can reduce blood flow. WATCH BELOW: What happens to your brain when you’re blackout drunk According to Drake, after a person has bleeding in the subarachnoid space, the body naturally breaks down that blood and reabsorbs it — similar to any other bleeding or bruising. “The products of that process are irritating to the outside of the blood vessel walls, and it can cause… a vasospasm. For people who develop , they require further treatment,” said Drake. A vasospasm can cause more stroke-like symptoms and result in more brain damage. Meghan.Collie@globalnews.ca Follow @meghancollie	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16265
__label__wiki	0.826479	0.826479	Home / In Print / Matt’s Mission Matt’s Mission By Hayli Goode on April 1, 2016 Image by Matt Bellina While sitting in the waiting room lobby, Matt Bellina began Googling his symptoms: cramping hands, twitching arms, stiffness in his legs. Before he was called back for his EMG, he came to the conclusion that he had ALS. His doctors, however, hoped differently. “They were like, ‘Well, you don’t meet all the criteria. So maybe it’s not that and maybe it is.’ And there was a lot of back and forth for literally another 17 months. But by the time I was actually formerly diagnosed, I knew for sure,” said Bellina. ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing those with ALS to lose control of their muscles. Bellina was officially diagnosed on April 9, 2014. According to ALS.net, a non-profit organization where Bellina is an ambassador, most ALS patients live 2 to 5 years after their diagnosis. But, two years after his diagnosis, Bellina is not only an ambassador for ALS research, but a father of two boys and the founder of Matt’s Mission at Newtown Athletic Club. Nine months after Bellina and his family started working out at Newtown Athletic Club in Newtown, Pennsylvania, Bellina asked the owner if they would be interested in fundraising for ALS.net. It turned out, the club was already fundraising for Augie’s Quest. Augie Nieto, the co-founder of equipment manufacturer Life Fitness, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2005, started Augie’s Quest. Newtown Athletic Club told Bellina if he wanted to get involved, they could “make it really big.” Linda Mitchell, the director of public relations of Newtown Athletic Club, came up with Matt’s Mission as the vehicle for Newtown Athletic Club to raise money for Augie’s Quest. In 2015, their goal was to raise $50,000, which Bellina did not think would be possible. With the help of the members and Newtown Athletic Club founder Jim Worthington, they raised $180,000, which is 10 percent of the total amount raised for Augie’s Quest by IHRSA clubs in 2015. “The members are so generous,” said Bellina. “Obviously, the owner, Jim, is super generous. And then this year, just this last fall, another member was diagnosed, so they decided to hit it hard again. And so far, we’ve raised $100,000 this year, in the last 2.5 months. And we’re going to keep going. Who knows where it might go.” And he has hope that he himself will beat this disease. According to Bellina, ALS is not incurable, it’s underfunded. He encourages health clubs to not only partner with Augie’s Quest to help raise funds for ALS research, but to also support their members with the disease. “I think that making them feel like they’re a part of the community, like the NAC has to me, [is important],” said Bellina. “Making them feel like they’re still valued members of the club. I mean, it’s hard when your muscles are wasting away, going to the gym and seeing everybody working out. That has just made me slow down and realize what I am doing is still valuable. Even if I’m not bench-pressing 300 pounds, I’m still setting goals and working toward them. I think if a club can help an ALS patient do that, then we’re on the right track to getting where we need to be.” To find out how you can support Augie’s Quest, visit page 72 for a special feature on Team Quest4ALS. Related ItemsActivismALSAugies QuestCommunity EngagementLife FitnessLou Gehrig's DiseaseNewtown Athletic Club ← Previous Story On The Right Track Next Story → Ask An Expert on Technology Trends News Roundup: Announcements from Crunch, Anytime Fitness and More Should Your Health Club Be on LinkedIn? Life Fitness Names Chris Clawson New Chief Executive Officer	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16267
__label__wiki	0.502493	0.502493	February 16, 2016 \| David F. Coppedge How Well Do Evolutionists Understand Endosymbiosis? The theory that early cells engulfed microbes that became mitochondria is often presented overconfidently. Most evolutionists accept without question the decades-old theory that mitochondria and chloroplasts are the remnants of free-living organisms that took to living inside a host. For instance, a paper in Current Biology (2012) states, “It is beyond doubt that mitochondria and plastids (chloroplasts) evolved from free-living organisms enslaved by other cells.” Whether through parasitism or predation, these microbes became accepted as endosymbionts (partners living inside) of other microbes; that’s part of the common story of the origin of eukaryotes. The endosymbionts changed over evolutionary time, sending some of their genomes into the nucleus but retaining some of their own DNA inside the organelles they were destined to become. How solid is this theory? An article in Science (Ball, Battacharya and Weber, “Pathogen to Powerhouse”) makes it look less confident than often presented. Some excerpts: Primary endosymbiosis is extremely rare: Only one other case is known, in the amoeba Paulinella. This rarity is usually attributed to the many innovations that are required for organelles to be integrated into the cellular machinery. However, the first challenges for an endosymbiont are to avoid being digested by the host and to replicate in its novel environment. These results [i.e., a lone case of an endosymbiont surviving its host’s defenses] also help explain why ancestrally mitochondrion-lacking eukaryotes (so-called archezoans) have never been found: They likely do not exist. When we turn our attention to primary plastid origin, the story becomes more complex. Living cyanobacteria neither possess the genetic toolkit to evade host defenses, nor do they encode effector proteins to interact with the host cellular machinery. So, how did the unprotected photosynthetic cell survive the early phases of the endosymbiosis? A potential solution to this conundrum was provided by the discovery of several dozen genes of chlamydial origin in the nuclear genome of algae and plants…. However, the details of this complex process remain incompletely understood. As the recent studies discussed here show, we are in an exciting phase of endosymbiosis research. However, we still lack some crucial information. The Lokiarchaeota [the presumed ancient hosts] were identified from assembly of metagenomic data; no living cells have yet been isolated to validate the genome assembly or test their actual physiological capabilities. Protist-infecting chlamydial cells with large genomes are continuously being isolated, but only a handful have been studied in detail and are represented in genome databases. Therefore, more data are needed to test the proposed role of pathogens in organelle origin. But perhaps what we need most are attempts at experimental primary endosymbiosis in the lab to learn the rules underlying this remarkable process. Ultimately, these advances will help us address the most vexing question about primary endosymbiosis: Why is it so rare? In short, endosymbiosis is a convenient anecdote, but it has not been tested, and it may not be testable. It’s never been seen occurring in nature except for the one putative case they mentioned. It has never been reproduced in the lab. In the philosophy of science, one-time ad hoc events needed to explain a phenomenon are frowned upon because they open a theory to accusations of special pleading. It is not necessary for creationists to repudiate all instances of endosymbiosis. Parasitism is very prevalent in nature, as is mutualistic symbiosis. But to say that this was a “great transformation” in the history of evolutionary common descent that “gave rise” to all eukaryotes (including humans) by an accidental process— that is a story, not a testable theory. It goes way, way overboard. Even if scientists observe an endosymbiotic event in nature or in the lab, it will not prove that’s what happened in the distant unobservable past. Even less testable is the idea that rare endosymbiotic events gave rise to whole lineages of future innovations. The only reason evolutionists are so tempted by the endosymbiosis theory is that they have a huge hurdle to leap over with Darwin faith. There are three main kingdoms of life (if one accepts the current consensus taxonomy), the archaea, the bacteria, and the eukarya. Eukaryotes are the only ones with organelles and a nucleus. It’s tempting for Darwinists to see a sequence there: a bacterium engulfed an archeon, and presto! A eukaryote was born. Michael Denton points out in his new book Evolution: Still a Theory in Crisis that even if this were true, it would not have been a gradual, Darwinian process. It would have been a saltational event, a dramatic leap in innovation. And bacteria, remember, have those amazing outboard motors (flagella). No living cell is primitive! Creationists have reasons to believe that microbes were created essentially as they are, except for degradation and parasitism that occurred after the Fall. Mitochondria and chloroplasts are too marvelously engineered for their functions as to have had an accidental origin. Observations about partial genomes in the organelles and other parts in the nucleus may be puzzling, but remember Nelson’s Principle: “If something works, it didn’t happen by accident” (quote in Flight: The Genius of Birds). There may be good reasons for the split genomes. The transporters that carry products of nuclear translation into the organelles are also amazingly complex and effective. Evolutionists have massive puzzles to explain. The ATP synthase motors in mitochondria and the photosystems in plastids are complex almost beyond description; where did they come from? How did the ancestors invent those? The endosymbiont theory doesn’t explain that, nor does it explain any of the subsequent “Great Transformations” natural selection would have to perform with Darwin Flubber to get from the first eukaryote to a kangaroo, a titanosaur or a human brain. Endosymbiosis is just a cute story that makes evolutionists feel good, as if they have made some progress in articulating the Grand Myth.* *Weinberg’s Principle: “an expert is a person who ignores the small errors while sweeping on to the grand fallacy.” Tags: Archaea, bacteria, chloroplast, endosymbiont, endosymbiosis, eukarya, eukaryote, genome, mitochondria, mitochondrion, nucleus, organelle, parasite, parasitism, plastid, symbiosis Categories: Cell Biology, Darwin and Evolution, Genetics, Intelligent Design, Origin of Life, Philosophy of Science rockyway says: “It is beyond doubt that mitochondria and plastids (chloroplasts) evolved from free-living organisms enslaved by other cells.” – When an author says something like ”it’s beyond doubt” – it usually means that he hasn’t thought critically about the matter at hand.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16273
__label__cc	0.635247	0.364753	Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Decisions, Notices and Orders Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2018-364 Reference: Part 1 application posted on 16 May 2018 Ottawa, 17 September 2018 Mass-Média Capitale inc. Québec, Quebec Public record for this application: 2018-0306-5 CKJF-FM Québec – Technical changes The Commission approves the application by Mass-Média Capitale inc. to change the authorized contours of the French-language tourist radio programming undertaking CKJF-FM Québec by relocating the antenna, decreasing the average effective radiated power (ERP) from 115 to 98 watts and the maximum ERP from 250 to 214 watts and increasing the effective height of the antenna above average terrain from 70.6 to 107.8 metres. The Commission did not receive any interventions regarding this application. The licensee stated that it must relocate CKJF-FM’s antenna because the land and building on which it is installed have recently been sold and are no longer available. Pursuant to section 22(1) of the Broadcasting Act, this authority will only be effective when the Department of Industry notifies the Commission that its technical requirements have been met and that a broadcasting certificate will be issued. The transmitter must be in operation by 17 September 2020. To request an extension, the licensee must submit a written request to the Commission at least 60 days before that date, using the form available on the Commission’s website. This decision is to be appended to the licence. Information Resource Centre Statutes and regulations CRTC Interconnection Steering Committee (CISC) Contact us and Support Centre	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16274
__label__cc	0.658703	0.341297	Finance Committee Charter (PDF) 105.2 KB The Finance Committee's ("Committee") primary function is to assist the Board of Directors ("Board") in discharging its responsibilities relating to oversight and review of financial matters affecting the CSX Corporation ("Corporation") and to regularly report to the Board on such matters. Membership and Operations The Committee shall consist of no fewer than three directors. Members of the Committee and the Committee Chair shall be elected by the Board annually after reviewing the recommendation of the Governance Committee. Members shall serve until their successors have been duly elected and qualified. Any member of the Committee may resign at any time by giving written notice of his intention to do so to the Chairman of the Board or the Corporate Secretary, or may be removed, with or without cause, at any time by the Board of Directors. The Committee shall meet at such times as it determines to be appropriate or at the call of the Chair of the Committee, in no case fewer than three times each year. The Finance Committee Chair shall prepare or approve an agenda in advance of each meeting. Each member is free to suggest the inclusion of items not on the agenda. A majority of the members of the Committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, and the affirmative vote of the majority of those present shall be necessary for any action by the Committee. The Committee shall keep minutes, report its activities to the full Board on a regular basis and make recommendations with respect to the matters covered by this Charter and other matters as the Committee may deem necessary or appropriate. In discharging its responsibilities and duties, within authority levels established by the Board, the Committee shall: Provide oversight with respect to the capital structure, cash flows and key financial ratios of the Corporation, and make recommendations with respect to the Corporation's financial policies. Review the Corporation's financing and liquidity position, including the Corporation's credit facilities. Review policies with respect to distributions to shareholders generally, make recommendations with respect to the declaration of dividends, and make recommendations or authorize the repurchase of shares of the Corporation from time to time consistent with authority levels established by the Board. Periodically review the Corporation’s tax strategies. Authorize borrowing money, issuing debt securities or engaging in other forms of financing (other than any financing calling for the issuance of common stock) on the part of the Corporation or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. Oversee compliance with financial covenants and authorize the prepayment, redemption, repurchase or defeasance of any indebtedness of the Corporation. Authorize loans, guarantees of the credit of others, or other extensions of credit by the Corporation. Review the Corporation's credit ratings and monitor its activities with respect to credit rating agencies. Review the funded status, funding practices and policies and any applicable actuarial, discount, trend rates, or similar assumptions of all significant employee benefit or similar plans of which the Corporation or an affiliate is a sponsor and the existing and anticipated liabilities with respect to such plans. Review at least annually reports from the Investment Committee that summarize plan asset investment performance in order to assist in the evaluation conducted by the Committee in paragraph 9. Provide oversight with respect to significant capital expenditures or divestitures as well as projected and actual returns from investments. Overall capital spending will be considered in the context of the current and future cash flows of the Corporation, as well as priority for debt reduction until target debt levels are attained. Periodically review the Corporation’s investor relations’ program, shareholder profile and analyst coverage. Periodically review the Corporation's insurance programs. Periodically review the Corporation's delegations of financial authority; including the thresholds for which management must seek Board approval, and recommend any changes to the full Board. In general, review reports and make recommendations with respect to any financial matter affecting the Corporation. Review this Charter at least annually with the advice of the Governance Committee. In addition to the foregoing, the Committee shall perform such other functions as may be committed to it under the resolutions and other directives of the Board. Delegation to Subcommittee The Committee may, as appropriate and consistent with applicable regulations, laws and listing standards, delegate all or a portion of its duties and responsibilities to a subcommittee of the Committee. At least annually, the Committee shall conduct an evaluation of its performance. The evaluation shall compare the performance of the Committee with the requirements of this charter. The performance evaluation by the Committee shall be conducted in such manner as the Committee deems appropriate. Resources and Authority The Committee shall have available to it the resources and authority appropriate to discharge its duties and responsibilities, including support from management personnel. The Committee shall also have the sole authority to select, retain and terminate (and approve or ratify the fees and other retention terms of) special or independent counsel, accountants, consultants and other advisors, as it deems necessary or appropriate without seeking approval of the Board or management. The Corporation shall provide appropriate funding to the Committee to allow the Committee to compensate any advisors retained by the Committee and to pay for ordinary administrative expenses of the Committee. Mr. David M. Moffett Ms. Pamela L. Carter Mr. Paul C. Hilal Mr. J. Steven Whisler	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16275
__label__wiki	0.915872	0.915872	Smyrna’s Knopf joins with musical storytellers this weekend Oct 8th, 2015 · by Craig Horleman · Comments: It will be a meeting of the musical minds this weekend when area favorite Sol Knopf joins fellow esteemed musicians for another in the series of “Songwriters and Storytellers” concerts. The first show takes place Saturday night at the Smyrna Opera House with a second one set for Sunday afternoon at Bridgeville’s Heritage Shores. For this fourth edition of the series, Mr. Knopf is joined by some heavy hitters. Highlighting the show is Michael Johnson, best known for his ’70s hits “Bluer Than Blue” and “This Night Won’t Local singer-songwriter Sol Knopf, of Smyrna, not only has two shows this weekend but is putting finishing touches on a new album and is beginning a new YouTube program called “Sundays with Sol.” (Submitted photos) Last Forever.” Don Henry, who claimed the Grammy for the Kathy Mattea tune “Where’ve You Been,” and Craig Bickhardt, who has written top-10 hits for The Judds, B.B. King and Martina McBride round out the quartet. “A lot of times the songwriters are unknown to the masses,” said Mr. Knopf, of Smyrna. “But these are all phenomenal musicians who have won Grammys and have had No. 1 hits. I love doing these shows because I always have the best seat in the house.” As in the past, the musicians will take turns telling a story about how a song of theirs came to be and then they perform it. They each take three turns before intermission and three turns afterward. “Typically the audience will run the gamut of emotions during these shows. Someone will tell a story where the tears will flow and then you turn around and the audience is hooting and hollering after a crazy story,” Mr. Knopf said. “After one of these shows, I always get people coming up to me as they are heading out the door, saying they had no idea it would be this good or it was one of the best shows they’ve seen in the last 10 years. But truthfully, I can’t believe there is anyone who enjoys the shows as much as I do.” Mr. Knopf is particularly excited to be joined on the bill by Mr. Johnson this time around. “I’m so thrilled. When I was a kid, ‘Bluer than Blue’ was a huge hit and I just love that song,” Mr. Knopf said. “I’ve always loved his voice, and overseas, he is still revered. He’ll play a place like the Philippines and fill a venue the size of the old Spectrum in Philadelphia.” He’s also a big admirer of both Mr. Bickhardt and Mr. Henry, whose most recent hit “All Kinds of Kinds,” released in 2014 by Miranda Lambert, was Music Row Magazine’s song of the year. “Even though all of these guys have had hits and awards, no one ever looks down on you. I’ve never had any big hits or a record deal but they are all so kind and no one is a prima donna or demanding,” he said. “They are all just regular guys.” Michael Johnson, a singer-songwriter best known for the 1970s hits such as “Bluer than Blue” and “This Night Won’t Last Forever,” will perform at this weekend’s “Songwrters and Storytellers” shows at the Smyrna Opera House Saturday and at Heritage Shores in Bridgeville Sunday. Along with his typically busy schedule of performing at area venues from Smyrna to the beach area — he’s on the verge of wrapping up his 29th season at Sambo’s in Leipsic — the multi-instrumentalist is putting the finishing touches on his third CD and starting his own YouTube program. The album, called “Rehoboth Beach,” holds a special place in his heart as 10 percent of all proceeds will go to the Alzheimer’s Association Delaware Valley Chapter. “My mom (Dolores) passed away from Alzheimer’s in May of last year and it was just devastating to watch it all unfold. And I realized that I wanted to be involved in the charity,” Mr. Knopf said. “I’m performing all of the time so I was trying to think of a way I could give of myself. So every time we raise $2,000 for this album, we’re giving $200 to Alzheimer’s. We’ve raised over $4,000 so far, so they have been given $400.” Like his previous album “Sea Change” in 2013, he is crowd funding for the money to produce the recording with special incentives at each level. He has a goal of $8,000 and expects the record to be out by the holidays. Another project he’s especially excited about is his new “Sundays with Sol” program on YouTube. With two episodes already available and a third on the way this Sunday, Mr. Knopf plans to interview people in the area and beyond who are making a difference in their community. “A lot of what we see on television and the Internet is so negative and built on bombast, scandal and outrageous behavior,” he said. “But I know there are so many wonderful people out there doing wonderful things and giving of themselves to make the world a better place. I would rather watch videos of those folks rather than a lot of what is out there.” Mr. Knopf’s upcoming guests include musician and social activist John Flynn, Herb Konowitz of the Dover Interfaith Mission for Housing and popular local Elvis Presley performer Bob Lougheed, who successfully battled pancreatic cancer. Tickets for Saturday’s 8 p.m. show at the Smyrna Opera House, 7 W. South St., are available by calling 653-4236 or visiting www.smyrnaoperahouse.org. They are $20 for general admission, $18 members, seniors and military, and $8 for children under 12. Sunday’s show at Heritage Shores are $10 for residents and $15 for nonresidents. For tickets, call 337-9926. For information on Mr. Knopf’s upcoming album and his YouTube program, visit www.solknopf.com. Schwartz twinbill More music can be found this weekend at Dover’s Schwartz Center for the Arts. The Country Jamboree comes to the venerable theater tonight at 7:30. The show features a cast who have performed with some of country music’s most popular artists, featuring the music of Hank Williams, Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, Tammy Wynette, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard and more. Tickets are $22-$25. On Saturday, Deanna Bogart, an award-winning multi-instrumentalist and multifaceted musician, will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. As a bandleader/singer/songwriter/producer/pianist/saxplayer, Ms. Bogart combines boogie-woogie, contemporary blues, country and jazz. She has won three consecutive Blues Music Awards as Horn Instrumentalist of the Year. As an added attraction, the show will feature Dover’s own James Napier. Known locally as the owner of Capital Shoe Repair and Leather Work on Loockerman Street, Mr. Napier is also an accomplished singer. He will be leaving Dover soon to join his band on the road and Saturday night’s performance, where he’ll do a couple of songs with Ms. Bogart, is a first for him, according to Schwartz Center Executive Director Sydney Arzt. “He has a voice like Sam Cooke, sweet and soulful, and has never been paid to perform in Dover,” she said. For more information on both shows, visit www.schwartzcenter.com, call 678-5152 or head to the box office at 226 S. State St., Dover. Cheesetoberfest Saturday Cheesetoberfest, a grilled cheese and macaroni and cheese competition featuring 30 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Philadelphia restaurants, will be held Saturday at Dover’s Fordham & Dominion Brewing. In keeping with the theme of the event, the Philadelphia German Brass Band will provide the entertainment for the event, which runs from 1 to 5 p.m. with VIP admission at 12:30. The brewery will be pouring its award-winning Octoberfest, along with Spiced Harvest Ale, Oak Barrel Stout, Rams Head IPA, Copperhead Ale and Helles Lager. Yours truly will be one of the judges who will help decide the Grand Cheesemo winners of the cheese competitions. VIP tickets are sold out but you still can buy general admission tickets for $30, which includes a beer stein, four beer tickets and food samples. A designated driver ticket is $20, which includes bottomless soda and food samples. Tickets for the rain-or-shine event will be available at the gate Saturday and the brewery is at 1284 McD Drive off Horsepond Road in Dover today. For more information, visit www.cheesetobefest.com. Symphony starts season Saturday Finally, the Dover Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Donald Buxton, will kick off of its 2015-2016 season at 7 p.m. Saturday at Calvary Assembly of God in Dover. “A Taste of Italy” will feature Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, his Italian symphony. This symphony will be complemented by Rossini’s “Overture to The Barber of Seville” and Tchaikovsky’s “Capriccio Italien.” Again this season, sweet treats will be sold at the bake sale. Season tickets are available: adults $75, seniors/students/military $55. Single tickets are also available for all concerts. Prices are adults $20, seniors (62-plus)/students/military $15. Children younger than 16 are admitted free with a paying adult. For tickets, visit www.doversymphony.org or call (302) 270-1903. Tickets also will be sold at the door. Calvary Assembly of God is at 1141 E. Lebanon Road. New this weekend in theaters is Hugh Jackman in the fantasy film “Pan 3D” and the tightrope action-adventure “The Walk.” On DVD and download starting Tuesday are the epics “Jurassic World” and “San Andreas.” Reach features editor Craig Horleman at chorl@newszap.com Tags:Best Bets · Concerts · Festivals	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16282
__label__wiki	0.813729	0.813729	Arts Alliance: ‘Arts are an industry, not a charity’ Jan 17th, 2018 · by Ian Gronau · Comments: New Biggs Museum of American Art director Charles Guerin of Dover stands in front of the new sculpture that sits in front of his museum. (Delaware State News/Marc Clery) DOVER — Daniel Cruce, board president of the Delaware Arts Alliance, hoped legislators and delegates would leave the House Hearing Room in Legislative Hall with one takeaway: “the arts are an industry, not a charity.” “The data shows that spending on the arts in the state reached almost $150 million in 2015,” said Mr. Cruce. “The spending is bigger than just paying the admission charge at the Biggs Museum or purchasing a seat for a show at the Delaware Theater Company — there is a ripple effect when people take part in enjoying the arts in their community. If I’m going to a theater performance, I buy a new tie because I want to look nice. Then, before the show we’ll go out for a drink, and then go to dinner. We may need a dog sitter or a babysitter. The economic activity spreads out.” On Tuesday, the Delaware Arts Alliance briefed several lawmakers and Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long on the results of “Arts & Economic Prosperity 5”, an economic impact study of Delaware’s nonprofit arts industry. The study was conducted by Americans for the Arts, a national nonprofit. The report notes that there are 4,062 full-time employees working in the “Arts and Culture Industry” in the state. “One thing we want to be clear about is that there are some perception issues; investing in the arts at the state level and local level is an investment in an industry, not charity,” said Mr. Cruce. “Our data helps illuminate that. The arts are an economic driver and jobs creator. These jobs aren’t just directors at organizations or someone who tears your ticket at the ticket booth, we’re also talking about employing plumbers, contractors and all kinds of folks that you don’t normally think about when you walk into a theater or museum.” Charles Guerin, the director of The Biggs Museum of American Art in Dover, noted that they spend just under $1 million per year with various vendors statewide. “We spend it almost exclusively in Delaware,” he said. “We make a point to hire accountants, plumbers, printers, designers or electricians from this community. It’s important for us to keep things local.” The museum now has 15 full-time staff members that operated it. Mr. Guerin said state aid has helped keep the arts healthy in Delaware. “Artists are working individuals and they work harder than just about anyone — a lot of them work around the clock in their studios or practicing with their violins and pianos at all hours of the night,” he said. “They work all the time, and unfortunately in our culture, we don’t give them enough credit. So, it’s wonderful that we live in a state that values their contribution. Our state government supports the arts.” During his presentation, Mr. Cruce said the Delaware taxpayers contribute roughly $3.5 million per year to arts subsidies annual. Referring to the recent study, he said the state and local governments see a return on that investment to the tune of a combined $10 million in added tax revenue. “This is tax revenue as a result of the economic activity generated by the organizations that are supported in some way, form or fashion by the state,” he said. “That’s almost a three-fold return on investment. This isn’t charity, it’s a good investment for the state.” The study claims that a consumer of an artistic or cultural experience spends an average of $30.24 per person, per event — and 32 percent of these consumers are said to be non-local. The director of Clear Space Theater in Rehoboth Beach, Wesley Paulson, said he’s even brought in out-of-state talent to work with the theater company. “For the last four years, we’ve started bringing in actors from New York,” he said. “They stay here over the summer, and the next thing you know they are out in the community, spending money. We’ve recently been able to grow from a staff of 2.5 up to 5 full-time positions and step up from 10 shows per year to 13 thanks to our recent growth.” Mr. Pulson also points to the theater’s spending, and spending generated by their performances, as boons to the local economy. “I just recently looked at our budget, and we do a lot of printing — we’re about to spend $35,000 per year with a vendor in Millville for show programs, rack cards, brochures and things like that,” he said. “Also, restaurants have told us that in the middle of winter, when it’s awfully quiet in downtown, Baltimore Avenue will be jumping on a Friday or Saturday night because we brought 150 people in for a show that will spend their money and generate business.” Lauding the arts alliance’s efforts, Lt. Gov. Hall-Long presented the group with a proclamation of acknowledgment signed by her and Gov. John Carney. “We recognize the Delaware Division of the Arts and the Delaware Arts Alliance on behalf of the first state and we’d like to recognize their contribution to the quality of life for all Delawareans,” she said. “All 47 arts and cultural organizations which are part of the alliance, as well as the 800 or so arts alliance advocates across the state, are acknowledged for their quality arts and cultural experiences.” To learn more about the alliance and read the full economic report, visit delawareartsalliance.org. Staff writer Ian Gronau can be reached at 741-8272 or igronau@newszap.com Tags:Art · Dover · Featured	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16283
__label__wiki	0.722138	0.722138	Category: CY Authors Up, Up and Away: The 5th Dimension Founder, LaMonte McLemore, Talks His Life and His Book, From Hobo Flats to the 5th Dimension: A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography and Music LaMonte McLemore is the founder of the Grammy winning musical group The 5th Dimension. The group rose to fame in the 1960s with classic hits including Up-Up and Away, Stoned Soul Picnic and Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In. Though retired from touring and performing, LaMonte is still working on music today. He hopes his latest song, Cease Fire, will be used in peace marches around the world. Mr. McLemore, remarkably, is far more than an award winning musician, as if that is not enough. He has had a long and noteworthy career as a photographer. He was also signed to a major league baseball farm team, in his youth. In photography, Mr. McLemore was one of the individuals who contributed to the early days of African American celebrity media. Along with a partner, he founded a publication called Elegant, featuring rich and famous African Americans. After the magazine folded, he joined with Jet Magazine and for 50 years was the photographer for Jet’s Beauty of the Week feature. The Grammy winner would go on to work with Playboy, Ebony and other publications as well. Bestselling Author Malcolm Nance Discusses His Book, The Plot to Hack America: How Putin’s Cyberspies Tried to Steal the 2016 Election In the media, there have been questions raised about what the relationship will be like between Donald Trump and the intelligence community. Additionally, there have been questions concerning Mr. Trump’s relationship with Russia. Enter Navy veteran, intelligence expert and NY Times Bestselling Author Malcolm Nance, to give us his input concerning these issues and more. In a book, released a month before Election Day 2016, titled The Plot to Hack America: How Putin’s Cyberspies Tried to Steal the 2016 Election, Mr. Nance makes his case for the Russians attempting to influence the outcome of the presidential election. Ric Drasin, Bodybuilder, Former Professional Wrestler and host of Ric’s Corner on YouTube Breaks Down Pros and Cons if Ronda Rousey Were to Go to WWE; Plus, His Book, The Time of My Life, is Now Out A few days ago we published an article on CYInterview [see here] on why UFC fighter Ronda Rousey might want to consider joining the WWE, if she decides to end her storied mixed martial arts career. With that in mind, we welcome back bodybuilding legend, professional wrestler/pro wrestling school owner and teacher Ric Drasin, to provide us some analysis on how he thinks Ms. Rousey would fair with the WWE. Mr. Drasin is friends with judo and pro wrestling legend “Judo” Gene Lebell, who Ronda calls Uncle Gene and who, it is reported, helped train her in certain aspects of grappling. Ric says Gene got him his start in professional wrestling back in 1965. The golden age bodybuilder is not one to mince words. He tells us both positives and negatives await if Mr. Rousey were to go to the WWE. Grammy Winning Singer/Songwriter Toni Tennille is Back: Talks Potential Grammy Contention for Best Spoken Word, Looking to Meet Brian Wilson, Her Stint with the Beach Boys, The Captain, Her Future, More Earlier this year we welcomed Grammy winner, singer/songwriter Toni Tennille for an in-depth CYInterview about her autobiography, Toni Tennille: A Memoir. Known for her Captain & Tennille hits like Love Will Keep Us Together and The Way I Want to Touch You, which she performed with “Captain” Darryl Dragon, our conversation with the vocalist is one to remember [see here]. With the audio version of her autobiography up for possible nomination in the Grammy category of Best Spoken Word, we welcome back Toni Tennille to talk about the latest news surrounding her book. Featured columnist Jay Bildstein joins us for this segment. As someone who grew up with Toni Tennille’s music, Jay gets in-depth with the singer about a variety of topics. UFC Co-Founder Art Davie Talks: Documentary, 12 November; Progress on His Feature Film, UFC Heading to New York, More Earlier this month, the author of Is This Legal? The Inside Story of the First UFC From The Man Who Created It, Art Davie, went back to Torrance, California with a documentary film crew. Torrance could well be considered the birthplace of the UFC. The documentary being filmed, 12 November, is slated to air in Brazil first, with future distribution in America. It will focus on the UFC’s first promotion, which took place on November 12, 1993. Understandably, returning to his old stomping grounds brought back memories for Art. We welcome back Art Davie for a chat about the 12 November documentary. MMA Legend Dan “The Beast” Severn Talks His New Book and Career: Amateur Wrestling, Pro Wrestling and MMA; Is Open to Rematches with Royce Grace and Ken Shamrock, With a Twist; More Few people have reached the top tier in a variety of sports and entertainment organizations. Dan Severn’s dominance in amateur wrestling, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling makes him one of a select few who has succeeded at that feat. An accomplished amateur wrestler, Severn narrowly missed out on a chance to compete in the Olympics. That represents one of his few defeats in sports competition. “The Beast,” as he’s widely known, has accomplished amazing things in a variety of mixed martial arts organizations. However, it was the UFC that brought him to the top of the mountain. With 101 wins and 26 losses in 127 bouts in mixed martial arts, he is one of the most accomplished men to ever walk into the cage. Aside from MMA, he also achieved greatness in the world of professional wrestling. He had one of the longest reigns as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion and had a memorable run with the WWE. UFC Co-Founder Art Davie Talks with CYInterview at the Wynn Las Vegas Sportsbook: Discusses His Book, Is This Legal? Being Made Into a Movie, the Possibility of Connor McGregor Fighting Floyd Mayweather, Jr., More Las Vegas is fight central for the United States. Both boxing and mixed martial arts hold gigantic events there, throughout the calendar year. Art Davie, one of the men responsible for starting the UFC and bringing mixed martial arts to a wide audience, lives not far from Las Vegas in the city of Pahrump, Nevada. Mr. Davie, the author of Is This Legal? The Inside Story of the First UFC from the Man Who Created It is now working on the next part of his saga. After being inducted into the Legends of MMA Hall of Fame in 2014, Mr. Davie has been working hard on getting Is This Legal? turned into a movie. Last year, the UFC founder touched on the subject with us. [See our past CYInterviews with Art Davie here and here]. Aside from that, there is no denying that his work on behalf of mixed martial arts should earn him an induction into the Contributor’s Section of the UFC Hall of Fame. It is something he thinks will happen in the coming years. Love Didn’t Keep them Together But It Kept them Friends: Talented and Kind, Songstress Toni Tennille, Half of Famous Duo The Captain and Tennille, Talks About her New Book, Toni Tennille: A Memoir; More The year was 1975 and the Captain and Tennille song, Love Will Keep Us Together, was tearing up the charts. Toni Tennille and her husband Daryl Dragon aka the Captain were one of the most popular male/female music duos of the 1970s. The also titled album, Love Will Keep Us Together, went on to win the Grammy for Record of the Year. Her life with Daryl Dragon, left her longing to bring out the emotional side of her now ex-husband, but she says it was to no avail. In her new autobiography Toni Tennille: A Memoir, the singer shares the highs and lows of her personal and professional life. Worried what her fans would think of her divorce from Daryl, Ms. Tennille clears the air. From playing at a place called the Smoke House in her early days to performing at the White House, this is Toni Tennille’s story. Living today in Florida near her sister Jane, Toni is happy where her life is and wants to reassure her fans that she and Darryl Dragon are still good friends and speak often. UFC Cofounder, the always insightful Art Davie, talks Shamrock vs. Gracie III, Ronda Rousey’s Loss, More It was 22 years ago this month that the world of mixed martial arts was changed forever. It was then that first the UFC took place in Denver, Colorado. One of the key people responsible for it all coming together was Art Davie. Last year we spoke with Art about that very topic, as well as many others, here on CYInterview [see here]. It was Art’s vision, passion and desire, along with that of a few other individuals, to bring the best fighters in the world together for one special night. Over two decades later, the UFC is a worldwide business and MMA is a sport that is popular globally. At the first UFC, Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie fought. The two fighters are planning to face off again in February of 2016. It is a testament to famous brand names in the sport and Mr. Davie’s original belief that the best should square off against each other. Today, Ronda Rousey is arguably UFC’s best known fighter, the biggest brand name in the world of mixed martial arts. Her recent loss to Holly Holm made worldwide news and shocked many. However, when it comes to mixed martial arts, it is extremely rare to stay in the game any length of time without tasting defeat. Lea Black at the Miami Book Fair International, Saturday November 21st at 5:00 PM, A Must See Over the years, we have had many great moments with the Social Mayor of Miami, philanthropist, author, entrepreneur and Real Housewives of Miami star Lea Black. It was back in April that we attended the first book signing for her first novel, Red Carpets and White Lies [see here]. We followed that up in May when we spoke with Lea for an in-depth CYInterview on her book [see here]. For 20 years, Lea put on The Blacks’ Annual Gala in Miami attended by a who’s who of the city, as well as a variety of A-list stars from out of town. Tomorrow, she will be at one of the biggest yearly city events, the Miami Book Fair International. Mrs. Black will be taking questions about her book and signing copies. Details of the event are below. If you are in the Miami area, go out and see Lea Black at this great event and hear some great stories about the city.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16284
__label__wiki	0.796846	0.796846	Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, White House Chief of Staff to President George H.W. Bush Talks to CYInterview about Donald Trump, the Nuclear Arsenal, Gary Johnson, the Bushs, More By Chris Yandek in CY Interviews CY News CY Politics CY What's Happening July 20, 2016 With Republicans officially nominating Donald Trump as their candidate for President, at the Republican National Convention, there are those who are concerned about the direction of the Party, with Mr. Trump at the top of their ticket. Last year, Republican Party stalwart, John H. Sununu spoke with us [see here] about his book The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush. The former three time New Hampshire Governor and White House Chief of Staff to President George Herbert Walker Bush joins us again, this time to speak about the 2016 Presidential Election, among other things. Featured columnist Jay Bildstein joins us for this CYInterview. You can read the highlights and listen to it in its entirety below: Listen to the entire Governor John Sununu CYInterview: Have trouble listening to the audio? Listen here In an article published on The New Yorker website this week, titled Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All, Tony Schwartz, who worked with the real estate mogul on his NY Times Bestseller, Art of the Deal, was quoted as saying, “I genuinely believe that if Trump wins and gets the nuclear codes there is an excellent possibility it will lead to the end of civilization.” The New York Daily News covered that piece in an article titled ‘Art of the Deal’ co-author Tony Schwartz calls Trump a ‘sociopath’ in scathing tell-all: ‘I put lipstick on a pig.’ The most important responsibility the President of the United States has is to solemnly and responsibly act as guardian of America’s nuclear arsenal. When asked about this, in relation to a Trump presidency, former Governor Sununu shared this: “There is a framework, a chain of command in order to execute something like that and it goes from the President through the Secretary of Defense, through the leadership of the military and frankly the relationship of those pieces to Congress is also an important part of it. And without going into the formal process, the idea of a spontaneous, irresponsible act in my opinion is not really a possibility. You can have a spontaneous response to a true disaster, the system will respond under those conditions. But it’s a much more complicated process to do something in a mode where the country has not been provoked. And so, that’s not the scenario that worries me the most. The scenario that worries me the most is any president creating a climate of distrust amongst our allies and a climate of fear amongst our enemies would provoke our enemies to do something irrational. The irrational act I’m worried about is an act from our enemies in a climate in which our allies are no longer with us. And then we’ve got to make a decision to go alone and when you make a decision to go alone, that’s when that horrible scenario you talked about may be brought into play.” When asked about whether former Republican Governor of New Mexico Gary Johnson, who is running for President on the Libertarian ticket – with William Weld, a former Republican Governor of Massachusetts as his running mate – might serve as a viable alternative to Republican voters and fiscal conservatives who do not feel well served by Donald Trump, the former White House Chief of Staff had this to say: “Here’s what voters are gonna have to decide amongst the three candidates that you’ve laid out there Trump, Clinton and then the Johnson ticket, they’re going to have to decide whether they can live with a Hillary Clinton presidency. Because there is no scenario I can think of in which there’s a viable alternative to Hillary Clinton other than the Republican nominee. So if people are not uncomfortable with a Hillary Clinton presidency, they might be inclined to go to [Gary] Johnson.” Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said this week that the Bush family is behaving childishly for not attending the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. The Bush family is considered Republican Party royalty. As a friend of the family, Mr. Sununu offered this about them not attending: “I find it perfectly logical that the Bush family has chosen not to attend the convention. I’ve chosen not to go to the convention. The convention is not a convenient place to move around under the current security conditions, among other reasons. And frankly, they had a son in the campaign and for whatever reason, whether its issues or personality, the family has chosen not to be publicly supportive of Mr. Trump and chose not to go to the convention. I understand, you know, people are people. They have feelings. They have sensitivity. … As much as people are saying the Bushs should’ve gotten over it, I think the Trumps should get over it and move on.” Finally, giving his personal thoughts on the current political climate in America, he offered this: “I feel in a way, anger at the anger that has been created by a lack of leadership. And I think one of the reasons we have the political situation we have is people are angry, but they don’t know where to focus their anger. And so it’s always easier to be angrier at your friends than your enemies.” You can find more information and purchase a copy of The Quiet Man: The Indispensable Presidency of George H.W. Bush clicking here You can follow Governor John Sununu on Twitter clicking here You can follow Chris Yandek on Twitter here. Tags: 2016 Presidential Elections, 2016 Presidential Elections Coverage, 2016 Presidential Elections Discussion, Chris Yandek, Chris Yandek Interview, Governor, Governor interviews, Governor John Sununu Interview, Governor John Sununu’s President George Bush Book, Governors, interview, Interviews, Interviews on President George H. W. Bush Administration, Interviews with White House Chief of Staff, Jay Bildstein, Jay Bildstein 2016, John Sanunu on Donald Trump Running for President, John Sununu, John Sununu George Bush Book, John Sununu on 2016 Presidential Election, John Sununu on 2016 Presidential Elections, John Sununu on Donald Trump, John Sununu on George Bush Book, John Sununu on George H. W. Bush Presidency, John Sununu on Nuclear Codes, News 2016, news interviews, News Interviews 2016, Podcast Interview, Politics 2016, Politics Interview, Politics Interviews 2016, Politics Podcast, Reaction to Bush Family Skipping Republican National Convention, Republicans, Republicans 2016, White House Chief of Staff Interviews Recharging Your Batteries Sweet Show! Multitalented Melody Sweets Stars in Call of the Wild! Jungle Burlesque at the Absinthe Spiegeltent at Caesars Palace, Midnight July 30th, Benefiting Siegfried and Roy’s Sarmoti Foundation, Protecting Endangered Animals Worldwide – We Catch up With the Star	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16285
__label__cc	0.738878	0.261122	Home » 2012 » December (Page 2) Mental Health Screening in Schools – In the Wake of Newtown December 16, 2012 11:52 pm / Leave a comment The horror of the mass killings of six faculty and twenty Sandy Hook Elementary School children is still painfully fresh, but it isn’t too soon to begin thinking about what needs to change to try and prevent this from happening again somewhere else. Much of the discussion following this tragedy will rightly focus on adopting some sensible gun regulations. But there are other areas that we need to focus on as well because our propensity for social violence is a broad and multifaceted problem. Our mental health system is another important area to address. Particularly with respect to children, our ability to identify and treat behavioral problems and mental illness needs to be strengthened. One aspect of this involves early mental health screenings. What follows here is a brief and partial list of articles, studies and references on the topic. It’s not too soon to start educating ourselves. MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS: CAPACITY TO IDENTIFY, REFER, MANAGE http://www.nationalguidelines.org/guideline.cfm?guideNum=4-06&gn=d2b44dba-4780-430e-bda1-ef0771de7409 Summary: The purpose of Health, Mental Health and Safety Guidelines for Schools is to help those who influence the health and safety of students and school staff while they are in school, on school grounds, on their way to or from school, and involved in school-sponsored activities. The guidelines recognize that the primary mission of schools is to educate students. Schools also have a responsibility for students’ health and safety while they are at school. By addressing health, mental health, and safety issues (including transportation and motor vehicle safety), schools can improve students’ academic performance today and contribute to their increased longevity and productivity long after they leave school. Excerpt: Early identification of students with, or at risk for, transient or on-going mental disorders, followed by early intervention can mitigate the severity and duration of these problems and reduce personal, social, educational, and financial costs to the student and family and the educational and health systems. Up to three-quarters of U.S. children receiving professional care for a mental health problem obtained services through a school-based program. Citations: Suggested citation, prior to written publication: Taras H, Duncan P, Luckenbill D, Robinson J, Wheeler L, Wooley S: Health, Mental Health and Safety Guidelines for Schools. (2004); Available at http://www.schoolhealth.org Mental Health Screening in Schools http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=schools_and_education&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=43074 Summary: This article discusses the importance of screening students in schools for emotional/behavioral problems. Elements relevant to planning and implementing effective mental health screening in schools are considered. Screening in schools is linked to a broader national agenda to improve the mental health of children and adolescents. Strategies for systematic planning for mental health screening in schools are presented. Careful planning and implementation of mental health screening in schools offers a number of beneﬁts including enhancing outreach and help to youth in need, and mobilizing school and community efforts to promote student mental health while reducing barriers to their learning. When implemented with appropriate family, school, and community involvement, mental health screening in schools has the potential to be a cornerstone of a transformed mental health system. Excerpt: “Youth with internalizing disorders such as depression, anxiety, or suicide ideation are not as easily identiﬁed as those with acting-out or externalizing disorders. Individuals with internalizing conditions comprise a signiﬁcant population; the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey, a nationally representative sample of more than 15,000 high school students throughout the United States, found that in the 12-month period preceding the survey, 16.9% had seriously considered attempting suicide, 16.5% had made a plan for attempting suicide, 8.5% had attempted suicide 1 or more times, and 2.9% had made an attempt requiring medical attention. Citation: Weist MD, Rubin M, Moore E, Adelsheim S, Wrobel G. Mental health screening in schools. J Sch Health. 2007; 77: 53-58. Screening Mental Health Problems in Schools http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu/pdfdocs/policyissues/mhscreeningissues.pdf Summary: This brief highlights the following issues: • How appropriate is large-scale screening for mental health problems? • Will the costs of large-scale mental health screening programs outweigh the benefits? • Are schools an appropriate venue for large-scale screening of mental • Advocates for large-scale MH screening in schools see major benefits to individuals and society of finding many more students with problems in order to treat them before the problems become severe. In citing benefits for screening children and adolescents, the assumption is that those identified will receive effective treatments. Based on this assumption, key benefits claimed are preventing problems from becoming worse and enhancing student success at school, which generates other benefits for students, their families, and their teachers and for the society in terms of future productivity and which reduces costs because there is less need for intensive treatments and special education. In citing benefits for using schools as a venue for public health programs, as compared to other community venues, matters of ready access and reduced costs are stressed, as well as the benefits to schools of having students with problems treated. • Those who oppose large-scale screening raise a host of concerns (i.e., potential costs). For some, there is a fundamental fear that society will mandate such screening and thereby interfere with what should remain a personal family matter and will violate rights to privacy, consent, and parental control. Others are concerned that screening will increase referrals for nonexistent treatment resources and that the dollars budgeted for screening will reduce the dollars allocated for treatment. Still others point to the evidence that available screening methods used in schools produce too many errors (e.g., false positive identifications, inappropriate over-identification of subgroups such as some ethnic groups and boys with externalizing problems and girls with internalizing problems). Relatedly, they argue there will be insufficient follow-up assessment resources to correct for false positive identifications. And, some argue there are significant costs resulting from selffulfilling prophecies and stigmatization. In arguing against using schools, there is the social philosophical argument that mental health is one of those matters that should remain a domain for family, not school, intervention. More pragmatically, it is argued that scarce school time and resources should not be used for matters not directly related to teaching. Others point to the lack of enough competent school personnel to plan, implement, and evaluate large-scale screening. Examples of documents covering the issues: Screening Aimed at Preventing Youth Suicide (2005) by Ellie Ashford for the National School Board Association’s School Board News http://www.nsba.org/site/print.asp?TRACKID=&VID=55&ACTION=PRINT&CID=682&DID=36189 Provides a quick overview for school boards of some of the controversies and places them in the context of current events. Screening for Depression: Recommendations and Rationale (2002) by U.S. Preventive Services Task Force for Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/3rduspstf/depressrr.htm and Screening for Suicide Risk: Recommendation and Rationale (2004) http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/3rduspstf/suicide/suiciderr.htm Citation: The Center is co-directed by Howard Adelman and Linda Taylor and operates under the auspices of the School Mental Health Project, Dept. of Psychology, UCLA, Write: Center for Mental Health in Schools, Box 951563, Los Angeles, CA90095-1563 Phone: (310) 825-3634 Fax: (310) 206-5895 Toll Free: (866) 846-4843 email: smhp@ucla.edu website: http://smhp.psych.ucla.edu Summary: This article discusses the importance of screening students in schools for emotional/behavioral problems. Elements relevant to planning and implementing effective mental health screening in schools are considered. Screening in schools is linked to a broader national agenda to improve the mental health of children and adolescents. Strategies for systematic planning for mental health screening in schools are presented. Excerpt: When implemented with appropriate family, school, and community involvement, mental health screening in schools has the potential to be a cornerstone of a transformed mental health system. Screening, as part of a coordinated and comprehensive school mental health program, complements the mission of schools, identifies youth in need, links them to effective services, and contributes to positive educational outcomes valued by families, schools, and communities. Citations: Weist MD, Rubin M, Moore E, Adelsheim S, Wrobel G. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Center for School Mental Health Analysis and Action, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA. mweist@psych.umaryland.edu Study pushes early identification of kids’ mental health problems http://www.theday.com/article/20120914/NWS12/120919796/1018 Lisa Chedekel, Conn. Health I-Team Writer Publication: theday.com Published 09/14/2012 12:00 AM Updated 09/15/2012 12:13 AM Josue, 15, was born to a 12‐year‐old mother. Exposed to domestic violence and abuse, he struggled in school early on and received a special education evaluation in Grade 4 that found weaknesses in reading, math and writing. By 13, he had been diagnosed with symptoms of bipolar disorder, depression, learning disabilities and attention deficit disorder. Yet, he started high school with limited support services and ended up suspended from school and referred to the juvenile justice system. “Red flags for mental and behavioral health problems are often clear before the end of second grade,” said Andrea Spencer, educational consultant to the Center and dean of the School of Education at PaceUniversity, whose work was funded with a grant from the Connecticut Health Foundation. “It is imperative that we improve screening and identification, so support for these children can be provided before their academic careers are at risk.” Please go to the above URL address to continue reading. Gun Homicide Rate 22 Times Higher Than Other Advanced Nations December 15, 2012 1:34 am / Leave a comment The following was just published in October. Given the events of yesterday it is worth going back to read this again. Clearly we need to reconsider some sensible changes to our gun laws to keep them out of the hands of people who are emotionally unstable, domestic abusers and criminals. We should also have a national law against gun trafficking (crazy that we don’t). From: John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Restricting High-Risk Individuals from Owning Guns Saves Lives http://www.jhsph.edu/news/news-releases/2012/webster-white-paper.html On July 20, a gunman in Aurora, Colorado, used an assault rifle to murder 12 people and wound 58 others. Although this was one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history, all mass shootings account for a small percentage of gun violence that occurs in the U.S. every day. In the past 100 days since the Aurora shooting, an estimated 3,035 Americans have died as a result of gun violence. A new report by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health examines policies and initiatives for reducing gun violence in the U.S. by reforming current gun policies. The report, a synthesis of prior research and analysis conducted by researchers with the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, includes the following key findings: Easy access to firearms with large-capacity magazines facilitates higher casualties in mass shootings. “Right-to-carry” gun laws do not reduce violent crime. Prohibiting high-risk groups from having guns–criminals, perpetrators of domestic violence, youths under age 21, substance abusers, and those with severe mental illnesses–and closing loopholes that enable them to have guns are integral and politically feasible steps to reduce gun violence. Please go to the new report (above) or the full News Release. Another Dark Day Passing I am sick, and angry and so sad all at once. The news of the shootings at Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Connecticut, is deeply disturbing. Twenty little children murdered. My heart breaks for the parents whose children won’t be there for Christmas, for the families of the faculty who died in service to their community and to every person who must bear the burden of what they witnessed in Newtown today. This moment is reserved for those most devastated by the tragedy. The rest of us can only imagine joining with them in their grief and profound loss. But when these days of mourning are over, and a time for sober reflection emerges, don’t let our insane national gun control dialogue crowd out all the other important areas to which our attention must turn: Our failing mental health systems; cyber violence and violence in our entertainment media; child abuse and neglect; bullying; aggressive models for problem solving and the unrestrained hostility in our very public discourse. There is, unfortunately, always a smoking gun in mass shootings but there is never a single direction to look for answers. If we can muster the patience, the persistence and the discipline to look both broadly and deeply into our propensity for violence we may come away with a better understanding of how to change. Let this be the legacy of the children we lost today in Newtown. Government Jobs Not Rebounding As In Past Recessions December 14, 2012 11:00 am / Leave a comment The graph below depicts the rebound in government jobs over the past four recessions. This time it is different. Government jobs aren’t returning. The present financial crisis and austerity budgets at the state level have given governors the green light to radically reduce public sector employment levels in unprecedented ways. This not only hurts our economy, it damages the ability of state and local governments to serve the needs of its citizens. In a prior post I presented original data on state employment data showing the national trend in state austerity budgets. The private sector job growth has already rebounded to pre-recession levels, but has not caught up to where it should be by now. In contrast, government austerity budgets are keeping public sector employment depressed and below pre-recession levels. The graph above and the following article add to this information. State governors should be helping to lead us out of this recession and at the least preserving jobs.] Public-sector austerity in one graph Posted by Ezra Klein at 03:35 PM ET, 06/11/2012 On Friday, I ran some numbers on public-sector employment: Since Obama was elected, the public sector has lost about 600,000 jobs. If you put those jobs back, the unemployment rate would be 7.8 percent. [SNIP] Today, Ben Polak, chairman of the economics department at Yale University, and Peter K. Schott, professor of economics at the Yale School of Management, widen the lens, with similar results: There is something historically different about this recession and its aftermath: in the past, local government employment has been almost recession-proof. This time it’s not. [SNIP] Go to like to read the rest of Ezra Klein’s article. Thank you. Clearing the Air – We’ve Made Progress in Fighting Pollution December 14, 2012 10:47 am / 1 Comment on Clearing the Air – We’ve Made Progress in Fighting Pollution Government regulation is so demonized today in part because it is a victim of its own success. Who needs air pollution standards when skies are blue and the air smells sweet? Aren’t federal government regulations just a drag on the economy? As progress is made in cleaning up the air we breath, push back to dismantle the regulations that have been working becomes greater sometimes. The same powers of industry that created unbearable air quality in the past are pressuring Congress today to ease up on clean air emissions standards. We must hold the line and, in fact, move forward with improved standards. Below are some picture that tell a story all by themselves, followed by a reminder that the relatively clean air and water we enjoy today was a hard fought bipartisan victory thanks, in part, to Richard Nixon. This post began with the following note from a friend: My Urban Policy studies lead me to these websites. My favorite is Planetizen. If you are at all interested in how the commonwealth works, give these a look. Anyway, here’s a look at Pittsburgh before government regulation of industrial pollution. This is what unfettered capitalism will do. The Republicans of today would have us believe that regulation is the devil. Shall we go back to theEden that was America? http://www.theatlanticcities.com/arts-and-lifestyle/2012/06/what-pittsburgh-looked-when-it-decided-it-had-pollution-problem/2185 What Pittsburgh Looked Like When It Decided It Had a Pollution Problem by Mark Barnes – June 5, 2012 In 1941, influenced by a similar policy introduced in St. Louis four years earlier, the city of Pittsburgh passed a law designed to reduce coal production in pursuit of cleaner air. Not willing to cripple such an important part of the local economy, it promised to clean the air by using treated local coal. The new policy ended up not being fully enacted until after World War II. While the idea was a small step in the right direction, other factors ultimately helped improvePittsburgh’s notorious air quality. Natural gas was piped into the city. Regional railroad companies switched from coal to diesel locomotives. And, ultimately, the collapse of the iron and steel production industries in the 1980s led to rapidly improved air quality leading into the 21st century. Control of coal smoke made it possible to clean soot-covered buildings and to re-plant hillsides, helping provide the city a look it could hardly envision in the depths of its industrial heyday. Below, a look at downtown Pittsburgh between 1940 and 1945, courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh’s Smoke Control Lantern Slide Collection: [note: Only a small selection from website appear here. Go to the website to see all the photographs.] Remarks on Signing the Clean Air Amendments of 1970. [excerpt] The year 1970 has been a year of great progress in this field. In February, you will recall that I submitted the most comprehensive message on the environment ever proposed by a President of the United States. During the year, there have been some administrative actions, some legislative actions. Time, however, has been required for the Congress to consider the proposals of the administration and, finally, to agree on the legislation that will be sent to the President for signature. This is the most important piece of legislation, in my opinion, dealing with the problem of clean air that we have this year and the most important in our history. It provides, as you know, for provisions dealing with fuel emissions and also for air quality standards, and it provides for ‘the additional enforcement procedures which are absolutely important in this particular area. How did this come about? It came about by the President proposing. It came about by a bipartisan effort represented by the Senators and Congressmen, who are here today, in acting. Senator Randolph, Senator Cooper, and Congressman Springer represent both parties and both Houses of the Congress. [snip] And if, as we sign this bill in this room, we can look back and say, in the Roosevelt Room on the last day of 1970, we signed a historic piece of legislation that put us far down the road toward a goal that Theodore Roosevelt, 70 years ago, spoke eloquently about: a goal of clean air, clean water, and open spaces for the future generations of America. Read more at the American Presidency Project:Richard Nixon: Remarks on Signing the Clean Air Amendments of 1970. A Flat Tax Payroll Deduction Might Save Social Security DATA DRIVEN POINT OF VIEW: Don’t be fooled. Discussions about raising or lowering Federal Income Taxes has little to do with Social Security and Medicare, which are separately funded by payroll deductions. Is there a funding crisis for Social Security and Medicare? A long term problem, yes. A crisis, no. Can America continue to afford these programs given the number of baby boomer retirements? The answer is yes, of course we can. We are the wealthiest county on Earth. Nations with far less wealthier already provide their citizens with much more generous benefits. The reason we feel the funding punch is that the structure we’ve enacted to pay for federal insurance benefits is so regressive. The table below makes obvious that wealthy Americans currently share almost none of the burden for Social Security and Medicare benefits. The problem is that wealth is concentrated at the top of the income scale while payroll deductions are disproportionately collected from the bottom of the scale. We can continue to raise the contribution rates but this only hurts those who earn the least. We can keep raising the income cap but this only marginally increases the number of people pay into the system. We could institute a flat tax for Social Security and Medicare. The table below shows what this might generate in premiums at the current 7.65% rate of payroll deductions. This plan would clearly generate more revenue than needed for current benefits. A flat payroll tax of significantly less than the current 7.65% would be all that is needed to fully fund Social Security and Medicare. It would reduce payroll taxes for the majority of Americans. Payroll Taxes for Social Security and Medicare Total Income from Wages Amount Currently Deducted Contribution As a % of Income Contribution if deductions were based on a flat tax This Segment Represents 57 million households There are at least 100,000 household in this segment $10,000,000,000 0.000084% This table assumes that income from wages for the wealthy are at least $110,100, which is the income cap for 2012, and assumes they are not self-employed. Income from investments are not subject to payroll deductions. Employers pay an additional 7.65% in payroll taxes for their employees. The self employed also pay corresponding more in payroll taxes for their Social Security and Medicare benefits. Additional payroll deductions for unemployment and disability insurance may also apply in certain states and with certain individual. These programs exist for everyone, and everyone should contribute according to their means. Those who are fortunate enough not to need the benefits still have a moral obligation to assure a minimal level of care to those less fortunate, and a social obligation to contributed to those who gave a lifetime of labor creating the fabulous wealth that the wealthy have accumulated. Originally posted 14th June by Brian T. Lynch Map Pinpoints Where Children Are Being Sexually Abused. Why Aren’t We INVESTIGATING? The trial and conviction of former Penn State football coach, Jerry Sandusky, for child sexual abuse allowed many people to hear for the first time the graph details that makes these crimes so repulsive. Civil hearings on child sexual abuse cases usually take place in closed courtrooms for the protection of these young victims. In this case, however, the victims are now adults, the trial was public and very high profile. People paid attention and learned just how violent these child rapes are. This made it easy to see just how destructive these betrayals of a child’s trust are and why it scars children for life. This may be a good point to consider the scope of the child sexual abuse problem. Perhaps the information presented below will have greater resonance than when first posted a number of months ago. Each red dot on the map below is a Sandusky type horror story for some innocent child in America. So what are we going to do about it??? The map below shows the locations of hundreds of thousands of criminals trafficking in child abuse images… and the locations of many of their U.S. child victims. Produced by the Wyoming Attorney General’s Office, and based on investigations by Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) law enforcement task forces, it was introduced as evidence in U.S. House and Senate hearings in 2007-2008. The red dots represent unique computers seen by the ICACs trafficking in video and photos of very young children being raped. These images are often called “child pornography,” but they are actually crime scene recordings. Most of these children wait for a rescue that will never come. They are in extreme danger and law enforcement knows where they are. Investigators go home every night knowing there are thousands of children out there beyond their reach, because they have not been given the resources they need to rescue them. See The Ed Show Segment on this issue Watch a Video Plea From Children Go to Protect for More Detailed Information View my post on Child Fatality Risk Factors (Because child sexual abuse is not the only problem our children face every day) ← Older posts Newer posts →	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16288
__label__cc	0.69171	0.30829	Victoria Milan Тоҷикистон Виктория Милан дар муносибатҳои миёнаравӣ боқӣ мемонад? ҳисси эҳсосот ва ҳаяҷонбахшӣ? тасаввуротро тасаввур кунед - коре пайдо кунед! 100% аноним ва ҳушдор. ҳамроҳ барои озод! санҷед star star star star star охирин шарҳҳо freelocaldates KY C???????? ????????????????? C???????? ????????????????? ???? ? DIN ?????? ???????? ?????? ???????????? ???????? ??? ????????????? ? ?????????? ??????. ???????? ??????? ????????? ??????????, ??? ?? ??????? ??????? ????????? ???????????????? ????????? ?????????, ??????????? ? ???????????? ????????. ? ????? ?? ????????? ???????? ????????????? ??????? ?? ?????, ????????? ???????????????? ?????? ????????. ? ??????????? ??????? ??????????? ???????? ??????????? ????????? ? ????????? ?????????????????, ? ?????????????????? ????? ?????? ??????? ??????? ?? ?????? ? ???? ??????. ??????? ??????????? ????? ???????????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????????? ????????. ??????, ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ?????? ????????? ? ??????? ? ????? ??????, ? ?? ? ? ??????. ??? ???????? ???????, ????? ???????????????? ?????????? ?? ???????????? ????????? DIN, ? ???? ???? ????????? ??? ? ???????, ? ???????????????? ????????, ? ????????? ??? ????????????????? ??????????, ?? «????? ?? ??????». ????? ?? ?????????? ?????????????????? ????????????????? ????????? DIN ? ????, ??????????? ?? ????????????????? ???????? ? ??????????? ?? ?? ???????? ?????????? – ?????? ?? ?????? ????, ???????? ? ?????????? ???????. ???? ?? ?????? ???????, ? ??????? ???????? ????? ?????????? ??? ?????????. ? ???? ?????? ????????? ?? ?????????? ???? ???? ???????????? ?????????? ????? ???????? ?????????? ??? ??????? ??????? ?????????? ??????. http://www.uesk.org/katalog/elektrodvigateli/kranovye-elektrodvigateli/mtn412-6/ C???????? ????????????????? C???????? ????????????????? ???? ? DIN ?????? ???????? ?????? ???????????? ???????? ??? ????????????? ? ?????????? ??????. ???????? ??????? ????????? ??????????, ??? ?? ??????? ??????? ????????? ???????????????? ????????? ?????????, ??????????? ? ???????????? ????????. ? ????? ?? ????????? ???????? ????????????? ??????? ?? ?????, ????????? ???????????????? ?????? ????????. ? ??????????? ??????? ??????????? ???????? ??????????? ????????? ? ????????? ?????????????????, ? ?????????????????? ????? ?????? ??????? ??????? ?? ?????? ? ???? ??????. ??????? ??????????? ????? ???????????? ?????? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????????? ????????. ??????, ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ?????? ????????? ? ??????? ? ????? ??????, ? ?? ? ? ??????. ??? ???????? ???????, ????? ???????????????? ?????????? ?? ???????????? ????????? DIN, ? ???? ???? ????????? ??? ? ???????, ? ???????????????? ????????, ? ????????? ??? ????????????????? ??????????, ?? «????? ?? ??????». ????? ?? ?????????? ?????????????????? ????????????????? ????????? DIN ? ????, ??????????? ?? ????????????????? ???????? ? ??????????? ?? ?? ???????? ?????????? – ?????? ?? ?????? ????, ???????? ? ?????????? ???????. ???? ?? ?????? ???????, ? ??????? ???????? ????? ?????????? ??? ?????????. ? ???? ?????? ????????? ?? ?????????? ???? ???? ???????????? ?????????? ????? ???????? ?????????? ??? ??????? ??????? ?????????? ??????. Бештар freelocaldates Hi I'm peter, looking for a pussy to fuck cougarcrush KY What do you feel when you tidy up your home? Surely you are bewildered with a feeling of pride, fulfillment, and also pleasure, as if you went to a HEALTH CLUB salon, did a new manicure or wash your car. Our business offers you to existing yourself as well as your family members a real gift - to purchase house cleanings Brooklyn and get genuine pleasure without doing anything! Our cleansing firm cleanses apartments in NJ. Maids Midtown put points in order, completely dry as well as wet clean, eliminate dust, wash dishes, home windows and floorings, iron clothes and remake a lot of other house chores. Take advantage of one-time services house maids manhattan or enter into an irreversible service agreement. Getting our cleaning company such as house maids, you conserve your time and physical strength. We know how to defeat the really stubborn discolorations on any kind of surfaces, destroy corrosion as well as offer the furniture its original look. We supply only certified housemaids with experience in our cleansing business, which was trained in our firm, mosted likely to actual customers for different sorts of cleaning, and has experience in the family. In our work, we use only hypoallergenic and secure cleaning agents, so if you have kids or pet dogs, you can not stress. You simply need to leave a request to ensure that we can clarify and tell you everything carefully. Call us, contact us and also we will certainly place your residence in order. Part time maid New-York - maid service new jersey дӯсти ҷустуҷӯ дӯстдоштаи дӯстдоштаи тоҷик тоқат мекунад, бо одамон шинос аст ва муҳаббатро пайдо мекунад. камераи зинда I am live	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16289
__label__wiki	0.938482	0.938482	Tessa Thompson Joins The Marvel Universe In ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Tessa Thompson (Creed) has entered the Marvel Universe. The young actress first will star opposite Natalie Portman in Alex Garland’s Annihilation then segue to the third installment of the Thor franchise as Chris Hemsworth’s love interest. That film is expected to start production at the end of July. Sources tell Deadline that Thompson’s character in Thor: Ragnarok will be a kind of superhero and will appear in other Marvel films as well. Thompson is a regular opposite Anthony Hopkins on HBO’s drama series Westworld, which resumed production this week. Thor: Ragnarok is being directed by Taika Waititi and also stars Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jamie Alexander, Mark Ruffalo and Lou Ferrigno. It’s scheduled for release November 3, 2017. Thompson, who has been hotter than hot (Dear White People, Selma), is repped by Greene & Associates Talent Agency, Mosaic and Jackoway Tyerman. This article was printed from https://deadline.com/2016/04/tessa-thompson-joins-the-marvel-universe-thor-ragnarok-1201735551/	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16290
__label__cc	0.733584	0.266416	You are here: Home › boxing Tag Archives \| boxing Watch Mayweather vs Pacquiao for Free By DaVe McComb on May 1, 2015 in Living The Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao fight this Saturday, May 2, in Las Vegas is being billed as the fight of the century. It’s already set all kinds of records and it hasn’t even happened yet. Both Mayweather and Pacquiao will earn the largest payout in the history of sports. Mayweather was originally estimated to be making $120 million and Pacquiao $80 million, but those numbers have been revised upward to $180 million and $100 million. To earn this kind of money, ticket prices were at a record high – seats started at $1,500 before prices were raised and the match sold out. Closed circuit TV sessions were priced at a record high of $150 a seat and also quickly sold out. Pay-per-view at home is also at a record high – $99.99, breaking the previous record of $74.99. Well, get ready to laugh at our neighbors to the North for the insane amounts of money they’ll be spending. Jajaja! No $100 pay-per-view for us! In Argentina, we get to watch the boxing match absolutely free on Public TV (Canal 7) or on the Golden channel on DirecTV. (No word on what was actually paid for rights to the fight in Argentina, but it should help the Kirchneristas boost their appeal ahead of the elections.) It’s not clear if the fight will air on the TV Pública website like the World Cup did, but if so, I hope they’re blocking access for anyone outside of Argentina. If not, that site is definitely going down. This might be the first time that people actually want a VPN to make it look like they’re inside the country. So, thanks, Cristina… ¡Boxeo para todos! Oh yeah… If you’re trying to figure out what to do with the $100 you just saved, you might want to consider donating to a domestic abuse shelter. Seems Mayweather is not a very nice guy with a long history of domestic abuse problems and very little repentance. Seems a shame that he’s making that much money.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16294
__label__cc	0.583243	0.416757	Discovering France Exploring French Landscapes, History, Art, and Culture Biking in Touraine In the Footsteps of the Impressionists Tag Archives: Protestant Reformation The Amboise Conspiracy Posted on January 13, 2012 by Paul Davenport Biking from Montlouis-sur-Loire to Amboise, 12 km At the end of last week’s article we enjoyed a winetasting with M. and Mme. Blot at the Domaine de la Taille aux Loups in Husseau, on the east side of Montlouis-sur-Loire. Leaving the domaine, we head east along the Loire à Vélo to Amboise, where we visit the great royal chateau. To see our route from Montlouis to Amboise in Google Maps, click here. Next week we walk up the rue Victor Hugo in Amboise to Clos-Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life. Our route to Amboise is not along the Loire River, but up on the plateau, where we share the quiet roads with an occasional car. After a few kilometers we pass by the Aquarium du Val de Loire, which offers a convenient rest stop (02 47 23 44 44) for those who did not stop at the Taille aux Loups. I was biking this route in the summer of 2008, planning our Western student bike trip for 2009, and looking for a rest stop on a rural plateau with no cafes. I came around a corner and there was the Aquarium, to which we had taken our young children during summer vacations in Touraine two decades earlier. I had always come to it from the opposite direction by car, and indeed I had forgotten its existence. What a surprise to find it there on my proposed bike route. The perfect rest stop: if you don’t want to visit the aquarium, buy a snack at the counter, to thank them for the use of the washrooms. This is one of the largest fresh water aquariums in Europe, with some 10,000 fish in 4 million litres of water. The emphasis is on fresh water European fish, but there are also various exhibits involving sea water, including tropical fish, a coral reef, and sharks. My favorite fish is the silure, which looks like an enormous catfish out of a horror movie. They hang out on river bottoms and seem too fat too float or swim. They can be up to 2.5 m long and weigh up to 250 kg, making them the largest fresh water fish in Europe. They do well in the lower reaches (below 400 m altitude) of the significant rivers of France, including the Loire, where a reduction in oxygen (through pollution) can make life difficult for other sorts of fish. 1. Silure for dinner? Leaving the Aquarium, our route continues east, and then turns south, down the hill past the impressive St. Denis Church to the Loire and Amboise. From the bridge over the Loire we have a fine view of the Chateau Royal d’Amboise. 2. The Chateau d'Amboise In the late 15th century the chateau was substantially expanded and renovated by Kings Louis X1 (who reigned 1461-1483) and Charles VIII (1483-1498). The work occurred just before the adoption by French monarchs of the new Italian Renaissance styles in architecture, and Amboise maintained the look of a fortified castle. Later renovations by Francois I (1515-1547) and Henri II (1547-1559) introduced the new Italian styles to the chateau. Our visit inside the chateau takes us to the Royal Apartments, which include a magnificent Council Room, with a double vaulted stone ceiling and beautiful fireplaces at either end. 3. Students from the Western 2010 bike trip gather in front of a roaring fire in the Council Room on a very cold spring day. The large round tower on the left of the main building in photo 2 is the Minimes Tower, housing a large spiral ramp which was used to bring horses with carts up to the terrace to provision the chateau. The views from the tower are spectacular. Looking west we can see the Boys’ Tower at the western edge of the Chateau terrace, the roofs of Amboise, and the massive St-Denis Church in the background. 4. Looking west from the Minimes Tower at the Chateau d'Amboise Looking east, we can the Loire winding down to Amboise. 5. Students on the Western 2010 bike trip on the Minimes Tower. The beauty and peace of the chateau and the surrounding town may make it hard to imagine that they were the site of cruel, bloody events that took place here in March, 1560. Those events have left their mark on French history. Religion and politics should not be mixed. When they are, the result is often disorder and bloodshed, as France experienced in the seven decades after 1560. Among the best known events of the Religious Wars in France are the Saint-Barthélemy Massacre in 1572, and the assassinations of two kings, Henry III in 1589, and his son Henry IV in 1610. A portent of all this bloodshed were some brutal killings in Amboise in March, 1560, which had both religious and political dimensions. On the religious side, it all began with a German priest, Martin Luther, who in 1517 wrote his “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” (also known as the Ninety-Five Theses); he may have affixed them to the door of the church in Wittenberg, although many modern historians believe he simply sent them to his bishop. Luther argued that salvation could not be bought, but only achieved through faith in Jesus Christ. He wrote that our knowledge of God comes from the Bible, thereby disputing the authority of the Pope and his hierarchy. These views were offensive to the established Church, and in 1521 Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X. Today in Germany there are roughly equal numbers of Roman Catholics and Protestants. Luther’s ideas travelled quickly through Germany in a 16th century version of social networking involving pamphlets and ballads.[1] His doctrines also spread to other countries in Europe. In France, the Reform movement was led by John Calvin, born in 1509 in Picardy. In university, Calvin was attracted to humanism, and then to religious Reform. His views forced him to flee to Switzerland in 1535. The following year he published his Institutes of the Christian Religion, setting out his Reform doctrines. Despite intermittent persecution, the number of Reformers or Protestants in France (or Huguenots, as their enemies called them) grew rapidly after 1850, especially among the nobility. The criticism of each other’s church by Reformers and Roman Catholics was often bitter and extreme; each sought control of the French state as a means to control the rival church. These tensions came to a head with the sudden death of Henry II, after a jousting accident in June, 1559. His son became king at just 15 years of age, as François II. Through an arrangment concluded when he was four, François was married at age 14 to Marie Stuart, Queen of Scots (later imprisoned and put to death by Elizabeth I of England). When he became King, two of his wife’s uncles, the duc de Guise and his younger brother, the cardinal de Lorraine, became his chief advisors. They quickly took control of the government. The painting below of the duc de Guise is by François Clouet, the official painter of King François I. 6. François, duc de Guise. The Guises became known for their violent suppression of Protestantism. The House of Guise was found by Claude de Lorraine (1495-1550), a valiant military commander under François I, who in appreciation gave him the title of 1st duc de Guise. In 1525 the duc de Guise suppressed a revolt of Anabaptists, a Protestant sect, in a massacre in Saverne, Alsace, which earned him the title of “the Great Butcher.” His son François, the 2nd duc de Guise, organized the massacre at Amboise in 1560. François’ son Henri, the 3rd duc de Guise, played a role in the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre of Protestants in Paris in 1572, and later founded and led the Catholic League (la Ligue Catholique), devoted to the anti-Protestant cause. He was assassinated at Blois in 1588 on order of King Henry III, a story we will tell when our bike trips arrive in Blois. In early 1560 members of the Huguenot nobility began plotting to kidnap the King, and return him to power after they had removed the Guises. A meeting of the conspirators was held in Nantes on Feb. 1, 1560. The plot was discovered and the King was moved from Blois to Amboise, where the Chateau was more defensible. The conspirators were poorly organized, and an attack on March 17, at the gate of the Bons-hommes under the Heurtault Tower on the north side of the Chateau, was quickly repulsed by the troops of les Guises. 7. The Heurtault Tower, with the gate of the Bons-homme. In the distance, at the top of the wall, is the St-Hubert Chapel. There followed a bloody massacre of all the conspirators and their troops. The town quickly ran out of gallows and began hanging Huguenots from the balconies of the chateau. Others were decapitated. “The cobblestones of the interior courtyards were red and sticky from the blood of decapitated nobles.” [2] An engraving by Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrisin from 1570 shows the horror of the scene enacted in Amboise over several days. Tortorel and Perrisin were Protestant artists in Lyon. In 1570 they published in Geneva a collection of engravings on the religious conflicts in France between 1559 and 1570. [3] 8. Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrisin, "The Execution of the Conspirators of Amboise" (1570). The engraving shows the north wall of the chateau, as seen from the direction of Photo 2. In addition to the troops present, there are a good many spectators, including, near the lower right corner, a woman with a young boy. The Huguenots are to be taught a lesson. Two men are being thrown from the chateau balcony with ropes around their necks. Five more are already hanging, along with a sixth on a gallows in the center of the engraving. The latter is the leader of the conspiracy, Jean de Barry, lord of la Renaudie manor in Périgord. La Renaudie was killed in a skirmish on March 19 in the Forest of Chateau-Renault as he headed toward Amboise with a small troop. His body was displayed as the engraving shows, and then chopped into five pieces, each hung at a gate to the chateau. In the left foreground, a gallows carries three heads; headless bodies lie nearby. A Huguenot Captain, M. de Villemongis, about to be decapitated with a sword, seems ready for his fate, as he washes his hands in the blood of those who have gone before him. [4] This last figure reappears a century later, as the great French historian Jules Michelet describes how those who had fought with the Huguenot forces faced death that day in Amboise: “Dying, they raised their loyal hands to God. One of them, M. de Villemongis, dipped his in the blood of his comrades already executed, and raising his red hands, cried in a strong voice, ‘This is the blood of your children, Lord! You will avenge it!'”[5] His words foretold 70 years of cruel religious wars in France. [1] “How Luther went viral,” The Economist, December 17, 2011, pp. 39-41. [2] Jacques Debû-Bridel, La Conjuration d’Amboise (Paris: Editions Mondiales, 1963), pp. 203. “Le pavé des cours intériueres était tout rouge et gluant du sang des gentilshommes décapités.” [3] A remarkable exposition of the work of Tortorel and Perrisin was held in 2006 at the Musée de la Rénaissance at Chateau d’Ecouen north of Paris, in collaboration with the Bibliothèque National de France. The title was D’encre et de Sang – Les guerres de Religion gravées par Tortorel et Perrissin (Ink and Blood – the Wars of Religion engraved by Tortorel and Perrissin). A summary of the exposition can be downloaded from the museum website, musee-renaissance.fr. [4] Villemongis is identified by Nicolas Le Roux, Les Guerres de Réligion 1559-1629 (Editions Belin, 2009), pp. 42-43, where the engraving in Photo 4 is also shown, although in a mirror image (left and right are reversed, as compared to Photo 4). [5] Jules Michelet, Histore de France, le XVIe siècle, II, Un siècle partagé, La Réforme (Lausanne, Editions Rencontre, 1966), p. 350. “Ils levaient en mourant leurs mains loyales à Dieu. L’un d’eux, M. de Villemongis, trempa les siennes dans le sang de ses amies déjà exécutés, et, les élevant toutes rouges, cria d’une voix forte: ‘C’est le sang de tes enfants, Seigneur! Tu en feras la vengeance!'” Photograph 1 is from the website http://www.magicsilure.fr. Photographs 6 and 8 are from the Wikipedia Commons, commons.wikimedia.org. All other photographs were taken by the author. Posted in Biking in Touraine, Chateaux of the Loire, French History \| Tagged Aquarium du Val de Loire, Biking in the Loire Valley, Chateau d'Amboise, Execution of the Conspirators of Amboise, François Duc de Guise, French Huguenots, Jacques Tortorel and Jean Perrissin, King François II of France, Marie Stuart Queen of Scots, Protestant Reformation, Silure fish, The University of Western Ontario, Wars of Religion in France \| 3 Replies Murder in the Forest A Kidnapping at the Chateau Chateaux of the Loire Art History Blog Culture and Stuff Everday Lives of the French Impressionists Herodote La Tribune de l'Art Le petit vélo de Sylvain Notes on the arts and visual culture Patrimoine en blog Visiting Touraine Visiting Tours	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16295
__label__wiki	0.553878	0.553878	Destination Yisra'el A Blog for the Lost Ten Tribers Awakening to their New Reality BibleSearchers - Tracking the Imminent Arrival of the Messiah of Israel Kol ha Tor - Regathering of 12-Tribe Israel Bible Revelations Brit-Am - Identifying the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel Israel in Prophecy Jews and Joes Robert Mock 2012 and the Mayan End of the Age Aliyah, Returning to the Land of Israel American Israelite Nation Apocalypse Daniel, Zechariah and Revelation Arabs and the Jews Archeology in Israel Archeology of the Lost Tribes of Israel Britain as Ephraim, the Lost Tribe Buddhism and the Lost Ten Israelites Catastrophes around the World Christianity and Israel Civil War in Israel Coming of the Messiah Creation to Zionist Israel Current Affairs in Israel Earth Change Catastrophes Eating and Dining with the Creator Economic World Collapse Famous Lost Israelites and Jews Festivals of the Lord G-d's Creation Genealogy and Genetics of Jews and Israelites Global America Global Islam Global Israel Global Russia and China Global Warming and Famine Historical and Natural Landmarks in Israel History of the Lost Tribes of Israel Holocaust of the Jews Illuminati, Masons and Secret Orders Iran and the Jews Israel and Global World Order Israeli Settlements and the Homeland for the Lost Tribes of Israel Jerusalem and the Middle East Jesus (Yahshua) the Messiah Jewish Anti-Semitism Jewish Nazarenes Jewish Parashahs Judaism's Covenant Labor Zionism Messiah Millennial State of Israel Messianic Israel Mystical Judaism and the Zohar Native American Hebrew Nation Nibiru and Planet X Nuclear, Scalar, Biological and Conventional Warfare Obama White House and Israel Orthodox Jewish Life Palestinian State and Israel Prince and Princess of David Redemption of Israel Return of the Lost Tribes of Israel Returning to Judaism Revelation's Seals and Plagues Rome and the Jews Rome and the Lost Tribes of Israel Rome and the Vatican Sabbatean Jewish Anti-Jew Sages of Israel Samaria and Judea Science and Technology in Israel Spiritual Quest at the Time of the End Temples of Solomon and Herod Third Temple of the Jews Time of the End Treasures of Solomon's and Herod's Temple Trump White House and Israel War against Israel Zionist State of Israel The Emeq HaMelekh - The Copper Scroll, the Anointing Oil, the Temple Incense and the Ashes of the Red Heifer The Emeg HaMalekh - “The Hiding of the Ark, the Furnishings and the High Priest Garments with the Sanctuary of the Congregation The Emeq Ha Melekh (Valley of the Kings) The Hebrew Account of Hiding the Ark, the Sanctuary and the Treasures of Solomon’s Temple Hurricane Harvey arrives at Houston with Warnings from the G-d of Israel that Sudden Destruction will come upon Planet Earth Gog from the Land of Magog is the Incarnation of Assyrian King Sennacherib Our Patriarch Abraham watched one of the Greatest Catastrophes on Planet Earth consume Sodom and Gomorrah The Prophet Isaiah was Correct: The Earth at the End of Days will “Stagger like a Drunkard” The Messianic Rising Mega-Trends are now Enveloping the Whole World Is the Yellowstone Caldera preparing to become part of the Messianic Process of Redemption Older Archives « Parashat Va'yechi: “The Evil That Will Befall Israel in ‘The Last Days’” \| Main \| Welcome to a New Era: the Age of the Messiah is Now upon Us! » First Temple Era Artifacts discovered near West Jerusalem Looking towards Jerusalem from the West Israeli archeologists recently discovered a temple with sacred artifacts that were over 2,750 years old. This was during the era of King Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem and before it was destroyed in 586 BCE; but after it was build around 1000 BCE. The artifacts were discovered in the Tel Motza archeological site, located in a mound where a new section of the Tel-Aviv Highway known as Highway 1 was expected to be build about five miles west of Jerusalem. According to a recent interview with the directors of the Israeli Antiquities Authority; Anna Eirikh, Dr. Hamoudi Khalaily and Shua Kisilevitz, we learned: Eirikh, Khalaily and Kisilevitz Interview – “The ritual building at Tel Motza is an unusual and striking find, in light of the fact that there are hardly any remains of ritual buildings of the period in Judae at the time of the First Temple… The uniqueness of the structure is even more remarkable because of the vicinity of the site's proximity to the capital city of Jerusalem, which acted as the Kingdom's main sacred center at the time…Among other finds, the site has yielded pottery figurines of men, one of them bearded, whose significance is still unknown.” A clay figurine identified as a Cultic Saddled Horse from Tel Mazah shown by Israeli Archeologist Anna Ririkh (AFP Photo / Menahem Kahana) Tel Motza and the surrounding region are renowned for their prime archaeological importance. Many finds have previously been uncovered at the site, from a variety of different periods. The prime reason for the excavations was the identity of the site with the Biblical settlement called “Mazah” identified in the Book of Joshua that was built the tribal borders of Judah and Benjamin in Joshua 18:26. There they did find a settlement that included a large public building, another large structure identified as a storehouse and numerous silos in the vicinity. On this evidence the Israeli archeologists then identified that these buildings were run by high-ranking political officials and used to house grain supplies for the capital city of Jerusalem. As identified by the archeologists: Israeli Antiquities Authority – “The current excavation has revealed part of a large structure, from the early days of the monarchic period (Iron Age IIA). The walls of the structure are massive, and it includes a wide, east-facing entrance, conforming to the tradition of temple construction in the ancient Near East: the rays of the sun rising in the east would have illuminated the object placed inside the temple first, symbolizing the divine presence within. A square structure which was probably an altar was exposed in the temple courtyard, and the cache of sacred vessels was found near the structure. The assemblage includes: Ritual pottery vessels, with fragments of chalices (bowls on a high base which were used in sacred rituals), Decorated ritual pedestals, and a Number of pottery figurines of two kinds: the first, small heads in human form (anthropomorphic) with a flat headdress and curling hair; the second, figurines of animals (zoomorphic) – mainly of harnessed animals. The find of the sacred structure together with the accompanying cache of sacred vessels, and especially the significant coastal influence evident in the anthropomorphic figurines, still require extensive research.” Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Anna Ririkh at a Temple Platform or Altar (AFP Photo / Menahem Kahana) In other archeological research sites in Israel excavated in the past, they also have noticed certain ritual figurines, vessels and chalices that included pottery figurines and sacred objects, and have uniformly been identified as personal or domestic ritual objects. Yet there was a difference at the site at Tel Motza for here was something different; A ritual platform plus the Identity of a temple outside the Solomon’s Temple located in Jerusalem. As the archeological site directors affirmed: Israeli Antiquities Authority directors – “The finds recently discovered at Tel Motza provide rare archaeological evidence for the existence of temples and ritual enclosures in the Kingdom of Judah in general, and in the Jerusalem region in particular, prior to the religious reforms throughout the kingdom at the end of the monarchic period (at the time of Hezekiah and Isaiah), which abolished all ritual sites, concentrating ritual practices solely at the Temple in Jerusalem.” During the days of King Hezekiah, there was a religious reformation under the influence of the “Prophet Isaiah, the prophet of Catastrophes”, they both witnessed the wrath of the Divine for the apostasy of the Northern Kingdom of Israel when the it was destroyed by King Sargon from Assyria in 720 BCE and nineteen years later, the last siege and captivity of the Israelites left just prior to the invasion and siege of Jerusalem by King Sennacherib in 701 BCE that was aborted by the direct intervention of the Divine with a “blast from the heavens” incinerated the entire Assyrian army when their metal shields, lances, spears and armor became a “ground” that attracted a multi-million volt bolide of fire from the heavens and Jerusalem was divinely spared. Clay Anthropomorphic Figurines of Human Heads at Tel Motza Prior to this period of the great apostasy in the Kingdom of Judah, the Northern Ten Tribes of the House of Israel rebelled against the G-d of Israel. They refused to worship in the Temple of Solomon, refused to accept the divinely appointed high priest and Levites to be their temple priests, refused to accept the Jewish prophetic warnings, and opened their own sacred sites and began again the worship of the Golden Calf after the disastrous rebellion by the “Erev Rav” just before Moses received the Ten Commands laser engraved on two stone tables, and refused to accept the Torah Law judges of Judah, later known as the Pharisee and the Rabbanim, to be their legal judiciaries of Torah Law. They, the Northern Ten Tribes later formed their own pagan cults and apostate temples in Dan and in Samaria, the later located in the region called the “disputed territories” in the region of Shomron today. Without the inflow of pilgrims coming in from the Northern Tribes to the yearly festivals, the unifying significance upon the people even in Judea was affected aversely. The apostasy of the Northern Kingdom began to creep into the Southern Kingdom of Jerusalem. This cultic site was one of numerous sites that peaked during the reign of King Manasseh. The spreading of cultic sites throughout Judea diluted the influence of the Solomon Temple culture upon G-d chosen peoples. According to the ancient histories in the TaNaKh (Old Testament), King Hezekiah abolished idolatry in the Kingdom of Judah, by destroying the high place (bamot) and the “bronze serpent” (Nehushtan) made by Moses when the G-d of Israel punished the Children of Israel for their rebellion against going across the Jordan into the Promised Land (Numbers 21:8). It was later used later as an object of idolatrous worship (2 Kings 18:4). The worship of HaShem was again centralized at the Jerusalem Temple of Solomon, and King Hezekiah reinstituted the Passover Festival (2 Chronicles 30:5, 10, 13, 26). As we are beginning to see, the archeological data that is now being revealed in multiple sites across the Land of Israel states one relevant truth. Through a covenant relationship and also through apostasy, the presence of both the Jewish and the Lost Ten Tribes of the House of Israel will eventually become an irrevocable truth. Since the days of the Sumerians, when Abraham was first given the call to go to the “land of promise”, the presence of Abraham and his descendants can no longer be disputed. The spiritual fight to corrupt the covenant relationship between G-d and the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has been ongoing for over three thousand years. According to the Chumash, according to the rabbinic commentators, G-d’s covenant with Israel was a covenant that could not be broken, even though there was a party not deserving of it being fulfilled for all eternity. Yet, HaSatan and the forces of evil will continue to lead us to believe that if we fail and break the covenantal demands, it’s over for us. That’s not true. For the G-d of Israel has promised that even if the Jews and the Lost Ten Tribes of the House of Israel are both guilty of breaking the covenant, yet, at the end of time, He will honor His Holy Name, and we both will be redeemed; at least those who desire to be included as one of G-d’s redeemed. So today, the G-d of Israel is whistling or coaxing you to come back to the brotherhood of Klal Yisra’el (All Israel). To learn more about this redemptive process, you are Welcome to Contact “Kol Ha'Tor”, the Voice of the Turtledove. Here is a joint Orthodox Jewish and 10-Triber Mission to bring awareness of the imminent fulfillment of the Biblical Prophecies regarding the Redemption of all Israel (12 Tribes Re-conciled and Re-United). This super Event of all Times will entail establishing in the region of Shomron (the Ancient Bible Heartland of the Patriarchs) and the Judean Wilderness into a new homeland for the Return of the Lost Ten Tribes of Israel when All Israel will finally be redeemed. For inquiries about Kol Ha Tor Vision for the Lost Tribes of Israel, Visit – “Shomron Lives!”,a Spiritual Retreat and Guest House in Samaria, that hosts Shomron (Samaria) Tours to reacquaint the Returning Lost Tribers of the House of Israel. Judah - The Lawgiver of God - Part Two Pondering the Ancestral Roots of Thanksgiving: Our lost Israelite Heritage Israelis find 2,750-year-old temple 3,000-year-old temple and sacred vessels unearthed near Jerusalem 2,750-Year-Old Temple, Rare Artifacts Found in Israel Archaeologists Find Ancient Temple, Ritual Cache Near Jerusalem - Bloomberg Found: Kingdom of Judah Temple Posted at 10:15 PM in Arabs and the Jews, Archeology in Israel, Archeology of the Lost Tribes of Israel, Current Affairs in Israel, Famous Lost Israelites and Jews, Festivals of the Lord, Historical and Natural Landmarks in Israel, History of the Jews, History of the Lost Tribes of Israel, Israeli Settlements and the Homeland for the Lost Tribes of Israel, Jerusalem and the Middle East, Judaism's Covenant, Orthodox Jewish Life, Redemption of Israel, Return of the Lost Tribes of Israel, Samaria and Judea, Temples of Solomon and Herod, Time of the End \| Permalink Subscribe to Destination Yisra'el by Email You are Israel! The History was Revealed by the Prophets and Confirmed by Archeology, the Judgment of the God of Israel was Sealed as they were Exiled to Khurasan in Northern Iran, Eastern Afghanistan and Western Pakistan. They Disappeared into the Mists of History as they Migrated in Waves up through Georgia through the Caucasus and Followed the Tracks of their Cousin Dan who left his Name on the Rivers of his Passage (Don, Dniester, Dnieper, and the Danube) as they Migrated Northwestward towards Denmark. They Erupted into Northern Europe in the 3rd Century BCE as the Royal Scythians, Celts, Cymrics, Cimmerians, Goths, Angles, Saxons, Ostrogoths, Visigoths and Frisians. They Populated the Lands of Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark), the Isles of the West (Britain, Ireland, and Scotland) the Lowlands (Netherlands and Belgium), the Colonies of Great Britain (United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa) plus the Lands of Northern France, and Germany. These today are the Lost Tribes of Israel! If your Ancestry comes from any of these Lands, Welcome, You are a “Lost Ten Triber” of the House of Israel! The Prophets have Proclaimed, at the Time of the End, You will Return Home! This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 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__label__cc	0.641559	0.358441	Tag: elearning (page 1 of 4) Why a ‘mixed economy’ of digital devices is best for your educational institution. Earlier today, on Twitter, I mentioned that the 64GB version of the BlackBerry Playbook is now at the scandalously low price of £129. They’re practically giving it away. I mentioned that for some educational institutions that would be a really good fit, especially given that you can side-load Android apps. Eventually, I should imagine, you’ll be able to dispose of the BlackBerry OS altogether and juse go with Android for the entire system. Bill Lord, a Primary school headteacher, replied that he was looking at a ‘mixed economy’ of devices for his educational institution, adding that he had three main reasons for this approach: Pupil needs Staff needs (confidence/competence) Vagaries of the market I’m with Bill. To my mind, being an ‘iPad-only’ school makes no sense. It’s replicating the Microsoft vendor lock-in all over again. Since when was school about teaching young people how to use particular types of devices? Instead, it’s better to look at the affordances of each device. That doesn’t mean how much it costs, but rather what it allows you to do. The BlackBerry Playbook at £129, for example, has front and rear-facing cameras and a high-definition screen. Sounds like an opportunity. It’s OK to build learning activities around specific devices some of the time, but I wouldn’t want to be doing it all of the time. Why not focus on building and using things that are device-agnostic? Surely that’s a more sustainable option? Use the Web, for goodness’ sake! Finally, if you’re reading this in the UK you should really stop by HotUKDeals every now and again. I’m on there at least three times a day – and not just to find cheaper stuff than usual. I also find it really enlightening in terms of what people are interested in but, more importantly, the comments people leave and the context they give. There’s some serious expertise there. Image CC BY-NC reebob Dell Latitude 2110: a review. Context: I’m looking at this netbook from a user outcomes point of view. Although currently working at JISC infoNet in the Further/Higher education sector, I was previously Director of E-Learning of a 3-19 Academy, and taught History and ICT for 6 years in secondary schools in England. (if you’re on an iPad or non-Flash device click here for images) I’m sure schools exist in some kind of parallel dimension to the rest of the world. To be successful in them, whether you’re a member of staff or a student, you need to work much harder than the rest of the world to jump through hoops that others care about only in passing. Having been on both sides of the fence I’m aware of two things: that most teachers don’t understand the world of business and that, more importantly, business doesn’t really understand the world of education. Let me explain. Practices (i.e. the everyday life of the classroom) are predicated upon the affordances of an objects, devices and other 3rd-party props: An affordance is a quality of an object, or an environment, that allows an individual to perform an action. In my experience, affordances are usually the result of the confluence of two or more features. For example, stored maps + GPS + touchscreen + voice synthesiser = satnav. The affordance is the ability to get to your destination. Affordances, in turn, are predicated upon specifications. Unfortunately, and I’ve expressed my frustration about this before, a focus on ‘functional specifications‘ therefore misses the point. It’s what the user does with an object, device or prop (towards a larger learning goal) rather than its specifications that is important. Most educators get this; most business people don’t. There’s been a lot of talk about the iPad this year, and for good reason. Apple have focused on the affordances of the device to such an extreme level that the average user has no idea about its specifications. As Jonathan Ive explains, this makes it feel, in a way, magical. I’m not particularly interested in the specifications of the Dell Latitude 2110; I’m interested in what it allows users to do and how it fits in with the classroom environment. I’ve had some success with the Asus Eee 1000H because of two main affordances: reliability (long battery life and well-built) and portability (lightweight and relatively small). I’m going to take the Asus Eee 1000H as my reference point for the rest of this review. Is the Dell Latitude 2110 better than the Asus Eee 1000H? Yes. In fact, it would be my recommendation for any educational institution looking at rolling out portable devices with keyboards. Let me explain why from an affordances point of view; if you want a full technical run-down head over to Expert Reviews or (better still) Notebook Check. First of all, the screen that came with my review sample was high resolution (1366×768) and glossy. Perhaps not great for outdoors work (because of the reflectiveness) but great for making things look fantastic indoors. That’s why Apple put glossy screens on their MacBooks, after all. Secondly, the processor (1.83Ghz Intel Atom), coupled with 1Ghz RAM allows for quick browsing, especially when you swap out Internet Explorer for Google Chrome. Whilst I found that students are willing to be more forgiving of the relative performance drop when working with netbooks (a trade-off of convenience) there isn’t really likely to be a problem here. It’s nippy. Windows 7 is a much better operating system for netbooks than Windows XP (which, after all, is almost 10 years old). My review sample came with Windows 7 Professional but this comes at an additional cost. If you just need cloud-based wifi access I’d forgo this and use something like Ubuntu Netbook Edition. Full HD video is 1080p. Attempting to play a 1080p preview of the film Kick-Ass downloaded from Filmous almost worked. That is to say that the audio was fine but the video stuttered with graphically-intensive scenes. Playing YouTube videos and embedded media, however, is no problem. Perhaps the ultimate test, though, for a netbook is Google Earth. It’s a tool used widely in schools – and not just in Geography lessons. It requires a decent machine for a smooth experience. How did the Dell Latitude 2110 fare? A similar story to the video clip, really: whilst you can certainly navigate your way around, it’s a little jerky and 3D buildings are a no-no. Not all classrooms have speakers to couple with the obligatory interactive whiteboard. A daft omission, to be sure, but a fact of life. Many is the time I’ve been shunted into a classroom at the last moment only for the video clip I’ve prepared as part of the lesson be inaudible. Even without amplification the Dell Latitude 2110 is surprisingly loud. In fact, I was shocked how distortion-free and powerful the built-in speakers were. A definite plus point. The inclusion of a 3G WWAN port is a curious decision. If this is an education-focused product, then a 3G connection presents somewhat of a security problem. Schools have internet filtering in place and, in some cases, this is rather restrictive – leading to students finding creative ways of bypassing it. I have no doubt that students would find a way to put a SIM card in the slot behind the battery, ‘necessity’ being the mother of invention. Whilst I think that mobile broadband, especially for field trips and the like, is of great value, network managers and IT technicians might beg to differ. It does, however, make it attractive to another market – business travellers. One of the great things about early netbooks is that they almost all came with Solid State Devices (SSDs) instead of Hard Disk Drives (HDDs). The difference is that whilst the latter have moving parts, the former do not and, in fact, are a lot quicker. You get less storage space for your money but they’re much more robust. Bizarrely, perhaps because some people are opting to use netbooks as their primary devices (think teenagers with burgeoning music/video collections) SSDs are being slowly replaced by HDDs. The review sample I received came with a 160GB HDD which is a shame, really. The HDD of my father’s Asus Eee 1000H, bought last year on my recommendation, has just died. In a device like the Dell Latitude 2110, ostensibly built to be robust, not including an SSD by default is a mistake. Whilst an upgrade to a SSD instead of a HDD is one I’d recommend, I’d advise against a touchscreen. Whilst my review sample did not come with one, I’ve used them on laptops and netbooks before. Touchscreens on devices with one-way hinges don’t really work: pressing with anything more with a glancing touch moves the whole screen (frustrating!). My only misgiving, really, about the review sample I was sent is a degree of uncertainty about the battery life. The standard battery pack (an extended battery pack is available) is quoted at 4.5 hours which isn’t the 7 hours of the Asus Eee 1000H. I’d want to be able to rely on it lasting all the school day. Although I should imagine with strategic use it would be fine, it’s a niggling doubt. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, how does it feel? It is something you find yourself just picking up and using? Well… yes, it is. The keyboard is as close to full-size as you’ll get with a netbook and, in fact, I touch-typed this whole review on it. It’s comfortable and rests on the knees or upon any nearby surface. Although I think the corners could be a little better protected, the ruggedized coating means, for example, I’ve had no problem in giving it to my 3 year-old to carry around an play CBeebies games on it. Do I recommend the Dell Latitude 2110? Yes. In fact, as I alluded to earlier, if I was back in my role as Director of E-Learning I’d be using this as my new benchmark for portable devices with keyboards. I’d probably look at getting Ubuntu Netbook Edition on there and, with the money saved, plumping for the extended battery pack. I reckon 9.5 hours is enough for anybody! Disclaimer: I was sent this unsolicited sample on behalf of Dell on the understanding that I was able to do a ‘full, frank’ review of it. No money has changed hands and I expect to have to return it eventually. My bMoble TeachMeet presentation Sometimes you have to push yourself a bit and raise the bar. I spent a good deal of time preparing for the TeachMeet attached to the bMoble Conference last week so that I could use the Lessig Method to talk for 7 minutes on Everything I Know About E-Learning. Here’s how it went: OK, so I ran over a bit. But no-one threw James Langley’s ‘Twitter pants’ at me. So that’s alright. :-p #eduhivefive (a suggestion). This follows on a previous post r.e. the problem with (non-OSS) free stuff. Image: ‘Bees‘ I’ll keep this short. Lifehacker has a great regular thing called Hive Five for software/productivity recommendations. It goes like this: Question asked: ‘What’s the best x for y?’ People respond. Five most mentioned in a positive way become ‘recommended’. We should totally do this for education. I’ve created a wiki at http://eduhivefive.wikispaces.com in anticipation. :-p Perhaps, given the demise of Etherpad, we could kick off with: “What’s the best online tool for collaborative writing?” and use #eduhivefive and #writing as hashtags? Where we’re headed with the Academy’s E-Learning ecosystem. I have to keep telling myself that we’re only five weeks in to a brand new, 10-site all-age Academy. There’s so much I want to do this academic year in my first year as Director of E-Learning that it’s frustrating when it’s not all up-and-running straight away! However, that’s because of a number of factors largely beyond my control. Things will settle down! :-p The above diagram is a very simplistic representation of how I want the E-Learning ‘ecosystem’ to function by summer 2010. It’s a 4-stage process: 1. Roll out Google Apps to staff This has already been done. We were going to use just instance of Google Apps at ncea.org.uk but decided against it. Why? Because we want to turn on as much functionality as possible for staff (e.g. Google Chat, Google Sites) whilst having the option of turning of these for students. Rolling out Google Apps to staff first enables them to play around with it and get used to a slightly different way of working before they start interacting with students through it. 2. Get forensic filtering & monitoring software up-and-running Whilst we’ll have some filtering provided through the Postini services that can be turned on for free with Google Apps Education edition, I (and Northumberland County Council) want more than this. We’re going to be going with an offering by the name of Policy Central. This allows us, amongst other things, to do the following: Automatically take screenshots based on keywords typed into any application. Block websites locally. Whitelist persistent offenders. We need to have this in place before rolling out anything to students from an e-safety point of view. 3. Roll out Google Apps to students I’m planning to roll out Google Apps to students (nceastudents.org.uk) strategically. I’m going to start with the Sixth Form (ages 16-18) as they’re likely to be the most responsible and give the best feedback. Once I’ve collated, reflected, and acted upon this I shall then roll it out to Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14). Key Stage 4 may or may not get Google Apps depending on conversations I have with various people. Finally, Key Stage 2 students will get access to Google Apps on the Primary sites. This will start with Year 6 (10-11 years old) and work downwards. This should allow me to go into assemblies and iron out any problems as they happen. I had hoped that this would be completed by Christmas but because of various events that have taken place it may take a while longer. 4. Open up the Learning Platform to staff and students. We’re going with Frog for our Learning Platform. They are not only the market leaders in the UK, but have a track record of producing easy-to-use software which can incorporate and work with that from other providers. We’ll be looking – as other institutions are – to integrate Google Apps and Frog via a Single Sign-On procedure. That is to say, signing into Frog will automatically sign you into Google Apps. Once this is in place, I think teaching and learning interactions should begin to be transformed. I’m not going to dictate workflows, but I can imagine something like this happening: Student collaborates with another student via Google Docs. Students complete document, export as Word document or PDF and send to teacher through Learning Platform. Teacher takes submitted work and opens in their Google Docs area. Teacher stores students’ work in a relevant folder within Google Docs. You may wonder why I’m allowing only student-student collaboration and teacher-teacher collaboration. This is because I want the Learning Platform for the official submission of work and Google Docs for drafting, collaboration, and more informal interactions. At least in the first instance. Other than that, I’m happy for things to grow organically. I’ve already seen some teachers begin to experiment with Google Sites, despite my only mentioning it in passing. Encouraging! 😀 What are your thoughts on the above? Google search index prettifies PDF view (theregister.co.uk) Google integrates Picasa, Google Docs, calendars, etc with Google Sites (downloadsquad.com) Google Docs launches shared folders (macworld.com) E-Learning Strategy Overview (a.k.a. my 3-year plan) (dougbelshaw.com) 3 ways Google Wave could be used in the classroom. So you’re an educator who’s managed to score an invitation to Google Wave. You’ve had a play and it’s all very nice, but how could it be used in education? Before I go any further, read these: Lifehacker – Google Wave 101 Google Wave Lesson Demonstrations (a wave started by Tom Barrett) Here are 3 ways I think Google Wave could be used by students for actual learning rather than just playing with something because it’s cool. 1. Empowering learners There was a great presentation at the TeachMeet that accompanied the Scottish Learning Festival this year. Fearghal Kelly talked about his experiments with giving one of his classes more ownership over their learning. He ran them through the learning objectives and the content they would need to cover and then the student co-created and collaborated on planning what exactly they wanted to do. Google Wave would be great for this as it allows wiki-like editing but is more threaded and conversation-like. The whole wave can also be ‘replayed’ to see how the thinking of the group evolved over time. It’s something I’d definitely be trying if I had a GCSE or AS/A2-level class… :-p 2. Student feedback The most powerful learning experiences are those where students have ownership of their learning. That’s been dealt with above. But that’s of no use if students don’t know how to get better in a particular subject or discipline! That’s why I think Google Wave could be used as an Assessment for Learning tool. Learning as a conversation could be shown in practice through having an individual wave for each student/teacher relationship. Alternatively, these could be small group and ability based to enable peer learning. I can imagine waves being used for ongoing learning conversations once Google Wave becomes a feature of Google Apps for Education. I’ll certainly be experimenting with it for that purpose! 😀 3. Flattening the walls of the classroom One of the really exciting things about Google Wave is the ‘bots’ you can add to automate processes. One of these bots allows for the automatic translation of text entered in one language into that of the recipient. Whilst language teachers may be up in arms about the idea of ‘not needing’ to learn another’s language, I think it could be fantastic for removing barriers for worldwide collaboration. Imagine the power of students having the digital and wave-equivalent of ‘penpals’ in various classrooms around the world. Now that really would ‘flatten the walls‘ of the classroom. 🙂 What excites YOU about Google Wave’s potential for education? Google Wave: Few Thoughts (cloudave.com) Google to let Apps users try out Wave (macworld.com) Two-Minute Video Makes a Lot of Sense of Google Wave [Google Wave] (lifehacker.com) video: Ribbit Conference Gadget for Google Wave (skypejournal.com) A proposal to get more high-quality explanatory videos to learners. Image BY-NC-SA Kaeru @ Flickr I’ve got an idea. Educators need high-quality videos explaining key concepts and processes. There are some great providers of these out there (notably BrainPOP) but these cost $$$. On the flip side, there’s graphic artists, illustrators and animators who are starting out and need examples to add to their portfolio. The quality of visuals in a video makes a great deal of difference to its overall impact. An example of this is the Shift Happens video, originally created by Karl Fisch. You can view the changes and improvements it has been through on this wiki. Whilst v1.0 was powerful, you’d have to agree that v4.0 has a lot more impact! 🙂 My idea, then, is this: Educator comes up with idea for short explanatory video (e.g. how Google and other search engines work) Educator (with help of their Twitter/Facebook/whatever network) comes up with storyboard for idea including a script.* Storyboard and script are put in a central repository under a Creative Commons BY-SA license. Graphic designer comes along and chooses one they believe they can produce to a high quality and cost-effectively. Graphic designer produces video and shares on video-sharing site (e.g. YouTube). They are free to monetize this through Google Adsense and the like. Repository updated showing video has been created. The great thing about this model is that everyone would win. So… is this a good idea? I’m up for creating the repository (with help from others) if enough people think it’s a goer. 😀 * Details of graphics required for this wouldn’t be as important as the script itself. On the important difference between hitchhiking and bandwagon-jumping. Image CC-BY-NC-SA pitty.platsch @ Flickr I’ll admit it. From 2004 up to about 2007 I was a bandwagon-jumper. I wanted to be the early adopter, the first to use pretty much anything to do with educational technology in the classroom. But that came at a cost. That cost – and it’s difficult for me to admit this to myself – was borne by my students who had a teacher who was too focused on the shiny shiny and not learning outcomes. The trouble with bandwagon-jumping is that you’re not entirely sure where that bandwagon is headed; whether it fits in with where you want you and your students need to go; whether it’s potentially dangerous territory to head into. The bandwagon may be driven by sensible, rationale people in it for the long-haul, or you could be left stranded in the middle of nowhere by overnight cowboys. That’s not a safe place for teachers or students to be – even in a metaphorical sense. Much better then to be a hitchhiker. The hitchhiker knows where they want to go. They don’t mind the odd detour or two so long as they get there. Whilst the destination is of ultimate importance, the journey is also important and life-enriching. So too educators who choose to be metaphorical hitchhikers. Sometimes we can ‘go it alone’ with our classes to blaze new trails to destinations, but often it’s better (and safer) to stick with others and figure things out together. So if others use new technologies, websites and services before me, that’s fine. I’ll use them when it’s time for me to head that way, when my own or my classes investigations necessitate us exploring those areas. Until then, I’ll leave the bandwagons to others. :-p E-Learning Strategy Overview (a.k.a. my 3-year plan) I’ve already blogged about why I want to make myself redundant as Director of E-Learning after 3 years. At the end of this month – next week, in fact – I’m due to hand in my E-Learning strategy. I wanted my strategy overview to fit on one side of A4. Unfortunately, it’s run to two sides, but at least it’s still fairly short and to the point! 😀 It’s available ‘live’ (with any subsequent changes) here (via Google Docs), or below as a static PDF: I’d very much welcome any comments or thoughts you may have on the above! 🙂 ‘So… what do you do?’ (image by atomicShed @ Flickr) It should be an easy question. In fact, it’s the one that usually comes in rapid succession after enquiries as to your name and perhaps where you’re from. But ‘what do you do?’ is increasingly a difficult question for me to answer. If I want to move the conversation onto other things – or indeed to get out of the conversation quickly – I simply say I’m a ‘teacher’. Except I’m not any more (although it is in my portfolio). As a ‘Director of E-Learning’ I’m in a job that has only existed for a couple of years in a handful UK educational institutions So what do I say? One colleague referred to me recently as ‘Director of Excitement’. Sometimes, to get a cheap laugh, I refer to myself as ‘Chief Geek’. But, whilst there’s a grain of truth in each, neither’s true in its own right. The acid test is my 85 year-old grandmother who doesn’t really know what the internet is. I find myself at a loss for words to try and explain the world I inhabit. It’s so different to that which she grew up in it’s unreal; we have few common frames of reference. I blend digital and physical worlds. I tell stories about how learning can be. I show people stuff. I research. I find the best of the best. My job’s what I make it. I can live with that. 😀 (N.B. this brief post has been ‘stewing’ a while, but was prompted directly by Chris Messina’s post The Elevator Pitch in which he recounts a similar problem)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16306
__label__cc	0.5659	0.4341	Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) (Center) web: http://www.hzdr.de phone: +49 351 260 - 0 fax: +49 351 269 - 0461 postal address: Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Hauptstandort Dresden, Bautzner Landstr. 400, 01328 Dresden, Germany office address: Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR), Bautzner Landstr. 400, 01328 Dresden, Germany The Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres pursuing new insights that will allow us to maintain and improve all of our lives. That is why the HZDR conducts research in the sectors health, energy, and matter in Dresden and at three other locations. Three of our five large-scale facilities are also available to external guests from around the world to help answer the decisive questions of our society. Establishing networks, focusing on the future, and thinking outside the box are all paramount to us. That’s why we are supporting qualified young scientists and coordinating the Helmholtz Allicance LIMTECH, a Helmholtz Energy Alliance, two Helmholtz Virtual Institutes and a German-Russian research group. We are also actively involved in the Helmholtz Association’s portfolio and roadmap process. Dresden High Magnetic Field Laboratory (HLD) Institute (2) Institute of Fluid Dynamics Institute Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research Institute (8) Institute of Radiation Physics Institute (1) Institute of Radiooncology – OncoRay Institute Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research Institute Institute of Resource Ecology (IRE) Institute	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16307
__label__wiki	0.899118	0.899118	NY Times: Watergate Reporting, the Second Draft Watergate Reporting, the Second Draft By BRIAN STELTER Rarely does reality intersect with role playing the way it did two Sundays ago in Bob Woodward’s living room. Meeting him there were Carl Bernstein, his writing partner at The Washington Post during the Watergate scandal in the 1970s; Ben Bradlee, their top editor at the time; and Robert Redford, the actor who played Mr. Woodward in “All the President’s Men,” the 1976 film that dramatized The Post’s presidential detective work. Jokes were cracked about the four decades that had passed since Watergate — “You guys, we’re really lucky we recognize each other,” Mr. Redford said — but the men were together for a serious reason. Mr. Redford was starting work on another project on Watergate, this time as a documentarian. Commissioned by the Discovery Channel, the project, “All the President’s Men Revisited,” will be a two-hour television documentary about the scandal that doomed Richard M. Nixon’s presidency and will explore its effects on politics and the media in the 40 years since. It will have its premiere in 2013 but will be announced by Discovery this week at its annual presentation for advertisers. “To be able to pull the fabricated and the real together, for the first time, is kind of a juicy opportunity for us,” Eileen O’Neill, the president of Discovery, said in an interview. Discovery’s interest speaks to the enduring news media fascination with the scandal, which seems to inspire a new television special every 5 to 10 years. Discovery’s previous effort, a collaboration with the BBC, was a five-part series in 1994. The fixation endures in part, said Stanley I. Kutler, a pre-eminent Watergate historian, because “of all the presidents in the last 50 years, it is Nixon that’s the most interesting.” For Mr. Redford the project represents the start of Sundance Productions, a new business that will make shows for television and the Web. His producing partner in the business will be Laura Michalchyshyn, a former executive at Discovery Communications and the Sundance Channel. Mr. Redford remains the creative head of that channel, but he sold his ownership stake in it four years ago; going forward, he said, his production company will be pitching shows to many channels. “Television is just booming,” said Mr. Redford, who had a few television roles in the early 1960s before shifting to film, his medium of choice since then. On Monday, on a break from post-production of “The Company You Keep,” a thriller he directed and starred in about former members of the Weather Underground, he sounded passionate in a phone interview about the Watergate documentary, which he will produce and narrate. Sometimes in life, he said, there’s reason not to look back, but as he talked through Watergate and its consequences in Mr. Woodward’s living room in Washington, he said, he felt increasingly confident that “it’s the right time to take a look at this moment in history to inform the present.” Mr. Woodward, in a separate interview, said that the men discussed: “What’s the legacy of Watergate? What do we understand? What are some of the lessons? It’s been a long time.” The answers not only change over time, but they also remain up for debate. One of Nixon’s wars, Mr. Woodward said, “is a war against history” — intentionally speaking in the present tense. He cited a book review in The Wall Street Journal two months ago by Frank Gannon, a former Nixon aide, who asserted that many questions about the scandal remain unresolved. “How did a politician as tough and canny as Richard Nixon allow himself to be brought down by a ‘third-rate burglary’?” Mr. Gannon wrote. “Your guess is as good as mine.” Mr. Woodward was having none of it. “The voluminous record shows that there are answers to some of those questions,” he said. “When I read the review, I thought, the war continues, and it should be met with facts.” He said he had guided Mr. Redford and the other executive producer of “All the President’s Men Revisited,” the media executive Andy Lack, to new material about the scandal, like information about the 2005 disclosure of Mark Felt, the onetime associate F.B.I. director, as the so-called Deep Throat source. The producers also plan to seek interviews with politicians and media leaders. Ms. Michalchyshyn called the documentary “a look back, but it’s very much a look forward as well” at changes in the journalism industry, in campaign finance regulations and in political discourse, among other subjects. The documentary comes as Discovery appears to be trying to out-history the History channel, a chief competitor, which has set ratings records with shows that stray far from the confines of history, like the reality show “Pawn Stars.” Ms. O’Neill, Discovery’s president, said she had directed the channel’s staff to “make sure that we’re delivering in the history space,” particularly in what she called “baby boomer history.” In the presentation to advertisers this week her channel will promote specials about Amelia Earhart, Area 51 and Osama bin Laden, as well as “The Gatekeepers,” a series about White House chiefs of staff — including Nixon’s. H. R. Haldeman died in 1993, and Alexander Haig died in 2010; in their place, the producers have interviewed Mr. Haldeman’s deputy, Lawrence Higby. This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: Correction: April 4, 2012 An article on Tuesday about plans for a documentary about Watergate on the Discovery Channel next year, which mentioned a series the channel has also planned for next year about White House chiefs of staff, including Alexander M. Haig Jr., misstated the year Mr. Haig died. It was 2010, not 2004. Apr 7, 2012 8:27:58 PM \| Film, Politics The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore Inspired, in equal measures, by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and a love for books, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a poignant, humorous allegory about the curative powers of story.Using a variety of techniques (miniatures, computer animation, 2D animation) award winning author/ illustrator William Joyce and Co-director Brandon Oldenburg present a hybrid style of animation that harkens back to silent films and MGM Technicolor musicals. Morris Lessmore is old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time. Especially for those who love books, enjoy! Mar 12, 2012 7:21:00 AM \| Art, Books, Film, Fun NY Times: Out There in the Dark, All Alone Out There in the Dark, All Alone By MANOHLA DARGIS LAST month, in response to an aside I made about Americans no longer being the avid moviegoers they once were — comparing the 90 million who went to the movies each week in 1948 with today’s audience, which hovers around 23 million — Matthew Sigman, a self-confessed “big-screen film fan” from New York, wrote in with a quibble. “I do beg to differ on the statistical basis of your statement suggesting Americans don’t love movies as much as they used to because annual attendance has dropped,” Mr. Sigman wrote. “Back in the ’40s,” he added, “if a movie lover enjoyed a film, she went multiple times, ratcheting up those box office figures. Now all she has to do is stay home to find ‘Legally Blonde’ or ‘The Terminator’ and watch it time and again, just as those of us who love indies can watch ‘Fargo’ time and again.” Well, yes and no, as I wrote Mr. Sigman, because much depends on how you see movies, which are both discrete works and a social experience. While many of us still go to movie theaters, the 24-hour movie now also comes to us, though sometimes us may be just one person sitting alone at a desk or on a train and staring at a glowing box. This new portable movie is convenient, and certainly wired-up companies like the new ways they can pump images to your devices. But it isn’t moviegoing as we have understood it for most of history. New digital technologies have transformed not only how movies are shot, processed, edited, distributed and exhibited, but also how they are watched. And this has altered our moving-image world in ways that, because we’re in the midst of all this change, are difficult to comprehend. What we do know is that for much of the 20th century when we talked about movies, we meant glorious if sometimes scratched bigger-than-life images flickering on theater screens that we watched with other people and, when the next attraction rolled in, were gone, maybe forever. Now we watch digital content on various machines, armed with the new consumer confidence that everything is a click away. It may be hard to remember in the on-demand era, but once upon a time you might not see a film again after it left theaters, which made movies a sometimes evanescent object of obsession, adding to their mystique and power. If a film accrued cultural or social significance, it might reappear in a museum, classroom or repertory theater, and sometimes as a midnight movie. After the 1940s it might also materialize, badly chopped and cropped, on television. Often, though, once it left theaters, it would either sit on a shelf or was destroyed (or tossed into the Pacific Ocean), as many movies — including a staggering 80 percent or so from the silent era — were. The introduction of home videocassette recorders in 1975 made it possible to rent a copy of a Hitchcock thriller (at least those transferred from film) any time you wanted, if only during store hours. Today you can stream movies — along with television shows, YouTube clips and videos of your cat — through your computer, phone and the quaintly old-fashioned television. “Take the control” demands an ad from AT&T, which offers a cable option called America’s Everything (250 channels and 4 movie packages) for $104.99 and, professing the faith of mass customization, vows to deliver quality to millions of subscribers “one customer at a time.” This emphasis on viewers as sovereign individuals is crucial. Many factors play into the transformation of people into audiences, including commercial imperatives, personal identities, storytelling trends, laws and social mores and of course technological innovations. Historically, if you wanted to watch a movie, you went to a theater, bought a ticket and sat with other spectators. You also waited: I stood in line for two hours in the cold to see “Raging Bull” when it opened in 1980. Now you watch whatever you want, whenever you want, at the click of a mouse, the touch of a finger. That’s cool, though it can also come to feel pretty ordinary, even banal. The idea that movies are something you experience with other people (unless your name was Howard Hughes) is no longer the truism it once was. This isn’t only about bodies surrounding and sometimes harassing us in darkened theaters, and the communal laughter, tears, gasps and heckling that become part of our memories. Born at the end of the 19th century, cinema was more than a novelty (though it was that): it represented — and was a portal to — a fast-moving urbanized world that was at once expanding and shrinking through new technologies, types of travel and consumption habits. The train made the world bigger (you could go places) and smaller (people went everywhere), and so did movies. The connections between modernity and movies can be recognized in a vivid passage from the German sociologist Georg Simmel included in a valuable 1995 anthology called “Cinema and the Invention of Modern Life.” Writing in 1903 about the experience of being in a modern city in his essay “The Metropolis and Mental Life,” Simmel described how it offered “the rapid crowding of changing images, the sharp discontinuity in the grasp of a single glance, and the unexpectedness of onrushing impressions.” The anthology’s editors, Leo Charney and Vanessa R. Schwartz, add that it’s no accident this description evokes cinema (it made me think of Michael Bay), because “the experience of the city set the terms for the experience of the other elements of modernity.” Ms. Schwartz expands on the links between modernity and movies in a perceptive essay on some cinemalike spectacles — including wax museums and panoramas — that were all the rage in Paris at the end of the 19th century as cinema was coming into being. By far the most bizarre of them was the morgue, a novel attraction right up there with the Eiffel Tower: upward of 40,000 daily visitors would troop into a room, where behind a large glass window framed by curtains, they would look at two rows of corpses on marble slabs (nominally for identification purposes). One of the most popular displays was that of a girl whose clothed corpse was propped up in a red-velvet chair and refrigerated at night (chair included). The morgue might have fed the crowd’s interest in morbid visions (one we still share), but Ms. Schwartz argues that it also provided visitors with “sensationalized versions of reality.” Spectacles like the morgue, wax museums and panoramas were cultural activities that blurred reality and illusion, and were seen by large groups who might have read about them in papers. One contemporary observer compared the morgue to a theater of crime and the newspaper as its program. “Spectacle and narrative,” Ms. Schwartz writes, “were integrally linked in Paris’s burgeoning mass culture” and the idlers, strollers and shoppers, who — with what the theorist Anne Friedberg termed the “mobilized gaze” — were encountering new visual experiences. On the threshold of the 20th century these experiences represented and sensationalized reality, as did another novel attraction (born 1895), movies. Movies, in other words, were part of what it meant to be modern. Viewers learned to dress and smoke and romance from movies, but they also learned how to be an audience. They were constituents in a new cultural democracy, one in which you voted by buying a ticket. The movies showed people new worlds that they experienced in groups in the nickelodeons, lavish palaces and multiplexes. We still commune with others when we watch a movie alone at home — if only in later conversation, online or in our head. But watching that movie with other people is a discrete experience from watching a clip on YouTube and noticing it has 200,000 hits, each a ghostly trace of someone else. There are moviegoers and probably critics who don’t care about the kind of box that images come in, how those images were created and how they are consumed, though it seems important to mark these changes and how they are affecting our modern or postmodern selves. Television and home video shrank movies, turning them into more easily obtainable images that are perhaps no longer (as) sacred. The new 24-hour movie, meanwhile, has brought other changes, filling our eyes and sometimes flooding our heads with an unending stream of visions. Digital technologies have sharpened the image and clouded the question of what is cinema. It’s too early to know what has been lost and what has been gained along the way, other than a sense of consumer convenience. These days, at the very least, I try to not call a movie (as in moving picture) shot on digital a film because, well, it isn’t one even if it looks like a close approximation. But as James Cameron’s “Avatar” and other digital productions prove, you don’t need film to create cinema — from the Greek word kinema, which suggests both motion and emotion. In his live performances the avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs, using a customized machine he calls a Nervous Magic Lantern — a box with a light and lenses — even shows that you don’t need film or a digital camera to make cinema either. You just need shadow and light. But you — as in we — still need the audience, right? Apr 10, 2011 5:41:13 AM \| Film 森の木琴 A well executed commercial for a mobile phone in Japan - Johan Sebastian Bach's 'Jesu Man of Joy Descending' played on a really wide xylophone and a ball. Enjoy :) Apr 8, 2011 6:28:48 PM \| Asia, Beautiful World, Film, Music, Nature, Web/Tech Mary and Max Mary and Max: Funny, lovely, dark and sad - all in one movie. Love it. A tale of friendship between two unlikely pen pals: Mary, a lonely, eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max, a forty-four-year old, severely obese man living in New York. Adam Elliot Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Eric Bana Apr 3, 2011 8:51:03 AM \| Beautiful World, Film, Fun ST: Many sides of porn Life! Home > Life! > Life Arts > Story Many sides of porn There is food porn, nature porn, torture porn, poverty porn and even divorce porn By yong shu hoong, culture vulture Porn is a strange four-letter word. Beyond a salacious connotation that's more commonly known, the word boasts many creative tie-ups - from food porn and nature porn, to any instance where we witness an unhealthy indulgence in a particular subject. So, what's food porn? An example would be how Singaporeans have this curious habit of snapping photographs of their food before digging in. Some of my friends diligently post on their Facebook pages appetite-arousing photos of dishes they've cooked at home or sampled in acclaimed restaurants. I also recall how a former colleague once bought me lunch at a posh eatery and, as each course arrived, promptly whipped out his SLR camera to take close-up shots of the artfully arranged cuisine from every possible angle. The same voyeuristic fervour can be extended to the best that nature has to offer, in the form of 'nature porn' - which, as a friend kindly reminded, is a much better phrase to use than the more easily misinterpreted 'animal porn'. Some may associate it with lingering images of wildlife on the National Geographic Channel or nature-fixated documentary films such as Earth (2007) and Oceans (2009). And no, you don't necessarily need to watch animals or insects copulate for nature to become porn. Then there is 'torture porn', a phrase coined by smart-alecky critics to describe a trend in which violent slasher flicks, such as James Wan's Saw (2004) and Eli Roth's Hostel (2005), pile on gratuitous images of people having their assorted body parts severed. Both Saw and Hostel were popular enough to spawn sequels. When Slumdog Millionaire (2008) became a hit and subsequently won the Oscar for Best Picture, critics were quick to invoke the term, 'poverty porn'. But Vikas Swarup, author of the novel which director Danny Boyle based his film on, was quoted in an interview saying that the film, like his book, 'neither trivialises nor degrades poverty'. 'I just don't buy this concept of poverty porn,' he added, with regards to his tale of a former street kid from a Mumbai slum taking part in a TV gameshow. 'Who likes to see poverty and who gets pleasure out of seeing poverty?' Just when I thought critics couldn't get more creative than 'poverty porn', I was tickled to find Julia Roberts' recent film, Eat Pray Love, labelled as 'divorce porn' in a New York Times article. Based on the 2006 memoir of American author Elizabeth Gilbert - described in the same article as the 'Hugh Hefner of divorce porn' - the film has Roberts playing a divorced woman who goes on a year-long journey of self-discovery across Italy, India and Indonesia. With a New York Post review describing the book as 'narcissistic New Age reading' and 'the worst in Western fetishisation of Eastern thought and culture', it's perhaps no surprise that the film didn't succeed in elevating the story above its perceived indulgence. At this point, I decided to take a break from writing this column and examine the 128-page report that the government-appointed Censorship Review Committee released last month. The word 'pornography' appears many times throughout the report. I'm just glad that the committee has chosen to restrict the definition to that of the sexual kind - otherwise, no online filtering service in the world would be able to block out all the different types of porn that we've discussed or missed out on. To complicate matters, just as art can easily degenerate into pornographic excesses, porn has also made its crossover into art. If one wants to be prudish about it, wouldn't Giambologna's sculpture of The Rape Of The Sabine Women - along with many old masters and statues in world-class museums - be considered explicit and provocative? French film-maker Catherine Breillat's Romance is an arthouse film which contains explicit sexual acts and even features porn actor Rocco Siffredi in its cast. Shown in mainstream cinemas in Europe, the 1999 film is credited for sparking a trend of arthouse films featuring unsimulated sex. For example, The Brown Bunny (2003) is notorious for its scenes of real sex between writer-director-actor Vincent Gallo and actress Chloe Sevigny. Another film, 9 Songs, was described by The Guardian newspaper as the most sexually explicit mainstream film at the time of its release, due to graphic unsimulated sexual scenes between the leads, Kieran O'Brien and Margo Stilley. Directed by Michael Winterbottom, the 2004 British film resulted in much debate over whether the sex scenes add anything to its artistic merit or are, in fact, pornography. But just when I was about to decry all forms of voyeuristic debauchery and proclaim how dwelling excessively on a theme will yield cliched results, I found myself enraptured by Italian writer-director Luca Guadagnino's haunting and visually arresting masterpiece, I Am Love. Filled with all kinds of 'porn' - nature porn (close-ups of insects and flowers), food porn (Italian dishes on proud display) and fashion porn (actress Tilda Swinton and her co-stars wear Jil Sander and Fendi in the film), with a little sex thrown in for good measure - it turned out to be one of the best films I've seen this year. Famed critic Roger Ebert calls it 'an amazing film' that's 'deep, rich, human'. I call it an amazing example of how art continues to astound us - and how sometimes less can be more while at other times, less is simply not enough. stlife@sph.com.sg Yong Shu Hoong is a poet, freelance writer and Singapore Literature Prize winner. Oct 27, 2010 8:23:50 PM \| Asia, Film, Media, Public Policy Animation: Out of Sight Source: http://www.evaty.url.tw/oos/ This is a graduation Production made by three students graduated from the National Taiwan University of Arts.The main character of little girl in the story confronts a robbery and strays from the road she is familiar with. After passing a hedge, she enters an unknown world and unfolds a magical adventure depending on senses other than vision and her imagination. With soft and cute colors as the main key, they used simple designs to depict the little girls' imaginary world. Oct 13, 2010 6:25:54 AM \| Art, Asia, Beautiful World, Film, Fun, Special ST: Too many greedy people in the world? Home > Invest > Story small change Too many greedy people in the world? If you believe Wall Street's Gordon Gekko, then it seems anything goes as long as money is made By Goh Eng Yeow, Senior Correspondent Watching the blockbuster sequel Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps last week brought back a flood of memories. In particular, it reminded me of the furious debate which was triggered here more than two decades ago by the original movie's lead character Gordon Gekko's memorable comment that greed is good. At a seminar then conducted for pre-university students here, Mr Robert Ng, chairman of one of Hong Kong's largest property developers, raised eyebrows when he observed: 'Greed is not evil. Greed oils the wheels of commerce. Greed gives you the will and motivation to succeed.' He also asked: 'Can you imagine what the world would be like today if people were not motivated by greed, ambition or power?' Although he subsequently backtracked and said his remarks were taken slightly out of context and that he did not endorse greed as a positive trait, it sparked off a huge outcry. Yet, despite the movie's depiction of the corrosive effects of greed on the financial sector, it had exerted an almost hypnotic spell on a whole generation of bank officers and traders. For all the moralising themes about the evils of greed which were prevalent in the movie, it was also a vivid portrayal of how money could be a ticket to riches for the smart and ambitious who had no moral qualms about the way they went about making money. About 23 years have passed since Wall Street was first screened. In that span of time, the winds of change have transformed the financial landscape both here and globally beyond recognition. A chilling reminder of how much the world has moved on comes early in the sequel when Gekko is given back his old mobile phone as he leaves prison after serving time for securities-related fraud. It is the size of a brick. It is a reflection of how much life has changed in the past two decades, as we leapt from bulky mobile phones to slick technological gizmos like the iPhone and iPad. The theme of the original movie was simple enough: a ruthless swashbuckling corporate raider making use of a naive young trader to get hold of inside information to try to gain control of an airline. And like all great films depicting the triumph of good over evil eventually, Gekko is caught and punished for his crimes, with the sequel's opening scene depicting him as a much chastened man, unshaven, unkempt with no family, colleagues or friends to greet him as he steps out of jail. But it is another memorable quote in the sequel that caught my attention. 'Greed is legal,' he tells a rapt audience of college students as he promotes his book Is Greed Good? While this quote may not be as catchy as the original comment which has reverberated down the years, it nevertheless sums up the ills afflicting the global financial sector. Indeed, if Gekko's prognosis is right, greed has become so entrenched in the system that what would have been regarded as abhorrent behaviour 20 years ago may now be considered an acceptable norm. By coincidence, while Money Never Sleeps was being screened here, Jerome Kerviel, a former trader of French bank Societe Generale, was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for taking 50 billion euros (S$91 billion) in bets without authorisation from his bank. While the bets came up to more than what his bank was worth and nearly caused it to go under, Kerviel's defenders argued his strategy reflected the trading spirit of the bubble times we now live in. Had he stopped while he was ahead, he would have made 1.5 billion euros and been lionised as a hero in his bank, they added. It gives a new twist to the stench on greed - that anything is acceptable so long as it makes money. But if you think that such aberrations are confined only to developed markets like Europe and the United States, you are sadly mistaken. Last year, the Monetary Authority of Singapore slapped a temporary ban on 10 financial institutions from selling complicated financial investment products, following seven months of investigations. This was in the wake of losses suffered by about 9,900 people who had lost most or all of their investments, worth $520 million, on structured notes like Lehman Minibonds, which turned sour when US investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008. Some of these investors had bought the toxic derivatives products in the mistaken belief that they were putting their money into top-grade investment bonds. But while those of us who can recall simpler times - when it was fairly clear-cut what was right and what was wrong - may find unbridled greed very distasteful, we cannot help getting the impression that the tide is inexorable. In the sequel, Money Never Sleeps, the makers hold out the hope that man's better nature will eventually prevail, with Gekko returning the US$100 million he had stolen from his daughter, after learning he is about to become a grandfather. But during the furious debate on greed all those many years ago, then Trade and Industry Minister S.Dhanabalan offered another perspective on what could motivate people, other than greed. He said: 'Greed has the connotation that you just want to amass money and it seems that the motive is, I think, a very suspect motive.' His advice to young people was to emulate great entrepreneurs like Henry Ford who were motivated by the drive to see their ideas succeed. People whose motive is to make more money do succeed, but their success is not long-lasting and they do not leave a lasting mark, he said. engyeow@sph.com.sg Oct 9, 2010 8:58:16 PM \| Banking/Finance & Economics, Ethics, Film, Opinion FT: Tea with the FT - Michael Caine Tea with the FT: Michael Caine By Peter Aspden Published: October 1 2010 21:54 \| Last updated: October 1 2010 21:54 Disappointingly, Sir Michael Caine does not, when we are introduced, look me firmly in the eye and declare: “My name’s Michael Caine.” Nor, during the course of our tea together, does he at any stage say, “Not a lot of people know that”, or – and this admittedly asked too much – “You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off”. Is there a greater deliverer of catchphrases in the history of cinema than Michael Caine? He is, at 77, still an impressive figure, standing tall and possessing of a rich baritone with which he fires jokes with deft and natural comic timing. The accent is much-imitated and inimitable. “They’ve got scones and clotted cream here,” he offers, and somehow makes it sound funny. I am not sure about the word “clotted”, I say. It doesn’t have good connotations. “That’s just what I thought,” he replies. “If it had just said ‘cream’ I’d have had it.” A shared concern for cholesterol levels established, we settle on smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches and cups of tea, English breakfast for him and Earl Grey for me. We are in a suite at the slightly soulless Wyndham hotel in Chelsea Harbour and there is a barrage of helicopter noise outside, as if there is a nationwide search for a runaway spy going on. It is because we are next to the Thames, says Caine knowledgeably (he has a flat just round the corner), the kind of thing Harry Palmer might say to put me off the scent. Now that dates both of us. Harry Palmer – star of The Ipcress File, Caine’s breakthrough role – hit the screens 45 years ago. The longevity of Caine’s career is not the least remarkable thing about him. In his new autobiography, The Elephant to Hollywood, there are poignant personal recollections of two movie stars who were brought down by the pressures of stardom: one is Heath Ledger, the other Rita Hayworth. That is some chronological range. But Caine is still going strong. Next year he once more reprises his role as Alfred the butler in Christopher Nolan’s third Batman movie. He won critical acclaim for last year’s Harry Brown, a hard-nosed vigilante movie shot in his native Elephant and Castle – a tough inner-London district (hence the title of his book). These are high-profile roles, in challenging and/or lucrative films. That is a rare feat for any actor, let alone one in the latter part of his eighth decade. How do you keep getting such great parts, I ask him? “I dunno,” he deadpans. “I sit back and wait for my agent to ring.” But it wasn’t always like that. The autobiography starts at an awkward moment for Caine. It is the early 1990s, and he is shooting a belated sequel to the Harry Palmer films, Midnight in St Petersburg, in the Russian city. He goes to the toilet. It is, he recalls, “the filthiest toilet I have ever seen in my life. No one had cleaned it out. And I suddenly thought: ‘What am I doing here?’” He makes the existential crisis sound as desolate as Beckett. It sounds like a forlorn experience, I say. “It was just after the communists had gone. When we had lunch on location they gave us Geiger counters, to test the food for radiation. And of course the first thing we did was test the batteries!” He laughs loudly. “You don’t want a duff battery!” Can Hollywood stars bring Michelin stars? - Oct-01 Lunch with the FT: Fernando Henrique Cardoso - Sep-24 Jim O’Neill: An economist’s view - Sep-24 Lunch with the FT: Jerry Hall - Sep-17 Lunch with the FT: Tony Blair - Sep-10 Lunch with the FT: Gary Shteyngart - Sep-03 “It was a low moment,” he confesses, turning serious again. “But I was quite philosophical about it.” He saw the incident as a turning point. He was preparing to wind his career down, getting increasingly involved with his restaurant businesses and enjoying the easy life in his new apartment in Miami’s South Beach. And then, wouldn’t you know it, Jack Nicholson called. “He was the catalyst,” says Caine. “I had got to that stage in life when you wouldn’t even send me a good script. I had done a couple of duff ones. And then Jack was doing a movie with Bob Rafelson in Miami, and asked me to come. He said, ‘Get off your ass and just do it.’ And that changed everything. Jack is the nicest and kindest person, it was such a joy working with him.” The resulting film – the noir thriller Blood and Wine – didn’t change the landscape of motion pictures, but Caine’s appetite was refreshed, his career revivified. Along came Little Voice, The Cider House Rules, The Quiet American, Baftas, Golden Globes and an Oscar. He says one of the aims in writing the book is to inspire readers of a certain age. “As they get older, people think, ‘It’s over.’ But it isn’t. It doesn’t have to be.” The food arrives. The sandwiches are triple-deckers. “Blimey! They give you a lot don’t they? We will weigh 400lb by the end of this!” He offers to serve the tea but is flummoxed by a designer teapot. “I can never pour these bleedin’ things. Either nothing comes out or it all goes all over the table.” Between us, we crack it. Caine dutifully removes one of the slices of his sandwich and tucks in with relish. Caine has a habit of saying nice things about everyone. He makes Hollywood parties sound like village green fetes. He doesn’t even have a bad word for Frank Sinatra, for goodness sake. I am suspicious of this. When he first travelled there in the 1960s, was Hollywood not full of predators trying to shaft this presumptuous Limey? “No, truly not. And you know why? Because I wasn’t their idea of a Limey. I wasn’t posh. I didn’t have this superior English attitude. And I was all for them.” His love affair with things American started during the war. “There were American soldiers parked in the local recreation ground and we used to make their beds in exchange for chewing gum and Coca-Cola. I didn’t actually go there until Alfie.” His maiden voyage happily coincided with an Oscar nomination. “But then I saw Paul Scofield in A Man for All Seasons and thought, there’s no point in turning up.” (Scofield duly won the award). Was he an innocent when he went to Hollywood? “I was an innocent by Hollywood standards. What surprised me was the hospitality, how kind people were. Even the lawyers and agents were the nicest people.” I raise an eyebrow. “Remember, I wasn’t really competing with anyone. You weren’t going to lose a part to me if you were Jack Nicholson.” And then, in 2000, there was the knighthood, which helped. “They like a bit of King Arthur.” Never mind that, this was a town that famously spat people out for its own entertainment, I say. “It can do. But I wasn’t successful until I was 30. And I was a very tough 30, not some giddy little girl.” The toughening of Michael Caine is the most sobering part of the book. Born Maurice Micklewhite to a working-class family in south-east London “with funny eyes, sticking-out ears and, just to round it all off, rickets”, he was evacuated during the war to a couple who would lock him in the cupboard for the weekend while they went socialising. That’s the kind of thing you read about in the Sunday papers, I say. He shrugs it off. “A lot of children had a very bad time.” But to be locked in a cupboard for a whole weekend? “They weren’t wicked people. They took in the children for the money, and then didn’t want to look after them. They wanted to go away for the weekend and didn’t want to cart these dirty tykes from London around with them. Of course, when my mother came, she nearly went to prison for assaulting the woman. She beat her up.” He is unsentimental about the war. “I benefited from it. For a start I ate nothing but organic food for six years. We had no sugar, no biscuits, no fizzy drinks.” He went on to serve in Korea. “It was a nightmare at the time. But I saw the world, and mixed with people from all classes and societies.” He speaks movingly of his parents, particularly his father, whom he describes as a “hero”, a market porter at Billingsgate, who read voraciously and had an aptitude for technology, building his own radio from scratch. “He was a symptom of this country losing out on talent because of class,” he says. “They never knew they had it, they never knew they lost it. But today computers will compensate for any bad education there is.” He pauses for a second, and free-associates. “I’m a Google freak.” What do you Google, I ask? “Everything. It’s a wonderful thing. I had a gardener who didn’t know much about gardening.” (Read this out loud in a Caine voice and it is somehow hilarious.) “Every time I bought a plant I Googled it to find out how to look after it, and gave it to him and said, ‘There you go’.” It can be a terrible distraction, I add. He evidently agrees. “I was looking for a penthouse once. And so I put in ‘Penthouse’. Oh my God.” I quickly wonder to myself how many people who hit the Penthouse website are actually after a penthouse. “And it’s a funny thing – you can’t switch it off. I had to take it out of the wall. I had to take the battery out.” There is something endearing about this techno-porno nightmare. Perhaps Jack Nicholson should have been around, I almost say. He says in the book that 1967’s Billion Dollar Brain, the third Harry Palmer film, featured an early version of the internet. “I read that in the paper,” he says. He remembers an adviser on the set trying to explain it to him. “I said, ‘What a load of bollocks. Just tell me which knob to turn.’ I thought it was the most preposterous thing I had ever heard.” Like many people, I say, I became fully converted to Caine’s acting talents by his performance in Educating Rita, for which he gained weight, looked permanently drunk, and gave a startling portrayal of vulnerability. “I had never been offered parts like that. But it is the proudest piece of acting I have ever done. An English professor in a college – it was the furthest thing from me that you could get. It was the first time I completely disappeared.” Was it hard to let his ego go like that? “I realised that I didn’t have that kind of ego, worrying about looking great. I didn’t care about that.” He reminds me that he was in repertory theatre for nine years before his big movie break. “A different role every week. I love being an actor. And I love not being me.” Caine spends his time today between his Chelsea flat and his 200-year-old converted barn in Box Hill, Surrey, spending part of the winter in Miami. His days in Hollywood are over (he lived there for eight years, as a vociferous critic of Britain’s tax regime). There is a touching account of a mournful farewell to his press agent on Rodeo Drive. “I went straight to Ermenegildo Zegna [he mangles the name magnificently] and bought a shirt.” Did the retail therapy have the required effect? “I was all right. I got on a plane and went home.” Home is where his heart is. He is “besotted” with his three grandchildren, a strength of reaction that surprised him, and reveres family life. Both in the book and our conversation, he repeatedly pays tribute to his wife of 37 years Shakira, “the nicest person in the world”, with whom he has a daughter (he also has a daughter with his first wife, the actress Patricia Haines). It is because of his family, he says, that his book is studiedly discreet about all those Hollywood parties. “When you fall in love, that becomes part of your past. Like mumps and measles. I didn’t want to go into all that. Not like Kirk Douglas – he named them all, Marlene Dietrich, bleedin’ Marilyn Monroe, everybody!” As for the films, he says, touching every piece of wood in the vicinity, they keep rolling in. As well as the next Batman, he is preparing for a part in a version of Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island, about which he is unexpectedly rapturous. “I have grandchildren now. And I get to fly off on a giant bumblebee. I want them to see that.” The Wyndham Grand Chelsea Harbour, London Traditional Afternoon Tea (all inc.) x 2 £30 Scottish Smoked Salmon w/ Herbed Cream Cheese x 2 Royal English Breakfast Tea Total £30 Oct 2, 2010 7:24:46 AM \| Film, Food and Drink, Fun, Media, People FT: How 'Wall Street' changed Wall Streat How ‘Wall Street’ changed Wall Street By Francesco Guerrera Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in ‘Wall Street’ (1987) In late 1987, Frank Partnoy, then a maths student at the University of Kansas, had an epiphany. As he sat in a cinema watching Wall Street, Oliver Stone’s depiction of the corrosive effects of greed on the financial industry, Partnoy decided he wanted to be part of it. “I was naive but it actually inspired me. It made Wall Street seem exotic and alluring,” says Partnoy, 43, who went on to work for Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley as a derivatives specialist, an experience he chronicled in his 1997 book Fiasco: Blood in the Water on Wall Street. Now a professor of law and finance at the University of San Diego, he says: “If you are a math major at the University of Kansas and you see a cheque with six zeroes, it is going to get your attention.” He was not alone. In the two decades since its release, Wall Street and its lead characters, the father-of-all-evil Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas in an Oscar-winning turn) and the corruptible ingénu Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen), have exuded an almost hypnotic attraction on scores of would-be bankers and traders. “[The movie] became a cult phenomenon on business school campuses,” says Ken Moelis, 52, a former UBS banker who now runs his own advisory boutique and is one of Wall Street’s best-known dealmakers. “[After they joined the industry] these kids told me that they watched it so many times I thought they knew more about Gordon Gekko than their families.” Wall Street lawyer Rodgin Cohen (top); Professor Frank Partnoy, a former derivatives specialist Interview with Michael Douglas - Sep-22 Gaspar Noé’s ‘Enter the Void’ - Sep-24 Film releases: Sep 17 - Sep-15 Venice Film Festival - Sep-12 Gems at the Venice Film Festival - Sep-11 You can’t beat a catchy song - Sep-08 The film’s hold on the people it so roundly condemns is testament to its enduring influence on an industry with a notoriously short memory. As Rodgin Cohen, 66, a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell and a Wall Street doyen, says: “Bad people make good movies,” even if they are not entirely realistic. A full 23 years after its premiere, most of the 20-plus real Wall Street denizens interviewed for this article displayed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the plot; Gekko’s ruthless attempt to raid an airline, aided by Fox’s inside tips until the young protégé’s conscience launches a successful takeover of his soul and both get their comeuppance. The real Wall Street, however, appeared to embrace Fox’s rags-to-riches social climbing while overlooking the story’s moral underpinnings. Not quite the reaction that Stone, the son of a stockbroker but known for polemical, political films such as Platoon and JFK, intended when he conceived a tale of the dangers of unbridled capitalism. The film, however, took on a life of its own, defining a financial era in the eyes of the public and the industry it portrayed. Despite being neither a big box office nor critical hit, its influence on popular culture remains strong. Gekko-esque wisdom, such as “lunch is for wimps” and “greed is good” (the actual quote is “greed, for lack of a better word, is good”), has long since passed into common currency. Indeed, many of those buying tickets for the sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, released next month, will be alumni of the first film: the crowds lining up at this week’s New York premiere were made up largely of middle-aged men in suits pressed against barricades typically reserved for screaming teenagers. For the inhabitants of the Street, the film’s impact went deeper and further than a collection of terse one-liners. “[Wall Street] inspired generations of financial people to ape the characters,” recalls a senior banker who joined the industry at that time. “All of a sudden, on trading floors there was a proliferation of suspenders [braces], slicked-back hair and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War [Gekko’s favourite book]. Although modern-day mobile phones are smaller than Gekko’s brick-like late-1980s contraption, visitors to old-school haunts such as the 21 Club in midtown Manhattan can still bump into crinkly gentlemen with gummed-up hair and braces – a bizarre case of life imitating art imitating life (Gekko’s look was itself inspired by that of 1980s financiers such as Carl Icahn and T Boone Pickens). Wall Street was both a mirror and a high-water mark for the financial industry of the period. It chronicled the dramatic change that daring corporate raiders and the availability of cheap debt had introduced into a world of gentlemen’s agreements and handshakes in a cosy, old-boys’ network. Stone’s shorthand for that fading culture is the character of Lou Mannheim, the ageing stockbroker named after Stone’s father Louis, whose moralising – “Man looks in the abyss, there’s nothing staring back at him. At that moment, man finds his character. And that is what keeps him out of the abyss” – proves a bland counterpoint to Gekko’s more watchable moral turpitude. Jean-Yves Fillion, 51, a banker at BNP Paribas in New York, says: “The movie was a reflection of the industry as it was at the time but it also captured a turning point. Finance used to be about stability, values and about relationships. The movie was at the opposite end of the spectrum. It showed a different side of finance that was taking hold.” Fillion, a self-confessed film buff, compares the original Wall Street to a “modern-day western, with a bad guy that was almost likeable – a good bad guy. That made the whole industry more attractive, more shiny and glamorous. Gordon Gekko is portrayed as an example of sophistication and innovation, he is almost seen as a hero”. Gordon Gekko shows Bud Fox the money Why was Stone’s message in Wall Street undermined? Bill Winters, 48, a former head of JP Morgan’s investment bank, believes the filmmaker obscured the point he intended to make. “I remember being surprised that a group of people was just figuring out that greed played a meaningful role in the way the business gets done on Wall Street,” he recalls. “I think the movie would have made a much more powerful point had the creators been a little bit subtler and cast the character not as a criminal but as ethically challenged, and styled him on those corporate raiders of the 1980s who took a tough, uncompromising stance against companies but did not actually break any laws.” Yet the culture of greed that was obvious to a then 25-year-old banker such as Winters was still a surprise to most of the film’s non-Wall Street audience, partly because of the finance industry’s relatively low profile at that time among the wider public. Its release, just a few months after the stock market crash of October 1987, provided a timely account of an era of excess and revealed the ugly side of a money-making machine that has always tried to cover up its blemishes with fancy clothes and complex jargon. For the first time people were able to see not only the glory but the gory side of Wall Street. Pat Huddleston, 48, a former official at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), recalls how the movie played a part in his decision to become a regulator. “The way Oliver Stone wound up the story, with Bud seeing the light and embracing the values of his upbringing, reminded me that ordinary folks are the ones who suffer for the sins of the supposed kings of the universe represented by Gekko,” says Huddleston, who now runs Investor’s Watchdog, a private investor-protection firm that investigates suspected Ponzi schemes. “Given that I was following an impulse to work for David rather than Goliath, Wall Street helped me see that I could do that at the SEC. What I saw at the SEC, in the dark corners of the securities industry, confirmed the less than flattering portrait that the movie paints.” Of course, others viewed it differently, seeing in this muscular, vivid portrait of money and its transformative social powers a modern parable for the American dream with braces replacing bootstraps. On Wall Street, as Gekko says to Bud, “If you are not on the inside, you are on the outside.” Todd Thomson, 49, started his career as a management consultant before later joining the finance industry and for a period becoming an executive at Citigroup. He recalls how some of his classmates at Wharton Business School reacted to the film. “Wharton was my first exposure to people from Wall Street and people who wanted to go to Wall Street – and the focus was almost exclusively on making money,” says Thomson, who now runs his own investment fund. “A lot of people at Wharton came from nothing, a lot of them had backgrounds similar to Bud Fox. For them the life of Bud Fox was what they were aiming for: the dream of going from nothing and ending up with the penthouse apartment and a girlfriend with model looks.” Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin and Douglas in the sequel ‘Money Never Sleeps’ (2010) Money Never Sleeps again stars Douglas as Gekko, newly out of jail and looking to rekindle the old magic. It arrives at a time when there is nothing glamorous about finance in the eyes of a public that has lost jobs and homes in the most devastating financial crisis since the 1930s. Just as the first film was inspired by the famous insider trading scandal involving the real-life arbitrageur Ivan Boesky (who reportedly once said “greed is healthy”), Money Never Sleeps borrows liberally from contemporary events. A common parlour game among bankers who have seen previews is to speculate on which real-life Wall Street titans have influenced the character of the vulture-like executive Bretton James, played by Josh Brolin. The film also reprises the relationship between Gekko and a young protégé. Shia LaBeouf plays a trader who falls for his master’s fraud (clearly he hasn’t seen the original movie) while romancing Gekko’s daughter. But it is not just the size of Gekko’s mobile phone that has shrunk since 1987. With the free market shown to be a lot less perfect than late-1980s zealots such as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and Gordon Gekko had us believe, the reputation and social standing of bankers has also been cut down to size. Stone’s cautionary precepts may, therefore, stand a greater chance of being heeded this time round. But can his new film hope to achieve anything approaching the resonance of the original? Those longing for memorable lines will not be disappointed. (“I once said, ‘Greed is good.’ Now it seems it’s legal;” “You are so Wall Street you make me sick. I am going to take a shower.”) But Partnoy, the banker-turned-professor, believes modern viewers will be less wide-eyed than those of his generation. “The maths major at the University of Kansas now knows all about collateralised debt obligations and Wall Street,” he says. “When I show the original movie in class, the ethics of the students have changed 180 degrees. In the 1990s, it was seen as inspiring, today students get the morality tale right away,” he says. The spotlight thrown on unglitzy parts of high finance has reduced Wall Street’s mystique. Forget swashbuckling corporate raids and daring trading strategies, the latest turmoil was caused by poor people who were given mortgages they could not pay and the nerds who securitised them in windowless offices. As Gekko languished in jail, Wall Street was taken over by lunch-eating wimps. Paradoxically, as the “quants” elbowed the dealmakers aside, and super-fast computers replaced human beings on the trading floors, this less colourful industry became better known to the public. A period of long prosperity encouraged more people to dabble in investments. Try as he might, Stone cannot shock many people the way he did two decades ago because his audience is both more knowledgeable about, and more inured to, the perils of finance. Will the new film’s depiction of Wall Street’s current, more workmanlike, incarnation still exercise a gravitational pull on would-be traders? Bill Winters believes it will. “The-greed-is-good movement of the 1980s and 1990s carries on today,” he says. “Finance has always been a dog-eat-dog profession where some people became fabulously wealthy and some people get fired. There are a lot of bright kids that studied engineering and maths who want to go into finance because of the promise of great riches.” Wall Street veteran Peter Solomon, 72, who was an executive at Lehman Brothers before founding his own firm in 1989, is unconvinced that a more penitent Gekko will increase his industry’s ability to learn from past mistakes. “You go to a dinner party today and two or three of the guys who are there were in jail,” says Solomon, who met Stone before he began shooting the new movie. “It’s a great world because it’s so redeeming ... but I don’t think people learn lessons.” Which is why the most prescient line in the 1987 film is perhaps not “greed is good” but the warning offered by Mannheim to the young Fox: “The main thing about money, Bud: it makes you do things you don’t want to do”. Francesco Guerrera is the FT’s US finance and business editor. Additional reporting by Justin Baer and Helen Thomas. ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’ is released on October 6 Nouriel Roubini on his ‘Wall Street 2’ cameo Oliver Stone (left) and Nouriel Roubini “I stumbled into a small cameo role in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps after director Oliver Stone asked me about the causes of the financial crisis while seeking input into the film’s script. “Initially it was more about the potential damage that ‘evil’ hedge funds could cause. But I pointed out, as others had, that we always ran the risk of fighting the previous war – in this case the concerns about hedge funds after the near collapse of Long-Term Capital Management in 1998. However, the financial crisis of 2007-2009 was caused more by the risk-taking and leverage of traditional, commercial and investment bankers, rather than by hedge funds. The final script reflects this reality. “After this ‘consulting’, I was asked if I would take on a cameo role as the gloomy Dr Hashimi. In the film, I am interviewed on the business news channel CNBC after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 and warn of the risks of a global financial meltdown. The film is full of cameos, from Warren Buffett to the CNBC anchor Maria Bartiromo. “Is it surprising that real economists, bankers and characters from the financial world should show up in a fictional movie? Not any more. Reality has become more surprising and ‘fictional’ than any author of fiction could ever have dreamt. Who, for example, would have imagined that the worst economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression would envelop the global economy the way it did two years ago? “Also, business, economics and finance play a bigger role in our lives than they did in 1987 when the first Wall Street was released. Media outlets such as CNBC, Bloomberg and others have a key role in telling us about the financial crises that are occurring more frequently and more virulently than in the past. Consequently, commentators such as myself also have a more prominent role in analysing these events. “Blurring the lines still further, some of the fictional institutions and characters in Wall Street 2 are based on real life. Churchill Schwartz is a not so veiled reference to Goldman Sachs, though its head – played by Josh Brolin – doesn’t look too much like Lloyd Blankfein. In fact, for me part of the fun of watching the movie is guessing which fictional character is who in real life.” Nouriel Roubini is chairman of Roubini Global Economics, professor at New York University and co-author of ‘Crisis Economics’ Sep 25, 2010 7:08:39 AM \| Banking/Finance & Economics, Ethics, Film ST: Time to censor the censors Home > Think > Story Time to censor the censors To build a vibrant creative culture, regulation in place of censorship is the way forward By Clarissa Oon, Senior Political Correspondent The arts community's latest statement on that perennial hot-button topic - censorship - offers policymakers and the public a number of issues to chew on. Some 190 theatre, film, visual arts and literary arts practitioners are advocating that, with the current framework of age-appropriate ratings and consumer advisories, art works should not still have to be cut. Their point is that art should be regulated instead of censored. The last 10 years have seen an end to outright bans on art works and performances. However, contentious works may continue to suffer any number of nips and tucks - in order for them to be classified as, say, an R21 film or R18 play and be watched by mature audiences. As the government-convened Censorship Review Committee (CRC) ponders how to update Singapore's arts regulatory regime, the arts community is proposing that regulation be treated as separate from censorship. Their position paper can be viewed online at http://sites.google.com/site/artsengagesg How does this position differ from the Government's? The Media Development Authority(MDA), the regulatory body for the arts and film, is already moving away from censorship and towards regulation. On broad principles, artists and MDA are in agreement. The difference is of interpretation and latitude in a few sensitive areas - where the arts address race and religion, are seen to affect national interest and security, or appear to promote homosexuality. These remain socially polarising subjects. The arts community's view is that any fallout should be negotiated through public debate and dialogue. The Government has always preferred to nip matters in the bud before they get out of hand. The CRC, a 17-member citizen committee, will have to consider which is the better approach for society, or if there can be a middle ground. After all, one of the CRC's stated aims is to explore how more creative professionals can participate in co-regulating content. MDA's citizen committees that advise on regulatory matters are still overwhelmingly dominated by people who encounter the arts as audiences - and do not have actual experience in producing and distributing artistic content and navigating censorship. For parents and others who hold more conservative views, the arts community stresses that it is not championing a free-for-all, 'anything goes' approach to artistic content. Singapore's laws on racial harmony and against sedition and obscenity must be respected. They argue that artists who break the law should be tried in open court, rather than be restrained behind the scenes by a censorship trail that is often obscure and involves multiple government agencies. As society matures and becomes more complex, my view is that it is increasingly unhelpful to see the censorship debate as one of 'conservatives versus liberals'. As individuals, there are all kinds of nuances in our world views that resist pigeonholing; one may be a political liberal but a moral conservative, or the other way round. The censorship debate should hinge on these questions: Is it the business of the Government to shield individuals from being offended by a work of art? Or should consumers be given information to decide whether or not to view it? How can consumers be better empowered, and how should disputes over controversial works be managed? At the most fundamental level, what kind of art does Singapore hope to foster? The 190 arts community members who put out the proposal are not business people who import foreign works. They create original works that comment on life and society from a Singapore perspective. No artist sets out to do something that has been done before; the raison d'etre of creative expression is that it is unconventional, risk-taking and true to one's beliefs. With that in mind, what exactly is the C-word, censorship, and how different is it from regulation? The arts community says censorship prohibits the public presentation of artistic content, and breeds a risk-averse, secretive culture. Regulation, on the other hand, involves restricting access to a work of art, but not tampering with its content. On its website, MDA says it has moved away from 'traditional censorship' towards classification and co-regulation with the industry. The process protects the young while providing adults with more choices. It also upholds societal norms and values, preserves racial and religious harmony and safeguards national and public interest. Films may be classified under one of five ratings, the most stringent being R21, which is restricted to those aged 21 and above. Arts performances have three ratings, the highest being R18, for audiences aged 18 and above. MDA spells out on its website what makes a film or performance suitable for audiences of a certain age, and also states what content is not allowed for all ratings. Rather than erring towards caution and proscribing content that fall into sensitive areas, one can argue that there needs to be more flexibility and sensitivity towards the artist's intentions, and more credit given to audiences that they do not simply lap up what they see and can judge critically. The tendency for government agencies and even arts venues to play it safe in vetting content can be seen in nearly all of the 10 real- life accounts of censorship detailed in the arts community's paper. For example, in 2005, all references to the death penalty had to be excised from the script of a play by The Fun Stage, called Human Lefts. The reason given for the censorship was that the death penalty was a sensitive issue, as the play was staged the day after the hanging here of Australian drug trafficker Nguyen Van Tuong. In 2007, a play about a possible bombing on an MRT train and its effects on race relations was denied a licence for an outdoor performance after the Ministry of Home Affairs objected. The play, Trick Or Threat, is presented using forum theatre, in which actors stimulate and guide audience participation and discussion. As a genre, forum theatre was not funded by the Government from 1994 to 2003. Ironically, the play by Drama Box has since had numerous successful indoor stagings. Members of Parliament who saw it have praised it for how it prepares Singaporeans to deal with the fallout of a terrorist threat. The play is now being used to train civil servants and grassroots leaders. After the play's initial ban in 2007, director Kok Heng Leun said: 'There is never going to be a good time to talk about these things.' Dialogue on touchy topics will always be uncomfortable but local audiences need to learn how to process these issues through rational debate. Proscription of such content does not help in that respect. The CRC could recommend more age-appropriate tiers of classification to reduce the need for works to be cut. There could be an R21 category restricting very controversial performances to those above 21. With secondary school students growing up faster because of globalisation and the Internet, a new PG13 rating for films would keep out those under 13 and advise parental guidance on generally inoffensive movies dealing with teen- relevant subjects. Just to put in perspective how tough Singapore is on censorship compared to other Asian societies, Taiwanese film director Doze Niu recently made a top-grossing and critically acclaimed Taiwanese gangster drama by consulting actual secret society members and even involving them in fight sequences, to ensure the film's authenticity. If he were making his film Monga in Singapore and used the same approach, he would probably have been stopped from shooting those fight scenes and his film snipped for security reasons - so impressionable audiences would not be influenced by the secret societies. After all, Singaporean film-maker Royston Tan's award-winning 2003 film about young boys in gangland, 15, was heavily censored for using rap songs chanted by real secret societies. If Singapore is serious about building a vibrant and internationally recognised creative culture, then in the long term, regulation rather than censorship must be the way forward. Otherwise, artists here will constantly have to expend energies and resources addressing the censor's demands, while artists elsewhere rise to greater heights. clare@sph.com.sg In the long term, regulation rather than censorship must be the way forward. Otherwise artists here will constantly have to expend energies and resources addressing the censor's demands, while artists elsewhere rise to greater heights. Jun 20, 2010 7:25:30 AM \| Art, Asia, Film, Public Policy, Singapore WSJ: Recipe for 'Prawn-ography' Recipe for 'Prawn-ography' By MICHELLE KUNG Food has been a lifelong obsession for Sicilian director Luca Guadagnino, both on-screen and off. As a teenager, he seriously considered entering a professional cooking school before deciding that working within the confines of a kitchen would be too much of a sacrifice for him. "I said to myself, I will love food and I will cook for my dears, but I will not become a chef," said Mr. Guadagnino, who acknowledged the irony of his becoming an independent filmmaker, an equally challenging career. But he never stopped his culinary training, nor cultivating relationships with high-end chefs—an advantage when he was shooting his latest film, the family drama "Io Sono L'Amore" ("I Am Love"). Ken Fallin The film, which opens in select cities June 18, stars Tilda Swinton, Mr. Guadagnino's frequent collaborator and a friend of nearly 20 years. She plays Emma Recchi, a Russian-born trophy wife of an Italian textile magnate. Lonely and shielded from life, Emma falls in love with her son's friend Antonio (Edoardo Gabbriellini), a chef, after tasting a particularly rapturous dish of prawns he has prepared (Ms. Swinton has called the sequence "prawn- ography"). To help create Emma's life-altering dish, Mr. Guadagnino called upon the chef Carlo Cracco—whose Cracco Peck restaurant in Milan, Italy, has earned two Michelin stars—to help prepare the foods to be filmed, as well as to train Mr. Gabbriellini. "I am friends with many great chefs all over the world," said Mr. Guadagnino during a recent interview in the New York offices of his film's distribution company, Magnolia Pictures. "It may be very presumptuous and arrogant to say, but I know food very well. And because I trained myself, I know how to speak to chefs. They rarely get to meet people who really are at their restaurant purely for the food, instead of just showing off or working the power dynamic of the situation, so they start to talk to me. And we become friends." Given Mr. Cracco's involvement, close-ups of savory dishes were prepared fresh for the film, without any additives. "We didn't have any of those people who spray things to enhance the color of the food; come on," Mr. Guadagnino said, with a slightly incredulous look. "I like when food is shown in a movie as a way to express a milieu or a behavior; for example, I think the strudel sequence in Quentin Tarantino's 'Inglourious Basterds' is one of the most beautiful food shots in the history of cinema," Mr. Guadagnino added. "I am not very drawn to shooting food for the sake of food; that's a very '90s and 2000s fashion. 'Big Night.' 'Julie & Julia.' Ugh, it's fakey. Though I think Meryl Streep cooking is fantastic." Born in Palermo, Italy, in 1971, Mr. Guadagnino—the son of an Algerian mother and a Sicilian father—spent much of his childhood in Ethiopia. He describes himself as a "very lonely young boy" back in Africa, a continent that affected him as a writer and director. Because he lived in the country during the final years of emperor Haile Selassie, who was deposed in a military coup in 1974 and died soon after, he feels a strong attraction to films with a "bigger than life" scope. Fittingly, the first film he saw in Ethiopia was a rerelease of David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia" at age 3. Living in Africa, Mr. Guadagnino said, "gave me a great confidence in the unknown, and taught me about light; as a filmmaker, I am very much struck by light or the lack of light, and all these are qualities of Africa," he said. "Sensuality is also a great quality of Africa. Bodies, bodies, bodies. I was free to meet people of every race and not make a big deal out of it. And I was free to encounter the mysteries of life and nature and the dangers of it." As a young adult, Mr. Guadagnino attended La Sapienza in Rome, where he studied film and wrote his thesis on the films of Jonathan Demme. After directing the 1997 short film "Qui," he made his feature directorial debut with 1999's "The Protagonists," an experimental thriller. The film starred Tilda Swinton, whom he met in 1994 after trying to cast her in an adaptation of William S. Burroughs's "Penny Arcade Peep Show." The Burroughs film never got made, but the two became fast friends. Ms. Swinton subsequenly starred in Mr. Guadagnino's 2002 short film, "The Love Factory," and now the Milan-set "I Am Love," on which both served as producers. Ms. Swinton says that from the moment she met Mr. Guadagnino, she knew she was dealing with an artist who knew exactly what he wanted, adding, "he's a very undauntable person." On "I Am Love," she said she and Mr. Guadagnino shot and edited their film to a soundtrack of John Adams's work, before securing any rights to the composer's music. Luckily, the high-stakes gamble paid off and Mr. Adams gave his approval. Mr. Guadagnino finds himself wanting to be a "Hollywood insider." Unlike many independent filmmakers, he says he loves the people of Hollywood, even the studio executives, because he appreciates anyone who demonstrates a solid commitment to movie-making. What he doesn't appreciate is all of the marketing involved with promoting a film. "I want to disappear. That's my real difficulty. Just nonexist and just do movies," he said. "I live to deliver my work and that's it. But I believe that the job of a director is also to speak for the movies." His next projects include nurturing a short film, "Diarchy," he produced for the 23-year-old director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino, and producing a remake of Dario Argento's horror film "Suspiria" with David Gordon Green, whom he met on a film festival jury. "He makes me laugh," he said of the director of "Pineapple Express." He is also especially eager to work with the "divine" Matt Damon. Ms. Swinton, who introduced the two at the Toronto Film Festival last year, said that Mr. Damon rendered her normally talkative friend star-struck and silent. "I want to really surprise myself with what I do next. I want to make something very seriously, so I think you will never see another rich family movie from me," Mr. Guadagnino said. "I don't want to indulge. I think when you indulge the director that's the moment in which you have to ring the bell of danger." Ms. Kung writes about arts and entertainment for the Journal and co-produces the Speakeasy blog. Jun 16, 2010 5:04:00 AM \| Film, Food and Drink Marketing: CCS turns public Informant CCS turns public Informant By: Ben Burrowes, Singapore EDUCATION CAMPAIGN BUSINESS SINGAPORE CAMPAIGN LAUNCH CCS launches education campaign Leverages The Informant movie Partners with Warner Brothers Singapore - The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) is running a public education campaign and is using new movie The Informant to help promote its message. The movie, starring Matt Damon, is based on the 2009 book by the same name which was written by journalist Eichenwald and covers the mid-1990's lysine price-fixing conspiracy in the US and the involvement of Fortune 500 company Archer Daniels Midland. The CCS first learnt about the film around a year ago and according to its director of the strategic planning division, Poon King Wang, decided it was a perfect fit in delivering a message to both the public and private sectors in Singapore about what the Commission does. "Because the content of the movie was about one of the biggest price fixing cartels, we believed that would explain creatively why the CCS is investigating and uncovering cartels," he said. The idea was initially tested amongst business chambers and received great feedback. "It's a topic they felt their members should know about and something they could always watch out for - it was also seen as a fresh idea to get their members together," Poon said. Well over 300 people recently attended the CCS-organised preview screening of The Informant, while various CCS collaterals are available at current screenings. A partnership with the Kinokuniya bookstore also involves collaterals placement while an online contest is also taking place to further push the campaign's message. "We thought that (the movie) showed a very close parallel to what we do. People coming forward from inside the organisation - that was one of the most important messages," Poon said. According to the CCS, the education campaign has received great feedback from all sectors and if another opportunity to push its message present itself, the Commission will again look to use new platforms. "We are always looking for opportunities to raise awareness," said CCS chief executive Teo Eng Cheong. "It's a good time for people to be more aware of what we do and how we do it." In addition, the CCS has also recently launched a corporate trailer for businesses and consumers to learn more about the harms of price-fixing conspiracies. Dec 15, 2009 7:03:33 AM \| Asia, Business, Film, Singapore, Special FT: One thing at a time One thing at a time By Harry Eyres A reader once wrote to me asking for advice about multitasking. I replied, truthfully if a trifle pompously, that multitasking was not a word that featured in my vocabulary. What I meant to convey was not just a preference – multitasking was not my cup of tea – but a deeper sense that there was really something quite wrong-headed about this apparently common and current term. So the findings of a group of researchers from Stanford University, showing that multitasking is a sure recipe for incompetence, pleased but did not surprise me. Apparently the results, published on August 24 in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, did surprise the researchers themselves. Professor Clifford Nass and his colleagues began the project assuming that multitaskers possessed an enviable gift. When he discovered that “multitaskers were lousy at everything” it came as “a complete and total shock” to the professor. It turned out not just that multitaskers were not good at multitasking, but that they were bad at focusing, remembering and switching from one task to another. I suppose the idea that being able to do, say, three things at once might just seem better than just doing one thing at a time. But it seems dangerous to assume that what works in the realm of juggling – clearly being able to juggle just one ball is no achievement at all – should hold good in other spheres. I used to teach a theatre course to American undergraduates, which included a showing of Louis Malle’s My Dinner with André, the film in which the playwright and actor Wallace Shawn and the theatre director André Gregory spend 90 minutes in a Manhattan restaurant talking about art and life. During one showing I noticed that several students were writing postcards (this was before the days of texting). Eventually I paused the tape and suggested to them that the film deserved their full attention. At the time I was bemused not just by their insistence that they could perfectly well watch the film and write a postcard at the same time, but by their air of aggrieved innocence or injured pride. Now, having heard Prof Nass speak about his findings, I realise that I was casting aspersions on their ability to multitask. Maybe it is worth pausing here and spelling out just why I thought and still think it is not possible to write a postcard and watch My Dinner with André at the same time. Writing a postcard, strange as it may sound, requires your complete attention. It requires the directing of imaginative sympathy towards the recipient, a kind of long-distance tuning. A postcard written by a robot would not be a postcard you would want to receive; if it did not say “wish you were here”, it would consist of some other lame or inappropriate formula, because only a being employing the full human powers of mind and heart can write a postcard worth the stamp. Watching a film, still more obviously, is not something you can do with half an eye, or half a heart. Every frame, every word, in a properly made film, has something to say to you. In the case of My Dinner with André, you are drawn into a conversation of epic intensity; only by imaginatively taking the place of Shawn, by having your own dinner with the outrageous and mesmerising Gregory, can you follow him on his crazed quest for authentic experience, for an Artaudian theatre that is as much an experiment in living as an artistic project. The film is not easy to watch, and offers no hiding place. Unconsciously, I think, my multitasking students were operating a strategy of avoidance. Multitasking may be not so much about efficiency or productivity as a kind of flinching from full emotional and intellectual engagement with the task in hand. My criticism of the Stanford study is that it was too limited in scope. Prof Nass and his co-researchers used only rather crude cognitive methods, testing whether their human guinea-pigs could recognise and remember different-coloured shapes, letters and numbers. This is only the tip of the iceberg, or does not get very close to the heart of the human. Deciding how well a subject was engaging with the imaginative world of a great work of art or with another person, while fiddling with a mobile or a BlackBerry, would clearly require a different kind of testing altogether. Ultimately the problem of multitasking is not so much a cognitive one as an emotional and ethical one. It is certainly possible to drive a car and listen to a Beethoven symphony at the same time, because driving a car demands certain physical skills but does not involve any emotional engagement. Trying to listen to a Beethoven symphony and simultaneously speak to someone on the phone is neither possible nor right. By driving ourselves to distraction, attempting to juggle tasks each of which requires our full attention, we will ultimately drive others to distraction as well. harry.eyres@ft.com More columns at www.ft.com/eyres Oct 16, 2009 5:47:53 PM \| Film, Harry Eyres, Opinion, Science NY Times: Turning to Tie-Ins, Lego Thinks Beyond the Brick Turning to Tie-Ins, Lego Thinks Beyond the Brick By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ Billund, Denmark FROM the outside, there is nothing playful about the drab, two-story Lego Idea House here, where designers gather in whitewashed rooms to dream up new toys. But upstairs, behind a series of locked doors accessible only to employees with special passes, is a chamber that might as well be toy heaven for kids — and more than a few adults. Multicolored Lego creations in every imaginable size and shape spill from the shelves, from Indiana Jones’s biplane to Darth Vader’s fighter. Boxes stamped “confidential” hold potential future blockbusters, like Buzz Lightyear, the hero of the “Toy Story” animated films, as well as a police station bustling with miniature cops and robbers. “It’s our way of looking at the world,” says Soren Holm, the head of Lego’s Concept Lab. “We have happy criminals; even they are smiling. The sun is shining every day.” While that may be true of Lego’s toys, until recently it was hardly the case for Lego’s bottom line. But five years after a near-death experience, Lego has emerged as an unlikely winner in an industry threatened by the likes of video games, iPods, the Internet and other digital diversions. Even as other toymakers struggle, this Danish maker of toy bricks is enjoying double-digit sales gains and swelling earnings. In recent years, Lego has increasingly focused on toys that many parents wouldn’t recognize from their own childhood. Hollywood themes are commanding more shelf space, a far cry from the idealistic, purely imagination-oriented play that drove Lego for years and was as much a religion as a business strategy in Billund. Just as the toys are changing, so is the company. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, 40, a father of four and a McKinsey & Company alumnus who took over as Lego’s chief executive in 2004, made it clear that results, not simply feeling good about making the best toys, would be essential if Lego was to succeed. “We needed to build a mind-set where nonperformance wasn’t accepted,” Mr. Knudstorp says. Now, “there’s no place to hide if performance is poor,” he says. “You will be embarrassed, and embarrassment is stronger than fear.” But the story of Lego’s renaissance — and its current expansion into new segments like virtual reality and video games — isn’t just a toy story. It’s also a reminder of how even the best brands can lose their luster but bounce back with a change in strategy and occasionally painful adaptation. Founded in 1932 on the principle of “play well,” or “leg godt” in Danish, by a local carpenter, Ole Kirk Christiansen, this privately held company had a very Scandinavian aversion to talking about profits, much less orienting the company around them. Mr. Christiansen’s family still owns Lego and its business may still be fun and games, but working here isn’t. Before Mr. Knudstorp’s arrival, deadlines came and went, and development time for new toys could stretch out for years; in 2004, the company racked up a $344 million loss. Now, employee pay is tied to measuring up to management’s key performance indicators (K.P.I.’s, in Lego-speak). And cost-saving touches are encouraged when it comes to designing new toys. That has helped to lower development time by 50 percent, with some new products moving from idea to box in as little as a year. Mr. Knudstorp’s bottom-line-oriented team, meanwhile, has shifted some manufacturing and distribution from Billund to cheaper locales in Central Europe and Mexico. Nevertheless, Lego hasn’t entirely shed its Scandinavian sense of social mission when it comes to making toys. It kept quality high and never moved any manufacturing to China, avoiding the lead paint scare and grabbing market share when rivals stumbled amid multiple recalls. Now, with profits swelling and the turnaround firmly in place, Lego is preparing for a future that moves well beyond the basic brick but carries big risks as well. Last month, it opened its first “concept store” in Concord, N.C., where parents can bring children for birthday parties and classes with master builders; another concept store is set to open near Baltimore this fall. It’s all part of a broader retail expansion that will give Lego 47 retail stores worldwide by year-end, up from 27 in 2007. In 2010, the first board game designed by Lego will go on sale in the United States, while its new virtual reality system, Lego Universe, will make its debut on the Web, with children able to act out roles from Lego games and build toys from virtual bricks. Video games — yes, Lego is there, too — are increasingly important to the company, as are Lego’s legions of adult fans, who can now buy kits to build architect-designed models of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum. What’s more, the company is in talks with Warner Brothers about a mixed live-action and animation Lego-themed movie that would move the company and its Lego brand even further into the Hollywood orbit. “Developing a movie doesn’t come cheap,” says Soren Torp Laursen, a 23-year Lego employee who heads its North American operations. “But five years ago, we were in the midst of a crisis, and now we’re in a growth phase. We are definitely taking bigger risks than we previously did.” WHILE that shift has disappointed purists and prompted worries from experts that some of what has long made Lego special may be in jeopardy, it’s paying off, at least in the short term. Amid a 5 percent drop in total United States toy sales last year and the industry’s worst holiday season in three decades, according to Sean McGowan, an analyst at Needham & Company, Lego’s sales surged 18.7 percent in 2008. And despite a worsening global recession, Lego powered through the first half of 2009, with a 23 percent sales increase over the period a year earlier. It earned $355 million before taxes last year, and $178 million in the first half of 2009. The numbers are all the more impressive given the sales declines this year at the two biggest toymakers, Mattel and Hasbro. “I was stunned when I heard how strong Lego’s performance was,” says Mr. McGowan, who has covered the toy industry for 23 years. “How could an $80 Lego set sell better than a $10 action figure?” The answer is as multifaceted as one of Lego’s most complicated brick creations — and, like the best children’s stories, contains elements of luck, hard work and the loss of innocence. SOREN HOLM looks down at the machine gun atop Indiana Jones’s jeep and winces. By the standards of video games like Grand Theft Auto and of other childhood attractions, it’s mild stuff. But here in Billund, toy weapons have always been a touchy subject. “I can tell you there’s been a lot of debate about how far we can take it,” Mr. Holm says. Right down to Indy’s gun? “Oh, yes,” he says slowly. “Oh, yes.” Since Lego overcame its initial hesitation about rolling out a “Star Wars” series a decade ago because the word “war” would appear on the box, the company has grown more comfortable with conflict. “We’ve opened up slightly,” Mr. Holm says. After all, he adds, “when you give boys a bunch of bricks, they build a gun.” In fact, Lego has opened up more than slightly. Whether it’s the Star Wars Assassin Droids Battle Pack or the Indiana Jones Ambush in Cairo set — featuring a pistol-wielding Indy against a scimitar-swinging local — many of Lego’s most popular toys today seem inspired by the special effects and violence of the big screen. In the United States, Lego’s biggest market and the biggest toy market in the world, games with themes like “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” were among the reasons Lego sales jumped 32 percent last year, well above the global pace. But experts like Dr. Jonathan Sinowitz, a New York psychologist who also runs a psychological services company, Diagnostics, wonders at what price these sales come. “What Lego loses is what makes it so special,” he says. “When you have a less structured, less themed set, kids have the ability to start from scratch. When you have kids playing out Indiana Jones, they’re playing out Hollywood’s imagination, not their own.” Even toy analysts who admire the company and its recent success acknowledge a broad shift. “I would like to see more open-ended play like when we were kids,” says Gerrick Johnson, a toy analyst at BMO Capital Markets in New York. “The vast majority is theme-based, and when you go into Toys “R” Us, you’d really be challenged to find a simple box of bricks.” Lutz Muller, an independent toy analyst in Williston, Vt., who has long followed the industry, estimates that 60 percent of Lego’s American sales are linked to licenses, double the amount five years ago. And the coming “Toy Story” sets have retailers salivating, as Disney prepares to release the latest movie in the hit series next June. “ ‘Toy Story’ is a fit made in heaven,” raves Jerry Storch, the chief executive of Toys “R” Us, which has increased the shelf space allotted to Lego in recent years. Nevertheless, acquiring licenses to make toys linked to hot Hollywood properties like “Toy Story” carries risks. “It’s a slippery slope,” Mr. Johnson says, and today’s hit can quickly turn into tomorrow’s dud, adding volatility that Lego never faced in the past. Indeed, unlike the Cabbage Patch Kids or Atari or the Beanie Babies, it was Lego’s seeming aloofness from the market that helped it endure, rather than ending up in the back of the closet like those toys of yesteryear. For longtime Lego executives like Mr. Laursen, it’s a delicate issue, and his own comments echo Lego’s ambivalence over creativity and hallowed Lego traditions versus the appeal of more profitable, Hollywood-influenced toys. He says that “we’re definitely more commercially oriented” and notes that licenses play a bigger role in the American market than overseas. But he says that “we’ve never sacrificed our values, and have never been a fundamentally profit-oriented company.” In fact, he says that there is often a long debate about values when acquiring new licenses, and that “we’re far from always agreeing to take on new ones.” He won’t specify which movies or themes Lego has passed on, but says that “there are many licenses out there that represent a level of violence that is not suited to Lego and doesn’t fit with the trust of parents.” As Lego ventures deeper into video games and virtual reality with Lego Universe, the question of violence, not to mention commercial temptations, will become only more charged. One answer, Mr. Laursen says, is to make “violence not explicit, but humoristic.” For example, when a minifigure “dies” in a “Star Wars” or “Indiana Jones” video game, he dissolves into a pile of bricks and then springs back to life, cartoon style. “We think kids really want to have this good-against-evil play; they want this fighting against each other,” says Charlotte Simonsen, a Lego spokeswoman. “But we want to do it with a wink.” Analysts add that the recession has proved to be an unexpected boon for Lego, as parents favor spending more time at home with traditional toys instead of going out to the movies or taking trips with the children. Even parents who won’t let video games in the house, like Alyson Richman Gordon of Huntington Bay, N.Y., say Lego has retained its innocence, especially when it comes to toys built around the traditional bricks. “It echoes back to a bygone era,” she said. “And I find as a parent that I’m drawn to things from my own childhood that inspired my creativity.” Lester Munson, a father of two in Alexandria, Va., agrees, even though he sees a difference between the Legos of his own childhood and those favored by his 8-year-old son, Jonas. “The most exotic thing I could build when I was a kid was an ambulance,” he says. “Now Jonas can build the Death Star.” “I still like Legos, and I’m 41,” he says. “Instead of watching TV or playing computer games, the kids are building something, and Jonas and I will build stuff together. The pieces and the sets are a lot cooler than they were 30 years ago, and if the price you have to pay is these tie-ins, that’s fine.” IT’S not only children who fight over toys. John Barbour, a former top executive of Toys “R” Us, recalls “a series of truly frustrating meetings” with Lego officials in Billund and New York at the beginning of the decade, which climaxed when Mr. Barbour bluntly told them that Toys “R” Us cared more about the Lego brand than they did. The most popular toys would run out, he recalls, and Lego was simply unable to ship more or manage the complex process of producing the plastic pieces for its most complicated sets. That began to change in 2004, after Mr. Knudstorp took over in Billund and Mr. Laursen arrived at Lego’s regional headquarters in Enfield, Conn. Besides reaching out to top retailers and cutting costs, they untangled a supply chain that churns out 29 billion pieces a year. The changes also filtered down to the ranks of Lego’s toy designers, says Paal Smith-Meyer, head of Lego’s new-business group. The number of different bricks or elements that go into Lego toys has shrunk to less than 7,000 from roughly 13,000, and designers are encouraged to reuse parts, so that a piece of an X-wing fighter from the “Star Wars” series might end up in Indiana Jones’s jeep or a pirate ship. That’s very different from when Mr. Meyer joined Lego a decade ago. Though creating a mold to make a new plastic element might cost 50,000 euros. on average, he recalls that 90 percent of new elements were developed and used just one time. Nowadays, Mr. Meyer says, “you have to design for Lego. If you want to design for yourself, go be an artist.” For those would-be Lego artists out there, the company has created a Lego Certified Professional program, selecting adult Lego enthusiasts who don’t work directly for the company but whose creations are aimed at Lego’s vast population of adult fans as well as museum and gallery shows. It’s part of another broad new effort at Lego — reaching out to those adult fans, who maintain thousands of Web sites and blogs, like GodBricks, which features Lego creations inspired by different faiths, and the Brothers Brick, which showcases all things Lego, whether a life-size Lego house, news, or advice on how to shine up yellowing bricks (hydrogen peroxide). “There’s a huge community of people that treat Lego as an art form rather than just a toy,” says Andrew Becraft, a technical writer at Microsoft who created the Brothers Brick blog. His site pulls in 125,000 unique visitors a month, and Lego officials estimate that 915,000 people worldwide attended Lego conventions and other events in the first seven months of 2009. Five to 10 percent of Lego toys are snapped up by adults. In the past, Mr. Knudstorp says, “we considered the adult fans like vintage cars, a bit bizarre.” But he called on another longtime Lego executive, Tormod Askildsen, to work with adult fans. Now Mr. Askildsen journeys to Lego conventions organized by adult enthusiasts, while working with 44 Lego “ambassadors” from 27 countries, seeking advice about new toys and heading off public anger when older lines, like Lego’s 9-volt train sets, are phased out. Ultimately, Lego came up with a new, profitable train set, after inviting the 9-volt enthusiasts to two workshops in Billund to brainstorm and help design it. “If you rock the boat, people will notice,” Mr. Askildsen notes. “They were fighting furiously for us not to give it up, but we were able to turn tension into opportunity.” The same might be said for Lego as a whole, as it navigates the fiercely competitive toy market and ventures into movies and virtual reality while clinging as best it can to the more innocent, Scandinavian values that made it so popular in the first place. “In the end, you’ve got to go where your consumer is going,” Mr. Barbour says. “And the reality is that themes and movies are what kids want. There’s no point in developing the best product in the world if you can’t put it on the shelf.” A "Space Truck Getaway" model from the Lego Space Police series sits in a display shelf at the Lego Store in Concord Mills Mall in Concord, N.C. Five years after a near-death experience, Lego has emerged as an unlikely winner in an industry threatened by iPods, the Internet and other digital diversions. The Lego headquarters in Billund, Denmark. This private company has long had a very Scandinavian aversion to talking about profits, much less orienting the company around them. Just as the toys are changing, so is the company. Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, 40, a father of four and a McKinsey & Company alumnus who took over as Lego's chief executive in 2004, made it clear that results, not simply feeling good about making the best toys, would be essential if Lego was going to succeed. Gitte Hedegaard Nipper, Lego marketing manager, prices new small products. The company has always taken pride in its toys. It was founded in 1932 on the principle of "play well," or "leg godt" in Danish, by a local carpenter, Ole Kirk Christiansen. The Lego White House, part of the Architecture line. Almost everything is automated in the Lego factory, and only two people work in every hall, ensuring that the machines function. Thousands of Lego cubes for new toys. "There's a huge community of people that treat Lego as an art form rather than just a toy," says Andrew Becraft, a technical writer at Microsoft who created the Brothers Brick blog. His site pulls in 125,000 unique visitors a month, and Lego officials estimate that 915,000 people worldwide attended Lego conventions and other events in the first seven months of 2009. Quality control of the finished Lego Star Wars sets before they can be shipped from the factory in Denmark. Hollywood themes are commanding more shelf space, a far cry from the purely imagination-oriented play that drove Lego for years. Lego's headquarters isn't all work; it is common to find children playing there. The company hasn't entirely shed its Scandinavian sense of social mission when it comes to making toys. It kept quality high and never moved any manufacturing to China, avoiding the lead paint scare and grabbing market share when rivals stumbled amid multiple recalls. Joanne Valentine, left, asks advice from a Lego store assistant manager, Irene Helms, in Concord, N.C. A similar store is to open near Baltimore this fall. In the United States, Lego's biggest market and the biggest toy market in the world, games with themes like "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" were among the reasons Lego sales jumped 32 percent last year, well above the global pace. Boxes from the Indiana Jones Last Crusade series sit on a shelf at the Lego Store in Concord, N.C. Last month, Lego opened a store in Concord, N.C., where parents can bring children for birthday parties and classes with master builders. Jason Anderson, an assistant manager at the store, helps Landon Mesimer, 5, in building a fishing rod during a class. Sep 6, 2009 5:02:17 AM \| Business, Consumer Insights, Demographics, Design, Film, Fun, Leadership & Management, Psychology, Strategy FT: Checks and balances Published: August 15 2009 01:25 \| Last updated: August 15 2009 01:25 I have an aversion to what I see as needless acts of bravado. People who sail single-handed round the world or scale the north face of the Eiger without crampons interest me little. Life, everyday mundane life, is quite risky enough without adding gratuitous danger. For those reasons I had avoided seeing the film Man on Wire when it first came out in cinemas. This is the documentary, you may recall, about the French funambulist Philippe Petit, who walked on a wire between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, briefly becoming an international celebrity. But when I finally caught up with Man on Wire on terrestrial TV, I found myself more gripped than I had expected. It was not just that I had underestimated the sheer outré daring of the act itself, but I had not considered the logistics, and teamwork, that made it possible. Of course, if you think about it, getting a ton of rigging to the top of one of the towers and somehow stringing and securing a cable across (using a bow and arrow, attached to a fine thread, attached to a bigger thread and so on) was as remarkable and unlikely an achievement as the high-wire walk itself – probably much more so. You might think of Petit as a nut, on a par with Timothy Treadwell, the hero of Herzog’s Grizzly Man, who believed he could fraternise with bears, but, if so, he was an inspired and inspiring nut. He had enough charisma (and for once I think that is the mot juste) to persuade a whole team of camp followers to go along with him. This was the true essence of the film, how Petit persuaded friends, colleagues, girlfriend to make his crazy dream come true. What did they think they were doing? How would they have felt if he had plunged 1,300ft to his death? The film persuaded you that they were not foolish or deluded. The footage of Petit practising walking on a tightrope, both before the 1974 feat and 30-odd years later, showed something unmistakable and mesmerising. This was a man born to walk on a high wire. The expression on his face in mid-walk, rightly described by one of his friends as a mask of concentration, was both transfixing and strangely archaic, like the expression of a Minoan bull-leaper. And when Petit finally performed his famous feat, photographs clearly show his face relaxing from tension into serenity. Petit did not just walk once and for all along the wire between the towers. As one of the policemen sent to catch him put it: “He danced on that wire,” lying on it, kneeling on it, returning to make the crossing eight times. In the film, his friends repeatedly bear witness to the strange and captivating beauty of the act. Petit’s high-wire walk was a kind of triumph, but not without human cost. All his friends agreed that something changed after it. Petit had survived unscathed, and even been transformed into a kind of demigod, but his terrestrial relationships did not fare so well. His relationship with his girlfriend died more or less in the act; just after it, Petit was invited by a star-struck admirer to go to bed with her and accepted. He himself was, and remains to this day, unrepentant. Being French, he sees his high-wire act as a philosophical statement as much as a physical one. His feat was the most extreme rebuke imaginable to a culture obsessed with safety at all costs. For Petit, life is only really lived at the extreme, which does not mean with pointless recklessness but in a fully conscious wager with death. Only that way can a terrible beauty be born. Most of us choose not to live on the high wire, either literally or metaphorically. From childhood we are warned against the perils of flying too high – not just our individual childhood, but the childhood of the race, when the Greek myth of Icarus taught the danger of flying too close to the sun. But Philippe Petit and all the people who supported him – his rigging team, the employee in the World Trade Center who helped him forge a pass, even the amazed policeman touched with eloquence by what he saw – were convinced of something different. Sometimes the supreme expression of life is something that defies all the rules of caution. This applies beyond funambulism. The other night at the BBC Proms I found myself feeling strangely out of sorts. An atmospheric but shapeless contemporary piece by John Casken did little to change my mood. But then the pianist Stephen Hough came on to play Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto, whose main raison d’être seems to be to challenge the pianist to play more notes and at greater velocity than is humanly possible. But, improbably, Hough pulled it off, playing not just fast but with refined delicacy and in the romping finale with delicious insouciance. Here was a high-wire act of another kind, uplifting to the spirit. NY Times: Same Man, New Wire and a Secret Midtown Venue FT: A holy fool atop the twin towers Aug 20, 2009 8:43:43 AM \| Film, Harry Eyres, Opinion NY Times: Full Stomachs, and Full Marriages Too Full Stomachs, and Full Marriages Too NORA EPHRON is nothing if not direct. Just try to tiptoe around asking this question: Could she have written and directed a movie like “Julie & Julia,” which celebrates marriage as gloriously fulfilling, if she hadn’t managed to, um, find happiness in her personal life after, well, “Heartburn,” which she based on her infamously awful second marriage? “Living alone in misery, would I have made this movie?” Ms. Ephron, 68, said. “Is that what you’re asking? I happen to love my marriage” — she’s been married to the writer Nicholas Pileggi for 22 years — “and you hope that you make movies that feel personal to you. But there is nothing autobiographical here. I could practically footnote every scene.” Mike Nichols, who directed “Heartburn” and counts Ms. Ephron as a close friend, doesn’t buy it. “Nora is stronger, funnier, sexier than ever,” he said. “You do feel like this movie is plugged into the life she’s living.” “Julie & Julia,” set for release on Friday, is the story of two lost women who find a professional purpose through food. Julia Child (Meryl Streep) is living in 1940s Paris, trying to figure out what to do with her life while her husband serves as a foreign diplomat. She decides to go to cooking school and write a cookbook. Flash to the present, where a downtrodden cubicle inmate named Julie Powell (Amy Adams) decides to prepare all 524 of the often daunting recipes in said cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” and blog about it. (A chicken fricassee recipe described as “not difficult” has about 30 steps.) Ms. Ephron, a foodie from way back (one of her signature dishes is “spaghetti with sand,” or bread crumbs), adapted the film from “My Life in France,” Child’s posthumously published autobiography, and Ms. Powell’s blogging memoir, “Julie & Julia.” The film is food porn. (Seriously, don’t come hungry.) And Ms. Streep’s performance as the vowel-elongating chef will probably earn her another bushel of accolades and give Ms. Ephron her first hit movie in more than a decade. But it is the film’s depiction of marriage — particularly the union of Julia and Paul Child — that has sparked chatter among people after screenings. Several aspects of the matrimonial portrait are astonishing, at least for a Hollywood movie. For starters, there’s the sex: the old married folks have it. The middle-aged Julia and Paul (Stanley Tucci) are depicted, apparently accurately, as acutely libidinous. The strapping (6 foot 2) wife and her (shorter) husband have sex in the afternoon, with a cackling Julia ripping off Paul’s suspenders. In another scene, they photograph themselves naked in a bubble bath and use the picture as a Valentine’s Day card. “I don’t know why everybody is so surprised,” Ms. Streep said. “I guess people don’t attach sexuality to people who look like their parents.” She thought for a minute and then laughed. “Oh, fine. I suppose they probably don’t attach sexuality to Julia Child, either.” (Dan Aykroyd famously parodied her lack of femininity in a “Saturday Night Live” skit, parts of which Ms. Ephron includes in her film.) Hollywood movies about vibrant marriages are rare. There is “The Thin Man” (whose main characters, it should be noted, are Nick and Nora). But most often film unions are dreary and painful, a chore that must be slogged through en route to the real story line: divorce or an affair. Enter “marriage” as a keyword on the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com) and the results are almost uniformly negative: “unhappy-marriage” (150 titles), “forced-marriage” (140 titles), “marriage-as-hell” (37 titles). But happy, relaxed, rolling-along-together marriage? “It’s like spotting a unicorn,” Ms. Ephron said. Theories abound as to why. Jeanine D. Basinger, chairwoman of the film studies department at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, noted that male directors, producers and studio chiefs have always called most of the shots in Hollywood. “Men are just not as likely to care about that kind of story,” said Ms. Basinger, who is writing a book about the depiction of marriage on screen. Scott Rudin (“No Country for Old Men,” “Doubt”), an executive producer of “Julie & Julia,” said the answer wasn’t a mystery. “Conflict is immediately captivating,” he said. “Happy is harder.” Each husband in “Julie & Julia” takes pleasure in supporting his mate’s commitment and ambition. Paul Child snaps pictures of his wife’s cooking for her book. Julie Powell’s husband, Eric (Chris Messina), encourages the blogging idea, even pushing her to keep going after her obsession with it starts to wear on him. But the relationships aren’t idyllic, Mr. Rudin noted. “That’s what makes it feel real,” he said. The modern couple struggles with money and fights over Julie’s occasional self-involvement (although there is no mention of an affair she had after the publication of the book). Children are a painful topic to the Childs. In one scene Julia has a moment of despair — briefly — when her sister becomes pregnant. “I actually see this movie as a how-to manual on marriage,” said Ms. Basinger, who saw an early screening. Fairly or not, Ms. Ephron is still associated with matrimonial bitterness, something that has bubbled to the surface again with “Julie & Julia” in part because Ms. Streep also starred in “Heartburn.” That 1986 movie, adapted from Ms. Ephron’s novel, was a thinly disguised version of her marriage to the journalist Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, which ended when she discovered him cheating on her while she was pregnant. “Heartburn” was her revenge. Mr. Bernstein tried (and failed) to influence how he came across in it. “An undertaste so nasty you could be puckered for a month afterward,” Sheila Benson, the film critic for The Los Angeles Times, wrote of the movie. (One line from the film: “Marriage never works. You know what works? Divorce.” Another: “You want monogamy, marry a swan.”) Romance, of course, has flowed through her subsequent work — “When Harry Met Sally,” “Sleepless in Seattle” — but those movies were about finding a flame, not learning how to keep one going. What changed? Ms. Ephron, a former newspaper and magazine reporter, said she was merely working with different facts in “Julie & Julia.” But people around her think the depiction has a lot to do with her own relationship with Mr. Pileggi, who wrote the books on which “Goodfellas” and “Casino” are based. (He wrote the screenplays with Martin Scorsese.) “I’m always amazed at how excited each of them is to see the other and how they have managed to remain both interesting and interested,” said Laurence Mark, a producer of the movie. “It’s certainly one of the most successful marriages that I’ve ever seen.” Ms. Ephron’s last hit movie, “You’ve Got Mail,” came more than 10 years ago. In the interim there have been the disappointing “Hanging Up,” which Diane Keaton directed from a screenplay Ms. Ephron wrote with her sister Delia Ephron, and “Bewitched,” which was an unmitigated disaster. A low budget of about $40 million will help the new film’s chances for financial success. And in many ways the film (which includes an appearance by Amanda Hesser, a contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine, and an uncredited appearance as an extra by Frank Bruni, the paper’s departing restaurant critic) is built as the chick flick to end all chick flicks: Ms. Ephron dishing out romance the way her fans like it, Ms. Streep in another bravura performance, mouthwatering food, an uplifting theme, bits of “Sex and the City” Manhattan. “What more could you want?” asked Amy Pascal, the co-chairwoman of Sony Pictures Entertainment, who sought out Ms. Ephron to direct the film. “Fans are going to see this as the essential Nora Ephron movie.” Hurdles certainly exist. Food movies are a difficult sell. Despite Ms. Ephron’s best effort to make the husbands fully formed, a lot of men will stick fondue forks in their eyes before they buy a ticket. And the flip-flopping between the story lines may dent critical reviews. A recent New Yorker profile of Ms. Ephron predicted that audiences would “resent” Ms. Adams for taking screen time away from Ms. Streep, something that seemed to rankle the filmmakers. “I don’t believe it,” Ms. Ephron said curtly. Ms. Pascal also dismissed the criticism. “It works perfectly as two stories,” she said. Ms. Basinger, the film studies professor, is unconvinced. “I’m trying to think of a way to be tactful about that dichotomy,” she said. Instead she switched the subject back to marriage, cooing that it will be why “Julie & Julia” goes down in the cinematic history books. And she was certain that Ms. Ephron’s personal life was the film’s secret ingredient. “Those relationships just feel so honest,” she said. “I think they could only have been put on-screen by somebody who understands the delights of a really terrific marriage.” Told of this, Ms. Ephron laughed. “I can’t wait to get off the phone and tell that to Nick,” she said. Aug 9, 2009 11:04:07 PM \| Film, Food and Drink, Relationships WSJ: World's Within - The ‘Spirited Away’ animator on his new fantasy film ‘Ponyo’ AUGUST 6, 2009, 9:06 P.M. ET Worlds Within The ‘Spirited Away’ animator on his new fantasy film ‘Ponyo’ By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY In the films of Hayao Miyazaki, the mundane and the magical live side by side. His new film, “Ponyo,” due out Aug. 14, tells the story of a young boy in a home on a cliff overlooking the water who befriends a supernatural sea creature that lives beneath the waves. The filmmaker says he got the idea for the movie when he was living in a house on a cliff with a view of Japan’s Inland Sea. A Scene From 'Ponyo' Watch a scene from the animated movie "Ponyo." Video courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures. The 68-year-old Japanese animator is known for making movies that take place in imaginative settings. His 1986 movie “Castle in the Sky” focused on the search for a mythical flying city; much of his Oscar-winning 2001 film “Spirited Away” took place in a bathhouse for spirit creatures; and his Oscar-nominated 2004 movie “Howl’s Moving Castle” featured a troubled magician who lived in an ambulatory residence. “Ponyo,” features perhaps the most star-studded cast for a Miyazaki movie, including the voices of Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Matt Damon, Betty White and Tina Fey. Disney Animated fantasy movie ‘Ponyo’ Disney, the studio distributing the film in the U.S., has marshaled the next generation of its stars to support the movie, which also features the voices of Noah Cyrus (Miley’s little sister) and Frankie Jonas (younger sibling of the Jonas Brothers music trio). Although Mr. Miyazaki is little-known in the U.S., in Japan he is a household name and his films are blockbusters. The director said his career path was set after watching the animated fantasy film “Panda and the Magic Serpent” as a teenager. At the time, he was feeling “a lot of pressure” because he was studying for exams. Although the film was only a “cheap love romance,” it made a deep impression on him, in part because the movie was made in Japan. He had been planning to become a writer of Japanese manga (comic books), but instead decided to become an animator. Corbis Director Hayao Miyazaki Mr. Miyazaki, who is also a screenwriter, typically works by drawing sketches of the characters in his movies and handing them over to the chief animator to flesh out. His films rely on hand-drawn animation, but he has nothing against computer animation. “The reason hand-drawn is so important is that I am only able to do hand-drawn,” said the animator, speaking by phone through a translator. Many of Mr. Miyazaki’s films explore the futility of conflict. Mr. Miyazaki said growing up in Japan in the shadow of World War II shaped his outlook about war, but he strives to keep his views from coming across too “overtly” in his films. He said, however, that his opposition to the war in Iraq was one of the reasons why he decided not to attend the 2003 Academy Awards, where “Spirited Away,” won for best animated feature. The importance of safeguarding the environment is another recurring theme in his work. In “Ponyo,” man and nature are portrayed as out of balance, and the sea is depicted as full of garbage. “All I did is just draw how the sea has become, the way it is in reality,” said Mr. Miyazaki. Write to Christopher John Farley at christopher.farley@wsj.com Aug 8, 2009 8:28:05 AM \| Art, Asia, Environment, Film, Fun, People, Special NY Times: Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch 1. JULIA’S CHILDREN I was only 8 when “The French Chef” first appeared on American television in 1963, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that this Julia Child had improved the quality of life around our house. My mother began cooking dishes she’d watched Julia cook on TV: boeuf bourguignon (the subject of the show’s first episode), French onion soup gratinée, duck à l’orange, coq au vin, mousse au chocolat. Some of the more ambitious dishes, like the duck or the mousse, were pointed toward weekend company, but my mother would usually test these out on me and my sisters earlier in the week, and a few of the others — including the boeuf bourguignon, which I especially loved — actually made it into heavy weeknight rotation. So whenever people talk about how Julia Child upgraded the culture of food in America, I nod appreciatively. I owe her. Not that I didn’t also owe Swanson, because we also ate TV dinners, and those were pretty good, too. Every so often I would watch “The French Chef” with my mother in the den. On WNET in New York, it came on late in the afternoon, after school, and because we had only one television back then, if Mom wanted to watch her program, you watched it, too. The show felt less like TV than like hanging around the kitchen, which is to say, not terribly exciting to a kid (except when Child dropped something on the floor, which my mother promised would happen if we stuck around long enough) but comforting in its familiarity: the clanking of pots and pans, the squeal of an oven door in need of WD-40, all the kitchen-chemistry-set spectacles of transformation. The show was taped live and broadcast uncut and unedited, so it had a vérité feel completely unlike anything you might see today on the Food Network, with its A.D.H.D. editing and hyperkinetic soundtracks of rock music and clashing knives. While Julia waited for the butter foam to subside in the sauté pan, you waited, too, precisely as long, listening to Julia’s improvised patter over the hiss of her pan, as she filled the desultory minutes with kitchen tips and lore. It all felt more like life than TV, though Julia’s voice was like nothing I ever heard before or would hear again until Monty Python came to America: vaguely European, breathy and singsongy, and weirdly suggestive of a man doing a falsetto impression of a woman. The BBC supposedly took “The French Chef” off the air because viewers wrote in complaining that Julia Child seemed either drunk or demented. Meryl Streep, who brings Julia Child vividly back to the screen in Nora Ephron’s charming new comedy, “Julie & Julia,” has the voice down, and with the help of some clever set design and cinematography, she manages to evoke too Child’s big-girl ungainliness — the woman was 6 foot 2 and had arms like a longshoreman. Streep also captures the deep sensual delight that Julia Child took in food — not just the eating of it (her virgin bite of sole meunière at La Couronne in Rouen recalls Meg Ryan’s deli orgasm in “When Harry Met Sally”) but the fondling and affectionate slapping of ingredients in their raw state and the magic of their kitchen transformations. But “Julie & Julia” is more than an exercise in nostalgia. As the title suggests, the film has a second, more contemporary heroine. The Julie character (played by Amy Adams) is based on Julie Powell, a 29-year-old aspiring writer living in Queens who, casting about for a blog conceit in 2002, hit on a cool one: she would cook her way through all 524 recipes in Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” in 365 days and blog about her adventures. The movie shuttles back and forth between Julie’s year of compulsive cooking and blogging in Queens in 2002 and Julia’s decade in Paris and Provence a half-century earlier, as recounted in “My Life in France,” the memoir published a few years after her death in 2004. Julia Child in 1949 was in some ways in the same boat in which Julie Powell found herself in 2002: happily married to a really nice guy but feeling, acutely, the lack of a life project. Living in Paris, where her husband, Paul Child, was posted in the diplomatic corps, Julia (who like Julie had worked as a secretary) was at a loss as to what to do with her life until she realized that what she liked to do best was eat. So she enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu and learned how to cook. As with Julia, so with Julie: cooking saved her life, giving her a project and, eventually, a path to literary success. That learning to cook could lead an American woman to success of any kind would have seemed utterly implausible in 1949; that it is so thoroughly plausible 60 years later owes everything to Julia Child’s legacy. Julie Powell operates in a world that Julia Child helped to create, one where food is taken seriously, where chefs have been welcomed into the repertory company of American celebrity and where cooking has become a broadly appealing mise-en-scène in which success stories can plausibly be set and played out. How amazing is it that we live today in a culture that has not only something called the Food Network but now a hit show on that network called “The Next Food Network Star,” which thousands of 20- and 30-somethings compete eagerly to become? It would seem we have come a long way from Swanson TV dinners. The Food Network can now be seen in nearly 100 million American homes and on most nights commands more viewers than any of the cable news channels. Millions of Americans, including my 16-year-old son, can tell you months after the finale which contestant emerged victorious in Season 5 of “Top Chef” (Hosea Rosenberg, followed by Stefan Richter, his favorite, and Carla Hall). The popularity of cooking shows — or perhaps I should say food shows — has spread beyond the precincts of public or cable television to the broadcast networks, where Gordon Ramsay terrorizes newbie chefs on “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox and Jamie Oliver is preparing a reality show on ABC in which he takes aim at an American city with an obesity problem and tries to teach the population how to cook. It’s no wonder that a Hollywood studio would conclude that American audiences had an appetite for a movie in which the road to personal fulfillment and public success passes through the kitchen and turns, crucially, on a recipe for boeuf bourguignon. (The secret is to pat dry your beef before you brown it.) But here’s what I don’t get: How is it that we are so eager to watch other people browning beef cubes on screen but so much less eager to brown them ourselves? For the rise of Julia Child as a figure of cultural consequence — along with Alice Waters and Mario Batali and Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse and whoever is crowned the next Food Network star — has, paradoxically, coincided with the rise of fast food, home-meal replacements and the decline and fall of everyday home cooking. That decline has several causes: women working outside the home; food companies persuading Americans to let them do the cooking; and advances in technology that made it easier for them to do so. Cooking is no longer obligatory, and for many people, women especially, that has been a blessing. But perhaps a mixed blessing, to judge by the culture’s continuing, if not deepening, fascination with the subject. It has been easier for us to give up cooking than it has been to give up talking about it — and watching it. Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up); that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking and cleaning up when Julia arrived on our television screens. It’s also less than half the time it takes to watch a single episode of “Top Chef” or “Chopped” or “The Next Food Network Star.” What this suggests is that a great many Americans are spending considerably more time watching images of cooking on television than they are cooking themselves — an increasingly archaic activity they will tell you they no longer have the time for. What is wrong with this picture? 2. THE COURAGE TO FLIP When I asked my mother recently what exactly endeared Julia Child to her, she explained that “for so many of us she took the fear out of cooking” and, to illustrate the point, brought up the famous potato show (or, as Julia pronounced it, “the poh-TAY-toh show!”), one of the episodes that Meryl Streep recreates brilliantly on screen. Millions of Americans of a certain age claim to remember Julia Child dropping a chicken or a goose on the floor, but the memory is apocryphal: what she dropped was a potato pancake, and it didn’t quite make it to the floor. Still, this was a classic live-television moment, inconceivable on any modern cooking show: Martha Stewart would sooner commit seppuku than let such an outtake ever see the light of day. The episode has Julia making a plate-size potato pancake, sautéing a big disc of mashed potato into which she has folded impressive quantities of cream and butter. Then the fateful moment arrives: “When you flip anything, you just have to have the courage of your convictions,” she declares, clearly a tad nervous at the prospect, and then gives the big pancake a flip. On the way down, half of it catches the lip of the pan and splats onto the stovetop. Undaunted, Julia scoops the thing up and roughly patches the pancake back together, explaining: “When I flipped it, I didn’t have the courage to do it the way I should have. You can always pick it up.” And then, looking right through the camera as if taking us into her confidence, she utters the line that did so much to lift the fear of failure from my mother and her contemporaries: “If you’re alone in the kitchen, WHOOOO” — the pronoun is sung — “is going to see?” For a generation of women eager to transcend their mothers’ recipe box (and perhaps, too, their mothers’ social standing), Julia’s little kitchen catastrophe was a liberation and a lesson: “The only way you learn to flip things is just to flip them!” It was a kind of courage — not only to cook but to cook the world’s most glamorous and intimidating cuisine — that Julia Child gave my mother and so many other women like her, and to watch her empower viewers in episode after episode is to appreciate just how much about cooking on television — not to mention cooking itself — has changed in the years since “The French Chef” was on the air. There are still cooking programs that will teach you how to cook. Public television offers the eminently useful “America’s Test Kitchen.” The Food Network carries a whole slate of so-called dump-and-stir shows during the day, and the network’s research suggests that at least some viewers are following along. But many of these programs — I’m thinking of Rachael Ray, Paula Deen, Sandra Lee — tend to be aimed at stay-at-home moms who are in a hurry and eager to please. (“How good are you going to look when you serve this?” asks Paula Deen, a Southern gal of the old school.) These shows stress quick results, shortcuts and superconvenience but never the sort of pleasure — physical and mental — that Julia Child took in the work of cooking: the tomahawking of a fish skeleton or the chopping of an onion, the Rolfing of butter into the breast of a raw chicken or the vigorous whisking of heavy cream. By the end of the potato show, Julia was out of breath and had broken a sweat, which she mopped from her brow with a paper towel. (Have you ever seen Martha Stewart break a sweat? Pant? If so, you know her a lot better than the rest of us.) Child was less interested in making it fast or easy than making it right, because cooking for her was so much more than a means to a meal. It was a gratifying, even ennobling sort of work, engaging both the mind and the muscles. You didn’t do it to please a husband or impress guests; you did it to please yourself. No one cooking on television today gives the impression that they enjoy the actual work quite as much as Julia Child did. In this, she strikes me as a more liberated figure than many of the women who have followed her on television. Curiously, the year Julia Child went on the air — 1963 — was the same year Betty Friedan published “The Feminine Mystique,” the book that taught millions of American women to regard housework, cooking included, as drudgery, indeed as a form of oppression. You may think of these two figures as antagonists, but that wouldn’t be quite right. They actually had a great deal in common, as Child’s biographer, Laura Shapiro, points out, and addressed the aspirations of many of the same women. Julia never referred to her viewers as “housewives” — a word she detested — and never condescended to them. She tried to show the sort of women who read “The Feminine Mystique” that, far from oppressing them, the work of cooking approached in the proper spirit offered a kind of fulfillment and deserved an intelligent woman’s attention. (A man’s too.) Second-wave feminists were often ambivalent on the gender politics of cooking. Simone de Beauvoir wrote in “The Second Sex” that though cooking could be oppressive, it could also be a form of “revelation and creation; and a woman can find special satisfaction in a successful cake or a flaky pastry, for not everyone can do it: one must have the gift.” This can be read either as a special Frenchie exemption for the culinary arts (féminisme, c’est bon, but we must not jeopardize those flaky pastries!) or as a bit of wisdom that some American feminists thoughtlessly trampled in their rush to get women out of the kitchen. 3. TO THE KITCHEN STADIUM Whichever, kitchen work itself has changed considerably since 1963, judging from its depiction on today’s how-to shows. Take the concept of cooking from scratch. Many of today’s cooking programs rely unapologetically on ingredients that themselves contain lots of ingredients: canned soups, jarred mayonnaise, frozen vegetables, powdered sauces, vanilla wafers, limeade concentrate, Marshmallow Fluff. This probably shouldn’t surprise us: processed foods have so thoroughly colonized the American kitchen and diet that they have redefined what passes today for cooking, not to mention food. Many of these convenience foods have been sold to women as tools of liberation; the rhetoric of kitchen oppression has been cleverly hijacked by food marketers and the cooking shows they sponsor to sell more stuff. So the shows encourage home cooks to take all manner of shortcuts, each of which involves buying another product, and all of which taken together have succeeded in redefining what is commonly meant by the verb “to cook.” I spent an enlightening if somewhat depressing hour on the phone with a veteran food-marketing researcher, Harry Balzer, who explained that “people call things ‘cooking’ today that would roll their grandmother in her grave — heating up a can of soup or microwaving a frozen pizza.” Balzer has been studying American eating habits since 1978; the NPD Group, the firm he works for, collects data from a pool of 2,000 food diaries to track American eating habits. Years ago Balzer noticed that the definition of cooking held by his respondents had grown so broad as to be meaningless, so the firm tightened up the meaning of “to cook” at least slightly to capture what was really going on in American kitchens. To cook from scratch, they decreed, means to prepare a main dish that requires some degree of “assembly of elements.” So microwaving a pizza doesn’t count as cooking, though washing a head of lettuce and pouring bottled dressing over it does. Under this dispensation, you’re also cooking when you spread mayonnaise on a slice of bread and pile on some cold cuts or a hamburger patty. (Currently the most popular meal in America, at both lunch and dinner, is a sandwich; the No. 1 accompanying beverage is a soda.) At least by Balzer’s none-too-exacting standard, Americans are still cooking up a storm — 58 percent of our evening meals qualify, though even that figure has been falling steadily since the 1980s. Like most people who study consumer behavior, Balzer has developed a somewhat cynical view of human nature, which his research suggests is ever driven by the quest to save time or money or, optimally, both. I kept asking him what his research had to say about the prevalence of the activity I referred to as “real scratch cooking,” but he wouldn’t touch the term. Why? Apparently the activity has become so rarefied as to elude his tools of measurement. “Here’s an analogy,” Balzer said. “A hundred years ago, chicken for dinner meant going out and catching, killing, plucking and gutting a chicken. Do you know anybody who still does that? It would be considered crazy! Well, that’s exactly how cooking will seem to your grandchildren: something people used to do when they had no other choice. Get over it.” After my discouraging hour on the phone with Balzer, I settled in for a couple more with the Food Network, trying to square his dismal view of our interest in cooking with the hyperexuberant, even fetishized images of cooking that are presented on the screen. The Food Network undergoes a complete change of personality at night, when it trades the cozy precincts of the home kitchen and chirpy softball coaching of Rachael Ray or Sandra Lee for something markedly less feminine and less practical. Erica Gruen, the cable executive often credited with putting the Food Network on the map in the late ’90s, recognized early on that, as she told a journalist, “people don’t watch television to learn things.” So she shifted the network’s target audience from people who love to cook to people who love to eat, a considerably larger universe and one that — important for a cable network — happens to contain a great many more men. In prime time, the Food Network’s mise-en-scène shifts to masculine arenas like the Kitchen Stadium on “Iron Chef,” where famous restaurant chefs wage gladiatorial combat to see who can, in 60 minutes, concoct the most spectacular meal from a secret ingredient ceremoniously unveiled just as the clock starts: an octopus or a bunch of bananas or a whole school of daurade. Whether in the Kitchen Stadium or on “Chopped” or “The Next Food Network Star” or, over on Bravo, “Top Chef,” cooking in prime time is a form of athletic competition, drawing its visual and even aural vocabulary from “Monday Night Football.” On “Iron Chef America,” one of the Food Network’s biggest hits, the cookingcaster Alton Brown delivers a breathless (though always gently tongue-in-cheek) play by play and color commentary, as the iron chefs and their team of iron sous-chefs race the clock to peel, chop, slice, dice, mince, Cuisinart, mandoline, boil, double-boil, pan-sear, sauté, sous vide, deep-fry, pressure-cook, grill, deglaze, reduce and plate — this last a word I’m old enough to remember when it was a mere noun. A particularly dazzling display of chefly “knife skills” — a term bandied as freely on the Food Network as “passing game” or “slugging percentage” is on ESPN — will earn an instant replay: an onion minced in slo-mo. Can we get a camera on this, Alton Brown will ask in a hushed, this-must-be-golf tone of voice. It looks like Chef Flay’s going to try for a last-minute garnish grab before the clock runs out! Will he make it? [The buzzer sounds.] Yes! These shows move so fast, in such a blur of flashing knives, frantic pantry raids and more sheer fire than you would ever want to see in your own kitchen, that I honestly can’t tell you whether that “last-minute garnish grab” happened on “Iron Chef America” or “Chopped” or “The Next Food Network Star” or whether it was Chef Flay or Chef Batali who snagged the sprig of foliage at the buzzer. But impressive it surely was, in the same way it’s impressive to watch a handful of eager young chefs on “Chopped” figure out how to make a passable appetizer from chicken wings, celery, soba noodles and a package of string cheese in just 20 minutes, said starter to be judged by a panel of professional chefs on the basis of “taste, creativity and presentation.” (If you ask me, the key to victory on any of these shows comes down to one factor: bacon. Whichever contestant puts bacon in the dish invariably seems to win.) But you do have to wonder how easily so specialized a set of skills might translate to the home kitchen — or anywhere else for that matter. For when in real life are even professional chefs required to conceive and execute dishes in 20 minutes from ingredients selected by a third party exhibiting obvious sadistic tendencies? (String cheese?) Never, is when. The skills celebrated on the Food Network in prime time are precisely the skills necessary to succeed on the Food Network in prime time. They will come in handy nowhere else on God’s green earth. We learn things watching these cooking competitions, but they’re not things about how to cook. There are no recipes to follow; the contests fly by much too fast for viewers to take in any practical tips; and the kind of cooking practiced in prime time is far more spectacular than anything you would ever try at home. No, for anyone hoping to pick up a few dinnertime tips, the implicit message of today’s prime-time cooking shows is, Don’t try this at home. If you really want to eat this way, go to a restaurant. Or as a chef friend put it when I asked him if he thought I could learn anything about cooking by watching the Food Network, “How much do you learn about playing basketball by watching the N.B.A.?” What we mainly learn about on the Food Network in prime time is culinary fashion, which is no small thing: if Julia took the fear out of cooking, these shows take the fear — the social anxiety — out of ordering in restaurants. (Hey, now I know what a shiso leaf is and what “crudo” means!) Then, at the judges’ table, we learn how to taste and how to talk about food. For viewers, these shows have become less about the production of high-end food than about its consumption — including its conspicuous consumption. (I think I’ll start with the sawfish crudo wrapped in shiso leaves. . . .) Surely it’s no accident that so many Food Network stars have themselves found a way to transcend barriers of social class in the kitchen — beginning with Emeril Lagasse, the working-class guy from Fall River, Mass., who, though he may not be able to sound the ‘r’ in “garlic,” can still cook like a dream. Once upon a time Julia made the same promise in reverse: she showed you how you, too, could cook like someone who could not only prepare but properly pronounce a béarnaise. So-called fancy food has always served as a form of cultural capital, and cooking programs help you acquire it, now without so much as lifting a spatula. The glamour of food has made it something of a class leveler in America, a fact that many of these shows implicitly celebrate. Television likes nothing better than to serve up elitism to the masses, paradoxical as that might sound. How wonderful is it that something like arugula can at the same time be a mark of sophistication and be found in almost every salad bar in America? Everybody wins! But the shift from producing food on television to consuming it strikes me as a far-less-salubrious development. Traditionally, the recipe for the typical dump-and-stir program comprises about 80 percent cooking followed by 20 percent eating, but in prime time you now find a raft of shows that flip that ratio on its head, like “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” and “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” which are about nothing but eating. Sure, Guy Fieri, the tattooed and spiky-coiffed chowhound who hosts “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” ducks into the kitchen whenever he visits one of these roadside joints to do a little speed-bonding with the startled short-order cooks in back, but most of the time he’s wrapping his mouth around their supersize creations: a 16-ounce Oh Gawd! burger (with the works); battered and deep-fried anything (clams, pickles, cinnamon buns, stuffed peppers, you name it); or a buttermilk burrito approximately the size of his head, stuffed with bacon, eggs and cheese. What Fieri’s critical vocabulary lacks in analytical rigor, it more than makes up for in tailgate enthusiasm: “Man, oh man, now this is what I’m talkin’ about!” What can possibly be the appeal of watching Guy Fieri bite, masticate and swallow all this chow? The historical drift of cooking programs — from a genuine interest in producing food yourself to the spectacle of merely consuming it — surely owes a lot to the decline of cooking in our culture, but it also has something to do with the gravitational field that eventually overtakes anything in television’s orbit. It’s no accident that Julia Child appeared on public television — or educational television, as it used to be called. On a commercial network, a program that actually inspired viewers to get off the couch and spend an hour cooking a meal would be a commercial disaster, for it would mean they were turning off the television to do something else. The ads on the Food Network, at least in prime time, strongly suggest its viewers do no such thing: the food-related ads hardly ever hawk kitchen appliances or ingredients (unless you count A.1. steak sauce) but rather push the usual supermarket cart of edible foodlike substances, including Manwich sloppy joe in a can, Special K protein shakes and Ore-Ida frozen French fries, along with fast-casual eateries like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. Buying, not making, is what cooking shows are mostly now about — that and, increasingly, cooking shows themselves: the whole self-perpetuating spectacle of competition, success and celebrity that, with “The Next Food Network Star,” appears to have entered its baroque phase. The Food Network has figured out that we care much less about what’s cooking than who’s cooking. A few years ago, Mario Batali neatly summed up the network’s formula to a reporter: “Look, it’s TV! Everyone has to fall into a niche. I’m the Italian guy. Emeril’s the exuberant New Orleans guy with the big eyebrows who yells a lot. Bobby’s the grilling guy. Rachael Ray is the cheerleader-type girl who makes things at home the way a regular person would. Giada’s the beautiful girl with the nice rack who does simple Italian food. As silly as the whole Food Network is, it gives us all a soapbox to talk about the things we care about.” Not to mention a platform from which to sell all their stuff. The Food Network has helped to transform cooking from something you do into something you watch — into yet another confection of spectacle and celebrity that keeps us pinned to the couch. The formula is as circular and self-reinforcing as a TV dinner: a simulacrum of home cooking that is sold on TV and designed to be eaten in front of the TV. True, in the case of the Swanson rendition, at least you get something that will fill you up; by comparison, the Food Network leaves you hungry, a condition its advertisers must love. But in neither case is there much risk that you will get off the couch and actually cook a meal. Both kinds of TV dinner plant us exactly where television always wants us: in front of the set, watching. 4. WATCHING WHAT WE EAT To point out that television has succeeded in turning cooking into a spectator sport raises the question of why anyone would want to watch other people cook in the first place. There are plenty of things we’ve stopped doing for ourselves that we have no desire to watch other people do on TV: you don’t see shows about changing the oil in your car or ironing shirts or reading newspapers. So what is it about cooking, specifically, that makes it such good television just now? It’s worth keeping in mind that watching other people cook is not exactly a new behavior for us humans. Even when “everyone” still cooked, there were plenty of us who mainly watched: men, for the most part, and children. Most of us have happy memories of watching our mothers in the kitchen, performing feats that sometimes looked very much like sorcery and typically resulted in something tasty to eat. Watching my mother transform the raw materials of nature — a handful of plants, an animal’s flesh — into a favorite dinner was always a pretty good show, but on the afternoons when she tackled a complex marvel like chicken Kiev, I happily stopped whatever I was doing to watch. (I told you we had it pretty good, thanks partly to Julia.) My mother would hammer the boneless chicken breasts into flat pink slabs, roll them tightly around chunks of ice-cold herbed butter, glue the cylinders shut with egg, then fry the little logs until they turned golden brown, in what qualified as a minor miracle of transubstantiation. When the dish turned out right, knifing through the crust into the snowy white meat within would uncork a fragrant ooze of melted butter that seeped across the plate to merge with the Minute Rice. (If the instant rice sounds all wrong, remember that in the 1960s, Julia Child and modern food science were both tokens of sophistication.) Yet even the most ordinary dish follows a similar arc of transformation, magically becoming something greater than the sum of its parts. Every dish contains not just culinary ingredients but also the ingredients of narrative: a beginning, a middle and an end. Bring in the element of fire — cooking’s deus ex machina — and you’ve got a tasty little drama right there, the whole thing unfolding in a TV-friendly span of time: 30 minutes (at 350 degrees) will usually do it. Cooking shows also benefit from the fact that food itself is — by definition — attractive to the humans who eat it, and that attraction can be enhanced by food styling, an art at which the Food Network so excels as to make Julia Child look like a piker. You’ll be flipping aimlessly through the cable channels when a slow-motion cascade of glistening red cherries or a tongue of flame lapping at a slab of meat on the grill will catch your eye, and your reptilian brain will paralyze your thumb on the remote, forcing you to stop to see what’s cooking. Food shows are the campfires in the deep cable forest, drawing us like hungry wanderers to their flames. (And on the Food Network there are plenty of flames to catch your eye, compensating, no doubt, for the unfortunate absence of aromas.) No matter how well produced, a televised oil change and lube offers no such satisfactions. I suspect we’re drawn to the textures and rhythms of kitchen work, too, which seem so much more direct and satisfying than the more abstract and formless tasks most of us perform in our jobs nowadays. The chefs on TV get to put their hands on real stuff, not keyboards and screens but fundamental things like plants and animals and fungi; they get to work with fire and ice and perform feats of alchemy. By way of explaining why in the world she wants to cook her way through “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” all Julie Powell has to do in the film is show us her cubicle at the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, where she spends her days on the phone mollifying callers with problems that she lacks the power to fix. “You know what I love about cooking?” Julie tells us in a voice-over as we watch her field yet another inconclusive call on her headset. “I love that after a day where nothing is sure — and when I say nothing, I mean nothing — you can come home and absolutely know that if you add egg yolks to chocolate and sugar and milk, it will get thick. It’s such a comfort.” How many of us still do work that engages us in a dialogue with the material world and ends — assuming the soufflé doesn’t collapse — with such a gratifying and tasty sense of closure? Come to think of it, even the collapse of the soufflé is at least definitive, which is more than you can say about most of what you will do at work tomorrow. 5. THE END OF COOKING If cooking really offers all these satisfactions, then why don’t we do more of it? Well, ask Julie Powell: for most of us it doesn’t pay the rent, and very often our work doesn’t leave us the time; during the year of Julia, dinner at the Powell apartment seldom arrived at the table before 10 p.m. For many years now, Americans have been putting in longer hours at work and enjoying less time at home. Since 1967, we’ve added 167 hours — the equivalent of a month’s full-time labor — to the total amount of time we spend at work each year, and in households where both parents work, the figure is more like 400 hours. Americans today spend more time working than people in any other industrialized nation — an extra two weeks or more a year. Not surprisingly, in those countries where people still take cooking seriously, they also have more time to devote to it. It’s generally assumed that the entrance of women into the work force is responsible for the collapse of home cooking, but that turns out to be only part of the story. Yes, women with jobs outside the home spend less time cooking — but so do women without jobs. The amount of time spent on food preparation in America has fallen at the same precipitous rate among women who don’t work outside the home as it has among women who do: in both cases, a decline of about 40 percent since 1965. (Though for married women who don’t have jobs, the amount of time spent cooking remains greater: 58 minutes a day, as compared with 36 for married women who do have jobs.) In general, spending on restaurants or takeout food rises with income. Women with jobs have more money to pay corporations to do their cooking, yet all American women now allow corporations to cook for them when they can. Those corporations have been trying to persuade Americans to let them do the cooking since long before large numbers of women entered the work force. After World War II, the food industry labored mightily to sell American women on all the processed-food wonders it had invented to feed the troops: canned meals, freeze-dried foods, dehydrated potatoes, powdered orange juice and coffee, instant everything. As Laura Shapiro recounts in “Something From the Oven: Reinventing Dinner in 1950s America,” the food industry strived to “persuade millions of Americans to develop a lasting taste for meals that were a lot like field rations.” The same process of peacetime conversion that industrialized our farming, giving us synthetic fertilizers made from munitions and new pesticides developed from nerve gas, also industrialized our eating. Shapiro shows that the shift toward industrial cookery began not in response to a demand from women entering the work force but as a supply-driven phenomenon. In fact, for many years American women, whether they worked or not, resisted processed foods, regarding them as a dereliction of their “moral obligation to cook,” something they believed to be a parental responsibility on par with child care. It took years of clever, dedicated marketing to break down this resistance and persuade Americans that opening a can or cooking from a mix really was cooking. Honest. In the 1950s, just-add-water cake mixes languished in the supermarket until the marketers figured out that if you left at least something for the “baker” to do — specifically, crack open an egg — she could take ownership of the cake. Over the years, the food scientists have gotten better and better at simulating real food, keeping it looking attractive and seemingly fresh, and the rapid acceptance of microwave ovens — which went from being in only 8 percent of American households in 1978 to 90 percent today — opened up vast new horizons of home-meal replacement. Harry Balzer’s research suggests that the corporate project of redefining what it means to cook and serve a meal has succeeded beyond the industry’s wildest expectations. People think nothing of buying frozen peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches for their children’s lunchboxes. (Now how much of a timesaver can that be?) “We’ve had a hundred years of packaged foods,” Balzer told me, “and now we’re going to have a hundred years of packaged meals.” Already today, 80 percent of the cost of food eaten in the home goes to someone other than a farmer, which is to say to industrial cooking and packaging and marketing. Balzer is unsentimental about this development: “Do you miss sewing or darning socks? I don’t think so.” So what are we doing with the time we save by outsourcing our food preparation to corporations and 16-year-old burger flippers? Working, commuting to work, surfing the Internet and, perhaps most curiously of all, watching other people cook on television. But this may not be quite the paradox it seems. Maybe the reason we like to watch cooking on TV is that there are things about cooking we miss. We might not feel we have the time or the energy to do it ourselves every day, yet we’re not prepared to see it disappear from our lives entirely. Why? Perhaps because cooking — unlike sewing or darning socks — is an activity that strikes a deep emotional chord in us, one that might even go to the heart of our identity as human beings. What?! You’re telling me Bobby Flay strikes deep emotional chords? Bear with me. Consider for a moment the proposition that as a human activity, cooking is far more important — to our happiness and to our health — than its current role in our lives, not to mention its depiction on TV, might lead you to believe. Let’s see what happens when we take cooking seriously. 6. THE COOKING ANIMAL The idea that cooking is a defining human activity is not a new one. In 1773, the Scottish writer James Boswell, noting that “no beast is a cook,” called Homo sapiens “the cooking animal,” though he might have reconsidered that definition had he been able to gaze upon the frozen-food cases at Wal-Mart. Fifty years later, in “The Physiology of Taste,” the French gastronome Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin claimed that cooking made us who we are; by teaching men to use fire, it had “done the most to advance the cause of civilization.” More recently, the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss, writing in 1964 in “The Raw and the Cooked,” found that many cultures entertained a similar view, regarding cooking as a symbolic way of distinguishing ourselves from the animals. For Lévi-Strauss, cooking is a metaphor for the human transformation of nature into culture, but in the years since “The Raw and the Cooked,” other anthropologists have begun to take quite literally the idea that cooking is the key to our humanity. Earlier this year, Richard Wrangham, a Harvard anthropologist, published a fascinating book called “Catching Fire,” in which he argues that it was the discovery of cooking by our early ancestors — not tool-making or language or meat-eating — that made us human. By providing our primate forebears with a more energy-dense and easy-to-digest diet, cooked food altered the course of human evolution, allowing our brains to grow bigger (brains are notorious energy guzzlers) and our guts to shrink. It seems that raw food takes much more time and energy to chew and digest, which is why other primates of our size carry around substantially larger digestive tracts and spend many more of their waking hours chewing: up to six hours a day. (That’s nearly as much time as Guy Fieri devotes to the activity.) Also, since cooking detoxifies many foods, it cracked open a treasure trove of nutritious calories unavailable to other animals. Freed from the need to spend our days gathering large quantities of raw food and then chewing (and chewing) it, humans could now devote their time, and their metabolic resources, to other purposes, like creating a culture. Cooking gave us not just the meal but also the occasion: the practice of eating together at an appointed time and place. This was something new under the sun, for the forager of raw food would likely have fed himself on the go and alone, like the animals. (Or, come to think of it, like the industrial eaters we’ve become, grazing at gas stations and skipping meals.) But sitting down to common meals, making eye contact, sharing food, all served to civilize us; “around that fire,” Wrangham says, “we became tamer.” If cooking is as central to human identity and culture as Wrangham believes, it stands to reason that the decline of cooking in our time would have a profound effect on modern life. At the very least, you would expect that its rapid disappearance from everyday life might leave us feeling nostalgic for the sights and smells and the sociality of the cook-fire. Bobby Flay and Rachael Ray may be pushing precisely that emotional button. Interestingly, the one kind of home cooking that is actually on the rise today (according to Harry Balzer) is outdoor grilling. Chunks of animal flesh seared over an open fire: grilling is cooking at its most fundamental and explicit, the transformation of the raw into the cooked right before our eyes. It makes a certain sense that the grill would be gaining adherents at the very moment when cooking meals and eating them together is fading from the culture. (While men have hardly become equal partners in the kitchen, they are cooking more today than ever before: about 13 percent of all meals, many of them on the grill.) Yet we don’t crank up the barbecue every day; grilling for most people is more ceremony than routine. We seem to be well on our way to turning cooking into a form of weekend recreation, a backyard sport for which we outfit ourselves at Williams-Sonoma, or a televised spectator sport we watch from the couch. Cooking’s fate may be to join some of our other weekend exercises in recreational atavism: camping and gardening and hunting and riding on horseback. Something in us apparently likes to be reminded of our distant origins every now and then and to celebrate whatever rough skills for contending with the natural world might survive in us, beneath the thin crust of 21st-century civilization. To play at farming or foraging for food strikes us as harmless enough, perhaps because the delegating of those activities to other people in real life is something most of us are generally O.K. with. But to relegate the activity of cooking to a form of play, something that happens just on weekends or mostly on television, seems much more consequential. The fact is that not cooking may well be deleterious to our health, and there is reason to believe that the outsourcing of food preparation to corporations and 16-year-olds has already taken a toll on our physical and psychological well-being. Consider some recent research on the links between cooking and dietary health. A 2003 study by a group of Harvard economists led by David Cutler found that the rise of food preparation outside the home could explain most of the increase in obesity in America. Mass production has driven down the cost of many foods, not only in terms of price but also in the amount of time required to obtain them. The French fry did not become the most popular “vegetable” in America until industry relieved us of the considerable effort needed to prepare French fries ourselves. Similarly, the mass production of cream-filled cakes, fried chicken wings and taquitos, exotically flavored chips or cheesy puffs of refined flour, has transformed all these hard-to-make-at-home foods into the sort of everyday fare you can pick up at the gas station on a whim and for less than a dollar. The fact that we no longer have to plan or even wait to enjoy these items, as we would if we were making them ourselves, makes us that much more likely to indulge impulsively. Cutler and his colleagues demonstrate that as the “time cost” of food preparation has fallen, calorie consumption has gone up, particularly consumption of the sort of snack and convenience foods that are typically cooked outside the home. They found that when we don’t have to cook meals, we eat more of them: as the amount of time Americans spend cooking has dropped by about half, the number of meals Americans eat in a day has climbed; since 1977, we’ve added approximately half a meal to our daily intake. Cutler and his colleagues also surveyed cooking patterns across several cultures and found that obesity rates are inversely correlated with the amount of time spent on food preparation. The more time a nation devotes to food preparation at home, the lower its rate of obesity. In fact, the amount of time spent cooking predicts obesity rates more reliably than female participation in the labor force or income. Other research supports the idea that cooking is a better predictor of a healthful diet than social class: a 1992 study in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association found that poor women who routinely cooked were more likely to eat a more healthful diet than well-to-do women who did not. So cooking matters — a lot. Which when you think about it, should come as no surprise. When we let corporations do the cooking, they’re bound to go heavy on sugar, fat and salt; these are three tastes we’re hard-wired to like, which happen to be dirt cheap to add and do a good job masking the shortcomings of processed food. And if you make special-occasion foods cheap and easy enough to eat every day, we will eat them every day. The time and work involved in cooking, as well as the delay in gratification built into the process, served as an important check on our appetite. Now that check is gone, and we’re struggling to deal with the consequences. The question is, Can we ever put the genie back into the bottle? Once it has been destroyed, can a culture of everyday cooking be rebuilt? One in which men share equally in the work? One in which the cooking shows on television once again teach people how to cook from scratch and, as Julia Child once did, actually empower them to do it? Let us hope so. Because it’s hard to imagine ever reforming the American way of eating or, for that matter, the American food system unless millions of Americans — women and men — are willing to make cooking a part of daily life. The path to a diet of fresher, unprocessed food, not to mention to a revitalized local-food economy, passes straight through the home kitchen. But if this is a dream you find appealing, you might not want to call Harry Balzer right away to discuss it. “Not going to happen,” he told me. “Why? Because we’re basically cheap and lazy. And besides, the skills are already lost. Who is going to teach the next generation to cook? I don’t see it. “We’re all looking for someone else to cook for us. The next American cook is going to be the supermarket. Takeout from the supermarket, that’s the future. All we need now is the drive-through supermarket.” Crusty as a fresh baguette, Harry Balzer insists on dealing with the world, and human nature, as it really is, or at least as he finds it in the survey data he has spent the past three decades poring over. But for a brief moment, I was able to engage him in the project of imagining a slightly different reality. This took a little doing. Many of his clients — which include many of the big chain restaurants and food manufacturers — profit handsomely from the decline and fall of cooking in America; indeed, their marketing has contributed to it. Yet Balzer himself made it clear that he recognizes all that the decline of everyday cooking has cost us. So I asked him how, in an ideal world, Americans might begin to undo the damage that the modern diet of industrially prepared food has done to our health. “Easy. You want Americans to eat less? I have the diet for you. It’s short, and it’s simple. Here’s my diet plan: Cook it yourself. That’s it. Eat anything you want — just as long as you’re willing to cook it yourself.” Michael Pollan, a contributing writer, is the Knight Professor of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. His most recent book is “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto.” Aug 2, 2009 6:57:49 AM \| Culture, Demographics, Film, Food and Drink, Media, Opinion	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16315
__label__wiki	0.832327	0.832327	Nicole Oliver Records “Personal Best” November 16, 2018 admin News By Amy Moritz, Buffalo News \| Published November 10, 2018 The joy was gone. Nicole Oliver loved running, grew up running and was pretty competitive during her high school days at Williamsville South and in local road races. But life happens, including being diagnosed with dystonia at age 20. The condition is a movement disorder in which muscles contract involuntarily. As she sought the treatment that worked best for her, running became a challenge both physically and mentally. Her times got slower and her performance didn’t match what she so desired to do. Oliver lost her motivation. She started telling people she didn’t run anymore. Finally, her husband, Nate, initiated the difficult conversation to get Nicole running again. “Nate told me, ‘You can run. You can go out and run 10 miles if you wanted to,’’’ Oliver said. “Still, I was really struggling with enjoying running anymore. It got to be around the time where people were posting about training for the New York City Marathon and I was just really down. And t hen I started to think Nate was right. I can still run. He told me I was throwing away a gift.” See, Oliver might not have been up to her speed standards, but she still could go out and whip out a long run of 10 or 12 miles. She might not feel that great after it, but it wouldn’t faze her. She had a talent for running, even if that talent wasn’t about crossing the finish line before everyone else. So yes, she could still run. She would still run. She decided to train for a marathon and settled on the Niagara Falls International Marathon in late October. But in order to keep her motivation, in order to give her perspective and rekindle the joy, Oliver needed to find a bigger reason to run. She started researching charities and settled on the Companions in Courage Foundation, founded by former Buffalo Sabre Pat LaFontaine. The charity connects hospitalized children with their family, friends and heroes, by building interactive playrooms in hospitals. Kids get to be kids, at least for a little while, during battles with illness and disease. Oliver created a Facebook Page, Nicole Runs for A Purpose, to share her training while raising money for Companions in Courage and spreading its message. The task not only brought her joy, but helped her reconnect with her own childhood, including asking her mom to dig out the LaFontaine poster that hung in her room when she was in fourth grade. “I was reliving my childhood and watching some YouTube videos,” Oliver said. “He was such a great hockey player. He came to my elementary school when I was 8 and that’s what really got me turned on to hockey.” Her whole attitude toward running shifted. She found joy in running for people other than herself. It even helped her when she suffered a groin injury 12 weeks into training. She had to take time off and decided to bump down from the marathon to the half-marathon — a distance she had run many times in training but never raced. She knocked out the half-marathon and claimed her first 13.1-mile distance medal, finishing the race on Oct. 14 in 1:54:42. “My whole perspective on running has changed,” Oliver said. “There’s this certain joy and happiness you can find from endurance training and racing where it’s not about you and not about your times. Having a goal in mind is great, but when you think about helping people less fortunate than you, it’s just I can’t put it into words. I felt like I had run the best race of my life. It certainly was not the fastest, but I crossed that finish line and felt like this has been the best race so far. “The day before the race, I was looking at the weather and it was supposed to be cold and rainy, and Jim Johnson, the executive director of Companions in Courage, said it would be an easy day in comparison to what the pediatric patients I’d be helping were going through,” she said. “I thought about that Mile 12 and he was right about that. For every honor or trophy or medal I’ve received in high school or road racing, this was more meaningful.” Paul Thomason says Your amazing. Incredible motivation. Your ticket for the: Nicole Oliver Records “Personal Best”	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16316
__label__cc	0.736638	0.263362	You are here: Home / EUGlobe / Turkey caught in a vicious Syrian circle bringing terror and war at home January 9, 2017 by Dennis Kefalakos 1 Comment Bilateral meeting European Union-Turkey at the G20 Summit in China. From left to right: Jean-Claude Junker, President of the European Commission, Donald Tusk, President of the European Council and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President. Shoot location: Hangzhou – China. Shoot date: 04/09/2016. Copyright: European Union. The Turkish government, under the iron hand of the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, felt obliged to further challenge the Americans in the troubled region of the Middle East this past week. Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak and Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin questioned the presence of the US led coalition forces at the key air base of Incirlik, in southern Turkey. This facility constitutes the backbone of the American military presence in this part of Middle East and offers indispensable back up for the US targets in Syria. It must be taken into account though, that Ankara hopes Donald Trump, after he takes his place in the Oval Office of the White House on 20 January, will amend the US’s stance vis-à-vis both Turkey and Russia. Kalin said it plainly. He stressed he believes the US President – elect will be more sensitive to Turkey’s considerations. Ankara, by also putting on the table the US, and why not the NATO, presence at Incirlik, is very possibly preparing to negotiate with the new US Administration from a better position. Ankara prepares for Trump This is one more step forward by Erdogan in the direction of a full strategy u-turn, choosing to side with Russia and questioning Turkey’s traditional alliance with the US and NATO. Actually, Incirlik is a NATO base. Ankara, together with Moscow, have now drafted a common agenda in relation to their Syrian, and not only interests, despite the fact that they have been so far supporting opposing warring factions all along the deadly Syrian civil war. Russia backed the Syrian President Bashar al Assad, while Turkey supported the rebels fighting to oust him. It seems that the two powers have now found a conciliation of their strategic targets, after both of them were kicked out of the US led western strategy in the wider region. The Ankara – Moscow rapprochement has already produced tangible results. This was evident some weeks ago with the conquest of Eastern Aleppo by the Assad forces, after Turkey actually deserted the rebels (plus some close to ISIS groups), who had been occupying half the ancient city for years, with Ankara’s until recently relentless support. However, Erdogan’s full policy change in the Syrian inferno had dangerous and divisive internal repercussions. Sunni Turkey opposed Assad on a religious basis as well. The two sides belong to the opposing Muslim dogmas of the Sunni and Shia respectively. The murder of the Russian envoy in Ankara and the deadly attack in the Istanbul nightclub on New Year’s Eve must be related to the fact that Turkey let down the Sunni fighters of Aleppo and sided with the Russians and the Shia Iranians. Let’s see how the new backdrop is now reshaped for Turkey. The cost of changing course Unquestionably, Turkey is deeply perplexed in Syria, after being now forced to truly fight ISIS. Here is why: until recently, Ankara secretly helped ISIS fight the Kurds, just to prevent the latter from vanquishing the butcher jihadists and thus expand the Kurdish gains on the ground. Presently though, Turkey suffers heavy losses in trying to uproot ISIS by herself from their stronghold in Al Bab and expand her territorial clout. As for the Kurds, the secure establishment of the Kurdish Popular Protection Units (YPG) military forces and their political constituent the Democratic Union Party (DYP) in the north of Syria have created a deadly threat even for Turkey’s territorial integrity. Evidently, the close cooperation, if not common military and political organization and targets, of the Syrian Kurds and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party in Turkey proper (PKK), present an existential threat for Ankara. As a result, Ankara is now obliged to conduct a double fronted war against the Kurds primarily and ISIS secondly. Turkey couldn’t sit back and watch the Kurds exterminating ISIS and seizing the territory which the butchers held. Why Erdogan mistrust the US It is even more infuriating for Erdogan that the Americans are stuck in their alliance with the Kurds of Syria. This association came naturally after the long and close US relationship with the Iraqi Kurds, and the undeniable fact that the US found no other reliable force on Syrian soil to support Washington’s wider interests in the region. The Kurds proved to be not only highly effective on the military front during the long and devastating Syrian war, but managed to wed their own ‘national’ interests with the not always clear military and political targets of the US. It was inevitable then, that Ankara accused the US of materially and politically backing the Syrian Kurds, the deadly enemy of Turkey. In this way, the US has virtually heightened, if not intentionally aimed at jeopardizing, the territorial and national security of Turkey. On top of that, Turkey accuses the US of having protected, if not cooperated with Fethullah Gulen, a long time mentor but now deadly enemy of Erdogan. Gulen is a powerful Turkish cleric operating a strong network of high ranking bureaucrats, military, judges, academics, religious schools, businesses and media in Turkey, who has reportedly cooperated with CIA in last July’s failed coup. Despite Ankara’s cleansing operation, in which tens of thousands of Gulen’s followers were imprisoned or just kicked out from the armed forces, the judiciary, the police and the state machine, the cleric is still thought to possess a strong leverage in what is going on in the country. In short, Erdogan has a lot to blame the Americans for. What can Trump do? As for Washington, it will be very difficult for Donald Trump to alienate the US from the Kurds. Already the Turkey-Russia conciliation has prescribed them. Moscow happily agreed to that, since the Kurds constitute the US strong card on Syrian soil. If Washington abandons them, it will be practically impossible to find another proxy force to back the wider American interests in this part of the Middle East. Trump or not then, Washington can’t change her strategy in Syria, unless primarily Russia and to a lesser extent Turkey, have something else, equally important to trade with the Americans. But this is a very improbable prospect and the war against ISIS and its eventual defeat doesn’t come under this heading. The US wages as much warfare as it needs against the butcher jihadists in both Iraq and Syria. Turkey’s enemies If one puts all that together, Erdogan personally, and Turkey in general, have created a new series of powerful enemies. For one thing, Washington even under Trump and, to a certain degree, Western Europe including Paris, London and Berlin cannot find a new understanding with Ankara. It’s not only the Kurds. Nobody in the West can trust Erdogan anymore. The Europeans are horrified with the Erdogan-Putin rapprochement. The EU is also dismayed with the millions of refugees stationed in Turkey, with Erdogan menacing to start sending them by the thousands to the Greek islands again . Then come the Gulenists who have escaped the pogroms. Erdogan knows that there are many still left around. If the information about the close relation between Gulen and the CIA is true, then Turkey has fashioned a new and fearsome foe. However, the worst new enemy that Erdogan recently made are… some millions of Turks. A large part of the population had been very happy with their country’s affiliation with the Sunni insurgents in Syria, including ISIS. Now they are let down by Erdogan’s full u-turn, associating the country with Russia, who bombards the Sunni fighters. Not to say anything about the new affiliation with the Shia Iran. In reality, Turkey has gained nothing out of all that, with the war and the terror now reaching her heart. Hostile US and EU On top of that, neither the Turks nor the Russians, even supported by the Iranians, aren’t able to shake the US and the entire West off from Syria. Last week’s joint effort by Ankara, Moscow and Tehran to impose their own ceasefire and then supposedly strike a political solution of their own in the war-torn country, even if it succeeds, doesn’t mean that the US and the West is chased from the table. The territory which the Kurds hold –effectively supported by the West – is almost half of Syria. On top of that, the West can very effectively corner Turkey in the economic and financial fronts. In conclusion, as far as Turkey is concerned, her policy zigzag in Syria has certainly arose splintering internal divisions and will cost her dearly in the economic and financial facets too. The West has already blocked the country’s heavy industry, tourism. Filed Under: EUGlobe, Policy, Politics, Russia, Turkey, USA Tagged With: Aleppo, Americans, Ankara, Bashar Al Assad, CIA, Democratic Union Party, Donald Trump, DYP, Fethullah Gulen, Greek islands, Incirlik, Iran, Iraq, ISIS, Istanbul, jihadists, Kurdish Popular Protection Units, Kurds, Moscow, Muslims, New Year's Eve terror, PKK, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Refugees, Russia, Shia, Sunni, Syria, Tehran, Turkey, Turkish President, US, Washington, YPG « Migration Crisis: how to open the borders and make way for the uprooted Post-Brexit muddled times: the resignation of UK’s top ambassador and Theresa May’s vague plans » Turkey caught in a vicious Syrian circle bringing terror and war at home : Ανιχνεύσεις says: […] Turkey caught in a vicious Syrian circle bringing terror and war at home […]	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16322
__label__cc	0.510644	0.489356	Iranian Currency Nosedives As New Forex Policy Seems Ineffective People line up at Tehran's Forex market after the announcement of new foreign exchange policies, 07Aug2018 Only days after the announcement of President Hassan Rouhani’s new forex policy, the value of Iranian national currency rial nosedived once again on the country’s open market. While the dollar surpassed 10,000 rials, the private forex market is struggling with unexpected fluctuations, specifically over the value of the dollar, reports say. Retreating from its earlier attempt to stop the downfall of rial, Rouhani’s government agreed this week to lift the restrictions it had imposed on forex trading in the private market. The government says its new policy, based on what it has described as “Secondary Forex Market”, is to restrain the unbridled soaring value of the foreign currencies. It is basically reversing its previous ban on trading by the private sector. The primary exchange mechanism is for the government to sell cheap dollars to approved importers of goods and companies who need material and machinery from abroad. This is basically a subsidy to make the essential parts of the economy function. The new rules made dollars cheaper for a couple of days, which can also be attributed to the central bank possibly releasing dollars into the market. Nevertheless, the value of rial collapsed again on Thursday and passed a six-figure mark against dollar. Meanwhile, the value of Bahar-i Azadi (Freedom Spring) gold coin also shot up to 34,500,000 rials (roughly $705). Iran's rial has lost more than half its value since April, in part over fears of renewed US sanctions, but also thanks to an ill-judged attempt to fix the value of the rial that month and make it illegal to trade at a higher rate. The decision triggered widespread currency speculation on the black market, and accusations that individuals with political connections were abusing the system. Rouhani sacked the governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), Valiollah Seif, last week and replaced him with Abdolnasser Hemati, the former head of Central Insurance of Iran. Furthermore, last Sunday, August 5, the judiciary spokesman said that CBI’s top foreign forex official, Ahmad Araqchi, along with several “unnamed” individuals, has been arrested. “There has been growing demand for dollars among ordinary Iranians, who fear a further plunge in the value of their assets and growing prices of goods, even those not imported from abroad”, Tasnim news agency affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) reported on July 30, adding, “The purchasing power of Iranians has plummeted for the umpteenth time in recent months as wage increases have lagged far behind prices.” Unexpected and shocking fluctuation in Iran’s forex market has led to several protest rallies across the country. On June 25, store owners at Tehran’s Grand Bazaar closed their shops to protest the dramatic rise in the rate of exchange of foreign currencies that have adversely affected the market and made prices unaffordable for buyers. The move came one day after strike and protests broke out at Tehran’s cell phone market. Videos released on social media showed demonstrators chanting slogans against the rising prices and Iran’s involvement in the Syrian civil war. “Leave Syria alone, think of our own,” the demonstrators chanted. While merchants at Tehran’s grand market (called bazaaris) are traditionally supporters of the conservative clergy, the Islamic Republic’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly accused “foreign enemies” [Saudi Arabia, Israel and US] of provoking recent anti-establishment protests and demonstrations against financial corruption across the country. The head of judiciary, Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani, has also described the downfall of the rial and rising gold prices as “suspicious puppetry” run by “dirty hands behind the curtain.” Echoing the comments of his younger brother, parliamentary speaker Ali Larijani has also insisted hostile foreign intelligence services have focused on Iran’s gold market. “The enemies’ intelligence services in disguise are after damaging Iran’s economy,” Ali Larijani told a parliamentary meeting on July 30.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16329
__label__wiki	0.738716	0.738716	Slip Op. 00-94 (CIT August 3, 2000) FINAL RESULTS OF REDETERMINATION PURSUANT TO COURT REMAND The Department of Commerce has prepared these results of redetermination pursuant to the remand order of the U.S. Court of International Trade in RHP Bearings Ltd., v. United States, Slip Op. 00-94 (CIT August 3, 2000). In accordance with the U.S. Court of International Trade's instructions, we have annulled all findings and conclusions made pursuant to our duty-absorption inquiry conducted for the subject review with respect to Barden Corporation (U.K.) Ltd., the Barden Corporation, and FAG Bearings Corporation (collectively "Barden") and RHP Bearings Ltd., NSK Bearings Europe Ltd., and NSK Corporation (collectively "NSK/RHP"). In addition, we have matched United States sales to Barden's home-market sales of "similar" merchandise before resorting to constructed value, and we have recalculated Barden's dumping margin without regard to results of a cost-of-production analysis. On September 14, 2000, we released to interested parties for comment the draft results of redetermination pursuant to court remand. On September 19, 2000, we received comments from the Torrington Company which we have addressed in the "Discussion" section that follows. We did not receive comments from any other party. BACKGROUND AND RESULTS On August 3, 2000, the U.S. Court of International Trade (the Court) issued its ruling in RHP Bearings Ltd., v. United States, Slip Op. 00-94 (CIT August 3, 2000) (Barden, NSK/RHP), remanding to the Department of Commerce (the Department) the final results in Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof From France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Singapore, Sweden and the United Kingdom; Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, 62 FR 54043 (October 17, 1997), as amended by Antifriction Bearings (Other Than Tapered Roller Bearings) and Parts Thereof from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Romania, Singapore[,] Sweden and the United Kingdom; Amended Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Reviews, 62 FR 61963 (November 20, 1997) (collectively AFBs 7). This remand directly affects Barden and NSK/RHP with respect to the antidumping duty orders on ball bearings and cylindrical roller bearings and parts thereof from the United Kingdom during the period May 1, 1995, through April 30, 1996. The first issue remanded in Barden, NSK/RHP concerns whether section 751(a)(4) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), authorizes the Department to conduct a duty-absorption inquiry for the antidumping duty order in question since the order predates the effective date of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. Citing its decision in SKF USA Inc. v. United States, Slip Op. 00-28 (CIT March 22, 2000), the Court found that the Department lacked statutory authority to conduct a duty-absorption inquiry in AFBs 7 and remanded the review to the Department to annul all findings and conclusions made pursuant to its duty-absorption inquiry. The second issue remanded concerns the Department's matching United States sales to "similar" home-market sales prior to resorting to constructed value. Citing the decision in CEMEX, S.A. v. United States, 133 F.3d 897, 904 (Fed. Cir. 1998), the Court found that the Department is required to base Barden's normal value on non-identical but similar merchandise rather than constructed value when sales of identical merchandise have been found to be outside the ordinary course of trade. The third issue remanded in Barden, NSK/RHP concerns whether the Department unlawfully conducted a below-cost test of Barden's home-market sales. Citing section 773(b)(1) of the Act, the Court found that the Department did not have reasonable grounds to believe or suspect that Barden made below-cost sales in the instant review and remanded the review to the Department to recalculate Barden's dumping margin without regard to the results of the below-cost test. DISCUSSION OF COMMENTS Comment 1: The Torrington Company (Torrington) contends that the Department has inherent authority to conduct inquiries into the absorption of antidumping duties in any review apart from the specific requirement imposed by section 751(a)(4) of the Act. It contends further that the Court exceeded its power on judicial review by directing the Department to annul all findings and conclusions made pursuant to its duty-absorption inquiry without permitting the agency to reach a determination consistent with the Court's order. In support of these arguments Torrington cites to the rehearing motion it filed in the related court proceeding, Ct. No. 99-08-00473, dated March 30, 2000, and the April 14, 2000, rehearing motion filed by the United States in the same proceeding. It provides copies of these motions as attachments to its September 8, 2000, comments on the Department's draft remand results. While acknowledging that the Court denied both motions in an Order of May 8, 2000, Torrington urges the Department to disagree with the decision of the Court in Barden, NSK/RHP, and on the aforementioned rehearing motions, and state that the Court exceeded its power on judicial review. Department's Position: As noted by Torrington, on April 14, 2000, the Department presented a motion to the Court to modify its ruling in the related proceeding on the ground that the Court had erred as a matter of law. See Defendant's Motion for Rehearing and Modification of the Court's Decision, Slip Op. 00-28, and accompanying Order of March 22, 2000, filed in Court No. 99-08-00473 (CIT April 14, 2000). That motion in the related proceeding set forth the Department's position on the matter. As such, there is no need to repeat it here. Comment 2: Torrington urges the Department to indicate in the final remand results that it disagrees with the Court's interpretation of section 773(b) of the Act. Torrington contends that the statute contains two separate instructions: 1) an affirmative duty for the Department to initiate a cost investigation whenever there are "reasonable grounds to believe or suspect" that sales of the foreign like product were made at prices that are less than the cost of production; and 2) the authority to exclude sales made at less than the cost of production from the calculation of normal value. According to the petitioner, the statute's first instruction does not derogate from the second instruction. The petitioner asserts that the Court's interpretation creates an unlawful "exclusionary" rule whereby the Department is required to ignore the second instruction if cost data, while valid on the merits, were not obtained under circumstances sufficient to constitute "reasonable grounds" to initiate a cost investigation. Department's Position: Since the Court has unequivocally instructed us to recalculate Barden's dumping margin without regard to the results of the cost-of-production analysis, we have done so. Since our position on this matter was clear from the briefs we filed with the Court we find no need to restate our position here. FINAL RESULTS OF REDETERMINATION With respect to the first issue remanded in Barden, NSK/RHP, the Department hereby complies with the remand order as directed by the Court to annul all findings and conclusions made pursuant to its duty-absorption inquiry conducted for AFBs 7 with respect to Barden and NSK/RHP. With respect to the second issue remanded in Barden, NSK/RHP, the Department hereby complies with this remand order as directed by the Court. For the calculation of normal value for Barden we attempted to first match United States sales to similar home-market sales before resorting to constructed value. See the September 27, 2000, Analysis Memorandum for Barden for the Final Results of Redetermination for a detailed description of the changes we made to carry out the model-matching methodology directed by the Court. Furthermore, with respect to the third issue remanded in Barden, NSK/RHP, the Department hereby complies with the remand order as directed by the Court and has recalculated Barden's dumping margin without regard to the results of the below-cost test. As a result of these changes, Barden's weighted-average margin for the period of review changed from 3.99 percent to 2.53 percent. NSK/RHP's weighted-average margin did not change as a result of the Court's order. Upon a final and conclusive court decision, we will publish an amended final results of review to that effect. Troy H. Cribb Acting Assistant Secretary for Import Administration	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16332
__label__cc	0.701087	0.298913	The Epileptic Gibbon podcast music show Your gateway to a world of interesting music Tag Archives: Avant pop July 9, 2019 by epilepticgibbon Episode 262: Half-term report, 2019 This is the 262nd edition of the Epileptic Gibbon podcast music show and the playlist to accompany it. You should be able to CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD but note the shows are large files & this may not be the best way to listen. The show is also available to stream via Mixcloud and the Progzilla Radio Network (the show appears on Progzilla in alternate weeks). Following the last show, where I offered a musical tribute to my Dad, this time we’re in more traditional Eppy Gibbon musical territory. This show entirely focuses on music from 2019, as I focus on some of the best music to be found on albums, EPs and singles released so far this year. I’m trying to cram in as much music as possible from many different releases, so therefore there will not be a feature album for this show. We’ll be covering the usual diverse selection of styles and genres, plus there’s another nod to the upcoming EppyFest 8. Below you’ll find the track list, plus weblinks from where you can find more information about each artist. Total running time: 2 hours and 28 minutes. Downloaded file is 135.1 MB. 1. Yksin (5:35) – Viba (Taken from the album ‘Viba’; see eclipsemusicrecordlabel.bandcamp.com/album/viba & www.eclipse-music.net/) 2. Alerisk Symfo (7:53) – Panzerpappa (Taken from the album ‘Summarisk Suite’; see panzerpappa.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/PanzerpappaOfficial/) 3. She Saved Me (5:16) – Lost Crowns (Taken from the album ‘Every Night Something Happens’; see lostcrowns.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/lostcrowns/) 4. It Won’t Be Long (2:52) – Firefly Burning (Taken from the album ‘Breathe Shallow’; see fireflyburning.bandcamp.com/album/breathe-shallow, www.fireflyburning.co.uk/ & www.facebook.com/fireflyburning) 5. Heavenly Bodies (4:27) – Danielle Taylor (Taken from the EP ‘Why Are We Surprised When Seasons Change?’; see danielletaylorharp.bandcamp.com/album/why-are-we-surprised-when-seasons-change) 6. Albatross (3:55) – Eyreton Hall (Taken from the album ‘Spaces’; see eyretonhall.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/Eyretonhall/) 7. Call To Me (3:50) – Firefly Burning (Taken from the album ‘Breathe Shallow’; see fireflyburning.bandcamp.com/album/breathe-shallow, www.fireflyburning.co.uk/ & www.facebook.com/fireflyburning) 8. The Fallen (5:32) – Astralingua (Taken from the album ‘Safe Passage’; see astralingua.bandcamp.com/album/safe-passage, www.astralingua.com/ & www.facebook.com/Astralingua/) 9. Judgement Train (5:10) – Rustin Man (Taken from the album ‘Drift Code’; see rustinman.bandcamp.com/album/drift-code & www.facebook.com/RustinManOfficial) 10. Black Eyes (Variant) (5:26) – Cobalt Chapel (Taken from the album ‘Variants’; see cobaltchapel.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/cobaltchapel/) 11. Skyline (5:15) – Emily Bezar (Taken from the album ‘Out of the Moment’; see emilybezar.bandcamp.com/album/out-of-the-moment, www.emilybezar.com & www.facebook.com/Emily-Bezar-Music-153027764593/) 12. Touch in Mine (fingers) (4:53) – Esperanza Spalding (Taken from the album ‘12 Little Spells’; see www.esperanzaspalding.com & www.facebook.com/EsperanzaSpalding/) 13. Several Soma (3:56) – Leaving Richmond (Taken from the album ‘Great Distances’; see leavingrichmond.tumblr.com/, leavingrichmond.bandcamp.com/ & www.facebook.com/leavingrichmond) 14. Brainsurgeons 3 (10:45) – The Utopia Strong (Taken from the album ‘The Utopia Strong’; see theutopiastrong.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/theutopiastrong/) A few words from Katharine Blake about the new album by Mediaeval Baebes… 15. Bah Bah Black Sheep (1:22) – Mediaeval Baebes (Taken from the album ‘A Pocketful of Posies’; see mediaevalbaebes.bandcamp.com, www.mediaevalbaebes.com & www.facebook.com/mediaevalbaebes/) 16. Get Out Of The Room (3:37) – You Tell Me (Taken from the album ‘You Tell Me’; see youtellme.bandcamp.com, youtellme.co, & www.facebook.com/youtellmetoo) 17. Apocalypse II (the rebirth) (6:50) – Trampoline (Taken from the album ‘Happy Crimes’; see trampolinesounds.bandcamp.com/album/happy-crimes, www.trampolinetheband.com, & www.facebook.com/Trampolinetheband/) 18. Omnia (4:46) – Umpfel (Taken from the album ‘As the Waters Cover the Sea′; see umpfel.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/umpfel) 19. EppyFest promo (2:09) (You can see Marvin B Naylor & many others at EppyFest 8 on 20th July; see eppyfest.co.uk/ for more details about the event and buying tickets) 20. Timeling (3:17) – Marvin B Naylor (Taken from the album ‘Bright Blinds’; see marvinbnaylormusic.bandcamp.com/album/bright-blinds & marvinbnaylor.com/) 21. Break The System (3:57) – Neil Campbell (Taken from the album ‘Last Year’s News’; see neilcampbell.bandcamp.com/album/last-years-news & www.neilcampbell.org.uk/) 22. You Don’t Speak For Me (edit) (3:56) – Tribes of Europe & Barbara Stretch (Single available to buy via tribesofeurope.bandcamp.com/album/you-dont-speak-for-me; see also soundcloud.com/tribes-of-europe) 23. Superposition of Silhouettes (3:43) – The Mercury Tree (Taken from the album ‘Spidermilk’; see themercurytree.bandcamp.com/album/spidermilk, mercurytree.net/ & www.facebook.com/mercurytree) 24. Homegrown (3:52) – Rymden (Taken from the album ‘Reflections and Odysseys’; see rymden3.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/rymdenmusic/) 25. So Long, John (3:27) – Damon Smith (Taken from the album ‘God of the Grid′; see damonsmithmusic.bandcamp.com/album/god-of-the-grid, www.damonisaacsmith.com & www.facebook.com/damonsmith66/) 26. Defiance (5:07) – Tadzio (Taken from the album ‘The Sick Room’; see the-tadzio.bandcamp.com/album/the-sick-room & www.facebook.com/tadzioband/) 27. Biosphere Part 6 (9:32) – Andy Pickford (Taken from the album ‘Biosphere’; see andypickford1.bandcamp.com/album/biosphere, www.andypickfordmusic.com & www.facebook.com/AndyPickfordMusic/) Thanks to all the musicians who contributed and to all listeners. Send us comments if you like what you hear (or even if you don’t… feedback is so important!). If you want to keep up to date with news about the show, EppyFest, or just chat with other listeners, don’t forget that there’s a Facebook group – just search for the Eppy Gibbon Podcast Show on Facebook and request to join, plus don’t forget that we’re now part of the Progzilla Radio Network. I’ll be back next time with a show that moves backwards in time, as we move from my half-term report on 2019 to focus on some of the best music from 2018 that I haven’t had chance to feature in my best EPs of 2018 and top 30 best albums of 2018 shows. I hope you’ll join me for that. Tagged Ambient, Art folk, Art rock, Avant pop, Avant prog, Baroque pop, Chamber folk, Chamber pop, Dream pop, Electronica, Eppy Gibbon podcast show, EppyFest, Experimental folk, Experimental pop, Jazz, Jazz fusion, Mediaeval folk, Modern classical, Prog metal, Prog rock, Psych Folk, Psychedelia March 20, 2019 by epilepticgibbon Episode 254: Silent Dust This is the 254th edition of the Epileptic Gibbon podcast music show and the playlist to accompany it. You should be able to CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD but note the shows are large files. Unfortunately the iTunes subscription no longer appears to be working so either download the show via the link above, or stream the show via Mixcloud (if you become a follower you can find out whenever I add new shows there) and the show can also be found on the Progzilla Radio Network (the show appears on Progzilla in alternate weeks). I hope you enjoyed the previous show in which I counted down my 10 favourite albums of 2018. But this time we’re much more focused on 2019 music, so you’ll hear lots of great music released so far this year, plus we’ll also have a featured artist, the mighty Esperanza Spalding, so we’ll have three tracks either from or featuring her, plus we pay tribute to the sadly recently departed Mark Hollis & Hal Blaine. Below you’ll find the track list, plus weblinks from where you can find more information about each artist. Total running time: 2 hours & 33 minutes. Downloaded file is 140.2 MB. 1. Train (3:43) – Green Mountain Guild (Taken from the album ‘Train’; www.greenmountainguild.com, greenmountainguild.bandcamp.com, store.cdbaby.com/Artist/GreenMountainGuild & www.facebook.com/greenmountainguild/) 2. The Watershed (5:45) – Mark Hollis (Taken from the album ‘Mark Hollis’; see www.facebook.com/Talk-Talk-Mark-Hollis-12307963901/ & www.theguardian.com/music/2019/feb/26/musicians-on-mark-hollis-he-found-hooks-in-places-im-still-trying-to-fathom) 3. Vanishing Heart (4:35) – Rustin Man (Taken from the album ‘Drift Code’; see rustinman.bandcamp.com/album/drift-code & www.facebook.com/RustinManOfficial) 4. Loro (5:07) – Esperanza Spalding (Taken from the album ‘Junjo’; see ayvamusica.bandcamp.com/album/junjo, www.esperanzaspalding.com & www.facebook.com/EsperanzaSpalding/) 5. Starting Point (4:08) – You Tell Me (Taken from the album ‘You Tell Me’; see youtellme.bandcamp.com, youtellme.co, & www.facebook.com/youtellmetoo) 6. Elska (5:36) – My Octopus Mind (Single available to buy as a digital download via myoctopusmind.bandcamp.com; see also www.myoctopusmind.com & www.facebook.com/myoctopusmind/) 7. Dreamland (4:40) – Joni Mitchell (Taken from the album ‘Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter’; see jonimitchell.com/ & www.facebook.com/jonimitchellcom/) 8. Moonlight (8:33) – The Emerald Dawn (Taken from the album ‘Nocturne’; see theemeralddawn.webs.com, theemeralddawn.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/TheEmeraldDawn/) As part of the feature ‘Cats Corner’: 9. Captain Bagpuss Poem (2:30) – Oliver Postgate (Taken from the album ‘The Music From Bagpuss’; see bagpuss.bandcamp.com/album/the-music-from-bagpuss & www.sandrakerr.net/bagpuss.html) 10. Astral Master (6:51) – Trampoline (Taken from the album ‘Happy Crimes’; see trampolinesounds.bandcamp.com/album/happy-crimes, www.trampolinetheband.com, & www.facebook.com/Trampolinetheband/) 11. Kasvotonna (5:06) – Viba (Taken from the album ‘Viba’; see eclipsemusicrecordlabel.bandcamp.com/album/viba & www.eclipse-music.net/) 12. Frank Gordon (1:36) – Frank Sidebottom (Taken from the album ‘Frank Sidebottom’s Fantastic MP3 Anthology’; see www.franksworld.co.uk/, franksidebottom.co.uk/ & www.beingfrank.film) 13. Endangered Species (6:38) – Esperanza Spalding Feat. Lalah Hathaway (Taken from the album ‘Radio Music Society’; see www.esperanzaspalding.com & www.facebook.com/EsperanzaSpalding/) 14. Sound As Colour (7:40) – Lost Crowns (Taken from the album ‘Every Night Something Happens’; see lostcrowns.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/lostcrowns/; and you can see Lost Crowns performing at The Victoria in London on the 31st May alongside Kavus Torabi & headliners Thumpermonkey – see www.jaguarshoes.com/venue/the-victoria/) 15. Fruit Falls From The Apple Tree (Variant) (4:58) – Cobalt Chapel (Taken from the album ‘Variants’; see cobaltchapel.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/cobaltchapel/) 16. Uncle Feedle (2:00) – Sandra Kerr & John Faulkner (Taken from the album ‘The Music From Bagpuss’; see bagpuss.bandcamp.com/album/the-music-from-bagpuss, www.sandrakerr.net/bagpuss.html & www.johnfaulkner.net/) 17. Xavi (9:31) – Snarky Puppy (Taken from the album ‘Immigrance′; see snarkypuppy.com/ & www.facebook.com/snarkypuppy) As part of the feature ‘The 80s Weren’t All Rubbish You Know’: 18. Delirium (8:46) – Mike Batt (Taken from the album ‘Zero Zero′; see www.mikebatt.com & www.facebook.com/mikebattmusic/) 19. Martian Garden (4:38) – Rustin Man (Taken from the album ‘Drift Code’; see rustinman.bandcamp.com/album/drift-code & www.facebook.com/RustinManOfficial) 20. Good Vibrations (3:39) – The Beach Boys (Taken from the compilation album ‘Sounds of Summer: The Very Best of The Beach Boys’; see www.thebeachboys.com & www.facebook.com/thebeachboys/) 21. Mary Alice (4:34) – Trampoline (Taken from the album ‘Happy Crimes’; see trampolinesounds.bandcamp.com/album/happy-crimes, www.trampolinetheband.com, & www.facebook.com/Trampolinetheband/) 22. Our Reunion (6:37) – Matthew Stevens feat. Esperanza Spalding (Taken from the album ‘Preverbal’; see matthewstevens.bandcamp.com/album/preverbal, mattstevensmusic.com/, www.facebook.com/MatthewStevensGroup/ & www.esperanzaspalding.com) 23. Here Comes The Great Collapse (7:15) – Tim Burness (Taken from the album ‘Vision On’; see www.timburness.com, www.facebook.com/pages/Tim-Burness/195607947167604 &, to buy ticket’s for Tim’s headline performance at EppyFest 8 on Saturday 20th July, head to www.eppyfest.co.uk) Thanks to all the musicians who contributed and to all listeners. Send us comments if you like what you hear (or even if you don’t… feedback is so important!). If you want to keep up to date with news about the show, EppyFest, or just chat with other listeners, don’t forget that there’s a Facebook group – just search for the Eppy Gibbon Podcast Show on Facebook and request to join, plus don’t forget that we’re now part of the Progzilla Radio Network. For the next show I’ll be back again with an EppyFest 8 preview, when you’ll hear tracks from all four of the acts who will be playing in Cheltenham on Saturday 20th of July at Smokey Joe’s, plus lots of other great music, so I hope you’ll join me for that. Tagged Alternative pop, Art rock, Avant pop, Avant prog, Chamber pop, Eppy Gibbon podcast show, EppyFest, Esperanza Spalding, Experimental folk, Experimental pop, Experimental rock, folk, Jazz, Jazz fusion, Mark Hollis, Modern classical, Prog rock, Psychedelia January 7, 2019 by epilepticgibbon Episode 249: Eppy’s EPs of 2018 This is the 249th edition of the Epileptic Gibbon podcast music show and the playlist to accompany it. You should be able to CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD but note the shows are large files. Unfortunately the iTunes subscription no longer appears to be working so either download the show via the link above, or stream the show via Mixcloud (if you become a follower you can find out whenever I add new shows there) and the show can also be found on the Progzilla Radio Network (the show appears on Progzilla in alternate weeks). I hope you enjoyed the recent interview with Marvin B Naylor but for our first show of 2019 I’ll be reviewing some of my favourite EP releases of 2018. You can expect a great mixture of music in this show, and a typically eclectic playlist. Below you’ll find the track list, plus weblinks from where you can find more information about each artist. 1. Divide (Sing, Persist) (5:50) – Hanna Benn (Taken from the EP ‘Divide’; see hannabenn.bandcamp.com, hannabenn.com & www.facebook.com/HannaBennMusic/) 2. Geckos (5:04) – Mischa Blanos (Taken from the ‘Second Nature’ EP; see infine-rec.bandcamp.com/album/second-nature-ep, mischablanos.com/ & www.facebook.com/mischablanos/) 3. To Get Her (3:13) – Natasha Noorani (Taken from the EP ‘Munaasib’; see natashanoorani.bandcamp.com/releases & www.facebook.com/rukhsanakartoos/) 4. Brain (Watching Your Eyes) (8:47) – Once and Future Band (Taken from the ‘Brain’ EP; see www.facebook.com/OnceAndFutureBand) 5. Weep, O Mine Eyes (1:57) – Rebsie Fairholm (Taken from the EP ‘Chalkhills’; see rebsiefairholm.bandcamp.com & rebsiefairholm.co.uk) 6. Don’t Look, Don’t Stare (3:19) – Oh Malô (Taken from the EP ‘Young Orchard, Vol. 1’; see ohmalo.bandcamp.com/album/young-orchard-vol-1 & www.facebook.com/ohmalo/) 7. Ketamine (3:49) – MoeTar (Taken from the EP ‘Final Four’; see www.moetar.com, moetar.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/MoeTar) 8. Pierrot’s Dream Theater (7:00) – Ions & Eras (Taken from the EP ‘Life For A While’; see ionsanderas.bandcamp.com/releases & www.facebook.com/ionsanderas/) 9. Five More (2:07) – The Twelve Hour Foundation (Taken from the EP ‘Bunch Of Fives’; see www.twelvehourfoundation.co.uk/, thetwelvehourfoundation.bandcamp.com/album/bunch-of-fives-ep & www.facebook.com/twelvehourfoundation) 10. The Old Brain (4:47) – Once and Future Band (Taken from the ‘Brain’ EP; see www.facebook.com/OnceAndFutureBand) 11. Light Body (2:58) – Hanna Benn (Taken from the EP ‘Divide’; see hannabenn.bandcamp.com, hannabenn.com & www.facebook.com/HannaBennMusic/) 12. All Waves (3:59) – Sami Fitz (Taken from the EP ‘Tephra’; see samifitz.bandcamp.com/album/tephra, www.samifitz.com & www.facebook.com/samifitzmusic/) 13. (This is Why I Hate) Clocks (4:40) – Friend Roulette (Taken from the EP ‘I Want Out’; see prettypurgatory.bandcamp.com/album/i-want-out, www.prettypurgatory.com/artists/friend-roulette & www.facebook.com/FriendRoulette/) 14. Prairies Of Stars (3:45) – Ions & Eras (Taken from the EP ‘Life For A While’; see ionsanderas.bandcamp.com/releases & www.facebook.com/ionsanderas/) 15. Monsters In Your Head (3:03) – MoeTar (Taken from the EP ‘Final Four’; see www.moetar.com, moetar.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/MoeTar) 16. Work (4:16) – Natasha Noorani (Taken from the EP ‘Munaasib’; see natashanoorani.bandcamp.com/releases & www.facebook.com/rukhsanakartoos/) 17. Crosshairs (3:59) – Sami Fitz (Taken from the EP ‘Tephra’; see samifitz.bandcamp.com/album/tephra, www.samifitz.com & www.facebook.com/samifitzmusic/) 18. Coquillages (2:48) – The Twelve Hour Foundation (Taken from the EP ‘Bunch Of Fives’; see www.twelvehourfoundation.co.uk/, thetwelvehourfoundation.bandcamp.com/album/bunch-of-fives-ep & www.facebook.com/twelvehourfoundation) 19. Chalkhill Blue (5:53) – Rebsie Fairholm (Taken from the EP ‘Chalkhills’; see rebsiefairholm.bandcamp.com & rebsiefairholm.co.uk) 20. Rocoma (5:36)– Mischa Blanos (Taken from the ‘Second Nature’ EP; see infine-rec.bandcamp.com/album/second-nature-ep, mischablanos.com/ & www.facebook.com/mischablanos/) 21. The Latest News (4:13) – Annabel (lee) (Taken from the EP ‘From This Side′; see annabel-lee.bandcamp.com/album/from-this-side, ninjatune.net/artist/annabel-lee & www.facebook.com/solitaryplaces/) 22. Otrov (2:57) – E.L. Heath (Taken from the EP ‘Smiling Leaf’; see digital.waysideandwoodland.com/album/smiling-leaf, waysideandwoodland.com/notes-on-a-smiling-leaf-by-e-l-heath/ & www.facebook.com/ELHeathuk/) 23. Only Mocking (4:27) – El Radio Fantastique (Taken from the EP ‘Outside of Space and Time’; elradiofantastique.bandcamp.com/album/outside-of-space-and-time, www.elradiofantastique.com & www.facebook.com/elradiofantastique/) 24. You Don’t Know (4:56) – El Radio Fantastique (Taken from the EP ‘Outside of Space and Time’; elradiofantastique.bandcamp.com/album/outside-of-space-and-time, www.elradiofantastique.com & www.facebook.com/elradiofantastique/) 25. Read Me (4:30) – Oh Malô (Taken from the EP ‘Young Orchard, Vol. 1’; see ohmalo.bandcamp.com/album/young-orchard-vol-1 & www.facebook.com/ohmalo/) 26. Black Hole (3:13) – Friend Roulette (Taken from the EP ‘I Want Out’; see prettypurgatory.bandcamp.com/album/i-want-out, www.prettypurgatory.com/artists/friend-roulette & www.facebook.com/FriendRoulette/) 27. Alun I (4:25) – Hippo (Taken from the ‘Hippo′ EP; see hippobristol.bandcamp.com/album/hippo-ep & www.facebook.com/hippobristol/) 28. Georgia (4:52) – Hippo (Taken from the ‘Hippo′ EP; see hippobristol.bandcamp.com/album/hippo-ep & www.facebook.com/hippobristol/) 29. Down in Mystic (4:56) – Annabel (lee) (Taken from the EP ‘From This Side′; see annabel-lee.bandcamp.com/album/from-this-side, ninjatune.net/artist/annabel-lee & www.facebook.com/solitaryplaces/) 30. Smiling Leaf (4:26) – E.L. Heath (Taken from the EP ‘Smiling Leaf’; see digital.waysideandwoodland.com/album/smiling-leaf, waysideandwoodland.com/notes-on-a-smiling-leaf-by-e-l-heath/ & www.facebook.com/ELHeathuk/) Thanks to all the musicians who contributed and to all listeners. Send us comments if you like what you hear (or even if you don’t… feedback is so important!). If you want to keep up to date with news about the show, EppyFest, or just chat with other listeners, don’t forget that there’s a Facebook group – just search for the Eppy Gibbon Podcast Show on Facebook and request to join, plus don’t forget that we’re now part of the Progzilla Radio Network. For the next show I’ll be very busy with work again so for the 250th eppysode I’ll be leaving you in the very capable hands of regular guest presenters Rebsie & Daniel who will return with their own take on Eppy Gibbon music, so I hope you’ll join them for that. Tagged Art pop, Art rock, Avant pop, Best of 2018, Chamber pop, Electronica, Eppy Gibbon podcast show, Experimental folk, Experimental rock, Jazz, Modern classical, Musique concrète, Neosoul, Prog rock, Psych Folk, Psych Pop, Psychedelia October 28, 2018 by epilepticgibbon Episode 244: A Touch of Brimstone This is the 244th edition of the Epileptic Gibbon podcast music show and the playlist to accompany it. You should be able to CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD but note the shows are large files. Unfortunately the iTunes subscription no longer appears to be working so either download the show via the link above, or stream the show via Mixcloud (if you become a follower you can find out whenever I add new shows there) and the show can also be found on the Progzilla Radio Network (the show appears on Progzilla in alternate weeks). It’s Halloween time again so for this show we have the return of the diabolical Count Eppy Gibbon, who will again be your ghoulish host for this year’s Halloween special. There’s no feature album this time but rather a feature film, the 1973 version of ‘The Wicker Man’, so you’ll hear three tracks that are either inspired by the film or versions of tracks taken from its soundtrack. And of course you can also expect the usual eclectic musical mix. Below you’ll find the track list, plus weblinks from where you can find more information about each artist. Total running time: 2 hours. Downloaded file is 109.8 MB. 1. Fright Pattern (1:45) – Julius Vanderbilt (Taken from the album ‘Action Catalyst’; see juliusvanderbilt.bandcamp.com/album/action-catalyst & www.mixcloud.com/JuliusVanderbilt/) 2. Soft Rains Theme (2:22) – Zarelli (Taken from the album ‘Soft Rains’; see www.zarelli.it/ & www.facebook.com/zarellimusic) 3. Suspiria (Main Title) (5:55) – Goblin (Taken from the album ‘Goblin Collection 1975-1989’; see www.goblinofficial.com/, www.facebook.com/Goblin-Claudio-Simonettis-608532229212354/ & www.goblinweb.com/) 4. Danse Macabre Superdeluxe (arrangement 4, Mausolée Méchanique) (8:36) – Secret Chiefs 3 (Available as a single – see secretchiefsthree.bandcamp.com/album/danse-macabre-superdeluxe; see also www.webofmimicry.com/ & www.facebook.com/secretchiefs3/) 5. The Wicker Man (2:31) – The Story (Taken from the album ‘John Barleycorn Reborn: Dark Britannica’; see coldspring.bandcamp.com/album/john-barleycorn-reborn-dark-britannica-csr84cd) 6. A Forked Tale (8:24) – Forktail (Taken from the album ‘Forktail’; see forktail.bandcamp.com/album/forktail & www.facebook.com/redkite666/) 7. It’s Behind You (6:38) – Matt Baber (Taken from the album ‘Outskirts’; see mattbaber.bandcamp.com/album/outskirts) 8. The Evil Eye Is Liquified (5:06) – Regal Worm (Taken from the album ‘Pig Views’; see regalworm.bandcamp.com/album/pig-views, regalworm.com/Hail.html & www.facebook.com/regalworm) 9. Medusa (5:20) – Emma Ruth Rundle (Taken from the album ‘Marked For Death’; see emmaruthrundle.bandcamp.com/album/marked-for-death, www.emmaruthrundle.com & www.facebook.com/emmaruthrundle/) 10. The Pit And The Pendulum (8:13) – Karda Estra (Taken from the EP ‘The Land Of Ghosts 3’; see kardaestra.bandcamp.com/album/the-land-of-ghosts-3 & www.kardaestra.co.uk/) 11. The Tinker Of Rye (2:27) – Richard Wileman (Taken from the album ‘Veil’, though note that if you buy the digital download version of the album via Bandcamp, it does not include ‘The Tinker Of Rye’ track. The track is however available on other digital download platforms like itunes, Amazon etc. & is also included on the CD edition. See richardwileman.bandcamp.com/album/veil & www.kardaestra.co.uk/) 12. Nightmare (7:10) – Anthony Phillips (Taken from the compilation album ‘Anthology’; see www.anthonyphillips.co.uk/ & www.facebook.com/AnthonyPhillipsOfficial) 13. Scherzo No. 5 in Death Minor (4:46) – Hollywood Burns (Taken from the album ‘Invaders’; see blood-music.bandcamp.com/album/invaders) 14. The Locust (6:38) – Huge Baby (Taken from the album ‘Portrait of Ahead’; see www.organart.demon.co.uk/biohugebaby.htm) 15. Showers of blood (3:18) – Schnauser (Taken from the album ‘Where business meets fashion’; schnauser.bandcamp.com/album/where-business-meets-fashion & www.facebook.com/SchnauserMusic) 16. Willow’s Song (3:49) – Kelli Ali (Taken from the album ‘Butterfly’; see kelliali.bandcamp.com/album/butterfly & www.kelliali.com/) 17. My Demons Hunt (4:57) – Golden Caves (Taken from the album ‘Collision’; see goldencaves.com/ & freiamusic.co.uk/album/collision) 18. Deckchair For Your Ghost (5:42) – Thumpermonkey (Taken from the album ‘Make Me Young, etc’; see thumpermonkey.bandcamp.com/album/make-me-young-etc, thumpermonkey.com/ & www.facebook.com/thumpermonkeyband/) 19. Hungry Ghost (3:58) – Talitha Rise (Taken from the album ‘An Abandoned Orchid House’; see talitharise.bandcamp.com/album/an-abandoned-orchid-house-digital-pre-order, www.talitharise.com/ & www.facebook.com/talitharise/) 20. The Ghost of Eddie Bingo (2:18) – The Nature Centre (Taken from the double a-side single ‘The Pinch/The Ghost of Eddie Bingo’; see thenaturecentre.bandcamp.com/album/the-pinch-the-ghost-of-eddie-bingo, thenaturecentre.com/ & www.facebook.com/TheNatureCentre) 21. Familiar (5:00) – Forktail (Taken from the album ‘Forktail’; see forktail.bandcamp.com/album/forktail & www.facebook.com/redkite666/) 22. Bay Songs (6:48) – Gadadu (Taken from the album ‘Outer Song’; see gadadu.bandcamp.com/album/outer-song & www.gadadu.com/) Thanks to all the musicians who contributed, to all listeners, and of course to Count Eppy Gibbon. Send us comments if you like what you hear (or even if you don’t… feedback is so important!). If you want to keep up to date with news about the show, EppyFest, or just chat with other listeners, don’t forget that there’s a Facebook group – just search for the Eppy Gibbon Podcast Show on Facebook and request to join, plus don’t forget that we’re now part of the Progzilla Radio Network. The show will return to some semblance of normality next time with a typically eclectic mixture of lots of great 2018 music, plus a few older tracks, so I hope you’ll join me for that. Tagged Avant pop, Canterbury, Chamber pop, Count Eppy, Electronica, Experimental, Experimental folk, Folk Horror, Halloween, Jazz, Prog rock, Psych Folk, The Wicker Man August 5, 2018 by epilepticgibbon Episode 238: The Cybernauts This is the 238th edition of the Epileptic Gibbon podcast music show and the playlist to accompany it. You may be able to CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD but note the shows are large files & this may not be the best way to listen. If you prefer, you can subscribe to the show via iTunes by sticking feeds2.feedburner.com/TheEpilepticGibbonPodcastMusicShow into the ‘Subscribe to podcast’ area & then you’ll get the new shows as they become available (BUT please let me know if this subscription isn’t working). The show is also available to stream via Mixcloud and the Progzilla Radio Network (the show appears on Progzilla in alternate weeks). This is another show that had to be put together somewhat on the hoof, plus I was a little under the weather whilst doing so, but hopefully you won’t notice any drop in quality (certainly not in the music played). I’ll be focusing largely on new music from 2018, but with the occasional diversion into the past. As part of the latter we have a feature album, which is ‘The End is Beautiful’, the 2005 album by the American band Echolyn so you’ll hear three tracks from that. And otherwise we’ll be covering the usual diverse selection of styles and genres, plus there’s a final reflective nod back to EppyFest 7, a look forward to The Whole World Window festival on 11th August, and best wishes to Michael Nesmith of The Monkees following his recent surgery. Below you’ll find the track list, plus weblinks from where you can find more information about each artist. 1. Georgia Pine (5:49) – Echolyn (Taken from the album ‘The End is Beautiful’; see www.echolyn.com/, echolyn.bandcamp.com, www.cdbaby.com/Artist/echolyn & www.facebook.com/echolynband) 2. The Downpour (5:06) – Exploring Birdsong (Single available to download via exploringbirdsong.bandcamp.com; see also www.facebook.com/ExploringBirdsong/) 3. Age of the Train (2:59) – International Teachers Of Pop (Single available to download via hyperurl.co/Age-of-the-Train; see also www.facebook.com/internationalteachersofpop/) 4. Les gardes volent au secours du roi (6:55) – Jean-Claude Vannier (Taken from the album ‘L’enfant Assassin Des Mouches’; see www.jeanclaudevannier.fr/ & www.allmusic.com/album/l-enfant-assassin-des-mouches-mw000035279) 5. The Twice – Victory (8:15) – Bo Hansson (Taken from the album ‘Music Inspired By Watership Down’; see silence.se/en/artist/bo-hansson/) 6. This Is Not A Fire (5:06) – Thumpermonkey (Taken from the EP ‘Electricity’; see thumpermonkey.bandcamp.com/ & www.thumpermonkey.com/) 7. Morpheus Miracle Maker (5:20) – North Sea Radio Orchestra (Taken from the album ‘I A Moon’; see www.nsro.co.uk/ & www.facebook.com/northsearadioorchestra) 8. Adored (8:20) – Doris Brendel & Lee Dunham (Taken from the album ‘Upside Down World’; see www.dorisbrendel.com/ & www.facebook.com/dorisbrendelmusic/) To find out more about this year’s The Whole World Window festival on 11th August go to www.skiddle.com/festivals/the-whole-world-window/ and www.facebook.com/events/1966947373569092/ 9. Nurses Whispering Verses (9:59) – The 180Gs (Taken from the album ‘Singin’ to God′; see davidminnick1.bandcamp.com/album/singin-to-god) 10. My Shoulder Ride (2:55) – Shrubbies (Taken from the album ‘Memphis In Texas’; see shrubbies.bandcamp.com) 11. Lovesick Morning (10:12) – Echolyn (Taken from the album ‘The End is Beautiful’; see www.echolyn.com/, echolyn.bandcamp.com, www.cdbaby.com/Artist/echolyn & www.facebook.com/echolynband) 12. Sugar Trip (3:01) – Twink The Toy Piano Band (Taken from the 7-inch single, available to buy via toypianoband.bandcamp.com/album/sugar-trip; see also twink.net/ & www.facebook.com/toypianoband) 13. Two Horizons (6:04) – Mildlife (Taken from the album ‘Phase’; see mildlife.com.au/, mildlife.bandcamp.com & www.facebook.com/Mildlife) 14. Skyways (4:10) – The Advisory Circle (Taken from the album ‘Ways of Seeing’; see ghostbox.co.uk/artists-page/the-advisory-circle/ & www.facebook.com/ghostboxrecords) 15. When We Arrived at the Mountain (4:51) – Matthew Edwards and the Unfortunates (Taken from the album ‘Folklore’; see www.matthewedwardsandtheunfortunates.com/, matthewedwardsandtheunfortunates.bandcamp.com/album/folklore & www.facebook.com/MatthewEdwardsAndTheUnfortunates/) 16. Land Of Green Ginger (2:30) – The Twelve Hour Foundation (Taken from the album ‘tree little milk egg book…and other non sequiturs’; see www.twelvehourfoundation.co.uk/, twelvehourfoundation-cis.bandcamp.com/album/tree-little-milk-egg-book-and-other-non-sequiturs & www.facebook.com/twelvehourfoundation) 17. Creation (4:16) – Evenflow (Taken from the EP ‘Old Town’; see evenflow.bandcamp.com/releases & www.facebook.com/EvenFlow-541814282827345/) 18. The End is Beautiful (7:46) – Echolyn (Taken from the album ‘The End is Beautiful’; see www.echolyn.com/, echolyn.bandcamp.com, www.cdbaby.com/Artist/echolyn & www.facebook.com/echolynband) 19. Part 9 (3:24) – Matt Baber (Taken from the album ‘Suite For Piano and Electronics’; see mattbaber.bandcamp.com & www.badelephant.co.uk/) 20. Writing Wrongs (5:08) – The Monkees (Taken from the album ‘The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees′; see www.monkees.com/, www.facebook.com/TheMonkees & www.monkees.net/) 21. Apple Sugar Cider (5:58) – Facing New York (Taken from the album ‘Facing New York’; see facingnewyork.bandcamp.com/album/facing-new-york & fiveoneinc.com/facing-new-york/) Thanks to all the musicians who contributed and to all listeners. Send us comments if you like what you hear (or even if you don’t… feedback is so important!). If you want to keep up to date with news about the show, EppyFest, or just chat with other listeners, don’t forget that there’s a Facebook group – just search for the Eppy Gibbon Podcast Show on Facebook and request to join, plus don’t forget that we’re now part of the Progzilla Radio Network. Eppy will be taking a well-earned break so next time Rebsie & Daniel will again be sitting in for him, so we hope to see you back for another of their takes on Eppy Gibbon music. Tagged Alternative rock, Art pop, Avant pop, Echolyn, Electronica, Eppy Gibbon podcast show, EppyFest, Experimental, Modern classical, Prog metal, Prog rock, Pronkapella, Proto prog, Psychedelia, Tim Smith, Toytronica About Epileptic Gibbon EppyFest! Episode 261: For Dad Episode 260: The Thirteenth Hole Episode 259: Small Game for Big Hunters Episode 258: The Girl from AUNTIE Episode 257: Room Without a View Episode 256: An Eppysode for Ed Episode 255: EppyFest 8 Preview Episode 253: Best of 2018, Top 10 Albums EppyFest 10T Records Cuneiform Records Damon Shulman Echolyn Eppy Gibbon Podcast Group (Facebook) Fire of Unknown Origin Raffaella Berry's progressive music journey Flowforth Productions Folkwit Records Karda Estra MacJams.com Phideaux’s Lair: The Official Homepage Pia Silvi Progzilla Radio Rebsie Fairholm Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone Summer's End Festival Supersonic Festival The Interesting Alternative Show The Rogues’ Gallery Thieves’ Kitchen Troopers For Sound Records Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new episodes by email. Search past playlists	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16334
__label__wiki	0.985984	0.985984	''Perfect Storm'' tops ''The Patriot'' The July 4 box office take is headed for a record By Justine Elias July 03, 2000 at 04:00 AM EDT Storm: Claudette Barius Independence Day was primed for ”The Patriot”’s fireworks, but it was ”The Perfect Storm” that lit up the box office over the long weekend. The George Clooney/ Mark Wahlberg ”disaster at sea” drama, which opened June 30, earned an estimated $64 million in its first five days in theaters, making it the third best Fourth of July debut in history, after ”Men in Black” (’97) and ”Independence Day” (’96). While ”Storm”’s surge was strong enough to thoroughly douse ”The Patriot,” the Mel Gibson war drama grossed a more than respectable $35.2 million since its June 28 opening. Though some box office analysts predict that ”The Patriot” could eventually equal or outperform ”Storm,” they say its initial weekend take was hurt by its R rating and longer running time. The holiday weekend’s other new film, ”The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle,” lagged behind in fifth place with a disappointing $11.0 million. The overall box office — driven by the twin debuts of big budget action films as well as hearty holdover titles — may be headed for a July 4 record. According to the tracking firm Exhibitor Relations, the top 12 movies generated $121.8 million, up 5.3 percent from last year. Of the early summer releases, two are nearing milestones: ”Mission: Impossible 2”’s total gross is expected to hit $200 million by this coming weekend, and ”Big Momma’s House,” the summer’s top grossing comedy, should hit $100 million. CRITICAL MASS ”The Perfect Storm” may have won this weekend’s box office skirmish, but ”The Patriot” seems poised to endure a long term summer battle. Though historians and critics are debating the script’s accuracy, reviewers generally praised ”The Patriot”’s sweeping action sequences as well as the eye-catching supporting performances by Heath Ledger, who plays Gibson’s headstrong son, and British actor Jason Isaacs as the sneering villain. EW Online readers liked both films, giving the Clooney-Wahlberg starrer a solid B, and favoring ”The Patriot” with a B+. ”Patriot” also looks to do better with repeat ticket buyers: 43 percent of its fans say they’re very likely to see it again, compared with 29 percent of ”Storm”’s audience. Meanwhile, ”Rocky and Bullwinkle” got clobbered by the critics, who granted it a tepid C- average. Ticket buyers, though, were kinder to this blend of live action and animation, giving it a grade of B. Though this weekend’s duel between Clooney and Gibson got the most attention from box office analysts, there’s another story brewing in the box office charts. Last week’s champion, ”Me, Myself & Irene,” lost 47 percent of its audience, earning $19.5 million. The Jim Carrey comedy was edged out for the third spot by ”Chicken Run,” which has earned a plump $49.4 million in 14 days of release. A family friendly yet hip feature from the British creators of the Wallace and Gromit cartoons, ”Chicken Run” fell just 25 percent from last weekend — the best second-week performance in the top 10. Still, next week’s new releases may cut into both films, with gross out comedy fans heading to ”Scary Movie,” a raunchy horror spoof from the Wayans brothers, and families flocking to Disney’s ”The Kid,” a comedy starring Bruce Willis and a smart-mouthed child actor with a bowl haircut. To vote on these and other current movies, visit our Critical Mass Movie Poll. 9 new Academy members speak on 'storming the gates' of Oscar with diversity revolution The Ice Storm Ryder in the Storm Rain Storm 'RIDER' IN A STORM 'Train' Storm Roma, Regina Hall storm 2018 New York Film Critics Circle awards as winners announced Into the Storm Movie The 'Perfect' Storm Steven Seagal storms out of interview after being asked about sexual assault allegations Liza Minnelli and Alan Cumming charm Global Storming War Is Swell 'Storm' Warning Me, Myself & Irene The Adventures Of Rocky And Bullwinkle The Patriot (Movie - 2000)	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16335
__label__wiki	0.594715	0.594715	incorporation in Vietnam for foreigners Despite Vietnam’s attractiveness as investment and trade destination, starting up a business in Vietnam may seem rather daunting and even frustrating at times. Before coming to Vietnam, good preparation is essential like: Vietnam Overview, Economy, Financial Banking, Regulations on investment/enterprises, Taxation, Financial Reports and Auditing, Visa and permit, Living in Vietnam. First, please make use of the knowledge of geography, population, language, government, climate and useful contacts. All of these information, you can see below. 1. Vietnam as an investment location Vietnam has emerged as one of the most popular investment destinations in Asia, offering advantages such as: A well-educated population, which offers potential as both a workforce and a consumer market; Under-exploited mineral resources; A central location from which to reach other markets in southern Asia; Continued inflows of foreign aid; A commitment by the Government to economic pragmatism; and Significant investment incentives for selected types of businesses. 2. Geography Vietnam occupies the eastern coastline of the Southeast Asian peninsula and shares land borders with China to the north, and Laos and Cambodia to the west. Its coastline provides direct access to the Gulf of Thailand and the East Sea. Vietnam has a land area of 325,360 square kilometers. Most of the country is hilly or mountainous, with flat land representing only about 20 percent. The primary topographical features in the north are the highlands and the Red River Delta and the south includes the central mountains, coastal lowlands and the Mekong River Delta. Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, is located in the north of the country and Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in terms of population and economic activity, is situated in the south. Other major cities include Hai Phong, Da Nang and Can Tho. 3. Population and Labor Force As of 1 April 2009, Vietnam had an estimated population of 86 million, 25.6 million of those reside in urban areas accounting for 29.6% of total population and 60.4 million are in rural areas that covers 70.4% of total population. The annual average population growth rate for the period 1999 to 2009 is 1.2%. This population is predominantly young, with approximately 27% below the age of 15 and a median age of 25.9 years. The population density is 259 persons per square kilometer. The population is composed of nearly 90% ethnic Vietnamese, with Chinese,Hmong, Thai, Khmer, Cham and mountain groups forming the remainder. Vietnamese, a tonal language in the Austro-Asiatic language family, is the official language. The modern written language uses the Vietnamese alphabet, a Romanized representation of spoken Vietnamese. While English is increasingly favored as a second language, other languages used to a lesser extent in Vietnam are French, Russian, Chinese, Khmer and mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian). The literacy rate (percentage of the population aged 15 years or older who can read and write) was estimated at 90.3% as surveyed in 2005. 5. Government Vietnam is a one-party state run by the collective leadership of the Communist Party Secretary-General, the Prime Minister (PM) and the President. Policy is set every five years by the Party congress and adjusted twice a year by plenary meetings of the Central Committee. The Government and other state organs are responsible for implementing policy. Vietnam local time is seven hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time, or UTC. Business hours in Vietnam are generally from 7:30 a.m. to approximately 4:30 p.m., however international companies located in the urban areas operate from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Shops tend to be open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. 7. Connectivity Vietnam is served by several digital mobile phone networks using GSM 900 and CDMA 800 technology. ADSL, dial-up Internet services are available in the major cities. Recently, Vietnam has awarded licenses to the first 4 operators to offer high-speed 3G mobile phone services, promising millions of cellular phone users a better service. Vinaphone and MobiFone are the first 3G service providers in Vietnam. Northern Vietnam has four seasons: spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring is from January to March, summer is from April to end of July, autumn is from August to end of September and winter is the rest of the year. Autumn is the best and the most beautiful weather in the north with the average temperature on the day ranging from 27˚C to 32˚C and decreases to 24˚C or 27˚C at night. In contrast, Central Vietnam is subject to occasional typhoons. The South is generally warm with two seasons: dry and wet. During the hottest months at the end of the southern dry season, March through May, temperatures reach the low 30˚C. This period is followed by the May-October monsoon season. 9. Public holidays National public holidays are listed below. Dates for the Vietnamese New Year (Tet) vary from year to year, because they are based on the lunar calendar: - 1 January – New Year’s Day - January or February – Tet. This is the most significant Vietnamese annual holiday and is celebrated from the last day of the old lunar year to the third day, or later, of the New Year according to the traditional lunar calendar - 10th day of the 3rd lunar month – Kinh Hung’s death anniversary (Gio to Hung Vuong) - 30 April – Liberation Day - 1 May – Labor Day - 2 September – National Day 10. Useful Contacts For a list of useful addresses and other contact details in Vietnam, please refer to Glossary of Acronyms. Useful Address and Contact Information: 89 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi Telephone: 4 3822 0579 254 Nguyen Trai Street, District 1 Telephone: 8 3920 1701/3824 4074 Facsimile: 8 3825 6829 Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development http://www.mard.gov.vn 2 Ngoc Ha Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi Facsimile: 4 3845 4319/3737 0752 135 Pasteur Street, Ward 6, District 3 Ministry of Construction http://www.moc.gov.vn 37 Le Dai Hanh Street, Hai Ba Trung District, 14 Ky Dong Street, Ward 9, District 3, Ministry of Information and Communications http://www.mic.gov.vn 18 Nguyen Du Street, Hanoi, Vietnam 27 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, Da Kao Ward, 1A Hoang Dieu Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi Telephone: 69 388 2041/4 353 2090 Ministry of Education and Training http://www.edu.net.vn 49 Dai Co Viet Street Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi Telephone: 4 3869 2394/3869 4904/ 3 Quoc Te Square, District 3, HCMC http://www.mof.gov.vn 28 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi 138 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 3 Telephone: 8 3930 3375/3930 5030/3930 3685 http://www.mofa.gov.vn 1 Ton That Dam Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi http://www.moh.gov.vn 138A Giang Vo Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi 51 Pham Ngoc Thach Street, District 3 Ministry of Industry and Trade http://www.moit.gov.vn 54 Hai Ba Trung Street, Hanoi 45 Tran Cao Van Street, District 3 http://www.moj.gov.vn 56-58-60 Tran Phu Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi Telephone: 43733 6213/3733 8068 Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs http://www.molisa.gov.vn 12 Ngo Quyen Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi Ministry of Marine Products http://www.mofi.gov.vn 10 Nguyen Cong Hoan Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi 30 Ham Nghi Street, District 1 Ministry of Planning and Investment http://www.mpi.gov.vn 2 Hoang Van Thu Street, Ba Dinh District, Hanoi 289 Dien Bien Phu Street, District 3 Ministry of Police http://www.moha.gov.vn 44 Yet Kieu Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi Ministry of Science, Technology http://www.most.gov.vn http://www.monre.gov.vn 83 Nguyen Chi Thanh Street, Dong Da District, Hanoi 42 Mac Dinh Chi Street, District 1, http://www.mt.gov.vn 80 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hoan Kiem District, 92 Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street, District 1 Ministry of Culture Sport and Tourism of Vietnam http://www.cinet.gov.vn 51 Ngo Quyen Street, Hanoi 170 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, District 1 Office of Government 1 Hoang Hoa Tham Street, Ba Dinh District, 7 Le Duan Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City State Bank of Vietnam http://www.sbv.gov.vn 49 Ly Thai To Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi 17 Ben Chuong Duong Street, District 1 More in this category: « Asia Opportunities: Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16338
__label__wiki	0.676905	0.676905	Jumper Two March 3, 2019 / Red Metal Fledging independent game developer Matt Thorson made his first significant mark on the medium in February of 2004 with Jumper. Though not quite his debut effort, it was the first one he felt worth mentioning in retrospect. This minimalization of the platforming games he grew up with was highly praised in the independent circuit. Shortly after the release of Jumper, he teamed up with another Game Maker-user who went by the name Dex. The game that resulted from their collaboration, Dim, drew a lot of inspiration from Jumper while also giving its protagonist the ability to hop between dimensions in a manner reminiscent of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. This game also found an audience and would be referenced in later editions of the Jumper level editor. As Mr. Thorson gained more experience programming, he used what he learned to fine tune the physics in Jumper and create a sequel. This game, simply entitled Jumper Two, was released in June of 2004 – a mere four months after the release of the original. Being his third game in the span of a year, what does Jumper Two bring to the table? Analyzing the Experience In the year 1888, scientists banded together and began working on a project to create the ultimate soldier. Their experiments resulted in the creation of a creature they named Ogmo. This team was determined to see their project through to the end, but the First World War left them with no choice but to abandon their plans. In 2004, Ogmo awakened and successfully escaped the dilapidated laboratory. He was captured shortly thereafter and placed on an aircraft headed for the National Science Institution where he would be studied. Finding a way to the aircraft’s escape hatch, he jumped, eventually finding himself in an old temple. Anyone fresh off of Jumper will instantly know what to expect in its sequel. Despite Ogmo having come into being as a result of experiments to create the ultimate soldier, he is quite limited in how he can respond to the hostile environments in which he regularly finds himself. His first and only solution to avoiding death is to jump, and he is quite proficient in that regard. He is controlled exclusively though precise use of the arrow keys. The left and right keys will move Ogmo in that direction. It is the up arrow key that causes him to jump. At first glance, Ogmo’s jump seems unimpressive. Though it gains a remarkable amount of height as is typical for this genre, it doesn’t seem as though it would be worth calling the series Jumper because of it. Fortunately, his ability to jump extends far beyond most of his peers. Like many platforming protagonists, he has the curious ability to jump a second time while airborne. If he happens to touch a floating golden arrow while in the air, his ability to double jump is restored, allowing him to do so a third time. There is no limit to the number of times you can do this; as long as you collect a golden arrow, you can jump once more before touching the ground. On the surface, it would appear as though Jumper Two is a basic sequel that rehashes what made the original work. Though Jumper Two definitely uses its predecessor as a template, it proceeds to use the formula to explore new ideas. This becomes obvious in the very first stage. As you can see in the above screenshot, there is not a single golden arrow to be found in the first stage. If you were playing the first game, you would have no way to proceed; even with Ogmo’s ability to jump a second time in midair, he couldn’t possibly reach the ledge in the center of the screen. Thankfully, he has a few new tricks up his sleeve this time around. By running, pushing the arrow key corresponding to the opposite direction, and jumping, Ogmo can perform a skid jump. Skid jumps gain significantly more height than a standard jump. You need quite a bit of momentum to pull this off successfully. You’ll know you have built up enough speed if Ogmo kicks up dirt as he is turning. Once you have reached the ledge in the center of the screen, all you’ll need to do is exit the stage. This is accomplished by using the wall jump. To use the wall jump, you must press the arrow key in the direction of the wall and jump at the same time. As soon as Ogmo propels himself from the wall, you need to press the arrow key corresponding to his new direction to cover the most distance. Another thing you might notice upon entering the first stage is a teal, diamond-shaped object in the top-left corner. This is a gem. Gems are not required in any way to complete a stage. Instead, they help unlock bonus features. Bonus features include alternate skins for Ogmo, a jukebox, game modifications, artwork, and extra stages. Merely completing a stage can unlock certain features, but the most significant ones are obtained through getting these gems. Unlike in Jumper in which you were stuck on your current stage until you completed the game, Jumper Two allows you to revisit cleared stages whenever you want. If you choose to revisit a stage, you will potentially notice two significant changes. First of all, there is a timer in the bottom-left corner. The left number represents the amount of time that has passed since you entered the stage. Its opposite represents your best record, which is to say, the shortest amount of time it took for you to complete the stage. It can be thought of as a platforming equivalent of the “Time Trial” mode from the Mario Kart franchise. By reducing the accumulative time it takes for you to complete the game, you will unlock more bonus features. Jumper Two shines in many of the same ways as its predecessor. It is as pure of a platforming experience as you can get. There are few enemies to fight, no power-ups to obtain, and only the bare minimum of a plot. All you need to do is to guide Ogmo to the end of a stage. Despite offering a similar experience, Jumper Two does mix up the basic premise of the game quite a bit. I say this because Jumper Two has a plethora of new gimmicks for the player to discover. Clearing the game will involve Ogmo pushing TNT crates onto lower platforms to blow up a floor tile, riding conveyor belts, and avoiding spiked blocks that follow him as doggedly as the white blocks introduced in the original game. Ice plays an interesting role in the game. In most platforming games, ice merely reduces the character’s friction, making platforming a little more difficult. While this is true in Jumper Two, it is significantly more of a hindrance to Ogmo than, for example, Mario or Donkey Kong. If the floor is covered in ice, not only does Ogmo slip around, he cannot perform a skid jump. Furthermore, if there is ice covering the walls, he cannot jump off of them. Though it can be annoying to deal with, you can also use it to your advantage. You may, on occasion, come across a series of short ceiling spikes above an icy path. Though they will still kill Ogmo if he comes into contact with them, you can take advantage of his newfound ability to duck, which is accomplished by pressing the down arrow key, to slide underneath them after gaining enough momentum. If you happen upon any switch in the game, ducking is also how you activate them. My personal favorite gimmick involves such a switch. The switch initially appears red allowing matching floor tiles to be walked on. However, red spiked mines also appear as long as they match the switch’s color. To get them out of your way, you must press the switch, which turns it blue. Now, both blue floor tiles and spiked mines are tangible. This development is about as close as one could get to emulating the dimensional jumping abilities of the title character of Dim without outright giving Ogmo the same power. In certain circumstances, it allows Mr. Thorson to effectively create a stage within a stage. What I particularly enjoy about Jumper Two is that the gimmicks extend beyond the props with which Ogmo can interact. Unlike in Jumper wherein every sector with the exception of the seventh had only the background colors to differentiate them, Jumper Two has definable worlds akin to Super Mario Bros. 3. A shadowy organization seeks to capture Ogmo for some nefarious purpose and the third sector takes place on a train owned by the aptly-named Conductor, who works for them. These stages are quite a bit different in that the standard bottomless pits are replaced with the ground. However, because Ogmo would merely get run over by the train’s wheels, touching the ground is a death sentence. Occasionally, you’ll have to deal with the environment itself as you progress through the game. The seventh sector takes place in Mt. Haphazard. The winds of this mountain are very powerful, and affect Ogmo’s jump physics whenever a gust picks up. These are reminiscent of corresponding stages in Ninja Gaiden II in that you must use the snowfall to gauge whether or not a jump is safe to make. A later stage even turns the game into a stealth-based affair by featuring a metallic floor that grabs the attention of the main antagonist’s second-in-command if Ogmo steps on it. While it is possible to complete the stage after making a noise, said character can phase through walls to kill Ogmo, making it significantly more difficult. All in all, Jumper Two is, on the surface, what a creator should strive for when it comes to making a sequel. It takes the gameplay of the original and introduces new ideas to build upon what you learned during your trials and tribulations. Unfortunately, I have to remark that some of these new ideas don’t work so well. As was the case with Jumper, Jumper Two requires the player to acclimate themselves to the bizarre physics engine. In Jumper, Ogmo more or less stopped on a dime, not gaining any significant momentum. It stands to reason because without the ability to run, there really wasn’t a need for the character to have momentum. However, in Jumper Two, momentum plays a key role in performing a skid jump. While it would seem to go without saying that Ogmo gains speed while moving, you also have to keep this in mind as you’re navigating him while he is airborne. Though the Jumper engine was strange, it easily allowed players to do so. In Jumper Two, you have to maneuver Ogmo as though he is on the ground even if he’s in the air. This gets confusing because what you see onscreen doesn’t match up with the course of action you must take. To make things even stranger, if Ogmo happened to be touching ice before making his first jump, he will somehow continue to skid in midair, which is very odd if you’re not expecting it. Jumper Two also sticks out from its predecessor in that it has an actual plot. It is, by Mr. Thorson’s own admission, a nonsensical plot – one that goes out of its way to poke fun at as many standard video-game tropes as possible. This is a mixed blessing. On one hand, the plot does make the game marginally more interesting – even if it’s a bit predictable. On the other hand, with Jumper Two possessing definable antagonists, this necessitates confronting them. Though the boss fights are, in essence, glorified puzzles, it becomes clear that Jumper Two is not optimized to feature them. In a game that normally features no combat, it’s jarring when the protagonist is made to fight anything. The fight against the Conductor merely involves causing blocks to fall on his head until he falls off his train. Later bosses are fought in similar fashions, either taking advantage of the environment in some way to fell them or just avoiding them outright. I appreciate wanting to throw variety into the mix, but Mr. Thorson had already done such a great job doing so in the rest of the game that the boss fights come across as redundant at the best of times. Drawing a Conclusion Adds two new jumps to the game Simple, yet effective gameplay More gimmicks added Some original music now present Comes with level editor Physics engine takes some getting used to Little to gameplay outside of platforming Boss fights aren’t implemented well Somewhat short Even with as few moving parts as it has, it’s commendable that Mr. Thorson, at the age of sixteen, was able to complete a sequel four months after the original’s release. For all of the problems I have with Jumper Two, it doesn’t show any signs of having been rushed. Had I not directly observed the two games’ release dates, I would have assumed Jumper Two was released a year after its predecessor. Whatever flaws are present in Jumper Two come across as issues that would have remained even if he did indeed take a year to make it. AAA producers weren’t always this consistent with sequels despite having much longer development cycles and a greater amount of resources at their disposal. Once again, I give Mr. Thorson a lot of credit, for there was clearly a lot of love that went into Jumper Two. When all is said and done, however, I find myself exactly where I was when I discussed Jumper once again. That is to say, Jumper Two is a game made for platforming fans. It is absolutely not the kind of game you would use to introduce a newcomer to the genre, nor is it capable of persuading a skeptic. It is a game that doesn’t have any artificial difficulty or cryptic puzzles, but people who aren’t platformer fans likely won’t get anything out of it. Having said that, if you do love platformers, it is absolutely worth looking into, and you will enjoy what it has to offer. 2000s Games, Games, Gaming, Indie Games, Jumper, Jumper Two, Matt Thorson, PC Games, Video Game Review, Video Games ← February 2019 in Summary: Alphabet Soup The Sting (George Roy Hill, 1973) → 5 thoughts on “Jumper Two” Ogreatgames.com Jumper 2 never gave me a chance to beat it in the past. To be honest, I like what went into Matt Thorson’s mind when he made Jumper 2. It is indeed incredibly hard that any one who dares to play this game will always come to the realization that winning against it will take hundreds of tries. Thus, it’s also very addictive. The game’s fast gameplay and basic visuals make it more immersive in a good way. I love how it gets harder thanks to its brilliantly designed levels. It’s nice to hear from this game again. Thanks for reminding me! Yeah, it’s quite the challenging game, isn’t it? It was a solid effort for its time, though I’d say Thorson has achieved a higher level of greatness with Celeste. That said, platforming fans would absolutely get a kick out of this game, so I could easily recommend it to them. That’s a really interesting thing to find in the current internet age. Didn’t used to be you could find current producer’s old teenage projects. Kind of makes for a really interesting perspective. Also, this seems incredibly sound for a sixteen year old’s creation over the course of four months. Guess dude had some promise back then. Yeah, in most cases, projects like these would be deleted and thought of as an old shame rather than placed on the internet. It’s understandable in some cases, but it’s a shame when it’s games like Jumper getting erased. A lot of what I’m liking about Celeste I can trace back to these games, and most people never would have been able to appreciate that connection had Mr. Thorson decided to delete the games from the internet. I myself discovered them back in 2005 when I was searching for a completely freeware different game, and they were some of my first exposures to the indie scene. It and its sequel are indeed really solid games, and it’s even more impressive when you consider there are many AAA projects that, given a much longer development cycle, didn’t turn out this well. Even for a game with such few moving parts, being able to come up with it four months later is impressive (while collaborating with another creator on another game in the interim, no less). Pingback: [UPDATE] March 2019 in Summary: Lousy Smarch Weather! \| Extra Life Beauty on Brick on Graffiti Lux Art & More Inner Beauty on A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16339
__label__cc	0.509511	0.490489	Derna Mujahedeen Shura Council (DMSC) The DMSC issued a new statement after Hijazi’s remarks against Haftar, re-denouncing Operation Dignity, the coalition of militias and fighters associated with Haftar’s LNA, and reaffirming their position against it. The DMSC also dismissed Hijazi’s comments ‘equating ISIS with its sisters’ (which is seen as a reference to the jihadi councils and Islamist militias affiliated … Derna Battles between local jihadists forces controlling the city, e.g. the Derna Mujahedeen Shura Council (DMSC) and IS are ongoing. The city is witnessing a heightened sense of alarm after more ISIS incursions were registered inside the western parts of the city. Clashes are intermittent in the southern hills of the Al Fatieh area and in the eastern Sahel region … Fighting continues uninterrupted in Ajdabiya between the ARSC militants and Haftar’s LNA forces, although it does not appear as if either side has made significant progress. LNA aircraft continued airstrikes in Ajdabiya, specifically targeting the ‘60’ Gate and the ‘industrial complex’. Earlier in the Week, ARSC issued a statement declaring that this entire area is now a ‘military zone’, likely a … In Ajdabiya, a statement published by the Ajdabiya Revolutionaries’ Shoura Council (ARSC) on 2 Jan denied that it has defected to IS, after its emir and a dozen of its members published a video last week pledging allegiance to the group last week. The statement said that the group photographed with a black IS banner was made up of individuals …	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16340
__label__wiki	0.923218	0.923218	'Most Beloved Woman!' George H. W. Bush's Heartwarming Tribute To His Late Wife Barbara April 19, 2018 13:53 By Fabiosa George H. W. Bush recently released a bittersweet statement following the death of his wife of 73 years, Barbara Bush. Former first lady, #BarbaraBush, died Tuesday, April 17, 2018 at her home in Houston, Texas. She was 92. She left behind the love of her life, George H. Bush, five children & fourteen grand children. Pray for family's peace & comfort. May she Rest In Peace ???? pic.twitter.com/4EpuKSADxU — Roya (#MAGA) (@ZibaLady1) April 18, 2018 Barbara Bush passes on The former First Lady died on Tuesday, April 17 at the age of 92 — just two days after the former president’s office released a statement announcing she would no longer be seeking medical treatment for her failing health. Since the announcement of her passing, several of her family members and political leaders have honored her in heartfelt social media posts. READ ALSO: Barbara And George Bush Are Still Madly In Love And Not Ashamed To Share Their Feelings! George Sr.'s heartwarming tribute Herewith a statement from former President @GeorgeHWBush. pic.twitter.com/USSq5RkD4g — Jim McGrath (@jgm41) April 18, 2018 The former president’s statement began on Wednesday, April 18, one day after Barbara’s death. It was tweeted by the former president's post-White House spokesman, Jim McGrath. Statement by the Office of @GeorgeHWBush on the passing of Barbara Pierce Bush this evening at the age of 92. pic.twitter.com/c6JU0xy6Vc I always knew Barbara was the most beloved woman in the world, and in fact, I used to tease her that I had a complex about that fact. But the truth is the outpouring of love and friendship being directed at The Enforcer is lifting us all up. Jean Becker, chief of staff at the Office of George H.W. Bush, said 93-year-old Bush was holding his wife's hand up until she died. Statement by President George W. Bush on the passing of Mrs. Barbara Bush: https://t.co/PwYs9SHwo3 pic.twitter.com/FZMcRwv0Ve — George W. Bush Presidential Center (@TheBushCenter) April 18, 2018 The two had been married since 1945 and had six children together -- former President George W. Bush, as well as sons Jeb, Neil, and Marvin, and daughters Dorothy and Robin. Robin died at the age of three from leukemia. READ ALSO: Laura And George Bush’s Grandkids Created Unique Nicknames For Their Grandpa And Grandma George Jr.'s tribute Former President George W. Bush said Wednesday that his mother, Barbara Bush, didn’t fear death because she believed in an afterlife and that she would be “wonderfully received in the arms of a loving God.” My dear mother has passed on at age 92. Laura, Barbara, Jenna, and I are sad, but our souls are settled because we know hers was. Barbara Bush was a fabulous First Lady and a woman unlike any other who brought levity, love, and literacy to millions. To us, she was so much more. Mom kept us on our toes and kept us laughing until the end. I’m a lucky man that Barbara Bush was my mother. Our family will miss her dearly, and we thank you all for your prayers and good wishes. A post shared by George W. Bush (@georgewbush) on Apr 17, 2018 at 6:34pm PDT Tributes rolled in from around the world, heralding the former First Lady as a warm woman of strength devoted to not only her family but to child and adult literacy programs. Bill and Hillary Clinton, Barack and Michelle Obama, and President Donald Trump and wife Melania also paid tribute to her on their social media accounts. First Lady Melania Trump will be attending Barbara’s funeral service. READ ALSO: No Magic: The Most Powerful Word Which Can Save Even The Briefest Marriage	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16341
__label__cc	0.582821	0.417179	Bittersweet Legacy is the dramatic story of the relationship between two generations of black and white southerners in Charlotte, North Carolina, from 1850 to 1910. Janette Greenwood describes the interactions between black and white business and professional people--the 'better classes,' as they called themselves. Her book paints a surprisingly complex portrait of race and class relations in the New South and demonstrates the impact of personal relationships, generational shifts, and the interplay of local, state, and national events in shaping the responses of black and white southerners to each other and the world around them. Greenwood argues that concepts of race and class changed significantly in the late nineteenth century. Documenting the rise of interracial social reform movements in the 1880s, she suggests that the 'better classes' briefly created an alternative vision of race relations. The disintegration of the alliance as a result of New South politics and a generational shift in leadership left a bittersweet legacy for Charlotte that would weigh heavily on its citizens well into the twentieth century. Bittersweet Legacy The Black and White 'Better Classes' in Charlotte, 1850-1910 Janette Thomas Greenwood	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16342
__label__cc	0.727025	0.272975	Until recently, Trump got health care right The recent Republican debacle on health care could prove to be an opportunity. It highlighted, yet again, the complexity of the U.S. system, which continues to be by far the most expensive and inefficient in the advanced world. But President Trump could actually use the legislative collapse to fix health care if he went back to basics and to his core convictions on the topic, which are surprisingly intelligent and consistent. There is an understandable impulse on the right to assume that health care would work more efficiently if it were a free market, or a freer market. This is true for most goods and services. But in 1963, economist Kenneth Arrow, who later won a Nobel Prize, offered an explanation as to why markets would not work well in this area. He argued that there was a huge mismatch of power and information between the buyer and the seller. If a salesman tells you to buy a particular television, you can easily choose another or just walk away. If a doctor insists that you need a medication or a procedure, you are far less likely to reject the advice. And, Arrow pointed out, people think they don’t need health care until they get sick, and then they need lots of it. Every advanced economy in the world has implicitly acknowledged his argument because they have all adopted some version of a state-directed system for health care. Consider the 16 countries that rank higher than the United States on the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom. All except Singapore (which has a unique state-driven approach) have universal health-care systems that can be described as single-payer (Medicare for all), government-run (the British model) or Obamacare-plus (private insurance with a real mandate that everyone opt in). Hong Kong, often considered the most unregulated market in the world, has a British-style government-run system. Switzerland, one of the most business-friendly countries, had a private insurance system just like the United States’ but found that, to make it work, it had to introduce a mandate. While producing a CNN documentary on health-care systems around the globe, I was particularly struck by the experience of Taiwan, another free-market haven. In 1995, 41 percent of its population was uninsured and the country had very poor health outcomes. The government decided to canvass the world for the best ideas before instituting a new framework. It chose Medicare for all, a single government payer, with multiple private providers. The results are astonishing. Taiwan has achieved some of the best outcomes in the world while paying only 7 percent of its gross domestic product on health care (compared with 18 percent in the United States). I asked William Hsiao, an economist who helped devise the country’s model, what lessons they took, if any, from the United States. “You can learn what not to do from the United States rather than learn what to do,” he replied. Americans often assume that despite its costs, American health care provides better services than others. We often hear about the waiting time for care in other countries. But according to the Commonwealth Fund, among industrialized countries the United States is in the middle of the pack for wait times, behind even Britain. Moreover, one of the world’s leading experts, Uwe Reinhardt of Princeton, has found that Americans use less care than the average for developed countries when it comes to things such as seeing a doctor and spending time in the hospital. The problem with the free market is that there is little profit in prevention and lots in crisis care. Trump has now taken up the call to repeal Obamacare. But until recently, health care was actually one of the rare issues on which he had spoken out, before his campaign, with remarkable consistency. In his 2000 book “The America We Deserve,” he wrote: “I’m a conservative on most issues but a liberal on this one. We should not hear so many stories of families ruined by healthcare expenses. . . . We must have universal healthcare. . . . The Canadian plan . . . helps Canadians live longer and healthier than Americans. There are fewer medical lawsuits, less loss of labor to sickness, and lower costs to companies paying for the medical care of their employees. . . . We need, as a nation, to reexamine the single-payer plan, as many individual states are doing.” Trump was right on this issue for much of his life. He has now caved to special interests and an ideology unmoored by facts. He could simply return to his convictions, reach out to Democrats and help the United States solve its health-care crisis. (c) 2017, Washington Post Writers Group Washington PostFareed Zakaria March 30, 2017 Donald Trump, Health care, health insurance, Taiwan One missile strike is not a strategy Washington PostFareed Zakaria April 7, 2017 Bashar al-Assad, Donald Trump, ISIS, Middle East, military, refugees, Syria Trump prepares to pass the world leadership baton to China Washington PostFareed Zakaria March 16, 2017 China, Donald Trump, Education, Science, soft power, State Department, trade, Trans-Pacific Partnership, United Nations	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16350
__label__cc	0.616251	0.383749	Police: Pakistani man kills HIV positive wife in south KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s police say they have arrested a man who killed his HIV-positive wife and hung her body from a tree in southern Sindh province, where hundreds of people have tested positive for the virus. Wednesday’s incident took place in the town of Sikarpur, 75 kilometers (45 miles) northeast of Larkana district, which has been struck by an HIV epidemic. The outbreak was detected in March when increasing numbers of people began coming to a hospital. Local police chief Sajid Siddozai says the woman tested positive for HIV recently and her husband suspected she had sex with some other person. Police recently arrested a doctor to determine whether he intentionally spread the disease in Larkana, where authorities registered over 23,000 HIV cases in 2017.	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16353
__label__cc	0.540804	0.459196	Discrimination: Time to educate the educated Fri 13th Jan 2012, 13.49 What lessons should teachers and managers in education and training learn from one of the most appalling race murders in recent British history? What gains can we salvage from an incident that – in just a few moments of senseless and stupid bigotry – shocked a nation, destroyed a life, tore a family apart and led to an entire police force being labelled “institutionally racist”? Sir William Macpherson, who conducted the Inquiry into the death of Stephen Lawrence on 22 April 1993, spoke in his report of a “collective failure of an organisation to provide an appropriate and professional service to people because of their colour, culture, or ethnic origin. It can be seen or detected,” he said, “in processes, attitudes and behaviour which amount to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness and racist stereotyping which disadvantage minority ethnic people”. These words from the retired and distinguished High Court judge returned to dominate the headlines as the long-awaited guilty verdicts against Gary Dobson and David Norris for the stabbing of Lawrence at last brought a modicum of justice. However, such attitudes and behaviours are not unique to the Metropolitan Police; Macpherson’s call for radical reform of training, race awareness programmes and better minority recruitment and promotion methods apply to all of us. Fundamental education and training reforms were demanded in 70 far-reaching recommendations. The root causes of racism, he said, should be tackled by amending the national curriculum to ensure that it “aimed at valuing cultural diversity and preventing racism, in order better to reflect the needs of a diverse society”. This was no time for soul-searching but for action. Hence, the Black Leadership Initiative (BLI) was created in October 2002, as a government-funded pilot programme in response to recommendations from the Commission for Black Staff in Further Education (FE), itself launched in direct response to Macpherson’s plea. The Commission report showed the significant extent to which BME staff were under-represented at all levels in FE. Our actions and reform programmes have resulted in progress. In 1998, 14 per cent of students in FE colleges were from BME backgrounds, yet there was only one black principal (0.2 per cent) in over 450 colleges. Today, 22 per cent of students are from BME communities, and 16 (4.6 per cent) of 347 principals are BME, along with four per cent of senior managers and 7.4 per cent of other managers. Yes progress is being made, though there is clearly still some way to go. The BLI called for no favouritism, quota system, positive discrimination or any other special treatment. Rather, we set about educating the educated, taking the message directly to college principals and governors, while supporting the recruitment, retention and promotion of black staff into future leadership roles – offering a range of training and development opportunities along the way such as mentoring, coaching, work-shadowing and secondments to middle-management posts. The response of progressive principals and senior managers was rapid and deeply supportive, to the extent that one in five college principals and chairs of governors are now trained BLI mentors. And we have now gone into partnership with Teach First to extend this work throughout state schools, and begun working with higher education to bring teachers, experienced professionals and students together not only to discuss the impact ethnicity has on educational achievement and aspiration but to tackle the root causes of underachievement. This is important not just for the teachers but also for their students, the students’ families and the wider community because they are seen as pioneers, trendsetters and role models. The aspirations of young people are influenced by the adults they can identify with and if they see people like themselves in positions of influence and responsibility in education, commerce and the professions, they are more likely to believe that it is possible for them to achieve this too. We have race equality legislation but that in itself isn’t sufficient. It’s about people being willing and able to take hold of the culture of organisations and change things for the better. As we reach the 10th anniversary of the BLI we have to ask where we will be in ten years time. How do we keep up the momentum with diminishing funds in the current financial crisis? By Rajinder Mann The new head of the IfATE must address the quality assurance conundrum Let’s hope the new PM puts lifelong learning at the top of his to-do list Why are so many employers unhappy with how the IfATE is allocating funding bands? Technical pathways must be more visible for parents, teachers and decision-makers End of term report: people are waking up to the need to rebalance FE and HE Enhancing the debate: what we discussed at our first roundtable How we can get the talent pipeline flowing properly Clearing up misconceptions about the new inspection framework	cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line16354

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