pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 112
978k
| source
stringlengths 37
43
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__cc
| 0.554263
| 0.445737
|
Geo June 23, 2013 at 11:31 AM
I've heard a couple second-season tracks with an Italian sort of flavor ... one is a bit demure and slow-paced, and the other is more up-tempo and sounds like a synthesized harpsichord. Does "Italian Gadget" refer to the latter?
It's a tangential comment, but Levy really made the main theme work for him, so to speak -- look at how many cues are some variant of the melody, including a number that are themed for a specific country or locale (such as the one written for the Ireland episode). Few cartoons have such a sophisticated soundtrack, in diversity and quality of composition.
Suppose more of the tracks were to be unearthed (in usable quality). I'd be interested to know whether Renaud would consider following up this disc with additional CD releases, if the above scenario were to 'occur.'
Mesterius June 23, 2013 at 12:21 PM
The "uptempo", "synthesized harpsichord" composition you're describing does sound like "Italian Gadget". If you want to make sure we're talking about the same track, check out the season 2 episode "Gadget Meets the Clan" (ep 84). The track that starts playing at about 08:45, with the G.G.G. clan looking at Gadget from inside their car, is "Italian Gadget". (It was also used in "Gadget's Roma" and "Gadget and the Red Rose".)
I agree that Levy made fantastic use of the theme song melody, and that the soundtrack is very, very rich and diverse... and almost always catchy. :) Several hours of background music were probably produced, considering all the location-specific compositions and the inredible amount of variations on the main theme, as you mention.
I'm not sure, actually, if Télé 80 has the rights to release more Gadget CDs after this one. I might be wrong, but I believe the rights to Gadget is a holdover from their deal with Saban from last year, because their first Gadget CD from May 2012 only contained 12 tracks (they wanted to wait with releasing everything until they could get the music in better quality). Also, when I asked them on Facebook a few weeks ago if they would consider doing a remastered "Ulysses 31" CD with all the Levy/Saban music for that series, they replied that they unfortunately couldn't, since the rights to Saban's catalogue have changed and are now with a company called ZAG TOON (www.zagtoon.com). That's why I suspect that Télé 80 might only have the rights to do this one, upcoming CD with Gadget, considering they don't have the rights to the rest of Saban's music catalogue anymore. (Of course, the best place to ask about this is probably on Télé 80's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/Tele80).)
Mesterius June 23, 2013 at 2:19 PM
Curious, by the way... in which episodes can that other Italian-flavored composition you were talking about be heard (the "demure and slow-paced" one)?
Geo June 24, 2013 at 9:35 AM
As for "Italian Gadget," yes, that's the one I was thinking of. So that one's included, is it? That was one of the better tracks from the second season.
The other one I referred to can be found in multiple episodes, including in "...Red Rose," when Claw phones Les Renowned, and in "...The Clan," when Gadget is given the pineapple bomb. In hindsight, I suppose it doesn't have quite the Italian feel to it that the first cue does, but I didn't have a good description for it at the time.
Maybe this is an ignorant question, but does anyone from Télé 80 (such as whoever updates their Facebook page) speak English?
Yeah, I think "Italian Gadget" is one of the better season 2 compositions myself. :) I still remember it pretty clearly from the first time I watched "Gadget Meets the Clan", which is the episode where I felt it was best put to use (probably because it's one of the few season 2 episodes which I like). Anyway, it seems that Shuki Levy might have liked this piece himself, too, as this and "Brain The Dog" are the only background music tracks which were unique to the 1986 Australian LP (i. e. had not already been released on the 1983 French LP). And it was probably a given that one of Brain's themes would be included on the Australian edition, considering that the first three tracks on it were "Inspector Gadget Theme", "Brain The Dog" and "Penny's Theme". So "Italian Gadget" was the only new piece of background music on the Australian edition which wasn't a character-based theme... hinting that Levy and/or Saban (probably Levy) liked it enough to get it included.
Ah, right, I know which composition you meant now! Yeah, I don't specifically connect this piece with something Italian-sounding, though I'm not sure exactly how to describe it myself either. I do associate it with something specific, though: Episodes 84-86, centered around the "Old Bad Guys and Gals Retirement Home". If I remember correctly, the piece is only used in those episodes, so I'm guessing it was composed specifically for the 'retired villians' theme.
Yes, Télé 80 has at least replied to me in English many times on Facebook (I would have had a hard time communicating with them otherwise). It varies a little whether or not they reply, though. If I were you, I'd try writing to them in English and see what happens.
VERY interesting...
The instrumental "Brain the Dog" theme looks a bit interesting... I am willing to bet it may have been one of the music tracks used on the show based on his theme. There were a few; the one I remember the most is the one often used around the end of episodes, such as during the safety tip segments of "Gadget Goes West" and "Launch Time."
I think "Train Machine" was also a second-season composition. I don't remember hearing it in any first-season episodes.
IIRC, there seemed to be two sets of music on the show. The first set was music written for the pilot episode (both the Jesse White and Gary Owens versions have a small amount of their own exclusive music, but not by much.) The second set was music written for the first season once it was greenlit and entered production. In most cases, both sets were combined, but there were some episodes that seemed to only rely on the second set of music. Episodes I know that were like this are "All That Glitters," "Art Museum," "M.A.D. Trap," "Basic Training," "Sleeping Gas," "Gadget Goes West," "Launch Time," "The Coo-Coo Clock Caper," "A Clear Case" and "Eye of the Dragon." (Four of these episodes also had Don Francks as Dr. Claw, the others had Welker but without the reverb effect. Some of the sound effects were also in a bit lower-quality.) They did have a tendency to repeat some of the same cues over and over compared to the other episodes.
Then a third set came out with the third season, but with only a few music cues I believe. The second season combined all three sets whenever possible.
The only track I know aside from the American Inspector Gadget themes from the first set showing up here is "Gadget in Trouble." The other cues I believe come from the second set (then again, I didn't hear the "Arabian Desert"/"Pharaoh" cues on them, but they never did an episode in such a location!)
Too bad there are two versions of Penny's theme that are probably lost in a vault somewhere that I like; one has kind of a piano backing throughout along with French horn and flute leads, often when Penny is just snooping around, or talking with Brain. The second was a more fast-paced one with more synthesizers, often when Penny was wrapping things up (two good places to find it are near the end of "Gone Went the Wind" and "A Bad Altitude.")
I am also somewhat annoyed by the inclusion of Corporal Capeman on the insert, as I never really liked him either. He's very similar to that Simpsons episode that made fun of that very convention by adding Poochie! I can tell adding Capeman was most likely a shameless attempt to boost low ratings.
*Roy, the mysterious "cool" teen from that Simpsons episode, walks in saying "Yo yo! How's it hanging, everybody?" *
Like I said, "Brain The Dog" IS one of the background music themes for Brain, so obviously it's heard in the show. I'm not sure, though, if the background music compositions for each character were "based on" the specially arranged character themes from the soundtrack albums, as you say. Personally, I'm thinking it might actually have been the other way around... that Levy first composed the background music themes for the characters, the themes we hear in the TV series; and then later on, when Saban decided to do a French soundtrack album, he arranged soundtrack-exclusive versions of "Penny's Theme" (both instrumental and with French vocals), "Brain the dog - The song" (French vocals) and "Mad's Theme" (instrumental). This order of production makes more sense to me, especially when considering that a) several of the specially arranged themes had lyrics and b) Saban already had a habit of creating specially arranged character themes directly for their soundtrack albums (it had happened before with the French LP releases of Ulysses 31 and The Mysterious Cities of Gold).
And actually, I'm positive that "Train Machine" was composed for the first season. Think about it: It was released on the French LP in 1983, long before the second season was even considered (http://www.discogs.com/Shuki-Levy-Ha%C3%AFm-Saban-Inspecteur-Gadget-Bande-Originale-De-La-S%C3%A9rie-TV-FR3/release/1220987). I must admit that I can't remember it from any season 1 episodes myself at the moment, but as long as the French LP came out in 1983 - which it did according to every source I know - then "Train Machine" was definitely composed for season 1. (Maybe it just ended up not being used in any season 1 episodes for some reason?)
It is likely "Train Machine" was an unused Season 1 cue. I am guessing it may have also been meant for some silly scene (as it has synthesized belch-like sounds in it.)
Of course, the second season was also known for its strange music editing, having foreign-based pieces showing up in the wrong situations. I remember they seemed rather fond of using that "European festival" music from "The Coo-Coo Clock Caper," "Dutch Treat" and "Prince of the Gypsies" a lot in the second season, and I also remember them using "Gadget with the Incas" at one point in "The Capeman Cometh," and the Irish-themed cue from "Luck of the Irish" also showed up in "Tyrannosaurus Gadget."
Daniel June 27, 2013 at 3:12 PM
Hi, I love the Inspector Gadget soundtrack, so catchy and rhythmic always made her unique and fun rhythm and contribute much to the chapter, I would love that in this cd incorporate some of the most used songs in the series, especially this. ..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmqLGoYynzg
(appears in chapter 19:12 minutes)
I hope you finally get much of the soundtrack for Gadget with some of their songs most used in Series Chapters
That is one of my favorite music cues from the show too, but as I said, they are probably locked up in a vault somewhere that no one can find. If they could be unearthed, that'd be awesome!
Here's a project I did where I edited together one of my other favorite music cues from the series not in the soundtrack: this one was used a LOT in the first season...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsI-aFJLmws
I may try and do it with a few other cues too.
daniel cortes July 1, 2013 at 5:35 PM
wow! I love the work you have done to get this song in the series! I love this music is one of my favorites along with the above I mentioned.
Could not you do the same with the previous one?, Would be a good gift and I'd appreciate it a great thing! :)
is a great job you've done, it's a shame, is not available to the whole soundtrack but it gives me more pain than the author Shuky Levy not have it, I think I should upload his previous works and share it with her fans in a website like soundcloud
I await your responses!
yes!! I think this piece here surely ------ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU85snr_T4Y (19:09 minutes) the must have someone, and even some producer of a chapter or even SkukyLevy or Haim saban, is one of the most used pieces in the series, and one that I like!, I wish we could all find bits between different chapters in which this music sounds to make the complete song, it would be great!
Can anyone vouch for the quality of Tele 80 as a label? I've never heard of them and it looks like they only have a Facebook page. Is there any more about them on the internet (a search didn't pull up anything) or any other way to connect with them (I'm not on Facebook).
I'd like to know more about them before I get excited about this :)
Mesterius July 28, 2013 at 7:54 PM
I describe in detail in this post why I think there's reason to be excited for this CD. Some of Télé 80's releases from last year had very bad sound quality, but that's their previous distributor, XIII Bis Records, didn't want to spend any money on remastering the music. Whereas Télé 80's recent releases seem to be a big step up in quality: remastered music and much more attractive cover art. You can hear previews of their two most recent CDs (released this May) here - http://www.generikids.fr/#/tele-80-marie-dauphin/ - and here: http://www.generikids.fr/#/tele-80-mini-star/ Hopefully, the Gadget CD will sound as good as or better than this.
I caught that part and anticipate remastered sound as you've described it. Thank you. What I'm more curious about is the label itself and its reputation. I've never heard of them and, not being on Facebook, am curious as to where it will be available (if not from them direct) and how I can contact them if I have a question or problem.
Mesterius July 29, 2013 at 12:01 AM
All the Télé 80 CDs are available from Amazon.fr (which of course ships internationally), as well as from some other French web stores like FNAC. I really don't know of any way to contact Télé 80 except through Facebook. As for what I know of their reputation, I summed that up in my previous comment. Like I said, their two most recent CDs seem to be of much better quality than the XIII Bis releases from last year.
Hello! Does anyone know which website you can buy the cd, by wire transfer or other payment other than paypal or credit card?
I do not run without this cd
I hope you can help me
Mesterius August 10, 2013 at 2:08 AM
Wire transfer? That's really not a very common way of paying in web shops... Don't you have the possibility to use Paypal or credit card?
Could I ask, does anyone know what this CD is all about: http://www.discogs.com/Inspector-Gadget-Grabacion-Original-Exito-En-TV/release/4269295 I presume this is just a crude bootleg? I mean aside from the main theme and "Doctor Gang", other track titles (when translated) include stuff like "Love Is So Easy", "Paco The Centipede" and "Jolly Jumper" which I have never heard of before. Is this simply a case of someone renaming the tracks from the Australian release? :) Lee James
Mesterius February 7, 2014 at 4:04 AM
Hi again. The edition you're linking to is not a CD, but an LP, and it's actually not a bootleg at all. It has no connection to the Australian releases, either, even though the cover art has some interesting similarities (in my eyes, the Spanish cover looks a lot better than the Australian one).
In any case, this is in fact an officially licenced Inspector Gadget LP, put out by a small Spanish company named Horus. It's a very odd edition. The entire A-side of it is related to Inspector Gadget, but only two of the tracks are by Levy and Saban: Track 1, which is a Spanish-dubbed version of the theme song (an edited together mix of the opening theme and the end credits theme, with full-blown Spanish lyrics accompanying the English words "Go, Gadget, Go" and "Inspector Gadget") and Track 6, an instrumental theme version (in reality an extended, edited mix of the opening theme). The remixing and re-editing is pretty clumsy and obviously done by whoever put together the Spanish LP, rather than by Levy/Saban. As for the other tracks on the LP's A-side... as I said, they are related to Gadget, but made specially for the Spanish release by some local musicians. Most of these tracks have the Gadget characters singing about themselves or each other... it's quite absurd. Here's one song with Penny singing about her friend Brain, or in Spanish, "Mi amigo Sultan"... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2pnqCUp1rQ (I have to admit it's somewhat catchy.)
JH55000 October 8, 2014 at 12:01 AM
Hi, i was just wondering if the music from the middle part of doubled agent is on the soundtrack please. Sorry i don't know the name of the piece but in the episode it's when gadget leaves the farm and the agents go after him.
Mesterius October 8, 2014 at 12:18 AM
This music, right? Unfortunately, no... it wasn't included on any of the original soundtrack releases from the 80s, and as such, can't be found on Télé 80's CD either. I wish it was because this is actually one of my personal favorites from the entire soundtrack. :) I could listen to this piece all day. Another episode I remember it particularly well from is "Funny Money", both in the opening scene in the cafeteria and throughout the first half of the ep.
I'll still recommend the Télé 80 CD for the music it does include, though. If you want to know exactly which pieces are on it, I'd recommend to pre-listen to the tracks at Generikids.fr. You can find the link in the column to the right, under "Remastered Soundtrack CD With 30 Tracks Out Now" (where the link to my full review is also listed).
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717838
|
__label__cc
| 0.643062
| 0.356938
|
LITE-Africa is Calling YOU To ACT on the VPs!
SIGN ON at left to persuade the Nigerian Government
to sign on to the Voluntary Principles!1
The Niger Delta region is home to an estimated 20 million people with approximately 300 urban and rural communities and more than 40 different ethnic groups speaking 250 different languages. Since 1975, crude oil reserves in the Niger Delta has accounted for 90% of Nigeria‘s export earnings, yet it remains one of the most under-developed regions in Nigeria. The region has experienced many years of conflict due to years of neglect and poverty ravaging the people of the region, which is all directly linked to the extractive industry. Furthermore, the use of excessive force by private security operatives hired by the oil companies to deal with issues of vandalization, theft and militancy encouraged human rights violations and reduced the efficiency of corporate governance in the Niger Delta.
Unfortunately, the Nigerian government is still undecided on whether or not to sign on to the Voluntary Principles. There is thus the need to streamline the issues around the VPs with a view of achieving a national appreciation and understanding of the VPs on the one hand and encouraging the Nigerian government to take an informed position based on justifiable facts that the VPs will be beneficial to peace and stability in Nigeria.
This Call to Action will enable LITE-Africa and its coalition partners to get enough signatures to pressure the National Assembly to ACT.
Please SIGN at Left to show the National Assembly that the VPs need to be signed and implemented for peace and stability in the region.
What Are the VPs?
The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights (VPs) is a multi-stakeholders initiative involving governments, companies and international NGOs that promote the implementation of a set of principles that guide oil, gas and mining companies to provide security for their operations in a manner that respects human rights. For more information on the VPs, please visit: http://www.voluntaryprinciples.org/ or take a look at our basic reader HERE
For more information on this project, please click here
[1] An AusAID funded project implemented by the Leadership Initiative for Transformation and Empowerment (LITE-Africa) - A Call to Action: Engaging all Stakeholders on the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights
Why should the Nigerian Government Sign on to the VPs?
The implementation of the VPs is largely a failure in Nigeria with ongoing conflict between security forces and community members.
Here is a list of the benefits to the Nigerian Government signing on to VPs:
To Communities-
Risk assessments and security planning will be much more in touch with the realities on the ground and identify the root causes of conflict oImproved security officers and community relationship
Effective and efficient response to human rights abuses To Companies
Reduction in production delays, which could lead to improved profit margin oMaintenance of the ‘Social License to Operate’
Enhancement of Company reputation
Reduces vandalism of oil installations
To the Government-
Conducive environment for investment and economic growth Lasting peace and security in the communities Enhances professionalism of public security agencies
It will force companies to incorporate the VPs in their security and project agreements with the Nigerian Government; hence they will be held liable for human rights abuses
Sign ON at left!
What do you think about the VPs? Comment below!
WE URGE ALL CITIZENS TO SIGN ON TO LET THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT KNOW THAT IT IS HIGH TIME FOR THEM TO SIGN ON TO THE VOLUNTARY PRINCIPLES!!!
Programmes Menu
Conflict Abatement through Local Mitigation (CALM)
EU Inside Project
Conflict Management and Mitigation Regional Council
Mindset Change and Reorientation Programme for Youth Empowerment
Democracy On Human Rights Program
Strengthening Stakeholder Capacity for Peace through Dialogue on Oil Revenue Transparency in the GMoU Communities of Niger Delta
Strengthening Transparency and Accountability in the Niger Delta (STAND)
DESOPADEC Micro Credit Programme
Local Governance and Participatory Development in the Niger Delta States of Bayelsa and Rivers
Niger Delta Friendship Library
Pipeline Facility Surveillance Program (PFSP)
Training Workshop for Voter and Civic Education
The Kaduna Community Dialogue Programme
The Leadership Institute for Transformation and Empowerment – Africa (LITE-Africa)
AusAid A Call to Action - Voluntary Principles Project
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717839
|
__label__cc
| 0.686068
| 0.313932
|
Making & Missing Opportunities: Part-Time Higher Education in the East of England
Watts, Michael; Cullen, Jane and Mills, Roger (2006). Making & Missing Opportunities: Part-Time Higher Education in the East of England. Association of Universities in the East of England, Cambridge.
Full text available as:
PDF (Version of Record) - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
The research examines the extent to which undergraduate level part-time higher education contributes to economic and social development in the East of England. The regional economic strategy has called attention to the importance of higher education; but full-time study is simply not an option for the majority of people who did not, for whatever reason, progress to higher education from school and college. Part-time study, however, offers them the opportunity to engage with higher education whilst continuing to maintain the obligations of their family, social and working lives though it remains typically undervalued and under-resourced. The statistical study compares part-time and full-time study in the East of England and provides comparative analyses which establish that almost half of the total undergraduate population in the region and almost a third of those studying for a first degree are engaged in part-time study and that part-time students are far more likely to remain within the region on graduating than their full-time peers. Part time provision in the region is dominated by two institutions – the Open University and Anglia Ruskin University. This suggests that other institutions place less value and invest less in part-time study. These issues, and their complexities, are explored in greater detail through a series of narrative case studies illustrating the experiences of twelve part-time students from the region. These provide insight into the different reasons people have for studying part-time, the range of viable options available to them, the costs of part-time study and the factors that influence choice. Examples of part-time study in the private sector are also included in the report and we include an insight into the employers’ perspective of part-time study. The final sections address the ways in which individuals, institutions and industry can invest in part-time higher education and recommendations for realising its potential.
2006 The Authors
0-9547941-4-1, 978-0-9547941-4-9
Project Funding Details:
Funded Project Name
Not Set Not Set East of England Development Agency (EEDA)
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport > Education
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport
Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS)
Jane Cullen
http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/59498
Download history for this item
These details should be considered as only a guide to the number of downloads performed manually. Algorithmic methods have been applied in an attempt to remove automated downloads from the displayed statistics but no guarantee can be made as to the accuracy of the figures.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717843
|
__label__wiki
| 0.558367
| 0.558367
|
css3menu.com
Owasco Cemetery
Riddle/Morris/Carmack/Coffman/Morris
Riddle Family Tree
Morris Family Tree
Carmack Family Tree
Coffman Family Tree
Brandon Family Tree
Cleeton/Berry/Wood/Dillinger/Spray
Martha Cleeton Riddle Memoir
Cleeton Family Tree
Berry Family Tree
Dillinger Family Tree
Spray Family Tree
Owasco Maps
Meeks Murders
Born Fighting
I recently read “Born Fighting” by James Webb. If you have not read it, I highly recommend you do. I have a much better notion now of the migration patterns of the Scots-Irish as they left Ireland and Scotland and traveled to the United States in the 18th century, and the historical background he gives is a convincing explanation for how the Riddle family became who we are.
Following is the first page and a half of Part Four, Chapter 2, Pioneers and Radicals.
The Scots-Irish Presbyterians began trickling out of Ulster soon after the 1704 Test Acts came into force. In the next two decades a rather small assortment of families, typically traveling in “parcels” of 600 to 800 people, ventured across the Atlantic to test America ’s promise as well as its receptivity to their religion and their cultural ways. They traveled in tiny, crowded, disease-ridden two-masted ships that sailed from the ports of Londonderry, Belfast , Newry, Larne, and Portrush, taking on the average about two months to cross the treacherous Atlantic . In this first experimental wave of emigration the Ulster emigrants scattered their arrivals among the major ports of Boston , New York , Philadelphia , Annapolis , and Charleston , South Carolina .
But by the early 1720s, when the large-scale migrations from Northern Ireland began, the port of choice had become Philadelphia . Over the next five decades the overwhelming majority of Scots-Irish settlers entered the American colonies through either Philadelphia or the nearby cities of Chester, Pennsylvania, and New Castle, Delaware, which were just south of Philadelphia along the Delaware River. From these locations the Scots-Irish settlers first spread westward into the vicinity of Lancaster , Pennsylvania , and then later followed the mountain roads southward into Virginia, North and South Carolina , and points beyond.
From the early 1720s to the beginning of the American Revolution in 1775, there were four great surges of Scots-Irish migration. Each was brought about not only by events in Ireland, but also by a series of incidents and incentives in different American colonies that affected both the pace of their migration and the locations they chose for settlement. The first large migration, from 1720 to about 1730, brought them heavily to Pennsylvania . The second, concentrated in the years 1740 and 1741, drew them to the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and brought with them many of those who had already settled in Pennsylvania . The third, beginning in the mid-1750s, saw a heavy influx farther down the Appalachian and Allegheny Mountains into southwest Virginia and then into North and South Carolina . This influx included many Scottish highlanders – although they generally arrived in Wilmington, North Carolina, rather than in Philadelphia and settled in the Piedmont rather than in the mountains – as well as Scottish and English borderers, these three groups having been uprooted by political events that followed the Battle of Culloden in 1746. The final surge, in the years just before the beginning of the American Revolution in 1775, saw large numbers of new settlers from Northern Ireland move into the communities that had already been established, especially in southwest Virginia and the Carolinas.
By the time this migration was complete, as many as half million Scots-Irish immigrants and their American-born descendants were living in a cohesive geographic area in the mountainous areas of modern-day Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina. It has been estimated that as much as one-third of the entire Protestant population of Ireland left for America between the years 1731 and 1768 alone, and this ratio was much higher for the Scots-Irish since few Anglicans were leaving Ulster.
For technical problems or questions concerning the website operation, contact the WebMaster.
2010 Kevin Riddle. All rights reserved.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717845
|
__label__cc
| 0.515099
| 0.484901
|
The Planetary Mechanics Blog
Asteroids: Main Belt
Identifying an asteroid family
April 22, 2017 Benoît Noyelles 2 Comments
Hi there! Today’s post deals with an asteroid family, more precisely the Datura family. The related study is New members of Datura family, by A. Rosaev and E. Plávalová, it has recently been accepted for publication in Planetary and Space Science. The Datura family is a pretty recent one, with only 7 known members when that study started. The authors suggest that 3 other bodies are also members of this family.
Some elements of the dynamics of asteroids
Detailing the dynamics of asteroids would require more than a classical post, here I just aim at giving a few hints.
Asteroids can be found at almost any location in the Solar System, but the combination of the gravitational effects of the planets, of thermal effects, and of the formation of the Solar System, result in preferred locations. Most of the asteroids are in the Main Belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. And most of these bodies have semimajor axes between 2.1 and 3.2 astronomical units (AU), i.e. between 315 and 480 millions of km. Among these bodies can be found interesting dynamical phenomena, such as:
Mean motion resonances (MMR) with planets, especially Jupiter. These resonances can excite the eccentricities of the asteroids until ejecting them, creating gaps known as Kirkwood gaps. At these locations, there are much less asteroids than nearby.
Stable chaos. Basically, a chaotic dynamics means that you cannot predict the orbit at a given accuracy over more than a given timespan, because the orbit is too sensitive to uncertainties on its initial conditions, i.e. initial location and velocity of the asteroid. Sometimes chaos is associated with instability, and the asteroid is ejected. But not always. Stable chaos means that the asteroid is confined in a given zone. You cannot know accurately where the asteroid will be at a given time, but you know that it will be in this zone. Such a phenomenon can be due to the overlap of two mean-motion resonances (Chirikov’s criterion).
Anyway, when an asteroid will or will not be under the influence of such an effect, it will strongly be under the influence of the planets, especially the largest ones. This is why it is more significant to describe their dynamics with proper elements.
Usually, an elliptical orbit is described with orbital elements, which are the semimajor axis a, the eccentricity e, the ascending node Ω, the pericentre ω, the inclination I, and the mean longitude λ. Other quantities can be used, like the mean motion n, which is the orbital frequency.
Because of the large influence of the major planets, these elements present quasiperiodic variations, i.e. sums of periodic (sinusoidal) oscillations. Since it is more significant to give one number, the oscillations which are due to the gravitational perturbers are removed, yielding mean elements, called proper elements. These proper elements are convenient to characterize the dynamics of asteroids.
Asteroid families
Most of the asteroids are thought to result from the disruption (for instance because of a collision) of a pretty large body. The ejecta resulting from this disruption form a family, they share common properties, regarding their orbital dynamics and their composition. A way to guess the membership of an asteroid to a family is to compare its proper elements with others’. This guess can then be enforced by numerical simulations of the orbital motion of these bodies over the ages.
Usually a family is named from its largest member. In 2015, 122 confirmed families and 19 candidates were identified (source: Nesvorný et al. in Asteroids IV, The University of Arizona Press, 2015). Many of these families are very old, i.e. more than 1 Gyr, which complicates their identification in the sense that their orbital elements are more likely to have scattered.
The Datura family is thought to be very young, i.e. some 500 kyr old.
A funny memory: in 2005 David Nesvorný received the Urey Prize of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. This prize was given to him at the annual meeting of the Division, that year in Cambridge, UK. He then gave a lecture on the asteroid families, and presented the “Nesvorný family”, i.e. his father, his wife, and so on.
Datura’s facts
The asteroid (1270) Datura has been discovered in 1930. It orbits the Sun in 3.34 years, and has a semimajor axis of 2.23 AU. As such, it is a member of the inner Main Belt. Its orbit is highly elongated, between 1.77 and 2.70 AU, with an orbital eccentricity of 0.209. It rotates very fast, i.e. in 3.4 hours. Its diameter is about 8.2 km.
It is an S-type asteroid, i.e. it is mainly composed of iron- and magnesium-silicates.
This study
After having identified 10 potential family members from their proper elements, the authors ran backward numerical simulations of them, cloning each asteroid 10 times to account for the uncertainties on their locations. The simulations were ran over 800 kyr, the family being supposed to be younger than that. The simulations first included the 8 planets of the Solar System, and Pluto. The numerical tool is a famous code, Mercury, by John Chambers.
The 10 asteroids identified by the authors include the 7 already known ones, and 3 new ones: (338309) 2002 VR17, 2002 RH291, and 2014 OE206. These are all sub-kilometric bodies. The authors point out that these bodies share a linear correlation between their node and their pericentre.
This study also shows that 2014 OE206 has a chaotic resonant orbit, because of the proximity of the 9:16 MMR with Mars. This resonance also affects 2001 VN36, but this was known before (Nesvorný et al., 2006). The authors also find that this chaotic dynamics can be significantly enhanced by the gravitational perturbations of Ceres and Vesta. Finally, they say that close encounters might happen between (1270) Datura and two of its members: 2003 SQ168 and 2001 VN36.
Another study
Now, to be honest, I must mention another study, The young Datura asteroid family: Spins, shapes, and population estimate, by David Vokrouhlický et al., which was published in Astronomy and Astrophysics in February 2017. That study goes further, in considering the 3 new family members found by Rosaev and Plávalová, and in including other ones, updating the Datura family to 17 members.
This seems to be a kind of anachronism: how could a study be followed by another one, which is published before? In fact, Rosaev and Plávalová announced their results during a conference in 2015, this is why they could be cited by Vokrouhlický et al. Of course, their study should have been published earlier. Those things happen. I do not know the specific case of this study, but sometimes this can be due to a delayed reviewing process, another possibility could be that the authors did not manage to finish the paper earlier… Something that can be noticed is that the study by Vokrouhlický is signed by a team of 13 authors, which is expected to be more efficient than a team of two. But the very truth is that I do not know why they published before. This is anyway awkward.
A perspective
I notice something which could reveal a rich dynamics: the authors show (their Figure 7) a periodic variation of the distance between (1270) Datura and 2003 SQ168, from almost zero to about twice the semimajor axis… This suggests me a horseshoe orbit, i.e. a 1:1 mean-motion resonance, the two bodies sharing the same orbit, but with large variations of their distance. If you look at the orbit of the smallest of these two bodies (here 2003 SQ168) in a reference frame which moves with (1270) Datura, you would see a horseshoe-shaped trajectory. To the best of my knowledge, such a configuration has been detected in the satellites of Saturn between Janus and Epimetheus, suggested for exoplanetary systems, maybe detected between a planet and an asteroid, but never between two asteroids…
By the way, 2003 SQ168 is the asteroid, which has the closest semimajor axis to the one of (1270) Datura, in Rosaev and Plávalová’s paper. Now, when I look at Vokrouhlický et al.’s paper, I see that 2013 ST71 has an even closer semimajor axis. I am then tempted to speculate that these two very small bodies are coorbital to (1270) Datura. Maybe a young family favors such a configuration, which would become unstable over millions of years… Speculation, not fact.
This is actually not an horsehoe orbit. The large variation of the distance is due to the fact that 2003 SQ168 is on a orbit, which is close to the one of (1270) Datura, with a slightly different orbital frequency. Regarding 2013 ST71, a numerical simulation by myself suggests the possibility of a temporary (i.e. unstable) capture in a 1:1 MMR.
The study, made freely available by the authors on arXiv, thanks to them for sharing! You can also find a preliminary communication here.
The study by Vokrouhlický et al.
The profile of Alexey Rosaev on ResearchGate.
The profile of Eva Plávalová on ResearchGate.
The asteroid families, compiled by David Nesvorný.
The numerical code Mercury.
That’s all for today! Please do not forget to comment. You can also subscribe to the RSS feed, and follow me on Twitter.
chaosFamiliesnumerical methods
Previous PostThe activity of the comet C/2015 ER61Next PostThe contraction of Mercury
2 thoughts on “Identifying an asteroid family”
Pingback: Chaotic dynamics of asteroids | The Planetary Mechanics Blog
Warez says:
Thermal effects affect the rotation of asteroids
Ellipsoids in the Universe
The origin of our Nitrogen
Pluto-Charon is dynamically packed
The rotation of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
New results in planetary sciences in 1,000 words
Asteroids: Centaurs
Asteroids: Extreme Trans-Neptunian Objects
Asteroids: Near-Earth Objects
Asteroids: Trans-Neptunian Objects
Asteroids: Trojans
Interstellar objects
Mean-motion resonances
Rings of Uranus
Satellites of Jupiter
Satellites of Neptune
Satellites of Saturn
Satellites of Uranus
Theoretical celestial mechanics
Zodiacal dust
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717847
|
__label__cc
| 0.731751
| 0.268249
|
Teacher encouragement 'gives pupils long-term boost'
Encouragement from teachers is key to keeping pupils engaged with education after the age of 16, suggests a study of more than 4,000 students in England.
Middle-ability students and those whose parents lack qualifications benefit most from positive feedback, according to the Cambridge University research.
The students were tracked for seven years from the age of 13 onwards.
This is the first study of its kind to quantify the effect of encouragement on pupils, says the university.
"When people speak of a positive school experience, they frequently cite a personal relationship with a teacher and the encouragement they were given," said report author Dr Ben Alcott.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717848
|
__label__wiki
| 0.715757
| 0.715757
|
Pippa Hale
Ripon Workhouse Museum
Installation with filmed performance
Photograph: Jules Lister
Consumption is a site specific installation for Ripon Workhouse Museum addressing issues around wellbeing in older people.
Working with the museum’s team of volunteers, Consumption shows the volunteers preparing and eating a standard meal served to inmates in 1861. The volunteers sit in rows, segregated by sex as they would have been in 1861, eating meat and potato pie made using traditional ingredients and cooking techniques. However, the event was not a re-enactment and volunteers are dressed in their everyday clothes thus confusing timelines and our perceptions of history.
The event and final installation took place in the Kitchen and Dining Room of the main workhouse.
The work provides a snapshot of life at the Workhouse today that resonates with its past: the current team of volunteers, which is predominantly made up of older people echoes the past when nearly half of inmates were over the age of 70. Similarly today, older people play a vital role in the life of the workhouse where they come together to socialise and support the daily operation of the museum.
The title of the work, Consumption, refers to the old term for the wasting away of the body. How do we feed our bodies as we get older, not just in terms of nutrition, but mentally and emotionally? In an ageing population, loneliness is a major challenge as families are dispersed or busy, leaving nearly a quarter of the UK population over 60 citing TV or pets as their main form of company and have a direct impact their physical and mental wellbeing.
In this work, the artist seeks to draw parallels between these communities of older people involved in the workhouse both in the past and the present and the questions they raise about wellbeing in later life.
www.riponmuseums.co.uk
Read about the making of Consumption.
Photograph: Richard Doughty
© Pippa Hale
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717851
|
__label__wiki
| 0.754159
| 0.754159
|
In 1987, five young men, using brutally honest rhymes and hardcore beats, put their frustration and anger about life in the most dangerous place in America into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Taking us back to where it all began, Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels—armed only with their lyrics, swagger, bravado and raw talent—stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group, N.W.A. And as they spoke the truth that no one had before and exposed life in the hood, their voice ignited a social revolution that is still reverberating today.
Director: F. Gary Gray
Actors: Aldis Hodge, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Marlon Yates Jr., Neil Brown Jr., O'Shea Jackson Jr., R. Marcos Taylor
A man attempts to make a new start in Atlantic City with the help of his daughter and a new business partner.
I Love You, Daddy
When a successful television writer’s daughter becomes the interest of an aging filmmaker with an appalling past, he becomes worried about how to handle the situation.
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
Free-spirited writer Juliet Ashton forms a life-changing bond with the delightful and eccentric Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, when she decides to write about the book club they…
Country: France, UK, USA
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Most Beautiful Island
Most Beautiful Island is a chilling portrait of an undocumented young woman’s struggle for survival as she finds redemption from a tortured past in a dangerous game.
Tiger House
A young gymnast battles a group of bank robbers at the home of her boyfriend.
Country: South Africa, UK
A practicing Sikh is banned by the boxing commission for refusing to back down from his religious beliefs. Through racial profiling and stereotypical threats, he does what any strong American…
Annie is stuck in a long-term relationship with Duncan – an obsessive fan of obscure rocker Tucker Crowe. When the acoustic demo of Tucker’s hit record from 25 years ago…
From Straight A’s to XXX
When a change of circumstances leaves Miriam unable to pay her college tuition, she makes a surprising decision: to start performing in adult films, using the pseudonym Belle Knox. Miriam…
First Match
Hardened by years in foster care, a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood decides that wrestling boys is the only way back to her estranged father.
After an alien ship crash lands in a Russian city, many who see the inside and the occupants start to question their own existence while others demand the aliens leave…
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance, Science Fiction
No. 1 Chung Ying Street
Four young lives were changed forever when they become involved in the 1967 Hong Kong Leftist Riot; half a century later, another four face similar challenges amidst the Mainland-Hong Kong…
Country: Hong Kong
Trailer: Straight Outta Compton
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717855
|
__label__cc
| 0.72088
| 0.27912
|
© Bizu Tesfaye
David Reich
DAVID REICH, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, is one of the world’s leading pioneers in analyzing ancient human DNA. In a 2015 article in Nature, he was named one of ten people who matter in all of the sciences for his contribution to transforming ancient DNA data "from niche pursuit to industrial process." Awards he has received include the Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Dan David Prize in the Archaeological and Natural Sciences for his computational discovery of intermixing between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
Who We Are and How We Got Here
Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past
Adult Children's
New York Times Bestsellers from Penguin Random House – May 13, 2018
Here are the new Penguin Random House and distribution client entries on the New York Times Bestseller list for the week of October 1, 2017.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717857
|
__label__cc
| 0.655453
| 0.344547
|
Pebble Beach Auctions 2013: Lamborghini Urraco and Jarama
Urraco and Jarama: Italian for 20 cylinders of headaches.
By David Traver Adolphus
For years, I've been putting the Lamboghini Urraco and Jarama on "Budget Supercar" and "Forgotten Exotics" lists, but I've always conveniently left out the fact that even if you were the kind of masochist to buy a lesser-known Lamborghini, your biggest problem in the first place would be actually finding one.
The two cars have a lot in common: They were introduced within a year of each other in the early 1970s and have recognizably similar flying-wedge styling by Marcello Gandini. They served different purposes, though, and a 350-hp V12 was Lamborghini's big GT, a replacement for the Islero. The Jarama cost around $23,000, about four times more than a V12 Jaguar E-type. The Urraco was a Ferrari Dino fighter. The V8 in this top-spec version made 265 hp, and it sold for about the same, which was dead on with its Dino competition and not much more than the then-new V12 XJ-S.
Lamborghini built many more Urracos than Jaramas, but due to decades of low values and high costs, they've mostly evaporated—it's hard to justify pouring repair money into a car that isn't worth much. Look at those specs, though, you realize that someday, the same rarity, combined with performance and the Lamborghini name, would inevitably start to raise prices. As RM Auctions consignments, both of these models will go up for sale without reserve in Monterey this weekend. RM estimates the Urraco will sell for $60,000–$80,000 and the Jarama, which is one of six built with really cool double glass roof panels, for $115,000–$130,000.
Unlike the seven- and eight-figure cars offered in Monterey, there's little chance these are going to end up in a museum. I'm really hoping they go to the same person—someone who will commute to work in the Urraco and drive the Jarama to the grocery store on the weekends. They're cars only an enthusiast will appreciate, in all their bizarre, heartbreaking Italian magnificence. Stop and lend a hand when you see the hood open on the side of the road.
Pebble Beach Auctions 2013: A $27.5 million car and some other stuff
1976 Lamborghini Urraco P300
1972 Lamborghini Jarama 400 GT
World Record Breaking $11 Million Paid for GT40 Gulf/Mirage – 2012 Monterey Auctions
Lee Iacocca’s Ferrari F40 – Auctions
RM ’s Flagship Auction Brings Another Epic Collection – London 2012
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717860
|
__label__cc
| 0.67549
| 0.32451
|
Wednesday 28th September 2016
Leading change is one of the greatest challenges facing any business leader. In this final article in the series ‘Leading Change in a post-Brexit World’, Stewart Barnes, Managing Director of QuoLux, considers some of the ingredients for long-term success in a changing world.
“It’s often said that change is the only constant,” says Barnes. “While Brexit presents particular challenges – not least because of the uncertainty of a process and outcomes that are yet to be determined – it’s an attitude and capability to change that will determine the long-term success of every business post-Brexit.”
Barnes believes it is each business leader’s responsibility to equip themselves – and their organisation – to move through the Change Curve (see /campaigns/brexit). But that’s not a responsibility to bear in isolation.
“Playing the long game is not a solo enterprise; it demands a high performing team and it is strong leadership that will orchestrate the best team performance.
“None of us are born with all the answers, but we can learn to be better leaders. In fact, research shows us that as much as 75% of leadership is learnt, and that’s certainly the experience of more than 100 Gloucestershire owner-managers who have been through the LEAD programme. Those who aspire to long-standing achievement know that ‘big ideas’ and entrepreneurship are just part of the equation.
“Holding true to your vision, building an effective top team, creating strong employee engagement to drive productivity, and establishing the culture and systems for continuous improvement, these are some of the ingredients that we see in businesses with enduring success.”
Barnes’ draws the conclusion that the impending shift in our EU status and the ‘disruption’ of change serves to focus our minds on a universal business truth; the imperative for every organisation to be ready to adapt in order to survive and thrive in the long term.
“Next week, as we approach 100 days since the public’s vote to leave the EU, we’ll also be celebrating some of Gloucestershire’s most successful businesses. Long-standing firms, those demonstrating true innovation, exemplars in staff engagement, and individuals whose achievements over many years have contributed significantly to our local economy.
“Excellent business practice, highly effective leadership, and our ability to reflect, analyse, act and learn from our own experiences – and those of others – that’s what will not only help us ride the waves of change in the next couple of years, but for every unknown change yet to come.”
QuoLux sponsors the Lifetime Achievement category in the Gloucestershire Echo and Gloucester Citizen Business Awards. This award recognises those who have made a considerable, profitable and lasting contribution to business in Gloucestershire over a period of at least 20 years. Those honoured in previous years are Sir David McMurty and John Deer, founders of Renishaw, and Julian Dunkerton creator of Supergroup. This year’s accolade will be announced at the ceremony on 6 October.
Power of Branding
Wednesday 21st September 2016
Some of the country’s leading brands are produced here in the county and one particular firm is acquiring more brands to accelerate growth in both home and international markets. G R Lane Health Products (LanesHealth) based in Gloucester was formed in 1930 and is now a third generation family[...]
The productivity imperative
Productivity has been described by the Treasury as ‘the challenge of our time’. This was true pre-Brexit and its importance seems unlikely to diminish in the changing landscape. In this the penultimate article in the series Leading Change in a post-Brexit world, Stewart Barnes, Managing[...]
Helicopter vs Microscope
Wednesday 7th September 2016
The role of business leader requires great dexterity, juggling the strategic intent of long-term success with the immediate pressures of today’s priorities. Throw in a seismic shift in the landscape we inhabit and the process of leading change may make the juggling more challenging, observes[...]
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717861
|
__label__wiki
| 0.731654
| 0.731654
|
Loud Luxury & Bryce Vine's "I'm Not Alright" Screams Summer Hit
Shamanic Technology & Dusko Form Chill Full-Length Album with “Artifacts”
February 2, 2019 By Chad Downs
The UK’s Omni Temple label head Shamanic Technology recently united with talented sound designer and producer, Dusko to release the full-length album Artifacts. The release is chock full of hybrid drum and bass, glitch hop, future garage flavors, and melodic soundscapes and is comprised of seventeen tracks. With just under an hour of playtime, Artifacts intrigues listeners with experimental cross-genre arrangements, solid amounts of filthy bass, and laid-back vibes.
Christian Hare, the brains behind the Shamanic Technology operation, has developed a reputation for his ability to produce within a wide array of genres. Since the release of Shadow Work, his first major double album, Hare has performed all over the world in China, The United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Ukraine, France, Amsterdam, Canada, USA, Costa Rica, Scotland, Israel, and Thailand for the likes of The Lords of Lightning Tesla Coil Show, The Glade Festival, Secret Garden Party, Digital Whomp, Astral Harvest, Bushwhacked, SXSW, and countless others.
Daniel Cowart, aka Dusko, emerged from his east-side studio in Vancouver, Canada and is best known for his unique and fresh approach to producing bass music. With releases on Shamanic Technology’s Omni Temple, the artist made considerable waves last year. Following his display as a competent sound designer on Artifacts, Dusko is sure to see an increase in the growth of his brand.
Connect with Shamanic Technology:
https://www.facebook.com/shamanictechnology
https://twitter.com/Shamanictech
https://soundcloud.com/shamanic-technology
https://www.instagram.com/shamanic_technology
Connect with Dusko:
https://www.facebook.com/Duskosound
https://twitter.com/duskosound
https://soundcloud.com/duskosound
https://www.instagram.com/duskosound
ArtifactsduskoShamanic Technology
Chill EDM Tracks Latest Posts Music
Chad Downs
Music is everything. Follow me on Soundcloud @ChadWRR and Twitter @Chad_Downs
Napoleon Gold Puts His Future Spin on Lido's "3 Million"
Robotaki Gears Up For Forthcoming EP ‘Anachronism’ with New Release 'All I Can Do'
Loud Luxury & Bryce Vine's "I'm Not Alright" Screams Summer HitJuly 18, 2019
Belgium artist Napolean Gold is here to showcase his latest release and it's one unique flip that will leave a notable mark...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717862
|
__label__wiki
| 0.986771
| 0.986771
|
Time and Place of HIV arrival
Thread: Time and Place of HIV arrival
Last week there was a discussion about HIV on the forums, so I thought I would post this latest bit of news out of todays Washington Post:
Scientists Track Time and Place of HIV's Arrival
By Rob Stein
Monday, November 5, 2007; A10
In the decades since young gay men in the United States started dying from a mysterious syndrome in the 1980s, scientists have wondered how and when the AIDS virus arrived. Many scenarios have been proposed, including one early but now-discounted theory that the disease was imported by a promiscuous Canadian flight attendant dubbed "patient zero."
Now, however, scientists reconstructing the genetic evolution of the deadly virus say they have traced its true path -- concluding the insidious pathogen used Haiti as a steppingstone from Africa to the United States and arrived much earlier than had been thought. It then simmered silently here for more than a decade before it was detected, beginning its global spread along the way.
"This is the first time that we've been able to bring together the geographical picture with the timing picture to show with a pretty high degree of certainty where the virus went from Africa, and when," said Michael Worobey, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Arizona in Tucson, who led the research.
Others praised the detailed genetic analysis of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from around the world as an impressive bit of biomedical sleuthing.
"For those of us who have been interested in HIV evolution and the origins of the virus, this is very interesting," said Beatrice H. Hahn, a professor of medicine at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. "It's a very nice piece of work."
In addition to writing a key chapter in the history of the AIDS pandemic, the new insights into the genetic variability of the virus could aid the long-frustrated efforts to develop an effective vaccine.
"What this might tell us is how the virus might evolve molecularly," said Anthony S. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "That might have an impact on the virus that you put in your vaccines. So this not only has historical value but practical implications for vaccine design."
The new work fills in the latest piece of the puzzle of the origins of the AIDS pandemic. Hahn and her colleagues had previously established that HIV originally jumped from chimpanzees to humans, possibly when hunters in Africa butchered animals infected with a version of the virus. In 2000, Bette Korber of Los Alamos National Laboratory and her colleagues found that the virus began to proliferate in Africans around 1930.
But the exact route the virus took as it crept out of Africa before exploding in other parts of the world has been the subject of intense debate and speculation.
"We know that the virus has a deep history in Africa," Worobey said. "I wanted to find out how it emerged from Africa and became the pandemic that we know today."
Worobey started by retrieving six blood samples from cold storage at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Arthur E. Pitchenik of the University of Miami had collected them in 1982 and 1983 from Haitian immigrants who had died from a mysterious syndrome, later determined to be AIDS.
"We now know that these are samples from several of the earliest Haitian AIDS patients in the United States," Worobey said.
In the laboratory, his team extracted HIV from five of the samples and analyzed the viral genes. The researchers then compared their findings to molecular sequences stored at Los Alamos of 117 samples of the strain of HIV that is primarily responsible for the global spread of the pandemic outside of Africa. (Other strains, however, account for a far more AIDS cases worldwide today.) The researchers used specimens from 19 countries, including the United States, Canada, Haiti and several in Europe, Latin America and parts of Asia, focusing on the diversity of mutations in two key genes.
"Wherever the virus has been circulating the longest, you expect to see the most diversity, because the virus accumulates mutations over time. The longer the virus has been in a place, the more changes you'll see," Worobey said.
Based on the analysis, the researchers reported last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that there is a 99.8 percent certainty that the virus moved first from Africa to Haiti and then leapt to the United States.
Because the mutations accumulate at a predictable rate, the researchers were able to use them as a kind of molecular clock to calculate when the virus arrived in each location. The results indicated that it appeared in Haiti in about 1966 and the United States in about 1969, before traveling to Europe, Canada, Latin America, Australia, Japan and other parts of the world.
"That doesn't mean the virus traveled directly from the U.S. independently to each of those other countries," Worobey said. "It might have gone from the U.S. to Germany and Germany to Estonia and so forth. But once it got into the U.S. population, Americans traveling to other countries and people traveling to America allowed it to flow to other countries. The United States probably served as a worldwide hub for this spread."
The virus may have made its initial jump from Africa to Haiti after the Democratic Republic of Congo won its independence in 1960 and many Haitians sought work there, Worobey speculated.
"There were a lot of Haitian teachers in the Congo. One of those workers may have brought the ancestral subtype B virus back to Haiti. We can't prove that, but it seems plausible. The timing is consistent," he said.
It is unlikely that anyone will be able to identify the individual who first brought the virus to Haiti or the person who took it to the United States, Worobey said.
"Whoever that person was, they had no idea they were carrying the virus, and the person they transmitted it to had no idea," Worobey said. "The chances we'll ever locate a sample from that individual is almost zero."
The findings have raised concern in the U.S. Haitian community that the results could reignite prejudices, but Worobey and others cautioned against assigning blame.
"The idea of blaming groups afflicted by AIDS should be something for the past," Worobey said.
In retrospect, the discovery that HIV arrived in the United States much earlier than anyone knew is not surprising, Worobey and others said. It takes as many as 10 years after infection for most people to get sick, which would have allowed the virus to spread before health authorities became aware of it.
"There likely were individual cases here and there that simply went unnoticed," Fauci said. "You could have had a case in New York and one in Los Angeles or someplace else. Unless you have someone very astute noticing and saying, 'Wow this is unusual' for some reason, no one would realize until they started to see those first clusters."
Quick Navigation Science, Medicine, & Technology Top
aspiring writers and poets
By bilby in forum Life
WHY ME GOD?
By chris_9_12_34 in forum Life
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717870
|
__label__cc
| 0.585667
| 0.414333
|
Director and founder, Studio INTO
Joanna Brassett is the director and a founder of Studio INTO, a research, design and innovation consultancy. Joanna combines the world of creativity, business and social science. At Studio INTO she translates cultural insights into innovation opportunities and business strategies, developing co-creation and creative workshops, based on profound, human-centric research. She manages cultural research and innovation projects for brands such as P&G, LEGO, Nike, Policy Lab/Cabinet Office, MaxiCosi, Uber and McDonalds.
After graduating with BA Hons. Product Design from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design she worked as a designer at Tin Horse Design Ltd., where she was articulating brand values through 3D packaging. Joanna then studied for an MSc in Culture and Society at London School of Economics, which encompassed social science disciplines such as sociology, anthropology and social psychology. With a specialisation in in-depth consumer research, and cultural and social trend analysis, she joined the design and innovation consultancy Seymourpowell as a Senior Design Researcher and Strategist in their Foresight team. In 2011 she founded Studio INTO.
Joanna has been talking at TEDx, and also has been lecturing at Central Saint Martins as Associate Lecturer, at London School of Economics on the Entrepreneurship Programme and is Visiting Professor at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Department of Design, Dessau, Germany.
Case study speaker & masterclass leader
'Driving value in innovation: the interaction between local knowledge and global context'
For global brands the time with a 'one size fits all' strategy lies far behind. But how to find the balance between cultural and commercial value? In their talk Joanna and Saswati,UX Research Manager for International Growth at Uber, explore the ways in which local and global cultures impact one another and the daily lives of Uber’s customers. Their talk utilises social science and cultural theory to bring insight into the how and why of using services. Looking at Uber, they will emphasise the importance of creating outcomes that are grounded in local knowledge but embedded in global context, by balancing the macro, socio-cultural drivers with micro-level consumer insights.
'Driving value in communication: research and design strategy in context'
We are forward-looking species. Speculation (speculor: watching, peeking, scouting) is an integral part of us. But often when it comes to business speculation, of course, speculation is not enough. So we observe the world, people and culture... more >
Saturday, October 7th, 11:30 am (case study) and 14:30 am (masterclass)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717877
|
__label__wiki
| 0.894674
| 0.894674
|
Posts tagged as “unrest”
Washington continues campaign for Syrian regime-change
By Niall Green
The Syrian government’s crackdown on opposition, as well as attacks by anti-regime forces, continued across the Middle Eastern country last week. Meanwhile, Washington and the European powers stepped up their campaign to oust the Baath Party government through efforts in the United Nations and talks with the Syrian opposition.
Opposition groups claim that the bodies of 30 people killed by security forces were found in the city of Homs on December 5, and another 3 people were killed by gunfire on Saturday. The Syrian army has established more than 60 checkpoints inside and around the city, according to a Turkish-based opposition group, the Syrian National Council (SNC).
Homs has been at the centre of fighting between Syrian security forces and opponents of the regime. Scores of people have been killed in the city since the outbreak of civil conflict in January.
A major armed confrontation between Syrian troops and army defectors occurred Sunday in the southern town of Busra al-Harir, near the Jordanian border. According to Reuters, residents claimed the defectors had been hiding in the area and attacking military supply lines, provoking the assault by forces loyal to the government. Eighteen people were killed across Syria in clashes on Sunday, according to an opposition group.
A national “dignity strike” to protest the government crackdown, planned for Sunday, the first day of the work week, did not result in significant disruptions in Damascus and Aleppo, the two major cities, according to media reports. In some regions, the strike call apparently had an impact. Human rights groups alleged that the Syrian military and militiamen loyal to Assad broke up the strike in the southern city of Daraa.
Due to severe reporting restrictions inside Syria, little independent information is available on casualties. The Syrian government claims that armed opposition fighters have killed around 2,000 security personnel this year, while various opposition groups and the United Nations claim that a total of 4,000 people have died in security crackdowns.
Homs is also a centre of oil production for Syria. Anti-government forces apparently blew up a major pipeline bringing oil to the refinery near the city Thursday. One of only two refineries in Syria, the Homs facility can process more than 130,000 barrels per day, nearly half of the country’s capacity. It is unclear if the refinery is still in operation.
The official Syrian news agency called the pipeline attack a “terrorist sabotage operation.” Syria’s total oil production, a major source of revenue, has fallen from 340,000 barrels per day in February to around 120,000 today. The European Union, the country’s main energy export market, no longer purchases Syrian oil.
Located just a few miles from the Lebanese border, there are signs that Homs has become an entry point for arms and opposition supporters coming into the country. The Syrian government claims to have intercepted weapons and funds being smuggled across the border to support armed opposition forces. There have also been reports in the Lebanese press of exchanges of gunfire across the border between Lebanon-based armed groups and the Syrian army.
Leading figures in the self-proclaimed Syrian opposition are calling for foreign military intervention in the civil conflict. Burhan Ghalioun, head of the SNC, met with US secretary of state Hilary Clinton in Turkey this week. In an interview following the meeting, Ghalioun told a reporter that his organization had “been in contact with the US diplomatic service for some time” and that he had urged Clinton not to “stand back or delay in working to create mechanisms to protect civilians.”
Asked about the possibility of the US carving out “humanitarian corridors”—i.e., militarily enforced no-fly zones inside Syrian territory—Ghalioun replied, using the language employed by the imperialist powers and their servants: “We have said that all options are on the table to secure international protection.”
He also stressed that the SNC, which was only established in October with the backing of Turkey and the Western powers, was seeking diplomatic recognition, in the same way that the Transitional National Council (TNC) in Libya was offered diplomatic and financial support during the NATO-led operation to oust Muammar Gaddafi.
Any regime brought to power in Damascus on such a basis, as with the TNC in Libya, would be a staunchly pro-capitalist pawn of the major powers, wholly unreceptive to the democratic and social demands of the Syrian masses, who oppose the conditions of poverty and social inequality in Syria as well as the Assad regime’s brutality.
As in Libya, Washington and the European powers are utilizing a civil conflict in an attempt to replace a regime that it views as something of an impediment to their predatory interests in the energy-rich region. The US government and its European allies have repeatedly pressured the United Nations to pass condemnations of the government of President Bashar Assad.
However, Security Council permanent members Russia and China, which have close economic and strategic ties to Syria, have refused to sign on to Washington’s destabilization campaign. Last month, Beijing and Moscow vetoed a Security Council resolution, drafted by Britain and France that would have imposed sanctions on Syria.
At a meeting on Friday, the Security Council agreed to a French request for a discussion of events in Syria. The move by Paris was reportedly opposed by Russia, China and Brazil, whose governments fear that, as in the run-up to the NATO war against Libya, Security Council resolutions will be used to justify a US-led campaign of regime change.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, warned that the Security Council’s consideration of the Syrian situation was “intruding on the affairs of the Human Rights Council,” a less influential UN body that does not have the authority to authorize sanctions against Damascus.
However, the US has worked through its regional allies in the Middle East to pressure Damascus and sponsor anti-Assad groups engaged in fighting inside Syria.
The only Middle Eastern member of the US-led NATO military alliance, Turkey is acting as the main ally of Washington in the confrontation with Syria. The Turkish government hosts the two main Syrian opposition groups, the SNC and the Free Syrian Army, and has moved thousands of extra troops to its border with Syria.
On Friday, there were reports of heavy exchanges of gunfire along the 560-mile Turkish-Syrian border. The Syrian government claims that anti-regime fighters and weapons are coming into the country from Turkey, while Ankara has accused Syrian border guards of indiscriminately firing upon people on the Turkish side of the frontier.
The Turkish regime warned Syria on Friday that it would take further action to prevent a flood of refugees coming into its territory, in effect a threat to directly intervene into the Syrian civil conflict.
Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu refused to state what action Ankara would take. “Turkey has no desire to interfere in anyone’s internal affairs. But if a risk to regional security arises then we do not have the luxury of standing by,” Davutoglu told reporters.
“A government that is fighting its own people and creating refugees is putting not only their own security at risk but also that of Turkey. Then we have the responsibility to say, ‘Enough!’ ”
Turkish officials have previously suggested that the country’s armed forces could set up a “safe zone,” enforced by ground troops and aircraft, inside Syria. Purportedly to protect civilians, such a move would be an act of war, giving Turkish forces, backed by the US and NATO, a beachhead from which to topple the Assad regime.
Such actions could quickly spiral into a full-scale regional war. Iran is Syria’s main ally and has guaranteed its sovereignty, while the other countries bordering Syria—Lebanon, Israel, Jordan and Iraq—as well as the Persian Gulf monarchies, could easily be drawn into the conflict.
Adding fuel to the fire, the Saudi government has cynically claimed that it has a responsibility to protect the Syrian people. Despite the Saudi regime’s brutal suppression of domestic opposition to its own authoritarian rule, and its deadly military crackdown on protesters in Bahrain earlier this year, Prince Turki al-Faisal, one of the most senior figures in the Saudi ruling family, warned this week that the Arab League would “not sit back and allow the continued massacre of the Syrian people.”
In response to the Arab League suspending its membership, Damascus has signalled its willingness to accept international human rights monitors into the country, on the condition that sanctions against the country are lifted.
However, even if Damascus allows Arab League inspectors into the country, which many observers consider unlikely, the US-led campaign for regime change will continue, driven by the desire of US and European imperialism to control the vast oil and gas resources of the Middle East and block any genuinely progressive expression of the aspirations of the Syrian population.
(wsws.org)
Scripting a great suppression story in Kashmir
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717879
|
__label__wiki
| 0.799985
| 0.799985
|
471-6636 (Opinion ~ 08/27/01)
I'm calling in about Highway 60. I hope that while they're out there working on it, they manage to resurface those two little bridges that they supposedly patched last year. It didn't do any good and they wasted taxpayer money. Hopefully they'll get it right this year...
John D. Tanner (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
JACKSON - John Douglas Tanner, 37, died Aug. 25, 2001. Born Aug. 7, 1964, at Cape Girardeau, son of Barbara Sue Beggs of Jackson and the late Norman Earl Tanner, he was employed as a painter with Robert Boitnott Painting. Surviving in addition to his mother are: two sons, Jonathon Tanner and Stephen Tanner of Jackson; and four brothers, Mike Tanner of Marshall, Texas, and Norman, Jimmy and Keith Tanner of Cape Girardeau...
Jerry Taylor (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
EAST PRAIRIE - Jerry W. Taylor, 35, died Aug. 25, 2001, at Doniphan. Born March 27, 1966, in Sikeston, son of Mary Ellen Taylor of East Prairie and the late Raymond Myers, he was a mechanic and attended the St. James General Baptist Church in East Prairie...
Edwin Ling (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
NEW MADRID - Edwin Ling, 62, died Aug. 25, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Born Dec. 11, 1938, son of the late John Henry and Versie Ann Rogers Ling, he was a lifelong self-employed farmer and a member of the New Madrid Eagles and the Sikeston Elks...
Russell Alberts (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
SIKESTON - Russell Alberts, 76, died Aug. 27, 2001, at his home in Sikeston. Ponder Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements which are incomplete.
Carolyn Hopper (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
MORLEY - Carolyn Jo Hopper, 54, died at 5:45 p.m. Aug. 26, 2001, at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau. Friends may call from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday at Nunnelee Funeral Chapel in Sikeston where services are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. Burial will follow in the New Morley Cemetery...
Delta Center readies for annual Field Day (Local News ~ 08/27/01)
PORTAGEVILLE - For 39 years the University of Missouri's Delta Research Center has sought to introduce area farmers to new ideas at its annual Field Day. Aug. 31, the 40th year for the program, will be more of the same. Jake Fisher remembers that first Field Day. A new researcher, he spent Field Day 40 years ago talking with local farmers about his soybean research under way on the 75 acres which then made up the Delta Center...
Carter Davis (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
PARMA - Carter Davis died Aug. 27, 2001, at his home. Arrangements are incomplete at Watkins and Sons Funeral Home in Parma.
Calvin C. Rodgers (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
DEXTER - Calvin C. Rodgers, 76, died Aug. 25, 2001, at his home near Dexter. Born Jan. 18, 1925, at rural Essex to the late Robert and Pearl Zile Rodgers, he was a retired driver for Hart Truck Lines in Dexter and was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving in World War II...
Richard Lomax Sr. (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
BERNIE - Richard Q. Lomax Sr., 58, formerly of Sikeston, died at 1 p.m. Aug. 25, 2001, at his home due to complications from a terminal illness. Born Nov. 22, 1942, in Sikeston, son of the late J.B. and Helen Lumert Lomax, he was a 1961 graduate of Gray Ridge High School and was of the Baptist belief. ...
Rene LaQuerre (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
SIKESTON - Rene LaQuerre, 73, died Aug. 23, 2001, at Clearview Nursing Center. Born Aug. 21, 1928, at Meriden, Conn., son of the late Anthony and Marcella Benoit LaQuerre, he was a member of the St. Thomas Catholic Church in Covington, Conn., and had worked at the Meriden Rolling Mill in Meriden for 40 years before retiring...
Danny Stacy (Obituary ~ 08/27/01)
SIKESTON - Danny Ray Stacy, 40, died at 5:22 p.m. Aug. 26, 2001, at his home following an extended illness. Born June 7, 1961, at Sikeston, son of Jean and Gorman Hartlein of Sikeston and Reggie and Elaine Corlew of Dallas, Texas, he graduated from Sikeston High School in 1980...
Looking Back In Time (History ~ 08/27/01)
60 years ago Aug. 27, 1941 SIKESTON - A leaf or two was falling Monday and there was the hint of fall in the air, so Coach Vernon Green of Sikeston High School consented to tell something about the Bulldogs' prospects during the coming grid wars. Coach Green wasn't too optimistic. He said that 18 lettermen were lost with the 1940 squad. To form the nucleus of the team, which must be made up of new and untried players are Clem Beal, D.B. Waggener, Reece Matthews and Leonard Crase...
Cotton Carnival salutes Merchant Marines, firemen (Local News ~ 08/27/01)
SIKESTON -- The 57th edition of the American Legion Cotton Carnival is just over a month away and preparations are currently being made for the event. This year's theme is "A Salute to Merchant Marines and Fire Departments." This year, the Carnival is set to begin on Sept. 25 and run through Sept. 29. For the second year in a row it will be at the Sikeston Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo Grounds...
Going through her paces: Skater earns bronze (Local News ~ 08/27/01)
SIKESTON - Southeast Missouri isn't exactly "figure skating country," but that hasn't stopped 11-year old Emily Pace from not only competing in the graceful sport, but doing well. Emily recently captured a bronze medal at the State Games of America 2001, a program where participants showcase their abilities on a national level in Olympic-style competition...
Program gives students a chance to make up credits (Local News ~ 08/27/01)
SIKESTON - Some high school students would rather drop out than face the humiliation of not graduating with the rest of their class. But a new program in the R-6 District is designed to give the students a way to solve their dilemma by preventing them from having to make the decision in the first place...
School district receives honors (Local News ~ 08/27/01)
BENTON - The Scott County R-4 School District received the highest rating given by the state's Missouri School Improvement Program review. Don Moore, superintendent, and Dorothy Deason, MSIP coordinator, attended the State School Board meeting in June in Jefferson City to receive the banner recognizing the district's "Accredited with Distinction" honor. Less than 10 percent of the 524 school districts in Missouri received the award for their school improvement review...
Let's Get Ready To Jamboree (Local News ~ 08/27/01)
Spectators at the East Prairie Football Jamboree enjoyed watching area football teams scrimmage as the sun set Friday night. The football season officially begins next Friday as Sikeston hosts the Jackson Indians at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium at 7:30 p.m...
Dear Editor (Letter to the Editor ~ 08/27/01)
The American Cancer Society and the Relay for Life Planning Committee would like to thank the following individuals and businesses who helped to make our first annual New Madrid County Relay for Life a huge success. First and foremost, our cancer survivors who participated in the "Victory Lap" - your presence gave our relay meaning and purpose. ...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717880
|
__label__wiki
| 0.949481
| 0.949481
|
Brown Commits To Banning All Cluster Bombs
Download Press Release (PDF)(Dublin, Ireland, May 28st, 2008) After ten days of intense negotiations campaigners welcome the UK's commitments to banning all cluster bombs immediately. A major sticking point throughout the Oslo process had been the UK's insistence on retaining two types of cluster bombs known to cause problems.Simon Conway, Co-chair of the Cluster Munition Coalition and Director of Landmine action said: "The Treaty is not yet in the bag, but the Prime Minister's commitment to remove all remaining UK cluster bombs and work towards the strongest possible Treaty, will do much to help in these last critical hours of negotiations".Up until now the British position has been dominated by their insistence to keep two types of cluster bombs M85 and M73. M85s were used by the British in Iraq in 2003. The M73 has never been deployed by the British, but has been used by the Americans in Iraq. It does not have a self-destruct or deactivation mechanism.Anna Macdonald, Head of Arms Control for Oxfam said: "The UK is now showing strong humanitarian leadership on this vital treaty which will protect civilians around the world from these indiscriminate and hideous weapons. Australia and Canada now need to follow the UKs lead and show equal humanitarian commitment."The final hours of the negotiations are dominated by discussions around joint military operations with countries, such as the US, which will not sign up to the treaty. At present Australia and Canada are insisting on language in the treaty which campaigners believe will allow them to assist the US in the use of cluster munitions.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717883
|
__label__wiki
| 0.716168
| 0.716168
|
French and Indians of Illinois River
Nehemiah Matson. Foreword by Rodney O. Davis
280 pages, 4.5 x 6.25
Shawnee Classics
Complex and paradoxical, Nehemiah Matson (1816–1873) celebrated the occupation of the Middle West by European pioneers even as he labored to preserve the memory of the natives these pioneers replaced. He perpetuated the memory of the Indians who were driven out of the territory, but he nevertheless accumulated wealth selling their land to the pioneers. Rodney O. Davis notes in his new foreword to this book that Matson combined the attributes of a scholar with those of a salesman and promoter.
Matson settled in Princeton, Illinois, in 1836. He left behind a library partially endowed by him, named for him, and finally completed in 1913. According to Davis, however, Matson’s other legacy, “of equal significance in his own eyes, consisted of the five books he authored on northern Illinois and Illinois River history and cartography, volumes based not only on conscientious scholarship but also on both Indian and white reminiscence and on local folklore.”
Matson’s historical writings are valuable even when he deals with well-known events because his personal perspective makes his observations unique. Without the stories and reminiscences he collected, much valuable information would have been lost, especially since many of his informants, both Indian and European, were illiterate. Because his informants often told conflicting stories, Matson admitted that “harmonizing all conflicting accounts . . . has not been a success.”
Although Matson’s sources may not always have agreed, and sometimes his heart may have overruled his head and colored his accounts, he was a conscientious and committed author. “Obviously,” Davis explains, “this book must be evaluated as what it is, a piece of colorful local history, romantically anchored in legend yet rooted also in invaluable research and produced by a dedicated amateur whose standards were high. . . . French and Indians of Illinois River is a model of its type, indeed a minor classic.”
Rodney O. Davis is the director of the Lincoln Studies Center at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois.
Immigrants in the Valley
Mark Wyman
Kaskaskia
David MacDonald and Raine Waters
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717893
|
__label__wiki
| 0.693726
| 0.693726
|
Summit County Sheriff's Office Command Staff
The Summit County Sheriff's Office is led by Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons, Undersheriff Joel Cochran,
Operations Commander Mike Schilling, Detentions Commander David Bertling, and Animal Control Director Lesley Hall.
Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons
Sheriff Jaime FitzSimons leads the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, where he directs the work of 73 dedicated law enforcement and civil employees in their duties to serve the residents and visitors of Summit County, Colorado. He first joined the organization in 2006 and has served as Patrol Deputy, Detective and Operations Division Commander.
FitzSimons was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where he was an avid surfer, skateboarder and competitive marathon runner. He joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1990. From 1990 to 2005, FitzSimons served in various patrol assignments, the Special Problems Unit, the Gang Unit and undercover narcotics work.
During his tenure with LAPD, FitzSimons was promoted to the ranks of Patrol Sergeant and Detective. In those positions, he investigated complex murders, robberies, sex crimes, crimes against persons, gang crimes, burglaries, thefts, frauds, embezzlements and narcotics violations; he also conducted covert surveillances and personnel complaint investigations. FitzSimons participated in responses to numerous historic incidents and events, including the Los Angeles Riots (1992), Malibu Wildfire (1993), Northridge Earthquake (1994), O.J. Simpson Murder Case (1994), Malibu Floods (1995), North Hollywood Shootout (1997) and Southern California Wildfires (2003).
FitzSimons moved to Summit County in 2005, briefly serving in the Summit County 911 Center. In 2006, Sheriff John Minor recruited him to join the Summit County Sheriff’s Office as a Patrol Deputy. FitzSimons was promoted to Detective in 2006, drawing on his expertise gained in Los Angeles to conduct complex criminal investigations. In 2008, FitzSimons was promoted to the rank of Operations Division Commander, overseeing Patrol, the Criminal Investigations Division and Special Operations. In addition to oversight of functional operations, he also ensured compliance with policies, procedures, regulations and standards. He also filled the roles of both Sheriff and Undersheriff in their absence. In 2013, FitzSimons took on the added responsibility of leading the Summit County Combined Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT).
FitzSimons was elected Summit County Sheriff on November 8, 2016. FitzSimons has spent his career building and maintaining partnerships and collaborative relationships with numerous local agencies and organizations, as well as state and federal agencies.
In 1990, FitzSimons married his wife Lena; the couple have two grown children who also call Summit County home. Sheriff FitzSimons has traded his surfboard for skis, but still enjoys skateboarding. He is an avid outdoorsman who also enjoys hiking, mountain biking, trail running, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.
FitzSimons has served as a technical consultant in the film industry on numerous projects, including "Street Kings," "End of Watch," "Prisoners," "Sabotage," "Nightcrawler," "Fury," "Southpaw," "Stronger" and "Bright."
Undersheriff Joel Cochran
Undersheriff Joel Cochran oversees the four Sheriff's Office Division Commanders and their respective areas of operation. Prior to this position, Cochran served as the Director of Emergency Management for Summit County government. He has lived and worked in Summit County for more than 30 years.
Undersheriff Cochran previously worked in the Special Operations unit as a Sergeant, and while with the Breckenridge Police Department, as a Detective/Sergeant. Cochran holds certifications under the State of Colorado as a Peace Officer and under credentialing system as a Type-3 Certified Planning Section Chief. He is a graduate of University of Colorado at Denver and holds a master's degree in criminal justice.
Operations Commander Mike Schilling
A twenty-year resident of Summit County, Mike Schilling was born in Paducah, Kentucky and raised in Naperville, Illinois. He attended The University of Iowa completing a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree in Finance in 1999. Mike’s experience in organizational leadership began shortly after graduation where he held the role of Assistant Vice-President at Firstbank of Breckenridge from 1999 to 2002. From 2002 to 2016, Mike led Breckenridge based Valdaro Development, LLC as its President where his responsibilities included, but were not limited to all aspects of project management, budgeting, finance, legal, and management leadership.
After nearly eighteen years working in the business world, Mike felt a call to service and made a 180 degree turn with his life to pursue a career in law enforcement. Upon obtaining his Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Certification through Red Rocks Community College Police Academy in 2016, he immediately began working as a Patrol Deputy for the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Mike is a proud member of the Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard and has a passion for honoring the service and sacrifices of others.
Mike has a long history of making a difference in the Summit County community. He has worked collaboratively with community partners in his role as both Board Member and President of the Summit Foundation from 2012 to 2017. He was the Co-Chair of the Local Organizing Committee for the USA Pro Cycling Challenge in 2011 and 2012. Mike was also a member of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office Citizen Advisory Committee from 2009 to 2016 and served as a Summit County Upper Blue Planning Commissioner from 2012 to 2014.
Mike and his wife, Amy Freeman, live in unincorporated Summit County near Breckenridge with Greta, a standard poodle. Mike is a regular competitor in Summit Mountain Challenge bike races and is a past overall series champion. In the winter he spends his free time on skis to keep fit and always looks forward to endurance events such as Frisco Gold Rush Nordic ski race and the 5 Peaks Ski Mountaineering Race.
Animal Control Director Lesley Hall
Lesley Hall is the Director of the Animal Control Division. She oversees the animal control officers, who enforce Summit County animal control resolutions state statutes, as well as the Summit County Animal Shelter, which houses stray pets and operates a very successful adoption program.
Animal Control has 10 staff, more than 100 volunteers, a pre-K-12 humane education program and a Summit County Animal Response Team that trains to respond to disasters. The shelter takes an active role in promoting animal welfare by working with several other Colorado and out-of-state shelters as transfer partners. The shelter houses approximately 640 animals each year, 68 percent of which are adopted; 29 percent are redeemed by their owners.
Hall has worked for Animal Control since 1988, when she started as an Animal Control Officer. She was promoted to Animal Control Supervisor in 1993, and to the Director position in 2010. Hall grew up in Independence, Ohio, with a strong interest in pets and wildlife and a desire to live in the Rocky Mountains. With these goals in mind, she earned a bachelor's of science degree in Wildlife Conservation and Management from the University of Wyoming and a commission as an Army Second Lieutenant. During her college years, she worked as a ranch hand outside of Cody, Wyoming. After graduating, she worked for the Colorado Division of Wildlife and Wildlife International Inc. Hall served in the Colorado Army National Guard for eight years, obtaining the rank of Captain.
Detentions Commander David Bertling
Detentions Commander David Bertling supervises the Detentions Division and Civil Division of the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. Bertling graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Baptist Bible College, in Springfield, Missouri with honors in 1991. In 2003, he graduated the Texas Peace Officer Academy from Central Texas College in Killeen, Texas. He attended Sam Houston State University and earned a Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice Leadership and Management in 2013.
Bertling relocated from the Austin area in Texas to Summit County in 2018 to assume his role as the Commander of the Detentions Division. Joining Bertling is his wife Lisa, of ten years. They have five adult children. Among the many great outdoor activities, they are looking forward to are kayaking, biking, skiing, hiking, hunting, and fishing.
Commander Bertling started his career in law enforcement in 1999 with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office, in Georgetown, Texas. Bertling became a Corrections Captain in January 2005, and remained in the position until 2016. He served as a Corrections Officer, Peace Officer and a Training Instructor.
Bertling served as a board member on the Capital Area Planning Council of Governments’ Law Enforcement Education Committee from 2009 to 2016. He has earned a TCOLE Texas Master Peace Officer License, Master Jailer license and TCOLE Instructor Certification.
While in College, David became a Martial Arts practitioner, achieving a Fourth Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo. He has also trained in other martial arts such as Jiu Jitsu, Judo, Kickboxing, Tai Chi and Krav Maga and holds several specialty self-defense training instructor certifications, such as PPCT, Taser, SPEAR, and Close Quarter Combat. David has also owned and operated several martial arts schools.
Emergency Management Director Brian Bovaird
Brian Bovaird is the Emergency Management Director for Summit County Government. Brian holds a Master’s of Arts in Emergency and Disaster Management from American Military University and is a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM).
Brian relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Summit County in 2018 to assume his role as the Emergency Management Director. Joining Brian is his wife of fifteen years, ten-year-old daughter and eight-year-old son. As an active outdoor family, they have not wasted any time taking advantage of all that Summit has to offer and they are extremely excited to become part of the community.
While in Maryland, Brian served as Director of Operations for the Baltimore City Mayor’s Office of Emergency Management. His daily responsibilities found him managing over 40 Emergency Management Specialists trained in field response and EOC management, advising senior leadership and elected officials, administering regional training initiatives, and overseeing the operations of all special events in the City of Baltimore.
Brian is credited with developing an Incident Management Team (IMT’s) for the Baltimore Police Department and enhancing their incident command capabilities. During Baltimore’s civil unrest in 2015, Brian’s experience managing and coordinating dozens of protests was put to the test. He worked side by side with the Incident Commander to advise on critical public safety functions and coordinate an unprecedented amount of mutual aid resources. Additionally, he has coordinated multiple Presidential disaster declarations and served as a Deputy Incident Commander for several of the largest events in the history of Baltimore City.
As a credentialed Operations Section Chief, Brian has experience working with an IMT to support major incidents. In 2017, he deployed to Florida for three weeks to support Hurricane Irma response and recovery operations. During this time, he assisted with coordinating response assets in the State Emergency Operations Center and was part of a team that managed a Base Camp in Big Pine Key.
Brian has a passion for teaching emergency management and has given presentations throughout the country on complex incident management skills and best practices. Some of his most recent presentations include the National Homeland Security Conference in Tampa, Florida and the International Association of Emergency Management Conference in Long Beach, California.
Prior to his role in Emergency Management, Brian served for more than ten years as a member of the Baltimore City Fire Department. During his tenure, he promoted through the ranks to the position of Fire Lieutenant and gained experience through specialized assignments to the Special Rescue Operations Team and the Hazmat Special Forces Team. His certification in high angle, confined space, trench, swift water, and helicopter rescue give him a good background of understanding in emergency services.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717896
|
__label__wiki
| 0.844757
| 0.844757
|
Alisson Becker Net Worth
Alisson Becker the first choice goalkeeper in the team of Brazil. Currently part of the premier league team Liverpool and getting popular for his goalkeeping skills. His annual earnings increased after joining the new club on new contract terms.
Alisson Becker Net Worth: $11 million
Annual Salary & Endorsement Earnings :£4.4 million (2018)
Becker turned professional football goalkeeper in year 2013. His career began from Brazilian football club (Internacional). Alisson played 44 matches for the club from 2013-2016. He signed one of the most expensive goalkeeper deal in Serie A almost €7.5 million fee and join Roma in 2016.
He played 2 season with the football club (Roma) and made his name among the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season 2017–18. Becker finished as runner-up for Champions league goalkeeper of the year in 2017-18. Liverpool in 2018 signed Alisson for a fee of £66.8 million. The deal made him the most expensive goalkeeper transfer of all time.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717899
|
__label__cc
| 0.664341
| 0.335659
|
ABOUT GRATUITOUS VIOLENCE
Children are Harmed When Trusted Adults Show Films Which Contain Violence Intended to Thrill the Viewer
Graphic violence in a film, when it is intended to produce an adrenaline rush in the audience, desensitizes the viewer not only to the victim’s pain but also to the debasement of the perpetrator. In many instances, these films glorify violence and the persons who commit it.
When parents or teachers bring violent films into the home or the classroom, they encourage the viewing of brutality for entertainment and implicitly endorse the acceptance and celebration of savagery. Significantly, adults who propose the viewing of graphically brutal films also lose the opportunity to show by example that in all but the most extreme cases, the use of violence, even viewing it for pleasure, is intolerable. This loss of moral stature by trusted adults is detrimental to the children they seek to raise or teach.
Violence in film has no intrinsic artistic value. Movie producers use it to attract the audience of 18 to 35 year old males, the demographic group most likely to purchase theater tickets. It’s often obvious that screenwriters or directors have had a failure of inspiration or craft and have decided to punch up their flagging effort with heavy doses of gore.
When is Violence in a Film Not Harmful?
Fighting, war, injury and death are part of life. Not all films that include them should be shunned. Films that do not show blood and guts and don’t have characters who revel in the cruelty of their actions appear to have no detrimental effect on the viewer.
In some extraordinary cases, even graphic brutality in a film is justified. Schindler’s List shows the horror of genocide, using brutality to create the outrage essential to the message of the film. The perpetrators in Schindler’s List are shown to be in thrall to evil. In Gandhi, a few short scenes of killing and maiming are contrasted with the saintliness of the Mahatma and the non-violence of his followers. It is difficult to say that there was any other way to transmit the full message of these films without the violent scenes.
The message does not always justify showing graphic brutality to children. The terror in Saving Private Ryan obviously advances the message of the film, but the scene in which a German soldier slowly and tenderly kills a young American GI haunts even adults. Children should not be subjected to this. On the other hand, the bloody scenes in the war films Glory and A Midnight Clear, do not show the perpetrators reveling in their actions, are essential to the important messages of the films, and are not so horrendous that they will give nightmares when shown to children of an appropriate age.
Whether the violence in a film disqualifies it from being shown to children is a matter of judgment. In making this judgment, we suggest that the adult first determine that: 1) the violence does not appear to have been included in the film for the shock or thrill of the violence itself; 2) the plot and theme of the film are significantly advanced by the violence; 3) the violence is shown to be the wrong choice or the option of last resort; 4) the story told by the film is sufficiently important to subject children to the desensitizing effects of the brutality shown; 5) the film is an excellent method for teaching the information contained in the film; 6) the children who will be shown the film are of a sufficient age that the violence will not scare them or give them nightmares; and 7) the adult showing the film does not frequently suggest violent films to his or her charges . Only if each of these criteria are clearly met, should the film should be shown to children.
www.TeachWithMovies.org Demonstrates That Films Can Be Used to Engage and Teach
Children Without Accepting Lowest Common Denominator: Brutality
We occasionally get e-mails from teachers and parents who try to justify showing films with unnecessarily graphic (we call it “pornographic”) violence. They point to the educational and artistic strengths of the films, saying, “We don’t want to lose the benefits that can come from this, especially since the kids are so fascinated by the violence. We can go there with them and use it to keep their interest.” Our response is that like physicians, teachers, and parents should first do no harm. Children are harmed when trusted adults tell them by word or by example that viewing the infliction of pain as entertainment is acceptable. What do children learn when parents or teachers show them films which glorify characters who demean themselves by committing violence? Certainly, nothing good about life and nothing exemplary about the trusted “adult.”
Showing a violent film is the easy way out. Parents and teachers should use their creativity to find other ways to teach the same lessons. www.TeachWithMovies.org lists more than 425 films covering many aspects of history, cultural heritage, and social-emotional learning (SEL). Few of the recommended movies contain any graphic violence. None contain violence intended to thrill the audience. In each film, the violence has met the standards described above. The collection of films recommended by www.TeachWithMovies.org demonstrates that films can be used to engage and teach children without condoning savagery.
Our society suffers from a degradation of standards and an increase in violence. These trends will only be reversed when adults maintain standards for children and demonstrate by their actions that violence is unacceptable. Parents and teachers need to encourage higher order thinking, which explores the complexity and subtlety of human behavior. Films which use violence to thrill young audiences will not do this.
Toward New Definitions of Obscenity and Pornography
At home and in school, parents and teachers should redefine the terms “obscenity” and “pornography” to include violence as well as sex without love. Films with unnecessary brutality placed there for the thrill should simply not be shown by adults to children.
James Frieden and Deborah W. Elliott
TeachWithMovies.org
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717902
|
__label__wiki
| 0.610679
| 0.610679
|
Ooredoo reaffirms its commitment to reduce digital inequality
Previous Article Orange and Nokia to deploy FTTH network in Jordan
Next Article Mobily and Zain KSA pay first installments of additional spectrum
Ooredoo was recognized for its commitment to reduce digital inequality in the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development's 'The State of Broadband 2017: Broadband Catalyzing Sustainable Development' report. Ooredoo's commitment to reduce digital inequality stems from its core mission to make the internet accessible and enjoyable for everyone, the company said in a release.
According to the report, while 48 percent of the global population is now online, some 3.9 billion people still do not have internet access, with the digital gap growing between developed and developing countries. In addition, only 76 percent of the world's population lives within access of a 3G signal, and only 43 percent of people within access of a 4G connection.
"The report shines a crucial light on the ongoing global challenge to help people across the world access the life-changing benefits of internet access," said Sheikh Saud Bin Nasser Al Thani, Group CEO at Ooredoo.
"At Ooredoo, we continue to invest in mobile technology, people and resources that enable our communities - in particular underserved women and youth - to enjoy the internet and use it as a means to improve their lives and achieve their full potential," he added.
"As we deploy the power of digital technology to give people access to the services and support they need, we urge governments, operators and regulators to continue working closely together to address the deepening digital inequality in global connectivity."
Ooredoo's commitment to digital equality is highlighted in the report with several examples of the Qatar-based operator's efforts to harness broadband for sustainable development.
The examples include Ooredoo Myanmar's mAgri app Site Phyo, an app that provides farmers with localized weather information and best practices for growing and maintaining specific crops; and Ooredoo Maldives Smart Campus, an end-to-end solution for distance education offered in partnership with Microsoft, which enables educators to maintain their curriculums online.
The report also highlights Indosat Ooredoo's Indonesia Belajar, a digital education program that aims to use technology to help make education more available and accessible for children across Indonesia.
Delivery of this commitment rests on Ooredoo maintaining cutting-edge mobile technology across its global footprint, in both developed and developing markets. As such, Ooredoo has continued to invest in 5G-ready networks and in 2016, completed network modernization programs across all of the 10 countries it operates in.
Issued annually, 'The State of Broadband' report is a unique global snapshot of broadband network access and affordability, with country-by-country data measuring broadband access against key advocacy targets set by the Commission in 2011.
The report also examines global trends in broadband connectivity and technologies, reflects on policy and regulatory developments, as well as the applications of broadband for sustainable development. It also presents several policy recommendations.
Ooredoo ooredoo Myanmar Ooredoo Maldives Indosat Ooredoo State of Broadband digital equality
STC Group launches 5G commercial services in Saudi Arabia
STC reinforces its commitment to empowering women with new appointments
STC partners with Philips to transform healthcare in KSA
Oracle and STC to collaborate on high level information security in KSA
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717903
|
__label__cc
| 0.73135
| 0.26865
|
Cornish Adventure Part Two
After a very cold and rainy drive from Glastonbury, I finally arrived at the Penallick B&B in Tintagel (the boyhood home of King Arthur) last night around 1:30am. Along the way, my sat nav (British for GPS) decided to take me along several semi-paved farmer's roads (in the pouring rain, in the pitch black), so that was fun.
The B&B is lovely. The proprietor, Paul, seems very nice. I was given my choice of rooms, and chose the one with the bigger bed over the one with the sea view. The view on this side is of farms, and is still quite pretty.
I had the best English breakfast of all time (which is an amazing British thing combining everything I have ever wanted to eat for breakfast, and also some kind of usually baked beans? This place had blackbeans in a vaguely Cuban style, which were great.), and then set off to do a little Sunday driving, while waiting for the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic to open at noon. I'll write about the museum tonight, but I'm excited about it!
I didn't go down to Tintagel castle, because it's rather expensive, quite a hike, and I use a cane and only had 2 hours to kill until the museum opens. I will go tomorrow. Instead, I drove around and took some photos. First, a few from "downtown" Tintagel, which looks fun, lots of cutesy touristy King Arthur themed and New Age stuff, but everything is closed Sunday morning. Here is a photo of the lovely "Old Post Office", which is a medieval hall. It's closed for the winter, but you can see some indoor photos at their website.
I drove around a bit, looking for a place where I could perhaps see Tintagal castle from above. I found the most amazing place, called the Camelot Castle Hotel, which perches on a cliff overlooking the coast.
Here are several photos from their "back yard". Click to expand:
After taking photos, I went inside to their restaurant to have a hot cocoa and get out of the cold wind. It was quite empty, although there were at least half a dozen waiters. It's very lovely. Like a Victorian castle (which I guess it basically is).
AMAZING art, I think mostly from the same artist (ie, they all are similar in style a sort of slightly psychedelic impressionism similar to my grandmother's) . I got to speaking with the owner (who I'm like 60% convinced is actually Merlin). Apparently, in the off seasons, they have an artist in residence program, and so they're letting me stay tonight for free!
I've now emptied my phone's memory, and am about to set off for the Witching Museum. More this evening! Love to you all!
Posted by The Professor at 6:49 AM No comments:
Cornish Adventure, Part One: Getting There is Half the Fun
Today I set off from my brother's home in Swindon, headed for Tintagal (the boyhood home of King Arthur) in Cornwall. (you can see a map of my journey at the bottom of this post) As I do most mornings, and every morning when I'm travelling, I pulled a tarot card asking "What should watch out for today?" I find this an excellent practice. It sometimes is a warning, but usually it's something amazing I would have missed had I not been watching for it. It almost never makes sense in the morning, but by bedtime, it always does.
Now, Swindon, where my brother lives isn't terribly exciting. It's an industrial/railroad town. Reminds me a lot of Scranton. Once you get out of town, it's rolling hills and green fields and sheep (so many sheep! seriously, as near as I can tell there are more sheep than people-in-England-who-don't-live-in-London) For someone who grew up in the most beautiful place in the world, it's pretty, but nothing special. Getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road is actually pretty easy. What's a little harder is getting used to the fact that the English just park wherever the hell they want, including in lanes of traffic. Except for large highways, basically every road is one lane (even when it's two way) because people park on the side of the road, and block 3/4 of a lane.
Along the way, my spidey-sense started tingling, and I kept seeing these signs for Cheddar Gorge and Caves. "That sounds cool," I thought. "I love me some caves! I wonder if there will be anything cool I can see without having to hike? I'm going to turn off and drive, and hopefully it will be pretty. I'm in no hurry to get anywhere." So, I turned off, and followed the signs. My GPS was not best pleased, but I shooshed her and followed my gut, and the entirely insufficient road signs. I drove thru several little towns, including one that looked positively medieval, just like it was out of a King Arthur movie. Eventually I got to Cheddar, and followed signs to the Gorge.
OMG, guys! This is the most beautiful drive ever! I duct taped my phone to the visor and shot you a video of it. Watch below. (now that I have invented this method, I'll try to get a chance to shoot you a video of the drive up Uffington White Horse Hill, also)
Sadly, it seems like the second video I tried to take failed when my phone ran out of memory. :( Sorry! To make up for it, here is a video someone else shot with a drone. Warning: the music is super annoying.
So, after Cheddar Gorge, I got back on the highway, headed south to Cornwall. I drove for a while, and then I started seeing signs for Glastonbury. Now, I had planned to go to Glastonbury earlier in the week, but I got sick, and had to cancel that day trip. I'm planning to go later in the week, but after my extremely successful outing at Cheddar Gorge, I figured I'd at least drive thru town, and shoot some photos of the Tor from afar. (Having spoken with a friend who lives nearby, I was told that under no circumstances would my knees permit me to climb it in the winter. England, I have discovered, is about 20% sheep and and 70% very slippery mud. I don't know what their dirt is made of, but I suspect teflon. In any case, for whatever reason, as I approached Glastonbury, I actually started to be really scared. I almost turned around. Then I saw a sign for an Aldi's, so I stopped, got some snacks for the rest of the trip, including a dozen bottles of water, and collected myself. "Don't be silly, Sara. Just drive thru. You don't even have to get out of the car if you don't want to." Honestly, I was genuinely scared. Which is a thing that happens to me before big initiatory experiences. I think my ego is like "No! We're going to be big and scary after this!! We like us small and weak!"
In any case, I followed signs for the Tor, and found myself at the Chalice Well Park, which is where the Red Spring of Glastonbury is. That sounded great, but there was no parking, so I turned up a tiny side street looking for a spot. My spidey sense went crazy! Then I saw a bunch of hippies by the side of the road. I pulled over, and just parked alongside the road, blocking half of it like a asshole. You know, English style! I was headed to a sacred well, so I dumped two of the water bottles, so I could fill them with spring water. (yay, Aldi's panic stop!) The hippies were at a place called the White Spring Sanctuary.
It was so beautiful. It had the neo-pagan hippy magic vibe, very much like the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors. But, it also had an older, deeper power. As you know, I adore She of the Waters Below, whom I call by her Greek name, Tethys. I had a profound experience the other day at Bath, and this was, in many ways, the twin of that. Now...I'm not saying the National Trust, which is the non-profit that administers most of the British Sacred Sites I've been to....I'm not saying they actively attempt to de-sacrilize everything they touch and turn the Holy Places into tourist attractions, but, well...honestly, I didn't really feel anything at Avebury. Wayland's Smithy was powerful, but it wasn't all dolled up. The Roman Baths were cool, but they weren't wild and sacred. They were fancified, citified, churchy kind of sacred (which can also be called Roman/Minerva kind of sacred, so that was all right).
But this spring was the way I like my sacred sites. Dirty. Dangerous. Powerful. No cameras are allowed inside, but below I've put a video I found, which ends abruptly, when he's told it's not allowed.
I took my shoes off and rolled my pants up, and stood in the overflow of the spring, communing silently with Tethys. But then, I saw him. The Knight of Wands! The Holy Horned One! Or, I guess more likely, some hobo looking hippy with curly hair and shiny eyes. Wearing kelly green. He stripped off his clothes, and went into the spring.
"Wait! Is this ok?!?" It seems that it was, because nobody made any fuss at all. Honestly, it seemed like nobody but me really even noticed. Hard to say. Brits aren't the most emotionally expressive of peoples. Now, here's the thing; maybe Brits are casual about public nudity. I don't know. I am too. But it's fucking December. And, I mean, it's warm here compared to home, (it was about 40'F today), but this spring house isn't heated or anything. It was cold as fuck just having bare feet on the wet stones. And I am rarely cold.
I waited for him to get out, and I think he caught me staring, wide eyed. He told me I should get in. I stripped, put my clothes on a bench, and he helped me up the slippery stairs. (Note to self: take your cane next time, and maybe some aqua-sox). I assume he got dressed and left after that, because I didn't see him again. (or else it really was the Horned One, and he went back to being invisible)
It was extremely cold. Seriously. Fucking. Cold. Searingly cold, and then numb. My friend Meghan and I, when we were young, would sometimes enter the Atlantic in NJ or DE in late February. That is the only time I have ever felt cold like this.
And yet, only my outside is cold. My blubber keeps me warm; it takes a long time for cold to penetrate me. This is not an adventure I think would be safe for skinny folk!!
I was in the main circular pool for a little while. I got a lot of mildy nasty stares (which is just a thing about being fat in public, I think, because nobody gave the hippie guy trouble.). There, the water was up to about my knees. Next, I moved to the back left, where there is a small altar of the Black Madonna, Our Lady Below. I climbed up. In the large pool at the back, behind the Black Madonna altar, there were stairs leading in (which I took as a sign that this was permitted). There, the water reached up to my breasts. COOOOOLD!!!!!! I ducked under the waterfall, and drank some. I was weeping, I think. An old lady was singing in what sounded like maybe Russian.
The old lady gave me a hand getting out. I do not think she spoke English. I dried off as best I was able, and put my clothes back on. It was very, very, very cold being in the wind. I quickly walked back to the car, cold and wet, and jacked the heat up as high as it would go. I sat for a while, collecting myself. It was a very powerful experience. Second to Eleusis, this is perhaps the holiest place I have ever felt. I wish it had been warmer, so I could have stayed longer.
I'm tired of writing, so I will tell you more later tonight or maybe tomorrow. Museum of Witchcraft and Magic is slated for tomorrow, and Merlin-themed site-seeing. :) . Excited. Good night!
Tarot Tips
A few people have asked me to talk a little bit about how I read tarot, so I thought I'd do an example reading for you. The deck I'm using is the Deviant Moon Tarot, which I strongly recommend. It's also available as an app from Fool's Dog (full disclosure: the owners of Fool's Dog are friends). I've tried below to narrate my thinking as I progress thru the reading, so you can see how I do it.
The question was "What can I do to make my business more successful in 2018?"
Now the first thing I notice is that I got three trump cards, which is generally a sign that there's more powerful forces at play here than one would generally expect from such a straight forward and mundane-seeming question. (although, to be fair, the Witch for Hire biz is not so mundane and straight-forward as all that). I'll come back to this point when I do the actual reading.
The next thing I do is look at the generally "geometry" of how the cards line up together. Here, you can see, the two figures on the ends are looking in at the central card. That tells me that the real "meat" of the answer is that central card, and the other two are related to it.
Next, I look to see if any figures are repeated. Here, I notice that the red devil of the last card is also present at the top of the Wheel of Fortune. I also see that the emaciated figure of the Hermit has a fat (pregnant?) twin on the stool in the middle card. Finally, I see the fish in the Hermit is repeated around the edge of the wheel itself. One of the things I like about these cards is that they have a lot of those sorts of details. These repetitions will help me divine a narrative connecting the individual cards.
Next, I think about each card individually, paying attention to whatever particular details that caught my eye this time I saw it (which are different in every different reading, and one reason I like art-dense decks):
In the Past, The Hermit: I've been avoiding networking and advertising, because I'm super shy, and I honestly hate that kind of hand-shaking small-talk schtick. Sigh. But, I know it has to be done. In the background, I see an industrial city, which I understand to be Pittsburgh, where I live. I should be networking more here. The horns of the moon point backwards, which is another signal that the force of this card's effect is in the past. At this point in my analysis, I'm not quite sure what the deal with the fish is. Generally, I understand fish to be a sign of prosperity (I'm not sure why; I think it has something to do with a story I read on a plaque next to a koi pond in a Chinese restaurant when I was little). They also relate to Pisces, which is my birth sign. Perhaps it's that the fish is left on the ground to rot, I understand to mean that I am leaving my prosperity on the ground by not using my inborn talents (much as I hate it, I'm pretty good at small talk). I don't worry about it, or try to puzzle it out at this stage. I just stay open to inspiration and messages from my spirits, and have faith it will become clear as I continue to read the cards. If it is still unclear at the end, I will do some more intellectual analysis.
In the Present, The Wheel of Fortune: Generally, the Wheel of Fortune indicates that the situation is very fluid, and liable to be moved by the tides of destiny. It also reminds us that the central lesson of the Wheel of Fortune is that good times come and go, around and around, and that only in the center is there stability. Don't get sidetracked by the flash of fortune, but remain centered. Ha! Nice try, cards! But I asked about finances and business. None of your mystic woo! Back to work! At first I understood the woman in red to be reading for the person on the stool, but then I saw the microphone in her hand. That made it seem, instead, that she was bidding the person on the stool to speak. I think that the person on the stool is me. Where I was the Hermit, now the spirits, for the woman in red suddenly puts me much in mind of the great Earth Goddesses who inspire oracles, and she bids me speak. In this context, the Wheel of Fortune is a very clear signal that the part of my business I should focus on is the divination. Perhaps I should start writing some blog posts about the kinds of tarot readings I do? ;) As the the fish along side the wheel, I am still unclear as to what they mean. They have, however, multiplied, and multiplying fishes seems like a clear sign of prosperity. They both face up, rather than facing around the wheel, as they would to indicate it's motion. they seem to be paying homage to the red devil at the top, who plays the wheel of fortune like a drum. I know the devil might seem all ookey spookey, but to me, he is my beloved Teacher, He of the Crossroad. Once, long ago, Jason Miller gave me a piece of advice on tarot reading. He said "read like the devil", a phrase I believe he picked up from Camelia Elias. I understood him to mean that I should be penetrating and precise, holding nothing back and softening no edges, while still aiming for those precise spots most open to change. In any case, there is no question that cartomancy is, indeed, "The Devil's Book", so this seems a clear sign. Particularly given that the final card is...
In the Future, The Devil:
I've already spoken about the Devil's role as patron of cartomancy, so that meaning seems clear enough. For me, the Devil card almost always tells of the relationship to a spirit ally, although that is not necessarily how I read it when it appears for other people. Notice how, in this particular card, the moon's horns point right? That is a sign that the card's effects point to the future, even tho the "action" on the card is facing back. The Devil of the future is informing the Wheel of Fortune in the present. This is a very clear sign of magic, when causes come after their effects. So, I must do some magic in the near future (I know it's the near future because of the slimness of the moon; a fatter moon would indicate more time). I must dance with the devil, which, really, is one of my favorite things to do!
So, altogether, the reading is a clear indication that I need to focus on the divination aspect of my business, building it up with a combination of old-fashioned networking and sorcery. One aspect of that is this "Tarot Tips" blog post. I hope you've enjoyed seeing how my readings work, and I hope you picked up some inspirational tips you can integrate into your own readings. To learn more:
You can book a one on one lesson in cartomancy with me here.
I'm teaching a beginner's tarot class starting January 13th.
Or you can book a reading or consultation.
Watch this space for more tarot tips in the future, and let me know what else you'd like to see!
Posted by The Professor at 9:06 AM 2 comments:
A History of Penn's Woods
Every forest is different, and you’ll need to learn your own forest. However, as an example, I’ll tell you the story of my woods, Penn’s Sylvania, whose history roughly parallels, in perhaps exaggerated form, the fate of much of the Eastern Woodland.
The Forest Primeval
As the Land measures time, woodlands are new to Pennsylvania. Eighteen thousand years ago, the northern portion of the state was covered with ice, and the rest was a mix of tundra and boreal forest. As the ice receded, species from the south moved in found a home here.
Native Forests
When Europeans arrived, what we now call Pennsylvanian was heavily forested, the woods broken by rivers, scattered wetlands, and small cleared areas housing villages. Popular telling would have it that Native Americans lived with the land in its primeval state, but that is not the case. Native American agriculture was complex, sophisticated, and involved carefully tending and cultivating the forest to their own ends. Fossil pollen and charcoal preserved in bogs and lakes all across the eastern woodlands tell us of the widespread use of forest fire by the Native Americans. With it, they managed vast acres of forest, creating open galleries of forest along river banks and cleared grasslands and fields for the cultivation of domesticated crops, such as beans, corn, and squash. What we think of as the “natural” landscape of Pennsylvania, oak and maple dominated forests are a product of that tradition of large-scale burning, which encouraged prized species, like oak and maple, and discouraged others.
Cutting Down the Trees
As European settlement moved west, they cut down the trees, and killed off much of the forest wildlife, especially large predators like wolves, in order to make room for farms, towns, and villages. Wood that wasn’t used as building material was often burned cavalierly, just to get it out of the way. The first trees to fall were those that made for the best lumber. Eastern white pines, with their tall, straight trunks were an early target. In the mid 1700s, white pine logs 120 feet long and 4 feet in diameter were routinely cut in the hills of northeastern Pennsylvania, lashed into huge rafts, and floated down the Delaware river to make masts for British ships. Next fell the Hemlocks, whose bark was used to tan leather. Oak and chestnut were felled to be burned into charcoal. An iron furnace required about 30,000 acres of forest to sustain it. Finally, there came the final phase, the so-called “Great Clearcut”. The railroad allowed loggers access to the interior of the state, far from the rivers that used to be needed to transport timber. Small railways criss-crossed the entire state; today those old rail beds for the basis of our network of hiking trails. By 1900, less than 32% of Pennsylvania was old-growth forest, down from 90-95% before colonization.
Clearcutting often led to fire, set by sparks from the railroad, flames spread quickly through the brush and slash left after logging. This devastation began the spark of conservatism that saved our remaining woods, and cares for them today. In 1895, Dr Joseph Rothrock became the Commissioner of the newly formed State Division of Forestry, and began to develop the system of forest reserves (now called state forests). Begun in 1897, by 1904, the system held about half a million acres. But forest recovery is slow work. Trees had to be planted by hand, and take decades to mature. And then came new threats.
In the early 1900s, the American Chestnut comprised almost 30% of Pennsylvania hardwoods. In addition to the tastiness of it’s nuts, American Chestnut is an important medicine plant, and spirit ally. In 1904, Philadelphia land owners noticed their chestnuts growing ill. In less than 20 years, the illness spread across the Eastern Woodlands, leaving American Chestnut almost extinct. Today, there are still very few large chestnuts; they’ve been nearly wiped out by a fungal infection called Chestnut Blight. The American Chestnut Cooperators Foundation, who works to breed blight-resistant trees, can provide more details on how you can help restore this beloved tree to our Eastern Woodlands. Gypsy moths, an invasive predator from Eurasia, reached our shores in the 1920s, and began eating our woodlands bare. Ironically, it was the Great Depression that did the most to conserve our woods. In the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration paid thousands of men to replant our forests, and to build trails, shelters, and other conservation work.
Our Modern Penn’s Sylvania
Only a few fragments of old growth forest remain, the largest is a Tionesta Scenic and Natural Area in Allegheny National Forest. And yet, the forest has returned, albeit in a new form. New-growth forest today covers about 59% of Pennsylvania, about 30% of it on public land. The people of our Commonwealth own more than four million acres of woods; 2.1 million acres of state forest, 270,000 acres in our state parks, and 1.4 million acres of State game lands. Additionally, the Allegheny National Forest, at about 500,000 acres, is the largest federal forest in the eastern woodlands. But, our woods are still under attack. In the 1990s, Pennsylvania had the most acidic rain in the country, causing widespread forest damage.
Invasive plants dispace our native ones, particularly Norway maple, Japanese knotweed, and autumn olive. Foreign pests and diseases, particularly wooly adelgid, which kills hemlocks, and Asian long-horned beetles, damage a wide variety of our native trees. Sadly, however, it is a native species which causes the most damage. White-tail deer, themselves a valued and beloved native of our woodlands, are one of the gravest threats to our woods. The clear-cutting of the late 1800s left our forests a deer’s paradise of brush and seedlings. Populations exploded. With their natural predators eliminated and hunting severely restricted, Pennsylvania’s forests now host historically unprecedented populations of up to sixty deer per square mile, more than 6 times as densely populated as when Europeans arrived in Pennsylvania. Deer are now the “lynchpin” species of our forests, dictating the composition of the ecosystem. They eat many species of shrubs, wildflowers, and other low-lying plants, after which the denuded forest floor is invaded by non-native species deer don’t like to eat. It is for this reason that I advocate a dramatic increase in deer hunting in PA. It would return the forest to a more natural state; with natural predators nearly gone, it falls to humans to pick up that task. It would bring more people into our beloved woods where they too will doubtless fall in love, bringing a large number of traditionally Republican voters into the environmentalist cause. Finally, it would decrease consumption of factory farmed meat; venison is delicious and healthy.
Posted by The Professor at 11:20 AM No comments:
She of Fruit and Thorn
Left: Hawthorn, Crataegus laevigata and Right: Blackthorn, Prunus spinoza
From Prof. Dr. Otto Wilhelm Thomé’s Flora von Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz 1885, Gera, Germany
Hawthorn and blackthorn are well known tree allies, and they play starring roles in much European folklore. Less known is the American-native, Blackhaw. When taken as a triumvirate, the three form a powerful spirit coterie. All three trees share a spiritual kinship with the Queen of Elfheim; Hawthorn the May Queen, Blackhaw the Mother of the Wood, and Blackthorn the Crone of the Forest. While it has become only a name for their fruit, “haw” began as an old English word for “hedge”, both in the literal sense of a bush planted at the edge of the property, and also as the liminal space between our world and the Other Place, and all three Mother Trees partake of this boundary place in different ways. She of Fruit and Thorn is a powerful tripartite ally for witches.
The three trees look very similar, although they are not as genetically related as once thought. All three are bushy shrubs or small trees with small berry-like fruits (called “haws”) and thorny branches. Their bark is smooth and gray (blackthorn’s is darker) when they are young, but becomes wrinkled with cracks as they age. They have small white flowers that bloom in profuse clusters early in the summer. These flowers attract clouds of bees, moths, butterflies, and other pollinators. Their fruits are bright red on hawthorn, and blue-black on blackhaw and blackthorn. These fruits are an important food source for wildlife, especially birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and mice. They overwinter on the tree, getting sweeter as they repeatedly freeze and thaw. Humans also eat the fruits, which taste a bit like cranberries and crabapples, often in the form of jellies and sauces. I have included some recipes at the end of the article.
Perhaps the most famous of the three, the hawthorn, is also called also the mayflower (after which the ship was named). Hawthorn is actually a wide variety of trees, all of the genus Crataegus. There are varieties native to Europe, Asia, and North America. Here, where I live in western Pennsylvania, the most common native varieties are the Pennsylvania hawthorn (which does not have thorns), the white hawthorn (the Missouri state flower), and the downy hawthorn (which blooms very early), although many other varieties, including the British-native common hawthorn are also widespread. Magically and spiritually, all varieties of hawthorn are more or less interchangeable, although, of course, not only does each individual species have its own totem, but every individual tree has its own personality.
Hawthorn’s abundant flowering branches are gathered by the handful across Britain, and used to decorate a variety of goddess-themed locales in early summer, including sacred wells and statues of Mary the Virgin. The famed Glastonbury Thorn, which blossoms in both summer and at Christmas time, is a variety of hawthorn, said to have sprung from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea, although the current tree is not that ancient one. The oldest tree in France, a hawthorn at Saint Mars sur la Futaie, was legendarily planted by St. Julien in the 3rd century. In his book The White Goddess, Robert Graves teaches that the Hawthorn was the great Goddess tree of pre-Christian Europe, although the scholarly bonafides of that theory leave something to be desired. What is, however, unquestionable, is Hawthorn’s association with the Other World across the continent. In the West of Europe it is said that the Hawthorn marks the entrance to Faerie, and it is considered extremely unlucky to cut the tree when it is not in bloom, or to bring hawthorn blooms into your home. They are of the wild, and inhabited by powerful spirits who do not abide being imprisoned within walls. In Eastern European myth, hawthorn is considered the best wood for vampire-slaying stakes. In the lore of the Chippewa people, hawthorn’s protective qualities are extolled. Once, Porcupine was being hunted by Bear. The clever Porcupine tied hawthorn branches to his back, and Bear was pricked all over by its thorns when he tried to take a bite. Nanabozho, a trickster god, is so impressed by Porcupine’s cleverness that he grants him thorns of his own, and that is how Porcupine came to have his quills.
Like the May Queen herself, Hawthorn is a powerful spirit ally, but one with whom all proper forms must be followed. Never cut a hawthorn which is not in bloom, and ask before taking flowers or fruit. Respect Hawthorn, and She will respect you. Hawthorn hedges planted around a home ensure that no malicious spirits can take up residence there, and encourage the favor of hobs and other helpful spirits. If you are lucky enough to have a hawthorn near your home, give it offerings of milk, honey,and fresh bread at regular intervals. This kindness will be repaid many-fold. The small thorns are excellent to use in love spells, where they can prick the hearts of lovers, as Cupid’s arrows might. The haws have long been used medicinally to treat high blood pressure and other ailments of the circulatory system, and they are just as good for magical healing of brokenheartedness. For this use, make a tincture of the haws, and anoint your heart with it daily. Hawthorn is an excellent wood for wands, and is a favored choice for hedge-riding brooms, although, personally, I prefer blackhaw for this.
Blackhaw, Viburnum prunifolium
From Duhamel du Monceau’s Traite des Arbres et Arbustes que l’on Cultive en France en Pleine Terre, 1801
Blackhaw, Viburnum prunifolium, is an amazing witch-plant native to the eastern United States, as far west as Illinois. Here in Pittsburgh, it grows as a bush, but further south it can grow into a small tree. Unlike hawthorn flowers, which can smell unpleasant, blackhaw flowers are sweetly fragrant, similar to honeysuckle (a distant cousin). In addition to being so pretty, blackhaw is an important healing plant, especially for women. It was traditionally used by First Nations healers for all sorts of women's health issues, including calming menstrual cramps, preventing miscarriage, speeding recovery from childbirth, and easing menopausal symptoms. Vance Randolph, in Ozark Magic and Folklore, says of it: “Blackhaw bark, according to the old folks, makes a tea that is useful in all sorts of ‘female complaints.’ It is good for scanty, irregular, or painful menstruation. Women going through the change of life consume large quantities of blackhaw bark, and this use of the stuff is so well known that there is a whole cycle of allegedly funny stories about it.” So powerful a preventer of miscarriage is blackhaw that is was often force-fed to enslaved women to prevent them from aborting (for which the women used the root and bark of the cotton plant). It is a powerful antispasmodic of the uterus, primarily due to the presence of scopoletin, which is a coumarin glycoside. HOWEVER, blackhaw also contains salicin (the same as aspirin is made of), which can sometimes cause birth defects. Pregnant or breastfeeding women should only take blackhaw after consulting with a medical professional competent in phytochemistry (such as a properly trained herbalist or naturopath).
Blackhaw is related to elderberry, and its spiritual nature bespeaks that kinship. Like Elder, Blackhaw is Mother of the Woods, and the spirits of the plants almost always appear in the form of a woman. Like the other Haw plants, blackhaw it is a hedge-plant. In the garden, Blackhaw is best used at the edges of your property, where its liminal character and sharp thorns provide a wall of protection. It is extremely easy to grow in its native East; tending to hedge-like thickets in the north and small trees in warmer climes. However, Blackhaw can be invasive in the west, and caution should be taken when planting it there. Mother Blackhaw is an excellent ally for hedge-riding and other forms of spirit journeying; ask her to teach you. In some parts, Blackhaw is sometimes referred to as “Wayfaring tree” although that name more properly belongs to the closely related European Viburnum lantana. I suspect it derives this name not only from its propensity to grow in roadside ditches, but also in acknowledgement that Mother Viburnum can help you find your way in the Other Places.
In the South, the dried roots of Blackhaw are sometimes called “Devil’s Shoestring”, but most often that name refers to Mother Blackhaw's cousin Viburnum alnifolium. The roots are most often used for protection spells. One way to use them in this way is to take nine roots, and bind them around with red or white string, making nine knots as you do. Bury the bundle near your front door, or hang it on the wall above a door. This use is strikingly similar to the European use of Blackthorn which, like Blackhaw, is called Mother of the Wood. You can also take that same bundle and soak it in whiskey or rum to make a cologne that brings luck to gamblers. The thorns of Mother Blackhaw can be used as pins to pierce poppets of your enemies, or as protective swords to keep trouble at bay. However, they are not as strong, large, or poisoned as those of Blackthorn (see below), and so I prefer those for such work.
The European cousin of blackhaw, Viburnum opulus, is called “guelder-rose” or “May Rose” in English and “Kalyna” in Ukrainian. The two plants are similar, but kalyna’s leaves are deeply lobed and the drupes are red instead of blue-black. Viburnum opulus is occasionally sold in America as an ornamental plant; please do not plant it, it is highly invasive, and displaced native species like blackhaw and highbush cranberry. Plant blackhaw, American highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) or a native hawthorn instead. Complicating this is the fact that highbush cranberry is sometimes labeled as guelder rose, and sometimes even labeled Viburnum opulus. Ask a knowledgeable local gardener to identify the plant if you cannot.
In Ukraine, the bright red drupes of Kalyna are a symbol of blood-ties, and so the kalyna tree is a symbol not only of the shared ancestry, but also the solidarity, of the Ukrainian people. Kalyna plays a very important role in Slavic paganism, and in modern Ukrainian culture. In myth, Kalyna, whose name comes from the old Slavic name for the Sun, are immortal world-trees, connecting our world to the Other Place, and birds that eat the berries can carry news to and from the beloved dead. In modern Ukrainian, the phrase “walking down the kalyna bridge” means to fall in love. Kalyna bushes are thought to grow on the graves of fallen heroes, whose spirit moves into the plant. However, it is also the virgin’s blood which is symbolized by the kalyna, which plays a prominent place is folk traditions surrounding weddings.. In Chervona Kalyna: and Ethnobotanical Study, it is theorized that kalyna thickets were gathering places during the summer solstice (Kupalo) festival. There, the young women wore wreaths of fresh kalyna flowers, and the young people spent the nights cavorting and pairing up. There are many Ukrainian folk tales about kalyna. Hers is one:
Once upon a time, there was a girl, who was in love with the blacksmith. However, the blacksmith did not even notice her. The girl grew desperate. She followed him, and discovered that each morning, he went into the forest, and gathered wood to feed his forge. The girl, in her madness, decided to burn down the forest, to capture the spirit of the blacksmith. And so she did. The next day, the blacksmith set forth, but found his favorite grove reduced to ashes, save for a single kalyna tree, beneath which sat the girl, weeping desolate tears. Seeing her amidst the white flowers, the blacksmith too fell in love, but it was too late. The spirits of the woods had hold of the girl, and there before his eyes her youth and beauty withered like the forest reduced to ash. Saturated with her bitterness, the kalyna berries were never sweet again.
Magically, Mother Blackhaw is a great ally, whose character is somewhat between Hawthorn and Blackthorn. She is a fierce protector of women and children, and an excellent intercessor in all types of necromantic work, but especially those with beloved ancestors.
Blackthorn (Prunus spinosa) has no variant native to the Americas, although it is naturalized in parts of the United States and Canada. It has bright red blood-like sap, large blue-black fruits called “sloes”, and long savage thorns. Wounds made by blackthorns are given to sepsis (blood poisoning), so be careful when you work with this plant! In Northwestern Europe, blackthorn is a quintessential hedge plant; it’s vicious thorns will even hold back stampeding cattle. In fact, if you imagine a fairytale hedge of thorns, like that in Sleeping Beauty, I assure you that the plant you are picturing is blackthorn. Blackthorn is an excellent protective ally, and is equally good for offensive work. The famed Irish fighting sticks called shillelaghs are made from blackthorn, as are many traditional blasting rods. Blackthorn are the traditional home of the Luantishees. Blackthorn are a winter plant; a cold snap in early spring is called, in traditional British English, “blackthorn winter”, and in Irish myth, winter begins when the Cailleach strikes the ground with her blackthorn staff.
Blackthorn is a witch ally par excellance; blackthorn walking staves are an important traditional tool in traditional witchcraft, and the blackthorn stang is the tool of choice for many curses. Perhaps the most classical magical use of blackthorn is using the thorns to pierce poppets of enemies, or even pieces of paper upon which the enemy's name is written. Like blackhaw, blackthorn bundles are tied with red thread and hung above doorways as protective amulets. At Mastros & Zealot: Witches for Hire, one of our best sellers is protective witch bottles made with blackthorns. To make one yourself, start with a small, tightly sealing bottle, into which you should place three blackthorn thorns, some ground dragon’s blood resin, several dried blackhaw drupes or elderberries, chips of golden rutilated quartz (whose long golden “hairs” ensnare curses), small mirror shards, a few small blue glass “evil eye” beads, some sloe gin, and whatever else feels right to you. Top the bottle off with your own urine. If desired, you can also include a small figurine of a dragon (which can be found in the toy section of many dollar stores). As you add each item, speak to it, awakening the spirit within and charging it to protect your home. It is best to do this work on a Saturday when the moon is waxing. Give your bottle a name. Place the bottle near your gate or door, and whisper hello and goodbye to it by name as you go past, and thank it for keeping you safe.
Heartwarming Tea
1 Tbsp hawthorn haws
1 Tbsp rosehips
2 inches cinnamon stick
Simmer about 15 minutes in clean water, and then strain. Add honey to taste.
Blackhaw Sauce
2 oranges, sliced thin and de-seeded
4 cups blackhaw drupes, cleaned and de-stemmed
Garam masala spice mix to taste (if unavailable, use pumpkin pie spice and add some black pepper)
Simmer orange slices until soft. Crush berries with a fork or potato masher (NOT a blender), and strain to remove seeds. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Simmer over very low heat until thick. Excellent with poultry, beef, or venison, or anywhere cranberry sauce would be used. Will keep refrigerated for about 2 weeks. You can also make this recipe with hawthorn berries or blackthorn sloes.
1 lb fresh blackthorn sloes.
1 cup superfine sugar (or put regular sugar through a coffee grinder)
1 liter gin in a glass bottle
another clean 1 liter glass bottle
Not traditional: I like to add cloves, cinnamon, and orange peel as well.
If your sloes are dried, soak them until they’ve plumped up. Put the sloes in the freezer until they are frozen hard, and then let them defrost at room temperature. This will sweeten them, and also crack the skin, making it easier for the gin to penetrate. Pour approximately half the gin into the other bottle. Add the sugar, half to each bottle, and shake well to dissolve. Add the sloes, until the bottles are as full as can be. Store somewhere dark and cool, shaking the bottle every few days for the first week, and then once a week (on Saturdays is magically ideal) for several months. If made at the time of the Autumn Equinox (as is traditional) the gin will be ready at Christmas, but the longer it soaks, the better, and redder, it will be.
Cornish Adventure, Part One: Getting There is Half...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717907
|
__label__wiki
| 0.851836
| 0.851836
|
Irina Shayk, Russian Modeling Legend
Irina Shayk.
So, how would you go from a small, isolated mining town in the middle of Russia to become one of the most sought-after women in the world, on the arm of the biggest stars of England and the United States who any girls her age would love to be with?
Well, to be truthful, I don't know. Going from the middle of nowhere to the top of the world is pretty tough to do.
But we have here someone who does know how to do that, because, well, she's done it: Irina Shayk.
Irina was born Irina Valeryevna Shaykhlislamova on 6 January 1986 in Yemanzhelinsk, Russia.
If you can pronounce all that correctly, you must be Russian. Now say it three times in a row!
She says it is about three hours from Moscow. I'll take her word for it, so is Chernobyl.
Irina is the daughter of a Tatar coal miner. She says she got her looks from him. She has a married older sister.
Irina participated in the "Miss Chelyabinsk 2004" beauty contest, against the daughters of other coal miners. Did she win? What do you think?
Winning the contest got Irina her start, but she says it really began when a manager at a model school spotted her.
Irina went to Paris and says she had a hard time there, but then moved to New York and things took off.
By 2007, Irina was in the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was in the SI Swimsuit Issue straight through 2014.
Irina has been the face of Intimissimi for three years, becoming the official ambassador for the brand in 2010.
Irina has done some acting in music videos, such as Kanye West's "Power." She also appeared as Megara in Dwayne Johnson's 2014 film "Hercules."
Irina's Labrador is named Caesare, after Julius Caesar. She says it is the result of an affair by one of the dogs in "Marley & Me."
Irina has done some catalog work for Victoria's Secret. She also was in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2016. However, that's not what she is most famous for.
Irina dated the man whom many consider the top football (soccer) player in the entire world, Cristiano Ronaldo. They were together from 2010 to 2015. If you live in Europe, there are few celebrity men that a pretty young lady would want to be with.
Heading a little further west after that, Irina hooked up with Bradley Cooper. If you don't know who Bradley Cooper is, well, look him up. If anything, he's even a better catch than Ronaldo.
Irina is very philanthropic and works with a maternity hospital in her hometown in that place that's hard to pronounce. She also raises money for Pomogi, a charity for sick children.
Naturally, Irina has been on a lot of covers, which include but certainly are not limited to:
April Vogue Germany
February Vogue Arabia, Vogue Arabia
January Beauty & Marlin
December Vogue Italy
October Vogue Mexico
September Harper's Bazaar Serbia, Harper's Bazaar Serbia, Harper's Bazaar USA
August Vogue Spain
May Vogue Germany
March Vogue Japan, Vogue Russia
February S Moda
January Vogue Brazil, Vogue Brazil
Or, you can do it by country:
Brazil: Vogue Brazil - February 2017
Japan: 'Vogue Japan' - January 2017
Russia: 'Tatler' - February 2011; 'Cond� Nast Traveller' - April 2012; 'Marie Claire' - April 2012; 'Cosmopolitan' - June 2012; 'Glamour' - July 2012; 'Grazia' - July 2012; 'GQ' - August 2013; 'Allure' - September 2013
Saudi Arabia: 'Harper's Bazaar' - March 2012
South Africa: 'GQ' - August 2010; 'FHM' - March 2012
Spain: 'Woman' - July 2005; 'Woman' - June 2009; 'Elle' - November 2010; 'GQ' - December 2010; 'Glamour' - January 2011; 'DT' - February 2011; 'Ragazza' - May 2011; 'Cosmopolitan' - June 2011; 'Yo Dona' - July 2011; 'Elle' - December 2011; 'Marie Claire' - March 2012; 'Man' - March 2012; 'Cosmopolitan' - May 2012; 'S Moda' - May 2012; 'DT' - March 2013; 'Vogue' - November 2013
Switzerland: 'Bolero' - June 2005
Turkey: 'Esquire' - March 2012; 'Cosmopolitan' - May 2012
UK: 'Esquire' - February 2012; 'The Sunday Times Style' - June 24 2012
Ukraine: 'Harper's Bazaar' - May 2012; 'Marie Claire' - May 2012
US: 'Ocean Drive' - July/August 2010; 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' - 2011; 'Twelv' - November 2012; 'Vs.' - Spring/Summer 2013
Really, it doesn't matter how you do it - that's a lot of top covers.
Irina says that she gets mistaken a lot for having Latin blood, which perhaps accounts for all those covers in Spain.
Irina is sometimes known as Irina Sheik, but her real name is... ok, we won't go into that again. But it isn't Sheik. It's Shayk...
Irina is much better known in Russia, where she hosted "Russia's Top Model."
Irina was the placard bearer for the Russian team at the opening ceremony for the 2014 Olympics.
Irina has appeared on the Russian television show "Evening Urgent." She also has done the usual chat shows in the US, such as David Letterman, Chelsea Lately and Craig Ferguson.
Irina has done some video work, too, appearing in "Need for Speed: The Run" in 2011.
Like other international beauties, Irina makes the "sexiest girl" lists. She has been, for instance, named "The Sexiest Girl in the World" by a Spanish magazine. She made #10 in the 2011 FHM List of the "100 Sexiest Women in the World." It is usually difficult to rank highly on the FHM list if you aren't an American actress or singer, so it was quite an honor to make the top ten.
Oh, Irina also made #4 on Maxim Magazine's 2014 "Hot 100" list.
Irina Shayk, Vogue Japan, March 2017.
Irina was the cover model for the 2011 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Irina was born in the old Soviet Union, so technically she was raised as a communist.
Glamour Spain named Irina as the "Best International Model of 2010." They call it Mejor Modelo Internacional" over there.
Irina does not model nude; she says that any pictures of her nude have been digitally altered.
A Hungarian magazine named Irina "Sexiest Woman in the World." Since she had to beat out hometown beauty and international modeling superstar Barbara Palvin to do that, it was quite an honor.
The two, Irina and Barbara, are said to be good friends and they probably had a laugh about it. A lot of admirers would choose one of these two beauties as the prettiest girl in the world, and that ain't beanbag.
Irina posted this makeup-free self-portrait to her Instagram account.
Irina is the L'Oréal Paris International Spokesperson since October 2015.
Irina was the first Russian to appear on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Bradley Cooper and Irina have a daughter, Lea De Seine Shayk Cooper. Lea was born at 7:49 a.m. on Tuesday, March 21, 2017, in Los Angeles.
You can catch more photos of the lovely Irina Shayk on her Instagram account.
Labels: 2011 Sports Illustrated, 2014 Olympics, Barbara Palvin, Bradley Cooper, Cristiano Ronaldo, Hercules, Intimissimi, Irina Shayk, Megara, Miss Chelyabinsk 2004, Need for Speed: The Run, Russia, Russia's Top Model
Nina Agdal, Danish Delight
Nina Agdal. Nina Agdal is a Danish (Hillerød, Denmark) fashion model who is one of the most recognizable faces in the world....
Tricia Helfer, Out-of-this-World Beauty
Tricia Helfer Is An Out-Of-This-World Beauty Tricia Helfer. She likes cats. She refuses to answer how many cats she has. Apparently, ...
Ingrid Seynhaeve, Trump Protege
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717908
|
__label__wiki
| 0.769444
| 0.769444
|
Video Message
About Steve Emmert
Newly Amended Rules
VA Supreme Court Deadlines
Appellate Essays
SCV Opinion & Analysis
SCV Unpublished Orders
CAV Opinion & Analysis
4th Cir. Opinion & Analysis
Appellate Updates
Benignitas
Want to receive notifications
of new posts? Here's how.
Receive email notifications for new posts
If you'd like to receive a short e-mail to notify you when I post fresh content on the website, enter your preferred e-mail address in the box below and click "submit."
Please note that, just like the addresses on my mailing lists, I will never disclose your address to anyone and will not reveal who has asked for these notifications.
FOURTH CIR. OVERTURNS MOTORCYCLE DEALER STATUTE
On Friday, the Fourth Circuit struck down a Virginia statute aimed at curbing the creation of new motorcycle dealer franchises in the Commonwealth. The decision in Yamaha Motor Corp. USA v. Jim’s Motorcycle, Inc . reverses a district court’s finding in favor of the statue’s constitutionality. The appellate court determined that the statute, which allowed any dealer anywhere in the Commonwealth to protest the award of a new dealership selling the same brand (here, Yamahas), would “[turn] Virginia into an island of economic protectionism.”
On Tuesday, a split panel of the Court of Appeals affirmed the use of victim impact testimony relating to a charge of which the defendant had been acquitted. In Rock v. Commonwealth , the defendant was charged with murder, conspiring to commit robbery, and several other offenses. The jury convicted him only of the conspiracy charge, apparently finding that Rock was not present when the robbery and murder had taken place. (Other participants pleaded guilty to murder charges arising out of the crimes.)
THIS WEEKS SCV WRITS GRANTED
The Supreme Court announced this week the grant of writs in nine cases, covering diverse areas of Virginia law.
In the field of water rights, the court granted writs in two cases from the Court of Appeals and one from a trial court, all of which are likely to be consolidated for the purposes of appeal. The cases all involve the ongoing dispute over the plans by the City of Newport News to draw water from areas that are claimed by the Mattaponi Indian Tribe. One of the more interesting assignments of error has historical as well as legal significance: “The trial court erred when it held that the Tribes claims arising under the 1677 Treaty at Middle Plantation arise under Virginia, rather than federal, law.” In 1677 (the date is not a misprint), there was a Virginia, but there clearly was no United States. The court will thus be called upon to determine how an unborn nation, as contrasted with a colony, can “enter into” a treaty with a sovereign state.
The court also granted writs in two companion cases that apparently arise out of the same trial court proceeding. The assignments of error in State Farm v. Remley and Griffin v. Remley contend that a defendant in a personal injury case was misled by the plaintiffs lawyers, as a result of which he did nothing to defend the case. That led to a default judgment, from which both the named defendant and the (presumably underinsured motorist) insurance carrier appeal. The assignments of error allege nothing less than fraud by the plaintiffs attorney, so the cases merit attention by those who litigate tort cases.
The court agreed to hear a new case on tortious interference with contract expectancy, in Burgess & Associates v. Dyncorp, Inc. At trial, a jury had ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Burgess, but the trial judge set the verdict aside and entered judgment in favor of Dyncorp. Dyncorp, as the prevailing party below, would ordinarily be in a good position on appeal, but the posture of the case (a verdict that was set aside) actually favors Burgess. In such cases, the appellate courts view the evidence in the light most favorable to the party who got the verdict, so Dyncorp will have to persuade the Supreme Court that there was no credible evidence to support the verdict.
In Honesty v. P&H Investments, a personal injury case, the court granted a writ to review the trial courts admission of evidence of the plaintiffs former alcohol problem. The plaintiff/appellant argues that since the problem “had resolved prior to the accident,” it was not relevant at trial.
Two other writs were granted, in Ellis v. Simmons (a prescriptive easement case arising in Bedford County) and Zoning Admr v. Cox Ltd. Pship (in which the court will decide issues relating to injunctions and Circuit Court jurisdiction).
The timing of these grants means the cases will likely be calendared for oral argument no sooner than June, and more likely in the fall, with decisions released at the ensuing session of the court.
At the sentencing phase of the trial, the court permitted family members of the murder victim to testify pursuant to the victim impact statute, Code §19.2-11.01(A)(4)(a). Rock objected, contending that he had been acquitted of murder, so the family members were not among the “victims” identified by the statute.
The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s ruling on two grounds. First, it determined that, the murder acquittal notwithstanding, Rock was properly held to be responsible for the entire series of events, since he had planned the robbery. It found that the family members fit within the parameters of victims who had a statuory right to testify at trial. Second, and independently, it found that even if the witnesses were not afforded the right to testify, the trial court had the discretion to permit it anyway.
In dissent, Judge Benton argues that the statute does not include the family members within the class of “victims” who have a right to testify at sentencing. He parses the language of the statute, and finds that the murder was not the “direct result” of Rock’s planning the robbery. He also distinguishes the discretionary admission of evidence in this case from the evidence properly adduced in capital murder cases, relied upon by the majority. In those cases, a finding of future dangerousness is one prong of the analysis for imposition of the death penalty. But here, he reasons, such evidence can only serve to inflame the jurors’ passions and inspire sympathy with the victim’s family.
← Double Jeopardy Bars DUI 2nd Charge Assigning Error to the Wrong Ruling →
Virginia Appellate News & Analysis © 2005 – 2015
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717910
|
__label__wiki
| 0.599382
| 0.599382
|
Latvia Come from Behind against Norway to Grab 5th Place in Extra Time
The morning 5th place game offered two completely different halves. The first one featured only Norwegian goals, the second one was under Latvian control. The Baltic players defended fiercely and relied on fast breakaways and the excellent goalie Visnevska. The Norwegians worked very hard for every goal and in the second half of the game they were unable to convert their chances. They opened several gaps in their defence and that was decisive.
Norway started the game more actively and Visnevska had to show a great save in the 2nd minute already. On the other hand, the first Latvian chance came as late as in the 6th minute. And when Diana Isjomina appeared alone in front of the goalie Holt and didn't score, the Norwegians punished their opponents' poor finishing. Kristine Naess scored from Elisabeth Torp's pass.
Another interesting spell of the match came between the 14th and 16th minute. First, Norway wasted two great opportunities in the 14th minute, but third time they succeeded and Marianne Nadim increased the lead to 2:0. In the 16th minute players on both sides hit the post and with 24 seconds left in the opening period the Latvians wasted yet another clear opportunity. Early in the second period Lena Sundvik made use of a Latvian blunder at the centre of the court and after two quick passes she increased the lead to 3:0. But then the Norwegians were followed by bad luck and started wasting clear goal-scoring opportunities. And thus at 33:00 Edite Bankava started the Latvian pursuit. And shortly before the end of the second period Luize Bilinska hit the crossbar.
In the third period the image of the game didn't change. Norwegian players tried to control the ball, but their pressure was toothless. So, after quick plays in the 9th and 17th minute Latvia tied the score. What is more, in the 18th minute Edite Bankava appeared alone in the crease and wasted her opportunity to punish Charlotte Holt's mistake and send the ball into the empty net. The match, therefore, went into extra time.
Norwegian players were apparently more nervous, but it seemed we would witness a penalty shoot-out for the first time in the tournament. However, Edite Bankava was against this. With 22 seconds left in the extra time she sent a perfect pass to Liga Garklava and started Latvian celebrations.
“We don't know what happened in the second half of the game,” the Norwegian captain Anette Berg said after the match with tears in her eyes (full video here). “We played good games against the top 4 teams and we can only regret today's failure,” the Norwegian coach Patric Jonsson added (interview here). On the other hand, the Latvian Baiba Jurusa was excited: “We wanted to show we have what it takes to win. We tried to block as many shots as possible and we were successful,” she evaluated the last game at her ninth World Championships (full interview here).
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717912
|
__label__cc
| 0.615037
| 0.384963
|
Elia, Belgium’s electricity transmission system operator>Elia>Transmission tariffs
Elia’s tariffs, which are approved and monitored by the Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation (CREG), are among the lowest in Europe.
The transmission tariffs that Elia applies are regulated tariffs. In other words, they are approved and monitored by the Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation (CREG).
These tariffs comprise:
tariffs for connecting to the grid;
tariffs for developing and managing the grid infrastructure;
tariffs for operating the electricity system;
tariffs for offsetting imbalances;
tariffs for market integration.
Levies are applied on top of the tariffs, with a view to covering the costs Elia incurs performing the duties involved in its public service remit or other duties imposed by legislation or regulations and which do not relate to its operations as a transmission system operator.
Current tariffs
New tariffs came into force in January 2016. You can also find extra information in the Products & Services section on the pages:
Imbalance tariffs
Elia’s tariffs in the electricity bill
According to information published by the Commission for Electricity and Gas Regulation, the share of transmission tariffs in residential customers’ bills is currently between around 3% and 6%.
Elia’s tariffs among the lowest in Europe
Comparative studies carried out by the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E) confirm that Elia’s tariffs are among the lowest in Europe.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717916
|
__label__wiki
| 0.932645
| 0.932645
|
南宁桑拿,南宁夜生活,南宁桑拿会所
Powered By Yedict!
南宁桑拿
Green-Tregaro makes colourful statement on gay law
Posted on: 16/07/2019 by: admin
The controversial legislation, which was passed in June, outlaws the promotion of homosexuality and has become a political hot potato ahead next year’s Sochi Winter Olympics, when it will apply to athletes and spectators.
“It felt right,” Green-Tregaro told reporters, showing them her brightly coloured nails painted in red, yellow, gold, blue and purple.
“I wouldn’t say it was a protest more of a statement of what I think,” said the 28-year-old, adding she knew of one more Swedish athlete who had done it, 200 metres runner Moa Hjelmer.
Green-Tregaro, who qualified for Saturday’s final, got the idea after seeing a rainbow over Moscow shortly after her arrival in the Russian capital for the championships at Luzhniki stadium.
“When I first came to Moscow, the first thing I saw when I opened the curtains was a rainbow over Moscow and I thought that was a pretty good sign,” the 2005 world bronze medallist said.
“I hadn’t thought about it before then I decided to paint my nails. I usually do my nails in something that feels good for me and it was a simple way of showing what I think.”
World 800 metres silver medallist Nick Symmonds was more vocal in his criticism of the law in a blog for Runner’s World magazine earlier this month.
“These laws, which do not expressly prohibit being homosexual, criminalise public discussion of homosexuality, especially with foreigners,” he said.
“As an American, I believe in freedom of speech and equality for all, and therefore disagree with the laws that Russia has put in place.”
Foreign competitors and spectators in Sochi next year will have to abide by the law banning “gay propaganda”, which has led to some to call for a boycott of the Games.
Critics of the law have said it effectively disallows all gay rights rallies and could be used to prosecute anyone voicing support for homosexuals.
Last week, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it had sought clarification from Russia on how the law would be applied.
(Editing by John O’Brien)
Ricardo’s Business> ANZ calls August rate rise
<meta name="ProgId" content="Word.
He’s the first major economist to make the call, following yesterday’s inflation data, which showed underlying inflation edging at the high end of the RBA’s target band of 2 to 3 per cent.
Mr Hogan says a small upward adjustment to interest rates now could well save the Australian economy from a painful series of hikes in 2012.
In fact, if indeed we do see a rate rise next week, ANZ doesn’t expect another increase until mid-2012.
The bank notes, the most likely factor that could keep the RBA on hold in August would be a significant deterioration in the US debt situation.
The RBA however, meets a few hours before the August 2nd deadline, for the US to agree on a new debt plan.
It comes as AMP Capital Chief Economist, Shane Oliver said today, that the latest CPI data shouldn’t be enough to warrant a move on interest rates because of the uncertainties surrounding the global economy, weak household demand and the strong Australian dollar. Instead, he believes the most likely outcome, is an extended period of rates on hold.
What makes this story so interesting, is that a fortnight ago, Bill Evans, the Global Head of Economics at Westpac, and interestingly Warren Hogan’s old boss ten years ago, made the brave call that the next interest rate move would be down.
Following Westpac’s Consumer Sentiment survey which pointed to a dramatic fall in confidence, Mr Evans predicted the RBA would cut interest rates four times by the September quarter of next year, starting with a 25 basis point cut in December.
The RBA will announce its decision at 230pm AEST on Tuesday.
Demons up for the challenge of rising Suns
Despite two losses with a margin totalling 159 points, including giving Greater Western Sydney their first win of the AFL season, Melbourne Demons coach Neil Craig says they’re approaching their clash with Gold Coast with optimism.
The Demons travel to Metricon Stadium to meet the Suns on Saturday night, continuing their battle with GWS to avoid the wooden spoon.
They will do so without star forward Chris Dawes who has failed to overcome a calf injury.
Given a 122-point hiding by North Melbourne, interim coach Craig said there were enough signs in their 37-point loss to the Giants to suggest they could challenge the rising Suns.
Bookmakers don’t agree, rating Demons a $6.25 chance of victory.
“The North Melbourne performance was really poor, one of the most disappointing losses for the year,” Craig said.
“The GWS one needs to be kept in perspective.
“It’s more the fact that GWS is two years of age as a club and hadn’t won a game but in reality, the playing groups in terms of their profiles are not dissimilar.
“I was more disappointed with the North game.”
Craig pointed to statistics like his side still being in the game at three-quarter time, solid contested ball and stoppage work and improved ball movement as positive signs.
He lamented their costly unforced error count and inability to challenge GWS in the final term.
“Some of the football that GWS has played is very, very good.
“It’s disrespectful to GWS to say no-one should beat you.”
Craig said it was important for players to continue to give their all until the final round of the competition.
“We need to play the season right out irrespective of scoreboard or circumstance and that’s the path we will go down.
“We’re not interested in people who are putting the cue in the rack.”
The Demons are considering giving young tall defender Troy Davis his AFL debut after some consistent performances in the VFL.
Craig still hadn’t made a decision about whether he wanted to apply for the role on a permanent basis.
He said he was still waiting to see if he fulfilled the yet-to-be announced criteria of coach that the Demons board was looking for.
Tommy Danielson wins Tour of Utah
American Tommy Danielson won the Tour of Utah on Sunday, despite finishing third behind Spain’s Francisco Macebo in the sixth stage.
Danielson, riding for Garmin-Sharp, finished with an overall time of 23 hours, 5 minutes, 45 seconds. He was second Saturday in the fifth stage.
The difference for Danielson ended up being the final climb over Empire Pass. He left nothing to chance, breaking away from the Peloton at the start of the climb and creating a large enough time gap to give himself a cushion on the descent into Park City.
Danielson calculated the risk of burnout from pushing so hard early in the climb. He kept a steady pace to the top to position himself for the overall win.
“I knew that the climb was suited well to me – being steep like that for a long time and at altitude,” Danielson said. “So I knew I had to take everyone to their limits, including myself, and try to get away at the bottom.”
Macebo, riding for 5-Hour Energy, earned the stage victory after catching Danielson and passing him on the final 3 kilometres. Macebo crossed the finish line in 3:12:52.
He led for most of the race after joining an initial group of 15 riders that broke out in front. Macebo stayed strong even as others in the group faded away in the Wasatch Mountains.
“I hit the climb and tried to find my own pace without getting too nervous,” Macebo said through a translator. “I wanted to be focused on my own pace more than any gap or any descent with the rest of the guys.”
Colombia’s Janier Alexis Acevedo, riding for Jamis-Hagens Berman, finished a bike-length behind Macebo.
Danielson placed 4 seconds behind the winner after leading for 5 miles when he overtook Macebo on Empire Pass.
Chris Horner, the overall leader after the fifth stage, finished second overall – 1:29 behind Danielson. Acevedo’s strong finish boosted him to third, 1:37 behind Danielson. American Lucas Euser was fourth at 2:02 back, and countryman Matthew Busche finished fifth at 2:06 back.
Australian sprinter Michael Matthews claimed two stage victories during the Tour.
Malaria concerns over Manus asylum plans
The federal government has been criticised for not ruling out sending pregnant women and children to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea to have their asylum applications processed, despite them being put at risk from malaria.
Critics say young children and pregnant women can’t be treated with anti-malarial drugs.
Murray Silby reports.
The federal government has staked its political credibility in relation to the asylum seeker issue on its regional settlement arangement with Papua New Guinea.
Under the arangement, all asylum seekers to arrive by boat will be sent to Papua New Guinea for their applications to be processed and if found to be refugees they will be settled in PNG, not in Australia.
The government says that might include pregnant women and children.
Australian Greens’ leader Christine Milne says that would expose them to potentially fatal consequencs.
“We’ve had health experts telling the government that children under five and pregnant women should not take anti-malarial drugs. That in children they (the drugs) can cause kidney failure, pscychiatric disturbance and in pregnant women they can cause miscarriage. The government knew that eight months ago and yet they sent women to Manus Island, six have come back pregnant women, three of them have miscarried.”
Immigration Minister Tony Burke says by not ruling out sending women and children to Manus Island, he’s actually taking the compassionate approach.
“If for example, I carved out children of a particular age, it would take about a fortnight before we saw boatloads of children of that age being pushed across the Indian Ocean and that is not a compassionate way to behave. So my policy principle is that people, everyone will end up being sent offshore, but they will be sent at a time that I am confident they are safe, that their accommodation is appropriate and that services are appropriate.”
But that claim is challenged by ChilOut, a lobby group that campaigns for the release of children from detention centres.
ChilOut campaign director Sophie Peer says Mr Burke’s claim is wrong.
“It’s simply not true. There’s no evidence to suggest that that would be the case. It’s just false to suggest to the Australian public that there are tens of thousands of women and children sitting on the shores of Indonesia or Malaysia waiting to jump on a boat if Australia starts having a humane policy. The boat journey is undertaken by very few people. It is a very risky journey regardless of the end place of detention or place of freedom. It’s still a journey that very few will undertake, regardless of what Australia does.”
Sophie Peer says local Manus Island women and children are themselves living with the dangers of malaria.
“Absolutely. It’s a dire health situation and if Australia is talking about being a regional leader, absolutely there is a serious malarial concern on Manus Island. It’s one of the worst places in the world for malaria and absolutely, the local children and women and the whole population are exposed to health risks and why Australia should knowingly add to that asylum seeker women and children is just beyond comprehension.”
Head of the Department of Social Sciences and International Studies at Curtin University Alexey Muraviev is also critical of the Labor government policy.
Dr Muraviev says the number of asylum seekers trying to reach Australia is only likely to increase, as the world goes through what he describes as an “era of global desperation”.
“We can only imagine how we would respond if this trend of desperate people trying to make their way to safety would increase five-10 fold. I think we would find ourselves in a hopeless situation and no Pacific solution, no PNG solution, no Malaysia solution will help us to deter organised criminal syndicates that engage in people smuggling or try to convince people that Australia will not accommodate them as what government is trying to sell now.”
Dr Muraviev also criticises the Coalition’s policy, which provides for a senior military officer to head a new multi-agency taskforce that would try to stop asylum seekers reaching Australia by boat.
“I think we’re just going in circles and trying to achieve a breakthrough by adopting half measures. The position also talked about using UAVs, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, as a cost affective form of protecting our, or surveilling and policing our maritime borders. I don’t think it’s a matter of who is going to have jurisdiction over the border protection. Although I think it should really be Customs and Border Protection Command, not the Navy.”
Falklands says "yes" to remaining British
The residents of the Falkland Islands have voted overwhelmingly in a referendum in favour of remaining a British overseas territory.
Only three votes out of more than 1500 were cast against the motion.
However, Argentina has rejected the vote as a meaningless publicity stunt.
Santilla Chingaipe has the details.
The referendum was held over two days following pressure from Argentina over its claims to the islands, 31 years after the Falklands War with the Britain.
“Do you wish the Falkland Islands to retain their current political status as an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom?”
Residents were then simply required to respond with a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote.
Chief referendum officer, Keith Padgett, says voter turnout was high among the 1,649 Falklands-born and long-term residents registered to vote.
“The total number of votes publicly cast in the referendum was 1,517. The percentage of turnout for the referendum was 92 per cent. The number of ‘yes’ votes cast was 1,513, which represents 98.8 per cent.”
Britain has held the Falklands since 1833 but Buenos Aires maintains that the islands are occupied Argentinian territory.
Diplomatic tension between Britain and Argentina has flared up again, more than three decades since they went to war over the South Atlantic archipelago.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner has dismissed the referendum result.
Ms Kirchner says it will not affect Argentina’s claims on the Falklands, which it calls Las Malvinas.
But British Prime Minister David Cameron has urged Argentina to respect the wishes of the islanders.
“The Falkland Islands may be thousands of miles away, but they are British through and through, that is how they want to stay and people should know we will always be there to defend them. I think the most important thing about this result is that we believe in self-determination and the Falkland Islanders have spoken so clearly about their future, and now other countries right across the world, I hope, will respect and revere this very, very clear result.”
Meanwhile, the United States has refused once again to take sides in the dispute over the islands.
However, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says the US has noted the overwhelming yes vote by Falkland Islanders to remain a British territory.
“The residents have clearly expressed their preference for a continued relationship with the United Kingdom. That said, we obviously recognise that there are competing claims. Our formal position has not changed. We recognize the de facto UK administration of the islands, but we take no position on sovereignty claims.”
Residents of the islands welcomed the vote with enthusiasm in the capital, Port Stanley.
One of those was Neville Haywood, who told the BBC he hopes the result will allow the Falklands to be accepted on the international stage.
“Probably not Argentina, but maybe the rest of the world needs to start looking at it and thinking differently.”
End of parity: Experts say A$ heading south
That’s good news for exporters, but bad news for Australian travellers.
The sudden decline follows speculation the US Federal Reserve may be winding down its bond buying program.
That essentially means, America’s central bank will be pumping less cash into the economy.
Economics 101 would say less cash, means less supply, bumping up demand. The greenback rises.
Technical reasons can also be applied, particularly as the US currency pushed through the 100 yen barrier, which also had an impact on the Australian dollar.
Commodity prices have also been weakening of late, and some traders would argue some shorting of the Australian dollar has also seen it fall.
But most of you, especially those planning a holiday in the Northern Hemisphere in the coming months really just want to know, where the currency is going.
So, I asked some of my contacts at the close of trade on Friday, for their take.
Generally speaking, most say there is scope for the Australian dollar to flirt with US parity in the short term, but they’re pretty unanimous that the future direction of the Australian dollar versus the greenback, and that’s down.
Chris Gore – GO Markets
“We have fair value sitting just above parity, around US$1.01. We’ve seen a material fall from the Aussie and a large part of this weakness we can attribute to a recalibration of stimulus expectations in the US. In short we think this change in QE expectations may be a tad premature and expect the A$ to regain some composure in the short term. We do however believe the local unit has a home below parity and expect to see a larger leg lower by year end, around US$0.95 in Q4.”
Shane Oliver – AMP Capital
“In the short term it looks like it’s heading down to $US0.95/0.96, which is the the bottom of range it has been in since 2011. Over the medium term it’s likely headed even lower. Commodity prices are now in a downtrend as mining supply pick up and Chinese growth has slowed a bit and the RBA is likely to cut interest rates further. As a result the overvaluation that has been apparent in terms of purchasing power parity measures is likely to be unwound. So it wouldn’t surprise me to see it fall below $US0.90 in the year ahead.”
Warren Hogan – ANZ
“It may go back to parity in the next few months but it is now past its peak. It will certainly be lower by the end of the year and we expect the down move to extend through 2014. It could go as low as the mid-80s.”
Stephen Koukoulas – Market Economics
“I see it at US$0.94 cents, reverting to fair value, meaning the level of commodity prices or terms of trade.”
Peter Maguire – PBM Commodities
“A$ looks like it has more room to move to the downside and our RBA may continue to drop rates over the coming months. If you’re heading to the USA over the coming months it may be prudent to exchange for US$ at around 98.5. It could very well be sub 96 by July”
Chris Weston – IG Markets
“Short term it could rally back to US$0.99 as it’s oversold and Bernanke will reiterate a dovish stance on Wednesday night. I’d sell into it though as medium term it will trade down to US$0.95 and lower longer term. The Federal Reserve won’t cut asset purchases until late 2013, early 2014, and the RBA will keep cutting. Foreigners are not buying the same level of Aussie bonds and there is news today that the Japanese are turning to Mexico rather than Australia.”
Craig James – CommSec
“We see the Aussie back to US$1.03 by September. The Federal Reserve won’t be lifting interest rates for some time, the US still has major budget issues to address and the Aussie is well supported by solid Australian economic fundamentals including a AAA rating.”
Rob Henderson – NAB
“The Aussie is now oversold on the downside and is below fair value at around parity. Medium-term we see it lower. Our forecasts for the end of this year is US$0.98, mid-2014 US$0.96 and end of 2014 US$0.94. But the story for 2014 will be that of a stronger US dollar against all currencies.”
Geale loses IBF title on split decision
A split second and a split decision cost Daniel Geale his world boxing title in his US debut.
Stricken Englishman Darren Barker barely beat the referee’s 10 count after being poleaxed by a vicious Geale left to the body in the sixth round.
But somehow he recovered to lift the IBF middleweight crown, extending his country’s great run of sporting success over Australians in 2013.
One judge scored the fight in Atlantic City 114-113 to Geale, but the other two had Barker ahead 114-113 and 116-111.
Promoter Gary Shaw admitted he was stunned that the resilient Barker, looking in tremendous pain, was able to beat referee Eddie Cotton’s count and he backed Geale to win another world crown.
“That was a vicious liver shot, I was really shocked that Barker survived it,” Shaw told AAP.
Geale 32 (29-2, 15 KOs) tried furiously to finish the job immediately, tagging the challenger with some more shots and a stoppage looked imminent.
But Barker, 31, (26-1, 16 KOs) survived the onslaught and produced a real-life version of the Rocky story as he ended the round raining blows on Geale.
Barker shaded most of the remaining rounds, bar the 12th, with Geale unable to reproduce the late fight surges that were a trademark of his previous four title defences.
The Englishman dedicated the win to his brother Gary, who was killed in a car accident in 2006.
Geale was left pondering how the title was lost.
“I thought I caught a lot (of punches) on the gloves, and a lot were glancing, missing,” Geale said.
“I did feel in control. It wasn’t my best performance but Darren is a great fighter.
“He’s a very skillful guy. I knew I had to be on my game throughout.
“I knew it was going to be tight. It was a close fight. I’m very disappointed.”
Right from the early rounds, third-ranked challenger Barker showed he was going to be a formidable opponent, landing more power punches than the champion and sometimes beating him to the punch.
Geale responded in the middle rounds, teeing off with some good right hand shots, but didn’t seem to throw many shots to the body after the knockdown.
“I thought Daniel won it by a round. I had the score 114-113, but obviously the two other judges didn’t see it that way,” Shaw said.
‘We’ll fight our way back and I’m sure Barker will give us the same opportunity as we gave him.”
Barker may first have to make a mandatory defence against German Felix Sturm.
Asked if he thought Geale could win another world title Shaw said “Yeah, I’m sure.
“Daniel Geale is a real warrior, someone that the Aussies should be very proud of.
“Those are the types of fighters that television needs, so he’s a fan friendly fighter.”
“He came forward, he fought and didn’t back up so I’m pretty proud of him.”
On the undercard, Australian featherweight Joel Brunker (27-0, 15 KOs), who is top 15 rated by all four major boxing bodies, scored an eight-round unanimous points win against veteran Mike Oliver.
Isinbayeva lights up Moscow with fairytale gold
Yelena Isinbayeva, the greatest ever woman pole vaulter, thrilled a partisan crowd by securing the third world title of her illustrious career on Tuesday before saying she was taking a break to have a baby.
The record-breaking Russian, twice Olympic champion and the first woman to clear the revered five metres barrier, was the only vaulter to jump 4.89 metres, pulling out a winning leap when it mattered most in an enthralled Luzhniki arena.
Her dominance of the sport she took to new heights with 28 world records, 15 outdoors and 13 indoors, has receded in recent years, but a season’s best leap was good enough to secure gold.
“I’m the pole vault queen, the crowd is mine,” the 31-year-old told reporters. “This victory is the most precious won in all my career.”
Isinbayeva, whose last global outdoor title came at the 2008 Olympics, had said she could retire after the championships but, after lengthy celebrations, told a news conference she would step away from the sport to become a mother.
“I’m not retiring for the moment, I’m just taking a break,” she said.
“I will have a baby next year and try to come back for Rio (the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics).”
After a nervous start when she failed with her first attempt after entering the competition at 4.65, a measure of her confidence with her rivals up and running, Isinbayeva grew in stature.
With a chorus of “Yelena, Yelena” reverberating around the stadium from the biggest crowd of a poorly attended championships, each clearance was greeted by a cacophony of approval.
Isinbayeva rewarded the support with punches in the air and squeals of delight.
One by one her 11 rivals dropped away. First American Olympic champion Jenn Surh, who bettered Isinbayeva’s world indoor record in March, failed at 4.89, then Cuban Yarisley Silva also failed to get over that height.
With gold assured, Isinbayeva ran to the crowd and embraced her coach and mentor Yefgeny Trofimov, who she split from in 2005 before teaming up with again in 2011.
Milking the moment and urging the crowd to raise the decibel level further, she asked for the bar to be raised to 5.07, one centimetre above the outdoor world record she set in 2009.
Three unsuccessful attempts followed but it could not spoil the former gymnast’s celebrations as she set off for a lap of the track which featured cartwheels and a back-flip.
Isinbayeva said she had fed off the energy of the crowd.
“I won because I was at home,” she said.
“I wanted to leave a bright trace. I want to thank all the fans – their support made it happen.”
Isinbayeva was virtually unbeatable between 2003 and 2008, when she kept raising the world record higher and higher, often by a centimetre at a time.
But plagued by injury and poor form and after failing to register a height in the 2009 world championships, she decided to take a break from the sport, returning after an 11-month absence.
She was again outside the medals at the 2011 worlds but took bronze at last year’s London Olympics.
She credited Trofimov with resurrecting her career.
“He resuscitated me. It’s all thanks to him,” she said.
“He is a genius, he helped me get my world title back.”
(Editing by Ed Osmond)
Will there ever again be one Korea?
Six decades after the end of hostilities on the Korean peninsula, what might the future hold for the two Koreas?
Many Koreans insist it is still one country – just a divided one.
It’s a view that would appear to be held by governments on both sides of the Demilitarised Zone, but just how those two parts might be joined again remains a mystery.
Michael Kenny, with this report compiled by Nikki Canning.
Sixteen years after the Armistice was signed in 1953, South Korea established its Ministry of Unification to work towards repairing the country’s division.
The Ministry also has a counterpart in the North, in the Communist government’s Unification Strategy department.
However the philosophical and political differences between the governments on both sides would appear to be insurmountable.
2012 saw major changes on both sides of the DMZ.
The beginning of the year saw a leadership transition in North Korea, following the death of President Kim Jung-il.
His third son, Kim Jong-Un, became president.
Parliamentary elections in April saw South Korea’s ruling conservative Saenuri party retain power.
Saenuri’s candidate, Park Geun-hye, also won December’s presidential elections, becoming the country’s first female leader.
The daughter of a former military ruler, the 60-year old has vowed to work to heal a divided society.
Ms Park returned to the presidential palace in Seoul where she had served as her father’s first lady in the 1970s, after her mother was assassinated by a North Korean-backed gunman.
Ms Park says she will negotiate with North Korea’s new young leader, but wants the North to give up its nuclear weapons program as a precondition for aid, something Pyongyang has so far refused to do.
The Republic of Korea’s relationship with its northern neighbour is largely facilitated by South Korea’s Unification Ministry.
It collates and analyses information about the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, organises official exchanges and other cooperative programs involving trade and investment, as well as managing humanitarian assistance programs to North Korea.
The Ministry is also responsible for South Korea’s involvement in international multilateral fora, such as the Six-Party talks, and manages all dialogue between the two Koreas.
It also coordinates the resettlement program for North Korean refugees in South Korea – around 23,000 of them over the past two decades.
South Korea’s primary concern remains North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, but of late tensions increased after several key incidents seen by South Korea as provocative in the extreme.
The first was the fatal shooting of a South Korean tourist after the 53 year-old woman wandered into a military area at a Kumgang mountain resort in North Korea in 2008.
Then in 2010, the navy ship Cheonan was sunk, later blamed by a South Korean-led team of international researchers on a torpedo fired from a North Korean midget submarine.
And later that same year, North Korea fired artillery and rocket shells at Yeonpyeong island after a South Korean artillery exercise in nearby waters, striking civilian homes, killing four South Koreans and injuring 19 others.
The effect on inter-Korean dialogue was profound.
(under translation) “After all these happenings from North Korea, we stopped all dialogue between the two and there is no channel now to make conversation and no exchanges at all.”
A Ministry of Unification official says a shift in policy was needed.
“This is the baggage from the period before then, that the generation caught up in the Cold War period had very strong anti-Communist education and we needed to bring the pendulum back to the other side. But we probably went too far during the Sunshine Policy. At that time we emphasised coexistence, cooperation and mutual trust but despite all those efforts, North Koreans kept developing their nuclear capabilities – and they’ve never changed.”
A senior Ministry offical says now the government’s priorities are: maintaining peace and stability on the peninsula, normalising relations with North Korea, and making substantive progress towards unification.
He says they’re doing this in several ways:
“Helping North Korea to settle down, help them come through these political difficulties from the power transition, economic difficulties [resulting in] starvation and so forth. And again emphasising making the young generation develop a desire for national unification in the future.”
The Ministry acknowledges that any public education campaign that aims to achieve the last part of the program will have to be pretty good.
[under translation] “Young people in Korea are not really interested in political issues other than unification. They are more interested in lifestyle – comfortable lives, nice houses and cars, convenient IT and technology. My generation is the first generation of a divided Korea. Understanding the need for unification is hard for Korean youngsters.”
One young Korean agrees.
“We don’t even talk about it! Just sometimes we make a joke about it.”
Jinah Kwon says North Korea only occupies a small part in the back of most young people’s minds, to be taken out and examined from time to time – as happened in 2010.
“When we had the Yeonpyeong island thing and the Cheonan warship, I was so worried so I sent messages to my friends and all their reactions were, ‘well it always happens like that and there won’t be anything more happening.’ I was working later as a researcher and having lunch with my colleagues and then we saw the television, it was the death of Kim Jong-il. I was so shocked and I was worried maybe something might happen to South Korea but my colleagues around me said ‘Oh, he died’, and they didn’t even pay attention – they weren’t really worried at all, yeah.”
But in her experience, the most interest in North Korea is coming from young, Christian South Koreans.
“For myself, I am involved in a prayer group at my church. We meet once a week and we pray for North Korea, for the people there. And then we study about North Korea – read a book, discuss it. Then we decide the direction of the prayer – how we should pray.”
After analysing the unification of Germany, Korea’s government says being better prepared can lessen the pain for both sides.
But absorbing North Korea’s largely impoverished population of around 24 million will be costly.
The Ministry has decided to resource unification initially from public fundraising, following the success of its public fundraising efforts in 2001 when the country repaid the I-M-F debt it incurred during the Asian economic crisis.
(under translation) “In Korea during the time of the IMF loan, we were having a really hard time. But the general public and Korean citizens voluntarily gave their gold and jewellery and things to the government to resolve the IMF problem at the time, so now we are planning to do that kind of public participation [again].”
Diplomatic and possible fundraising efforts are also extending to international stakeholders, with South Korea keen to explain that a unified and peaceful Korean peninsula would serve the interest of all.
Meanwhile, North Korea may also be tentatively reaching outwards again.
Foreign Minister Bob Carr has confirmed that the North Korean government is seeking to re-open its diplomatic mission in Canberra.
The embassy was closed in January 2008, apparently because of financial pressures.
Mr Carr hasn’t confirmed Australian approval for the move, but says it could help the federal government voice its human rights concerns to North Korea.
“A North Korean embassy in Canberra would enable us to register our deep and our strong concerns about the human rights crisis in North Korea, which is probably the most systemic abuse of human rights you could find on the planet.”
(Incidental sound effects courtesy of Chongdong Theatre’s musical “Miso”)
And World News Australia Radio will be broadcasting a special program-length feature on Thursday July 25, at 6.10 am and 6.10 pm, to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice that ended hostilities on the Korean peninsula.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717917
|
__label__cc
| 0.601285
| 0.398715
|
That's Sound
Bringing balance to audio across the spectrum by supporting girls in Scotland to study and work in sound.
Primary Ideas
Courses/study
Skill Support
Studio Engineer
Live Sound Engineer
Sound for Games
Sound for TV/Film
Audio Technician
Radio/TV Broadcast
Carla Feuerstein
Susan Bear
About You…Articles
Diane Jardine
Erin (at Eleven)
Ellen B
Beth McLeish
Kiera C
Women in Sound
As far back as I can remember I’ve loved music: listening to it; playing it; talking about it. My family’s quite music al – my brother and brother in law play the guitar and bass, my sister and mum both sing and my sister is a songwriter too.
I started playing guitar in high school and writing my own songs, doing small gigs around North Lanarkshire and Glasgow. A career in the music industry should have seemed like a logical choice to me at the time but it wasn’t for a couple of reasons.
First reason. As a teenage girl, I only contemplated doing music performance. Even then, whenever anyone expressed any interest in me joining a band, I’d be asked to sing as the male musicians had all of the instrumentation covered! I’d never heard of sound production, let alone considered doing it as a career. When I heard friends at school talking about how hard it was to get into a music performance course at university and auditioning for music schools, it seemed really daunting to me as I was pretty shy at that time and I thought I just wasn’t that good a musician (male peers were often given more encouragement during music lessons or given better, rockier pieces to learn). Had I known something like sound production existed, I definitely would have been interested in studying it as it would have been the perfect route for me to get involved in something I love, without necessarily having to possess the confidence of a performer at that young age.
Second reason. I remember speaking to my careers adviser at school about my career options. I recall feeling quite lost at the time about what I wanted to do versus what I should do. I told her about my passion and interest for music. We also talked about my academic ability and my good grades. Pretty much straight off the bat, my adviser suggested I apply for an academic course and go to a few university open days for that course. There was no mention at all about pursuing a career in either music performance or sound production (the latter of which wasn’t even on my radar at the time – and certainly wasn’t on the adviser’s). So, this discussion pretty much confirmed to me that my interest in music was nothing more than a pipe dream that I should probably just keep as a hobby and that I should get real and pursue something more academic and intellectual, something with a chance of giving me a viable future career and income. I was pretty misguided and I made too many assumptions. At the same time, there was no one there to correct me or explain to me the possibility of different careers in music, outside of performance, like sound production or live sound which could offer an equally viable career.
Ten years down the road, I’m a student once again studying music and sound production at college. I absolutely love my course. I finally feel like I am realising my true passion for making and recording music. It’s taken me this long to gain not only some confidence in my musical ability but also the confidence in myself, to be able to ask questions about the technical side of things, which I spent years either totally unaware of or avoiding for fear of making mistakes and seeming like just another ‘daft lassie’. It’s these fears and misconceptions that discourage women from pursuing a career in audio engineering, as well as a lack of education and awareness from teachers and advisers at school level.
This has to change. I think it’s great that a project like That’s Sound is out there. Had I known about it as a teenager, there’s a reasonable chance I’d already be working as a producer or an engineer. It’s really important we raise awareness at schools about sound production as an option for further study and fund projects like That’s Sound which reach out to young women and encourage them to gain the skills and confidence to pursue a career in this industry, which they might never otherwise do.
Listen to Erin’s music at: https://soundcloud.com/erinateleven
Read her blog at: https://erinateleven.wordpress.com/
cburns@thatssound.co.uk
Copyright © 2019 That's Sound — Lyrical theme by GoDaddy
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717918
|
__label__cc
| 0.672696
| 0.327304
|
Mayan Indian tribes
The Maya Indians of Central America and Mexico
The Maya Indians were a group of early people who lived in regions from Central America to Mexico. They were a vast and large group and well civilized. The Maya Indians early culture and forms of learning have fascinated archaeologists, Sociologists, and Anthropologists. Records have shown that the Maya Indians used very detailed and scientific form of time keeping and a very complex alphabet.
The Maya Indians were settled in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Belize and extended all the way into Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula. The exact date of the Maya Indians appearance is not certain, but it is believed that they were settled as early as 1, 000 B.C. The Mayans are well known for their structures such as pyramids and burial mounds. Not much of the Mayan empire is remaining today, when the Spanish discovered them, they burned and destroyed most of the Mayan records, yet what does remain testifies to the technological capabilities and advancements of these primitive people. Not only were the Maya Indians early builders, but they also had a well-structured formal government in place. Hieroglyphics and records kept by the early colonies show that their governments ruled and conquered neighboring people. The Maya Indians also traded with other tribes and many of their items of barter included salt, cacao, and the mineral Obsidian. It is also shown that the early Mayans were well advanced in other areas as well. It is believed that they were great farmers who had developed impressive systems and technologies that were well ahead of their time. Many of the Mayan art depict some of the most advanced art forms of all the early people.
The most interesting fact about the Maya Indians has to be that no one knows for sure what happened to them. It is believed that at some time near 900-1000 A.D. the Maya Indians just disappeared.
Source: www.indians.org
Aztec Indian tribes
Mayan Indians pictures
Maya dates
Mayan cities
Mayan Religious
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717919
|
__label__cc
| 0.533473
| 0.466527
|
US energy policy
The Cape Grim observatory, home of the ‘world’s cleanest air’… and rising greenhouse gases. CSIRO, Author provided
Why there’s more greenhouse gas in the atmosphere than you may have realised
June 6, 2019 3.30pm EDT
Zoe Loh, CSIRO, Blagoj Mitrevski, CSIRO, David Etheridge, CSIRO, Nada Derek, CSIRO, Paul Fraser, CSIRO, Paul Krummel, CSIRO, Paul Steele, CSIRO, Ray Langenfelds, CSIRO, Sam Cleland, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Zoe Loh
Research Scientist, CSIRO
Blagoj Mitrevski
David Etheridge
Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO
Nada Derek
Research Projects Officer, Oceans and Atmosphere, Climate Science Centre, CSIRO
Paul Fraser
Honorary Fellow, CSIRO
Paul Krummel
Research Group Leader, CSIRO
Paul Steele
Ray Langenfelds
Scientist at CSIRO Atmospheric Research, CSIRO
Sam Cleland
Officer in Charge, Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
Zoe Loh is employed by CSIRO and receives funding from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and the Department of the Environment and Energy and GISERA (CSIRO's Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance).
Blagoj Mitrevski is employed by CSIRO and receives funding from MIT, NASA, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Department of the Environment and Energy, and Refrigerant Reclaim Australia
David Etheridge is employed by CSIRO and has received funding from the University of Copenhagen, The European Union, NERC (UK), the University of New South Wales and the ARC and GISERA (CSIRO’s Gas Industry Social and Environmental Research Alliance).
Nada Derek is employed by CSIRO and receives funding from Australian Bureau of Meteorology, MIT, NASA, Department of the Environment and Energy, and Refrigerant Reclaim Australia.
Paul Fraser received past funding and current funding from United Nations, Bureau of Meteorology, Department of Environment and Energy, NASA, Refrigerant Reclaim Australia.
Paul Krummel is employed by CSIRO and receives funding from MIT, NASA, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Department of the Environment and Energy, and Refrigerant Reclaim Australia.
Paul Steele received past funding from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, and NASA.
Ray Langenfelds is employed by CSIRO and receives funding from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.
Sam Cleland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
This week brought news that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels at the Mauna Loa atmospheric observatory in Hawaii have risen steeply for the seventh year in a row, reaching a May 2019 average of 414.7 parts per million (ppm).
It was the highest monthly average in 61 years of measurements at that observatory, and comes five years after CO₂ concentrations first breached the 400ppm milestone.
But in truth, the amount of greenhouse gas in our atmosphere is higher still. If we factor in the presence of other greenhouse gases besides carbon dioxide, we find that the world has already ticked past yet another milestone: 500ppm of what we call “CO₂-equivalent”, or CO₂-e.
Read more: Forty years of measuring the world's cleanest air reveals human fingerprints on the atmosphere
In July 2018, the combination of long-lived greenhouse gases measured in the “cleanest air in the world” at Cape Grim Baseline Atmospheric Pollution Station surpassed 500ppm CO₂-e.
As the atmosphere of the Southern Hemisphere contains less pollution than the north, this means the global average atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases is now well above this level.
What is CO₂-e?
Although CO₂ is the most abundant greenhouse gas, dozens of other gases – including methane (CH₄), nitrous oxide (N₂O) and the synthetic greenhouse gases – also trap heat. Many of them are more powerful greenhouse gases than CO₂, and some linger for longer in the atmosphere. That means they have a significant influence on how much the planet is warming.
Southern Hemispheric radiative forcing relative to 1750 due to the long-lived greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and synthetic greenhouse gases), expressed as watts per square metre, from measurements in situ at Cape Grim, from the Cape Grim Air Archive, and Antarctic firn air. CSIRO
Atmospheric scientists use CO₂-e as a convenient way to aggregate the effect of all the long-lived greenhouse gases.
As all the major greenhouse gases (CO₂, CH₄ and N₂O) are rising in concentration, so too is CO₂-e. It has climbed at an average rate of 3.3ppm per year during this decade – faster than at any time in history. And it is showing no sign of slowing.
Cape Grim/Antarctic carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-e) calculated from the long-lived greenhouse gas radiative forcing data shown in the figure above with CO₂ data shown for reference, annual data through to 2018. Inset panel shows the monthly mean CO₂-e data for Cape Grim from 2015 through to March 2019, showing CO₂-e surpassing 500ppm in July 2018. CSIRO
This milestone, like so many others, is symbolic. The difference between 499 and 500ppm CO₂-e is marginal in terms of the fate of the climate and the life it sustains. But the fact that the cleanest air on the planet has now breached this threshold should elicit deep concern.
Warming on the way
The Paris climate agreement is aimed at limiting global warming to less than 2℃ above pre-industrial levels, to avoid the most dangerous effects of climate change. But the task of predicting how human greenhouse emissions will perturb the climate system on a scale of decades to centuries is complex.
The best estimate of long-term global warming expected from 500ppm CO₂-e is about 2.5℃. But so far, since pre-industrial times, the global climate (including oceans) has warmed by only 0.7℃.
This is partly because industrial smog and other tiny particles (together called aerosols) reflect sunlight out to space, offsetting some of the expected warming. What’s more, the climate system responds slowly to rising atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations because much of the excess heat is taken up by the oceans.
The amount of heat each greenhouse gas can trap depends on its absorption spectrum – how strongly it can absorb energy at different wavelengths, particularly in the infrared range. Despite its simple molecular structure, there is still much to learn about the heat-absorbing properties of methane, the second-biggest component of CO₂-e.
Studies published in 2016 and 2018 led to the estimate of methane’s warming potential being revised upwards by 15%, meaning methane is now considered to be 32 times more efficient at trapping heat in the atmosphere than CO₂, on a per-molecule basis over a 100-year time span.
Considering this new evidence, we calculate that greenhouse gas concentrations at Cape Grim crossed the 500ppm CO₂-e threshold in July 2018.
This is higher than the official estimate based on the previous formulation for calculating CO₂-e, which remains in widespread use. For instance, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is reporting 2018 CO₂-e as 496ppm.
The graph below shows the two curves for the time evolution of CO₂-e in the atmosphere as measured at Cape Grim, using the old and new formulae.
Cape Grim monthly CO2-e from 2015 until Sept 2018 calculated using the old and new formulae. CSIRO
Some greenhouse gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), also deplete the ozone layer. CFCs are in decline thanks to the Montreal Protocol, which bans the production and use of these chemicals, despite reports that indicate some recent production of CFC-11 in China.
But unfortunately their ozone-safe replacements, hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), are very potent greenhouse gases, and are on the rise. The recently enacted Kigali Amendment to the protocol means that consumption controls on HFCs are now in place, and this will see the growth rate of HFCs slow significantly and then reverse in the coming decades.
We can change
Australia is at the forefront of initiating measures to curb the impact of HFCs on climate change.
Methane is another low-hanging fruit for climate action, while we undertake the slower and more difficult transition away from CO₂-emitting energy sources.
The significant human methane emissions from leaks in reticulated gas systems, landfills, waste water treatment, and fugitive emissions from coal mining and oil and gas production can be monitored and reduced. We have the science and technology to do this now.
Both in the oil and gas sectors and in urban areas, there are many examples of how methane “hot spots” can be identified and tackled.
It’s a classic win-win that saves money and reduces climate change, and something we should be implementing in Australia in the near future.
Shutterstock.
Curious Kids: how is global warming heating up the Earth?
Waves on Lake Superior crash against the Duluth, Minn. waterfront Sept. 10, 2014. Randen Pederson
Climate change is driving rapid shifts between high and low water levels on the Great Lakes
Powering up. Shutterstock.
Electric cars won’t save the planet without a clean energy overhaul – they could increase pollution
Giving food that would otherwise go to landfill to hungry people does little to ensure the well-being of Canadians who are food insecure. (Shutterstock)
Sending surplus food to charity is not the way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717922
|
__label__cc
| 0.501064
| 0.498936
|
If you’ve ever seen a mixed martial arts (MMA) fight, you’ve probably noticed the athletes’ impressive physiques, which are largely due to their intense training regimens and nutritional habits. While you may not have time to train as intensely as a professional athlete, you can incorporate some of their strength-training moves into your workouts and start developing a notable six-pack of your own.
Perform sport-specific, strength-training moves using body-weight exercises. MMA coach Doug Balzarini recommends integrating movements -- such as the sit-out, bear crawl, sprawl and complex inchworm -- to prepare for a fight. Each of these movements improves balance while working core, upper and lower-body muscle groups. Include these exercises with your resistance-training workouts, performing three to four sets of 10 to 12 reps each.
Dr. Serena Goldstein is a Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in hormone concerns such as weight, low energy, stress, PMS, peri/menopause, and andropause through nutrition, homeopathy, and botanical medicine. Dr. Serena has been published in well-known health and wellness resources, such as MindBodyGreen, Consumer Health Digest, and the Hearty Soul, and appeared on Sirius XM NYU Doctor Radio.
In addition to unarmed training, self defense must include training in the use of and defense against weapons. See our weapons page for more detailed information. These days it's likely a real predator will have a weapon. Training to defend against blunt, sharp, and projectile weapons is essential. And because the use of weapons can give you a major advantage, learning to use weapons (including objects found in your environment) should not be neglected.
Mixed martial arts appear everywhere. For example, mixed martial arts events and personalities appear in just about every magazine such as GQ, Newsweek, Time, Playboy as well as smaller publications like Black Belt Magazine (for a complete list of mixed martial arts magazines, see my list below). Mixed martial arts also frequently appear in television shows, xbox games and movies. Mixed martial arts have their reality TV shows such as Tapout, The Ultimate Fighter and Caged that focus exclusively on the life of mixed martial arts personalities. Mixed martial arts also have their own unique workout gear and clothing line such as Tapout, Bad Boy MMA, Affliction, Cage Fighter and Xtreme Couture. For better or worse, it seems like mixed martial arts has taken over the world.
6) Training MMA fulfills mans need for physical expression aka violence. We don't want violence in our daily lives but we still yearn for physicality. We all get pumped up seeing fights in movies or TV or when we hear about someone who was accosted by thugs and kicked the crap out of the them. Training MMA is a perfect middle ground. You can train (or fight) in controlled areas and release aggression with no threat of repercussions, jail time, murder etc..
The high profile of modern MMA promotions such as UFC and Pride has fostered an accelerated development of the sport. The early 1990s saw a wide variety of traditional styles competing in the sport.[72] However, early competition saw varying levels of success among disparate styles. In the early 1990s, practitioners of grappling based styles such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu dominated competition in the United States. Practitioners of striking based arts such as boxing, kickboxing, and karate, who were unfamiliar with submission grappling, proved to be unprepared to deal with its submission techniques.[73][74][75][76][77] As competitions became more and more common, those with a base in striking arts became more competitive as they cross-trained in styles based around takedowns and submission holds.[77] Likewise, those from the varying grappling styles added striking techniques to their arsenal. This increase of cross-training resulted in fighters becoming increasingly multidimensional and well-rounded in their skill-sets.
3) Training MMA is an excellent physical workout. Sparring (Boxing practice during training) or grappling (wrestling or ground-fighting practice) for 3-5 minute rounds is absolutely brutal cardio, which is why fighters are usually in top notch physical condition. There is no treadmill or stair-master in the world that can beat the benefits of practice fighting.
MMA fighters do a high volume of work every week. Drilling, sparring, mitts, bag work, and other aspects are intense and they are all taxing on the body. If you are going to add a strength and conditioning plan on top of that volume of work, it has to be well thought out and compliment an existing plan. Way too many trainers, athletes, and coaches create programs from scratch, hearsay, YouTube videos, or past experience. Their main goal is simply to work hard, without taking other aspects of the fighters’ training or life into consideration. John Hinds said, “Any trainer can crush you, but only the good ones can heal you as well.”
Unable to fight or train intensely for several years, Alice turned to food for comfort. "I'm an emotional eater, so I would drive down the road, stop at Sonic, and grab a double cheeseburger," she says. "I just ate a lot." Her busy schedule, packed with work, travel, and her kids' activities, made getting back into a healthy lifestyle seem all the more daunting. "I like healthy food, but because of the way my schedule was—with my husband working nights and me off work late and caring for the kids—I needed fast and easy," she remarks. "We ate a lot of fast food. I didn't have the time to prep."
Ethnic Studies programs are not limited to members of their own ethnic groups, however. White students can and should participate in Ethnic Studies programs as well. This can help participants forge a less ethnocentric understanding of history, avoid repeating the mistakes of their predecessors, and learn how to work in solidarity with members of oppressed minorities.
“I am still in Prague teaching English and I am currently the director of a teacher training program here that I established. Martial Arts in this city is pretty seedy and usually cater to the Russian Mob type. The techniques are always completely overshadowed by the use of brute force. The end result is that you never seem to improve in grace or understanding – only in aggression. I wanted you to know that your school is the best training facility that I have ever been to and you are easily the best teacher I have ever had. I just wanted to thank you for your never-ending patience with me and the rest of your students. I know it must be frustrating to have to demonstrate techniques over and over again and correct students mistakes. Thank you for taking the time to show us the details of proper form and technique.”
Just as different forms and aspects of striking – those from Boxing, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, traditional martial arts, etc. – each have unique advantages and disadvantages and need to be utilized appropriately in an MMA fight, there are also many different forms and effective applications of interval training. In this article, I’ll present you with four different methods of interval training that I’ve successfully used over the last seven years with more than thirty top pro fighters. Each interval method has a different purpose and application and I guarantee each can help improve the effectiveness of your training program.
One misconception about energy systems is that each energy system completely turns on or off during various intensities and durations of exercise. Instead, all three energy systems contribute to energy production during all modalities and intensities of exercise. The relative contributions of each will depend on the velocity and force demands of the exercise bout or sport.
Train for cardio first, then power, then strength, then mix in some stamina. Your best and most effective workouts will combine all four. The great thing about programming your workouts is you can get creative and have fun doing it. There is an endless mixture of exercises, routines, reps, and time limits, that can produce incredible fitness. If you think that running, or rowing are the only ways to build up your cardio, then you need to read on and find out how you can get very creative with your exercises. How about punching a bag 4 times, then doing a sprawl and standing up and doing, two kicks on the bag, then doing a backdrop, then do 5 squat jumps, 5 push ups, and repeat those movements as quickly as you can for 9 minutes, then rest for a minute and repeat for another nine minutes. You have just combined unbelievable cardio, with power, and strength, with stamina all in one workout. Combining all of the characteristics of fitness is the best way to train. For instance doing a 5K run is great for your stamina and cardio, but it does little for your strength or power. Doing max deadlifts doesn’t do much for your cardio or stamina, but it is great for your strength, Learn how to mix and match your workouts and you will get the best results, and have the most fun doing them… PS any strength or power movement done with reps that get your heart rate up, and your breathing labored, becomes cardio.
Regulated mixed martial arts competitions were first introduced in the United States by CV Productions, Inc.. Its first competition, called Tough Guy Contest was held on March 20, 1980, New Kensington, Pennsylvania, Holiday Inn. During that year the company renamed the brand to Super Fighters and sanctioned ten regulated tournaments in Pennsylvania. In 1983, Pennsylvania State Senate passed a bill that specifically called for: "Prohibiting Tough Guy contests or Battle of the Brawlers contests", and ended the sport.[5][6][38] In 1993, the sport was reintroduced to the United States by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).[39] The sport gained international exposure and widespread publicity when jiu-jitsu fighter Royce Gracie won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament, submitting three challengers in a total of just five minutes.[40] sparking a revolution in martial arts.[41][42]
Solutions offered by Fit To Fight® include, but are not limited to, active and passive measures not meant only to “harden” targets, but rather to create zones less likely to be seen as targets. This will be accomplished by employing a series of measures making these “zones” less appealing to potential assailants. Fit To Fight®’s Active Killer Defense™ is designed as a dynamic training modality, involving physical defensive tactics training, realistic scenario training, and lectures. The end goal is to create safer and more secure schools, businesses, churches and communities.
Wushu Sanshou and other Chinese martial arts have also been utilized in MMA. They can be highly effective in competition due to their mixture of striking and takedowns, achieved through a condensation of traditional Chinese martial arts techniques. Most prominent and chief amongst these fighters is Cung Le, who is most notable for his TKO and KO victories over former UFC champions Frank Shamrock (in Strikeforce) and Rich Franklin (at UFC Macau). Other Wushu Sanshou based fighters who have entered MMA include KJ Noons, Pat Barry, Zhang Tiequan[120], Muslim Salihov[121] and Zabit Magomedsharipov.[122]
The isolation phase is where a practitioner improves the mechanics and qualities of a technique and learns to apply it against an opponent. It can involve a variety of training methods including solo practice in the air or on pads/bags/shields, limited or prearranged drilling with a partner against a prearranged attack or response, and live training within a limited technical context. Isolation phase training is done forever, both to improve the execution of techniques and to increase qualities such as speed, power, and timing.
The best MMA training programs cover a range of skills. Gone are the days where one-dimensional grapplers submitted strikers with no knowledge of the ground game. While fighters will normally favor one area of fighting, a well-rounded fighter needs to be able to survive in every area of the game or face being overwhelmed outside his comfort zone. Furthermore, he will need to be able to put the separate aspects of the game together in actual MMA sessions.
Whether you intend to become a newspaper journalist, publishing in print and on the web, or a television reporter, or even an investigative documentarian, a degree in journalism can give you the mix of practical skills and critical knowledge necessary for spreading awareness of racial issues. A strong journalist is not satisfied with merely reporting surface issues, but wants deeper answers, and will do the necessary digging to get them.
Dr. Serena Goldstein explains how hormones may be responsible for stress, depression, weight gain, anxiety, and emotions. Phoenix and Bryan Winston ask her questions about PMS, which hormones relax and which cause stress. Serena explains why women have symptoms before, during, and after their periods. They discuss nutrition, adrenal glands, energy, thyroid, and testosterone.
MMA is tolerated in Belgium but not supported. In May 2012 the Belgian MMA Federation (BMMAF) was accepted by the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation as its third member, after several years of carrying out many of the tasks of a national federation under the former name of the Belgian Shooto and MMA Federation. Active in developing MMA in Belgium from 2005, the group later redefined their activities to include MMA in order to be able to use a cage. Registered as a federation in Belgium in 2006, the former Belgian Shooto and MMA Federation organized more than 1500 MMA bouts (Amateur, B class and A class), and built a structure for the sport nationally that included insurance, rules and regulation, and experience levels for fighters and technical seminars. The BMMAF has continued its activities as part of the wider MMA community under IMMAF.[196][197][198]
Oh really? I know several females who have taken on males in our gym, and the sport is not manly it is EMPOWERING. Get in the cage with a real female fighter maybe like Ronda, or Holly. See how you do then. As an MMA fighter it is surprising how ignorant you are, most fighters have open minds, and believe we are ALL ONE. TRUE FIGHTERS AT HEART. Which you are not, obviously.
“When I found the Warriors Cove I was impressed in the safe manner that Mr. Arnebeck conducts his classes. Also the senior students impressed me in the way they help to make sure new students learn the techniques correctly. I started BJJ just to get in shape and lose weight. If you really want to lose weight just show up to class!!!! The side effects….. you will learn real self defense.”
Lost in the fanfare of the glorious bout between Cub Swanson and Dooho Choi was the fight that came right after it on the UFC 206 main card. As I’m watching Donald Cerrone and Matt Brown throw down, it amazed me how quiet the Toronto crowd was. And it was understandable, because they were drained from Swanson-Choi, but here’s the opportunity to give the welterweight vets their due, as they put on a heck of a striking duel before Cerrone scored a highlight reel knockout in the third round.
The style is used by fighters well-versed in submission defense and skilled at takedowns. They take the fight to the ground, maintain a grappling position, and strike until their opponent submits or is knocked out. Although not a traditional style of striking, the effectiveness and reliability of ground-and-pound has made it a popular tactic. It was first demonstrated as an effective technique by Mark Coleman, then popularized by fighters such as Chael Sonnen, Don Frye, Frank Trigg, Jon Jones, Cheick Kongo, Mark Kerr, Frank Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes, Chris Weidman, and especially Khabib Nurmagomedov.[126]
Simply learning how to use a fighting stance is not enough to win a fight. You will need to remember to stick to the fundamental techniques of self defense. For example, always keep both of your hands up when fighting with your opponent. Avoid the natural tendency to lower your hands when fighting. This will leave you wide open to a possible counter attack in a hand to hand combat situation. Remember, when executing a punch or strike to always keep your other hand up to either defend against a counter strike or follow up with another strike. One of the best ways to train yourself to keep your hands up when fighting is through simulated street fighting, full contact sparring sessions and punching bag workouts.
McGregor’s surge to dominance could see him potentially lay claim to both the featherweight and lightweight UFC titles. The Irishman makes his welterweight debut against Nate Diaz this Saturday at UFC 196. The Diaz matchup is a consolation bout, concocted in haste after current lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos was injured in training. If McGregor wins Saturday, he’ll eventually be given the chance to hold two belts simultaneously – a first in UFC history.
IMHO Judo is legit for self defence. Hell, I know what’s coming and still it’s disconcerting to see your world spin and end up on your back. Yeah, no striking. Yeah it’s sport orientated (BJJ is at risk of going that way as well). Still, throwing dumb motherfuckers hard on solid ground is a fight stopper. Judoka like to say “nobody hits as hard as the Earth”
Your shadow boxing should be set up in rounds with non-stop shadow boxing so that you can establish a good pace, similar to one you would have in a real life fighting situation. You could do two rounds of five minutes each, or if it’s a quick workout one round will be enough to get your body warm and loose. Some fighters find it beneficial to do more rounds and a shorter duration such as 30 seconds – one minute, with a 30 second break in between. Find the style that works best for you and execute. Another great way to warm up before stretching is jumping rope, many professional fighters/boxers swear up and down that jump roping helps establish a good fight flow.
Since ancient times, wrestling has been a training tool for fighters and soldiers alike (it was a core of Spartan warrior training, as well as a base for the ancient MMA art of Pankration). Today, wrestlers consistently demonstrate that their style is a fundamental part of modern MMA combat. Solid stand-up grappling allows a fighter to determine where the fight takes place, giving a significant advantage. In the past, BJJ practitioners often suffered from poor takedown games. This is something we aim to correct at Radical MMA NYC: we have dedicated takedown classes, and in our Combat Judo/ Jiu-jitsu classes we also put a premium on learning takedown skills, takedown defense, and MMA oriented Judo throws.
The new rules included the introduction of weight classes; as knowledge about submissions spread, differences in weight had become a significant factor. There are nine different weight classes in the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. These nine weight classes include flyweight (up to 125 lb / 56.7 kg), bantamweight (up to 135 lb / 61.2 kg), featherweight (up to 145 lb / 65.8 kg), lightweight (up to 155 lb / 70.3 kg), welterweight (up to 170 lb / 77.1 kg), middleweight (up to 185 lb / 83.9 kg), light heavyweight (up to 205 lb / 93.0 kg), heavyweight (up to 265 lb / 120.2 kg), and super heavyweight with no upper weight limit.[53]
Toni Morrison – Besides being Professor Emeritus at Princeton, Morrison is one of the most important living authors today. With novels like The Bluest Eye, Song of Solomon, and Beloved, Morrison looks at intersecting issues of race, identity, and justice with such intensity that over the years there have been calls by numerous groups to ban her books.
Bring a training partner with you to practice and spar. Having a training partner, preferably another MMA fighter, can provide a source of motivation to work out every day. If you want to practice sparring, you could also do so with your partner. If you know any other martial arts students or have an athletic friend, ask them to train with you at least once or twice a week to reap the benefits of a partner.[5]
For many years, professional MMA competitions were illegal in Canada. Section 83(2) of the Canadian Criminal Code deemed that only boxing matches where only fists are used are considered legal.[208][209] However most provinces regulated it by a provincial athletic commission (skirting S. 83(2) by classifying MMA as "mixed boxing"),[210] such as the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario,[211] Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Northwest Territories. The legality of MMA in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and New Brunswick varies depending on the municipality.[212][213] Professional MMA competitions remain illegal in the Canadian provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and Nunavut because it is not regulated by an athletic commission.
Variety in your workouts is the best way to get maximal results. If you could only do one exercise every day for three months to get into the best shape you could do Burpee’s. Your body doesn’t really need to do a wide variety of exercises and workouts, however your mind does. People today need variety, change, and a constant challenge or they get bored. If you think about it all a runner does is, put 1 foot in front of another for miles. However 99% of our population needs variety in their workouts, so it is a challenge to plug-in different exercises, different routines, and different workouts, on a regular basis. I think the best workouts combine cardio, power, strength, and stamina. Seven minutes of Burpee’s accomplishes all of those, but if you want to keep any student motivated I wouldn’t recommend that on a regular basis. People need a variety.
Dr. Cruz is a board certified pediatrician who joins Philadelphia FIGHT as the Medical Director for our Pediatrics and Adolescent Health Center. He completed his undergraduate training in Biology and Psychology from Union College, his medical school training at Albany Medical College, his residency training at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, and his Chief Residency at the Albert Einstein Medical Center.
Movement training prizes a combination of mindfulness, timing and precision drills that are seemingly arbitrary – like catching wooden sticks or marauding on all-fours like a panther – and seeks to optimize one’s spacial awareness while in a fight. The training is said to help fighters navigate the rigors of combat with a sixth sense – meant distinctly for hyper-alertness – and if seized on properly, can endow an air of supreme of calm.
“I am very happy with my membership and training. I have been most impressed by the people there and how friendly, helpful and approachable everyone is. And this goes from the top down and includes instructors as well as other class members. Having no prior martial arts training, I was a little concerned when my boyfriend convinced me to join that there would be a lot of hard core, militant types in the class that would be intimidating to a small woman like me. On the contrary, I’ve found everyone to be friendly and approachable and easy to work with. I am sure that attitude is instilled from the top down (meaning you) because your class members want to emulate you. So they take cues from you and when they see that you are respectful of everyone and friendly and approachable in your training style, they act the same way. So please don’t change a thing about that…because I continue to be impressed every class by how wonderful the people are!”
Whenever you are squared off with a dangerous adversary and there is no way to safely escape the situation, you must strike first, strike fast, strike with authority, and keep the pressure on. This offensive strategy is essential to the process of neutralizing a formidable adversary when street fighting. A first strike is defined as the strategic application of proactive force designed to interrupt the initial stages of an assault before it becomes a self defense situation.
Alex Edmonds, PhD, BCB, is currently an associate professor of research at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida. He graduated from Florida State University and received his doctoral degree in Educational Psychology with a minor in Statistics and Measurement. Over the years, Dr. Edmonds has applied his knowledge of research design, measurement and assessment in both field and laboratory examinations. He has published extensively in a variety of areas such as research design, psychophysiology and sport psychology. Prior to graduate school, he was a strength and conditioning coach working with professional athletes in football, track, and boxing. He then combined his passion for the sports with the field of psychology making it the emphasis of his graduate work. While in graduate school, he conducted his field work with the track and field team at Florida State and started using biofeedback for research and practice during this time. He has utilized biofeedback extensively with various types of athletes for performance enhancement, as well as stress-regulation techniques. Dr. Edmonds is certified through the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance in general biofeedback.
No-holds-barred fighting reportedly took place in the late 1880s when wrestlers representing style of Catch wrestling and many others met in tournaments and music-hall challenge matches throughout Europe. In the USA, the first major encounter between a boxer and a wrestler in modern times took place in 1887 when John L. Sullivan, then heavyweight world boxing champion, entered the ring with his trainer, wrestling champion William Muldoon, and was slammed to the mat in two minutes. The next publicized encounter occurred in the late 1890s when future heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons took on European wrestling champion Ernest Roeber. In September 1901, Frank "Paddy" Slavin, who had been a contender for Sullivan's boxing title, knocked out future world wrestling champion Frank Gotch in Dawson City, Canada.[17] The judo-practitioner Ren-nierand, who gained fame after defeating George Dubois, would fight again in another similar contest, which he lost to Ukrainian Catch wrestler Ivan Poddubny.[16]
In the year 2000, MMA play-by-play commentator Stephen Quadros coined the popular phrase lay and pray. This refers to a situation where a wrestler or grappler keeps another fighter pinned or controlled on the mat to avoid a stand up, yet exhibits little urgency to finish the grounded opponent with a knockout or a submission for the majority or entirety of the fight.[130] The implication of "lay and pray" is that after the wrestler/grappler takes the striker down and 'lays' on him to neutralize the opponent's striking weapons, he 'pray's that the referee does not return them to the standing position. This style is considered by many fans as the most boring style of fighting and is highly criticized for intentionally creating non-action, yet it is effective. Some argue that 'lay-and-pray' is justified and that it is the responsibility of the downed fighter to be able to protect himself from this legitimate fighting technique.[130][131][132][133] Many consider Jon Fitch's style to epitomize 'lay and pray'.[134] Former UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has been criticized by fans for playing it safe and applying the lay and pray tactic in his fights,[135] as has Bellator MMA Welterweight champion Ben Askren, who justified the tactic, explaining that championship fights are much harder as are five rounds long, compared with the usual three.[136]
This is a bit late but I would recommend training with weapons, not just fire arms but edge and impact (IE) knives and sticks. A good blade and a solid harden steel collapsible baton are hell of good equalizers in a fight. A High Lumans tactical flashlight with a harden impact head can stop multiple opponents with a less leather option, it even works in the day light. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzN_6P-V7K4
OK, so while round one will help you with your explosive conditioning and ability to recover fast, in this round we’re going to the ground, which is where a lot of MMA fighter’s spend a good amount of time. The Turkish Get Up is an amazing drill for stability, learning to create tension in the body and building static strength. It was a staple drill in the Turkish wrestling world back in the day. This is a very old school drill that is having it’s renaissance right now and for very good reason, it’s an amazing, basic, fundamental movement pattern.
By better understanding the causes and effects of racism, you can fight it. A philosophy degree helps you learn, think, and act. Become a professor, and teach your students how to cut racism off at its roots. Become an author and write books, essays, and articles on how to combat racism, how to develop solidarity, and how to move toward a better society, one free from the cultural cancer that is racism.
How to: Hold one dumbbell in one hand and sit down on an exercise ball. Roll yourself forward, bending your knees and keeping your back straight, until your upper back and neck rest on the ball. Hold the dumbbell close to your chest and lift your free arm straight up into the air. Press the dumbbell up into a chest press. Repeat the movement with your other arm. Continue alternating sides.
I'd started putting together a weight routine to go with my MMA training and I'm surprised how similar it is to this. What I was going for was based more on stronglifts / starting strength however, If you woulnd't mind giving opinions on it. It was one of the AxBxAxx style routines, with two of the x being martial arts training. So week 1 would be AmBmAxx week 2 BmAmBxx
Every training method for self defense is necessarily lacking. The purpose of techniques is to take your opponent out. If you're not doing that in training, something is missing. But since we can't kill or injure our partner each training session, we remove realistic elements. We can remove speed and/or power, lowering intensity to prevent injury, wear protective gear, limit techniques to only those that won't do serious damage, "pull punches", etc.
The series follows Christine Baranski as Diane Lockhart, as she is forced out of Lockhart, Deckler, Gussman, Lee, Lyman, Gilbert-Lurie, Kagan, Tannebaum, & Associates after an enormous financial scam destroys the reputation of her goddaughter Maia (Rose Leslie) and Diane's savings, leading them to join Lucca Quinn (Cush Jumbo) at one of Chicago's preeminent law firms. The series stars Baranski, Leslie, Jumbo, Erica Tazel, Sarah Steele, Justin Bartha, Delroy Lindo, Nyambi Nyambi, Michael Boatman, and Audra McDonald, and features Paul Guilfoyle and Bernadette Peters in recurring roles. It is executive produced by Robert King, Michelle King, Ridley Scott, David W. Zucker, Liz Glotzer, Brooke Kennedy and Alison Scott, with Phil Alden Robinson producing and co-writing the first episode.[1]
A lot of these movements work the front side of the body, so if you are including these into your workouts be sure to balance your routine out with some back side movements such as rows, deadlifts and/or pull-up movements. A balanced, full-body approach is the safest and most effective way to get stronger, move better, feel great and get in fighting shape.
Gerard Marrone knows a thing or two about getting in shape from a deficit. After being shot at age 21 while defending his sister, he battled back from being paralyzed to boxing again. “I still have a bullet in my body,” he says. “If I can get in shape, anyone can.” What follows is the three-part plan Marrone follows when he needs to get in fighting shape — and quickly.
The first thing you should always do is start your MMA workout with some shadow boxing. This is done best in front of a mirror so that you can see your style of striking and the improvements you need to make while striking. If you’re new to shadow boxing, a good rule of thumb is to always finish your punching combinations with knees or kicks. If you’re a boxer then don’t worry about knees or kicks, just work on your punching combinations and your flow. Visualize the opponent in front of you and moved to create angles that could be used in a real life situation. Don’t be stagnant with your movement, allow yourself to be comfortable so that you can become more confident with your flow.
Get plenty of rest. Your body breaks down considerably during heavy workouts, both mentally and physically. Getting adequate rest, is an essential part of any effective workout regiment. Whether you are training for a UFC title fight, or you are training to get into great shape, you need adequate rest to re-build and revitalize your mind and your body. Getting adequate rest includes, but is not limited to getting a good nights sleep, trying to take short naps, meditate throughout the day, and taking days off of training.
Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki took place in Japan in 1976. The classic match-up between professional boxer and professional wrestler turned sour as each fighter refused to engage in the other's style, and after a 15-round stalemate it was declared a draw. Muhammad Ali sustained a substantial amount of damage to his legs, as Antonio Inoki slide-kicked him continuously for the duration of the bout, causing him to be hospitalized for the next three days.[31] The fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts.[32] In Japan, the match inspired Inoki's students Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki to found Pancrase in 1993, which in turn inspired the foundation of Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2007.[33][34]
Integrate explosive resistance training. Fighter training is all about explosive power, and resistance training is an effective way to improve this. Granted, every weightlifting session doesn't have to focus on power, but try to incorporate this type of training, utilizing plyometrics, such as box jumps or medicine ball thrusts, or powerlifting techniques, once or twice a week. Perform two to four sets of six to 10 reps for each plyometric exercise.
Adrian becomes a minor celebrity once he begins appearing as a pundit on a local talk show, but his tenure on air is short lived. Lucca officially informs the partners of her pregnancy, and insists it will not impact her work in any way. Lucca and Colin argue over the start date for a trial after Colin moves for a continuance to the week of Lucca's due date.
Mixed martial arts are extremely popular nowadays, but in actuality MMA has been around for a very long time. As a matter of fact, mixed martial arts date back to the Greco-Roman era where the ancient martial art Penetration appeared in the Olympic Games. Many historians agree that the mixed martial arts of ancient Greece and very similar to the mixed martial arts of modern day. However, mixed martial arts of today are considered to be one of the most regulated and controlled sports in the world.
There are two primary training methods in this phase: random flowing and sparring. In random flowing there is a level of cooperation, where practitioners are helping each other to learn with a level of give-and-take. Specific goals may be worked on. In sparring, practitioners are only indirectly helping each other to learn. The focus of sparring is on beating your opponent in live training.
WARNING: There are no pills or potions and this will take some hard work, so if you’re looking for a magic-fix then you’ve landed on the wrong site. But if you’re looking for a solution to your strength and conditioning needs that’s not only based on science and theory but also tested in the Octagon, then the info you’re about to read may be the most important info you ever read.
In April 2000, the California State Athletic Commission voted unanimously in favor of regulations that later became the foundation for the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. However, when the legislation was sent to the California capital in Sacramento for review, it was determined that the sport fell outside the jurisdiction of the CSAC, rendering the vote meaningless.[52]
The workout consists of a warmup, a circuit workout, and an additional set of grip-strength moves. The circuit workout comprises five stations, each with its own set of exercises designed to be done back-to-back. Do as many reps as possible at each station in five minutes, rest 60 seconds, then move on to the next station. You'll do that station workout three times, for a total of 15 stations.
The Good Fight is an American legal and political drama web television series produced for CBS's streaming service CBS All Access. It is CBS All Access's first original scripted series.[1] The series—created by Robert King, Michelle King, and Phil Alden Robinson—is a spin-off and sequel to The Good Wife, which was created by the Kings. The first season contains 10 episodes,[2] and premiered on February 19, 2017, with the first episode airing on CBS and the following nine episodes on CBS All Access.[1] The series was initially planned to air in May 2017, but was moved up after production delays forced CBS to postpone the premiere of the new series Star Trek: Discovery.[3]
So in round one, you will get yourself huffing and puffing. It will be intense and invigorating. Do 10 Burpees immediately followed by 15 Jumping Jacks. Use the Jumping Jacks to actively recover from the Burpees. Follow? Once the jumping jacks are completed, you want to take another shot at 10 more Burpees. If, after a set of Jumping Jacks, you still haven’t recovered enough for another round of Burpees, then do a little jogging in place and shadow boxing until you’re ready for more Burpees. If this means, in the beginning, you only get one set of Burpees, so be it. Next time, you can drop the number of reps to 5 Burpees and then work up to the 10.
The day after, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Delroy Lindo had been cast as "Robert" Boseman, an attorney who starts poaching Diane's associates and clients.[8] The first name of Lindo's character was changed to "Adrian".[31] Deadline reported on October 27, 2016 that the show had added Paul Guilfoyle and Bernadette Peters for recurring roles as Maia's parents. Guilfoyle would play Maia's father Henry, a wildly successful financial advisor who is phenomenally wealthy and universally loved. Peters' character Lenore was described as a woman who came from a tough working-class background and is a natively brilliant financial whiz.[14] It was announced on October 31, 2016 that Justified alum Erica Tazel had joined the cast as a series regular.[32]
What is it? The literal Hebrew translation of Krav Maga is “battle contact” and we can’t think of a better description. It was developed by the Israeli Defense Force to be used in real-life combat situations. In addition to punches, kicks and throws, it teaches real-life scenarios like how to disarm an attacker. Rubber knives and guns will make appearances.
You say you’re a streetfighter/boxer right? And female? Mother of two kids? Who are you tell anyone of any height or weight that shouldn’t learn some self defence? You’re no better that told that poor woman which clearly asked for logical and practical advice on protecting herself as what anger management will accomplish? How will it accomplish if she is the one been physically attacked. I’m a short woman myself and fought many in my time and still kicking. I’ve fought both girls and guys but I rather to train with guys as gives me the drive to become stronger. Yes, they’re stronger and taller than I am but that don’t stop me from actually finding a way and beating their ass which I have. The men fear me in my dojo because I’ve proven no matter how short fat skinny masculine or gender. It is the spirit of the individuals strength and determination. I train in Hapkido, taekwondo, muay Thai kickboxing and cage even done boxing too. I’m respected where I train, and I train with men that enjoy doing it with me and I ain’t afraid to take a hit even dish it. I’m ashamed and disappointed in your view as any proper teacher would not be pleased with your opinions. Seems to be, you’ll never understand the concept what she is experiencing as never had to worry due to the fact you had to be one of those enjoyed going around beating others. As for women love violence, what a load of shit! Again, you must be implying those who are beaten by thier spouses must loved been treated that way, or victims of rape/murder must loved it too. You had hypocrited yourself, and shamed your so called femininity.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717923
|
__label__cc
| 0.529036
| 0.470964
|
Statement by the President on the Re-Establishment of Diplomatic Relations with Cuba
By admin on July 2, 2015 No Comment
Washington, DC…Good morning, everybody. Please have a seat.
More than 54 years ago, at the height of the Cold War, the United States closed its embassy in Havana. Today, I can announce that the United States has agreed to formally re-establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba, and re-open embassies in our respective countries. This is a historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people, and begin a new chapter with our neighbors in the Americas.
When the United States shuttered our embassy in 1961, I don’t think anyone expected that it would be more than half a century before it re-opened. After all, our nations are separated by only 90 miles, and there are deep bonds of family and friendship between our people. But there have been very real, profound differences between our governments, and sometimes we allow ourselves to be trapped by a certain way of doing things.
For the United States, that meant clinging to a policy that was not working. Instead of supporting democracy and opportunity for the Cuban people, our efforts to isolate Cuba despite good intentions increasingly had the opposite effect -– cementing the status quo and isolating the United States from our neighbors in this hemisphere. The progress that we mark today is yet another demonstration that we don’t have to be imprisoned by the past. When something isn’t working, we can -– and will –- change.
Last December, I announced that the United States and Cuba had decided to take steps to normalize our relationship. As part of that effort, President Raul Castro and I directed our teams to negotiate the re-establishment of embassies. Since then, our State Department has worked hard with their Cuban counterparts to achieve that goal. And later this summer, Secretary Kerry will travel to Havana formally to proudly raise the American flag over our embassy once more.
This is not merely symbolic. With this change, we will be able to substantially increase our contacts with the Cuban people. We’ll have more personnel at our embassy. And our diplomats will have the ability to engage more broadly across the island. That will include the Cuban government, civil society, and ordinary Cubans who are reaching for a better life.
On issues of common interest –- like counterterrorism, disaster response, and development -– we will find new ways to cooperate with Cuba. And I’ve been clear that we will also continue to have some very serious differences. That will include America’s enduring support for universal values, like freedom of speech and assembly, and the ability to access information. And we will not hesitate to speak out when we see actions that contradict those values.
However, I strongly believe that the best way for America to support our values is through engagement. That’s why we’ve already taken steps to allow for greater travel, people-to-people and commercial ties between the United States and Cuba. And we will continue to do so going forward.
Since December, we’ve already seen enormous enthusiasm for this new approach. Leaders across the Americas have expressed support for our change in policy; you heard that expressed by President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil yesterday. Public opinion surveys in both our countries show broad support for this engagement. One Cuban said, “I have prepared for this all my life.” Another said that that, “this is like a shot of oxygen.” One Cuban teacher put it simply: “We are neighbors. Now we can be friends.”
Here in the United States, we’ve seen that same enthusiasm. There are Americans who want to travel to Cuba and American businesses who want to invest in Cuba. American colleges and universities that want to partner with Cuba. Above all, Americans who want to get to know their neighbors to the south. And through that engagement, we can also help the Cuban people improve their own lives. One Cuban American looked forward to “reuniting families and opening lines of communications.” Another put it bluntly: “You can’t hold the future of Cuba hostage to what happened in the past.”
And that’s what this is about: a choice between the future and the past.
Americans and Cubans alike are ready to move forward. I believe it’s time for Congress to do the same. I’ve called on Congress to take steps to lift the embargo that prevents Americans from travelling or doing business in Cuba. We’ve already seen members from both parties begin that work. After all, why should Washington stand in the way of our own people?
Yes, there are those who want to turn back the clock and double down on a policy of isolation. But it’s long past time for us to realize that this approach doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked for 50 years. It shuts America out of Cuba’s future, and it only makes life worse for the Cuban people.
So I’d ask Congress to listen to the Cuban people. Listen to the American people. Listen to the words of a proud Cuban American, Carlos Gutierrez, who recently came out against the policy of the past, saying, “I wonder if the Cubans who have to stand in line for the most basic necessities for hours in the hot Havana sun feel that this approach is helpful to them.”
Of course, nobody expects Cuba to be transformed overnight. But I believe that American engagement — through our embassy, our businesses, and most of all, through our people — is the best way to advance our interests and support for democracy and human rights. Time and again, America has demonstrated that part of our leadership in the world is our capacity to change. It’s what inspires the world to reach for something better.
A year ago, it might have seemed impossible that the United States would once again be raising our flag, the stars and stripes, over an embassy in Havana. This is what change looks like.
In January of 1961, the year I was born, when President Eisenhower announced the termination of our relations with Cuba, he said: It is my hope and my conviction that it is “in the not-too-distant future it will be possible for the historic friendship between us once again to find its reflection in normal relations of every sort.” Well, it took a while, but I believe that time has come. And a better future lies ahead.
Thank you very much. And I want to thank some of my team who worked diligently to make this happen. They’re here. They don’t always get acknowledged. We’re really proud of them. Good work.
Statement by the President on the Re-Establishment of Diplomatic Relations with Cuba added by admin on July 2, 2015
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717924
|
__label__cc
| 0.650349
| 0.349651
|
The Sauce on Travel
A Guide to Avoid Injuring Yourself on the Road: Iceland pt. 3
This will be an ongoing series that I plan on writing, in which I will be chronicling my misadventures and terrible decision-making ability while abroad.
Snæfellsjökull, Snæfellsnes Peninsula; Iceland – People think that I do the stupid things that I do just to get a laugh or so I have a crazy story to tell. I mean, really – how is almost killing yourself on accident something you could file under “Just For Laughs“? I do it because I’m essentially the lovely marriage of “overwhelmingly curious and willing to learn just about anything” and “reckless adrenaline junkie”. None of the things I’ve done overseas, which often turn out to be in perilous conditions, were done because I thought it was funny. However, when it comes to retelling the story, I have to insert as much humor (mostly self-deprecating) as I can, so I don’t actually feel like an idiot.
That being said, this next story is pure stupidity.
I used to read a lot as a kid. Like, an exorbitant, unnecessary amount – which is how I began my fascination with volcanoes. I was seven or eight years old when my parents got me a slew of classic books for my birthday (I know, so fucking lame, right? All I really wanted was Mario Paint), including two or three by Jules Verne. If you were also a nerd, then you know where this is going, but if you aren’t, I’ll break it down for you. You see, long before it was a shitty Brendan Fraser movie, that same brilliant French author wrote an incredible novel, “Journey to the Center of the Earth”. It was quite the fantasy tale, in which a German professor, his nephew and a guide descend to the core of the earth via a specific volcano caldera and encounter dinosaurs and all sorts of prehistoric shit. Although mostly, I remember reading the book and not being able to pronounce that particular volcano’s name: Snæfellsjökull.
Photo Credit: Bjarni Lúðvíksson via Panoramio.com
Despite dreaming of conquering this volcano as a kid, I never actually thought that I’d have the chance to stand face to face with that monster. But as an adult, I’ve been taught one important life lesson: that little kid didn’t know shit about the stuff I’d do as a grown-up.
So that being said, the Snæfellsnes Peninsula is just north-northwest of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland and our final destination. I should probably explain that for the nine days prior to today, we circumnavigated the entire island, counter clockwise starting at Grindavík, including a spectacular detour (which will be discussed in my blog that chronicles my hunt for the arctic puffin) in the Vestfirðir. This note is of massive importance, because in the nine days of trekking through lava fields and up volcanoes, I somehow convinced myself I was an expert hiker.
I wasn’t.
You see, the hike up to the summit Snæfellsjökull isn’t a particularly grueling one, unless you want to reach the true summit atop the glacier. Honestly, after my previous foray with glaciers, I wasn’t about to push the incredible luck I had been bestowed with in regards to my own life. Which, when you really think about it, is actually sort of astounding, because I still managed to mess myself up pretty good while trying to be careful.
So here we were, four of us, exhausted from the best road trip of our lives, to date, making our approach to the peninsula, and sizing up a volcano. (ed. note: I can’t believe I actually just said something like “I sized up a volcano”, and actually have it be true). Upon arriving and just parking literally right off of Route 1, the four of us sluggishly grabbed our bags from our rental, put on the driest clothes we had, and packed some water bottles. That was right before we looked at the clock on the dashboard of the car and realized that, despite the sun being directly overhead, it was getting late. “This really fucking sucks”, I remember mumbling out loud, my sentiment aligning with our groups frustration. It being this late really limits the amount of time we have to explore before we have to jump back in the car and drive around until we find a hostel that was still open and not at capacity. I really needed to see the crater that inspired Verne with my own eyes.
I guess I can admit that I was completely naive, and not taking into consideration that Snæfellsjökull is a stratovolcano, or composite volcano, which are characterized by their steepness. I mean, of course I didn’t take that into consideration – I mean, I ignored the fucking CLOUDS circling the summit like Tolkien’s Lonely Mountain. I was ripe to do something stupid.
We spent the first hour or so stopping sporadically to admire the landscape. The southern slope overlooks Faxaflói, or the Faxa Bay, and the views are stunning – on a clear day, you could see the capital. We would sit on rocks and talk about our trip so far, and just how unreal this whole experience had been. But as we rose higher, we started dropping like flies.
The first one was Peter, but in his defense, he was sick as fuck. It was also his birthday, and he didn’t want to spend it sitting in a parked car in soggy clothes. The fact that he made it as far as he did was actually impressive considering he could barely breathe, and a true testament to the iron will we all shared on this trip.
Number two was Robbie, but he lasted about another few kilometers. Chris and I joke around about using his tiny legs to maximum capacity in order to keep up with us Ents (That’s two Middle Earth references so far, for those keeping count). Also, the only clothes Robbie had at this point that were dry were jeans, and whether he admitted it or not – definitely chaffing.
So now it’s just me and Chris, and we turn our brisk walk into a jog until we start to reach glacier crevices. As we’re both nearing exhaustion, and with more than a 5K hike back down, Chris said the words that I didn’t want to hear yet. “Hey man, this shit is starting to look pretty dangerous, and the trail ahead is covered under a foot or more of snow. Maybe we should turn back.” I really should start listening to Chris more. I mean, he saved me from certain death and possible dismemberment at Vití when I decided that even though the fog was so thick that you could move it with your hands, I was going to try to walk to the lip of the crater. Had he not shouted at me like my parents, I wouldn’t have had the chance to stand next to him as the fog cleared to see that my footprints stopped less than two feet from a rocky 150 foot drop into a sulfur lake.
Well, this time, I didn’t listen to Chris. This is where you go to get to the fucking Center of the Earth. The child in me kept telling me to push harder, he absolutely needed to reach that crater. Like I said, I had dreamed of this climb, sort of like the way every other normal child my age dreamed of ringing that buzzer at the top of the Aggro Crag.
“You can start heading back without me, I’m just going to go a little higher. I think If I make it to where those trail markers are, I can see the crater.”
I started a careful trudge through the snow, keeping my eyes fixated on the ground. After my last adventure with quicksand, I was sure as fuck that wasn’t going to happen again.
I remember I was about knee deep in snow when the lights in the attic started to flicker, and I started to lose my sense of balance. As I started to sit down, I had a that feeling I usually get at the onset of a migraine, where my vision becomes strained and I start to feel really nauseous. What the fuck was going on, did I get bit by something?
Yes. I was bit by sheer stupidity. I mean, who runs up the side of a fucking volcano that apexes at more than 4,500 feet above sea level?
At least at the end of each episode of Guts, the kid that conquers the Crag the fastest gets to take home a piece of it to hold over their heads like the Stanley Cup of Nickelodeon. What did I get for tackling the great stratovolcano of my childhood dreams?
Migraines, nausea, and every other fucking symptom of altitude sickness for next three days.
Walk, don’t run, up volcanoes.
By Antò|2014-12-10T13:34:51-04:00December 10th, 2014|Hiking, Iceland, Travel| Comments
About the Author: Antò
A professional in only title, Antonio is an aspiring architect with a masters degree from Columbia University in Urban Design. In addition to practicing, he also teaches Architecture and Urban Design at the New York Institute of Technology. Beyond that he plays guitar in Con the Villain, illustrates Tarot based art under Mercy, Severity Art, and like Chris, is also a fan of burritos. He is a fan of the Oakland Raiders, although this makes him depressed. He still owns a Depeche Mode t-shirt, and many books. Which he has read. He swears.
Follow the Sauce
More Sauce…
A Beginner’s Guide to Traveling Japan
Experience a Different Side of Oregon at Smith Rock State Park
Eat ALL the Fried Chicken, Buffalo Mac and Cheese, and Fried Oreos in One Meal
Cheap Eats: Nutella Pancakes and Fried Chicken Sandwiches
Mt. Hood National Forest, Trillium Lake, and Huckleberry Everything
Archives Select Month March 2019 September 2016 February 2016 October 2015 September 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 June 2014
Copyright 2014 Wander Sauce | All Rights Reserved | Powered by WordPress
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717926
|
__label__cc
| 0.55096
| 0.44904
|
LONDON VISA PROCESSING
GUDEON & McFADDEN
26/28 GREAT PORTLAND ST
LONDON W1W 8QT
December 20, 2016: G&M festive season hours
Our office will close for the holidays from 4.30 pm on Friday December 23 and will reopen at 9.00 am on Tuesday January 3. During this time we will continue to answer urgent client e-mails. Other requests will be dealt with as soon as reasonably possible. “Weekly Update” will resume on January 10, so please check back with us then. We wish our readers a happy and healthy festive season.
December 6, 2016: CBP agriculture seizures; revoking US citizenship
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that its team of agriculture specialists and ‘Beagle Brigade’ based at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport intercepted many prohibited items during the busy Thanksgiving holiday weekend, including foreign plants, propagative seeds and an entire roasted pig inside the baggage of a traveller from Peru. CBP reminds travellers that all fruit, vegetable and other food/plant products, regardless of origin, must be declared and presented for inspection upon entry to the US.
A New York Times article discussed President Elect Trump’s tweeted suggestion that US citizens who protest government policies by burning the American flag should be punished by losing their citizenship. This led to an examination of the doctrine, established in the 1967 Supreme Court case of Afroyim v. Rusk, that the US Government cannot revoke US citizenship unless the citizen agrees.
November 29, 2016: Extreme hardship updates
The USCIS has updated its Policy Manual (formerly known as the Adjudicators’ Field Manual) with helpful information about what constitutes ‘extreme hardship’ for the purposes of a waiver of ineligibility for an immigrant visa application. For further discussion of waivers of ineligibility, please see our website article Washington, We Have a Problem! Ineligibilities and Waivers.
November 22, 2016: More pre-clearance news; EVUS program
DHS has chosen another 11 new airports to possibly begin CBP pre-clearance operations. The airports are located in Edinburgh, UK; Bogota, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Mexico City, Mexico; Rome and Milan, Italy; Osaka, Japan; Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil; Iceland and St. Maarten. CBP reports that more than 10 million travelers fly to the US from these airports each year.
Beginning November 29, 2016, Chinese nationals with 10-year visitor visas (B-1/B-2, B-1 or B-2) must have a valid Electronic Visa Update System (‘EVUS’) enrolment in order to be allowed to travel to the US. Travellers with visas already issued in their passports may continue using those visas, but they will not be admitted to the US after November 29th without first enrolling in EVUS (enrolments will generally last for two years or until passport expiry). For further information, see CBP’s Frequently Asked Questions about EVUS.
November 15, 2016: Payment options at the Embassy; more expatriations; looking into the future
Following on from the USCIS Field Office’s announcement that payment by credit card is no longer allowed for I-130 filing fees, the US Embassy in London is no longer accepting third-party card payments for any visa issuance fees. The credit card payment form has been retired.
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during the quarter ending September 30, 2016. The list includes the names of 1,379 individuals, only 47 people fewer than the all-time high of 1,426 from the same quarter last year. After news of the Canadian immigration website crash after the US election results were announced, one wonders how much higher the expatriation numbers will grow.
In the week since Donald Trump’s unexpected victory in the US presidential race, a number of apocalyptic scenarios have been raised by those concerned about immigration to the US. For the thoughts of our principal, Susan McFadden, please see today’s blog post: US immigration policy under President Trump.
November 8, 2016: Preclearance in Sweden
An agreement has now been signed to introduce US Customs and Border Protection preclearance operations at Stockholm Arlanda Airport in Sweden. CBP has announced that the new US preclearance capacity is anticipated to commence in 2019. For further information about expanded preclearance procedures and the additional preclearance stations planned for ten airports around the world, see the CBP’s September 2015 article on the subject.
November 1, 2016: Last call for this year’s green card lottery
The application period for the FY2018 Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ will close on Monday, November 7, 2016 at 12:00 noon EST/17:00 GMT. If you are eligible, either through your place of birth or the place where your spouse or parents were born, apply as soon as possible. The Department of State website is likely to be overloaded the closer we get to the deadline. If you have questions about your eligibility you may wish to look at our article Do You Feel Lucky? US Government Now Accepting Applications for the Green Card Lottery.
October 25, 2016: Paying fees at USCIS London; USCIS fees to increase
Effective last Wednesday, October 19, 2016, credit cards may no longer be used to pay filing fees for petitions filed with the USCIS Field Office in London. The only acceptable forms of payment are either (1) a US bank cashier’s check, (2) a US bank or US Post Office money order, or (3) an international bank draft. For more information go to the Field Office’s announcement.
In yesterday’s Federal Register the US Citizenship and Immigration Services published notice of its new fee schedule, to become effective for all petitions and applications filed on or after December 23, 2016. The fees will supposedly increase on a weighted average of 21% but several petitions and applications of most interest to our readers will see increases well in excess of that figure. A few examples: The fee for the I-129 petition for non-immigrant worker used for most petition-based working visas will rise from $325 to $460 (41%); fee for a waiver of ineligibility for an immigrant visa, filed on I-601, will increase from $585 to $930 (59%); and the fee for expedited naturalisation for the child of a US citizen will go from $600 up to $1170, an increase of 95%. The moral of the story: Don’t delay, file today!
October 18, 2016: Lawsuit against Disney dismissed
Now for an update on a story we discussed in our Weekly Updates of June 9, 2015 and January 26, 2016. As reported in The New York Times, a federal trial court in Orlando has dismissed the lawsuit brought by Leo Perrero, a former Disney World employee who claimed that US immigration law had been violated when he was replaced by a foreign worker on an H-1B visa. Mr. Perrero also alleged that some of the actions breached the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (‘RICO’) Act which would have opened the way to treble damages. But it was not to be. The court held that, even if all of the facts alleged by the plaintiff were true, he had not stated a cause of action against the defendants. The dismissal was without prejudice, giving the plaintiff until October 24 to rewrite his complaint and try again.
October 11, 2016: Duration of waivers of ineligibility; photo requirements
The Department of State has updated the section of its Foreign Affairs Manual regarding waivers of ineligibility for visa issuance. 9 FAM 305.4-3(G)(1) now states that Homeland Security will generally grant waivers for up to 60 months and multiple entries, so consular officers may recommend waivers accordingly. This new policy is applicable even to first-time waiver recipients although there are exceptions. This will be a huge relief to those visa applicants who until now had been required to reapply for visas nearly every year.
From November 1, 2016, in the absence of extremely unusual circumstances, visa applicants and persons applying for US passports will no longer be allowed to wear eye glasses in their submitted photographs. See the Department of State’s website for more information about the required photograph specifications.
October 4, 2016: I-94 website; travel for LPRs
The US Customs and Border Protection has updated the website where travellers can download their most recent I-94 Arrival/Departure Record and a list of their US entries and exits during the last five years. Those entering the US at a land border crossing can also use the website to apply for a provisional I-94 up to seven days before appearing at the port of entry.
USCIS has published a new form—Form I-131A, Application for Travel Document (Carrier Documentation)—that allows some lawful permanent residents (‘green card’ holders) to apply for a travel document if their green card or re-entry permit has been lost, stolen or destroyed. The US Embassy here in London recently highlighted its USCIS Field Office’s information on requesting a Transportation Letter for travel to the US when a green card has been lost, stolen, misplaced or expired. They note that airlines may allow a lawful permanent resident with an expired green card to board a US flight without penalty if the green card was issued with a 10-year expiration date, so you should check with the airline before requesting a Transportation Letter.
September 27, 2016: Challenges to the H-1B lottery
Following up on our Weekly Update of June 7, 2016: A federal district (trial level) court judge in Oregon has denied a motion by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to dismiss a challenge to the way that H-1B petitions are handled. Plaintiffs claim that using a lottery to determine which H-1B petitions are adjudicated is arbitrary and capricious, and violates the statutory requirement that petitions be processed in the order received. They assert that H-1B petitions should be adjudicated on a first-come first-served basis, with excess petitions getting a priority date—a process followed by the USCIS in the adjudication of immigrant visa (green card) petitions that are not immediately available due to numerical limitations. A copy of the judge’s decision can be accessed here
September 20, 2016: Green card lottery
The application period for the FY2018 Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ will open on Tuesday, October 4, 2016 and will end on Monday, November 7, 2016 at 12:00 noon (Eastern Standard Time). Eligibility requirements remain the same as last year except that natives of Ecuador are now allowed to take part. Applicants should read the instructions provided and may wish to watch the Department of State’s video tutorial. They should also heed the Fraud Warnings on the Department of State website, ensuring to check their application’s status online through the DV Entrant Status Check. From May 2, 2017, applicants will be able to find out if their entry has been selected in the DV program. For some additional information about the DV lottery, you may wish to look at our article Do You Feel Lucky? US Government Now Accepting Applications for the Green Card Lottery.
September 13, 2016: Medical requirements for IV applicants
On August 19, 2016, the Department of State announced new gonorrhea testing requirements for immigrant visa applicants. Starting no later than October 1, 2016, all immigrant visa applicants aged 15 and older will be tested for gonorrhea during the standard, required medical examination. Here in London, the Embassy has released an updated informational packet describing the procedure and requirements (now including the gonorrhea test) for the medical performed by its panel physicians, Knightsbridge Doctors. For applicants aged 15 and older, the fee has now increased from £250 to £290.
September 6, 2016: Potential parole for entrepreneurs
On August 31, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule that would give certain ‘international entrepreneurs’ parole to remain in the US for up to two years (with possible extensions up to an additional three years) to get their business off the ground. Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted until October 17, 2016. As discussed in our website article Promising Progress for Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Start-ups, this new option for entrepreneurs would be a good step toward realizing some of the improvements called for by President Obama and the Secretary of Homeland Security in November 2014.
August 30, 2016: A pause in the service
Your correspondent is travelling. Please check back next Tuesday for a resumption of Weekly Update.
August 23, 2016: I-94 corrections by email
If you are in the US and notice a mistake on your I-94 arrival/departure record online, you may be able to get it corrected by email. Twelve of the more than 70 Customs and Border Protection (CBP) deferred inspection sites will now accept email requests for correction of an incorrect I-94. The list of deferred inspection offices on the CBP website includes the available email addresses in the column marked ‘I-94 Correction Requests.’ It is prudent to check both your I-94 record online and the entry stamp in your passport every time you enter the US.
August 16, 2016: Visa problems for war translators
Unfortunately, US immigration doesn’t always work like it should. An article in the New York Times discusses the thousands of Afghan translators and interpreters who have assisted the US military during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq who are still awaiting the promised help from the US government to get out of the Taliban’s reach. Although a special visa program is in place to allow them to move to the US, the quota numbers and visa processes are complex and threatened by Congress’s indecision and in-fighting.
August 9, 2016: I-130 checklists for filing in London; new website article
The USCIS Field Office in the US Embassy, London has updated its checklists for filing I-130 immigrant petitions on behalf of alien relatives: Spouse, Child and Parent.
Want to move to the US permanently without being a multinational executive, someone with extraordinary ability or related to a US citizen? Green cards are available through employment-based categories EB-2 (members of the professions holding advanced degrees or persons of exceptional ability) or EB-3 (skilled workers, professionals and other workers). However, the labor certification process required by these categories can be quite tricky. Our new website article Laborious labor certifications: The complex world of PERM discusses the process.
August 2, 2016: Latest quarter’s expatriates; Global Entry interviews at US Embassy, London
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during the quarter ending June 30, 2016. The list includes the names of 508 individuals (less than half as many as the previous quarter).
As we discussed in our Weekly Update of July 12, 2016, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun accepting applications from all UK citizens for Global Entry, a Trusted Traveler Program which allows for expedited clearance of pre-approved, low-risk travelers. The US Embassy in London has now announced that it will host a 60-day CBP-run Global Entry enrollment event beginning on September 26, 2016. After being vetted by the UK Home Office and applying through the Global Online Enrollment System website, conditionally-approved Global Entry applicants can now register to attend the required CBP interview at the US Embassy in London.
July 26, 2016: Expanding CBP preclearance; Pokémon Go border issue
A New York Times article discusses the Department of Homeland Security’s drive to increase the number of Customs and Border Protection officers stationed at airports abroad as part of its preclearance operations. Preclearance stations, already found in 15 airports around the world, allow travellers to go through US immigration and customs procedures in the departure airport before boarding rather than upon arrival in the US. A precleared passenger may then disembark in the US airport as if from a domestic flight, avoiding the inspection queues and delays in the US that sometimes make it difficult to catch a connecting flight. In May 2015, DHS announced negotiations to increase the number of preclearance stations, but the current expansion efforts are said to be in response to recent terrorist attacks and are expected to reduce the risk of potential terrorists entering the US.
Last week, CBP reported that two juveniles inadvertently crossed the US-Canadian border illegally while playing Pokémon Go on their mobile phones. They were apprehended and reunited with their mother after CBP agents determined that the game had made them ‘unaware of their surroundings.’
July 19, 2016: Improvements for Americans abroad
The Department of State has announced a new initiative called ‘MissionOne’ which will expand and modernise services for US citizens living abroad. MissionOne’s objectives include enhancing the communication between US embassies and consulates and local Americans, expanding the emergency services offered at local posts, improving the security features of US passports and creating the option to renew US passports online.
July 12, 2016: Global Entry available to all Brits; Embassy documentary
As announced in the Federal Register, today US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin accepting applications for Global Entry from all UK citizens. This programme is an automated entry system which allows registered ‘trusted travellers’ to skip immigration queues at designated ports of entry in the US and check themselves in at a kiosk. To register for Global Entry, British citizens must first be vetted by applying through the UK Home Office website, and if successful may then apply through the Global Online Enrollment System (GOES). For the last two years, only certain UK citizens who were invited by a British airline carrier, the US Embassy or CBP were eligible to apply for Global Entry, but all Brits are now welcome to apply without a specific invitation.
In anticipation of its move from Grosvenor Square to Nine Elms at the end of 2016, the US Embassy in London commissioned a 60-minute documentary to tell its story and discuss the Special Relationship between the US and the UK, so you can now enjoy a behind-the-scenes look at the Embassy!
July 5, 2016: Proposed request for social media details on ESTA
US Customs and Border Protection has published a proposal to add to ESTA an optional data field for traveller’s social media information, including provider/platform and individual identifier. It would also be added to the hard-copy I-94Ws which are still required at land border entrances. This additional data would be used for vetting purposes, to ‘provide DHS greater clarity and visibility to possible nefarious activity and connections.’ Although this is the first instance of social media details being collected straight from travellers on ESTA applications or I-94Ws, it is not new for DHS to analyse social media activity to identify threats, whether real or satirical. See our Weekly Update of April 26, 2016 for further information.
June 28, 2016: The US is open for business
The US Commercial Service at the Embassy in London wants British business owners to know that there is help available if they want to expand into the US. The programme is called SelectUSA and it is designed ‘to provide easy access to federal-level programs and services related to business investment.’
June 21, 2016: More changes to ESTA
US Customs and Border Protection continues to make changes to the online system for travel authorisation (ESTA) that is required for travel on the Visa Waiver Program. The latest changes will quiz applicants as to their travel to Libya, Somalia, and Yemen and will allow applicants to enter their Global Entry Program Numbers, if applicable.
June 14, 2016: Possible new visa legislation?
A recent Computerworld article reports that Democratic Representative Zoe Lofgren of California is preparing a draft bill entitled the ‘High-Skilled Integrity and Fairness Act of 2015’ that would, among other things, prioritise the allocation of H-1B visas based on wages and eliminate the per-country cap for employment-based immigrant visas. Among the other good provisions: H-1B visas, like the H-2B visas for temporary and seasonal employment, would be made available in two tranches during the year, rather than just once a year as is now the case. Rep. Lofgren, whose district includes large portions of California’s Silicon Valley, has not yet introduced the bill, so it remains for the moment only a theoretical help to the thousands of would-be H-1B visa holders and their employers.
June 7, 2016: Increased fees for some H-1B and L-1 petitions; H-1B lottery in question
The USCIS has published information to help H-1B and L-1 petitioners determine if they will be required to pay the recently-increased additional $4,000 fee or $4,500 fee, respectively. The requirement of the additional fee is based on the number and visa status of the petitioner’s employees in the US.
A class action complaint filed on June 2, 2016 against US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is challenging the use of a lottery to determine which H-1B petitions are adjudicated. The complaint calls USCIS’s computer-generated random selection (and rejection) process for H-1B petitions ‘arbitrary and capricious and not in accordance with the law.’
May 31, 2016: Be prepared for summer travel; new website article
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has some suggestions for how to shorten your processing time in a US airport. Among them: US citizens and Canadian visitors entering through one of 12 US airports may now use a new mobile app to transmit their data to the CBP ahead of time.
We are adding an article to our website today, to assist non-British citizens who wish to apply for their US visas here in the UK. We hope that you will find answers to your queries in the article ‘Not British, but applying for a US visa in the UK?’
May 24, 2016: Mapping US immigration history
The “Immigration Daily” on www.ilw.com has published an interesting map graphic showing US immigration patterns covering almost 200 years. If you’re interested in moving to the US, take a look at our website pages about Nonimmigrant Visas and Immigrant Visas to see if any visa options might fit your circumstances. Our website articles offer more in-depth discussions of various visa types.
May 17, 2016: EB-5 issues
The EB-5 program, also known as ‘alien entrepreneur,’ ‘immigrant investor’ or ‘million-dollar green card,’ is a route to immigrant status in the US that is often criticized for being too vulnerable to fraud. A recent Government Accountability Office report discussed many areas of the program with fraud risks, and it recommended that the USCIS and DHS conduct more regular future risk assessments, develop a better strategy to expand information collection and increase data analysis to reliably report on economic benefits. While the report stated that DHS has implemented changes toward these improvements, the program continues to draw attention with fraudulent schemes and new questionable approaches; see New York Times articles Program That Lets Foreigners Write a Check, and Get a Visa, Draws Scrutiny, Fraud Charges Mar a Plan to Aid a Struggling Vermont Region, and Price for a Green Card: $500,000 Stadium Stake.
May 10, 2016: New scheduling process for immigrant visa interviews; latest quarter’s expatriates
The US Embassy, London has changed part of the procedure for applying for an immigrant visa. After you have scheduled your medical examination, submitted your DS-260 application form online, and submitted the Embassy’s online notification of readiness form, you will be notified to set up an account and schedule your Embassy interview. The online scheduling system also allows easy rescheduling. This is a vast improvement over the previous process of waiting for a letter with an interview date to arrive in the post, contacting the Embassy to request a reschedule and waiting for another letter to arrive in the post with a new interview date which could be just as inconvenient as the first.
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during the quarter ending March 31, 2016: another high total of 1,158 individuals.
May 3, 2016: Nothing to report
As we have no news from the US immigration world to report, ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on May 10. Please check back with us then.
April 26, 2016: H-1B Premium Processing; social media effects on US immigration
The USCIS has announced that on May 12 it will commence adjudicating cap-subject H-1B petitions selected in the lottery and submitted with Premium Processing.
An article in the New York Times discusses how the US Department of Homeland Security, at Congress’s urging and in response to the San Bernardino, CA shooting, is working on using social media accounts to better identify ties to terrorist organizations. Examining the social media accounts of all visa applicants and those seeking asylum or refugee status in the United States is apparently underway although DHS may run into technical, logistical and language challenges throughout their analysis. This is not a new issue however; it harks back to the 2013 Channel 4 documentary ‘Don’t Blame Facebook’ in which our attorney Susan Willis McFadden was interviewed regarding the dangers of careless postings in cyberspace, including the case of two young Brits who were refused entry to the US in 2012 because one had Tweeted that he was going to ‘destroy America.’
April 19, 2016: Statistics on green cards and naturalizations; H-1B petition numbers
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics has released Annual Flow Reports regarding people who became Lawful Permanent Residents and people who became US citizens in Fiscal Year 2014. A total of 1,016,518 persons were granted green card status in FY2014, mostly from Mexico (13 percent), India (7.7 percent) and China (7.5 percent). You can also see that a total of 653,416 persons naturalized in FY2014, mostly from Mexico (94,889), India (37,854), the Philippines (34,591) and China (30,284).
The USCIS has reported receiving over 236,000 H-1B petitions, including those filed for the advanced degree exemption, during the five-day filing period that began on April 1. Thus, on April 9, they performed a ‘computer-generated random selection process, or lottery,’ to select enough petitions to meet the caps, and premium processing will begin no later than May 16, 2016. All petitions not selected in the lottery will be returned to the petitioners.
April 12, 2016: H-1B cap reached; reciprocity for visa-free travel
The USCIS has announced that since filing began on April 1 it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap and the advanced degree exemption for fiscal year 2017. As a result, the USCIS will perform a lottery to randomly select petitions for adjudication. It will no longer accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY2017 cap, but it will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap.
As reported in the New York Times, the European Union is pressuring the United States to add additional European countries, specifically Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania, to the list of countries whose nationals are eligible to travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Program. The European Commission will consider requiring US citizens to obtain visitor’s visas before traveling to Europe to urge the case for reciprocity.
April 5, 2016: B visa refusal rates; new site for AAO non-precedent decisions
The Department of State has released statistics on the refusal rates of B-1/B-2 visitor’s visas based on the applicant’s nationality during Fiscal Year 2015. Consular officers denied 20.41 percent of B visa applications for British citizens. The highest refusal rate was for citizens of the Federated States of Micronesia—85.71 percent.
The USCIS has updated the webpage for non-precedent decisions of the Administrative Appeals Office (AAO). The AAO reviews and adjudicates appeals filed by petitioners and applicants for certain categories of immigration status whose initial filings were denied, such as a Form I-129 for O-1 classification. The AAO’s non-precedent decisions from 2005 to present are now in a searchable database. See our website article How to Prove You’re an Alien of Extraordinary Ability to find out how AAO decisions can be useful in preparing your own case.
March 29, 2016: E-passports required for VWP travel; immigration statistics
From April 1, 2016, all visitors, including UK citizens, seeking to enter the US on the Visa Waiver Program/ESTA will require an electronic passport (‘e-passport’). Depending of their date of issuance, some machine-readable passports were previously accepted for travel on the VWP, but this will no longer be the case. The websites of the US Embassy in London and US Custom and Border Protection discuss this change; further information about e-passports can be found on this Department of Homeland Security webpage.
The Congressional Research Service report of March 14, 2016 contains a lot of interesting information on US immigration statistics and policy trends, such as the facts that immigration to the US has reached annual levels comparable to the early years of the 20th century and the total number of people in the US who were born abroad (outside the US) is the highest in US history.
March 22, 2016: H-1B filing dates; Senator Grassley’s H-1B concerns; new website article
Starting April 1, 2016, the USCIS will be accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2017 cap. If, as expected, more petitions are filed during the first five business days than can be accommodated under the annual quota of approximately 65,000, a lottery will be conducted among the petitions received to determine which petitions will be adjudicated. (An additional 20,000 H-1Bs are available to individuals with a US master’s degree or higher.) USCIS has also announced that it will begin adjudicating H-1B cap-subject petitions requesting premium processing no later than May 16, 2016. For more information on the H-1B caps and lotteries, check out our latest blog post.
Speaking of H-1Bs, Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa has publicly released his letter to the Judiciary Committee, dated February 26, 2016, discussing his concerns that the integrity of the H-1B is being threatened by new programs, such as that of the City University of New York, which would make some cap-exempt H-1Bs available for start-ups and entrepreneurs. See our Weekly Update of February 23, 2016 for more details.
With the increase in difficult Requests for Evidence and denials from the USCIS in response to L-1 petitions, and the relatively low chance of getting a cap-subject H-1B petition selected for adjudication, US companies who require foreign workers should think about an E-2 registration. Our new website article E-2 Visas: Better than L-1s? discusses some of the advantages of going the E route.
March 15, 2016: STEM OPT extension; work authorization for H-4 spouses; VWP update
On March 11, 2016, the Department of Homeland Security published in the Federal Register a new final rule amending the Optional Practical Training (OPT) program for international students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. The rule, which will go into effect on May 10, 2016, allows applicants to apply for an extension of their STEM OPT from the current 17 months to 24 months. It also solves the ‘cap gap’ problem for F-1 students (with timely-filed H-1B petitions) whose F-1 status and employment authorization would expire before they could take up H-1B status on October 1.
The USCIS has released FAQs regarding the additional applications accepted as of May 26, 2015 for employment authorization (Form I-765) for certain dependent spouses in the US in H-4 status if the principal H-1B visa holder is in the process of seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status.
US Customs and Border Protection has compiled FAQs regarding the Visa Waiver Program Improvement and Terrorist Travel Prevention Act of 2015, offering an up-to-date summary of all the VWP/ESTA changes put into place since December 2015.
March 8, 2016: Known Employer Pilot; updated poverty guidelines
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced the March 3, 2016 launch of their ‘Known Employer Pilot Program’ to test a streamlined process for US employers seeking to hire foreign workers in certain visa categories, including H-1B, L-1A, L-1B, TN nonimmigrant classifications and EB-1-2 and EB-1-3 immigrant classifications. The pilot will allow employers (the first participants being Citigroup, Inc., Ernst & Young LLP, Kiewit Corporation, Schaeffler Group USA, Inc. and Siemens Corporation) to upload materials to an online Known Employer Document Library. Once the documents are verified, the employer would not be required to submit them anew with each individual visa petition. DHS plans to publicly announce the results of the pilot and, if it is successful, will seek to implement a permanent program open to all eligible employers.
DHS has released new poverty guidelines applicable to all I-864 Affidavits of Support filed on or after March 1, 2016. For additional information about the Affidavit of Support process please see our website articles A Beginner’s Guide to the Affidavit of Support and I-864 Affidavits of Support: The Problem of ‘Domicile’.
March 1, 2016: Updated ESTA form; EVUS enrollment for Chinese nationals; our new blog
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has announced that a new version is now available online of the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) form used by travellers to apply for visa-free travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Program. The updated form now includes questions addressing the travel eligibility requirements imposed by a recent change in US law. CBP suggests that the updated form will help them determine when to grant waivers allowing ESTA travel to people who have recently travelled to certain countries (including Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen) for government-related, humanitarian or business purposes.
Beginning in November 2016, Chinese nationals travelling to the US on 10-year visitor visas (B-1/B-2, B-1 or B-2) will be required to enroll online with CBP’s Electronic Visa Update System (‘EVUS’) to keep their biographic information up to date. Travellers with visas already issued in their passports will be able to continue using those visas, but they will not be admitted to the US after November 2016 without first enrolling in EVUS (enrollments will generally last for two years or until passport expiry).
We are happy to announce a new blog section on our website! Please visit our Blog page for further insights and commentary on immigration news, policy and issues. Our first post discusses in more detail the class-action lawsuits filed against Disney for replacing US citizens with foreign workers on H-1B visas (as discussed in our Weekly Updates of June 9, 2015 and January 26, 2016). Check back with our blog regularly for additional thoughts about what’s happening in the world of US immigration.
February 23, 2016: More VWP changes; new H-1B opportunities for entrepreneurs
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that it has added three more countries to the list of countries that travellers must not have visited in the last five years if they wish to enter the US on the Visa Waiver Program/ESTA. Foreign nationals who have visited Iraq, Iran, Syria, the Sudan, Libya, Somalia or Yemen in the past five years can no longer enter the US without a visa even if otherwise eligible for VWP travel.
The New York Times has published an article discussing the City University of New York’s new visa program, the first of its kind, which would make some cap-exempt H-1Bs available for start-ups and entrepreneurs. A board of directors would serve as the necessary petitioning “employer” for H-1B status, and moreover the entrepreneurs would be exempt from the H-1B cap because they would be employed at a college for more than half their time in the US, collaborating with professors and students.
February 16, 2016: Renunciation of US citizenship
Following last week’s publication of the names of the latest quarter’s expatriates, BBC News has released an article discussing the woes of US persons living abroad that are contributing to high numbers of renunciations. These include a lack of congressional representation, an inability to bank with foreign institutions that do not wish to comply with the US Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), and stringent requirements to report worldwide income which can lead to the possibility of double taxation. However, the recent increase in the renunciation fee (from $450 to $2,350) may convince some to reconsider giving up their US citizenship. If you would like more information about renouncing US citizenship, you may wish to look at our website articles US Citizenship—Having It, Getting It, Giving it Up, Giving Up US Citizenship: Is it Right for You? and Adiós, Uncle Sam: Renouncing US Citizenship.
February 9, 2016: Latest quarter’s expatriates; administrative processing in London
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during the quarter ending December 31, 2015. Following the previous quarter’s 1,426 (the highest number of expatriates ever), this latest list included the names of 1,058 individuals.
As of December 14, 2015, the US Embassy in London no longer allows applicants to check online the status of their pending visa applications that have been denied under Section 221(g), also known as ‘administrative processing.’ Rather, the Embassy will contact applicants by email if more information is required or if the visa is ready to be issued. See the Embassy’s website for further details.
February 2, 2016: Embassy’s new website; scheduling visa appointments
The US Embassy in London has now launched its updated website with new organization and mobile-viewing features under the new web address https://uk.usembassy.gov.
The visa appointment scheduling website has posted an announcement for people who are no longer eligible for travel under the Visa Waiver Program/ESTA due to the recent changes discussed in last week’s Weekly Update. According to the scheduling website, affected travellers should apply for a nonimmigrant visa at least three months before their desired travel to the US. If applicants are unable to secure a visa appointment before their planned travel, they should follow the website’s instructions for requesting an expedited appointment.
January 26, 2016: Overstays in the US; Visa Waiver Program changes effective; lawsuits by US citizens who claim they were displaced by H-1B visa holders
The Department of Homeland Security has just released its FY2015 report of those persons who overstayed after entering the US on either the Visa Waiver Program/ESTA or on a visitor’s visa. Out of the 192 countries listed, the UK had the 9th lowest overstay rate, of just 0.43%.
The Visa Waiver Program changes reported in the December 15, 2015 Weekly Update are now in effect. It is possible that waivers from the bar on VWP/ESTA travel by persons who have travelled to Iraq, Iran, Syria or Sudan since March 1, 2011 may be available if the travel was for legitimate business reasons.
Now, a follow up on a story in our June 9, 2015 Weekly Update. The New York Times reports that two former Disney employees have filed suit against the company and two global consulting/recruitment firms, alleging that the three companies lied in obtaining H-1B visas for foreign citizens who then took the employees’ jobs. Class action status is being requested.
January 19, 2016: Changes to the US Embassy website
The US Embassy, London has announced on its visa blog that the consular pages of its website will soon receive a new look and some reorganisation. Once the redesign is launched, the visa blog will post guides and tips to help visitors use the updated website.
January 12, 2016: Brits facing VWP problems; immigrant visa statistics
Our attorney Susan McFadden was interviewed on today’s ‘Rip Off Britain’ programme on the BBC, Rip Off Britain: Holidays, which addressed issues that Britons face when going on holiday. In particular, Mrs. McFadden spoke about why people could be denied ESTA authorisation for travelling to the US on the Visa Waiver Program when they appear to meet all the eligibility requirements. This program is timely, considering the changes made effective to the Visa Waiver Program on December 18, 2015. Perhaps those changes affected another British family as reported in a Washington Post article of December 23, 2015; the family planned a trip to Disneyland, received ESTA authorisation and made it all the way to their departure gate in Gatwick airport before they were told that they were not eligible to travel to the US. See our Weekly Update of December 15, 2015 for a discussion of the VWP changes.
The Department of State has released statistics from the National Visa Center about the number and national origin of people waiting for immigrant visas in various family-sponsored and employment-based categories. These statistics do not include applications for permanent residence filed in the US by persons currently living there in non-immigrant status. As of November 1, 2015, a total of over 4.5 million people were on the waiting lists for immigrant visas.
January 5, 2016: Proposed small changes in employment-based immigration status
In 2015’s final issue of the Federal Register the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule that would make some small changes in the treatment of employment-based immigrant and non-immigrant visa holders. One welcome proposal would extend to holders of E-1, E-2, E-3, L-1 and TN visas the same 10-day grace period before and after visa validity that is currently granted to H-1B visa holders. The initial grace period would allow visa holders to make preparations in the US for beginning their employment, and the grace period after the validity ends would allow visa holders to either seek new employment, make preparations to change to another immigration status, or wind up their affairs before departing the US. In addition, holders of E-1, E-2, E-2, H-1B, L-1 and TN visas would be given a one-time grace period of up to 60 days after their employment ends. The grace periods would also apply to dependents. The proposed rule is open for public comment until February 29.
December 15, 2015: Forthcoming changes to the VWP; G&M festive season hours
As reported by CNN, the US House of Representatives passed legislation on December 8 that would decrease the number of people eligible to travel to the US on the Visa Waiver Program (VWP). Foreign nationals who have visited Iraq, Iran, Syria or the Sudan in the past five years will be prevented from entering the US without a visa even if otherwise eligible for VWP travel. In conjunction with President’s Obama’s expressed concerns (see last week’s Weekly Update), these new limitations on the VWP are said to be in response to the recent attacks in Paris and San Bernardino. According to the Guardian’s coverage of the subject, the legislation is considered likely to advance through the Senate and become law by the end of the year.
Our office will be closed for the holidays from December 24, reopening on January 4. While the office is closed, we will continue to answer urgent client e-mails. Other requests will be dealt with as soon as reasonably possible. “Weekly Update” will resume on the first Tuesday in January, so please check back with us then. We wish our readers a happy and healthy festive season.
December 8, 2015: USCIS statistics; reviews of K-1 visa program and VWP
To add to the data released about L-1B petitions last month, the USCIS has now published statistics for all forms received (totalling 7,650,475) and adjudicated during Fiscal Year 2015.
A story from Reuters reports that President Obama has asked the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department to review the K-1 fiancé visa program. This request was made as part of the President’s response to the mass shooting which took place in San Bernardino, California on Wednesday, December 2, committed by a US citizen and his foreign-born wife who had entered the US on a K-1 visa. The article also mentions that border officials have been screening Visa Waiver Program travellers more closely since the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13.
December 1, 2015: Online civics practice
Are you preparing for your naturalization interview in the US? The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has provided practice civics tests in both English and Spanish on their website. Although the online practice tests are multiple choice, applicants at the naturalization interview will be asked ten questions aloud. A passing grade is six or more questions answered correctly.
November 24, 2015: Updated Foreign Affairs Manual; L-1B statistics
FAM-e, the new electronic version of the Department of State’s updated Foreign Affairs Manual and associated handbooks, is now available online at https://fam.state.gov/. FAM-e has a useful search function and contains updated language and a new organization and citation system, including the reorganization of Volume 9 (containing guidance on US visa matters) into six sections.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has published data on the number of L-1B petitions filed, approved and denied in Fiscal Year 2015. The USCIS denied about 25 percent of the petitions filed during FY 2015. Perhaps the release of the USCIS’s updated policy memorandum led to a decrease in the number of denials, as compared to the 35 percent denial rate in FY 2014, but it continues to be dishearteningly high when compared to the 6 percent denial rate in FY 2006 (see the National Foundation for American Policy’s report).
November 17, 2015: Green card lottery closed; H-1B issues
The application period for the FY2017 Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ is now closed. Applicants should heed the Fraud Warnings on the DOS website and be aware that they will find out if their entry was selected only by returning to the DV Entrant Status Check from May 3, 2016.
The New York Times has published another article regarding how difficult it is for US start-ups to compete with large outsourcing companies in securing H-1B classification for specialist foreign workers. Approximately 32% of all cap-subject H-1B petitions received by the USCIS in 2014 were filed by one of five companies who supply workers/consultants to US companies on an outsourced basis. These massive filings make it unlikely that small companies filing only one or two petitions will have a petition chosen for adjudication. (Ironically, the chief executive and president of the Times is a UK citizen and H-1B visa holder.)
November 10, 2015: New 9 FAM-e; updated information for new immigrants
The Visa Bulletin for December 2015 includes confirmation that the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual Volume 9, which contains all guidance on US visa matters (‘9 FAM’), will be replaced by the new electronic version ‘9 FAM-e’ as of November 18, 2015. While the content of the guidance will not change, 9 FAM-e will include updated language and a new organization and citation system.
The USCIS has updated its Welcome Guide for New Immigrants, to include revised general information on policies, programs and resources, and new sections about personal finance, taxes and financial scams and about the US education system, adult education programs and the health insurance marketplace. This is a helpful resource for people who have been granted Lawful Permanent Resident (‘green card’) status.
November 3, 2015: Global Entry for British citizens
As announced on the US Embassy in London’s website, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has today expanded its Global Entry programme to qualifying UK citizens. This programme is an automated entry system which allows registered ‘trusted travellers’ to skip immigration queues at designated ports of entry in the US and check themselves in at a kiosk. To register for Global Entry, British citizens must first be vetted by applying through the UK Home Office website, and if successful may then apply through the Global Online Enrollment System (GOES). CBP’s plans to make Global Entry available to all Brits meeting the requirements were reported over two years ago, as discussed in our Weekly Update of August 13, 2013.
October 27, 2015: Latest quarter’s expatriates
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during the quarter ending September 30, 2015. It included the names of 1,426 individuals. This is the highest number of expatriates per quarter ever, surpassing the previous high of 1,335 people who expatriated during the first quarter of 2015 (Bloomberg News).
October 20, 2015: Possible extension of employment authorisation for students; more DV information
In the October 19 Federal Register, the Department of Homeland Security published for public comment a proposed rule that would extend by 24 months the employment authorisation for some F-1 students who have earned degrees in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses. The proposed rule would also solve the ‘cap gap’ problem for F-1 students whose F-1 status and employment authorisation would expire before they could take up H-1B status on October 1. The proposed rule would replace an interim rule from 2008 that was struck down on August 12, 2015 by a federal court on procedural grounds.
The US Embassy in London’s visa blog has posted further information about applying for the ‘green card lottery’ along with a warning to applicants to enter their own information only at dvlottery.state.gov and not rely on other people or agencies to do so on their behalf. They have also provided a slideshow presentation with more details.
October 13, 2015: Green card lottery update
In today’s Federal Register, the Department of State confirms the entry period and instructions for the Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ for 2017. It urges applicants not to wait until the last week of the registration period to submit their applications because website delays can occur if too many people try to enter at the same time.
October 6, 2015: Green card lottery; consular systems upgrade
The application period for the FY2017 Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ opened on Thursday, October 1, 2015 and will end on Tuesday, November 3, 2015 at 12:00 noon (Eastern Standard Time). Applicants should read the instructions provided and heed the Fraud Warnings on the Department of State website, ensuring to check their application’s status online through the DV Entrant Status Check. From May 3, 2016, applicants will be able to find out if their entry has been selected in the DV program. For some additional information about the DV lottery, you may wish to look at our article Do You Feel Lucky? US Government Now Accepting Applications for the Green Card Lottery.
All US embassies and consulates will be closed to the public this Friday, October 9, 2015 to allow for an upgrade of the Department of State’s consular systems. If you had previously scheduled a consular interview on October 9, be sure to check if you have been contacted to reschedule the appointment. Those submitting visa applications after October 9 should be aware that delays in processing may occur due to the systems upgrade.
September 29, 2015: USCIS field offices
US Citizenship and Immigration Services has created new web pages for their international offices, containing helpful information about what services are provided at each office, instructions for filing applications, contact details and opening times. Information regarding the London field office can be found here.
September 22, 2015: Senator Grassley’s concerns about L-1B policy memo
Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa has publicly released his letter of September 15, 2015 to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”), setting out his concerns with the updated L-1B policy memorandum that came into effect on August 31, 2015. Having previously written to the USCIS to urge the agency not to make L-1B classification any easier to obtain (see our Weekly Update of March 13, 2012), Senator Grassley now writes to question the advisability of USCIS using the new policy memo to increase L-1B approvals, leading to the possibility of foreign workers displacing US citizens from their jobs.
September 15, 2015: Updated ESTA website
Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) announced the launch of a new version of the website for Electronic System for Travel Authorization (“ESTA”), which allows travellers from 38 countries to apply for authorization to travel to the US under the Visa Waiver Program—that is, without a visa. CBP hopes that the more mobile-friendly design, easier access to frequently asked questions, and increased availability to translations will make the ESTA application process simpler for visitors.
September 8, 2015: Loss of nationality fee change
Effective November 9, 2015, a $2,350 fee (“Administrative Processing of Request for Certificate of Loss of Nationality fee”) will be required by the US Department of State of all individuals seeking documentation of their loss of US citizenship. Currently, this fee is payable only by US citizens renouncing their citizenship before a consular officer. However, in today’s Federal Register DOS gave notice that it will expand the fee requirement to include those persons who are merely documenting before a consular officer the fact that they previously committed a potentially expatriating act with the intention of relinquishing their citizenship.
September 1, 2015: Preclearance news; immigrant fee payment
Further to our Weekly Update of June 2, 2015, the US Customs and Border Protection has published an article with more information about the expanded preclearance procedures and the additional preclearance stations planned for ten airports around the world, including London Heathrow and Manchester airports. The article discusses how these updates will affect passengers, airports and airlines.
The USCIS has announced it is making it easier to pay online the $165 immigrant fee, required of people immigrating to the United States as lawful permanent residents. The new payment process will require less information and will allow someone else to pay the fee on behalf of the new immigrant. Further information about paying the immigrant fee can be found on the USCIS Electronic Immigration System.
August 25, 2015: E-filing USCIS forms; updated L-1B guidance
The USCIS has announced that it is discontinuing its legacy e-Filing system for the online filing of Forms I-131, I-140, I-765, I-821 and I-907. All forms in the current system must be completed and submitted by September 20, 2015, after which paper versions must be used until the forms are made available on the USCIS’ new “Electronic Immigration System,” which is meant to be faster, more secure and easier to upgrade and update.
Previously released for public feedback, the USCIS has finalized its updated policy memorandum on the L-1B nonimmigrant visa classification, clarifying for USCIS officers how L-1B petitioners may demonstrate the specialized knowledge of an employee being sponsored for the visa. The memorandum will go into effect on August 31, 2015. We will wait to see how the new guidance influences the notoriously stringent adjudication of these petitions.
August 18, 2015: US government in Cuba
In accordance with the announcement on July 1 that the US and Cuba would re-establish diplomatic relations, the US Embassy in Havana was officially reopened on July 20, 2015. In time for Secretary of State John Kerry’s Havana visit on August 14, 2015 for the flag-raising ceremony, the Department of State has updated its list of USCIS offices to show a USCIS field office in the newly reopened Embassy.
August 11, 2015: New security requirements for VWP
The US Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh C. Johnson, announced last week that new security criteria have been added to the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) in an effort to find out more about the people traveling to the United States visa-free. These changes include requiring e-passports for all VWP travelers entering the US; mandating that VWP countries screen travelers using the INTERPOL Lost and Stolen Passport Database; and requiring that VWP countries’ governments consent to increased use of US federal air marshals on flights from VWP countries to the US. An article in the New York Times suggests these changes are designed to combat a perceived threat from people from VWP countries who have gone to Syria and Iraq to train with Islamic State and other groups.
August 4, 2015: Latest quarter’s expatriates; immigration discussions with Bono
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during the quarter ending June 30, 2015. It included the names of only 460 individuals. This is the lowest number of expatriates per quarter since 2012—quite a turnaround from the first quarter of 2015 which saw the highest number of expatriates ever, according to Bloomberg News.
In an interview with The Irish Times, U2’s Bono paid tribute to the young people involved in last month’s collapse of an apartment balcony in Berkeley, California. He spoke of the long tradition of Irish visitors and emigration to the US, including the opportunities available through the J-1 visa program, and of the challenges posed to immigrants by the current political climate. The interview took place after Bono and Yoko Ono unveiled a tapestry on Ellis Island marking the 40th anniversary of John Lennon’s securing permanent residence in the US.
July 28, 2015: Biometric collection upon exiting the US; renunciations in Edinburgh
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun using a mobile hand-held device to collect biometric data from foreign nationals exiting the US at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. CBP officers will compare the collected data to the travellers’ information taken upon entry to the US. The testing phase of the project will expand in the autumn to Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York, San Francisco, and Washington-Dulles.
The US Consulate General in Edinburgh will now accept and act on applications for the renunciation of US citizenship. Previously, the US Embassy in London was the only place in the UK where renunciations could be accomplished. Please see the Consulate General’s website for more information.
July 21, 2015: A pause in the service
This being the summer holidays, your correspondent is travelling again. Please check back next Tuesday for a resumption of Weekly Update.
July 14, 2015: SEC cracks down on EB-5 scheme; Premium Processing again available for H-1B petitions
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit on July 6, 2015 against persons who allegedly targeted Chinese investors for a multi-million dollar fraud. The defendant company, which it was claimed held massive oil and gas reserves, was marketed as a route to lawful permanent residence through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program. The press release contains links to the Complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco, as well as to EB-5 ‘Investor Alert’ notices in both English and Chinese.
Extension of stay H-1B petitions are now again eligible for Premium Processing Service, as announced yesterday by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. PPS had been temporarily suspended as to those H-1B petitions while the USCIS geared up to process employment authorization document (work permit) applications filed by certain dependent H-4 spouses. For details, see our Weekly Update entry of May 26.
July 7, 2015: A pause in the service
June 30, 2015: DOS technical issues resolved
The Department of State announced yesterday that all visa-issuing US embassies and consulates are now back online, scheduling visa interviews and issuing visas. In fact, DOS reported that 410,000 nonimmigrant visas were issued between June 21st and June 29th alone in efforts to clear the backlog caused by the worldwide technical issues. The US Embassy in London has updated its visa blog, confirming the good news that nonimmigrant and immigrant visas, as well as US passports, are once again being issued, but applicants should continue to expect slight delays in processing.
June 23, 2015: Department of State IT woes continue
The most pressing topic in US immigration continues to be the inability of most US embassies and consulates around the world to either (1) evaluate DS-160 online visa application forms submitted on or after June 9 or (2) print visas that were approved after June 8. However, Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs reports that as of noon yesterday a total of 22 visa posts had been reconnected to the database required for visa approval and issuance. The situation at the Embassy in London can be monitored on its Visa Affairs webpage.
June 16, 2015: Kerry v Din decision; Department of State technical issues
The Supreme Court of the United States yesterday decided the case of Kerry v Din, noted in our Weekly Update entry of October 14, 2014. The plurality opinion, in which three Justices joined, held that the US citizen plaintiff had no constitutionally-protected ‘liberty interest’ in being able to live in the United States with her husband, a foreign national for whom she had filed an immigrant petition. In the absence of such a constitutional right it was not necessary to decide whether the explanation she had been given for the denial of his immigrant visa application satisfied the Due Process clause of the Constitution. Two additional justices concurred in the result, but found that she had been afforded due process and so there was no need to decide whether such a liberty interest existed. The dissenting opinion, which four Justices joined, would have found both a protected liberty interest and an unconstitutional lack of due process. Additional interesting and accessible commentary can be found in the Supreme Court’s blog.
On June 12, 2015 the Department of State announced that the Bureau of Consular Affairs is currently experiencing technical problems with its overseas passport and visa systems, worldwide. Due to technical difficulties in the systems performing required national security checks before issuing visas, visa applicants will experience a delay in processing as DOS works to resolve the problem and clear the backlog of visas waiting to be processed. Additionally, some visa interviews may need to be rescheduled, in particular those from June 14 to 20 for applicants whose DS-160 visa application forms were submitted on or after June 9, as instructed on the Visa Appointment Service. Applicants are advised to check the Embassy’s visa page for updates on the situation.
June 9, 2015: H-1B visa holders replacing US workers; data on L-1B petitions
As reported in the New York Times, as of January 30 of this year Walt Disney World in Orlando laid off about 250 of its IT employees. Most were replaced by non-US citizens holding H-1B visas (nonimmigrant visas for highly skilled workers in specialty occupations), employed by an Indian outsourcing firm. Not only did the American employees lose their jobs, but they were required to train their replacements before leaving their positions. Although 120 of those laid off found new jobs at Disney and about 40 retired, the high-profile story has reignited debate on the H-1B visa program and its effect on US workers.
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has published data on the number of L-1B petitions so far filed, approved and denied in Fiscal Year 2015. As of March 31, almost 30 percent of petitions filed during FY 2015 were denied. This corresponds with the National Foundation for American Policy’s report, to which we referred in our update of March 24, 2015, finding that 35 percent of L-1B petitions filed with the USCIS in FY 2014 were denied, compared to only 6 percent in FY 2006. It remains to be seen how the USCIS’ updated policy memorandum will affect these statistics.
June 2, 2015: New CBP preclearance locations
On May 29, the US Department of Homeland Security announced that it intends to begin negotiations to expand air preclearance operations to ten additional airports outside the US, including London Heathrow and Manchester here in the UK. Preclearance stations, already found in 15 airports around the world, allow travellers to go through US immigration and customs procedures in the departure airport before boarding rather than upon arrival in the US. A precleared passenger may then disembark in the US airport as if from a domestic flight, avoiding the inspection queues and delays in the US that sometimes make it difficult to catch a connecting flight. The negotiations for preclearance also include airports in Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Turkey. According to the press release, in 2014 nearly 20 million passengers travelled to the US from the ten airports proposed for new preclearance operations.
May 26, 2015: Employment authorization updates; premium processing
As of today, May 26, 2015, the USCIS began accepting applications for employment authorization (Form I-765) for certain dependent spouses in the US in H-4 status if the principal H-1B visa holder is in the process of seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status. However, this change is coming into effect during a time of lengthy delays in the processing of employment authorization applications; the USCIS has not been adjudicating Form I-765s within the fixed time period of 90 days nor issuing interim employment authorization, as required by regulation. In fact, on May 22, 2015, a class action lawsuit was filed against the USCIS and the Department of Homeland Security for these unlawful delays in adjudicating Form I-765s for qualifying nonimmigrant visa holders.
Even if the addition of employment authorization for certain H-4 spouses does not increase USCIS delays in adjudicating I-765s, it will at least affect the USCIS adjudication of some H-1B petitions. The USCIS has announced that it will temporarily suspend premium processing for all I-129 petitions for the extension of H-1B status filed between May 26, 2015 and July 27, 2015 in an effort to implement the new H-4 final rule in a timely manner.
May 19, 2015: Nothing to report
As we have no news from the US immigration world to report, ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on May 26. Until then, we wish our readers a happy and healthy US Memorial Day and UK Bank Holiday weekend.
May 12, 2015: Latest quarter’s renunciations
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during the first quarter of 2015. The list identifies 1,335 individuals—the highest number ever, according to Bloomberg News. The Bloomberg article reports the widely-held belief that the increase in expatriations is due to increasingly stringent tax and regulatory requirements imposed upon US citizens living abroad, of which FATCA (the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is the most recent.
May 5, 2015: No more extra pages for US passports
The US Department of State has announced in the Federal Register a proposal to discontinue as of January 1, 2016 the service of adding additional pages to US passports. The stated reason is that once the “Next Generation Passport” is introduced on that date, adding pages to those passports could compromise the effectiveness of the new security features. As of January 1, US passport applicants will be able to choose between a 28-page or 50-page passport at the same fee; those who apply from abroad will automatically be issued the 50-page format.
April 28, 2015: Embassy webchat; US doctors for USCIS-required medical examinations
The US Embassy in London will hold another webchat tomorrow, April 29 from midday to 1pm on the subject of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has released an updated Find a Doctor locator to help green card applicants find local doctors in the US who are authorized to perform the medical examinations necessary to the application process.
April 21, 2015: US Cluster Mapping Tool; Immigrant Visa Unit update
As part of the SelectUSA Initiative, the US Embassy in London has recommended that people looking for business or investment opportunities in the use the US Cluster Mapping Tool, created by the Harvard Business School and the US Economic Development Administration. Doing so will apparently help potential investors or businesspeople identify industry-specific regional clusters and make informed investment decisions.
We have been informed by the Immigrant Visa Unit at the US Embassy in London that during the months of May and June immigrant visa appointments will be scheduled for the afternoons, rather than the mornings as is their normal practice. Persons previously scheduled for morning appointments in May are being contacted and told of the change. Anyone needing a morning appointment will have to wait until July or later.
April 14, 2015: H-1B lottery
The USCIS has now performed a lottery to randomly select petitions for adjudication from the nearly 233,000 H-1B petitions received during the filing period. The petitions that are not selected in the lottery will be rejected and returned with their filing fees. According to its announcement of March 12, 2015, the USCIS will begin adjudicating H-1B cap-subject petitions requesting premium processing no later than May 11, 2015.
April 7, 2015: FY2016 H-1B cap filled
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that since filing began on April 1 it has received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2016. As a result, the USCIS will perform a lottery to randomly select petitions for adjudication. It will no longer accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY2016 cap, but it will continue to accept and process petitions that are exempt from the cap.
March 31, 2015: L-1B policy memo; H-1B statistics for FY2014
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has now released its promised updated policy memorandum on the L-1B nonimmigrant visa classification, clarifying for USCIS officers how L-1B petitioners may demonstrate the specialized knowledge of an employee. The memorandum will be posted online for a 45-day public feedback period and will then go into effect on August 31, 2015.
In advance of tomorrow’s start of the H-1B filing season for petitions subject to the fiscal year 2016 cap, the USCIS has released a report on H-1B petitions filed and/or approved in fiscal year 2014.
March 24, 2015: L-1B denials and policy guidance; no more technical issues
The National Foundation for American Policy has released a report on the high rate of USCIS denials of L-1B petitions for transferring employees with specialized knowledge to the United States. Fully 35 percent of L-1B petitions filed with the USCIS in FY 2014 were denied, compared to only 6 percent in FY 2006. Another discouraging finding of the report was that petitions seeking to extend the L-1B classification already held by an individual were denied by the USCIS at a higher rate than initial L-1B petitions, so someone who had already been found to hold specialized knowledge required to fill a US role could suddenly be told that he actually no longer fills those requirements. These disheartening facts show how desperately needed is the L-1B policy guidance from the USCIS promised by the White House as part of the SelectUSA Initiative.
The Department of State and the US Embassy in London have taken down their warnings about technical issues causing delays in email correspondence and visa issuance.
March 17, 2015: H-1B filing season; Department of State technical issues; new website article
Starting April 1, 2015, the USCIS will be accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2016 cap. If, as expected, more petitions are filed during the first five business days than can be accommodated under the annual quota of approximately 65,000, a lottery will be conducted among the petitions received to determine which petitions will be adjudicated. (The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a US master’s degree or higher are exempt from the cap.) Last year, the USCIS received approximately 172,500 petitions during the first week of filing. USCIS has also announced that it will begin adjudicating H-1B cap-subject petitions requesting premium processing no later than May 11, 2015.
As seen on the US visa appointment scheduling website, the Department of State, including US embassies and consulates around the world, is currently experiencing technical difficulties due to system maintenance. Visa applicants should be aware that these issues may cause delays in visa processing and issuance as well as e-mail correspondence with consular posts. The US Embassy in London confirmed this by reposting its November 17, 2014 entry on its blog to give notice that it is currently unable to send or receive e-mail.
We have added a new article to our website: Promising Progress for Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Start-ups. It discusses some of the difficulties facing entrepreneurs who would like to be able to get visas to live and work in the United States, and how their lot may be changing for the better. We hope you will find it informative.
March 10, 2015: Updated poverty guidelines; medical instructions
The Department of Homeland Security has released new poverty guidelines applicable to all I-864 Affidavits of Support filed on or after March 1, 2015. For additional information about the Affidavit of Support process please see our website articles A Beginner’s Guide to the Affidavit of Support and I-864 Affidavits of Support: The Problem of ‘Domicile’.
The US Embassy in London has updated its online instructions for immigrant visa applicants’ medical examinations. Its instructional leaflet was also recently updated, but applicants should refer to the website stating that four photographs will now be required for the medical rather than only one as shown in the leaflet.
March 3, 2015: US employment for some H-4 spouses
Effective May 26, 2015, some H-4 visa holders will have the opportunity to apply for employment authorization in the US. As announced by the USCIS last week, to be eligible, the dependent H-4 must be married to an H-1B visa holder who either 1) is the principal beneficiary of an approved I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker or 2) has been granted an extension of H-1B status under a provision of US immigration law which allows H-1B nonimmigrants seeking lawful permanent residence to work and remain in the United States beyond the usual six-year limit. The USCIS estimates that up to 179,600 individuals will be eligible to apply for employment authorization under this rule in the first year and 55,000 annually in subsequent years.
February 24, 2015: Embassy webchat; Supreme Court case on immigrant visa denials and consular nonreviewability
The Embassy will hold another webchat tomorrow, February 24 from midday to 1pm on the subject of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas.
As we first mentioned in our update of October 14, 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States granted review in Kerry v. Din. That case, arising from the denial of an immigrant visa to the husband of a US citizen, challenges the general doctrine disallowing judicial review of consular decisions. Yesterday the Supreme Court heard oral arguments. For an analysis of the arguments, see today’s post on the Supreme Court’s blog.
February 17, 2015: Giving up US citizenship
According to BBC News, London’s mayor Boris Johnson, dual US and UK citizen, has announced that he intends to give up his US citizenship due to the fact that his “commitment is, and always has been, to Britain." In making this decision, he does not reference his necessity to pay US taxes, such as the outstanding US capital gains tax bill he reportedly settled recently (see our updates of November 25, 2014 and January 27, 2015). Mayor Johnson is not alone in considering expatriation as evidenced by the Internal Revenue Service’s lengthy quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during 2014’s final quarter. It included the names of 1,062 individuals—the second highest number of expatriates per quarter in the last seven years.
February 10, 2015: FAM updates; visa appointments in Canada; myUSCIS website
The Department of State has updated the section of the Foreign Affairs Manual regarding medical ineligibilities for both nonimmigrant and immigrant visas. Among other changes, 9 FAM 40.11 N now specifies that people who have had mental health problems with associated harmful behaviour are not ineligible for a visa if a year has passed without any harmful behaviour related to their mental health disorder.
The US consulates in Canada have upgraded their online system for scheduling visa appointments. The new system came on line on February 1, 2015 and offers the most up-to-date availability of appointments. Petition-based visa holders in the US looking to renew their visas in Canada should be aware that wait times for appointments will vary significantly by post and by season.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is developing a new website to help people get immigration information, identify their immigration options and find the right forms. The new “myUSCIS” at https://my.uscis.gov/ will roll out in phases, starting this month. The goal is to provide a convenient source for trusted immigration information that can be used anytime, anywhere and on any device.
February 3, 2015: Busy visa application season
If you need a visa to travel to the US for holiday this summer, you should consider applying as soon as possible. As the Embassy posted on their visa blog, the summer months saw many visa applications last year, and the same is expected for 2015.
January 27, 2015: Boris Johnson’s US taxes
As a conclusion to the story of Boris Johnson’s current US tax issues (see our update from November 25, 2014), the Mayor of London, a citizen of the United States, has reportedly now settled the US tax bill which he was refusing to pay last year. We wish Mayor Johnson a happy trip to the US next month.
January 20, 2015: Embassy webchat
The Embassy will hold another webchat tomorrow, January 21 from midday to 1pm on the subject of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas.
January 13, 2015: Updates for land border crossings
The US Customs and Border Protection has released a free “Border Wait Time” app for travellers crossing into the US by land. Directions to the closest land ports of entry, estimated wait times and open lane status for pedestrians, passengers and commercial vehicles will be available with the app. People who are admitted to the US at a land port of entry and receive a paper I-94 Arrival Record should also be aware of the new address for returning I-94s which were not handed in upon next leaving the US.
January 6, 2015: Warning of EB-5 scams
The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the USCIS have jointly issued an ‘Investor Alert’ to persons interested in obtaining lawful permanent resident status through the EB-5 immigrant investor programme. After describing some recent enforcement actions taken against EB-5 programme organisers the agencies list investigative steps that should be taken by every would-be EB-5 participant.
December 23, 2014: A pause in the service
Your correspondent is celebrating the holidays. “Weekly Update” will resume on the first Tuesday in January. Please check back with us then.
December 16, 2014: Two court cases to watch
A Washington State-based labor union representing workers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has been granted permission to pursue a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and challenge a 2008 interim final rule that expanded work authorization for foreign students studying in STEM fields. The federal district (trial) court held that the union could challenge the 17-month extension of optional practical training (OPT) work authorization for STEM students on the grounds that the union’s members suffered greater competition for jobs than would have been the case without the extension. Given that extending OPT for all students is one of the aims of the executive action announced by President Obama and the Department of Homeland Security on November 20, this issue will recur as the agency tries to balance the needs of students and those of US workers.
As reported in our October 14 Weekly Update entry, the Supreme Court of the United States will consider during its current term a case raising the question whether a US citizen’s constitutionally-protected interest in marriage entitles her to bring a lawsuit in federal court to force the Department of State to provide a ‘facially legitimate and bona fide’ reason for its decision to deny her husband an immigrant visa. The Department of State, which sought review of the decision in the lower court, has now filed its opening brief, which can be found here.
December 9, 2014: Renouncing US citizenship; G&M festive season hours
As comment continues on Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s refusal to pay his US tax bill, an opinion piece in the New York Times on Sunday discussed the columnist’s own reasons for giving up his US citizenship. He particularly focused on the IRS’s strict, confusing and, some would say, unfair financial reporting and tax filing requirements of US citizens who live abroad. If you are considering renouncing your US citizenship, you may wish to look at our website articles US Citizenship—Having It, Getting It, Giving it Up, Giving Up US Citizenship: Is it Right for You? and Adiós, Uncle Sam: Renouncing US Citizenship.
Our office will be closed from December 24 through January 1, inclusive. While the office is closed, we will continue to answer urgent client e-mails. Other requests will be dealt with as soon as reasonably possible. We wish our readers a happy and healthy festive season.
December 2, 2014: USCIS statistics
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has released its latest performance statistics for fiscal year 2014.
November 25, 2014: Boris Johnson’s issues with US taxes; changes to US immigration enforcement system
Dual UK and US national Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, became the subject of much press, inspiring articles in The Telegraph, The Guardian, Financial Times and The Evening Standard, when he admitted to National Public Radio that he is refusing to pay capital gains tax required by US authorities for the profit gained from the sale of his UK property. US citizens, wherever they live in the world, are required to file tax returns, report worldwide income and pay US taxes when necessary. Our website articles Adiós, Uncle Sam: Renouncing US Citizenship and Giving Up US Citizenship: Is it Right for You? discuss how some of these requirements can lead people to consider giving up their US citizenship. Mayor Johnson’s refusal to submit to US tax law has also added a new spin to his efforts to make the US Embassy pay its London congestion charge fines, reportedly totaling over £7 million.
On November 20, President Obama announced his planned changes to the country’s immigration enforcement system. A key part of the overhaul includes a new program for unauthorized immigrants with US-citizen children, about four million people, to gain a new legal status that would defer their deportations and allow them to work legally.
November 18, 2014: Embassy e-mail and payment issues; overhaul of US immigration enforcement system; K-1 and immigrant visa documents
The London Embassy is currently experiencing problems with their e-mail and payment systems. Persons needing to pay for services at the Embassy should bring cash (US dollars or the sterling equivalent). These issues may be related to a reported breach by hackers of the State Department’s computer system.
According to the New York Times President Obama is planning to announce before the end of this year plans to overhaul the United States’ immigration enforcement system. Changes may include opening more opportunities for illegal immigrants who are parents of US citizens, expanding immigration benefits for legal non-immigrants with high-tech skills and revamping a controversial immigration enforcement program called Secure Communities, which prioritizes the removal of criminal aliens, those who pose a threat to public safety and repeat immigration violators. We look forward with interest to the eventual announcement.
The National Visa Center no longer requires original documents (other than the original signed Affidavit of Support) for processing immigrant visa applications. The Embassy has thus released a new checklist setting out the documents required on the day of the consular interview for K-1 and immigrant visa processing.
November 11, 2014: US visas for Chinese nationals
The White House Press Office has announced that starting tomorrow, November 12, 2014, qualifying Chinese nationals will be issued tourist and business visas valid for up to ten years—the longest validity possible under US immigration law—and student and exchange visas valid for up to five years. Currently, B-1/B-2 visitor visas for Chinese citizens are valid for only one year. Under the new reciprocal agreement, Americans should also be given the same validity length for these types of visas for visiting or studying in China.
November 4, 2014 – New ESTA; green card lottery closed
Yesterday US Customs and Border Protection posted a new ESTA form that must be used, effective immediately, by all persons seeking authorisation to travel to the US on the Visa Waiver Program. The brief press release announcing the changes did not specify whether existing ESTA authorisations would continue to be honoured, but the posted list of FAQs states that persons with current, valid ESTA authorisations do not need to reapply. Although the CBP statement refers only to ‘additional data fields of information’ now required on the ESTA form, such as contact information, parents’ names and employment details, careful readers will see that the crucial eligibility questions have also been rewritten and augmented.
October 28, 2014: Green card lottery closing; Embassy webchat; latest quarter’s expatriates
The application period for the FY2016 Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ will end on Monday, November 3, 2014 at 12:00 noon (Eastern Standard Time). From May 5, 2015, applicants will be able to find out if their entry has been selected in the DV program by returning to www.dvlottery.state.gov.
The Embassy will hold another webchat tomorrow, October 29 from noon to 1pm on the subject of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. Following the link will also allow you to check out the new name and look of the US Embassy, London’s visa blog.
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who chose to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status during 2014’s third quarter. It included the names of 776 individuals—the third highest number of expatriates per quarter since 2007.
October 21, 2014: Nothing to report
Last week was an unusual quiet period in the turbulent field of US immigration law, with no developments of general application, so ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on October 28. Please check back with us then.
October 14, 2014: Supreme Court case on immigrant visa denials and consular nonreviewability; E visa appointments update
The Supreme Court of the United States has accepted for review a case raising the question whether a US citizen’s constitutionally-protected interest in marriage entitles her to bring a lawsuit in federal court to force the Department of State to provide a ‘facially legitimate and bona fide’ reason for its decision to deny her husband an immigrant visa. The Ninth Circuit (an intermediate court of appeals with jurisdiction over much of the American West) previously decided that it would invoke a narrow exception to the rule that consular visa decisions are nonreviewable, and ordered the government to give a reason for the refusal. (Originally the Department had simply cited the 1000-word section of the Immigration and Nationality Act that allegedly justified the decision.) The Department then appealed to the Supreme Court by way of certiorari and the Court, exercising its discretion, accepted the case for review. A decision will be issued before the end of the Court’s current term in June.
The E Visa Team at the US Embassy in London has announced revised holiday opening times (since our update of September 30, 2014 below). The unit will not see registration applicants from December 22, 2014 through January 9, 2015. However, the unit will continue to see applicants of already-registered companies through December 23, 2014 and will resume normal service for these applications on January 5, 2015.
October 7, 2014: Completing Form I-9
The USCIS has produced a video to instruct US workers on how to correctly complete Form I-9 verifying their eligibility to work in the US. Employers are required to obtain a Form I-9 from every new hire.
September 30, 2014: E visa appointments; new website articles
While the US Embassy, London will be closed on December 25 and 26 and January 1, the E Visa Team will not see applicants for a more extended period of time over the holidays. They have announced on Twitter that the last E visa appointment of the year will be December 19.
We have added new articles to our website: our annually recurring article about the Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery,’ Do You Feel Lucky? US Government Now Accepting Applications for the Green Card Lottery, and another with some thoughts on the impermanence of US green cards, Maintaining US Lawful Permanent Resident Status. You can find the full list of our articles here. We hope that you will find them helpful.
September 23, 2014: Green card lottery application dates announced
The State Department has announced that the DV-2016 ‘green card lottery’ will be open for applications from October 1 to November 3, 2014. Applicants should read the instructions provided and heed the Fraud Warnings on the DOS website, ensuring to check their application’s status online through the DV Entrant Status Check. For some additional information about the DV lottery, you may wish to look at our article Do You Feel Lucky? US Government Now Accepting Applications for the Green Card Lottery.
September 16, 2014: New customs form
The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has issued a new customs declaration form which travellers will be required to present to CBP when they arrive in the US from abroad. While completing the hard-copy form on the airplane or upon arrival is still an option, travellers may now choose to complete the form online before they travel and then present the printed version to CBP when entering the US. The CBP has also expanded the definition of family members, as shown on the form, and clarified the definition of domestic relationships to ensure people travelling together know whether they should file a joint customs declaration for items acquired abroad.
September 9, 2014: Visa options for fiancé(e)s and spouses of US citizens
The Embassy’s Visa Services blog has posted a story about an engaged couple, one a UK citizen and one a US citizen, going through the process of deciding where to get married and which visa to seek. In this context, you may wish to take a look at our website articles for more information: Before You Say ‘I Do’: Options for British-American Couples, I Married an Alien, Get Us Out of Here: Immigrant Visas for Spouses of US Citizens Living in the United Kingdom, Unknown Unknowns: ‘Do I Really Need a Lawyer to Get My Spouse a Green Card?’ and Same-Sex Marriage and Spousal Visas as well as the newest addition, The K-3 Visa: Not Really an Option.
September 2, 2014: New consular fees
As published in the Federal Register, the Department of State has set new consular fees that will come into effect on September 12, 2014 (see DOS press release regarding effective date). While some fees will be reduced, such as the E-2 visa application fee and employment-based immigrant visa fee, others will substantially increase, notably the 422% rise in the renunciation fee from $450 to $2,350. The Embassy’s visa blog offers more information about determining whether you will need to pay the fee increase based on when you pay the application fee and when you go to the appointment.
August 26, 2014: Statistics on nonimmigrant admissions; give CBP feedback on ESTA
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics has released its Annual Flow Report regarding nonimmigrant admissions to the United States in Fiscal Year 2013. The report estimates that there were 173 million nonimmigrant admissions in FY2013. The largest category of admission was temporary visitors for pleasure, including travellers entering on B-2 visas and the Visa Waiver Program, which represented 79% of I-94 admissions. Mexican citizens made up 29.5% of I-94 nonimmigrant admissions, the most of any other country of citizenship, while travellers from the United Kingdom made up the second largest portion at 7.5%.
Representatives from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be in London on Friday, August 29, 2014 and Monday, September 1, 2014. They will host focus groups to collect feedback from UK residents regarding the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) website. If you would like to participate, you can find more information on the US Embassy, London’s webpage or CBP’s website.
August 19, 2014: Visa issuance backlog
The US Embassy, London has announced that they are continuing to clear the backlog of visas waiting for issuance caused by the Department of State’s database’s technical difficulties. Our experience with the Embassy confirms the return to normal processing times.
August 12, 2014: Quarterly report of renunciations; visa reissuance program returns
The Internal Revenue Service has published in the Federal Register the names of those persons who renounced either their US citizenship or their long-term lawful permanent resident status during the second quarter of 2014. The list runs to 576; last quarter it was 1001.
Certain holders of J, O and P visas are now eligible for reissuance of their visas without the need for another Embassy interview. For a link to the Embassy’s ‘Visa Reissuance Wizard,’ click here.
August 5, 2014: Visa issuance difficulties subside; new information for people of extraordinary ability
The Department of State is making headway in its attempts to clear the backlog of visa applications that arose due to an IT difficulty. The London Embassy has announced that normal processing has been resumed in most of its cases.
Today we have updated our article How to Prove You’re an Alien of Extraordinary Ability with summaries of the most recent available Administrative Appeals Office decisions, up through June 2014. We invite you to review them for the light they may shed on evolving standards in this area.
July 29, 2014: Visa issuance delays; Embassy webchat
On July 23, The Washington Post reported that problems with the Department of State’s database used to approve, record and print visas are causing major delays and backlogs in consular posts. The US Embassy in London acknowledges the technical problems, announcing that the visa status check online will not be updated until the issues have been resolved. The Department of State assures the public they are working to resolve the issues as soon as possible.
The Embassy will hold another webchat tomorrow, Wednesday, July 30, on the subject of nonimmigrant and immigrant visas.
July 22, 2014: Nothing to report
Last week was an unusual quiet period in the turbulent field of US immigration law, with no developments of general application. Please check back with us next week, when history suggests that there will once again be news to report.
July 15, 2014: US visa validity
The Foreign Affairs Manual was amended on July 9 to show that the validity of visas should be limited to the validity of the applicant’s medical examination reports. This is consistent with the immigrant visa issuance policies that have been in place at the US Embassy in London for the past year. More information about the medical procedure for immigrant visa applications in London can be found in the Embassy’s instructional leaflet.
July 8, 2014: H-1B visa applications; enhanced security for flights to US
Beneficiaries of approved H-1B petitions with an October 1, 2014 start-date may now begin filing their visa applications at US consular posts. However, successful applicants should remember that they cannot use the visa to enter the United States until ten days prior to the beginning of the approved status period, as per the visa’s annotation.
The Transportation Security Administration announced on July 6 that certain overseas airports with direct flights to the United States will be required to implement enhanced security measures. Officers may now ask travelers to power up their electronic devices for inspection, and powerless devices will not be permitted onboard. Remember to pack your chargers!
July 1, 2014: Visa issuance policy; cautions update
The Congressional Research Service has produced a new paper on US visa issuance policy. The 22-page report discusses not only the process of pre-issuance security checks and the bases for visa denial, but also the respective roles of the Departments of State and of Homeland Security. It is well worth a read.
Further to our previous Weekly Update postings regarding the London Embassy’s treatment of police cautions: Although the Embassy has not released any statement as to the new policy it has been developing over the past year, some contours of that policy are slowly becoming clearer. It now appears that the more recent the caution, the more likely it is to be treated as an admission of the underlying offense—and an admission has the same effect for US visa purposes as a conviction. However, older cautions, from 2007 and before, may in the context of a visa application still benefit from the more lenient treatment as the equivalent of an arrest.
June 24, 2014: LPR statistics for FY2013; Embassy webchat; possible reasons for expatriations
The Department of Homeland Security has published a statistical overview of the 990,553 people who became US Lawful Permanent Residents (LPRs) in fiscal year 2013. Sixty-six percent of the new LPRs were sponsored by family members; typically, 40% of new LPRs are immediate relatives of US citizens. In FY2013 there were 12,984 new UK-born LPRs, 1.3% of the total.
The US Embassy in London will host a webchat tomorrow, June 25, from midday to 1:00pm on the subject of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas.
An article in the Wall Street Journal of June 16, 2014 highlights the growing number of people who give up their US citizenship or lawful permanent residence. It suggests that their decision to expatriate is often due to the increasingly rigorous reporting requirements (of both income and savings) imposed on US citizens and LPRs who live abroad.
June 17, 2014: Tips for new immigrants
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued a help sheet for new immigrants as to how to find their A number and DOS case number (‘LND number’ if processing took place in London). These tips are particularly useful when paying the $165 immigrant visa fee online with the USCIS’ Electronic Immigration System (ELIS).
June 10, 2014: Naturalisation statistics for 2013; US immigrant visa processing; Automated Passport Control
The Department of Homeland Security has published a statistical summary regarding the people who naturalised to become US citizens in 2013. Mexico was the leading country of birth of persons naturalising in 2013 (13%), followed by India (6.4%), the Philippines (5.6%), the Dominican Republic (5.1%) and the People’s Republic of China (4.5%), while the United Kingdom did not appear on the list of the top 20.
A helpful diagram has been prepared by the Department of State to help people understand the general steps of the immigrant visa process, whether the immigrant visa petition is based on US employment or a US citizen relative. However, immigrant visa petitions being filed with the USCIS at the Embassy in London should continue to follow the separate instructions provided on the Embassy’s website.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun to allow US citizens, lawful permanent residents, Canadian citizens and eligible Visa Waiver Program travellers to enter the US through an automated process at some airports. Automated Passport Control (APC) will expedite the entry process by allowing travellers to use self-service kiosks to submit their customs declaration form and biographic information. CBP’s website contains further information about APC, including a list of participating ports of entry.
June 3, 2014: Nothing to report
As we have no news from the US immigration world to report, ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on June 10. Please check back with us then.
May 27, 2014: Embassy webchat
The US Embassy in London will host a webchat tomorrow, May 28, from midday to 1:00pm on the subject of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas.
May 20, 2014: J-1 visa information
The Embassy has released a video for people thinking of applying for a J-1 visa to take part in one of the many Exchange Visitor Programs in the US. It gives helpful information about the J-1 visa procedure specifically, but also shows what it is like inside the Embassy for all nonimmigrant visa applicants.
May 13, 2014: Work for some H-4 spouses; new form for Diversity Visa applicants
The Department of Homeland Security has published a proposed rule to allow some H-4 spouses to obtain employment authorization (‘work permits’) in the United States. The scope is quite limited as the rule would apply only to spouses of H-1B holders who are in the end stages of becoming lawful permanent residents. The change has been proposed with the stated hope that it ‘would lessen any potential economic burden to the H-1B principal and H-4 dependent spouse during the transition from nonimmigrant to lawful permanent resident status, furthering the goals of attracting and retaining high-skilled foreign workers.’
Applicants who have been selected in the FY2015 Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ will be required to complete and submit online Form DS-260. This will replace the requirement of filing hard-copy Forms DS-230 and DSP-122 with the Kentucky Consular Center as all the information from those forms has been integrated into the new version of the DS-260, available for access from May 19, 2014. Please see the Department of State’s instructions on the immigrant visa application process.
May 6, 2014: 2014’s first quarter expatriates; I-94 arrival/departure history; new website article
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who have chosen to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status. Those individuals numbered 1,001 for the quarter ended March 31, 2014: the second highest number of expatriates per quarter since 2007, behind only 2013’s second quarter which had a total of 1,130.
On May 1, the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) updated its webpage for retrieving I-94 arrival/departure records. Now visitors to the US can access a history of their arrival/departure dates and points of entry/exit (if known) going back five years from the request date. As well as being a helpful resource to visa applicants completing the details of their five most recent US trips on their DS-160 visa application forms, travellers may no longer need to file a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to receive their arrival/departure history.
We have added a new article to our website: More About Visas: How Long Can You Stay in the US? It follows on from our recent article Four Basic Facts About US Visas in discussing the interaction between visas and approval notices that determines how long a visa holder is authorized to stay in the US on each trip.
April 29, 2014: Statistical view of US immigration
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics has released its 2012 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics. The 124-page Yearbook provides a wealth of data on foreign nationals who during the US Government’s Fiscal Year 2012 were granted lawful permanent residence, were admitted into the United States on a temporary basis, applied for asylum or refugee status, or were naturalized. Among the interesting facts: During FY2012 (October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012) a total of 12,014 persons born in the UK became lawful permanent residents, representing just 1.2% of the worldwide total of 1,031,631. Of the 12,014 British-born new lawful permanent residents 6,148 were the immediate relatives (spouse, parents or minor children) of US citizens, while employment-based petitions accounted for another 5,175 new British-born permanent residents. The top five countries of birth for permanent residents in FY2012 were Mexico (146,406); China (81,784); India (66,434); Philippines (57,327); and the Dominican Republic (41,566).
April 22, 2014: Pause in the service
Your correspondent is travelling. Please check back on Tuesday, April 29, for the next Weekly Update.
April 15, 2014: FY2015 H-1B cap filled and lottery performed
On April 7, 2014, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that since filing began on April 1 it had received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2015. In fact, USCIS received about 172,500 H-1B petitions, including those filed for the advanced degree exemption. As a result, the Service performed a lottery on April 10, 2014 to randomly select petitions for adjudication. It will no longer accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY2015 cap or those filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption, but it will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. The cap-subject petitions that were not randomly selected will be rejected and returned to the petitioner.
In commemoration of today’s US tax return filing deadline we offer a YouTube clip of the 1942 song ‘”I Paid My Income Tax Today.” Written by Irving Berlin (who donated the copyright to the US Department of Treasury) and sung by cowboy singer Gene Autry, it celebrates a citizen’s delight in helping to fund his government.
April 8, 2014: New website article; USCIS e-requests; press coverage on US immigration problems
We have added a new article, Four Basic Facts About US Visas, to our website. It deals with some general issues about US visas, such as where you can apply for a visa, how many times you can travel to the US on a visa, and the meaning of visa expiry dates. We invite you to revisit our Articles page shortly for the second instalment in this two-part series designed to explain some practical fundamentals of this surprisingly complex area of the law.
The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services has expanded its e-request system to accept queries about USCIS-issued cards, documents or notices you believe to have gone missing in the post. Please check the e-request website for more information on what queries may now be submitted to the USCIS online.
Last week, our attorney Susan McFadden was quoted by The Times, Guardian, Independent, Telegraph and other UK media outlets regarding Nigella Lawson’s apparent US immigration difficulties.
April 1, 2014: H-1B filing season; Chile joins VWP; Embassy’s advice on requiring a visa to travel
From today through April 7, the USCIS will be accepting H-1B petitions subject to the fiscal year 2015 cap. If, as expected, more petitions are filed during the first week than can be accommodated under the annual quota of approximately 65,000, a lottery will be conducted among the petitions received to determine which petitions will be adjudicated. (The first 20,000 petitions filed on behalf of individuals with a US master’s degree or higher are exempt from the cap.) Last year, the USCIS received approximately 124,000 cap-subject petitions during the first week of filing.
Chile officially became a member of the Visa Waiver Program yesterday, March 31, 2014, according to the Department of Homeland Security’s announcement published in the Federal Register. Holders of Chilean passports and an ESTA authorization can now travel to the US for business and pleasure purposes without a visa. This announcement supersedes the DHS’s February statement that Chile would join the VWP in May.
The Embassy has posted via Twitter a new infographic to assist people in determining whether they need a visa to travel to the United States. According to the chart, an arrest, caution or conviction for any offense renders a person ineligible for travel on the Visa Waiver Program. Our website article Travelling to the US Without a Visa briefly discusses this debatable point.
March 25, 2014: J-1 visa problems; Embassy webchat
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a non-profit civil rights organization, has published a report about the exploitation of J-1 visa holders and the need to reform the cultural exchange program. It discusses shortfalls of the J-1 program, including the lack of enforceable regulations for participants’ pay or working hours, employers’ use of the program as a source of cheap labor, and even vulnerabilities potentially facilitating human trafficking. J-1 visa holders should review the pamphlet prepared by the US Department of State governing the rights and protections of workers in the US. The pamphlet also includes details of organizations which can be contacted in cases of exploitation.
The US Embassy in London is hosting a webchat tomorrow, March 26, from midday to 1:00pm on the subject of non-immigrant visas. It appears that questions about immigrant visas will also be welcome.
March 18, 2014: Online FOIA request
The Department of Homeland Security has released a new online form for submission of requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) or Privacy Act. The new system will provide requesters with an estimated date of completion of the DHS response. For additional information regarding records available under FOIA, see the DHS web pages on that topic.
March 11, 2014: Report on nonimmigrant overstays; firm news
The Congressional Research Service has published a report about people who enter the United States on nonimmigrant visas and overstay their authorized period of admission. While the report estimates that each year hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals overstay their nonimmigrant visas or enter the country illegally (with fraudulent documents or bypassing immigration inspections), it also points out that accurate statistics are unavailable due to lack of effective or consistent record keeping.
We are happy to announce that the experienced US immigration lawyer Katherine Chow has joined Gudeon & McFadden after years of practice in New York City. Kathleen Kavanagh remains with the firm in an advisory ‘Of Counsel’ capacity.
March 4, 2014: Chile to join Visa Waiver Program; updated poverty guidelines; Edward Gudeon Memorial RDC Service Award
On May 1, 2014 Chile will become the 38th member of the Visa Waiver Program. As of that date eligible holders of Chilean passports and an ESTA authorization will be able to travel to the US without a visa. To read the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement, click here.
The Department of State has updated the Foreign Affairs Manual to show the new poverty guidelines applicable to all I-864 Affidavits of Support filed on or after March 1, 2014. For additional information about the affidavit of support process please see our website articles A Beginner’s Guide to the Affidavit of Support and I-864 Affidavits of Support: The Problem of ‘Domicile’.
The Rome District Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association has just named its annual service award in memory of our late co-founder, Edward Gudeon. The Chapter states that this is “in recognition of the late Edward Gudeon’s many years of AILA membership and immigration practice in London, his commitment to the development and sharing of consular processing expertise and his tireless efforts over his many decades in practice to improve working relationships between attorneys and consular officers.” It is a fitting tribute to an excellent lawyer and human being.
February 25, 2014: New policy on cautions
Although a formal statement has yet to be released, it appears that the US government has completed reviewing its policy on UK cautions and has decided that cautions received for crimes involving moral turpitude or drugs-related offences will be treated as convictions for US immigration purposes. If this decision is finalised, visa applicants with such cautions would require a waiver of ineligibility, even if previous visa applications had been approved without a waiver. Waivers of ineligibility are currently taking 18 to 20 weeks from the day of visa application and consular officer’s recommendation. Please see our articles A Crime Involving Moral Turpitude! What in the World is That? and Washington, We Have a Problem! Ineligibilities and Waivers for additional information. We will report further updates on this matter when available.
February 18, 2014: US citizenship policies regarding ART
The Department of State has released a new informational sheet about children born abroad to US citizens using donor eggs, donor sperm or a surrogate mother. This includes one major change from previous policy: if a US-citizen mother gives birth to a child and is the legal mother in the country where the birth took place, her US citizenship will be transmitted to the child, even if Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) was involved.
February 11, 2014: Mobile phones allowed in Embassy; possible reason for I-130 delays; 2013’s fourth quarter expatriates
Yesterday, the US Embassy, London confirmed via twitter that mobile phones are now allowed in the consular section. However, large electronics such as laptops continue to be prohibited. An updated list of prohibited items can be found here on the Embassy’s website.
The New York Times published an article on February 8, 2014 regarding the slowdown of the USCIS’s processing of I-130 petitions for alien relatives. The article suggests that resources once put into the adjudication of I-130s are now going to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (‘DACA’), President Obama’s program to give deportation deferrals to young undocumented immigrants. Our recent experience with filing I-130s with the USCIS in the United States (rather than the USCIS field office at the US Embassy in London) shows wait times of almost 10 months, so regardless of the reason for these long delays, US citizens petitioning for their non-US citizen family members should plan accordingly.
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who have chosen to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status. Those individuals numbered 631 for the quarter ended December 31, 2013.
February 4, 2014: USCIS policy manual update; transcript of Embassy webchat
The USCIS has updated its policy manual to include a new section about US citizenship and naturalization.
The US Embassy, London has released a transcript of the webchat it hosted last week on the subject of immigrant and non-immigrant visas. The consular officers indicated that the US government is still in the process of appraising its policy regarding UK cautions. Applicants with cautions should continue to expect delays in visa processing, regardless of the type of visa or whether the applicant has previously been approved for a visa.
January 28, 2014: Immigrant visa statistics; Embassy webchat
The Annual Report from the Visa Office of the US Department of State makes for interesting reading. For example, during FY2013 the Embassy in London issued a total of 4,172 immigrant visas, less than 0.9% of the worldwide total. Of the worldwide total of persons who became lawful permanent residents in FY2013 through either adjustment of status or entry on an immigrant visa (but not including spouses, minor children, or parents of US citizens) persons chargeable to the UK numbered 6,513—just 1.7%.
The US Embassy in London is hosting a webchat tomorrow, January 29, from midday to 1:00pm on the subject of visas—immigrant and non-immigrant.
January 21, 2014: Nothing to report
As we have no news from the US immigration world to report, ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on January 28. Please check back with us then.
January 14, 2014: Same-sex marriages in Utah recognized by federal government
On January 10, 2014, the US Department of Justice announced that those same-sex couples who married during the brief period in Utah when such marriages were allowed are considered validly married under federal law and therefore eligible for all relevant federal benefits (such as immigration).
January 7, 2014: EB-5 green card programme threatened; US Senator to renounce Canadian citizenship
A memorandum from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), an investigative arm of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, outlines concerns that the EB-5 regional center programme may have been used by Iranian would-be terrorists to infiltrate the United States. HSI recommends that the regional center programme be eliminated as ‘there are no safeguards that can be put in place that will ensure the integrity’ of that programme.
US Senator Ted Cruz of Texas has stated that he will be renouncing his Canadian citizenship. Although he was born in Canada he claims never to have realised that he might be a citizen of that country.
December 17, 2013: Festive season Update
Your correspondent is celebrating the festive season. “Weekly Update” will resume on the first Tuesday in January. Please check back with us then.
December 10, 2013: Festive season hours
Our office will be closed from December 25 through January 1, inclusive. Whilst the office is closed we will continue to answer urgent client e-mails, and other requests will be dealt with as soon as reasonably possible. We wish our readers a happy and healthy festive season.
December 3, 2013: Transcript from Embassy webchat
The US Embassy, London has released a transcript of its latest webchat which took place on November 26, 2013. Some points will be contentious, such as the statement that “[a]ny individual convicted of an alcohol or drug related driving offense is not eligible for the Visa Waiver Program (ESTA) - they must apply for the appropriate visa to enter the United States. Failing to do so could result in denial of entry at the border and a permanent ineligibility for misrepresentation.” For further information about these situations, please see our articles Washington, We Have a Problem! Ineligibilities and Waivers, A Crime Involving Moral Turpitude! What in the World is That? and Drink Driving and the US Embassy, London.
The consular officers also indicated that the US government is appraising its policy regarding UK cautions, so applicants with cautions should expect delays in visa processing: “Currently U.S. Government policy is under review regarding criminal cautions in the United Kingdom. Applicants having a caution may experience lengthy delays during the application process. Apply as soon as possible and don't make final travel plans unless you have received a visa. These delays will affect applicants who may have already received a visa in the past after disclosing the caution.”
November 26, 2013: Embassy webchat; I-130 processing times
The US Embassy in London is hosting a webchat today from midday to 1:00pm about nonimmigrant and immigrant visas.
On November 20, 2013, the USCIS updated the processing times on its website. There has been a tremendous slow-down in the processing of I-130 immigrant petitions for US citizens’ foreign relatives, and the processing time for spousal petitions is in excess of six months. In contrast, some US citizens eligible to file their I-130’s with a USCIS field office abroad, such as the office at the US Embassy in London, are enjoying processing times of under one month. For further information on filing in London specifically, please see our article I Married an Alien, Get Us Out of Here: Immigrant Visas for Spouses of US Citizens Living in the United Kingdom.
November 20, 2013: Third quarter expatriates
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who have chosen to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status. Those individuals numbered 560 for the quarter ended September 30, 2013, less than half the number who expatriated during the previous quarter.
November 12, 2013: Honoring US veterans
The US Embassy, London joined President Obama in remembering and paying tribute to America’s servicemen and -women on Veterans Day. According to the Census Bureau, there are 23.2 million veterans in the United States today.
November 5, 2013: DV-2015 now closed; updated article
The application period for the FY2015 Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ is now closed. From May 1, 2014, applicants will be able to check the status of their entries by returning to www.dvlottery.state.gov.
We have revised our article Unknown Unknowns: ‘Do I Really Need a Lawyer to Get My Spouse a Green Card?’ We hope that you will find it helpful.
October 29, 2013: Online form replaces DS-2001 for immigrant visa applicants
The Immigrant Visa Unit has updated their online instructions for applying for an immigrant visa at the US Embassy in London. Formerly, applicants were required to file the paper Form DS-2001 to notify the Unit that they had collected all the necessary documents and were ready for their appointments to be scheduled. Now, in order for the Immigrant Visa Unit to schedule an appointment, applicants must complete the online Notification of Applicant Readiness Form to show that they have submitted the immigrant visa application Form DS-260, scheduled the medical examination and are in possession of all the documents required on the day of the interview.
October 22, 2013: Federal government back in business; Embassy webchat scheduled
After agreement was reached on a continuing budget resolution to fund the US Government until January 15, 2014 all federal offices are now back to normal functioning. The USCIS has announced that the Government shutdown will be treated as an ‘extraordinary circumstance’ for purposes of forgiving untimely filing of H-1B, H-2A and H-2B petitions.
The Embassy will be holding another webchat this Thursday, October 24 from noon to 1pm on the subject of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas.
October 15, 2013: No news during US government shutdown
As the US government shutdown continues, the US Embassy in London continues to conduct scheduled interviews and issue visas.
October 8, 2013: Embassy services during US government shutdown; updated courier information
Although the US government shutdown continues, services and operations at the US Embassy in London are still running as usual. The Embassy has issued a statement on the effects of the shutdown.
The visa appointment scheduling website has updated their list of courier ‘hubs’ located throughout the UK which are used for sending documents to and collecting documents from the Embassy in London and the Consulate General in Belfast. Helpfully, telephone numbers and opening hours are now indicated for each hub.
October 1, 2013: Embassy open during US government shutdown; new articles
The US government has shut down today as it was unable to finalize the budget, but the US Embassy in London has announced that any government shutdown will not affect Embassy operations or services.
We have added new articles: Same-Sex Marriage and Spousal Visas and our recurring article about the Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery,’ Do You Feel Lucky? US Government Now Accepting Applications for the Green Card Lottery. We hope that you will find them helpful.
September 24, 2013: Green card lottery application dates announced; Embassy webchat
The State Department has announced that the DV-2015 ‘green card lottery’ will be open for applications from October 1 to November 4, 2013. The web page bears an announcement that same-sex couples and their children are now eligible to take part. Click here to go to the Department of State’s Diversity Visa Program Instructions page for further information and application instructions. Applicants should heed the Fraud Warnings on the DOS website and be aware that the DOS no longer contacts ‘selectees’ by post (and has never used email for these purposes).
This Thursday, September 26, the Embassy will host another webchat regarding immigrant and non-immigrant visas. It is scheduled to take place from noon to 1:00pm.
September 17, 2013: A pause in the service
Your correspondent is travelling. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on September 24th; please check back with us then.
September 10, 2013: Spread of the DS-260
From September 1, 2013, immigrant visa applicants filing with the US Embassy, London (and other posts around the world) must complete the new online DS-260 application form, replacing the paper forms DS-230 Parts 1 and 2.
September 3, 2013: New electronic forms for immigrant visa processing
Beginning today, the Department of State is transitioning to an online immigrant visa application. Immigrant visa applicants who are applying through the National Visa Center in the US will now need to apply online at ceac.state.gov using Form DS-260 (Application for Immigrant Visa and Alien Registration) and Form DS-261 (Choice of Address and Agent). These forms replace the paper Forms DS-230 and DS-3032. Additional information about use of the Form DS-260 can be found on the Department of State’s website.
August 27, 2013: Nothing to report
As we have no news from the US immigration world to report, ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on September 3. Please check back with us then.
August 20, 2013: Opening times for Embassy’s courier hubs; visa reissuance program suspended
Under the Embassy’s new appointment scheduling and courier system, introduced July 26, 2013, visa applicants may send documents to and collect them from the consular section via 27 hubs around the UK. We have been informed by DX Secure that these hubs are open Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm, with the exception of the Belfast hub which is additionally open on Saturdays.
The visa reissuance program, which allowed some visa applicants to obtain new visas without an Embassy interview, has been suspended. All applicants must now schedule an appointment and attend a consular interview in person. There has been no indication when the visa reissuance program will resume.
August 13, 2013: Global Entry into the US expanded to Brits; both sides of the US citizenship coin
The US Customs and Border Protection reports that its Global Entry programme, an automated entry system which allows travellers to skip immigration queues at designated ports of entry in the US and check themselves in at a kiosk, is being expanded to include additional nationalities—including UK citizens. CBP began accepting these applications on August 9, 2013. It is currently limited to certain high-frequency travellers, but CBP says that ‘in the near future’ it intends to make it available to all Brits meeting Global Entry requirements.
The Internal Revenue Service has published its quarterly list of people who have chosen to renounce their US citizenship or long-term permanent resident (‘green card’) status. Those individuals numbered 1,130 for the quarter ended June 30, 2013. According to a recent article in the Financial Times those US citizens living in the UK who have not renounced their citizenship are being served by a rapidly-multiplying number of wealth managers specialising in expatriate US citizens in the post-FATCA world.
August 6, 2013: More guidance about visa issuance to same-sex partners
On August 2 Secretary of State John Kerry announced, to a gathering at the US Embassy in London, that when same-sex spouses apply for visas, the Department of State will consider those applications in the same manner that it will consider the applications of opposite-sex spouses. He also made it clear that UK civil unions do not constitute ‘marriage’ for US visa and immigration purposes.
The Department has released to the public a cable sent to all US visa-issuing posts, giving additional guidance on the subject.
July 30, 2013: New visa appointment booking system for London; guidance from the USCIS re same sex marriages
The new procedure for booking appointments at the US Embassy, London went live on Friday, July 26. To book appointments and pay application fees applicants may either call the Embassy’s Call Center or use the Embassy’s new online service at http://usvisa-info.com. Additional information is available in the Embassy’s Visa Services blog. Please note one error: The blog states that the fee for delivery of a passport to a particular address (rather than to one of the courier’s 31 UK ‘hubs’) is £30. The fee is actually US$30.
A new FAQ from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services on the subject of same-sex marriages makes it clear that they will be recognized as marriages for a full panoply of immigration benefits, including K-1 fiancé(e) petitions and waivers of inadmissibility. Same-sex spouses need not wait for new USCIS regulations before applying for these benefits.
July 23, 2013: Welcome to the Prince of Cambridge
We join the President and Mrs. Obama and the Chargé d’Affaires ad interim from the US Embassy London in celebrating the birth of the newest addition to the Royal Family.
July 16, 2013: New online appointment-scheduling system at the US Embassy, London
As of July 26, 2013, in order to schedule nonimmigrant visa appointments and pay MRV application fees, applicants may either call the Embassy’s Call Center or use the Embassy’s new online service at http://usvisa-info.com. Applicants requiring appointments for August and beyond must wait until the new appointment-booking service goes live on July 26. Additional information is available from the Embassy’s Information Service web page.
July 9, 2013: Visa appointments at the US Embassy, London; webchat
The US Embassy in London is currently scheduling visa appointments through July 26 only. There is no indication when later appointments will be released.
The Embassy will host another webchat to discuss nonimmigrant and immigrant visas on Thursday, July 11 from 12 noon to 1pm.
July 3, 2013: Same-sex spouses as immigrant visa sponsors
Yesterday, the Secretary of Homeland Security released a statement in response to the Supreme Court’s United States v. Windsor decision invalidating part of the Defense of Marriage Act. She said, “[E]ffective immediately, I have directed U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to review immigration visa petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse.” The statement also mentioned that as a general rule USCIS looks to the law of the place where the marriage was performed when determining whether it is valid for immigration law purposes.
June 25, 2013: The passing of Edward Gudeon
We sadly announce the unexpected and sudden death on 23 June of our friend and former partner, Edward Gudeon. He was 73.
A graduate of Bucknell University and Fordham Law School, Edward practiced as a criminal defense attorney in New York for over a decade before moving to London. In 1978 he set up London’s first law firm concentrating solely on US immigration and nationality law. He was actively engaged in that practice until his retirement in 2009, and enjoyed the highest level of esteem and respect from all who dealt with him. He took a great deal of pleasure in his too-brief retirement which afforded him the opportunity to spend more time with his family in both the US and UK and to continue his life-long hobby of photography.
Edward is survived by his wife Geri, two daughters, two stepchildren, five grandchildren and one step-grandchild.
June 18, 2013: Tips for filing an E-1/E-2 registration; passport control mistake
The E Visa Team at the US Embassy, London has identified five major avoidable mistakes and unhelpful practices which cause delays to their review of your company’s E-1/E-2 registration.
Most countries have quite stringent security and passport checks at airports these days, but sometimes things don’t go exactly to plan. This article shows how a nine-year-old schoolgirl was allowed to enter Turkey using a passport that identified her as a pink unicorn.
June 11, 2013: New use for USCIS online system; will foreigners no longer be ‘aliens’?
The USCIS has announced that immigrant visa holders must now use its ‘Electronic Immigration System’ (ELIS) portal to pay the mandatory $165 fee for issuance of their green cards. The system is also used by some nonimmigrant visa holders to e-file applications to extend or change their status.
Many of our clients find it amusing that the US Government refers to them as ‘aliens.’ However, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals—the appellate court with jurisdiction over federal trial courts in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee—has opined that the term is ‘offensive and demeaning.’ It urges Congress to eliminate it from the statute books. Flores v USCIS, (6th Cir. June 4, 2013).
June 4, 2013: Preparing for summer travel to the US
The Transportation Security Administration, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, has produced a Summer Travel Checklist of advice for travellers during the summer holidays. Travellers from the UK may wish to also consult a recent article in the Independent newspaper: ‘Heading for America? Prepare for the longest US immigration queues ever.’
May 28, 2013: A pause in the service
Your correspondent is travelling. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on June 3rd; please check back with us then.
May 21, 2013: Wait times for Embassy appointments; USCIS Field Office information
If you need a visa to travel to the US, keep in mind the wait for a visa appointment before you book your summer holiday! Yesterday the US Embassy, London tweeted that it has a 24-day wait for B-1/B-2 visitor visa appointments and an 18-day wait for F or J visa appointments.
USCIS Field Offices have new web pages which include helpful information such as how to schedule appointments and how often they hold naturalisation ceremonies.
May 14, 2013: List of renunciants published; immigration statistics
On May 8, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service published its latest quarterly list of people who have recently given up their US citizenship or long-term permanent residence.
The Congressional Budget Office has released statistics and graphs on immigration-related topics, analysing trends in immigration and policy proposals.
May 7, 2013: Facebook chats with a Visa Officer; more visa statistics; immigration issues for same-sex spouses of US citizens
The Department of State’s Visa Office has announced that it will host a live Facebook chat on a hot topic on the first Friday of every month. Questions of a general nature, not pertaining to an individual case, may be submitted in advance.
The Visa Office has also released its 2012 Report, which includes many statistics on the nonimmigrant and immigrant visas issued by the Department during Fiscal Year 2012.
A recent Financial Times article addresses the continuing visa plight of same-sex spouses of US citizens, including the implications for big business. One senator is proposing an amendment to the pending immigration bill to provide visas for Americans’ foreign same-sex spouses.
April 30, 2013: Instructions for retrieving automated I-94 details; new procedures for applying for a Social Security card
US Customs and Border Protection has released a video to show travellers to the US how to retrieve their I-94 details online. The automation of the form will begin at select ports of entry today.
The computerization of Form I-94 is also stimulating an update to the Social Security Administration procedures manual. Eligible entrants to the US will be able to apply immediately for a Social Security card, rather than having to wait 10 days after entry, as has previously been the case.
April 23, 2013: Phasing out the I-94; Embassy webchat
The Customs and Border Protection has released more information about the automation of the I-94 Arrival/Departure cards, including a schedule of when the paper form will be phased out at different ports of entry, beginning April 30. Under the new process for entry, the CBP officer will stamp the travel document with an admission stamp showing the date of admission, class of admission, and the date until which the traveller is admitted. Travellers will also receive on arrival a flier alerting them that they can find their admission record information at www.CBP.gov/I94. That website will not go live until the end of April.
The US Embassy, London will host another webchat to discuss nonimmigrant and immigrant visas on Thursday, April 25 from 12pm to 1pm.
April 16, 2013: H-1B petitions; statistics on new US citizens and lawful permanent residents
The USCIS has not yet announced which H-1B petitions, out of the approximately 124,000 received between April 1 and 5, have ‘won the lottery’ and will be adjudicated.
The Department of Homeland Security has released new statistical reports regarding the people who became US citizens and lawful permanent residents during fiscal year 2012.
April 9, 2013: H-1B cap already reached for FY2014
On April 5, 2013, the USCIS announced that they had received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2014, only four days after the beginning of the filing period. Because the USCIS received between April 1 and April 5 what they believe to be enough petitions to fill both the regular and US advanced degree quotas, the Service performed a lottery on April 7, 2013 to randomly select petitions for adjudication. They will no longer accept H-1B petitions subject to the FY2014 cap or those filed on behalf of persons exempt from the cap under the advanced degree exemption, but they will continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. This is the first year since FY2009 that the cap has been reached in the first week of filing.
April 2, 2013: I-94 automated from April 26; immigration policy trends reported
Further to last week’s update, the CBP has published their interim final rule on transitioning the I-94 from paper to electronic format, effective April 26.
The Congressional Research Service has released a lengthy report, called a “chart book,” about current trends in US immigration policy, including increased border security and immigration enforcement, improved employment eligibility verification, revision of legal immigration and options to address the millions of unauthorized aliens residing in the country.
March 26, 2013: CBP to discontinue the I-94; Embassy webchat scheduled
On March 21, US Customs and Border Protection announced that it has submitted to the Federal Register a rule that will automate Form I-94 Arrival/Departure Record. Currently, international visitors entering the US on a nonimmigrant visa must complete an I-94 and retain it in their passport as evidence of their lawful admittance to the US. The new rule will automate the I-94 information so that visitors will no longer need to complete and keep track of the hard-copy form. The CBP expects this to streamline procedures and reduce costs by up to $15.5 million per year.
The US Embassy, London will hold another webchat on the topic of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas this Thursday, March 28, between noon and 1 pm.
March 19, 2013: H-1B lottery likely
The USCIS has announced that it believes it will receive during the first week of filing (April 1 to 5) more than enough H-1B petitions to satisfy the entire FY2014 quota. If this is in fact the case, the agency will conduct a lottery among those petitions received during that week, to determine which petitions will be adjudicated. This lottery procedure was last used in April 2008. In order to deal with the avalanche of expected filings, those petitions that are accepted for adjudication and which request Premium Processing Service will for purposes of the 15-day guarantee be deemed to have been filed on April 15.
March 12, 2013: Embassy Twitter chat scheduled; Telegraph article about renouncing US citizenship
The Embassy will be hosting a Twitter chat about visas this Wednesday, March 14, from noon to 1pm. Tweet your question, using the hashtag #USVisas, and get an answer from a consular officer.
Our attorney Susan McFadden was quoted in a Daily Telegraph article discussing the increase in the number of Americans renouncing their US citizenship and the reasons for that increase.
March 5, 2013: Research on US citizens living abroad; no green cards for same-sex partners
A bill was introduced on February 8, 2013 in the US Congress that would require the establishment of a ‘Commission on Americans Living Abroad,’ to study how federal laws affect US citizens living outside the US. Among the topics that would be studied would be the impact of ‘FATCA’ (the ‘Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act’) on the ability of US citizens to get bank accounts abroad.
And on the subject of US citizens living abroad: A recent article in the New York Times featured a gay American who was forced to move to London in order to be with his British same-sex partner. US immigration treatment of same-sex partners was contrasted unfavourably with the straightforward approach under British law.
February 26, 2013: List of renunciants published; Embassy webchat scheduled
On February 14, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service published its latest quarterly list of people who have recently renounced US citizenship.
The US Embassy, London will hold a webchat on the topic of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas this Thursday, February 28, between noon and 1 pm.
February 19, 2013: Affidavits of support; a delay is a ‘denial’
The Department of State has updated the Foreign Affairs Manual to show the new poverty guidelines applicable to all I-864 Affidavits of Support filed on or after March 1, 2013. For additional information about the affidavit of support process please see our website articles A Beginner’s Guide to the Affidavit of Support and I-864 Affidavits of Support: The Problem of ‘Domicile’ .
Further new guidance from the Department makes it clear, once again, that when a consular officer asks an applicant for additional information under Immigration and Nationality Act section 221(g) before adjudicating the visa application, the applicant must report this as a visa denial for ESTA purposes.
February 12, 2013: US Embassy to hold ‘Twitter chat’ regarding visas
The US Embassy in London will be holding a Twitter chat tomorrow, February 13, between noon and 1 pm. The consular officer will take questions on the subject of visas; the hash tag is #USVisas.
February 5, 2013: New poverty guidelines for I-864; DOS advises on waits for visa interviews and processing
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued its new poverty guidelines. These will become effective for I-864 ‘Affidavit of Support’ purposes on March 1.
The Department of State has created a new web page for persons applying for non-immigrant (temporary) visas. It allows the applicant to compare the waiting times for visa interviews and for the post-interview return of the passport experienced by applicants at all US visa-issuing posts.
January 29, 2013: US immigration law reform? I-130 processing speeds up; Tina Turner to expatriate
A bipartisan group of eight US Senators has announced a legislative proposal to reform the immigration system. It would provide a route to legal status for millions of undocumented foreigners currently in the US, increase the number of H-1B visas available each year, and grant permanent residence automatically to persons who earn advanced degrees at US universities in science, maths or technology.
Processing times for I-130 immigrant petitions filed with the USCIS in London continue to fall. As of January 24 the USCIS Field Office in London was processing I-130s filed on January 10.
Tina Turner has become the latest high-profile American to plan the relinquishment of her US citizenship. According to an article in a Swiss German-language newspaper she has been accepted by the local council and now awaits only formal approval from the canton and federal governments.
January 22, 2013: Inaugural address raises hopes for immigration reform
In his second inaugural address, given yesterday, President Obama raised hopes that immigration reform may be part of the legislative agenda for the coming two-year Congressional term. ‘Our journey is not complete until we find a better way to welcome the striving, hopeful immigrants who still see America as a land of opportunity; until bright young students and engineers are enlisted in our workforce rather than expelled from our country.’ For the annotated text and a video of the address, plus analysis by the reporters of the New York Times, click here.
January 15, 2013: Visa application status checks; Homeland Security and Twitter
The Department of State now offers a website where applicants can check on the status of pending visa applications, whether immigrant or non-immigrant.
Susan McFadden was interviewed on a Channel 4 documentary broadcast on January 8; ‘Don’t Blame Facebook’ dealt with the dangers of careless postings in cyberspace. Susan spoke about the case of two young Britons refused entry to the US in 2012 because one had Tweeted that he was going to ‘destroy America.’
January 8, 2013: New fee for immigrant visa holders; provisional waivers for some IV applicants with ‘unlawful presence’ bars
Beginning on February 1 the Department of Homeland Security will begin charging immigrant visa holders a processing fee of US$165 for issuing them the Form I-551 ‘green card.’ The fee will be payable online after the applicants receive their immigrant visas but before they use them to enter the United States. DHS will not issue the green cards until the fees are paid.
The DHS will be putting into effect on March 4 a new procedure that will allow some family-based immigrant visa applicants to apply from within the United States for a provisional waiver of the 3- or 10-year bar due to unlawful presence. The new final rule was published in the Federal Register on January 3. Under current practice applicants cannot apply for a waiver of the bar until they have departed the US and had their immigrant visa interview in the foreign country. This often has the result, admits the DHS in its executive summary of the new rule, that applicants are separated from their US-resident families for over a year whilst awaiting a decision on the waiver application.
December 11, 2012: Holiday hours
Our office will be closed from December 25 through January 1, inclusive. ‘Weekly Update’ will return on Tuesday, January 8. Whilst the office is closed we will continue to answer urgent client e-mails, and other requests will be dealt with as soon as reasonably possible. We wish our readers a happy and healthy festive season.
December 4, 2012: New article about renunciation of US citizenship
The State Bar of Arizona has published in the December 2012 issue of its magazine Arizona Attorney an article by Gudeon & McFadden lawyers Susan McFadden and Kathleen Kavanagh. To read the article, ‘Adiós, Uncle Sam: Renouncing US Citizenship,’ click here.
November 27, 2012: No Premium Processing for immigrant managers; Embassy webchat scheduled; USCIS ‘e-request’ service
Representatives of the USCIS stated, in a November 14 meeting with representatives of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, that there are no longer any plans to extend Premium Processing Service to immigrant petitions for multinational executives and managers ‘within the foreseeable future.’ Would-be immigrants and their lawyers had been awaiting this PPS extension since a USCIS announcement on August 2, 2011. [See our ‘Weekly Update’ entry for August 9, 2011.]
The US Embassy, London will hold a webchat on the topic of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas this Thursday, November 29, between noon and 1 pm.
Persons with petitions pending with the USCIS can now submit status queries online. For directions and the e-mail address, click here.
November 20, 2012: Warnings for marriage-based visa applicants
By amendment to the Foreign Affairs Manual effective November 14 the Department of State will now require consular officers to ensure that persons applying for US immigrant visas based upon marriage have received copies of the USCIS pamphlet ‘Information on the Legal Rights Available to Immigrant Victims of Domestic Violence in the United States and Facts about Immigrating on a Marriage-Based Visa.’ For a copy of the pamphlet, click here.
November 13, 2012: EB-5 Programme Data Released
The USCIS has released a report showing that the approval rates for EB-5 ‘alien entrepreneur’ immigrant status petitions, both conditional and final, have risen over the past eight fiscal years even as the number of petitions filed has soared. For an overview of the EB-5 programme please see our website article Immigrant Investor: The ‘Million Dollar Green Card’.
November 6, 2012: List of renunciants published; Embassy webchat
Last Thursday the Internal Revenue Service published its quarterly list of people who have recently renounced US citizenship.
A transcript of the London Embassy’s October 25 webchat on the subject of visas, immigrant and non-immigrant, is now available.
October 30, 2012: Green card lottery application period ends this week
The application period for the FY2014 diversity visa ‘green card lottery’ will end at noon US East Coast time this Saturday, November 3. For instructions on how to apply, click here.
October 23, 2012: An update on the B-1 in lieu of H-1B visa
The Department of State has recently sent to its visa-issuing posts around the world a cable that supersedes the June 21, 2012 cable on the continued validity of the B-1 in lieu of H-1B visa. (For a discussion of that cable, see our July 10, 2012 ‘Weekly Update’ entry.) The new cable, which does not appear on the Department’s Visa Policy Updates page, reminds consular officers that although the visa is still under interagency review, they should not hesitate to issue it in appropriate cases. Additional emphasis has been put in this most recent cable on the requirement that applicants must have either a bachelor’s degree in a specialty field, or the equivalent experience, and the activities to be undertaken must also be of H-1B calibre.
A discussion of the visa itself, and its applicability to persons working for non US employers and rendering temporary professional services to their employers’ clients in the US, can be found in our website article Working (Legally) on a Visitor’s Visa or Visa Waiver Entry.
October 16, 2012: Taiwan joins the Visa Waiver Program; processing of applications from undocumented youth
On November 1, 2012 Taiwan will become the 37th member of the Visa Waiver Program. As of that date eligible holders of Taiwanese passports and an ESTA authorization will be able to travel to the US without a visa. To read the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement, click here.
Processing of applications under the DACA program (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) has accelerated. As of October 10 a total of 179,794 applications had been received, and 4,591 approved. According to a DHS spokesman quoted in the New York Times the typical adjudication process will take approximately 4 to 6 months.
October 9, 2012: More warnings about the ‘green card lottery’; slow grant of help for undocumented youth
The US Embassy, London has posted a notice to potential DV FY2014 entrants, stressing in the strongest possible terms that applicants should note and retain the confirmation number that is generated when the application is filed. From that note: ‘[The confirmation number] will be needed in order to check whether you have been selected for the program, and it cannot be retrieved at a later stage. You cannot check your DV entry status without your confirmation number and it cannot be retrieved later under any circumstances.’ The status of applications can be checked beginning May 1, 2013.
A USCIS report shows that as of September 14 a total of 82,361 applications had been filed for benefits under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that grants benefits including employment authorization to some undocumented people who entered the United States as children. As of that date 29 applications had been approved.
October 2, 2012: EB-5 extension becomes law; conflicting guidance for applicants with alcohol-related arrests and convictions
On Friday September 28 President Obama signed into law Senate Bill 3245, extending until September 30, 2015 the EB-5 regional center program.
Effective September 25 the Department of State updated the Foreign Affairs Manual provision relating to medical examinations for non-immigrant visa applicants. Consular officers are now instructed that they must refer an applicant for a medical examination if the applicant has had (1) ‘a single alcohol-related arrest or conviction within the last five years,’ or (2) ‘two or more drunk driving arrests or convictions in the last ten years.’ This conflicts with another provision of the Foreign Affairs Manual which requires medical examinations if an applicant has two or more ‘alcohol related arrests or convictions within the last ten years,’ not restricted to drink driving offenses.
September 25, 2012: ‘Green card lottery’ application period begins next week
The US Department of State has released instructions for the green card lottery, the application period for which begins at noon US East Coast time next Tuesday, October 2. Potential applicants should read the eligibility requirements carefully, because eligibility turns not on citizenship, but on ‘nativity.’ Contrary to popular belief, some UK citizens are eligible to take part.
September 18, 2012: New life for the EB-5 ‘regional center’ programme
Both houses of Congress have now passed and sent to the President for signature Senate Bill 3245 which will extend the EB-5 regional center pilot programme until September 30, 2015. The programme, which provides immigrant visas for investors who make qualifying investments of at least $500,000 in a business located within a pre-qualified ‘regional center,’ was set to expire on September 30 of this year. Although Congress stopped short of making the programme permanent, it did strike the word ‘pilot’ from the title of the programme. For more information see our website article Immigrant Investor: The ‘Million Dollar Green Card’.
Your correspondent is travelling. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on September 18; please check back with us then.
September 4, 2012: L-1B approvals fall; warning of green card lottery fraudsters
A report released by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services shows that in Fiscal Year 2011 approvals of L-1B petitions reached 73%--their lowest level in at least 9 years. L-1B petitions are used to sponsor for transfer to jobs in the United States certain persons who have either ‘specialized knowledge’ of a company’s ‘product, service, research, equipment, techniques, management, or other interests and its [sic] application in international markets’ or an advanced level of expertise in the organization’s processes and procedures. For further information about L-1 visas, you may wish to see our website article Intracompany Transfers.
In advance of the green card lottery application period beginning next month (Weekly Update entry for August 14) the US Embassy in London is reminding potential applicants that the US Government does not contact lottery winners by e-mail, and that if they receive such an e-mail it is a scam.
August 28, 2012: Embassy guidance about Visa Waiver Program eligibility; webchat this Thursday
The Embassy has posted a new infographic flow chart to assist people in determining whether they need a visa to travel to the United States. According to the chart, an arrest or conviction for any offense renders a person ineligible for Visa Waiver Program travel. For a different opinion on that point, see our website article Travelling to the US Without a Visa.
The Embassy will hold a visa webchat this Thursday, August 30, between noon and 1 pm. The subject: Immigrant and Non-immigrant Visas. For additional information, click here.
August 21, 2012: Help for undocumented youth
The USCIS is now accepting applications for deferred action on behalf of certain undocumented young people who entered the United States before their 16th birthdays. The form and instructions are available on the USCIS website. Three legal organizations, including the American Immigration Lawyers Association, have prepared a 22-page informational guide to deferred action. To access it, click here.
August 14, 2012: Green card lottery application dates announced
The DV-2014 ‘green card lottery’ will be open for applications from October 2 to November 3, 2012. Click here to go to the Department of State’s Diversity Immigrant Visa Program page, which promises additional information as the commencement of the application period grows closer.
August 7, 2012: A pause in the service
Your correspondent is travelling. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on August 14; please check back with us then.
July 31, 2012: Sponsored immigrant enforces the I-864 in divorce context
The influential Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a US permanent resident who was the beneficiary of an I-864 Affidavit of Support—it was signed by her US citizen then-husband in connection with an immigrant visa application—is entitled to claim monetary support from him without any showing that she has tried to reduce (mitigate) her damages by looking for work. In the Wisconsin state divorce case between the parties the court had made her receipt of spousal support contingent upon such a showing. She then sued her ex-husband in federal court to enforce his support obligation under the I-864. The opinion in the case, Liu v Mund, was issued on July 12, 2012 and can be accessed on the Seventh Circuit’s website, http://www.ca7.uscourts.gov/ .
July 24, 2012: Background statistics on the H-1B program
The US Department of Labor, which adjudicates the Labor Condition Applications required for H-1B petitions, has released selected LCA statistics from the first three quarters of FY 2012. Among the more interesting findings: Fully 25% of all positions certified were for jobs in California, and the top 10 employers accounted for 41% of all positions certified.
July 17, 2012: Lawful permanent residents in the US—where do they come from, where do they live?
A new report from the Office of Immigration Statistics gives a statistical picture of the lawful permanent resident (‘green card’ holder) population of the United States. The OIS estimates that there were 13.1 million LPRs in the United States as of January 1, 2011. Of that number, 25.4% were born in Mexico, compared to 2.2% born in the UK. Fully 25.9% of all LPRs live in California, with the State of New York having the next largest share of lawful permanent residents, at 12.4%.
July 10, 2012: New life for the B-1 in lieu of H-1B visa
The Department of State has sent a cable to its visa-issuing posts around the world, re-affirming the continued validity of the B-1 in lieu of H-1B visa. The cable, which does not appear on the Department’s Visa Policy Updates page, reminds consular officers that although the visa is still under interagency review, they should not hesitate to issue it in appropriate cases. The Department also advises that the visa should be annotated (contrary to recent practice at the Embassy here in London) ‘to avoid possible delays at the port of entry.’
Readers may reacquaint themselves with the background of the current B-1 in lieu of H-1B controversy in our Weekly Updates of April 26 and May 31, 2011, below. A discussion of the visa itself, and its applicability to persons working for non US employers and rendering temporary professional services to their employers’ clients in the US, can be found in our website article Working (Legally) on a Visitor’s Visa or Visa Waiver Entry.
July 3, 2012: Immigrants play vital role in US innovation
According to a study published last week by a non-profit group co-founded by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, foreign-born researchers played a role in more than 75% of all patents registered by leading American research universities.
June 26, 2012: Supreme Court rules on Arizona immigration law; new website article added
The US Supreme Court has upheld one key portion of the controversial immigration law passed by the State of Arizona—the portion that requires police officers to determine the immigration status of persons they stop or arrest, if they have reason to suspect that the person may be an undocumented alien. Other portions of the law, such as the one making it a state crime to fail to comply with federal requirements for alien registration, were struck down as pre-empted by federal law. Arizona v United States, decided June 25, 2012.
We have added a new article to our website, setting out some of the ways in which an immigration lawyer can be helpful even in a relatively straightforward family-sponsored case. We invite you to read Unknown Unknowns: Why You Don’t Need an Immigration Lawyer for Your Family-Based Visa Case (and Why You Might Want One Anyway).
June 19, 2012: H-1B quota reached; hope for young undocumented immigrants
The annual quota for H-1B petitions was reached on Monday, June 11, as announced by the USCIS on June 12. The USCIS also said that the quota of an additional 20,000 H-1Bs for persons with advanced degrees from US institutions had been reached on June 7.
The immigration benefit known as ‘deferred action’ will now be available to certain young undocumented people who came to the US as children. Those who demonstrate that they meet the criteria will be eligible to receive deferred action for a period of two years, subject to renewal, and will be eligible to apply for work authorization. Full details and a list of the criteria can be found in the announcement made by the Secretary of Homeland Security on June 15.
June 12, 2012: Visa appointments in London; H-1B quota filled?
Visa appointment availability at the US Embassy in London is now updated every Monday via Twitter, @USAinUKCGCorner.
The USCIS has not updated its published H-1B ‘cap count’ since June 1, at which time approximately 9,400 of the regular cap and 1,300 of the US advanced degree cap were still available. However, given the speed at which petitions were filed in the week leading up to June 1, it is likely that if an H-1B petition is not already on its way to the USCIS for filing, it will be too late for the FY2013 quota.
June 6, 2012: H-1B quota nearly filled; change in inadmissibility waiver procedure; preparing for the naturalization test
As of June 1 the USCIS had receipted in 55,600 H-1B petitions against the standard ‘cap’ of 65,000 and 18,700 against the 20,000 reserved for persons with earned advanced degrees from US institutions.
On June 4 the USCIS began requiring certain applicants for waivers of inadmissibility to file their applications directly with the USCIS in the United States. The new program applies to applicants for immigrant visas and for non-immigrant K and V visas.
The USCIS and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History have launched a new website, ‘Preparing for the Oath: US History and Civics for Citizenship.’ It is a web-based multimedia resource designed to help applicants study for the civics portion of the naturalization test, and features items from the Institution’s collections.
May 29, 2012: H-1Bs still available; more about Facebook and US citizenship
Last week the USCIS did not publish its usual update of the H-1B count. According to the most recent information available (May 11) approximately 68% of FY2013’s H-1Bs have been allocated. This represents 65% of the regular cap numbers, and 80% of the 20,000 reserved for persons who have earned advanced degrees from US educational institutions.
The text of the ‘Ex-PATRIOT Act,’ directed at Facebook’s Eduardo Saverin and other former Americans thought to have given up their citizenship for tax reasons, is now available.
May 22, 2012: Facebook flap continues
Eduardo Saverin’s renunciation of US citizenship has prompted US Senator Charles E Schumer and three co-sponsors to introduce a bill that would tax the future US-source capital gains realised by anyone who gave up US citizenship within the past 10 years. Senate Bill 3205, introduced on May 17, has been given the name ‘the Ex-PATRIOT Act’ (‘Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy’). According to the summary released by Senator Schumer’s office it would also require the Internal Revenue Service to make a decision as to tax-avoidance intent, or lack thereof, as to each person who renounces citizenship and is subject to the ‘exit tax.’ A brief overview of the exit tax can be found in our website article Giving Up US Citizenship: Is it Right for You?. When the text of the Ex-PATRIOT Act is released it will be available on the legislative information web page of the Library of Congress.
May 15, 2012 : High profile US citizen renounces; H-1B count
A number of media outlets reported on the decision by Eduardo Saverin, a co-founder of Facebook, to renounce the US citizenship he acquired through naturalization in 1998. His renunciation became a matter of public record on April 30 when his name appeared in the list of expatriates published every calendar quarter by the Internal Revenue Service.
As of May 11 the USCIS estimated that 36,700 regular cap petitions had been filed (against a total of approximately 65,000 available) and 14,800 against the total of 20,000 reserved for persons with earned advanced degrees from US institutions.
May 8, 2012: US expatriate tax stories sought; H-1B filing update
The US Democratic Party organisation ‘Democrats Abroad’ has established a task force to address the impact of tax law and enforcement on Americans living abroad. A website has been established, Tax Stories from Americans Abroad, to collect anecdotes illustrating the challenges faced by expatriates in managing their tax affairs—with the hope of bringing about changes to reduce the size of the challenges.
The number of H-1B petitions filed inched up this week. As of May 4 a total of 32,500 petitions had been filed against the regular cap of approximately 65,000, and 13,700 against the cap of 20,000 reserved for persons with an earned master’s degree or higher from a US institution. This represents an increase of 11% over the previous week.
May 1, 2012: H-1B count update; Mexican migration to the US comes to a standstill
The USCIS has issued an update of the number of H-1B petitions filed toward the FY2013 quota. As of April 27 the numbers stand at 29,200 for the regular cap (of approximately 65,000) and 12,300 toward the 20,000 H-1B’s reserved for persons who have an earned master’s degree or higher from a US institution.
A report published last week by the Pew Hispanic Center reaches the conclusion shown in its title: ‘Net Migration from Mexico Falls to Zero—and Perhaps Less.’ Among the factors identified as being partially responsible are the weak US job market, heightened border enforcement, increased deportations, and Mexico’s declining birth rate and improving economic conditions.
April 24, 2012: Paperwork pushes US citizens to renounce citizenship
Every April millions of Americans file their US tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service. It is therefore no surprise that April typically brings a flurry of newspaper and magazine stories about American citizens choosing to give up their citizenship because of the administrative burden required to comply with US financial reporting requirements. This April has been no exception. See for example, a story from Reuters that was picked up by a number of newspapers. The IRS’s own National Taxpayer Advocate noted, in her 2011 report to Congress, that ‘For some US taxpayers abroad, the tax requirements are so confusing and the compliance burden so great that they give up their US citizenship.’ In the spirit of the season we have revised and updated both our website articles on this subject: US Citizenship—Having It, Getting It, Giving it Up and Giving Up US Citizenship: Is it Right for You?
April 17, 2012: Visa application fees change; ‘B-1 in lieu of H-1B’ back in the news
Effective April 13, 2012 the fees charged by US embassies and consulates for visa applications have changed. Fee receipts showing payment before April 13 will be honoured through July 12. Beginning on July 13 applicants will need to pay a supplemental fee if the fee for the visa for which they are applying has increased. For the Department of State’s notice on this subject, click here.
The Seattle Times has published an article on the fraught subject of professional workers performing services in the US on B-1 business visitor visas. In this case, the professionals were Russian engineers working in the Boeing factory in Seattle, Washington. For a discussion of the ‘B-1 in lieu of H-1B’ or ‘professional services’ exception to the general rule prohibiting B-1 entrants from working in the US, see our website article Working (Legally) on a Visitor’s Visa or Visa Waiver Entry
April 10, 2012: H-1B race is on; new attorney for Gudeon & McFadden
The US Citizenship and Immigration Service reports that during the first week of FY2013 H-1B petition filing—April 2 through 9—it received 17,400 petitions toward the ‘regular’ H-1B limit of 65,000 and 8,200 toward the additional 20,000 H-1B classification slots available to persons with earned master’s degrees or higher from US institutions.
Our firm is happy to announce that Kathleen Kavanagh has joined us as an associate attorney. Ms Kavanagh, who has a distinguished background as a lawyer and academic, will be working in all aspects of the firm’s immigration and nationality practice, including immigrant and non-immigrant visas, acquisition and loss of US citizenship, and waivers of ineligibility and inadmissibility.
April 3, 2012: Visa application fees to change; help for would-be immigrants with ineligibilities due to unlawful presence
Visa application fees will change effective April 13, pursuant to an interim final rule published in the Federal Register on March 29. The fee for applications based upon approved petitions (H, L, O, P, Q and R visas) will increase from $150 to $190, while the fee for E visas will decrease from $390 to $270. The fees for many types of immigrant visas will also decrease. To access the rule, click here.
On April 2 the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule, previously announced on January 9, that will benefit immigrant visa applicants applying from within the United States for a waiver of the 3- or 10-year bar due to unlawful presence. The proposed rule is available for comment until June 1.
March 27, 2012: DHS statistics show profile of unauthorized immigrants in the US
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics has produced a report estimating the size of the unauthorized immigrant population in the US. The total figure is 11.5 million as of January 2011. The report also contains estimated breakdowns by region and country of birth, date of estimated entry to the US, as well as by US State of residence.
March 20, 2012: Report on the Visa Waiver Program; Embassy webchats, past and future
A December 2011 report by the Congressional Research Service into the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) has made its way into the public domain. It offers good background on the VWP and a summary of the related legislation that has been introduced during the current Congress.
The Embassy in London has scheduled another webchat on the subject of non-immigrant visas, this one to take place this Thursday, March 22, from noon to 1 pm, GMT. The transcript from the February 23 webchat on that issue has now been posted; to review it, click here.
March 13, 2012: Olympics to cause delays in issuing US passports; battle over L-1B’s
The US Embassy, London has warned that the Olympics will cause delays in passport processing this summer. Persons needing new passports soon are encouraged to apply now.
Senators Grassley (R-Iowa) and Durbin (R-Ill.) have publicly released their letter of March 7, 2012 to the US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The agency is currently reviewing its interpretation of ‘specialized knowledge’ in the L-1B context and the senators urge the USCIS not to make L-1B classification any easier to obtain than it is now.
March 6, 2012: Waiver processing to be centralized in the US
The USCIS has announced plans to centralize in the US the filing and adjudication of I-601 applications for waivers of ineligibility. As mentioned last week, I-601s are filed by persons seeking permanent residence through immigrant visas or adjustment of status, and by certain non-immigrant visa applicants. This Friday, March 9, at 20.00 GMT, the USCIS will hold a teleconference on the subject. For more information, or to register to take part in the teleconference, click here.
February 28, 2012: Waiver processing times
The USCIS is now publishing monthly reports regarding the processing times for Form I-601, Application for Waiver of Grounds of Inadmissibility, filed in USCIS offices abroad. The reports list, office by office, the number of I-601s received and completed; the number of cases pending; and the percentage of cases completed within 0-3 months; 4-6 months; 7-9 months; 10-12 months; and over 12 months. As of January 31, 2012 the percentage of cases filed in the London Field Office that took more than 12 months to complete (25%) was exceeded only by that of the office in Tegucigalpa, Honduras (27%).
I-601 applications are filed by persons seeking permanent residence through immigrant visas or adjustment of status, and by certain non-immigrant visa applicants. The London Field Office has jurisdiction for adjudicating I-601 applications filed in the following countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
February 21, 2012: Embassy appointments to be restricted in Summer 2012; extended ‘L’ visa validity; H-1B process to change
The Embassy in London has warned prospective non-immigrant visa applicants that visa appointments will be severely limited during July and August—due, one assumes, to the Olympics and Paralympics.
The Department of State has issued a final rule allowing consular officers to issue ‘L’ visas for periods longer than the validity of the underlying petition. The validity of ‘L’ visas will now be governed by the country-specific reciprocity schedule, meaning that UK passport holders could obtain ‘L’ visas of up to five years’ validity.
In its semi-annual regulatory agenda, published in the Federal Register, the Department of Homeland Security forecasts that by October 2012 it will have implemented its upcoming rule requiring H-1B petitioners to apply for registration before filing H-1B petitions for individuals.
February 14, 2012: Report shows extent of USCIS scrutiny of L- and H-1B petitions
A sobering analysis of FY2011 data, just released, shows that the USCIS issued Requests for Evidence in fully 63% of all L-1B petitions (for intracompany transferees with specialized knowledge) and that 27% of such petitions were denied.
February 7, 2012: CBP ‘Global Entry’ program expanded and made permanent
The Global Entry program, which allows for speedy, automated passage through US immigration for pre-approved participants, will be made permanent as of March 7, 2012, according to a final rule from Customs and Border Protection, published on February 6. Eligibility has been extended to include not only US citizens and lawful permanent residents, but also non-immigrant citizens of Mexico and the Netherlands. Further, the minimum age limit of 14 years has been abolished, although applicants under 18 will need the consent of a parent or legal guardian.
January 31, 2012: Updated information for filers of I-864 affidavits of support; new visa refusal article
On January 26 the Department of Health and Human Services released its 2012 Poverty Guidelines. The increases in the incomes which will be considered to constitute poverty level range from 2.85% for a household of two persons to 3.35% for a household of eight. Pursuant to section 20.5(j) of the USCIS’ Adjudicator’s Field Manual the Guidelines become effective for USCIS purposes on the first day of the second full month following their release—in other words, 1 March.
We have added a new article to our website, explaining the meaning of 214(b) visa denials and suggesting ways to approach re-application after such a denial. We invite you to read A 214(b) Denial: What It Means, What You Can Do.
January 24, 2012: Embassy offers webchat about immigrant visas; streamlined visa renewals on their way?
The US Embassy in London has scheduled a webchat at mid-day GMT tomorrow, January 25, on the subject of immigrant visas. To take part or to lodge a question, click here.
On January 19 President Obama announced a programme to streamline the visa renewal process. Apparently some (re)applicants will be spared the need for (re)interviews. No details as to implementation have yet been released.
January 17, 2012: Immigration benefits too easily obtained, says Inspector General
The Office of the Inspector General, Department of Homeland Security, has recommended a number of changes to the processes used by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, in the hopes of increasing fraud detection. The OIG states that many USCIS employees feel that the agency ‘is too heavily weighted toward promoting immigration’ and feel pressured to approve ‘questionable applications.’
January 10, 2012: Suggested changes to ‘extraordinary ability’ green card scheme; new I-864 affidavit of support article
The US Citizenship and Immigration Service’s Ombudsman has issued a report recommending changes to the adjudication of petitions that seek lawful permanent resident status on the basis of extraordinary ability in the sciences, arts, education, business or athletics.
We have added a new article to our website, dealing with the special difficulties encountered by US citizens who live abroad and need to complete an I-864 affidavit of support to sponsor a family member for an immigrant visa. We invite you to read I-864 Affidavits of Support: The Problem of Domicile.
December 20, 2011: Social networking and the immigration authorities; and a pause in the service
The current issue of the State Bar of California publication California Lawyer contains an article about the use by US immigration authorities of social networking sites to gain information on people applying for immigration benefits.
‘Weekly Update’ will next appear on January 10, 2012. Please come back and see us then.
December 13, 2011: US Supreme Court to Rule on Arizona Immigration Law
Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to consider a case brought by the federal government challenging the constitutionality of an immigration-related law passed by the State of Arizona. The law, known as ‘SB 1070,’ purported to regulate on a state level many aspects of immigration law that had been thought reserved to the federal government’s jurisdiction. Lower federal courts have to date prohibited Arizona from enforcing some of the controversial provisions of the law such as criminalizing undocumented aliens’ acceptance of employment and permitting law enforcement officials to ask for proof of immigration status in a wide variety of situations not previously allowed. The case will now be heard this term, with a decision due before the Court recesses in June.
December 6, 2011: Nonimmigrant visa guidance from the US Embassy, London
The Embassy has published a transcript of its October 27, 2011 webchat on the topic of nonimmigrant visas. Among the topics covered were applications by non UK citizens in London; visa applications after convictions for various offenses; and the amount of time an applicant can expect to spend in the Embassy on the day of his or her interview.
November 29, 2011: H-1B quota reached
On November 23 the USCIS announced that the quota of H-1B petitions for FY2012 had been reached the previous day, November 22. Consequently there are now no new H-1B’s available for employment to begin before October 1, 2012. The filing period for FY2013 petitions seeking H-1B employment authorization to begin on or after October 1, 2012 will open on Monday, April 2, 2012.
November 22, 2011: H-1B’s near annual limit
It appears that the annual quota for new H-1B classifications will be exhausted earlier this fiscal year than last, when H-1Bs were available for petitions filed on or before 26 January 2011. The USCIS’s updated count shows that as of 14 November a total of 56,300 petitions had been receipted in against the quota of 65,000.
November 15, 2011: How to apply for a work permit; decline in green card lottery entries
We have added a new article to our website, explaining the process of applying for a US work permit. We invite you to read Work Permits: An Overview. It does exactly what it says on the tin.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the FY2013 diversity visa/green card lottery, the application period for which ended on 5 November 2011, attracted only half as many applications as did the FY2012 lottery. Among the possible reasons given for the decline in participation is that persons chargeable to Bangladesh were not eligible to apply this year. Last year Bangladesh-born applicants filed 7.6 million lottery applications.
November 8, 2011: Green card lottery; immigrant visas for persons of marriageable age
The application period for the Diversity Visa (‘green card lottery’) ended on November 5. If the programme survives the periodic Congressional attempts to repeal it, the application period for the Fiscal Year 2014 lottery will be announced in the autumn of 2012. To see the current bill to eliminate the lottery, reported out to the House of Representatives on July 21, 2011, click here.
Effective October 31, 2011 all persons of ‘marriageable age’ who are applying for immigrant visas as the children of the petitioner or principal applicant are required to sign Form DS-237, ‘Statement of Marriageable Age Applicant.’ This Department of State form requires that applicants swear or affirm that they are not currently married, and that they understand that if they were to marry before their entry to the United States on the immigrant visa they would lose the right to immigrate on that visa.
The USCIS has published an update on H-1B filings for FY2012. As of November 2 the agency had received 50,800 petitions filed against the limit of 65,000. The quota of 20,000 H-1B’s set aside for beneficiaries with earned advanced degrees from US institutions has been filled.
November 1, 2011: Green card lottery application period ends on Saturday
The Diversity Visa ‘green card lottery’ application period for Fiscal Year 2013 ends this Saturday, November 5, at 4 pm GMT. For additional information and access to the online application form, click here. If you are interested in taking part you may wish to first read additional information on our website, found here.
October 25, 2011: Help from the US Embassy
The US Embassy in London will be hosting a webchat this Thursday, 27 October, from midday to 1 pm London time, on the subject of nonimmigrant visas. For further information or to leave a question for the webchat, click here. To review our website’s discussion of the most common types of nonimmigrant visas, click here.
October 18, 2011: Historical perspective on US immigration; schools approved for foreign students
The Office of Immigration Statistics has released a map series with information on the number of people who obtained legal permanent resident status each year between 1892 and 2010. The data is also broken down by US state and region of residence.
If you are considering studying in the US you should first ensure that the school or university you would like to attend is approved by the Department of Homeland Security for ‘F’ and ‘M’ student visa purposes. A new list of such institutions was issued yesterday, October 17. This information is also available in a map format.
October 11, 2011: Alcohol-related visa problems; update of H-1B
We have added a new article to our website, dealing with the difficulties encountered by visa applicants in London who have alcohol-related arrests or convictions. We invite you to read Drink Driving and the US Embassy, London.
As of September 23 the USCIS had received 36,300 H-1B petitions counted against the FY2012 regular cap and 17,700 petitions filed against the quota of 20,000 H-1B’s reserved for applicants who have earned advanced degrees from a US institution.
October 4, 2011: Green card lottery opens; help for EB-5 delays
Today at 5 pm London time the application period opens for the Fiscal Year 2013 Diversity Visa/’Green Card Lottery’ scheme. For additional information and access to the online application form, click here.
On September 28 the Department of Homeland Security published a proposed rule containing requirements and procedures for determining the claims of persons whose EB-5 ‘million dollar green card’ applications were approved between January 1, 1995 and August 31, 1998. These people and their cases have been in immigration limbo since 1998 when the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the predecessor agency to the US Citizenship and Immigration Service, released certain precedent decisions regarding eligibility for EB-5 classification. There has been litigation ever since on the issue of whether those decisions should apply to petitions in various stages of adjudication. This proposed rule has been promulgated in response to a 2002 federal law forbidding the INS/USCIS to take adverse action against this group of people until it publishes implementing regulations to do so.
September 27, 2011: Embassy offers webchat help to immigrant visa applicants
On this coming Thursday, September 29, consular officers from the US Embassy in London will hold a webchat to answer questions and give advice on the subject of immigrant visas. It is scheduled to take place between midday and 1 pm, and questions may be submitted ahead of time as well as during the webchat itself. For additional information or to submit a question click here.
September 20, 2011: Visa help for students
The Department of Homeland Security has launched a new website, Study in the States, with the stated goal of ‘encouraging the best and brightest international students to study in the United States.’ The website offers students, exchange visitors, and their schools and universities information about the US immigration system and practical advice on topics such as how to obtain Social Security Number and a US driving license. The London Embassy has also created a YouTube video (‘Mission Possible’) to assist those people applying for student visas.
September 13, 2011: Naturalization test; EB-5 ‘million dollar visa’; updated H-1B count
The USCIS has posted a video about the naturalization process and test. For an additional link to the list of 100 civics questions used in that examination, click here.
One of the articles in the Los Angeles Times series ‘9/11: A Decade After,’ deals with the EB-5 immigrant investor visa: ‘In US Visa Program, Money Talks.'
As of 26 August the USCIS had received 29,000 H-1B petitions counted against the FY2012 regular cap and 15,800 petitions filed against the quota of 20,000 H-1B’s reserved for applicants who have earned advanced degrees from a US institution.
September 6, 2011: A pause in the service
August 30, 2011: Deadline approaches for widows/widowers of US citizens
The USCIS Ombudsman’s Office has issued a reminder that October 28, 2011 is the deadline for certain widows and widowers of US citizens to petition for immigration to the United States based upon their marriage.
August 23, 2011: Green card lottery application dates announced; webchat to be hosted by US Embassy, London
The US Embassy, London is hosting a webchat this Thursday, August 25, at 2 pm BST, on the subject of non-immigrant visas. For additional information or to submit a question ahead of time, click here.
August 16, 2011: Immigrant visas in the spotlight
Many US citizens living outside the United States are no longer able to file in their country of current residence the I-130 petitions needed to sponsor their family members for immigrant visas. As of yesterday, August 15, I-130s must be filed in the United States unless the US citizen lives in a country with a USCIS office. (There are exceptions for emergencies.) Those petitioners who live in a country, like the United Kingdom, which does have a USCIS office, can choose to file either in the US or in their home country. To read the USCIS announcement on the subject, click here.
The US Embassy in London has released a new YouTube video reminding immigrant visa applicants to obtain all needed documents before attending their interviews.
August 9, 2011: Fast track to green cards for executives and managers
On August 2 the USCIS announced a package of measures designed to ‘fuel the nation’s economy and stimulate investment.’ Among the changes to be made: For the first time Premium Processing Service will be available to accelerate adjudication of petitions seeking immigrant (green card) status for multinational executives or managers. No effective date was given for the introduction of these new measures. For information about the widely-used multinational executive or manager route to a green card please see our website article Multinational Executives and Managers – EB-1-3.
August 2, 2011: BBC Radio carries US visa news; H-1B filing update
Susan McFadden was interviewed on BBC Radio Solent on a wide range of US visa and immigration topics. To listen to the interview, which is available on the BBC’s website until Friday, August 5, click here. The interview begins at approximately 2 hours 40 minutes into the programme.
As of July 22 the USCIS had received 21,600 H-1B petitions against the FY2012 regular cap, and 13,300 petitions filed against the quota of 20,000 H-1B’s reserved for applicants who have earned advanced degrees from a US institution.
July 26, 2011: USCIS publishes statistical reports and updates processing times
On July 18 the USCIS added to its website a new page, www.uscis.gov/data, making public a number of statistical reports regarding petitions and applications filed and their outcomes. Our favourite: A tabulation of all receipts and approvals, by fiscal year quarter, for all applications and petitions submitted to the USCIS.
Processing time information for the four USCIS Service Centers was updated on July 20. Please note that the data itself is nearly 2 months old and is therefore of limited value in forecasting current adjudication times. To access the processing time reports, click here.
July 19, 2011: The green card lottery makes the news again
The results of the redrawn ‘green card lottery’ are now available online.
In related news, the lawsuit brought in an attempt to force reinstatement of the invalidated results of the first lottery has been dismissed.
July 12, 2011: Nothing to add
Last week was an unusually quiet period in the turbulent area of US immigration law, with no developments of general importance. Please check back next week, when history suggests that there will once again be news to report.
July 5, 2011: Embassy webchat about Visa Waiver and ESTA; H-1B filing update
The Embassy in London has published a transcript of the webchat held on June 30 regarding the Visa Waiver Program and ESTA.
An update on H-1B filings: As of June 24 the USCIS had received 17,400 H-1B petitions against the FY2012 regular cap, and 11,300 petitions filed against the quota of 20,000 H-1B’s reserved for applicants who have earned advanced degrees from a US institution. The total number of FY 2012 H-1B petitions filed (28,700) represents a decrease of approximately 12% over last year’s, for on June 18, 2010 the comparable figures were 22,900 regular cap cases, and 9,700 advanced degree exemption.
June 28, 2011: Lawsuit challenges invalidation of green card lottery; restrictions on J-1’s for some Eastern Europeans
A lawsuit has been filed against the Department of State in an attempt to force reinstatement of the recently invalidated results of the DV lottery.
Department of State spokesman answers a press conference query about the pilot programme ensuring additional protections for J-1 “Summer Work Travel” applicants from Belarus, Bulgaria, Moldova, Romania, Russia, and Ukraine.
June 21, 2011: Challenge to law of US citizenship transmission fails; USCIS hears complaints about ‘specialized knowledge’ rules
On November 10, 2010 the US Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case challenging the constitutionality of the US statute that makes it more difficult for unwed US citizen fathers to transmit citizenship to their children than for unwed US citizen mothers. To read the opinion from the court below, click here. The Supreme Court released its decision in the case, Flores-Villar v. United States, on June 13, 2011.
The Court was equally divided, 4-4, so the judgment below, which had upheld the statute, was affirmed.
The USCIS has posted a summary of the teleconference it held on May 12, 2011 regarding its interpretation of ‘specialized knowledge’ for purposes of L-1B classification. Many participants commented that the agency is applying an increasingly restrictive interpretation of the term and makes overly burdensome requests for additional information.
June 14, 2011: US Treasury rules push expatriates to renounce citizenship
Yesterday's issue of the Financial Times reported on the protests of non US financial institutions against new US laws that will require them to report to the Internal Revenue Service details of their US clients' accounts. A second article told the story of a US citizen living in Germany who gave up her citizenship after being hit with a sizable fine for failing to file US tax returns--even though she did not owe any tax.
June 7, 2011: Reprieve for I-130 petitioners living outside the US
In a teleconference last night, entitled ‘Process Changes for Petitioners Residing Overseas: Forms I-130 and I-601,’ USCIS representatives confirmed that US citizens living outside the US will continue to be allowed to file I-130 petitions in the countries where they live, as long as there is a USCIS office in their country of residence. For a list of USCIS offices outside the United States, click here. This is contrary to statements made in the November 9 teleconference on the same subject, which had indicated that in the future all I-130 petitions would be filed and adjudicated in the US. Beginning August 15, 2011, US citizens living in countries without a USCIS office will be required to file their I-130 petitions at a lockbox in the United States. Instructions as to the exact procedure to be followed will be made public closer to the August 15 effective date. Consistent with previous practice, official notes of the teleconference should be available soon on the USCIS’s Notes from Previous Engagements web page.
May 31, 2011: B-1 in lieu of H-1B visa under threat; new J-1 visa website on its way
In its response to a query from a US Senator (see April 26 entry below) the Department of State has indicated it plans to revoke or, at the very least, ‘substantially amend’ the regulation that created the B-1 in lieu of H-1B visa.
Tomorrow, June 1, the Department of State will launch a new J-1 Exchange Visitor Program website, which it promises will contain ‘everything potential applicants need to know, from how to participate in a program to what the program is like.’
May 24, 2011 Spotlight on the EB-5; H-1B filing update
The USCIS is proposing a number of changes designed to make the EB-5 ‘million dollar green card’ programme more attractive to potential applicants. Among the changes: EB-5 applications would be eligible for Premium Processing Service. Meanwhile on May 23 the Houston Chronicle published an article about the EB-5 programme, with particular attention given to regional centers in Texas.
An update on H-1B filings: As of May 20 the USCIS had received 12,300 H-1B petitions against the FY2012 regular cap, and 8,500 petitions filed against the quota of 20,000 H-1B’s reserved for applicants who have earned advanced degrees from a US institution. On May 21, 2010 the comparable figures were 19,600 regular cap cases, and 8,200 advanced degree exemption.
May 17, 2011: Green card lottery results declared void; changes to I-130 petition filing locations on the way
This past week brought heartbreaking news for people whose green card lottery applications had been declared ‘winners’: The selection process was flawed, the results have been voided, and the lottery will be re-run. For the announcement from the US Department of State, click here.
Effective August 15 the USCIS is amending its regulations to direct US citizens living abroad to file I-130 petitions in accordance with the (soon to be amended) form instructions. According to today’s Federal Register notice, ‘Instructions for filing relative petitions will provide the option of either mailing the petition to the USCIS Chicago Lockbox, or filing at the USCIS international office if the petitioner resides in a country where USCIS has an office.’
May 10, 2011: More help on the I-129 ‘deemed export’ certification; H-1B filings so far
The Department of Homeland Security has posted notes from its March 24, 2011 teleconference about the ‘deemed export’ certification that is now part of the I-129 petition for nonimmigrant worker. The teleconference Included interviews of two Commerce Department officials who help administer the export controls programme.
As of April 29 the USCIS had received 9,200 H-1B petitions against the general cap, and 6,600 against the additional 20,000 H-1B’s available to persons with earned advanced degrees from US institutions. A recent article in the Wall Street Journal discusses the reasons for the slow uptake of H-1B’s this year.
May 3, 2011: NSEERS all but eliminated
By notice published and effective on Thursday, April 28, 2011, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has terminated the restrictions imposed by the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) upon nationals and citizens of 25 countries (Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen). Established in 2002, NSEERS required nationals and citizens of designated countries to comply with special registration requirements, appear at immigration offices in the United States to give additional information when requested, and to both enter and leave the US only through specified ports of entry. The Secretary noted that improvements in security throughout the immigration system had made special registration redundant. Although there are currently no countries whose nationals and citizens are subject to NSEERS, the programme framework itself has not been abolished.
April 26, 2011: Doubt cast on visa favoured by consultants; preclearance through Dublin available to US-bound travelers
US Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa has written to Secretary of State Clinton and Secretary of Homeland Security Napolitano challenging the ‘B-1 in lieu of H-1B’ visa and requesting detailed information regarding the number of such visas issued each year for the past five years. To see a PDF copy of the letter, click here. For a discussion of the B-1 in lieu of H-1B visa, please see our website article, Working (Legally) on a Visitor’s Visa or Visa Waiver Entry.
Preclearance of travelers to the US has been available through Dublin, Ireland since January 19, 2011. The Department of Homeland Security has now published an amendment to its regulations to add Dublin to its list of such preclearance offices.
April 19, 2011: Help for employment-based applicants for adjustment of status; holiday closures for US Embassy London
The USCIS has issued guidance helpful to persons who are seeking adjustment of status to lawful permanent residence (‘green cards’) based upon employment, and whose I-485 adjustment applications have been pending for more than 180 days. In certain conditions applicants may change (‘port’) the offer of employment on which their adjustment application is based from one job to another job as long as both jobs are in the ‘same or similar occupational classification’. The guidance, in the form of a question and answer fact sheet, deals with the fundamental question of what constitutes a ‘same or similar occupational classification’ so as to allow an applicant to move from one job to another job in a way while remaining eligible to adjust status without having to file a new I-140 immigrant petition.
The US Embassy in London will be closed the following days, which are holidays in the United Kingdom: Friday, April 22 (Good Friday); Monday, April 25 (Easter Monday); Friday, April 29 (Royal Wedding); and Monday, May 2 (Early May Bank Holiday).
April 12, 2011: Government shutdown averted; results from first week of FY 2012 H-1B petition filing
The biggest news in the US immigration world this past week was what did not happen. A shutdown of the US Government was averted at the last minute when a temporary agreement on the budget was reached, so neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the Department of State needed to implement their published contingency plans. The DOS plan called for visa services to be ‘severely curtailed’ but the fee-for-services functions of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (an agency of DHS) would have continued during the shutdown.
During the first week of filing for the 2012 fiscal year ‘crop’ of H-1Bs the USCIS has accepted 5,900 regular ‘cap subject’ petition and 4,500 for persons with earned advanced degrees from US universities.
April 5, 2011: The H-1B season begins; the characteristics of new lawful permanent residents
As of last Friday, April 1, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services is again accepting H-1B petitions. The recent history of the H-1B quota mirrors the boom and recession, showing their impact on employment in the ‘specialty occupations’ covered by H-1B visas. An overview::
The current fiscal year’s quota of H-1B’s—FY 2011--was exhausted on January 26, 2011.
In FY 2010 H-1B’s were available until December 22, 2009.
In FY 2009, covering employment to begin on or after October 1, 2008, the USCIS received nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions during the five day filing period that ended on April 7, 2008. A lottery of the timely-filed petitions was held to determine which petitions would be adjudicated.
In FY 2008 the USCIS reported having received on the first two days of filing (April 2 and 3, 2007) more than enough petitions to fill the annual quota.
In FY 2007 the H-1B quota was reached on June 1, 2006.
In FY 2006 the cap was reached on August 12, 2005, in spite of Congressional action the previous year that had added 20,000 visas for certain advanced degree holders.
The Department of Homeland Security has released its annual report regarding the characteristics of people who became lawful permanent residents (LPRs) (‘green card’ holders) during FY 2010. Interesting statistical tidbits include the facts that 54% of the new LPRs were already living in the US at the time they were granted permanent resident status, and 66% received their status through sponsorship by family members.
March 29, 2011: Nothing to add
March 22, 2011: USCIS offers help to I-129 petitioners regarding ‘deemed export’ certification
On March 24, 2011 at 2 pm Eastern Daylight Time the USCIS Ombudsman’s Office will sponsor a teleconference designed to assist prospective petitioners for certain ‘H,’ ‘L’ and ‘O’ visas to comply with the deemed export certifications on the revised I-129 form. For information on the teleconference, and instructions as to how to participate, go to the Office’s website, or click here.
March 15, 2011: New income guidelines for immigrant visa sponsors; no ‘celebrity security’ immigrant status for bodyguard
The USCIS has posted its 2011 Poverty Guidelines for use in I-864 immigrant visa affidavits of support.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has rejected the appeal of Céline Dion’s bodyguard, who claimed that he should be given immigrant status as an alien of extraordinary ability in the field of celebrity security. To read the court’s opinion, click here.
March 8, 2011: Changes proposed to H-1B process; extraordinary ability visa in the news
On March 3 the USCIS published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that would establish a mandatory Internet-based electronic registration process for US employers seeking to file H-1B petitions for workers subject to the annual cap. To see the press release summarizing the 14-page proposed rule, click here. The rule as drafted would require an employer who wants to hire an H-1B worker to register during a particular period of time established by the USCIS, which would last for a minimum of two weeks. A separate registration would be required for each prospective H-1B employee. The potential benefit to employers would be that in cases where the annual cap is about to be reached, an employer would not be required to go to the trouble and expense of preparing a complete H-1B petition package, only to have it rejected because the quota had just been filled. Written comments on the proposed rule may be submitted on or before May 2, 2011.
The New York Times reported on March 2 that singer Celine Dion’s Canadian citizen bodyguard is appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals the USCIS’s decision to deny him a US immigrant visa. The basis for his petition is that he is an alien of extraordinary ability in the field of celebrity security.
March 1, 2011: Updated poverty guidelines effective today
The Department of State has updated its Foreign Affairs Manual to reflect the 2011 poverty guidelines from the Department of Health and Human Services. These guidelines must be used for all I-864 Affidavits of Support filed on or after March 1, 2011. The USCIS has not yet published a new I-864P with updated figures. For additional information regarding the I-864, which is used by persons sponsoring family members for immigration to the United States, please see our website article A Beginner’s Guide to the Affidavit of Support.
February 22, 2011: Export certifications now required
As of February 20 petitioners filing the I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker are required to make an export-related certification if they seek to sponsor employees or prospective employees for any of the following classifications: H-1B; H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore); L-1; or O-1A (alien of extraordinary ability in science, education, business or athletics). This certification was originally to have been required as of December 23, 2010 but the effective date was postponed by the USCIS.
Petitioners must now certify that with respect to the technology or technical data they will supply to the beneficiary, they have reviewed the Export Administration Regulations (‘EAR’) [15 CFR Parts 770 to 774] and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (‘ITAR’) [22 CFR Parts 120-130] and have determined whether a license from the US Government is required to release this technology or technical data to the beneficiary. If a license is required the petitioner must state that it will prevent access to the technology or technical data by the beneficiary until the license or other authorization has been obtained.
These certifications are required because both EAR and ITAR provide that release of controlled technology or technical data to a foreign person in the US, even by an employer, is deemed to be an export to that person’s country or countries of nationality. This is the doctrine of ‘deemed export.’
The USCIS’s instructions to the new Form I-129 state that the licensing requirements ‘will affect only a small percentage of petitioners because most types of technology are not controlled for export or release to foreign persons.’ The technology and technical data that are subject to controls can be found on the Commerce Control List and the US Munitions List, both of which are subject to periodic amendment.
February 15, 2011: Work permit and travel document to be combined
Applicants for adjustment of status who have filed/are filing Form I-485 and seeking both the advance parole and employment authorization (a ‘work permit’), may now receive both documents on a single, durable card that can be carried in a wallet. Further information and a photograph of a sample card are available on the USCIS’s FAQ on the subject.
February 8, 2011: H-1B cap reached
On January 26 the USCIS calculated that it had received a sufficient number of H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for fiscal year 2011. To read the announcement , click here. Since the cap for the 20,000 H-1B’s reserved for persons with advance degrees from US institutions was reached on December 22, 2010, there are now no cap-subject H-1Bs available for employment to begin before October 1, 2011.
February 1, 2011: A pause in the service
Your correspondent is travelling. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on February 8; please check back with us then.
January 25, 2011: Updated poverty guidelines on the way for immigrant visa applicants and their sponsors
In the January 20, 2011 issue of the Federal Register the Department of Health and Human Services issued new poverty guidelines for 2011. These will be applicable for purposes of I-864 affidavits of support on March 1, 2011. The USCIS will likely have published a new I-864P by then.
January 18, 2011: H-1B’s back in the spotlight; new blog for Embassy, London
The Government Accountability Office has published a report on the H-1B program. One of the topics investigated was the impact on smaller US firms of being unable to obtain needed foreign workers because of the annual ‘cap’ on the number of H-1B’s available.
The USCIS estimates that as of January 7 it had accepted 58,700 petitions for filing against the FY2011 cap of approximately 65,000.
The Visa Services section of the US Embassy has a new-look blog.
January 11, 2011: More news about the ‘million dollar green card’ programme
The USCIS has released a Power Point version of the presentation made at its December 16, 2010 ‘stakeholder’ meeting regarding the EB-5 immigrant visa. Among the interesting bits of information is that British-born applicants are the third largest nationality group in the EB-5 category. However, they accounted for just 7% of the EB-5 visas issued during the 2010 fiscal year; 41% went to persons chargeable to Mainland China, and 16% to persons chargeable to Korea.
January 4, 2011: Export control questions on the I-129 lifted temporarily; ‘million dollar green card’ programme evaluated
Due to public confusion about the export control questions on the new I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker (see our Weekly Update posting of December 7, below), the USCIS has announced that petitioners do not need to complete that part of the form (Part 6) until February 20, 2011.
A recent Reuters article, ‘Overselling the American dream,’ reports on the experiences of numerous investors who have taken part in the EB-5 ‘million dollar green card’ programme.
December 21, 2010: Embassy offers video and webchat help regarding arrests, cautions and convictions; short explanation of the EB-5 route to a green card
The Embassy has released a new YouTube video entitled ‘Arrests, Cautions, Convictions & ESTA.’ It makes the helpful point that not all arrests, cautions or convictions render a person ineligible to use the Visa Waiver Program. For further details on this topic you may wish to see our website articles Travelling to the US Without a Visa and A Crime Involving Moral Turpitude! What in the World is That?
For a transcript of the December 9, 2010 Embassy webchat on the subject of crimes involving moral turpitude and controlled substance violations, click here.
A useful summary of the EB-5 ‘million dollar green card’ program has been prepared by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services and published on its blog, The Beacon.
December 14, 2010: H-1B petition numbers advance; I-130 filing update
The USCIS has released an update on the number of H-1B petitions filed for employment to begin during FY2011—that is, before October 1, 2011. As of December 3 a total of 51,200 ‘cap eligible’ petitions had been received, against a cap of approximately 65,000. The additional allotment of H-1Bs available for persons with earned master’s degrees or higher from US institutions is also still available, with 18,700 petitions received against a total available of 20,000.
The USCIS has now posted the promised ‘Executive Summary’ of the November 9, 2010 teleconference regarding plans to centralize in the USCIS the filing and adjudication of all I-130 petitions. The Summary was blunt as to the purpose of that teleconference: ‘The session was for USCIS to listen to the views and information of individual stakeholders. The session was not used for the purpose of obtaining group or consensus advice.’
December 7, 2010: ‘Deemed export’ doctrine leads to new burdens for employers
Beginning on December 23, 2010 new certifications with be required of some petitioners filing the I-129 Petition for Nonimmigrant Worker. The new version of the I-129 form, use of which becomes mandatory on that date, requires an export-related certification from employers seeking to sponsor employees or prospective employees for any of the following classifications: H-1B; H-1B1 (Chile/Singapore); L-1; or O-1A (alien of extraordinary ability in science, education, business or athletics).
Petitioners must certify that with respect to the technology or technical data they will supply to the beneficiary, they have reviewed the Export Administration Regulations (‘EAR’) [15 CFR Parts 770 to 774] and the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (‘ITAR’) [22 CFR Parts 120-130] and have determined whether a license from the US Government is required to release this technology or technical data to the beneficiary. If a license is required the petitioner must state that it will prevent access to the technology or technical data by the beneficiary until the license or other authorization has been obtained.
November 30, 2010: Expanded visa availability for partners of US citizens
US citizens who normally live and work outside the US, but are returning to the US for a temporary stay, may now hope to take with them their non US citizen domestic partners. A recent change to the Department of State’s Foreign Affairs Manual makes B-2 visitors’ visas available to members of US citizens’ households under such circumstances. It however remains the case that the United States does not recognize same-sex civil partnerships or marriages for purposes of sponsoring a partner for immigration—that is, a permanent move to the US through obtaining of an immigrant visa or adjustment of status. This is true even if the partnership is fully recognized by the law of the country or the US state in which it was contracted.
November 23, 2010: New USCIS fee schedule
The new USCIS fee schedule goes into effect today. The filing fee for the I-130 ‘Petition for Alien Relative’ will go up from $355 to $420, and the fee for Premium Processing Service, where available, will increase to $1,225 from its current $1,000. For a USCIS Fact Sheet listing the affected fees, click here.
The Congressional Research Service has released a new study on the Visa Waiver Program.
November 16, 2010: Adjudication of all family-based petitions will be centralized in the US
Last week the USCIS held a teleconference on the subject of I-130 petitions filed by US citizens living abroad. Currently those petitions can be adjudicated in US embassies and consulates, often resulting in significantly shorter processing times than those realized by persons filing with the USCIS in the United States. For example, the I-130 processing time here in London is now two months, whereas the processing time in United States is at least five months.
During the course of the teleconference it became clear that the adjudication of all I-130s’s will be moved to the US—likely in the Spring of 2011. The USCIS promises that an ‘executive summary’ of the teleconference will be posted and invites interested parties to check back periodically.
US citizens living in the United Kingdom and contemplating sponsoring their family members for immigrant visas at any point in 2011 or 2012 would be well advised to consider filing their petitions now, in advance of the change.
November 9, 2010: Temporary help with the DS-160 online visa application form
During the month of November only applicants will be able to retrieve a partially-completed DS-160 form even if they did not save it to their own electronic device. The Embassy’s Visa Services section believes that this will help those applicants who, in the course of answering the lengthy list of questions posed in the DS-160, may lose their connection or be ‘timed out’ by the Department of State’s website. For further details and instructions, go to the Visa Services’ blog.
November 2, 2010: Festive season appointments for ‘E’ visas; H-1Bs still available
The Embassy in London has notified applicants that it will not be scheduling any ‘E’ visa appointments between December 23, 2010 and January 4, 2011. The last pre-holiday date for interviews in connection with a pending application for treaty registration will be December 17.
The USCIS has released an update on the number of H-1B petitions filed for employment to begin during FY2011. As of October 22 a total of 44,300 ‘cap eligible’ petitions had been received, against a cap of approximately 65,000. The additional allotment of H-1Bs available for persons with earned master’s degrees or higher from US institutions is also still available, with 16,200 petitions received against a total available of 20,000.
October 26, 2010: All family-based petitions to be adjudicated in the US?
Currently US citizens living outside the US who wish to sponsor family members for immigration may file the necessary I-130 petition outside the US, with a USCIS field office or a US embassy or consulate. The USCIS is considering changing this procedure so that all Form I-130’s are adjudicated domestically. On November 9 the USCIS will hold an online teleconference to discuss and explain the upcoming changes. For further information on how to join the teleconference, click here.
October 19, 2010: Some visas to be available without interview
The Embassy in London has announced that some visa applicants will be excused from appearing for interviews. The primary conditions are as follows:
The person is applying for an O or P visa;
He or she has previously held that same category of visa;
The last time the person applied for an O or P visa he or she gave a full set of fingerprints; and
The previous O or P visa either
Is still valid, or
Expired within the last 12 months.
For additional eligibility requirements and information on getting a visa without an interview, go to the Embassy’s Visa Reissue Wizard. For information on O and P visas, click here.
October 12, 2010: The recession’s silver lining
The USCIS has released an update on the number of H-1B petitions filed for employment to begin during the current fiscal year. The figures show a sharp reduction of demand relative to previous years. As of October 1 a total of 40,600 ‘cap eligible’ petitions had been received, against a cap of approximately 65,000. The additional allotment of H-1Bs available for persons with earned master’s degrees or higher from US institutions is also still available, with just 14,900 petitions received against a total available of 20,000.
October 5, 2010: Green card lottery application period begins today; new article on employment-related green cards
Today at noon, US East Coast Time, the Department of State will begin accepting applications for the green card lottery. This year the application period will be just 30 days long, rather than 60 as has been the case in recent years. Other significant changes include the fact that successful applicants will no longer be notified by post. Notifications will be made solely through the Entry Status Check function on the Department’s dedicated web page, www.dvlottery.state.gov.
We have added a new article to our website, dealing with the difficulties a small or struggling business may have in sponsoring a manager or executive for immigrant status. We invite you to read ‘Ability to Pay the Proffered Wage’ in the Small Employer Context.
September 28, 2010: USCIS filing fees to rise; Embassy offers web chat regarding Affidavit of Support
Effective November 23, 2010 filing fees will increase for a number of USCIS petitions and applications. For example, the filing fee for the I-130 ‘Petition for Alien Relative’ will go up from $355 to $420, and the fee for Premium Processing Service, where available, will increase to $1,225 from its current $1,000. For a USCIS Fact Sheet listing the affected fees, click here.
Tomorrow, September 29, the US Embassy London will host a web chat dedicated to the I-864 Affidavit of Support (used for all family-based immigration and some employment-based cases as well) and to the difficulty of establishing that the sponsor/affiant is domiciled in the United States. For details, or to post a question ahead of the web chat, go to the Visa Services web page of the US Embassy’s site. For additional information on the subject, see our web site article A Beginner’s Guide to the Affidavit of Support.
September 21, 2010: Pause in the service
Your correspondent is travelling; ‘Weekly Update’ will resume next week.
September 14, 2010: Green card lottery application period to begin October 5, 2010
The DV-2012 ‘green card lottery’ will be open for applications from October 5 to November 3, 2010. Click here to go to the Department of State’s Diversity Immigrant Visa Program page, which promises additional information as the commencement of the application period grows closer. Only electronic entries will be accepted.
September 7, 2010: Online immigrant visa application process trialed
The Department of State is now running a pilot programme that will allow applicants for immigrant visas to e-mail to the National Visa Center PDF versions of all required documents. Applicants who submit PDF versions of their documents will be required to take the hard-copy originals to their immigrant visa interviews.
August 31, 2010: Pause in the service
Gudeon & McFadden are moving offices today. Please note our new address and return to our website next week when ‘Weekly Update’ will resume.
August 24, 2010: Visa difficulty for British celebrity
The New York Post reports that difficulty in obtaining an O-1 employment-authorized visa is delaying a planned move to the US by UK television celebrity Piers Morgan. The news has been picked up by a number of news outlets, including the Guardian. For background on the O-1 visa for aliens of extraordinary ability, see our website article How to Prove You’re an Alien of Extraordinary Ability. For information on the slightly different version of the O-1 for aliens of extraordinary achievement, see Lights! Camera! Visa! Aliens of Extraordinary Achievement in Film and Television.
August 17, 2010: US entertainment industry protests visa difficulties
An article in the August 10 issue of the Los Angeles Times reports on the US entertainment industry’s increasing difficulties in obtaining visas for foreign-born artists. Apparently the California Service Center’s denial rates of petitions seeking classification in the ‘O’ and ‘P’ categories (both often used by artists and entertainers) have doubled from the previous year, as have the rates for requests for evidence for both individual and group petitions.
August 10, 2010: Fee set for Visa Waiver Program travel
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that as of September 8, 2010 a fee will be payable by persons seeking ESTA authorization to travel to the United States on the Visa Waiver Program. The fee for an ESTA application will be US$4.00 and if the authorization is granted, an additional US$10.00 per authorization will be payable. Since ESTA authorizations can be valid for up to two years, if you anticipate travel to the United States in the next two years you may wish to apply for ESTA authorization now, before the fee comes into effect. For a discussion of the circumstances under which a new ESTA authorization must be obtained within the two year period see our website article Travelling to the US Without a Visa.
August 3, 2010: The immigrant visa form goes online
In today’s Federal Register the Department of State announced that it will be introducing an electronic application procedure for immigrant visas. The electronic form, which will be known as the DS-260, is not yet available on the Department’s Visa Forms web page.
The USCIS Ombudsman has now released the office’s annual report to Congress. To review the report, click here.
July 20, 2010: Renunciation of US citizenship, from a British perspective
On July 17, 2010 the Financial Times carried an article entitled ‘Americans forfeit citizenship to avoid tax.’ For a discussion of the issues involved in renunciation of US citizenship, including the potential for being barred for life from the United States if one does renounce for the purpose of avoiding US tax, see our website article Giving Up US Citizenship: Is it Right for You?
July 13, 2010: Overview of US immigration law; residence requirements for US naturalization
The Federal Judicial Center has published a 186-page e-book entitled Immigration Law: A Primer. The Federal Judicial Center, created by Congress in 1967, is the research and education arm of the federal judicial system.
A recent article by Gary Endelman and Cyrus Mehta deals with the problems of maintaining and proving US residence for purposes of naturalizing as a US citizen. See ‘Naturalizing in a Flat World.’
July 6, 2010: More stringent visa rules for applicants with drink-driving arrests; new fees for consular services
The Department of State, acting pursuant to new instructions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has issued a cable changing the procedures and medical evaluations applicable to visa applicants. Among the changes: All visa applicants must be sent for a full medical examination if they have had a single alcohol-related arrest or conviction within the past five years or two or more alcohol-related arrests or convictions within the past ten years. For full details, see the CDC’s 37-page Technical Instructions on this subject.
The Department of State has announced a new fee schedule for certain consular services, effective July 13. A schedule of the new fees can be found by clicking here. Among the changes is the imposition for the first time of a fee for renunciation of US citizenship, in the amount of $450.00.
June 29, 2010: H-1B’s in the news
The H-1B petition filings continue at a slow pace. For those persons with an earned Master’s degree or higher from a US institution 20,000 H-1B’s are reserved. As of June 18, 9,700 eligible petitions had been received by the USCIS. Against the regular cap of approximately 65,000 available H-1B’s the USCIS had received 22,900 petitions as of that date. To go to the USCIS cap count page, click here.
The USCIS has published a report about the characteristics of H-1B workers during US Government Fiscal Year 2009 (ended September 30, 2009). This report, required by Congress, gives information regarding the occupations and countries of origin of, and compensation paid to, H-1B workers.
On Friday, 25 June the US Embassy in London will be holding a web chat from 10.00 to 11.00 on the topic of marriage-based immigration.
June 15, 2010: USCIS proposes fee increases
The USCIS has published a new proposed rule that would raise its fees a weighted average of ten per cent. Three new fees would be added, one of which would be for the work of the USCIS in connection with immigrant visas.
June 8, 2010: Nonimmigrant visa application fees go up; E-2 visas and the recession
The new schedule of nonimmigrant visa application fees announced in our May 25 Weekly Update entry went into effect on Friday, June 4.
In its May 28 issue the New York Times reports on the plight of E-2 visa holders whose visas were not renewed because the recession made previously-approved businesses ‘marginal.’ To read the article, click here.
June 1, 2010: H-1B advice and updated count
The Department of Labor has released another in its series of ‘elaws’ guides to federal employment laws, and this time the topic is the H-1B visa. To go to the H-1B Advisor, click here.
Further on the subject of the H-1B visa: The USCIS has updated its count of the number of H-1B petitions accepted for filing. As of May 21 the USCIS had accepted for filing 19,600 regular cap cases, and 8,200 against the quota reserved for those persons with an earned master’s degree or higher from a US institution of higher education.
May 25, 2010: I-94W to be eliminated; visa application fees to increase
The I-94W is the green form that has been completed by millions of Visa Waiver Program entrants. (For a copy, click here.) By the end of the summer the I-94W will be no more, having been replaced by ESTA on-line registration. This according to a press release last week from the Department of Homeland Security.
Effective June 4 the standard visa application fee for a non petition-based nonimmigrant visa (such as a B-1/B-2) will rise from US$131 to US$140. A greater increase will apply to the petition-based visas (H, L, O, P, Q and R) for which the charge will be $150. Even larger increases are set for E visas ($390) and the K visas ($350). To see the Federal Register announcement of the changes, click here.
May 18, 2010: Fee to be charged for Visa Waiver Program travel
Under a new US law that became effective on March 4, 2010, a fee of at least US$10.00 is to be charged for each authorization under ESTA for visa-free travel to the United States. The ‘Travel Promotion Act of 2009’ requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to set the fee, and begin to collect it, no later than September 4, 2010. Since ESTA authorizations can be valid for up to two years, if you anticipate travel to the United States in the next two years you may wish to apply for ESTA authorization now, before the fee is put into place. For a discussion of the circumstances under which a new ESTA authorization must be obtained within the two years period see our website article Travelling to the US Without a Visa.
May 11, 2010: New article about relinquishing/renouncing US citizenship
In response to a steady stream of inquiries on the subject we have added a new article to the website: Giving Up US Citizenship: Is it Right for You?
May 4, 2010: Focus on expatriation; H-1B count is updated
An article in the New York Times of April 26, 2010 has highlighted the small but growing number of people who give up their US citizenship; more than twice as many people expatriated themselves in the last quarter of 2009 as in all of 2008.
H-1B visas are still available. As of April 27, 2010 the USCIS had accepted for filing 16,500 H-1B regular cap cases, and 6,900 cases where the beneficiaries have an earned US Master’s degree or higher, and therefore qualify for the separate quota of 20,000. http://bit.ly/9pGpvp
April 27, 2010: Government report into investor visas; USCIS fees to rise
A 2009 report from the Congressional Research Service entitled ‘Foreign Investor Visas: Policies and Issues,’ has been made public. (The CRS prepares reports at the request of members of Congress and Congressional committees; they are not for general release.) The report contains wide-ranging information about the past, present and future of the investor visas, both the nonimmigrant (E-1 and E-2) and the immigrant (EB-5). It makes worthwhile reading for anyone considering seeking a US visa through investment.
In the April 26 Federal Register the USCIS released its semi-annual regulatory agenda. It forecasts publishing in June a proposed rule to increase fees.
April 20, 2010: Statistics regarding new green card holders and citizens during FY2009.
The Office of Immigration Statistics within the Department of Homeland Security has released a number of reports regarding naturalizations and admissions to permanent resident status during Fiscal Year 2009. That was the period between October 1, 2008 to September 30, 2009. During that year 743,715 persons were naturalized as US citizens. The top three countries of origin were Mexico (15.0%), India (7.1%) and the Philippines (5.2%). The number of persons admitted to permanent resident status was 1,130,818, with Mexico (15.0%), People’s Republic of China (6.0%) and the Philippines (5.0%) the top three countries of origin. Fifty-nine percent of all new lawful permanent residents adjusted status in the United States, with 41% having applied for immigrant visas abroad.
April 13, 2010: H-1B filing season off to a slow start; Embassy schedules webchat
During the first week in which it is accepting petitions for H-1Bs in Fiscal Year 2011 the USCIS received approximately 19,100 petitions—13,500 counting against the overall cap and a further 5,600 for the 20,000 H-1Bs available every year to persons with earned advanced degrees from US institutions. http://bit.ly/dvZ79c
The US Embassy in London will be holding a webchat on April 16 at 3.00 pm BST on the subject of affidavits of support—both the I-864 and the I-134. Further information can be found on the Embassy’s website, in the Visa Services blog.
April 6, 2010: FY 2011 H-1B petition filing period opens
On April 1 the USCIS began accepting petitions for H-1B classification, employment to begin on or after October 1, 2010. Available is a total of approximately 78,200 new H-1B visas; 20,000 of that number are reserved for persons who have earned advanced degrees from a US institution of higher education.
Why April 1? It is because H-1B petitions cannot be filed more than six months in advance of the requested start date of employment. The annual quota of H-1B visas becomes available on October 1 of each year—the first day of the US Government’s fiscal year (‘FY’). Therefore petitions for the new ‘crop’ of H-1B’s cannot be filed before April 1.
For periodic updates on the number of petitions accepted for filing visit the USCIS web page on the subject by clicking here.
March 30, 2010: US Supreme Court to rule on citizenship statute; Greek citizens given date for visa-free travel
The US Supreme Court will hear arguments this autumn in a case challenging the statute that makes it easier for unwed US citizen mothers to transmit citizenship to their children than for unwed US citizen fathers. The opinion of the court below, as well as the filings of the parties in the Supreme Court, can be accessed on the SCOTUS blog. There is also an article in Forbes magazine on the subject.
Greek citizens will become eligible on April 5 to participate in the Visa Waiver Program. For a list of the requirements to travel visa-free please see our website article Travelling to the US Without a Visa.
March 23, 2010: Gudeon & McFadden firm news
After a career of 44 years, our friend and colleague, Edward Gudeon, has begun his well-earned retirement from the practice of immigration law in the United Kingdom. We wish him well as he enjoys the fruits of his many years of professional endeavour.
The firm will continue its practice as Gudeon & McFadden from our offices in Mayfair, advising individuals and businesses on all aspects of US immigration and nationality law, consular processing of immigrant and nonimmigrant visas, waivers of ineligibility, maintenance and loss of permanent resident status, and the acquisition of US citizenship and loss of citizenship by expatriation.
March 16, 2010: Greece added to the Visa Waiver Program; DS-160 visa application form now required
On March 9 the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that Greece will be added to the Visa Waiver Program. Citizens of Greece who fulfill the requirements for VWP travel, including online ESTA registration, will be able to travel to the US without visas within approximately 30 days. For information regarding the requirements for visa-free travel please see our website article Travelling to the US Without a Visa.
The DS-156 visa application form is no longer accepted at either the Embassy in London or the Consulate General in Belfast. All applicants for nonimmigrant visas (except K visas) must now use the DS-160 online form.
March 9, 2010: Continuing problems with DS-160 online visa application form
Due to applicants’ difficulty in connecting with the Department of State’s website in order to complete their applications and upload them, the Embassy in London has announced that all applicants in London and Belfast during the week of March 8 may continue to use the old forms—the DS-156, -157 and -158.
March 2, 2010: DS-160 form now required of all nonimmigrant visa applicants; US asylum case attracts international comment
Effective yesterday, March 1, all applicants for nonimmigrant visas at the US Embassy in London must use the new online form, the DS-160. To see the Embassy’s announcement on the subject, with links to the form, click here. The Embassy has also released a new YouTube video on the subject.
An immigration judge’s decision in January to grant asylum in the US to a German family continues to attract press coverage in both countries. The judge found that the family faced persecution due to their insistence upon home-schooling their children, which is illegal in Germany. Recent coverage includes articles in The New York Times, Time magazine, Spiegel, and Die Welt.
February 23, 2010: New processing rules for K-3 visas for spouses of US citizens; estimate of unauthorized population in the US
Effective 1 February 2010 the US Department of State will end its processing of a K-3 visa application (for the spouse of a US citizen) once the I-130 petition for alien relative, which is the foundation for an IR-1 or CR-1 immigrant visa, has been approved. To see the text of the Department’s guidance on the subject, click here.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that as of January 2009 there were 10.8 million ‘unauthorized immigrants’ living in the United States. This represents an increase of 27% since 2000, but a decrease from the 11.6 million who were estimated to be present in January 2008.
February 16, 2010: Immigrant visa fees to change
The Department of State has published a proposed rule changing the fees assessed by the Department for immigrant visa processing, various American citizen services, and passport issuance. If implemented in its current form, the rule would decrease the fee for immigrant visa processing in family cases and would more than double the immigrant visa processing fee in employment-related matters. The rule will take effect on or after March 11, 2010.
February 9, 2010: Pause in the service
Your correspondent is traveling. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on February 16, 2010.
February 2, 2010: DS-160 on-line nonimmigrant visa form goes live in London
Effective yesterday, February 1, 2010, the DS-160 on-line visa application form became mandatory for all applicants for H, L, O, P, Q or R visas who are applying in person at the Embassy in London. The Consular Electronic Application Center website that carries the application has been experiencing connectivity problems, and applicants are therefore advised to save their work frequently.
January 26, 2010: Visa interviews rescheduled
Services at the Embassy this week are severely limited, and many interviews for both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas have been rescheduled. This is apparently due to the planned visit to London of the US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
January 19, 2010: Temporary Protected Status available for Haitians
As part of its response to the earthquake in Haiti, the Department of Homeland Security has announced that Temporary Protected Status (TPS) immigration status will be made available to qualifying Haitian nationals who were in the US on January 12, 2010. Once granted, TPS allows recipients to live and work in the United States for a set period—in this case, 18 months—with the potential for renewals. Created in 1990, TPS is available to nationals of countries designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security as suffering conditions that temporarily prevent those countries’ nationals from returning safely or, in certain circumstances, where the countries are unable to adequately handle the return of their nationals. In addition to Haiti the countries currently designated for TPS are El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Somalia and Sudan. For additional information regarding TPS, click here.
January 12, 2010: DS-160 visa application form now available; EB-5 regional centers list released
The DS-160 nonimmigrant visa application form is now available online for persons applying at the US Embassy London.
The USCIS has released an updated list of all approved EB-5 regional centers.
January 5, 2010: On-line visa application form to be required in London from February 1, 2010; H-1B visa quota reached
The US Embassy in London has announced that as of February 1, 2010 the DS-160 on-line visa application form will be required of all applicants for H, L, O, P, Q or R visas who are applying in person. (For information as to the categories of persons who may apply for visas by post/courier, click here) The DS-160 will be mandatory for all nonimmigrant visa applicants at the London Embassy as of March 1, 2010. Although the Embassy’s announcement and Visa Services blog entries on the subject do not mention K visas specifically, K applicants should be exempted from DS-160 completion, as the US Department of State has instructed embassies and consulates around the world to have K applicants continue to use the hard-copy DS-156 and DS-156K ‘until further notice.’ To see the Department’s announcement on the subject, click here.
On December 22, 2009 the USCIS announced that as of the previous day it had received sufficient H-1B petitions to reach the statutory cap for the current fiscal year (FY2010). It will conduct a lottery of all cap-subject petitions received on December 21 to determine which will be adjudicated and which will be returned, fee cheque uncashed.
We wish all our readers a happy and healthy festive season. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on January 5.
December 15, 2009: Nonimmigrant visa application fees set to go up
The Department of State has announced its intention to raise the fee payable by applicants for nonimmigrant visas. The schedule of proposed fees was published in the Federal Register on December 14, with provision for a public comment period of 60 days. If the Department adopts the schedule as proposed, the standard Machine Readable Visa fee paid by applicants for non-petition visas (except E visas) will go up from $131 to $140. Steeper increases have been announced for the H, L, O, P and R visas, all of which will attract an application fee of $150, and for K (fiancée) visas, the fee for which will jump to $350. The biggest increase will be in the application fee payable for E visas; it will be $390, nearly three times the current level.
December 8, 2009: On-line visa applications coming soon to an American embassy or consulate near you
The Department of State is in the process of deploying world wide the on-line visa application form, the DS-160. If all goes according to plan, applicants for all nonimmigrant visas except for K visas will be using the web-based form by April 30, 2010. The US Embassy in London will be required to transition to the new form by March 1, 2010. For further information regarding the roll out, and links to forms, click here.
November 24, 2009: Website offers help to people wishing to study in the United States
The US Department of State has designed what it hopes will be a ‘one-stop shop’ website with information for people interested in studying in the US: www.educationusa.state.gov. In addition to visa information it offers a searchable database of US Government-sponsored advising centres throughout the world, reference materials on subjects such as university admission procedures, and access to EducationUSA pre-departure orientations.
November 17, 2009: Changes to immigrant visa medical examination and vaccinations announced; HIV infection will longer be grounds for inadmissibility
Effective December 14, 2009 applicants for immigrant visas or adjustment of status will no longer be required to have vaccines for either Human Papillomavirus (HPV) or Varicella Zoster Virus (the virus that causes both chickenpox and shingles). To read the final notice from the Centers from Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), click here.
Effective January 4, 2010, persons will no longer be inadmissible to the US based solely on the ground that they are infected with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Accordingly, applicants for immigrant visas or for adjustment of status will as of that date no longer be required to undergo HIV testing as part of the medical examination required for US immigration. Click here for the CDC’s new final rule on the subject.
November 10, 2009: H-1B quota nearly filled; Embassy takes aim at ‘lonely hearts’ fraudsters
The USCIS has updated its website to state that as of October 30, 2009, approximately 53,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been filed. The USCIS has approved sufficient H1-B petitions for aliens with advanced degrees to meet the exemption of 20,000 from the fiscal year 2010 cap. Therefore, any H1-B petitions filed on behalf of an alien with an advanced degree will now count toward the general H1-B cap of 65,000.
The US Embassy, London has released a YouTube video entitled ‘Scamnet: Lonely Hearts Scam Division.’ It offers dramatized tips on how to avoid becoming the victim of Internet-based fraud.
November 3, 2009: Help for visa applicants whose applications are undergoing administrative processing
Some visa applicants are told at their Embassy interview that their cases require additional administrative processing. If you attended a visa interview on or after October 1, 2009 and you received a 221(g) ‘Administrative Processing’ handout at the interview, you can now check the status of your case on-line. Instructions on the process can be found on the Embassy’s website. To go to the appropriate page, click here.
October 27, 2009: President of Massachusetts Institute of Technology lobbies for improvements to US visa system
In an opinion piece in the October 19, 2009 issue of the Wall Street Journal the president of MIT urged the US Government create an easier path to lawful permanent residence for persons with advanced degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
October 20, 2009: Visa appointments at the Embassy during the festive season
The US Embassy’s Operator-Assisted Information Service is now booking nonimmigrant visa appointments through to January 8, 2010. The Service can be reached at 090 42 450 100; calls cost £1.20 per minute to a BT landline. The Service is closed on December 25 through 28, 2009 and on January 1 and 2, 2010. It will close at 4.00 pm on December 24 and 31.
The Embassy will be closed on November 26, December 25 and 28, 2009 and on January 1, 2010.
October 13, 2009: USICS ‘clarification’ of rules for O and P visa petitions; green card lottery instructions and registration are available online
The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has issued what it terms a ‘clarification’ of the requirements for agents filing as petitioners, particularly (but not exclusively) in the context of the performing arts. To go to the press release, which has a link to an accompanying USCIS fact sheet, click here.
Full instructions and online registration forms are now available for the DV2011 ‘green card lottery’ programme; click here. The registration period began on October 2, 2009 at noon, Eastern Daylight Time and will end on November 30, 2009 at noon, Eastern Standard Time.
October 6, 2009: EB-5 regional center programme extended to October 31, 2009
The EB-5 regional center pilot programme, providing immigrant visas to investors who make qualifying investments of at least $500,000 in a business located within a pre-qualified ‘regional center,’ was set to expire on September 30, 2009. It has now been extended a further month, until October 31, 2009, while discussions continue over a possible further extension.
September 29, 2009 : New visa interview appointment times at the US Embassy in London
B-1/B-2
8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00 and 11:30 am, 12:00 noon, 1:00 and 1:30 pm
8:00, 9:00, 9:30 and 10:00 am (VCU appointments)
C-1/D
E-1 and E-2
F-1 1:30 pm
8:00, 8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00 and 10:30 am
11:00 and 11:30 am, 12 noon, 12:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:00 and 2:30 pm
9:00, 9:30, 10:00 and 10:30 am
The DV-2011 ‘green card lottery’ will be open for applications from October 2 to November 30, 2009. Click here to go to the Department of State’s Diversity Immigrant Visa Program page, which promises additional information as the commencement of the application period grows closer. Only electronic entries will be accepted.
September 15, 2009: New procedure for lost US visas; new ambassador to the United Kingdom
The US Embassy now requires persons whose passports are lost or stolen to report to the Embassy that loss or theft if the passport contained a valid US visa. This report can be made either by e-mail, post, or in person during a subsequent visa application. A fillable PDF copy of the required report, and additional information regarding the procedure , is available at the web page of the Lost and Stolen Passport/Visas office.
On August 17, 2009 the new US Ambassador, Louis B. Susman, arrived in the UK to take up his duties. A YouTube video by Ambassador Susman can be found by clicking here.
September 8, 2009: Alcohol-related problems for visa applicants
In June 2007 the US Department of State made public its instructions to US embassies and consulates, regarding the circumstances under which visa applicants must be required to undergo medical examinations for possible alcohol-related problems. Those circumstances fall into three categories:
If the applicant has a drink-driving arrest or conviction within the last three years;
If the applicant has two or more drink-driving arrests or convictions at any time;
If there is ‘any other evidence to suggest an alcohol problem.’
Business Week recently dealt with the issue of visa denials on the grounds of excessive alcohol consumption in an article entitled ‘Alcohol Factors into Increased Visa Denials.’
September 1, 2009: H-1B’s still available; US Government policy regarding searches of electronic equipment at the border
For the first time since 2004, H-1B visa numbers remain available into September for qualified applicants. As of August 14, 2009 approximately 45,000 H-1B cap-subject petitions for the upcoming fiscal year had been received by the USCIS. This represents an increase of only approximately 500 petitions in the month since the last count. Approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. The USCIS is continuing to accept both types of petitions and will do so until it determines that sufficient numbers have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account that not all of the petitions are likely to be approved, and that some may be revoked or withdrawn.
The Department of Homeland Security has issued new directives governing its officers’ searches at US borders of electronic media and communications devices such as laptop computers and mobile phones. To read the Department’s press release, which contains links to the two sets of directives and to a privacy assessment, click here.
Your ‘Weekly Update’ author is on holiday. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on September 1.
August 4, 2009: US Embassy in London schedules visa webchat
On Thursday, August 13 a consular officer from the visa section of the US Embassy in London will answer visa-related questions in a webchat open to all. It is scheduled to begin at 2 pm London time (1400 BST). No registration is necessary and questions and comments may be submitted before and during the programme. To participate, go to https://statedept.connectsolutions.com/london .
July 28, 2009: Premium Processing Service again available for some religious worker petitions
Effective July 20, 2009 Premium Processing Service (PPS) is available for some R-1 nonimmigrant religious worker petitions. Eligible for PPS are only those R-1 petitions filed by petitioners who have already passed an on-site USCIS inspection. For a copy of the USCIS announcement and accompanying Q&A, click here. This change has not yet been reflected in the USICS’s PPS information page, which continues to show that PPS is not available for any R-1 petitions.
Under PPS the USCIS guarantees petitioners a response to their petition within 15 calendar days of receipt. The fee for PPS is $1,000, which is in addition to the standard filing fee for the classification sought.
July 21, 2009: USCIS gives guidance about EB-5 immigrant investor visas
The USCIS has published a list of the regional investor centers approved for participation in the pilot programme for immigrant investors who make qualifying investments of at least $500,000 in a business located within a pre-qualified ‘regional center.’ In addition it has updated its Adjudicator’s Field Manual (AFM) on issues related to the job creation required of the EB-5 investor. A press release, with links to the AFM update, can be found here.
If you are interested in further information about the EB-5 programme, please see our website article Immigrant Investor: The ‘Million Dollar Green Card’.
July 14, 2009: Status of green card lottery entries; updated H-1B petition count
People who took part in the DV-2010 ‘green card lottery’ may check the status of their entries on a new Department of State web page.
H-1B visa numbers remain available for qualified applicants. As of July 10, 2009 approximately 44,900 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been received by the USCIS. This represents an increase of only approximately 100 petitions in the two weeks since the last count. Approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. The USCIS is continuing to accept both types of petitions and will do so until it determines that sufficient numbers have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account that not all of the petitions are likely to be approved, and that some may be revoked or withdrawn.
July 7, 2009: HIV to no longer be ground for inadmissibility? New US Embassy for London
On July 2, 2009 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a proposed rule that would end the designation of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection as a “communicable disease of public health significance.’ If the rule were to be adopted, HIV infection alone would no longer render an alien inadmissible to the United States, and testing for HIV infection would no longer be required as part of the screening for US immigration and permanent residence.
The Department of State has created a special website with news about the status of the Embassy’s planned move from Grosvenor Square to Nine Elms, Battersea and the architectural contest to design the new building.
June 30, 2009: Helpful guidance from the US Department of State for nonimmigrant visa applicants; updated H-1B petition count
The US Embassy in London has published on YouTube a helpful three-minute video entitled ‘Attending a Nonimmigrant Visa Interview.’ Prospective visa applicants will find it well worth their time. In addition, the Department of State—the US governmental department that issues visas--has produced a 12-page pamphlet for nonimmigrant visa applicants, informing them of their rights while in the US, including the rights to be treated and paid fairly.
An updated H-1B petition count has been issued. As of June 26, 2009 approximately 44,800 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been received by the USCIS. This represents an increase of only approximately 400 petitions in the two weeks since the last count. Approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. The USCIS is continuing to accept both types of petitions and will do so until it determines that sufficient numbers have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account that not all of the petitions are likely to be approved, and that some may be revoked or withdrawn.
June 23, 2009: Use of emergency and temporary passports on the Visa Waiver Program; PPS returns for some immigrant petitions
Beginning on July 1, 2009 holders of non-electronic emergency and temporary passports from the UK and 25 other countries will no longer be eligible to travel to the US on the Visa Waiver Program (‘VWP’). This change does not affect passport holders from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Slovakia and South Korea, who have always required an electronic passport for visa-free travel. It also does not affect German citizens, as German temporary or emergency passports have never been valid for travel under the VWP.
Beginning June 29, 2009 accelerated adjudications by means of Premium Processing Service (PPS) will once again be available for some types of I-140 immigrant petitions, including aliens of extraordinary ability. PPS will not, however, be available for those persons applying as multinational executives or managers. For the text of the USCIS announcement on the subject, click here.
June 16, 2009: Green card delays; H-1B’s still available
US Citizenship and Immigration Services has announced that new immigrants may experience delays of up to 8 weeks in the issuance of their new permanent resident cards, colloquially known as ‘green cards.’ This is due to the updating of card production equipment.
As of June 12, 2009 approximately 44,400 H-1B cap-subject petitions had been received by the USCIS. This estimate is a retrogression from the previous figure of 45,800 announced on May 29, 2009. Approximately 20,000 petitions qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption had been filed. The USCIS is continuing to accept both types of petitions and will do so until it determines that sufficient numbers have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account that not all of the petitions are likely to be approved, and that some may be revoked or withdrawn.
June 1, 2009: A pause in the service
Our lawyers are in the US, attending the annual conference of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. ‘Weekly Update’ will resume on June 16.
May 26, 2009: O-1 visa in the spotlight
A recent article in Business Week magazine is one of the few in the popular press to discuss the O-1 visa for aliens of extraordinary ability or extraordinary achievement: ‘When Only “Geniuses” Need Apply’. If you would like further information regarding the standard of ability or achievement required for this route to an immigrant or nonimmigrant visa, please see any of our articles on the subject:
Not Just for Rocket Scientists: Green Cards for Aliens of Extraordinary Ability in Business
Extraordinary or Just Ordinary? Appellate Decisions Give Guidance on How to Prove You’re an Alien of Extraordinary Ability
Lights! Camera! Visa! Aliens of Extraordinary Achievement in Film and Television
Extraordinary Ability in Business
May 19, 2009: New procedure for some visa applicants at the US Embassy London
The US Embassy in London is introducing a new prescreening procedure that promises to reduce the delays currently experienced by some visa applicants in obtaining a visa appointment date.
In the past all applicants who had ever been arrested, convicted or cautioned for a criminal offense, or who had been removed from the US or denied entry (‘affected applicants’) were required to apply for an appointment with the Visa Coordination Officer. This often resulted in a wait of several months for an appointment.
Effective immediately affected applicants who call the Embassy’s schedulers at the Operator-Assisted Information Service will be given an e-mail address to which they must send various documents particular to their situation. For example, an applicant with a criminal record might be asked to send a police certificate from the Association of Chief Police Officers. Embassy employees will then review the information, decide whether a VCO or standard appointment is appropriate, and e-mail the applicant their decision.
May 12, 2009: H-1B’s still available; immigrant visa availability tightens
The number of petitions filed seeking new H-1B’s for employment to begin October 1, 2009 has remained almost static for several weeks, according to the most recent USCIS update. As of April 27, 2009 the USCIS reports having received approximately 45,000 petitions subject to the overall annual cap and 20,000 petitions potentially qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption. The agency is continuing to accept both types of petitions and will do so until it determines that sufficient numbers have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account that not all of the petitions are likely to be approved, and some may be revoked or withdrawn.
Meanwhile, the Department of State reports that demand for immigrant visas/green cards in the employment-based categories has surged. There has been a particularly great demand from people already resident in the United States, who are applying for adjustment of status. This past month the cut-off priority date for applicants chargeable to India applying in the employment-based second preference (‘EB-2’), for persons of exceptional ability and members of the professions holding advanced degrees, moved backward (‘retrogressed’) by over 4 years. A review of the Visa Bulletin shows that in May 2009 Indian applicants in the EB-2 category could apply for immigrant visas, or adjustment of status, if their priority date was before the cut-off of February 15, 2004. In June such applicants will be able to apply only if their priority date is before the new cut-off of January 1, 2000. The Department of State warns that during the remainder of the US Government’s fiscal year, which ends on September 30, 2009, availability of immigrant status through either immigrant visas or adjustment of status ‘cannot be guaranteed, and the establishment of cut-off dates, or retrogression of existing cut-off dates, cannot be ruled out.’
May 5, 2009: New procedural rules for I-864 affidavits of support
On April 28, 2009 the US Department of State released new regulations for consular officers reviewing the I-864 Affidavits of Support required of most people sponsoring relatives for immigrant visas or adjustment of status. To see the new rules, click here. For additional information on the affidavit of support, including information as to when it is required, please see our website article A Beginner’s Guide to the Affidavit of Support .
April 28, 2009: New web page for Visa Section, US Embassy London
The Visa Section at the US Embassy in London has a new web page: http://www.usembassy.org.uk/visaservices/. It contains information on a wide variety of topics, from immigrant visas to retrieving property left at the Embassy. Subscription via RSS feed is available, and blogs with opportunity for comment and moderated discussions are promised.
April 21, 2009: Visas for HIV-positive applicants; H-1B’s still available
The Department of State has amended its regulations for the issuance of visitor visas to persons who test positive for HIV. (Persons with HIV are inadmissible to the US, and ineligible for visas, unless a waiver of inadmissibility/ineligibility is obtained.) The new regulations create a speedier alternative to the typical case-by-case waiver adjudication for those persons who meet the requirements, which include a limit of 30 days stay per entry. Case-by-case waiver adjudication remains available for other cases, including persons who wish to apply for a wider variety of visas or who seek stays of longer than 30 days. For a fact sheet from the Department of Homeland Security, click here.
The new visa application procedure is set out in the Foreign Affairs Manual. In addition to the other forms required for a visa application, HIV positive applicants applying for visas under the new scheme must read and sign form DS-5512 which outlines eligibility requirements for this streamlined processing.
H-1B’s continue to be available for employment during Fiscal Year 2010—that is, for employment to begin on or after October 1, 2009. As of April 13, 2009 the USCIS had received approximately 43,000 H-1B petitions for visas subject to the annual quota (or ‘cap’) and approximately 20,000 petitions potentially qualifying for the advanced degree cap exemption. The agency will continue to accept petitions until it determines that sufficient numbers have been received to reach the statutory limits, taking into account that not all of the petitions are likely to be approved, and some may be revoked or withdrawn. Updates on the numbers of petitions filed are published by the USCIS at http://www.uscis.gov/h-1b_count.
April 15, 2009: A sign of the economic times
A week after what had been the anticipated cut-off date for the filing of H-1B petitions for employment in the new fiscal year, the USCIS is continuing to accept petitions for H-1B visas. During the previous filing periods in 2007 and 2008 the annual quota for new H-1B’s was filled within the first few days of availability, necessitating a lottery to determine which petitions would be adjudicated. For additional information and periodic updates on the number of petitions filed you may wish to bookmark the USCIS home page: http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis
April 7, 2009 : New visa interview appointment times at the US Embassy in London
8:30, 9:00, 9:30, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00 and 11:30 am, 12:00 noon, 1:00 and 1:30 pm
9:00, 9:30 and 10:00 am (in cases where criminal conviction is disclosed)
8:00, 8:30 am
11:00 am and 1:30 and 2:00 pm
8:00 and 8:30 am
April 2, 2009 : H-1B petition crush
On Wednesday, April 1 the annual stampede for H-1B visas begins. Last year the US Citizenship and Immigration Services reported receiving nearly 163,000 H-1B petitions during the five day filing period that ended on April 7, 2008. Those petitions were seeking a total of 78,200 new H-1B visas for employment to begin on October 1, 2008; 20,000 of that number are reserved for persons who have earned advanced degrees from a US institution of higher education.
Why such a crush in April? It is because H-1B petitions cannot be filed more than six months in advance of the requested start date of employment. The annual quota of H-1B visas becomes available on October 1 of each year—the first day of the US Government’s fiscal year (‘FY’). Therefore petitions for the new ‘crop’ of H-1B’s cannot be filed before April 1.
Employers seeking H-1B visas for employment to begin during FY2004 were able to file petitions until the annual cap was reached on February 17, 2004. In spite of subsequent Congressional action adding 20,000 visas for advanced degree holders, the FY2006 cap was reached on August 12, 2005—the first time the cap was reached even before the beginning of the fiscal year in which the visas would be used. The next year the cap was reached even more quickly; the allotment of FY 2007 visas was exhausted on June 1, 2006. This set the stage for FY2008 (employment to begin on October 1, 2007) when the USCIS reported having received on the first two days of filing more than enough petitions to fill the annual quota.
This year the USCIS has announced that it will follow the same procedure as last year, conducting a lottery among all petitions received between April 1 and April 7. For further details from the USCIS about the FY2010 H-1B filing procedure, click here.
© 2019 Gudeon & McFadden. All rights reserved. Disclaimer. Privacy Policy
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717929
|
__label__wiki
| 0.655433
| 0.655433
|
South Gippsland Water Board
The Legislative Assembly resolved that the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission (VA 723) and each constituted water, sewerage, drainage and river improvement authority (except the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works) be referred to the Public Bodies Review Committee for Review in April 1980. This resulted in the recommendation by the Public Bodies Review Committee that the various water and sewerage authorities be abolished and a new structure set up. This re-structuring was legislated by the Water and Sewerage Authorities (Restructuring) Act 1983 (Act No. 9895). The objectives of this Act were the following:
- to create interim administrative arrangements designed to facilitate the effective and efficient operation of the urban water industry in Victoria,
- to make that industry more structurally coherent and to reduce its geographical and functional fragmentation,
- to reduce the total number of bodies responsible for the supply of water and sewerage services,
- to define the role of the Minister in the development of new structures and procedures in the urban water industry, and
- to promote the more efficient, economic and effective allocation and utilization of the State's water resources.
As a result of this Act, new water and sewerage authorities referred to as Water Boards were created by Order-in-Council and the details of their constitution were published in the Government Gazette.
Under this Act, the South Gippsland Water Board was constituted by an Order-in-Council dated the 29th of May 1984. Foster Waterworks Trust (VA 2090), Toora Waterworks Trust (VA 2163), Fish Creek Waterworks Trust (VA 2088), Toora Sewerage Authority (VA 2037) and Foster Sewerage Authority (VA 1979) were abolished and their geographical areas, functions, land, liabilities, obligations, powers, property, rights and employees became the responsibility of the new Water Board. The boundaries of the former Waterworks Trusts, Urban Districts, and Sewerage Districts became the boundaries of the new Water Board. The Board was to consist of eight members, two each to be elected by the voters of the Toora and Foster Electoral Districts, one to be elected by the voters of the Fish Creek Electoral District, one to be elected from the Councillors of the West Riding of the Shire of South Gippsland (VA 2511), one to be elected from the Councillors of the Centre riding of the Shire of South Gippsland, and one to be elected from the Councillors of the East Riding of the Shire of South Gippsland.
The Order-in-Council was enforced from the 1st of July 1984, and continued until a further program of structural reform took place under the Water Act 1989 (Act No. 80/1989). Under this Act, the South Gippsland Region Water Authority was constituted by Order-in-Council. This was to take effect from the 1st of January 1995. This Order stated that the South Gippsland Region Water Authority was responsible for the staff, liabilities, obligations, land, property and functions of the South Gippsland Water Board from that date.
? 1987 - 1994 Water Analysis Results VPRS 15990 North Melbourne Open
1925 - 1990 General Ledgers VPRS 14793 North Melbourne Open
1965 - 1991 General Ledger [1966 - 1984]; Contract Register [1965 - 1982]; Ledger for Instalment Payments [1966 - 1991] VPRS 14800 North Melbourne Open
1984 - 1994 Minutes of Meetings VPRS 14820 North Melbourne Open
1984 - 1994 Annual Reports VPRS 14893 North Melbourne Open
1984 - 1995 General Correspondence Files, Two Number System VPRS 14919 North Melbourne Open
1984 - 1996 Outward Correspondence VPRS 14775 North Melbourne Open
1994 - 1995 Amalgamation Records VPRS 14760 North Melbourne Open
By 1991 - 1994 Annual Statement of Accounts VPRS 14890 North Melbourne Open
1984 - 1994 Water and sewerage authorities VF 416
1984 - 1990 Water Resources VRG 84
1990 - 1992 Conservation and Environment VRG 94
1992 - 1994 Water Resources II VRG 114
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717931
|
__label__wiki
| 0.882926
| 0.882926
|
Pregnancy & Parenting >
Enhance Fertility with Chiropractic Care
Created in Newsletter Library, Pregnancy & Parenting
Thirty-five year-old Tracy had tried everything: monitoring her cycles through body temperature, over-the-counter fertility predictors and finally, fertility-enhancing drugs and in vitro fertilization. But after three years of trying, she still wasn't pregnant. She began to think she was "too old" to have a family, though she was seemingly in great physical shape.
Tracy is not alone. Thousands of women go to fertility specialists each year. "After fertility treatments fail, many women are told 'no' [about having children] because of their age," says D'arcy Brown, DC. But chiropractic may offer hope. At least one recent study showed that, after receiving chiropractic care, previously infertile women were much more likely to become pregnant (Journal of Vertebral Subluxation Research, 2003). And while reasons behind chiropractic's success in treating infertility aren't certain, there are a number of possibilities why it may work.
Dr. Brown, who practices in Aspen, Colorado, believes proper alignment works in several ways to increase the likelihood of becoming and staying pregnant. Chiefly, improper alignment of the cranial, spinal, and pelvic bones can hinder the nervous system, which controls a woman's reproductive system, causing imbalances and hampering her ability to get and stay pregnant.
Distortions of the sphenoid bone in the skull- which can result from passage through the birth canal or from accidents later in life- are particularly problematic, says Brown, since misalignments there can affect the cranial nerve and pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is the regulator of a number of hormones important to fertility, including the follicle-stimulating hormone, estrogen, and progesterone. If any of these are out of balance, explains Brown, it can be very difficult to get pregnant.
Like Tracy, many of the patients Brown sees for infertility have tried everything. They come to chiropractic as a last resort. Brown first talks to them about their menstrual health history, noting signs of imbalance, which have often been problematic since the onset of menstruation, including heavy cramping, mood swings, and missing periods. "We balance the body [through chiropractic]," says Brown. Patients receive a combination of chiropractic and craniosacral adjustments, three times a week to start. After adjustments start to hold, patients visit once or twice a week.
How long should chiropractic take to work? Not long, says Brown. "We give it three months. Often women will become pregnant in the third or fourth month of treatment." Brown has an impressive 75 percent success rate so far. Unless there have been serious compromises to reproductive health, he says, such as a history of extreme athletic activity or substance abuse, chiropractic may set the stage for a successful pregnancy for women like Tracy.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717932
|
__label__cc
| 0.665313
| 0.334687
|
AIG EQUIPMENT REVIEWS
The AIG FM Tuner Project: Introduction
“I’ve been an FM radio listener almost all my life, and worked in it as a programmer and personality for close to half of my 60 years or so. In my teens I had a Blonder-Tongue tuner with a cranky dial cord that would receive the few Toronto stations up and running in the late 50s. These included CFRB-FM (later to become CKFM, which became the City’s highest rated FM voice in the 70s and early 80s, and where Audio Ideas, my radio show, began in November of 1973 and ran until 1986)…”
The AIG FM Tuner Project: Hitachi FT-4000
“This is a tuner that surprised in its sensitivity and selectivity after reviewing hundreds of tuners over the years. The Hitachi FT-4000, in good-to-excellent reception conditions, pulled in 50 stations on our 300-ohm Lindsay double-dipole antenna, and 52 on our small yagi high-mounted directional antenna on the tower, but its stereo sensitivity was somewhat below the better high end tuners (to come, about 40 models in all)…”
“These three classic recorders epitomize the European approach to high quality portable recording, and all have been used extensively as professional tools, each finding its level of quality and individual expertise. The Nagra has been the acknowledged giant of the film business where high audio quality is concerned, and its ruggedness and reliability are legend, no matter what the temperature or other weather conditions. All this came at a considerable cost in its heyday, a fully tricked out IV-S running to 6 or 7 thousand dollars. And that time period lasted longer than that of any other portable professional recorder except the Uher, and rivaled that of the great studio Studer and Ampex machines.”
Audio Ideas: Being Transformed
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717933
|
__label__cc
| 0.653993
| 0.346007
|
CSIRO's Ideology Is Questionable
By Graeme Pearman
The decision to dismantle CSIRO's climate research underlines a shift in priorities from support of broad societal needs towards a focus on wealth generation.
CSIRO CEO Larry Marshall has decided to reduce his investment in climate research on the basis, notwithstanding the quality of the research, that the time has come to focus Australia's strategies on adapting to climate change. The assumption is that sufficient is known about how global warming will impact regional and local climate-related events so as to enable the confident development and deployment of adaptive efforts in anticipation of those threats.
The reality is that our sound foundation of climate knowledge can only lead to a sound and active role in adaptation if those strategies are linked directly to improved regional projections of the impacts of both climate and sea level. This is where the very leading-edge of the climate science is. Today is very much the wrong time to cease efforts to improve understanding of regional climate change, particularly with regard to linkages with other disciplines and operators dealing with the adaptation options.
It is the prerogative of a CEO to make decisions about the investments within an organisation. However, it is reasonable to ask about the degree to which any CEO, in the private or public sectors, is responsible to more inclusive oversight by a suitably qualified board or set of advisors, and whether this has been the case with CSIRO.
It also brings into question the extent to which the CSIRO Board is constituted to represent the broad demands for research by the Australian community, and who (with what competencies) should have overriding authority to establish the composition of the Board in the first place?
These current questions for CSIRO highlight a broader issue. The past two decades have seen a trend in Australia away from science in support of broad societal needs towards a focus on wealth generation. This is evident within CSIRO but also emerging in universities.
The question here is, to what extent has the oversight of science been influenced by this embedded ideology and, without belittling the need for a healthy economy and the role of science in this, should we be engaging in an inclusive intellectual debate on the value and risks associated with this trend?
It should be asked whether, in the “public interest”, the CSIRO portfolio should be allowed to be so biased and exclusive of key issues of national interest. Or, at the very least, how far should this trend be allowed to go before someone calls, “Enough is enough!”
Graeme Pearman is Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Monash University and former Chief of CSIRO Atmospheric Research.
Jan/Feb 2016
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717934
|
__label__wiki
| 0.732518
| 0.732518
|
J. Andrew Ross
I am a European writer and philosopher, now in my 70th year.
I was born in Britain in 1949 and raised in Poole. I went to Poole Grammar School,
where in 1968 I won an award to read Physics at Exeter College Oxford.
There I graduated in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1972.
I went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Logic and Scientific Method from the
London School of Economics in 1974 and two more higher degrees from Oxford,
with theses on mathematical logic, set theory, and formal semantic theory.
In 1977, I joined the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall as an administration trainee,
only to find one year there was enough. Then came a year teaching English in Japan
and several years teaching A-level maths and physics in London.
I moved to Germany in the summer of 1987.
From 1987 to 1998, I worked as a physics and computer science editor
at the academic publisher Springer in Heidelberg.
From 1999 to 2009, I worked as a developer in the global software company SAP,
where I contributed to courses at SAP University and wrote a book on
SAP NetWeaver BI Accelerator, a major new database development.
In 2009, I published my contributions to the emerging science of consciousness,
where new ideas in artificial intelligence seem to promise a new age of machines with minds,
on which I had spoken at international conferences in Europe and America over ten years.
Also in 2009, I retired from office work and wrote and self-published
several more philosophical books.
In 2013, I returned from Germany to Poole.
In 2014, I joined the Conservatives, where I worked as a parliamentary assistant to the
Member of Parliament for Poole MP, Sir Robert Syms. I also helped the Conservative
members of Poole Council to get elected in 2015.
In 2019, I joined the Rotary Club of Poole.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717941
|
__label__cc
| 0.603545
| 0.396455
|
Byoyomi Explained
British Go Journal No. 106. Spring 1997. Page 43.
Richard Hunter
"Cho Kisei, you've entered byoyomi. Ten minutes left." That must be a familiar sound to Cho Chikun, who goes into byoyomi in most of his games. In the Kisei title match, the time limit is eight hours per player. There are no chess clocks; the time is monitored by a timekeeper. When a player has used all except ten minutes of his time, the timekeeper reads out the seconds, which is the literal meaning of byoyomi. The style is not the same as the byoyomi I remember at tournaments in Britain years ago. And I hear that these days, byoyomi has all but been replaced by Canadian Overtime. Still I thought readers might like to know how byoyomi is conducted in Japanese tournaments.
This article was prompted by the amazing amount of incorrect information posted on the rec.games.go newsgroup during 1996. My sources were videotapes of the Kisei and Meijin games of 1996 and a 1977 magazine article in Gekkan Gogaku on the topic of time keeping.
Except for the final minute, the timekeeper reads the time like the following example:
"30 seconds, 6 minutes left;
40 seconds;
50 seconds, 6 minutes left;
55, 58."
If the player plays a move before 60 seconds have passed, no time is deducted and the next move is counted the same again. This can be repeated any number of times without any time being deducted until the player thinks beyond sixty seconds. Then his remaining time is reduced by one minute. If he wants, he can of course think for several minutes consecutively. The timekeeper counts off each minute used.
55, 58, 1 minute. Cho Kisei, 5 minutes left."
Finally, we get:
"30 seconds, 1 minute left;
50 seconds, 1 minute left;
55, 58, 1 minute, no time left."
No time left means the player is in his last minute. He must play every move within sixty seconds, otherwise he loses the game on time (I remember we used to regard it as a pass in games I played, but professionals have stricter rules). To distinguish the last minute clearly, the timekeeper reads differently.
"30 seconds, no time left;
40 seconds, no time left;
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9."
If the timekeeper utters "10", the player loses on time. If the player plays a move before then, no time is deducted and the next move is counted the same again. The final minute is reused every move. That is why game records (e.g., in the Igo Yearbook) often show that a player took 7 hr 59 m. It is not possible to take the full 8 hours of an eight-hour time limit. In the earlier rounds of the Kisei, the time limit is only 5 hours and many players take 4 hr 59 m.
The timekeeper does not say "Please play" as someone stated. The only time I have ever heard this was during a friendly exhibition game of rengo, between two teams of amateurs. One player in particular frequently failed to play within the time limit and had to be forcefully reminded. The organizers presumably did not want the game to end prematurely, as would have happened under professional rules. According to an article entitled "Time is the Enemy" in Go World #13, the timekeeper in TV games used to count "... 8, 9, play please". This practice was discontinued, however, because the seconds tended to stretch. Changing the count to "... 8, 9, 10" made things much more straightforward.
That explains why the current NHK timekeeper, Kobayashi Izumi, was replaced for the games her father (Koichi) played in. Izumi has gained a reputation for being an unflinching stickler for the rules. No slowing down or speaking more loudly from her, unlike some timekeepers.
Players who lose on time are generally very well-behaved. No McEnroe-type theatrics. I have seen at least two losses on time in TV games. Recently, Fujisawa Shuko was counted out in his NHK tournament game against Cho. He seemed bewildered and Cho looked rather embarrassed at winning by default. (Cho was just in the middle of making his corner live, which would have put him clearly ahead anyway.) Shuko said he thought he still had one minute left. He also said it was not the first time he had lost on time.
Another common misunderstanding about byoyomi is that the reusable minutes are special to the end of the game. This is not so. Throughout the whole game, no time is deducted if the player plays in less than one minute. The Japanese expression for this is literally "no time" (in katakana). So when a player is said to have played in no time, it actually means within fifty-nine seconds rather than instantly. The time is not kept by chess clocks, but by a human timekeeper who uses a watch. He/she keeps a detailed record on a special form, indicating the time taken, cumulative time used, and time of day for every move. These times only indicate whole minutes; the seconds are omitted. A move played in no time is indicated with a slash on the record sheet. When both players are down to their final minute, all the moves have slashes. This is known as "one-minute go". During big title matches, only one official is present for most of the game, acting as both game-recorder and timekeeper. Two lower-ranked professionals take turns. When one player approaches byoyomi, the second official comes in too, and one does byoyomi while the other keeps the game record. The referee, who is a high-ranking player, is usually only present to officiate the start, sealed move, restart, and end.
In one-day games having shorter time limits, for example five hours each, the period of byoyomi is only five minutes instead of ten. However, I believe the time is still counted in minutes (not 30 seconds as someone wrote). At least, it was in the twenty-year-old article I found in Gekkan Gogaku describing timekeeping for a minor game with a five-hour time limit.
During the 1996 Kisei, while Cho was in his final minute, he got up and left the room after playing his move. At the time, I wondered what would happen if Kobayashi Satoru played before Cho returned, but Kobayashi thought for a while and Cho came back. Was Kobayashi just being considerate? Was this an unfair imposition by Cho? In the very next game, while O Meien was giving the commentary on an exciting ko fight that seemed likely to decide the game, the camera switched to the playing room only to find both players absent, even though both were in their final minute of byoyomi. This was on nationwide live TV. It was an unusual enough event to prompt O to explain. The timekeeper doesn't start counting the time until the player is back at the board. That's provided he left in his opponent's time of course. Once his time has started, there's no interrupting it.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717952
|
__label__cc
| 0.547969
| 0.452031
|
Something Fishy at Thorpe Island
There I was, minding my own business the other day, having a little swim up towards Norwich and I thought I'd look in at Thorpe Island to visit some of my old chums.
Well, I hadn't been there more than a few minutes before someone stuck a piece of paper to my dorsal fin, which said I couldn't swim there anymore; apparently I was in breach of some kind of enforcement notice and fish like me "adversely affect the character and appearance of the conservation area and local amenity". Chatting to some of the other fish, it seems like there's some bloke with a big house nearby who doesn't think that fish have any right to live in marinas, especially not the ones he doesn't like the look of. So he's made a lot of noise about it to some important people and now all the fish have been told to leave or face the direst consequences.
Apparently, the little fishes had been left alone until the man who owned the basin thought it would be a good idea to repair it and make it look all nice again, to encourage the best sort of fish to swim there. But that frightened the natives, who complained that they didn't want to see more fish in the marina, so the Blessed Authority sent their man to stop the improvements and tell the fishes that they couldn't swim there any more. Well this didn't seem very fair to the poor man who'd bought the marina for his retirement, so he tried to carry on anyway - but the more he tried to improve things, the more people tried to stop him and frightened all his fishes away. And so now only the oldest and most unpopular fish go to swim in the marina, and they can't afford to pay much, so the man hasn't got the money to improve it. And all the money he did have went on fighting the bullies trying to stop him. And really this just doesn't smell at all right to me.
Believe it or not, the Blessed Authority says that the basin has been abandoned and can't be used by fish for swimming any more. Despite fish having swum in it every day from the day it was dug (I remember swimming in it 40 years ago). And despite it being made for the express purpose of having fish swim in it. And - get this - despite the Blessed ones signing something in 1985 which said that the basin can only be used for the swimming of fish. They signed this when they allowed those big houses to be built; that's right, including the one whose owner doesn't like looking at all the fishes who were there before he was. So here is a basin which is restricted to the swimming of fish, but the Blessed Authority say that it can't be used for that, even though they said that this was the only thing it could be used for. It's enough to confuse a fish.
To make things even more complicated, Tripe Town Council want the Blessed Authority to compulsorily purchase the island from the landowner and make it a fish free zone. ”It has been scientifically proven that too many small fish in the area spoil our election results so urgent action is required.” said a spokesperson.
I wonder what the Blessed Authority - and TTC - want to happen here? Once they've finished frightening the fishes away and chopping the poor man up into little pieces and jumping up and down on his remains, what will become of the basin? What can it be used for, if not for fish swimming? Who will repair the quay heading once it starts falling into the river? How much will it all cost? And who will be paying the bill?
Something fishy's going on here, or my name's not Eduardo "Fins" McPike.
When is a basin not a basin…?
Now here's a thought. Send all the fish away and build a dam, then they could fill it up with rubbish ..... sort of 'basin fill'....
Brave Members Reject Assault on Free Speech
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717953
|
__label__wiki
| 0.716646
| 0.716646
|
Lord Of The Jungle: Volume 2 (2014)
This graphic novel basically re-tells Edgar Rice Burrough's The Return of Tarzan novel. It begins with Tarzan on a French ship in the Mid-Atlantic, where he rescues a rich woman from being attacked. Then, he arrives in Paris where he meets Paul D'Arnot. D'Arnot enlists his help, explaining that a villain named Rockoff (the Tsar of Russia's top spy) is after the gold from a list city called Opar. So Tarzan agrees to go to Africa. Along the way he befriends a tribe called the Waziri and fights some Belgians who are killing the natives. Then, once in Opar, he encounters the ape-like denizens of that city and La, the High Priestess. Plus, he's reunited with the love of his life, Jane Porter. In the last story, "A Shadow in the Golden City", La tells Tarzan that as long as she can remember, "the White Shadow" has stalked and killed the people of Opar. After he sees the dead natives Tarzan investigates--and sees that it's a four-armed ape from Mars! In the carved stones of the city it tells of Martians visited in the past--and a gate between the two worlds obviously remains open. Of course, this sets forth the events in LORDS OF MARS Volume 1....
Written By Arvid Nelson
Illustrated By Roberto Castro & Wagner Ries
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717954
|
__label__cc
| 0.557987
| 0.442013
|
Best Car for you?
BuyYourCarBlog
BuyYourCar
January 5, 2018 - The rewards of leasing
April 28, 2015 - Vauxhall
April 28, 2015 - Volvo
April 28, 2015 - Mitsubishi
September 8, 2014 - Promising XC90 Sales
August 26, 2014 - Perodua
August 26, 2014 - Proton
August 26, 2014 - Maserati
August 26, 2014 - Daihatsu
August 21, 2014 - Lotus
There are thousands of different cars out there, sometimes it is hard to know which one is the right one for you, especially when there are so many different variations and new niche classes popping up on a yearly bases, it’s hard to know the difference, and differentiating between SUVs, Crossovers, Compact Cars, Compact Crossovers and SUV Crossovers, can be pretty confusing. In this feature we shall quickly cover 5 different cars and give you the vitals you need.
The Honda Insight is an interesting one that has a fair few firsts under its belt, one of which is being the first petrol-electric hybrid model to be the top-selling vehicle in Japan, it was also the first production vehicle to feature Honda’s Intergrated Motor Assist System. The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy awarded the Insight with the International Engine of the Year award in 2000. The first Insight ran from 1999-2006 and was a subcompact car, the second carnation ran from 2009 to 2014 and was classed as a compact car which came with a five door hatchback body style. You can currently only get second hand Honda Insight. The Insight is related to the Honda Jazz, the Honda City, the Honda CR-Z and the Honda Freed. If you want a car with a good economical engine, the insight could be the car for you.
The Nissan Leaf is another car that will appeal to those who want to leave as small a carbon footprint as possible. LEAF is actually a backronym for Leading, Environmentally friendly, Affordable, Family car. It was debuted in 2010 in Japan and the States. The Leaf has a range of 121 km and has a combined gas equivalent fuel economy of 115 miles per US gallon. If you hadn’t already guessed, the leaf is an all electric car and it produces no tailpipe pollution or greenhouse gas emissions. A second hand Nissan Leaf will cost you anywhere between £9000 and £26000 so there is quite a scope.
The Volvo XC70 is the crossover version of the Volvo V70 which is classed as mid size crossover car that comes with 5 doors with an estate like bodystyle. The Volvo XC70 has the same engines available as the V70, which is a lot, including both petrol and diesel options. When compared to the V70 there are a few things to note, first of all it has an increased ground clearance, an all wheel drive option, front and back end bumpers, side skirts and few more cosmetic alternatives. Another interesting feature in the crossover is its hill descent control which kicks in when the car is driving down a steep hill, and maintains the XC70’s speed so it cant exceed a certain speed.
The Vauxhall Antara is a car that hasnt recieved a whole lot of love when it comes to reviews. WhatCar gave it only one star of five, autoexpress gave it two, however actual owners of the car have been a lot more generous, the carbuyer rating is 3.9 and the rating owners on autotrader gave it was 4/5. So it’s a case of who to trust. Anyway it’s a compact SUV that has been on the product line since 2006 and it received a facelift in 2010. A second generation Vauxhall Antara is expected and and will most likely be based on the Buick Envision.
The rewards of leasing
Promising XC90 Sales
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717956
|
__label__wiki
| 0.84413
| 0.84413
|
Production company developing video series about Kennett Square
08/01/2016 04:05PM ● By Richard Gaw
By Richard L. Gaw
Earlier this year, the four founding members of Make Productions – David Daniel Pierce, Matthew Pearsall, Kyle Hutchison and Ben Moore – made a ten-minute film entitled “Letters and Cigarettes.”
Shot mostly in downtown Wilmington, the film, written and starring Pierce, is about something lost and something gained, seen from the life of a young man looking to make his way in the world.
Visually, it's a short and simple stunner of a first effort, put together from scratch by a group of young men who have known each other since they were students at the Delaware Military Academy. The film then led to an investor who saw it, and quickly realized that the the talents of Pierce, Pearsall, Moore and Hutchison should not go unnoticed, nor be limited to just making short films.
“Ben had been filming movies since he was about 12, Matt was into directing, and Kyle and I were both into writing,” Pierce said. “We had this idea one night that we should not just use Make Productions to make films, but to use it for anything creative.”
Six months ago, Make Productions launched itself as a Wilmington-based company, and in the process, became a mission of collaboration that will bring photographers, graphic designers, film editors and writers all under one roof, to create videos, visual artistry, social media promotion and advertising, as well as coverage of special events.
In the short life of the company, Make Productions has already produced video work for a local theater company, a Delaware politician, as well as other smaller projects, as well as begun their next film, a comedy entitled “He's With Me,” which is filming now in Wilmington.
However, their latest project, done in partnership with Kennett Square native and resident Monty Wiradilaga, may soon become their most fascinating – and wide-reaching – to date.
“Moe Train Eats: Kennett Square” a three-episode video series that will be broadcast on Podcast, Youtube and social media, will capture Wiradilaga as he explores the food, fun and nightlife throughout Kennett Square. In each hour-long episode, the team will visit five locations, and so far, the roster of the places Wiradilaga will visit in the first episode reads like a who's who of Kennett Square must-sees: Kennett Design, The Creamery, the Kennett Brewing Company, the Half Moon Restaurant & Saloon and La Michoacana.
For the past several years, Wiradilaga has been a familiar face on the local social scene, and in a variety of ways. He has hosted “Moe Train's Tracks,” an independent and uncensored music, entertainment and interview show that features some of the leading voices and personalities in the music and entertainment industry. He has also become a fixture on the competitive eating circuit, having appeared at Wing Bowl, and winning the Fried Mushroom Eating Contest at the annual Kennett Square Mushroom Festival. This year, he will be serving as the official master of ceremonies for the festival's eating contest, and recently, was on the look out for a production company to help him create a video to help promote the annual event.
“I had worked with Monty when I was in college, and we got along really well,” Hutchison said. “Around the time we formed the company, I heard that Monty wanted to do a promotional video to highlight the Mushroom Festival, and was looking for a production company to help him.
I called him and said, 'Hey, I have a production company,' and he said, 'Great. Let's get this thing off the ground.'”
The second episode in the "Moe Train Eats” series will take Wiradilaga and Make Productions to the Victory Brewing Company, the Galer Estate and Winery, the Summer Concert Series in Anson B. Nixon Park and other locations. Teh third episode will showcase the Mushroom Festival.
“We want to see Monty's personality shine through and capture his energy, in a way that showcases the energy of Kennett Square,” Pierce said. “We're excited to be able to work with Monty, to say the least.
“From the beginning, Monty wanted the show to have energy, but it's tough to write energy. This series is more of a thing that needs to be captured in the moment. This is the first time ever I've done the least amount of writing for a project. I'm meticulous when it comes to writing and developing, but now, it's more of an outline, and allowing Monty to take it from there.”
Both Pierce and Hutchison see their work with Wiradilaga as the groundwork for what they hope will be the biggest break yet for their new company – a regular series to be broadcast on Netflix, VICELAND or Amazon Prime – that would enable them to create similar themes and episodes promoting other towns and cities.
“Kennett Square is the perfect place to begin this concept, but I'm thinking that in a few months, we'll be able to go to other towns with this idea,” Pierce said. “I want to wait to see if anyone would pick us up. If someone comes to you, they're more apt to give you what you need, in terms of creativity.”
The first episode of “Moe Train Eats: Kennett Square” will be launched on Sept. 1 and will be available for viewing on Youtube, the Make Productions website, and a new website that will be developed for the show, as well as various media markets in the area.
For a sneak peek of the “Moe Train Eats: Kennett Square” series, and to learn more about Make Productions, visit www.makeproductionsllc.com.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail rgaw@chestercounty.com.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717957
|
__label__wiki
| 0.63661
| 0.63661
|
Oxford School Board adopts budget with no tax increase
05/22/2018 01:15PM ● By Steven Hoffman
The Oxford School Board unanimously adopted a $69.2 million budget for the 2018-2019 school year on May 15. No tax increase will be necessary to balance the spending plan, district officials said.
The year-to-year expenditures are increasing by about $727,227, or 1.06 percent. Some line items in the budget are increasing by more than that—the state-mandated PSERS costs are one example—but Oxford is also seeing a decrease in other expenditures to balance the increases out.
Oxford also saw a year-to-year increase in revenues of $103,000 from local sources for the current year.
With no tax increase necessary, the millage rate will remain at 31.1484 mills for the 2018-2019 fiscal year.
With the current school year rapidly coming to a close, Oxford Area School District officials recognized the accomplishments of several students and groups of students during the meeting.
High school principal James Canaday introduced Frankie Fattori, who is the valedictorian for the high school's Class of 2018. Fattori earned a grade-point-average of 4.6 during his time at the high school. He will be heading to the University of Pittsburgh in the fall.
Canaday also talked about the recent accomplishments of Chris Goodrich, who placed first out of 91 competitors in the Introduction to Business competition at the state’s Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) conference last month. What makes Goodrich's performance even more impressive, Canaday noted, is the fact that he is only a freshman. Next, Goodrich will travel to Baltimore for the National FBLA Conference in June.
The school district recognized the members of the Oxford chapter of the Future Farmers of America. This program has grown quickly after it was relaunched in the district last year.
The Oxford Area School District has partnered with Cecil College on the Early College Academy, which allows high school students to take classes and earn college credits while they are still in high school. Canaday recognized the fifteen high school students who are part of the first class of Early College Academy graduates. The graduation ceremony took place on May 20. These students have now earned associate's degrees as they all move on to continue their academic careers.
“These individuals are true trailblazers,” Canaday said of the Early College Academy.
The school board thanked Alina Snopkowski for her service as the student representative to the school board for the last year. School board president Joseph Tighe presented Snopkowski with a plaque.
The school board approved a five-year contract for Michael Garrison to continue to serve as the district’s director of human resources. His appointment is effective July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2023.
The school district set participation fees at $75 for participating in a sport at the high school and $50 for participating in a sport at the
The Oxford School Board approved the firm of Barbacane, Thornton & Cmpany LLP to serve as the auditor for the next fiscal year ending June 30, 2019. It will cost $50 for high school students to park at the school.
Dr. Drew C. Eckman, DDS was appointed to serve as school dentist. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Care Network was designated as the school district's physician for the 218-2019 school year.
The school board will meet again on Tuesday, June 12 for a work session. The next regular meeting will take place on Tuesday, June 19. Both meetings will take place at 7 p.m. in the district's Administration Building.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717958
|
__label__cc
| 0.511801
| 0.488199
|
Know Your Times
>> UPDATE: Gore uses the flawed NYT article in his testimony to congress. READ MORE. <<
New York Times journalist, Andrew Revkin, generally writes thoughtfully in the paper, and on his Dot Earth blog, even if we generally disagree with him.
However, writing for the paper yesterday, he lowers himself to the level of debate we’re used to seeing from the likes of George Monbiot, who we frequently mention. Indeed, Revkin even quotes Monbiot.
George Monbiot, a British environmental activist and writer, said that by promoting doubt, industry had taken advantage of news media norms requiring neutral coverage of issues, just as the tobacco industry once had.
This is the ‘tobacco strategy’ thesis that Monbiot has taken from Naomi Oreskes. We’ve written about it on several occasions.
The thesis needs no exposition here – read the links. Suffice it to say that it attempts (but also fails comprehensively) to show exactly what Revkin aims to show.
For more than a decade the Global Climate Coalition, a group representing industries with profits tied to fossil fuels, led an aggressive lobbying and public relations campaign against the idea that emissions of heat-trapping gases could lead to global warming.
That is – a conspiracy to subvert the truth according to environmentalism using those vicious weapons, argument and science within democratic debate! Bastards! How dare they?
The demonstration of the conspiracy’s weight rests on the ‘discovery’ of information (actually it was in the public domain) relating to its budget.
The coalition was financed by fees from large corporations and trade groups representing the oil, coal and auto industries, among others. In 1997, the year an international climate agreement that came to be known as the Kyoto Protocol was negotiated, its budget totaled $1.68 million, according to tax records obtained by environmental groups.
That’s right folks, this conspiracy was financed to the tune of a whopping great big massive huge giant vast $1.68 million dollars! A year! Wow, that’s nearly enough money for… erm… a couple of adverts!
As we’ve pointed out, $1.68 million is absolute peanuts in comparison to the spend on propaganda from environmental organisations. But these groups can’t even claim to be providing a useful service, like fuel.
As we’ve also pointed out, many times, the efforts of these organisations is usually well out of kilter with anything that emerges from the scientific literature.
Revkin:
Environmentalists have long maintained that industry knew early on that the scientific evidence supported a human influence on rising temperatures, but that the evidence was ignored for the sake of companies’ fight against curbs on greenhouse gas emissions.
We have also pointed out that the tobacco-strategy-conspiracy-theory as put forward by Oreskes substantially depends on a re-writing of scientific history: that it has long been ‘known’ as ‘fact’ that mankind is influencing the climate. In fact, the IPCC process did not produce any putative ‘certainty’ until TAR2001.
Similarly focussing on what was known by the conspiracy, and what it published, Revkin compares two statements, one public, distributed in the early 1990s, and the other private, produced in 1995:
[PUBLIC, early 1990s] “The role of greenhouse gases in climate change is not well understood,” the coalition said in a scientific “backgrounder” provided to lawmakers and journalists through the early 1990s, adding that “scientists differ” on the issue.
[PRIVATE, 1995] “The scientific basis for the Greenhouse Effect and the potential impact of human emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2 on climate is well established and cannot be denied,” the experts wrote in an internal report compiled for the coalition in 1995.
This is silly. Even if the private memo wasn’t written AFTER the first, the two statements are not incompatible. The role of greenhouse gasses in climate change ARE NOT well understood, even if the POTENTIAL impact of human emissions has been documented. That is why the Kyoto protocol was advanced, under the terms of the Rio Declaration, not on the basis of knowledge or of certainty, but according to the precautionary principle. The ‘potential impact’ of anthropogenic climate change has, since the dawn of climate alarmism, been understood as anything between slightly better conditions for agriculture, and total annihilation of life on Earth.
The Environmentalists’ case rests on the claim that the knowledge of the fact that CO2 can influence climate is equivalent to knowledge that it will produce widespread effects, not just to climate, but to society.
Moreover, Revkin, seemingly in search of a scoop, quotes selectively from the private document. In context, the apparent contradiction evaporates:
The potential for a human impact on climate is based on well-established scientific fact, and should not be denied. While, in theory, human activities have the potential to result in net cooling, a concern about 25 years ago, the current balance between greenhouse gas emissions and the emissions of particulates and particulate-formers is such that essentially all of today’s concern is about net warming. However, as will be discussed below, it is still not possible to accurately predict the magnitude (if any), timing or impact of climate change as a result of the increase in greenhouse gas concentrations. Also, because of the complex, possibly chaotic, nature of the climate system, it may never be possible to accurately predict future climate or to estimate the impact of increased greenhouse gas concentrations.
The New York Times publish this comment attached to the documents.
The Public Message: Climate Uncertainty: In the early 1990s, the Global Climate Coalition was the leading voice for industries concerned that a prompt push to cut heat-trapping emissions could raise energy costs. It produced a series of “backgrounders” available to the press and policymakers. This flier appears to contradict what the coalition’s science and technology advisers were saying about the basic science pointing to substantial warming from a buildup of such gases.
Revkin has failed to notice the incoherence of the arguments made by environmentalists.
1. Environmentalists confuse the ‘fact’ of anthropogenic CO2’s unquantified influence with the range of nth-order effects that it may (or may not) cause. But the fact of the influence of anthropogenic CO2 on the climate is distinct to facts of the degree of that effect, which is again logically distinct from the facts relating to the effects produced as second, third, and fourth order effects on climate systems, ecosystems, species, primary industry and civil infrastructure, economy, and society.
2. The document contradicting the claims made in the briefing document was written after the briefing document was circulated. Therefore, no contradiction emerges from the evidence.
3. The documents only contradict each other when quoted from selectively.
4. The environmentalists’ case only exists by blurring distinctions between logically distinct categories of knowledge, by ignoring the order of events, by reducing matters of degree to binary true/false axioms, and by exaggerating the influence of the alleged conspiracy.
[ETA: We have been unclear in the above post. There are two sentences which appear in the document published by the NYT.
The first says “The scientific basis for the Greenhouse Effect and the potential impact of human emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2 on climate is well established and cannot be denied.”
The second says “The potential for a human impact on climate is based on well-established scientific fact, and should not be denied.”
The first sentence appears ahead of the second in the document. The second paragraph is part of the larger paragraph, as quoted.
This changes nothing about the meaning, nor of the failure of the NYT to check their story but we thought we ought to draw people’s attention to the two instances. – Editors]
Author EditorsPosted on April 24, 2009 Categories BlogTags Andrew Revkin, denialists, Deniers, geometric congruence, George Monbiot, Naomi Oreskes, Precautionary Principle, tobacco strategy
2 thoughts on “Know Your Times”
Major Mike says:
We know the effects of a warmer climate: during the past 10,000 years, human civilizations have prospered during the warmer Holocene Climate Optimum (7,000 to 3,000 BC) and the Medieval Warm Period (800 to 1350 AD). Human civilizations have struggled because of reduced economic productivity, stronger storms, and plague during the colder periods, more recently the Little Ice Ages (1350 to 1850 AD). Our current warm climate is not remarkable compared to naturally warmer periods in the past 10,000 years. It is intellectual dishonesty to declare the coincidence of slightly warmer weather and increased CO2 to be a cause of catastrophy to our Earth. The one has not been proven to cause the other, and the outcomes of a warmer climate could as easily be beneficial as otherwise. Since the Earth has been much warmer during about 90% of the past 300 million years, mankind will eventually have to learn to adapt to a naturally warmer climate or perish. Mankind won’t be able to stop the warming, or even more threatening, the brief but inevitable periods of cooling.
geoff chambers says:
On the subject of the evils of being financed by Big Business:
On March 31st Guardian environment editor John Vidal published an article quoting the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, to the effect that temperatures are due rise 5-7°C this century.
I commented, pointing out that the MIT Joint Program is financed by Shell, BP, and Exxon, among others, and asking what the Guardian was doing publicising propaganda financed by Big Oil. After 5 comments (3 by me) discussion was closed. Guardian Environment hasn’t referred to the MIT Joint Program since.
Business puts its money where it thinks it can do itself good. I don’t think environmentalists are being falsely naive. They really don’t seem to understand this.
Previous Previous post: Hogging the Climate Change Gravy Train
Next Next post: Gore Mouthing-Off About Make-Believe Madoffs
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717967
|
__label__cc
| 0.650728
| 0.349272
|
Maxamillion Foizey
550 KTRS AM radio St. Louis, Missouri
http://www.zekefilm.org/max-on-movies/
http://www.ktrs.com/max-on-movies/
https://twitter.com/MaxOnMovies
A writer for Zekefilm.org, Max is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the St. Louis Film Critics Association, and has interviewed more than 300 people in the film industry, from writers to composers, actors to directors. Max has worked as a professional film critic since 2004 and has hosted the award winning radio show 'Max on Movies' since 2006. In addition to writing for ZekeFilm.org, you can hear Max review movies and talk pop culture news on KTRS radio in Saint Louis and KMBZ radio in Kansas City, Missouri.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717969
|
__label__wiki
| 0.786997
| 0.786997
|
By Nazrul Chowdhury, Hailey Gonzalez, Carol Huang, and Libby Norton, Binghamton University
When walking around downtown Binghamton, one would see what looks like a quiet, boring parking ramp next to a department store called “Boscov’s.” However, there is a story to be told about the sounds that can be heard at this location during the 1920s. This is possible through an Aural postcard which is listening to sound as a piece of history. There are many sounds that were popular and common then, becoming silent today and the ramp is a perfect example of that silence. What is now a parking ramp was once a thriving family business; creating and operating player pianos which provided a key source of entertainment to the families that owned them.
Close up of a Schaff Bros. Player Piano at Tech Works!, Image by Carol Huang
From 1914-1929, the Link Piano Company was owned by Edwin Link and family, who manufactured the Link Player Piano. His piano led to a cultural shift in the way people interacted with music, especially in social environments that involved music and dancing. In that generation, learning to play the piano was an expected role performed by women in the household. This shift, led by the Link Player Piano paved the way for music to be listened to in a new manner. Thus, the roles of women changed to adapt to the new technological advances and relieved them from being the sole entertainment for the family.
Player Piano With Roll at Tech Works!, Image by Libby Norton
During the era of silent films, music was provided by a live performer who played behind the scenes. With this technological shift, this role was no longer required. Thus, decreasing jobs with the advancing changes of technology. Another change was that the first player piano required someone to physically pump the pedals with their feet in order to create an airflow that will generate the sound. When air passes through the perforated music rolls, the air goes through the 88 pipes that are individually connected to 88 bellows.
Woman using Pedals on Player Piano, Tech Works!, ImAge by Libby Norton
Later, an automatic player piano was created which took away the physical pump. This piano worked in a similar fashion, but in order to listen to this piano, only a nickel is required in the appropriate slot.
Close up of the Bellows of an automatic Player Piano at Tech Works!, These bellows would lead to the development of the link flight simulator, Image by Libby Norton
Edwin Link and his family were a huge factor in the way that technology shifted and his legacy was continued by his son who created the flight simulator. At the time, Binghamton had become a city of innovation with technological advances such as the Bundy Time Clock and Mcintosh audio amplifier. It gradually rose as a city that had a lasting impression for its technological advancements. Despite being the birthplace for various technologies, the city began to modify itself to adapt to wartime. For example, Edwin Link Jr’s flight simulator played an integral role for the US Army by helping to train soldiers. But as the Cold War ended, the city began to see economic downturn as its defense related manufacturing declined and people were laid off.
Link Flight simulator at Tech Works!, Image by Carol Huang
Today, much of the city’s economy is generated through the University and its students. Many students are only here for four years to complete their studies, so interacting with the locals isn’t as commonplace as it should be. For most students, such as ourselves, the rich history of Binghamton goes neglected. As students who have walked countless times through downtown Binghamton, we have passed the parking ramp, but have never pondered at the thought of its rich history. But through our English class, “How We Listen” taught by Professor Jennifer Stoever, we learned about the impact of the sounds in the area, and how we can revive the sounds of the past to educate ourselves through these aural postcards.
Authors of this Aural Postcard Presenting their Research (L-R) Libby Norton, Hailey Gonzalez, Nazrul Chowdhury, and Carol Huang
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717970
|
__label__cc
| 0.500443
| 0.499557
|
HomeBelgian October Polished Diamond Exports Down in Value, up in Volume
Mining / Exploration, News of the day, Rough
Petra Diamonds on Track For Fiscal 2014 Target Despite Strike
/ Tue, 13/11/2012
Belgian October Polished Diamond Exports Down in Value, up in Volume
Belgium exported polished diamonds with a value of US$1.056 billion in October, down 4.4 percent on the year, according to data supplied by the Antwerp World Diamond Centre (AWDC).
However, exports in volume terms jumped 12.8 percent to 601,054 carats from 532,782 carats, indicating that the price of goods has risen strongly. The average price per carat of polished exports in October was US$569 compared with US$482 in October 2011.
For the first 10 months of 2012, polished diamond exports plunged 18.6 percent to 5.85 million carats, and decreased by 9.2 percent in financial terms to US$11.06 billion.
Rough Exports and Imports
Meanwhile, exports of rough diamonds last month jumped sharply on the year, with a 143-percent rise to 10 million carats, and 67.2 percent higher to US$1.24 billion.
In the January-October period, there was a decline on the year of 5.3 percent to 85.2 million carats, and an 8.1 percent fall to almost US$11.1 billion.
Imports of rough diamonds last month soared by 50.7 percent to 9.74 million carats, and 29.1 percent up to US$1.16 billion.
For the first 10 months of this year, rough imports slumped 14.6 percent to nearly 73.8 million carats, while dropping almost 12 percent in financial terms from a year earlier to US$10.2 billion.
Polished Imports
Polished imports dropped 9.9 percent to US$1.07 billion in October, and saw a decline of 2.4 percent in volume to 685,747 carats.
For the January-October period, polished imports slumped 16.9 percent to nearly 6.5 million carats, while dropping 5.8 percent to close to US$11.1 billion.
Polished Diamond Export Markets
The leading export destinations for Belgium's polished diamonds were the United States, Hong Kong, Israel, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates.
Exports to the United States were 8.8 percent higher in financial terms last month to US$309.8 million, but 76.1 percent higher in carat terms at 102,000 carats. For the year so far, exports to the United States are down 7.8 percent to US$2.99 billion, but up 10.8 percent to 990,344 carats.
Meanwhile, exports to Hong Kong jumped 28.2 percent to US$151.3 million, and 14 percent higher to 87,256 carats. For the year so far, polished exports are down 1.3 percent to US$2.68 billion, and 6.6 percent lower to 1.31 million carats.
India records sharp decline in polished diamond exports in December
IDE Reports 200 Foreign Buyers Regsitered For Diamond Wk
Israel Diamond Exchange Trading Hall Expansion Completed
IDE President: Diamond Industry Needs More Financing
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717973
|
__label__wiki
| 0.766299
| 0.766299
|
New Release: Scream 4 Blu-ray and DVD
– July 5, 2011Find Others: Blu-ray, DVD, Movie, New Release, NewsGet More: Anchor Bay, Anna Paquin, Courteney Cox, Emma Roberts, Hayden Panettiere, Horror, Kristen Bell, Lucy Hale, The Weinstein Company, Wes Craven
Ghost returns to menace Courteney Cox in Scream 4.
Horror movie Scream 4 is scheduled to hit the street on Oct. 4 from The Weinstein Company and distributor Anchor Bay, as a Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack (priced at $39.99) and $29.98 a DVD ($29.98). The Blu-ray version will include a downloadable digital copy of the movie.
The movie reunites original Scream director Wes Craven (My Soul to Take) with Neve Campbell (TV’s The Philanthropist), Courteney Cox (TV’s Cougar Town) and David Arquette (It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie). New to the cast this time around are Hayden Panettiere (TV’s Heroes), Anna Paquin (TV’s True Blood), Kristen Bell (Couples Retreat), Emma Roberts (It’s Kind of a Funny Story) and Pretty Little Liars‘ Lucy Hale.
The R-rated film grossed significantly less at the domestic box office than previous entries of the franchise, pulling in a disappointing $36 million in its wide theatrical release this past April. Still, a fifth entry could be on the horizon…
In Scream 4, Campbell’s Sidney Prescott is on a promotional tour for her self-help book, and on a stop in her hometown, she reconnects with Sheriff Dewey (Arquette) and reporter Gale Weathers (Cox), who are now married … hmmm. Of course, Sidney’s appearance encourages Ghostface to return, putting everyone in danger — again.
The Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and DVD will include the following bonus features:
making-of featurette
alternate opening
extended ending
deleted and extended scenes
gag reel
Here’s the film’s trailer:
Buy or Rent Scream 4
DVD | Blu-ray/DVD Combo | Instant Video DVD | Blu-ray/DVD Combo DVD | Blu-ray/DVD Combo
New Release: Hoodwinked Too! Hood v. Evil Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD
New Release: The Company Men DVD and Blu-ray
Blu-ray, DVD Release: Excision
Blu-ray, DVD Release: 6 Souls
Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Release: The Imitation Game
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717974
|
__label__cc
| 0.701082
| 0.298918
|
Five Thoughts On the Present Atheist Wars
By John W. Loftus at 9/22/2014
I wasn't going to comment on the so-called wars taking place among atheists but I think I have something to say others have not yet said. I also want to respond to Christians who seem to be reveling in our disputes. I know that in this politically charged atmosphere there is probably little that can be written that won't draw personal attacks of its own. That's too bad. All I can do is hope for a charitable reading of what I'm going to write, which, if we at least tried doing that it could go a long way toward easing tensions. Here are three links to acquaint my readers with the atheist wars out of the many being written (sorry if anyone thinks I chose the wrong ones, since I haven't read them all). Mark Oppenheimer's essay asks, Will Misogyny Bring Down The Atheist Movement? Michael Nugent responds to blogger Adam Lee, who previously argued that "Richard Dawkins has lost it: ignorant sexism gives atheists a bad name." [Nugent links to other essays, including one from Jerry Coyne where he says, "Enough is enough" along with an earlier essay where Nugent tried to be conciliatory]. Then creationist Vincent Torley caught wind of this and wrote one titled, The New Atheists: A House Divided. Torley asked whether the atheist house is crumbling and seems to revel in our so-called demise.
First you should know that I am wholeheartedly a feminist, as much as a male can be. The major reason I debunk Christianity and with it the Abrahamic religions, is because of what they have done, and continue to do to women. Women need empowered and I am all for letting that happen and even propelling it forward as I can. Religion must go, at least all of the misogynist and sexist versions of it. Getting rid of religion will help reduce sexism in the world, which is my main focus, a focus I'm unwilling to give up on.
Second, aside from allegations of rape, which are indeed very serious charges to be handled in the courts I think, all I've seen from Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris is what I would call incipient sexism. Dawkins for instance, has mostly used bad comparisons at best, something like: "X is bad, but Y is worse." [If anyone thinks Dawkins never affirmed "X is bad" I'd like to see evidence for that]. Neither Dawkins nor Harris knew they had it, but they did. It just came out verbally because it was inside them as men. Sometimes ignorant men who express incipient sexism just need to be informed of their sexism. Informing them in a kind and cool-headed way can help many men see it for what it is and change their minds. That's how I learned I was infected with it decades ago and decided to think differently.
Third, it was inevitable that atheists would be divided over this issue, or any number of others. Atheists can be thankful that for at least a few initial years we had a more vibrant movement than we have probably ever had in the history of the world, and we owe it to Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, along with a few others. Now we've gone the way of many churches because like churches we too are made up of human beings. Tom Quixote, tells us a joke on Christians that applies equally to atheists:
Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it! "He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist? "He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over.
Fourth, to Christians like Torley who seem to revel in the possibility of our demise I say this is not possible. Even if we divide and then divide again and again, atheism is the wave of the future. Atheism is not dependent on any leader. We are not hero worshipers. We calls them as we sees them. We expect disagreement since we agree on only one thing, that there are no gods, no supernatural forces or beings. Nonetheless, when it comes to sexism in particular, atheists are the standard bearers, not Christians anyway. That's why it's being rooted out in atheist communities in the first place, and it will eventually be rooted out, even if it takes some time. For we are evidence-based scientifically minded people and there is no way that sexism can be intellectually maintained without a holy book saying women are inferior people.
Fifth, there is some hope. When I set out to edit the book Christianity Is Not Great: How Faith Fails, I sought out experts in their fields who could write on the important issues that needed discussed regardless of whether these experts agreed with each other on other issues, liked each other, or me, and whether they were perceived to be on the right or wrong side of these so-called wars. I did the same thing when it came to people who would write blurbs for the book. I decided that the goal of the book, which is to show how the Christian faith has caused, and is causing harm to people, was more important than any of our disputes. Several of the authors who agreed to write chapters for this book and/or write blurbs for it came together for one purpose, setting aside any personal problems and any disputes, for the larger goal of disabusing Christians of their faith, and we did it!
THAT you won't find in any church split I have ever known!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717979
|
__label__wiki
| 0.710161
| 0.710161
|
Bahrain World Trade Center
The project team includes both local and international companies with joint venture Lead Contractor Nass Murray and Roberts and local company HAJ acting as Client Representative and Cost Consultants.
The Towers have been designed by international firm WS Atkins with DTZ Bahrain, International Property Advisers letting and managing the completed scheme.
We carried out all the design, supply and installation of Electrical (HV and LV), Air conditioning, Plumbing, Drainage, Intelligent Lighting, Honeywell building management System, Erico Lighting Protection System and Honeywell Aviation Lighting System.
For the first time anywhere in the world, large scale wind turbines have been used to make a significant sustainable energy contribution in the operation of a building. Three 29 meter diameter giant wind turbines is the key feature of the iconic 50 floor, 240m high twin towers that make up the new BWTC.
The towers architecture provides a source of energy for the building that is renewable and cost effective. The unique aerodynamic shape of the towers channels the airflow through the turbines, improving their function and energy generation output. The 3 turbines are each supported by an individual 30M bridge spanning between the two towers.
The three turbines will produce up to 1300 Megawatt Hours (MWH) of energy per year, providing between 11 to 15 percent of the total electrical consumption of the building.
The seafront Bahrain World trade Center intelligent building with panoramic sea and city views is more than its landmark commercial towers, offering amenities such as a dining environment, a five star hotel, sophisticated office accommodation and an exceptional Shopping Mall.
The BWTC development also includes a Shopping mall measuring 16,500 square meters and feature 40 of the most luxurious fashion brands such as Christian Lacroix, Emporio Armani, Dolce and Gabbana, Valentine, Hermes, etc.
Other BWTC amenities will include restaurants, cafes, a health spa and a five star hotel. In addition, three sky-lit courts, the Center Courts, the garden Court and the North Court, will connect the shopping mall and the Sheraton hotel.
The Building has also been fitted out with sophisticated self-monitoring analysis and reporting technology features, ranging from connectivity to surveillance and security systems and a district cooling system which is an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional air-conditioning systems.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717982
|
__label__wiki
| 0.685642
| 0.685642
|
November 20, 2014 - FOX is announcing premiere dates for new series WORLD’S FUNNIEST FAILS (working title) (Jan. 16), BACKSTROM (Jan. 22), THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (March 1) and WEIRD LONERS (March 31); and returning series MASTERCHEF JUNIOR (Jan. 6), GLEE (Jan. 9), THE FOLLOWING (March 2), HELL’S KITCHEN (March 3) and BONES (March 26).
New unscripted comedy WORLD’S FUNNIEST FAILS (wt) premieres on Friday, Jan. 16 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). The irreverent one-hour series is based on the hit YouTube channel, FailArmy, which showcases the best “epic fail” viral videos in the most entertaining ways possible. Each week a panel of comedians will analyze the videos which have exploded across the internet, with the goal of awarding one with the ultimate “Fail of the Week.”
BACKSTROM, the offbeat crime procedural starring three-time Emmy Award nominee Rainn Wilson (“The Office,” “Six Feet Under”), premieres Thursday, Jan. 22 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), following AMERICAN IDOL XIV’s time period premiere (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). Created and executive-produced by Hart Hanson (BONES), the series follows Detective EVERETT BACKSTROM, an unhealthy, offensive, irascible – albeit brilliant – detective who sees the worst in everyone, and he’s usually right.
End-of-the-world comedy THE LAST MAN ON EARTH premieres with a special one-hour event of back-to-back episodes Sunday, March 1 (9:00-9:30/9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT), and then moves into its regular time period the following week on Sunday, March 8 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT). Executive-produced, created by and starring Will Forte (“Nebraska,” “Saturday Night Live”), and executive-produced and directed by Chris Miller and Phil Lord (“The Lego Movie,” “22 Jump Street”), the single-camera comedy chronicles the life and adventures of an average guy – and humanity’s last hope – who discovers what life is like when no one is telling you what you can and cannot do.
New ensemble comedy WEIRD LONERS debuts Tuesday, March 31 (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT). From writer Michael J. Weithorn (“The King of Queens”) and director Jake Kasdan (NEW GIRL), the un-romantic comedy follows four single mid-30-somethings (Becki Newton, “Ugly Betty”; Zachary Knighton, “Happy Endings”; Nate Torrence, “Hello Ladies”; and newcomer Meera Rohit Kumbhani), who are unexpectedly thrust into one another’s lives and form an unlikely bond in a Queens, NY, townhouse.
GLEE takes its final bow with a sixth and final 13-episode season starting with a special two-hour premiere event Friday, Jan. 9 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT). New Directions’ original star, RACHEL BERRY (Golden Globe Award nominee Lea Michele), comes home to Lima, after her humiliating failure as a TV actress, and discovers that SUE SYLVESTER (Emmy Award winner Jane Lynch) has banished the arts at McKinley. Throughout its closing season, McKinley alumnae will return to say “good-bye” to the award-winning and groundbreaking musical comedy. The series makes its time period premiere Friday, Jan. 16 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), and air all-new episodes for 11 consecutive weeks, culminating in a special two-hour Series Finale on Friday, March 20 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).
Returning series premiering this winter include MASTERCHEF JUNIOR, which returns for its third season of talented kids, astounding culinary abilities and delicious challenges. Featuring host and award-winning chef Gordon Ramsay, restaurateur Joe Bastianich and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot, cycle three of MASTERCHEF JUNIOR gets cooking Tuesday, Jan. 6 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), leading into all-new episodes of NEW GIRL (9:00-9:30 PM ET/PT) and THE MINDY PROJECT (9:30-10:00 PM ET/PT).
On Monday, March 2, hit psychological thriller THE FOLLOWING returns for its third shocking season with a special two-hour Season Three premiere event (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), and moves to its regular time period the following week on Monday, March 9 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).
The first week of March also sees Chef Gordon Ramsay firing up a new season of HELL’S KITCHEN, beginning Tuesday, March 3 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). BONES returns with all-new cases Thursday, March 26 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), followed by BACKSTROM (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT).
Additional premiere dates and schedule details to be announced.
FOX 2015 RECAP
(Times for All-New Episodes are ET/PT Except as Noted)
Sunday, Jan. 4:
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS (All-New Episode)
8:30-9:00 PM BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (All-New Episode)
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY (All-New Episode)
9:30-10:00 PM BOB’S BURGERS (All-New Episode)
Mondays, beginning Jan. 5:
8:00-9:00 PM GOTHAM (All-New Episode)
9:00-10:00 PM SLEEPY HOLLOW (All-New Episode)
Tuesdays, beginning Jan. 6:
8:00-9:00 PM MASTERCHEF JUNIOR (Season Premiere)
9:00-9:30 PM NEW GIRL (All-New Episode)
9:30-10:00 PM THE MINDY PROJECT (All-New Episode)
Wednesdays, beginning Jan. 7:
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL XIV (Season Premiere, Part One)
9:00-10:00 PM EMPIRE (Series Premiere, with Limited Interruption)
Thursday, Jan. 8:
8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL XIV (Season Premiere, Part Two)
Sundays, beginning, Jan. 11:
7:00-7:30 PM THE SIMPSONS (Encore Episode)
7:30-8:00 PM MULANEY (All-New Episode)
Friday, Jan. 9:
8:00-10:00 PM GLEE (Two-Hour Season Premiere)
Thursday, Jan. 15:
8:00-10:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL XIV (All-New Episode)
Fridays, beginning Jan. 16:
8:00-9:00 PM WORLD’S FUNNIEST FAILS (wt) (Series Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM GLEE (Time Period Premiere)
Thursdays, beginning Jan. 22:
8:00-9:00 PM AMERICAN IDOL XIV (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM BACKSTROM (Series Premiere)
Sunday, March 1:
7:30-8:00 PM BOB’S BURGERS (Time Period Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (One-Hour Premiere Event)
Monday, March 2:
8:00-10:00 PM THE FOLLOWING (Two-Hour Season Premiere Event)
Tuesdays, beginning March 3:
8:00-9:00 PM HELL’S KITCHEN (Season Premiere)
Sundays, beginning March 8:
7:30-8:00 PM BOB’S BURGERS (All-New Episode)
9:30-10:00 PM THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (Time Period Premiere)
Mondays, beginning March 9:
9:00-10:00 PM THE FOLLOWING (Time Period Premiere)
8:00-10:00 PM GLEE (Two-Hour Series Finale)
Thursday, March 26:
8:00-9:00 PM BONES (Spring Premiere)
9:00-10:00 PM BACKSTROM (All-New Episode)
Tuesdays, beginning March 31:
8:00-9:00 PM HELL’S KITCHEN (All-New Episode)
9:30-10:00 PM WEIRD LONERS (Series Premiere)
FOX 2014-2015 MIDSEASON
BackstromFOX
@BackstromFOX / #backstrom
EmpireFOX
@EmpireFOX / #empire
TheLastManonEarthFOX
LastManFOX / #LastManOnEarth
WeirdLoners
@WeirdLoners / #weirdloners
@GLEEonFOX / #glee
TheFollowingFOX / #thefollowing
AMERICAN IDOL XIV
AmericanIdol
@AmericanIdol / #idol
MasterchefJuniorFOX
@MasterChefJrFOX / #masterchefjunior
HellsKitchen
HellsKitchenFOX / #hellskitchen
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717983
|
__label__wiki
| 0.839616
| 0.839616
|
Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of August 29-September 4
Start of construction of "Arkhyz" Resort in the mountains of Karachay-Cherkessia and crash of helicopter with officials; a triple terror act in Grozny on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, committed by suicide bombers; mourning events in memory of the victims of the 2004 Beslan tragedy; first nominee for presidency in South Ossetia, - look these and other events in the Caucasus in the review of the week of August 29-September 4, 2011, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".
Karachay-Cherkessia: start of "Arkhyz" Resort and drop of helicopter with state commission
On August 29, the first post of the first ropeway of the North-Caucasian tourism cluster, to be built within the next 10 years, was erected in the Arkhyz Gorge in Karachay-Cherkessia. The cluster will include five modern European-class ski resorts. To create these tourist sites, it is planned to spend almost 500 billion roubles, almost twice of what has been invested into construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi.
The project of the all-season mountain "Arkhyz" Resort assumes construction of four complex tourist villages. By 2014, the resort will have 11 hotels and 9 ropeways; and by 2020, the hotels will be able to accommodate 25,000 tourists at a time. By then, the resort will operate 69 ropeways and ski courses of the total length of 270 km. According to preliminary estimates, the flow of tourists will exceed 500,000 persons per year. Investments in construction of the first phase of the "Arkhyz" Resort make more than 5 billion roubles.
The solemn ceremony of the ropeway construction start of the ropeway was gloomed by an accident: a helicopter Mi-8 crashed down at landing in the mountains of Karachay-Cherkessia. It was carrying a VIP delegation of high-ranking officials. According to the local Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), a pilot's error was the main reason; this version is supported by Maxim Bystrov, Deputy Plenipotentiary of Russian President in the North Caucasus Federal District (NCFD), who also suffered in the accident. Initially it was reported that 13 persons were injured. Later, it was reported that four persons received traumas; two of them are under intensive medical care.
Chechnya: three suicide bombers blow themselves up in Grozny on the eve of Eid al-Fitr
On August 30, Grozny saw three explosions committed by suicide bombers. The first explosion occurred when employees of the patrol-post service tried to detain a suspicious man. The other two suicide bombers blew themselves up, when law enforcers arrived at the place of the first incident, and passers-by gathered around. The total power of the bombs, according to the investigation, was about three kilograms of TNT (trotyl) equivalent. The explosions took away nine human lives, apart from bombers themselves; more than twenty persons were injured.
Chechen power agents believe that the acts of suicide bombers in Grozny were backed up by the militants' field commander Muslim Gakaev and the leader of North-Caucasian militants Dokku Umarov. The investigation has identified two suicide bombers as Magomed Dashaev, 22, a native of Urus-Martan, and Adlan Khamidov, 21, a native of the village of Starye Atagi and a student of the Oil Institute. The case about the blasts in Grozny was qualified as a terror act.
The explosions took place on the day, when Muslims around the world celebrated one of the major Islamic holidays - the Eid al-Fitr. In Chechnya, local clergymen appointed the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, as well as its start, one day later. Residents of the Republic assert that the terror act did not affect their plans in connection with the holiday and that there was no panic caused by the explosions.
It is worth noting that before the suicide bombings on August 30, this year Chechnya had two cases of suicide bombing with participation of four terrorists (two in each case), committed at attempts to detain them. Both self-blasts (on February 15 and on April 25) took place in Grozny; no power agents or civilians were hurt.
North Ossetia: Russian citizens commemorate victims of terror act in Beslan
On September 1, the city of Beslan in North Ossetia started a series of commemorations on the Remembrance Day of the victims of the terror act committed on September 1-3, 2004, in the secondary school No. 1 of the city of Beslan. Let us remind you that the terror act killed 186 children and 148 adults; 728 Beslan residents and 55 law enforcers were injured. In total, terrorists took 1128 hostages. In the context of commemorations, increased security measures were introduced. Psychologists were present in the territory of the Beslan school, and doctors were on duty ready to render emergency medical care.
On September 2, Beslan opened an architectural and sculptural composition named "Kind Angel of Peace". The 3-meter-high monument is crowned with a white pillar with an angel keeping a dove in hands. The commemoration actions were held on September 2 and 3 in other regions of Russia, including Moscow, Karachay-Cherkessia, Krasnodar Territory, and Rostov Region.
The school, which was destroyed by the terror act, will be turned into a memorial complex, designed by the German company "Knauf Kassel", specializing in preservation of historical buildings.
South Ossetia: first nomination for republic's presidency
On September 2, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of South Ossetia received the first package of documents on nomination of a presidential candidate. It was submitted by supporters of Alan Kochiev, the leader of the South-Ossetian socio-political movement "Rukhs Fidan" (Bright Future). The piquancy of the situation is that Alan Kochiev is suspected of beating Alik Pliev, a member of the Parliament of South Ossetia from the People's Party, and since August 19 is under arrest.
Also on September 2, the President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity said that at the presidential elections to be held on November 13 he will support the General Public Prosecutor of the Republic Taimuraz Khugaev and the local Minister for Emergencies Anatoly Bibilov as presidential candidates.
Let us remind you that this autumn Eduard Kokoity's second presidential term in office expires. During the presidential election, the voters will also hold a referendum on the status of the Russian language.
"Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of August 22-28," "Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of August 15-21", "Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of August 8-14", "Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of August 1-7".
584587f4
Сhronicles; Economics; Incidents; Politics; Society; Tourism; Terror acts in Moscow and Caucasus; Crime; Karachay-Cherkessia; North Ossetia-Alania; South Ossetia; Chechnya; North-Caucasian Federal District; South Caucasus
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717984
|
__label__wiki
| 0.945144
| 0.945144
|
22 June 2015, 09:00
Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of June 15-21
Works to eliminate the aftermath of severe flooding in Tbilisi; decision to raise electricity tariffs in Armenia, causing protests; European Games in Baku at the background of international criticism of the situation in Azerbaijan, – see the review of these and other events in the Caucasus during the week of June 15-21, 2015, prepared by the "Caucasian Knot".
Tbilisi eliminates consequences of severe flooding
During the whole week, Tbilisi, which suffered from flooding at night on June 14, was trying to eliminate the aftermath of the disaster. According to official data, the flooding claimed 19 human lives; while the Ministry of Public Health of Georgia registered 457 people, including 119 children, as victims. The Prosecutor's Office of Georgia has launched an inquiry into the reasons of human deaths, believing that they could be caused by violations of safety regulations during the construction of the buildings now destroyed by water.
On June 16, the Deputy Prime Minister Kakha Kaladze said that the damage from the flooding in Tbilisi may amount to 100 million laris (about 45 million US dollars). In total, 80 families consisting of some 400 persons were accommodated in hotels and private houses.
According to Zurab Gurielidze, the director of the Tbilisi Zoo, a tiger and a hyena from among the animals, which left the zoo during the flooding, are still somewhere in streets of the Georgian capital; they are searched by special servicemen and hunters.
Decision to raise electricity tariff in Armenia caused wave of protests
On June 17, Armenian authorities decided to rise, starting August 1, the electricity tariff by 6.93 drams per 1 kW/h. The main reasons for the decision were announced to be in fluctuations of the US dollar exchange rate and low water in rivers. The decision caused public resonance in the country. The sitting of the commission that made the decision was accompanied by a protest action. On June 19, in Yerevan, protesters announced a sit-in strike in Freedom Square and appointed the deadline of June 22 for the authorities to cancel the decision. 200 protesters spent the night in the square. On June 20, about 50 people marched across Yerevan demanding to cancel the tariff increase.
European Games in Baku take place against international criticism of human rights situation in Azerbaijan
The first European Games were opened on June 12 and continue in Baku. Azerbaijani athletes are successful in almost all events; and the national team retains the second place, behind the leading Russia. As of June 22, Azerbaijan brought the count of its medals won at the Games up to 35. The competitions are held against the international criticism of the human rights situation in Azerbaijan. Thus, on June 16, Zeid Ra'ad Al-Hussein, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, called a number of post-Soviet countries to stop persecuting NGOs and civil society activists; while Isabel Santos, the head of the Committee for Democracy and Human Rights of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, welcomed the decision of the Azerbaijani authorities to allow the rights defender Emin Guseinov, who had taken refuge in the Swiss Embassy in Baku, to leave the country; and activists of the international coalition of human rights organizations "Sports for Human Rights" urged the well-known pop singer Lady Gaga, who took part in the opening ceremony of the European Games, to donate her remuneration to families of political prisoners.
USE campaign in Northern Caucasus was accompanied by violations and bad marks
The main period of taking the Unified State Examination (USE) in Russia ended on June 18. On that day, school graduates in Southern Russia, like others around the country, took the oral part of their foreign language exams. Also on June 15, pupils took their exams in history, biology, and informatics. Some violations were registered during the exams; in particular, in the Stavropol Territory, on June 15, four graduates were expelled from the USE for using cribs and mobile phones. On June 15, the Ministry of Education of Chechnya said that since the start of the USE, the republic's USE centres registered 14 cases of expelling pupils from the exam for the same reasons. Some outcomes of the campaign are already known: for example, in Dagestan, 2192 graduates failed to pass both mandatory exams – in the Russian language and mathematics; and now they may be left without their diplomas. They will get a chance to re-take their exams in September, should the "Rosobrnadzor" (Russia's Federal Agency for Supervising Education and Sciences) decide accordingly.
Trainee at MIA University in Stavropol dies after injury received in University
On June 15, in the canteen of the Stavropol Branch of the Krasnodar University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), a trainee Ivan Bondarenko was shot in his head. According to investigators, the shot was made by the platoon commander of the first year of the educational institution. The victim was hospitalized in grave condition and was in coma. At night on June 19, the young man died. A criminal case for an attempted murder was opened against the platoon commander, Senior Lieutenant Maxim Timashov; he is under arrest. According to the casualty's father, his son and the commander were friends. The father of Ivan Bondarenko has suggested that the commander wanted to make a joke to the trainee, for the latter to no longer sleep when on duty.
Veniamin Kondratiev, acting head of the Krasnodar Territory, decides to run for governor
Veniamin Kondratiev, who was appointed to be the acting governor of the Krasnodar Territory after the departure of Alexander Tkachov to work for the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, said that he would participate in the election of the governor scheduled for September 13. Kondratiev declared his decision in his interview to the newspaper "Kuban News". The experts, earlier interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot", expressed the viewpoint that Kondratiev has begun his election campaign. This assumption appeared after on June 15 Kondratiev sharply criticized the work of the administration of the city of Goryachiy Klyuch, after which on June 17 the city Mayor Nikolai Schwartzman decided to leave his post.
Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of June 8-14, Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of June 1-7, Week in the Caucasus: review of main events of May 25-31.
e21f6204
Сhronicles; Economics; Incidents; Human rights; Politics; Society; Nature And Ecology; Crime; South Federal District; Adygea; Chechnya; Dagestan; North-Caucasian Federal District; Azerbaijan; Georgia; South Caucasus; Stavropol Region; Krasnodar Territory
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717985
|
__label__wiki
| 0.568075
| 0.568075
|
Two Essays by Theodore Roosevelt
THE EXPANSION OF THE WHITE RACES
[Address at the celebration of the African Diamond Jubilee of the
Methodist Episcopal Church, Washington, D. C., January 18, 1909.]
There is one feature in the expansion of the peoples of white, or European, blood during the past four centuries which should never be lost sight of, especially by those who denounce such expansion on moral grounds. On the whole, the movement has been fraught with lasting benefit to most of the peoples already dwelling in the lands over which the expansion took place. Of course any such general statement as this must be understood with the necessary reservations. Human nature being what it is, no movement lasting for four centuries and extending in one shape or another over the major part of the world could go on without cruel injustices being done at certain places and in certain times. Occasionally, although not very frequently, a mild and kindly race has been treated with wanton, brutal, and ruthless inhumanity by the white intruders. Moreover, mere savages, whose type of life was so primitive as to be absolutely incompatible with the existence of civilization, inevitably died out from the regions across which their sparse bands occasionally flitted, when these regions became filled with a dense population; they died out when they were kindly treated as quickly as when they were badly treated, for the simple reason that they were so little advanced that the conditions of life necessary to their existence were incompatible with any form of higher and better existence. It is also true that, even where great good has been done to the already existing inhabitants, where they have thriven under the new rule, it has sometimes brought with it discontent from the very fact that it has brought with it a certain amount of well-being and a certain amount of knowledge, so that people have learned enough to feel discontented and have prospered enough to be able to show their discontent. Such ingratitude is natural, and must be reckoned with as such; but it is also both unwarranted and foolish, and the fact of its existence in any given case does not justify any change of attitude on our part.
On the whole, and speaking generally, one extraordinary fact of this expansion of the European races is that with it has gone an increase in population and well-being among the natives of the countries where the expansion has taken place. As a result of this expansion there now live outside of Europe over a hundred million of people wholly of European blood and many millions more partly of European blood; and as another result there are now on the whole more people, of native blood in the regions where these hundred million intruders dwell than there were when the intruders went thither. In America the Indians of the West Indies were well-nigh exterminated, wantonly and cruelly. The merely savage tribes, both in North and South America, who were very few in number, have much decreased or have vanished, and grave wrongs have often been committed against them as well as by them. But all of the Indians who had attained to an even low grade of industrial and social efficiency have remained in the land, and have for the most part simply been assimilated with the intruders, the assimilation marking on the whole a very considerable rise in their conditions. Taking into account the Indians of pure blood, and the mixed bloods in which the Indian element is large, it is undoubtedly true that the Indian population of America is larger today than it was when Columbus discovered the continent, and stands on a far higher plane of happiness and efficiency. In Australia the few savages tend to die out simply because their grade of culture is so low that nothing can be done with them; doubtless occasional brutalities have been committed by white settlers but these brutalities were not an appreciable factor in the dying out of th natives. In India and Java there has been a great increase in well-being and population under the English and the Dutch, and the advance made has been in striking contrast to what has occurred during the same period in the near-by lands which have remained under native rule. In Egypt, in the Philippines, in Algiers, the native people have thriven under the rule of the foreigner, advancing as under no circumstances could they possibly have advanced if left to themselves, the increase in population going hand in hand with the increase in general well-being. In the Soudan, Mahdism during the ten years of its unchecked control was responsible for the death of over half the population and meant physical and moral ruin, a fact which should be taken into account by the perverted pseudo-philanthropy which fails to recognize the enormous advantages conferred by the English occupation of the Soudan, if not on the English themselves, certainly on the natives and on humanity at large. In the same way the Russian advance into Turkestan has meant the real advance in the well-being of the people, as well as the spread of civilization. In Natal the English found an empty desert; because of the peace they established it has filled up so densely with natives as to create very serious and totally new problems. There have been very dark spots in the European conquest and control of Africa, but on the whole the African regions which during the past century have seen the greatest cruelty, degradation, and suffering, the greatest diminution of population, are those where native control has been unchecked. The advance has been made in the regions that have been under European control or influence; that have been profoundly influenced by European administrators, and by European and American missionaries. Of course the best that can happen to any people that has not already a high civilization of its own is to assimilate and profit by American or European ideas, the ideas of civilization and Christianity, without submitting to alien control; but such control, in spite of all its defects, is in a very large number of cases the prerequisite condition to the moral and material advance of the peoples who dwell in the darker corners of the earth. Where the control is exercised brutally; where it is made use of merely to exploit the natives, without regard to their physical or moral well-being; it should be unsparingly criticised, and there should be resolute insistence on amendment and reform. But we must not, because of occasional wrong-doing, blind ourselves to the fact that on the whole the white administrator and the Christian missionary have exercised a profound and wholesome influence for good in savage regions.
Let me illustrate what I mean by particularly alluding to three cases--Algiers, India, and the Philippines. The North African coast was a mere nest of pirates during the first decades of the nineteenth century. Punitive expeditions were sent against these pirates again and again, but they could not be permanently suppressed by such expeditions, and all the great commercial nations were forced to pay them a more or less thinly disguised tribute or blackmail. The United States was among that number. It was the French conquest of Algiers which put a final stop to this blackmail; and it also put a stop, to the unspeakable barbarism and cruelty inevitably attendant upon the slave-hunting piracy of the dwellers in the independent North African states. In other words, the independence of these states was a menace to every peaceful people, and incidentally it meant dreadful wrong and injustice within the states themselves. Algiers is far better off in every way under French rule than it was eighty years ago, before the French came into the land, and it is far better off in every way than is the neighboring state of Morocco at the present time; and this simply and solely because the neighboring state of Morocco continues to enjoy much the same kind of independent self-government that Algiers enjoyed until the French went there.
In India we encounter the most colossal example history affords of the successful administration by men of European blood of a thickly populated region. in another continent. It is the greatest feat of the kind that has been performed since the break-up of the Roman Empire. Indeed, it is a greater feat than was performed under the Roman Empire. Unquestionably mistakes have been made; it would indicate qualities literally superhuman if so gigantic a task had been accomplished without mistakes. It is easy enough to point out shortcomings; but the fact remains that the successful administration of the Indian Empire by the English has been one of the most notable and most admirable achievements of the white race during the past two centuries. On the whole it has been for the immeasurable benefit of the natives of India themselves. Suffering has been caused in particular cases and at particular times to these natives; much more often, I believe, by well-intentioned ignorance or bad judgment than by any moral obliquity. But on the whole there has been a far more resolute effort to do justice, a far more resolute effort to secure fair treatment for the humble and the oppressed during the days of English rule in India than during any other period of recorded Indian history. England does not draw a penny from India for English purposes; she spends for India the revenues raised in India; and they are spent for the benefit of the Indians themselves. Undoubtedly India is a less pleasant place than formerly for the heads of tyrannical states. There is now little or no room in it for successful freebooter chieftains, for the despots who lived in gorgeous splendor while under their cruel rule the immense mass of their countrymen festered in sodden misery. But the mass of the people have been and are far better off than ever before, and far better off than they would now be if English control were overthrown or withdrawn. Indeed, if English control were now withdrawn from India, the whole peninsula would become a chaos of bloodshed and violence; till the weaker peoples, and the most industrious and law-abiding, would be plundered. and forced to submit to indescribable wrong and oppression; and the only beneficiaries among the natives would be the lawless, violent, and bloodthirsty. I have no question that there are reforms to be advanced--this is merely another way of saying that the government has been human; I have also no question that there is being made and will be made a successful effort to accomplish these reforms. But the great salient fact is that the presence of the English in India, like the presence of the English in Egypt and the Soudan, of the French in Algiers, of the Russians in Turkestan, of the Germans in Southwest Africa and East Africa (and of all these peoples, and of other white peoples, in many other places), has been for the advantage of mankind. Every well-wisher of mankind, every true friend of humanity, should realize that the part England has played in India has been to the immeasurable advantage of India, and for the honor and profit of civilization, and should feel profound satisfaction in the stability and permanence of English rule. I have seen many American missionaries who have come from India, and I cannot overstate the terms of admiration in which they speak of the English rule in India, and of the incalculable benefits it has conferred and is conferring upon the natives.
Finally, take our own experience in the Philippines. Spain finally lost power to be of benefit to the islands; but do not forget that Spain accomplished very, very much for them during more than two centuries; and that the islands owe their present possibilities to the fact that the Spaniards took possession of them. Then we came in. I am sure that when international history is written, from the standpoint of acclaiming international justice, one chapter will tell with heartiest praise what our people have done in the Philippines. Exactly as, in the Caribbean Sea we have endeavored to give genuine and disinterested help to the independent peoples of Cuba and San Domingo, so, in the same spirit--though the task is of quite different character--we are endeavoring to educate and train the native races under our sovereignty in the Philippines. in our treatment of the Filipinos we have acted up to the highest standard that has yet been set as marking the proper way in which a powerful and advanced nation should treat a weaker people. Cuba we are at this moment leaving for the second time, to work out a destiny which we now hope and believe will be one of stable and orderly independence and prosperity. In the Philippines we are constantly giving an increasing measure of self-government. Of course, in one sense of the word self-government can never be bestowed by outsiders upon any people. It must be achieved by themselves. It means in this sense primarily self-control, self-restraint, and if those qualities do not exist--that is, if the people are unable to govern themselves--then, as there must be government somewhere, it has to come from outside. But we are constantly giving to the people of the Philippines an increasing share in, an increasing opportunity to learn by practice, the difficult art of self-government. If we had abandoned them at the outset to their own devices, if we had shirked our duty and sailed out of the islands, leaving them in a bloody welter of confusion, the chief sufferers would have been the Philippine people themselves. We are leading them forward steadily in the right direction and we are doing it because our people at home desire that they shall be treated right, and because our people in the islands, in the civil government, in the army, and among the missionary representatives of the various creeds work primarily for the advancement of the people among whom they dwell. I believe that I am speaking with historic accuracy and impartiality when I say that the American treatment of and attitude toward the Filipino people, in its combination of disinterested ethical purpose and sound common sense, marks a new and long stride forward, in advance of all steps that have hitherto been taken, along the path of wise and proper treatment of weaker by stronger races.
Now in speaking tonight I wish to lay stress upon the missionary side of the general work in the foreign lands. America has for over a century done its share of missionary work. We who stay at home should as a matter of duty give cordial support to those who in a spirit of devotion to all that is highest in human nature, spend the best part of their lives in trying to carry civilization and Christianity into lands which have hitherto known little or nothing of either. The work is vast, and it is done under many and widely varied conditions., Personally I have always been particularly interested, for instance, in the extraordinary work done by the American schools and colleges in the Turkish Empire, both Turkey in Europe and Turkey in Asia; a work which has borne such wonderful fruit among the Bulgarians, among Syrian and Armenian Christians, and also among the Mohammedans; and this although among the Mohammedans there has been no effort to convert them, simply an effort to make them, good citizens, to make them vie with their fellow citizens who are Christians in showing those qualities which it should be the pride of every creed to develop; and the present movement to introduce far-reaching and genuine reforms, political and social, in Turkey, an effort with which we all keenly sympathize, is one in which these young Moslems, educated at the American schools and colleges, are especially fitted to take part.
Bishop Hartzell's work has been done in Africa, the continent in which of all others there has been the most need for Christian work, and in which that work shows signs of reaching its widest development. It has been indeed a Dark Continent, and some of the white men who have gone thither have by their acts deepened the gloom. Let us as a race be thankful that so many other men have gone thither to strive for the uplift of the people; to strive for the betterment of conditions. Our own country has in the past committed grave wrong against Africa for which it should amply atone, and no better atonement can be made than that which is being made by the American missionaries of every creed and church, who are now doing so much in almost every corner of Africa for the physical, the intellectual, and the moral betterment of the people. I hope there will be the most hearty support of these men, who in far-off regions are fighting for progress in things of the spirit no less than in things of the body. Let us help them to make the missions centres of industrial no less than of ethical teaching; for unless we raise the savage in industrial efficiency we cannot permanently keep him on a high plane of moral efficiency, nor yet can we render him able to hold his own in the world.
Bishop Hartzell, I greet you; and I extend my heartiest good wishes to the great Methodist body on this golden jubilee of its far-reaching work in Africa. No denomination has done more zealous and effective missionary work than the Methodists. They were in many large regions west of the Alleghanies the pioneers of missionary work in our own land; and their missionaries are now to be found in every continent and under every clime.
In Africa, on the west coast, the foreign missionary work of the Methodist Episcopal Church was begun seventy-five years ago.
From that beginning a world-wide missionary movement has developed which now involves the annual expenditure of three million dollars from America, besides large amounts raised on the various foreign fields. This great work includes the establishment and maintenance, in several foreign countries, of churches and hospitals, schools of various grades and kinds, and far-reaching evangelistic effort. In recent years, with the opening of that continent to civilization, the work in Africa has grown to large proportions, and the church is face to face with unparalleled opportunities and responsibilities in the strengthening of the centres it now occupies and in answering the calls for enlargement.
The missionary authorities of the church, with the cordial approval of the board of bishops, have designated the year 1909 as Africa Diamond Jubilee year. The nearly twenty thousand pastors of the church will present to their people the claims of Africa as a mission field and ask for jubilee offerings. The amount asked for from America is three hundred thousand dollars. Suitable literature is being published for wide distribution. In addition to the contributions in money, it is fully expected that a large number of well-prepared young men and women will consecrate their lives to service in different parts of the Dark Continent.
The twentieth century will see and is now seeing the transformation of Africa into a new world. Within a few years, its vast domain has been partitioned among various European nations. These nations are expending enormous sums of money and utilizing their best statesmanship and colonizing abilities in the development of colonial empires of wide extent and extraordinary material possibilities. Steamship lines encircle the continent. A continental system of railways and of lake and river steamboats will soon extend northward from Cape Town six thousand miles to Cairo, while branch lines will unite the east and west coasts at several points. The latest results of science are being utilized in mining and agriculture, while scholarly experts in different centres of Europe are studying the questions of native languages and religions, as well as the best methods of advancing civilization among the many millions of native peoples. The wealth of the commerce which will be developed cannot be estimated. The white man rules; but there is only one white man on the continent to one hundred others, who are either barbaric black heathen or fanatical Mohammedans.
Self-interest and competition will, I believe, unite in making the governments fair to the people, and the indomitable energy of the adventurous settlers and the wealth of the nations behind them will result in exploiting the vast commercial resources of the continents. But there is a question that is larger than either government or trade, and that is the moral well-being of these vast millions who have come under the protection of modern governments. The representative of the Christian religion must have his place side by side with the man of government and trade, and for generations that representative must be supplied in the person of the foreign missionary from America and Europe. Civilization can only be permanent and continue a blessing to any people if, in addition to promoting their material well-being, it also stands for an orderly individual liberty, for the growth of intelligence, and for equal justice in the administration of law. Christianity alone meets these fundamental requirements.
The change of sentiment in favor of the foreign missionary in a single generation has been remarkable. The whole world, which is rapidly coming into neighborhood relations, is recognizing as never before the real needs of mankind, and is ready to approve and strengthen all the moral forces which stand for the uplift of humanity. There must be government for the orderly and permanent development of society. There must be intercourse among peoples in the interests of commerce and growth. But, above all, there must be moral power, established and maintained under the leadership of good men and women. The upright and far-seeing statesman, the honest and capable trader, and the devoted Christian missionary represent the combined forces which are to change the Africa of today into the greater and better Africa of the future.
The responsibility of America for the moral well-being of the people of Africa is manifest. Our wealth and power have given us a place of influence among the nations of the world. But world-wide influence and power mean more than dollars or social, intellectual, or industrial supremacy. They involve a responsibility for the moral welfare of others which cannot be evaded.
The United States has no territorial interests in Africa, and may never have. The republic of Liberia was the outgrowth of immigration movements from our colored populations. But beyond a paternal interest, the United States has no organic relation with or responsibility to that government. We are friendly to all governments on the continent, and stand with them, to the extent of our influence, for righteous rule, especially as applied to the vast native populations. Our commercial relations, already large, will grow to vast proportions in coming years. But beyond questions of rule or traffic are the responsibilities of America as to the moral uplift of the people of Africa. This responsibility is to be met in cooperation with the Christian forces of other nations. So vast is this problem of redeeming a continent, which has lain for thousands of years in darkness, that all sections of the Christian Church must have a hand in this great work. The few score of missionaries who are now on the field from America should be multiplied in the near future, and the money contributed to Africa should be doubled over and over again year after year. It is a joy to learn that among the, missionary forces in Africa, from different lands and representing different branches of the church, there are fraternal and mutually helpful relations.
The responsibility of America toward Africa is emphasized because of our past history, and because of the number of our citizens who are of African descent. As a result of the African slave-trade, the crime of the ages, and of two and a half centuries of slavery in America, the United States has nearly ten millions of colored people as a part of its citizenship. No other country outside of Africa has so large a negro population; and, what is more, there are no other ten millions of negroes in the world who own as much property and have as large a per cent, who are intelligent, moral, and thrifty. The education and uplift of the American negro now going forward should be accompanied by the increase of the missionary and Christian forces on the continent from which his ancestors came. The number of those who go as missionaries to Africa will increase; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that a large share of the leadership for the evangelization of the continent will be furnished from among our own colored leaders in America.
In the redemption of Africa all sections of the Christian church must be united, but Methodism, because of the vast numbers it represents and the spirit and methods of its movements, should have a share of especial note. The spirit of Methodism is the spirit of expansion and of world-wide conquests in the kingdom of righteousness. John Wesley's motto was: "The world is my parish." I hope the Methodists of to-day will make this statement good.
THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE ISLAND POSSESSIONS
[Address at the Coliseum, Hartford, Conn., August 22, 1902]
I want to speak to you to-night, not on our internal problems as a nation, but on some of the external problems which we have had to face during the last four years. The internal problems are the most important. Keeping our own household straight is our first duty; but we have other duties. Just exactly as each man who is worth his salt must first of all be a good husband, a good father, a good bread-winner, a good man of business, and yet must in addition to that be a good citizen for the State at large--so a nation must first take care to do well its duties within its own borders, but must not make of that fact an excuse for failing to do those of its duties the performance of which lies without its own borders.
The events of the last few years have forced the American Republic to take a larger position in the world than ever before, and therefore more than ever to concern itself with questions of policy coming without its own borders. As a people we have new duties and new opportunities both in the tropical seas and islands south of us and in the farthest Orient. Much depends upon the way in which we meet those duties, the way in which we take advantage of those opportunities. And remember this, you never can meet any duty, and after you have met it say that your action only affected that duty. If you meet it well you face the next duty a stronger man, and if you meet it ill you face your next duty a weaker man.
From the days of Monroe, Clay, and the younger Adams, we as a people have always looked with peculiar interest upon the West Indies and the Isthmus connecting North and South America, feeling that whatever happened there was of particular moment to this nation; and there is better reason for that feeling now than ever before. The outcome of the Spanish War put us in possession of Porto Rico, and brought us into peculiarly close touch with Cuba; while the successful negotiation of the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, and the legislation following it, at last cleared the way for the construction of the Isthmian Canal. Porto Rico, it is a pleasure to say, may, now serve as an example of the best methods of administering our insular possessions. Sometimes we have to learn by experience what to avoid. It is much pleasanter when one can turn to an experience for the purpose of learning what to follow, and the last is true of our experience in Porto Rico. So excellent has been the administration of the island, so excellent the effect of the legislation concerning it, that their very excellence has caused most of us to forget all about it. There is no opportunity for head-lines about Porto Rico. You don't need to use large letters in order to say that Porto Rico continues quiet and prosperous. There is hardly a ripple of failure upon the stream of our success there; and as we don't have to think of remedies, we follow our usual custom in these matters, and don't think of it at all.
How have we brought that about? First and foremost, in Porto Rico we have consistently striven to get the very best men to administer the affairs of the island. It is desirable throughout our public service to secure a high standard of efficiency and integrity. But after all, here at home we ourselves always have in our own hands the remedy whereby to supply any deficiency in integrity or capacity among those that govern us. That is a fact that seems to have been forgotten, but it is a fact. In a far-off island things are different. There wrong-doing is more easy and those that suffer from it are more helpless; while there is less efficiency check in the way of that public opinion to which public men are sensitive. In consequence, the administration of those islands is beyond all other kinds of administration under our government the one in which the highest standards must be demanded. In making appointments to the insular service, the appointing power must feel all the time that he is acting for the country as a whole, in the interest of the good name of our people as a whole, and any question of mere party expediency must be wholly swept aside, and the matter looked at solely from the standpoint of the honor of our own nation and the welfare of the islands. We have gotten along so well in Porto Rico because we have acted up to that theory in choosing our men down there--governor, treasurer, attorney-general, judges, superintendent of education--every one. You will find among those men all the shades of different political opinion that we have here at home; but you will find them knit together by the purpose of administering the affairs of that island on the highest plane of decency and efficiency.
Besides acting in good faith, we have acted with good sense, and that is also important. We have not been frightened or misled into giving to the people of the island a form of government unsuitable to them. While providing that the people should govern themselves as far as possible, we have not hesitated in their own interests to keep the power of shaping their destiny.
In Cuba the problem was larger, more complicated, more difficult. Here again we kept our promise absolutely. After having delivered the island from its oppressors, we refused to turn it loose offhand, with the certainty that it would sink back into chaos and savagery. For over three years we administered it on a plane higher than it had ever reached before during the four hundred years that had elapsed since the Spaniards first landed upon its shores. We brought moral and physical cleanliness into the government. We cleaned the cities for the first time in their existence. We stamped out yellow fever--an inestimable boon not merely to Cuba, but to the people of the Southern States as well. We established a school system. We made life and property secure, so that industry could again begin to thrive. Then when we had laid deep and broad the foundations upon which civil liberty and national independence must rest, we turned the island over to the hands of those whom its people had chosen as the founders of the new republic. It is a republic with which our own great Republic must ever be closely knit by the ties of common interests and common inspirations. Cuba must always be peculiarly related to us in international politics. She must in international affairs be to a degree a part of our political system. In return she must have peculiar relations with us economically. She must be in a sense part of our economic system. We expect her to accept a political attitude toward us which we think wisest both for her and for us. In return we must be prepared to put her in an economic position as regards our tariff system which will give her some measure of the prosperity which we enjoy. We cannot, in my judgment, avoid taking this attitude if we are to persevere in the course which we have outlined for ourselves as a nation during the past four years; and therefore I believe that it is only a matter of time--and I trust only a matter of a very short time--before we enter into reciprocal trade relations with Cuba.
The Isthmian Canal is to be one of the greatest, probably the greatest, engineering feats of the twentieth century; and I am glad it is to be done by America. We must take care that it is done under the best conditions and by the best Americans. There are certain preliminary matters to settle. When this has been done, the first question will come upon choosing the commission which is to supervise the building of the Canal. And but one thought here is permissible--how to get the very best men of the highest engineering and business and administrative skill, who will consent to undertake the work. If possible, I wish to see those men represent different sections and different political parties. But those questions are secondary. The primary aim must be to get men who, though able to control much greater salaries than the nation is able to pay, nevertheless possess the patriotism and the healthy ambition which will make them put their talents at the government's service.
So much for what has been done in the Occident. In the Orient the labor was more difficult.
It is rare indeed that a great work, a work supremely worth doing, can be done save at the cost not only of labor and toil, but of much puzzling worry during the time of the performance. Normally, the nation that achieves greatness, like the individual who achieves greatness, can do so only at the cost of anxiety and bewilderment and heart-wearing effort. Timid people, people scant of faith and hope, and good people who are not accustomed to the roughness of the life of effort are almost sure to be disheartened and dismayed by the work and the worry, and overmuch cast down by the shortcomings, actual or seeming, which in real life always accompany the first stages even of what eventually turn out to be the most brilliant victories.
All this is true of what has happened during the last four years in the Philippine Islands. The Spanish War itself was an easy task, but it left us certain other tasks which were much more difficult. One of these tasks was that of dealing with the Philippines. The easy thing to do--the thing which appealed not only to lazy and selfish men, but to very many good men whose thought did not drive down to the root of things--was to leave the islands. Had we done this, a period of wild chaos would have supervened, and then some stronger power would have stepped in and seized the islands and have taken up the task which we in such a case would have flinched from performing. A less easy, but infinitely more absurd course, would have been to leave the islands ourselves, and at the same time to assert that we would not permit any one else to interfere with them. This particular course would have combined all the possible disadvantages of every other course which was advocated. It would have placed us in a humiliating position, because when the actual test came it would have been quite out of the question for us, after some striking deed of savagery had occurred in the islands, to stand by and prevent the re-entry of civilization into them, while the mere fact of our having threatened thus to guarantee the local tyrants and wrong-doers against outside interference by ourselves or others, would have put a premium upon every species of tyranny and anarchy within the islands.
Finally, there was the course which we adopted--not an easy course, and one fraught with danger and difficulty, as is generally the case in this world when some great feat is to be accomplished as an incident to working out national destiny. We made up our minds to stay in the islands--to put down violence--to establish peace and order--and then to introduce a just and wise civil rule accompanied by a measure of self-government which should increase as rapidly as the islanders showed themselves fit for it. It was certainly a formidable task; but think of the marvelously successful way in which it has been accomplished! The first and vitally important it was the establishment of the supremacy of the American flag and this had to be done by the effort of these gallant fellow Americans of ours to whom so great a debt is due--the officers and enlisted men of the United States regular and volunteer forces. In a succession of campaigns, carried on in unknown tropic jungles against an elusive and treacherous foe vastly outnumbering them, under the most adverse conditions of climate, weather, and country, our troops completely broke the power of the insurgents, smashed their armies, and harried the broken robber bands into submission. In its last stages, the war against our rule sank into mere brigandage; and what our troops had to do was to hunt down the parties of ladrones. It was not an easy task which it was humanly possible to accomplish in a month or a year; and therefore after the first month and the first year had elapsed, some excellent people said that it couldn't be done; but it was done. Month by month, year by year, with unwearied and patient resolution, our army in the Philippines did the task which it found ready at hand until the last vestige of organized insurrection was stamped out. I do not refer to the Moros, with whom we have exercised the utmost forbearance, but who may force us to chastise them if they persist in attacking our troops. We will do everything possible to avoid having trouble with them, but if they insist upon it it will come. Among the Filipinos proper, however, peace has come. Doubtless here and there sporadic outbreaks of brigandage will occur from time to time, but organized warfare against the American flag has ceased, and there is no reason to apprehend its recurrence. Our army in the islands has been reduced until it is not a fourth of what it was at the time the outbreak was at its height.
Step by step as the army conquered, the rule of the military was supplanted by the rule of the civil authorities--the soldier was succeeded by the civilian magistrate. The utmost care has been exercised in choosing the best type of Americans for the high civil positions, and the actual work of administration has been done, so far as possible, by native Filipino officials serving under these Americans. The success of the effort has been wonderful. Never has this country had a more upright or an abler body of public representatives than Governor Taft, Vice-Governor Wright, and their associates and subordinates in the Philippine Islands. It is a very difficult matter, practically, to apply the principles of an orderly free government to an Oriental people struggling upward out of barbarism and subjection. It is a task requiring infinite firmness, patience, tact, broadmindedness. All these qualities, and the countless others necessary, have been found in the civil and military officials who have been sent over to administer the islands. It was, of course, inevitable that there should be occasional failures; but it is astonishing how few these have been. Here and there the civil government which had been established in a given district had to be temporarily withdrawn because of some outbreak. Let me give you an idea of some of the difficulties. We have been trying to put into effect the principle of a popular choice of representatives. In one district it proved to be wholly impossible to make the people understand how to vote. Finally they took a little hill, and put two candidates, one on one side and one on the other, and made the people walk up and stand by the candidate they wanted.
But at last, on the July 4th that has just passed--o the one hundred and twenty-sixth anniversary of our independence--it was possible at the same time to declare amnesty throughout the islands and definitely to establish civil rule over all of them, excepting the country of the Mohammedan Moros, where the conditions were wholly different. Each inhabitant of the Philippines is now guaranteed his civil and religious rights, his rights to life, personal liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, subject only to not infringing the rights of others. It is worth noting that during these three or four years under us the Philippine people have attained to a greater degree of self government, that they now have more to say as to how they shall be governed, than is the case with any people in the Orient which is under European rule. Nor is this all. Congress has, with far-seeing wisdom, heartily supported all that has been done by the Executive. Wise laws for the government of the Philippine Islands have been placed upon the statute-books, and under those laws provision is made for the introduction into the Philippines of representative government, with only the delay absolutely necessary to allow for the establishment of definite peace, for the taking of a census, and the settling down of the country. In short, we are governing the Filipinos primarily in their interest, and for their very great benefit. And we have acted in practical fashion--not trying to lay down rules as to what should be done in the remote and uncertain future, but turning our attention to the instant need of things and meeting that need in the fullest and amplest way. It would be hard to say whether we owe most to our military or our civil representatives in the Philippines. The soldiers have shown splendid gallantry in the field; and they have done no less admirable work in preparing the provinces for civil government. The civil authorities have shown the utmost wisdom in doing a very difficult and important work of vast extent. It would be hard to find in modern times a better example of successful constructive statesmanship than the American representatives have given to the Philippine Islands.
In the Philippines, as in Cuba, the instances of wrongdoing among either our civil or military representatives have been astonishingly few; and punishment has been meted with evenhanded justice to all offenders.
Nor should it be forgotten that while we have thus acted in the interest of the islanders themselves, we have also helped our own people. Our interests are as great in the Pacific as in the Atlantic. The welfare of California, Oregon, and Washington is as vital to the nation as the welfare of New England, New York, and the South-Atlantic States. The awakening of the Orient means very much to all the nations of Christendom, commercially no less than politically; and it would be short-sighted statesmanship on our part to refuse to take the necessary steps for securing a proper share to our people of this commercial future. The possession of the Philippines has helped us, as the securing of the open door in China has helped us. Already the government has taken the necessary steps to provide for the laying of a Pacific cable under conditions which safeguard absolutely the interests of the American public. Our commerce with the East is growing rapidly. Events have abundantly justified, alike from the moral and material standpoint, all that we have done in the Far East as a sequel to our war with Spain.
From American Problems. By Theodore Roosevelt. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1926.
Return to M�rtin Espada
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717986
|
__label__wiki
| 0.50542
| 0.50542
|
Our chief aim in writing this book is to interpret, decipher, and describe the complex history of our planet over the most recent half billion years and the processes through which it has changed, and to compile maps of both the distribution of the many tectonic plates through that time, and also show where the lands and seas were situated over that long period. As is usual with narration, we start at the beginning and carry on progressively through time as it elapsed, but the result of that natural sequence is to commence by discussing the periods over which we have the fewest quantitative constraints on Earth’s old geography, and thus our geographical reconstructions gradually become more accurate as time continued on up to the present day.
After a brief introduction (Chapter 1) we describe the varied and often independent methods (Chapter 2) that we have used to reconstruct old lands and seas. In Chapter 3, we list all the unit areas among the many which make up our planet and which are the ones we have used in the construction of our kinematic computer-generated palaeogeographical maps through time, with a very brief sketch of their geological constitutions. Each of those units, which vary in size from large continents to small terranes, can be downloaded digitally.
The history of the Earth falls naturally into two very unequal divisions: the Precambrian, in which there are no fossils of use in determining the positions of the former continents, and that, including the origin of the planet, is only summarised here in Chapter 4. The Precambrian was followed by the Phanerozoic at 541 million years ago (Ma), and the latter started with the Palaeozoic, from which there is no old in-situ ocean crust preserved, but when the biota was distributed in faunal and floral provinces which are very relevant in assessing oceanic separations in the absence of much useful geophysical data (apart from palaeomagnetism). The boundary between the Palaeozoic and the overlying Mesozoic to the present day was at 252 Ma, after which the ocean-floor magnetic stripes and other useful geophysical data become progressively more abundant and objective, but when the biota, although interesting in its evolutionary development, is again of no primary help in deciphering the palaeogeography. Thus there are separate chapters here for each of the main geological systemic periods from the Cambrian to the Quaternary (Chapters 5 to 15).
Over the past billion years, our planet’s climate has fluctuated wildly between hot and cold temperatures, some so extreme that any life has been scarcely possible. Thus, as well as mentioning those climates during the individual periods in Chapters 4 to 15, the final Chapter 16 brings together the many factors which affect and support the Earth’s climate, and also describes how and why that climate has changed so much during the half billion years and how it has come to be what it is today.
simple bootstrap site creator software download
"'Earth History and Palaeogeography" by Trond H. Torsvik and L. Robin M. Cocks and published by Cambridge University Press, © Trond H. Torsvik and L. Robin M. Cocks 2016
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717987
|
__label__cc
| 0.514038
| 0.485962
|
The Voices of the Days
To give some spirit to the world
The Voices of the Days/13 - What really matters is to keep walking, until the very end
by Luigino Bruni
published in Avvenire on 05/06/2016
“Once married you are punished by never feeling any kind of sweetness apart from what belongs to all.” (rough translation from the Italian original)
Davide Maria Turoldo, L’Uomo (Man)
The biggest challenge in all community experience is being able to create a "we" that does not end up devouring the "I" of the individuals who have created it. Collective nouns are good and on the side of life only if they are accompanied and preceded by names and personal pronouns. The "we" without the "I" is the origin of all community pathologies and illiberal regimes, even when they arise as a promise of liberation and are clothed with the robes of salvation.
Communities can only serve their people if they recognize that they are second, allowing the first person singular to precede the plural. When this natural order of plurals and the singulars is reversed or denied, personal paths fail, vocations wither, the community betrays itself.
The destiny of every vocation is the generation of new life, the liberation of slaves from the pharaohs, beyond the sea. But every vocation is also a great love story. Its good development over time, therefore, lies in the concrete possibility of being able to hold together the call to the liberation of the oppressed and the delicate management of narcissistic emotions present in every love affair. In the beginning there is eros. The voice comes to us, it calls us and seduces us, and we find ourselves in the dream of dreams. All around us bursts out singing and is illuminated by a new sun inside, which is truer and brighter than the one shining outside. All the feelings light up, the heart moves and is moved, we feel and touch the voice that calls us like bread, like people. It is a sublime experience and essential to start each high flight under the sun. And those who have got to know it keep looking for it all their life. But in order for the vocation to continue its good development, the maturation of eros into philia (friendship) is needed. When that happens, the first call becomes an experience of company and fraternity. We exit the central and the prevailing register of emotions and passion and we start building communities. The feelings and the falling in love do not necessarily disappear, but they are neither the only nor the first language anymore. This is a very nice period of life and it is generally very long: this is when the vocation builds new cities, it realises works and an experience of a new kind of fertility and new children takes place. To Ishmael, the son of the flesh, Isaac, the son of promise is added. Faith also changes, and from an emotional and intimate experience it becomes a great history of a people, blooming in the community. The same first love is discovered in the love of the others, and a new alliance is celebrated together. The vocation opens up and it becomes a collective event. Eros stays alive even in the age of the philia because every form of love is co-essential if we want to live it well: there is no good philia (or authentic agape) without eros. But the maturation into philia changes eros forever, it opens and humanizes it.
In vocations that do not fail along the way, philia, born from the maturation of eros, blooms in turn into agape. This is the time of full maturity, when the flowers of spring become the fruits of summer. The community that has kept the first vocation and turned it into a shared and fruitful collective adventure, now becomes the springboard towards new spiritual horizons. The community does its job of a good pedagogue and finally introduces the person into adulthood. We continue to live with and for other fellow travellers, but with an all new sense of freedom and truth. Here the liberation promised by the first call reaches a first milestone: one is freed from the very community that had been donated to us. We understand that we have been sent to a larger community of our own: that of all. It turns out that the family that welcomed us was not the last word, but only the penultimate one. That our destiny is in the land of all, that the sky above the home garden is too small to hold our call to infinity. And we take off, even when we stay in the same house. There is no truer or more radical freedom than the one gushing from agape, when it really becomes anima mundi and we get to know gratuitousness. Those who come across these agapeic souls feel the heartbeat of the whole universe, no longer limited by the boundaries of a community or a specific charisma. Their identities become radically universal, their communities always have the door open.
Not all vocations manage to reach their agape phase. Many, too many, are stuck in the previous stages. The most common outcome is stopping at the "erotic" phase. People remain within the register of feelings, emotions and romance for life. Those who never leave the first dream fall into this vocational narcissism, and they reinvent and recreate it when it disappears. Instead of reading the end of the phase of as a sign and an invitation to evolve into a different, more mature love, they remain entangled in the toils of their own feelings, in a constant search of emotionally exciting narcissistic "spiritual" experiences that are able to stimulate the senses and passions. Life becomes a continuous flying from flower to flower in search of new, fresh and intoxicating pollen. They keep looking for friendships, meetings and new communities, "consumed" and left after a very short time, as soon as nourishment is finished. Life becomes a unique, monotonous and repetitive experience of "emotional" consumption, without ever moving on to the "production" phase and the liberation of the slaves.
Emotions and feelings are only the dawn and not the noontime of a vocation. The first exclusive and satiating dialogue must become a dialogue with the people in time, a dialogue with the poor, the slaves, with all the voices of the world, with that of the birds, the sea and the stones. One voice is not enough today to express that first voice that called us yesterday. Too many people lose faith in the truth of the voice of the first meeting because they seek it in the wrong places, in the infancy of vocation, in the feelings and passions of the heart. That was only the cradle, but when you are grown up cots must serve the children, ours and those of others. Biblical faith is never individual consumption: it is always the generation of salvations not yet accomplished, for others, and sometimes for ourselves. Noah went on the ark of salvation that he had built by vocation. Moses on the other hand did not reach the promised land, he saw it only from a distance. When we receive a call we do not know if we are to save ourselves, too, or only others. But what really matters is to keep walking, until the very end Mount Nebo can be a good place to die if before we have seen our people reach salvation.
Usually these blocked vocations arrive in times of great crises, when the natural habituation to emotions boils down to cancel the ability to experience pleasure from emotional consumption. An absolute dryness of feeling settles in, which is confused with spiritual aridity, and having identified the vocation with that first and only nourishment, people feel lost. Sometimes this great drought can open a new phase and mark the beginning of spiritual life. But this happy event is rare, because those who are in these "erotic" arid phases, instead of being helped to make a radical change of register, are very often encouraged to continue their inner consumption to regain the lost emotions. And the disease becomes incurable. They do not understand that in order to move from one stage of life to another they only need to learn to die.
No less common is the block at the stage of philia, which is harder to spot as illness and vocational failure, because the line between philia and agape is far more blurred than the one between eros and philia. Persons who reach the stage of philia experience fruits that resemble the ones typical of agape. When, leaving the individual eros behind, the chorus of community life is reached is we live a new kind of fertility, especially when compared with the sterility of an erotic phase prolonged beyond its natural span. This is why it is easy to be trapped by the community-philia, and not to arrive ever to the true agape phase. When we reach the age of philia, our individual identity ends up coinciding with the community identity almost inevitably. We identify with it to the point of not being able to say "I" but only "we." The arrival of the phase of agape then becomes a liberation from community philia, a great blessing which comes as a wound that can be very deep and painful. We cannot pass the age of eros and enter that of agape without crossing philia, because the agape communities is the resurrection of the philiia communities, and hence they are essential. When, in fact, personal identity has completely identified with a given group for years, to move to the new freedom of agape we go through a real death. The philia community must disappear to make way for the agape community. This disappearance brings with it all: the charisma, our personality, not infrequently even faith. This loss is total and radical, but there is no other way to reach the land of agape. The wisdom of those who accompany people during the crisis of philia is knowing how to indicate the promised land beyond the waves sweeping away everything, knowing to show a tree beyond the sea that is a lot more fruitful and lush than the dying bonsai.
Only those who have already passed the stage of philia (and that of eros) should accompany those who are still struggling in the ford. Too many rivers Jordan are never crossed because they have never been shown by the guides, or were confused with the River Nile of ancient slavery.
Download pdf article in pdf (86 KB)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717988
|
__label__wiki
| 0.844402
| 0.844402
|
en - English (Selected)
Procedure : 2017/2754(RSP)
Document stages in plenary
Document selected : B8-0460/2017
Texts tabled :
B8-0460/2017
Debates :
PV 06/07/2017 - 8.1
CRE 06/07/2017 - 8.1
Votes :
Texts adopted :
MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION
188k 50k
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0459/2017
PE605.587v01-00
with request for inclusion in the agenda for a debate on cases of breaches of human rights, democracy and the rule of law
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
on the cases of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo and Lee Ming-Che (2017/2754(RSP))
Elena Valenciano, Soraya Post, Jo Leinen on behalf of the S&D Group
NB: This motion for a resolution is available in the original language only.
European Parliament resolution on the cases of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo and Lee Ming-Che (2017/2754(RSP))
B8‑0460/2017
-having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in China, in particular the one of 21 January 2010 on human rights violations in China, notably the case of Liu Xiaobo, the one of 16 December 2015 on EU-China relations and the one of 20 th February 2015 on the Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy in the World 2013 and the European Union policy on the matter,
-having regard to the EU-China Strategic Partnership launched in 2003 and to the European Commission and EEAS joint communication to the European Parliament and the Council entitled ‘Elements for a new EU strategy on China’, of 22 June 2016,
-having regard to the EU-China Summit held in Brussels on 1 -2 June 2017,
-having regard to the 35th round EU-China dialogue on human rights on 22 - 23 June 2017 in Brussels, and the statement of Antonio Panzeri, the DROI Chair of 22 June 2017 on the occasion of the EU-China Human Rights dialogue of 22-23 June 2017,
-having regard to the EU statement at the 34st Session of the UNHRC on 14 March 2017
-having regard to the EEAS statement of 9 December 2016 on the International Human Rights Day,
-having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966,
-having regard to Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A.whereas the promotion and the respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law should remain at the centre of the long standing relationship between the EU and China, in line with the EU’s commitment to uphold these values in its external action and China’s expressed interest in adhering to these very values in its own development and international cooperation;
B.whereas Liu Xiaobo, Chinese literary critic, writer, professor, and human rights activist who called for political reforms has been formally detained in prison four times over the course of the last thirty years; whereas Liu was sentenced to eleven years imprisonment and two years deprivation of political rights on 25 December 2009 after he helped write a manifesto known as "Charter 08";
C.whereas on October 8, 2010, the Nobel Committee awarded Liu the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of his "long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.";
D.whereas Liu Xiabo was granted medical parole on June 26, 2017, after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer; whereas medical parole, doesn't mean he is entirely free and still subjects him to various restrictions; whereas Chinese authorities rejected requests by Liu and his wife to seek access to medical care of his choosing, or move to his home in Beijing;
E.whereas Liu’s wife Liu Xia has been held in effective house arrest since Liu was awarded the Peace Prize in 2010 and since then was permitted only limited contacts except with close family and a few friends;
F.whereas Lee Ming-che, a pro-democracy and human rights activist originating from Taiwan, went missing on 19 March 2017, after he crossed from Macau into Zhuhai in China’s Guangdong province; whereas China’s Taiwan Affairs Office confirmed at a news conference that the “relevant authorities” had detained Lee and placed him under investigation on suspicion of “engaging in activities that endanger national security”;
G.whereas the present events come at a period when the cross-Strait relations are deteriorating, while the year 2017 should have marked the 30th anniversary of the start of cross-Strait exchanges;
H.whereas China has progressed in the last decades in realisation of economic and social rights, reflecting its priorities for the people’s rights to subsistence and development, while the development of political and civil rights together with the promotion of human rights is limited and partially even regressing;
I.whereas last month a Member State blocked the initiative of an EU statement criticising the crackdown on activists and dissidents in China that was due to be submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 15 June; whereas according to human rights NGOs this was the first time the EU had failed to make such a statement at the UN’s top rights body.
1.Calls on the Chinese authorities to immediately grant 2010 Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo and his wife, Liu Xia parole on humanitarian grounds, allow him to seek access to medical care of his choosing, including overseas if he wished and freely communicate with the outside world;
2.Deplores the failure of the Chinese authorities to provide Liu Xiaobo with the necessary adequate medical assistance to diagnose the illness at an earlier stage and calls for accountability at every single level for those who wrongfully imprisoned him and misjudged his health conditions;
3.Calls on the Chinese authorities to provide evidence related to the case of Lee Ming-Che or to release him immediately; to ensure in the meantime that Lee Ming-che is protected from torture and other ill-treatment and that he is allowed access to his family, a lawyer of his choice and adequate medical care;
4.Recalls the importance for the EU to raise the issue of human rights violation in China at every political and human rights dialogue with the Chinese authorities, in line with the EU’s commitment to project a strong, clear and unified voice in its approach to the country, including the yearly Human Rights Dialogues; further reminds that in its ongoing reform process and increasing global engagement China has opted into the international human rights framework by signing up to a wide range of international human rights treaties; therefore calls on pursuing the dialogue with China to live up to these commitments;
5.Regrets the failure of the EU to make a statement on Human Rights in China at the UN’s Human Rights Council in Geneva in June; calls on all EU Member States to adopt a firm value-based approach towards China and expects them not to undertake unilateral initiatives or acts that undermine the coherence, the effectiveness and the consistency of the EU action;
6.Notes with interest the progress in the current negotiations on the investment agreement with China, and reiterates the point made on the occasion of the 5 July 2016 Resolution on the implementation of the 2010 recommendations of Parliament on social and environmental standards, human rights and corporate responsibility (2015/2038(INI)).
7.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Government and Parliament of the People’
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717992
|
__label__cc
| 0.612291
| 0.387709
|
Leamington Letters #118: "Depart, I say, and let us have done with you."
According to The Sunday Times Tony Blair is planning a return to power, a move which will be doubtless greeted with rejoicing in some parts of the Labour Party and in the Portland PR consultancy.
Personally, I hope that his efforts are rewarded with the same result as that achieved by Nicolas Sarkozy who managed to scrape third place in a three horse race in his party’s primaries.
But Blair has higher ambitions. As well as his regular conversations with Peter Mandelson and an alleged search for Westminster premises to accommodate 130 staff – hasn’t he got enough property already? - he’s also been talking to the egregious George Osborne, whom the ‘lightweight’ Theresa May quickly discarded after her ‘election’ as Tory leader. Significantly, he has recruited Jim Murphy, the man who presided over the total collapse of Labour in Scotland.
What, I wonder, does this presage for politics in this country? Is there a ‘vacuum at the heart of the body politic’ that must be filled by the likes of Blair, Osborne and Murphy?
It seems to me that they were instrumental in creating the vacuum. Peter Hain records a conversation with Mandelson in the early days of New Labour in which he (Mandelson) states that “we don’t need to worry about the working class – they have nowhere else to go”.
They sure as hell did.
They did in the States, too. And I fear that their European counterparts will also embrace the similar rhetoric of the hard right parties in France and Italy, Austria and Germany.
Throughout the world, the neoliberal consensus has disintegrated. The centre cannot hold. What it does is move to the right, distorting the traditional alignments to the extent that the Corbyn-McDonnell economic policy (which is actually significantly to the right of the old SDP) can be termed by the mainstream media as ‘ultra-left’.
As a member of the Labour Party, I am not allowed to call anyone in the party a ‘Blairite’. People have been expelled for this heinous breach of the rules. And bizarrely, the ban applies even to Blair himself.
So I’m not clear what this new grouping of the ancien regime, if it materializes, should be termed. I am assuming that it will be a separate party – there is little chance of Blair winning an internal leadership election or even being selected as a candidate within Labour. We’ve seen how New Labour operated and the damage that it caused to the Labour movement, leaving behind – and losing the votes of - millions of traditional supporters. Those of us who remain and the thousands of new members will not accept it.
But the Liberal Democrats might. And Hilary Benn and Tom Watson and Angela Eagle and Owen Smith might.
There have been rumours since Corbyn’s second election that the Blai – sorry, the Labour right-wingers - have plans for a new party. Such a move has been mooted too many times to be mere speculation.
I would not be averse to this. They would receive the backing of the majority of the mainstream media, of course, just as did the SDP Gang of Four. They would probably receive massive financial support from the hedge funds and the City.
But the neoliberals are well past their sell-by date and winning genuine popular support in the country as well as within the enclosed world of the Westminster bubble is not the same as briefing and plotting against your party leader.
'You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing. Depart, I say, and let us have done with you."
Today from the everysmith vaults: Something of a concentration on the finer points of Bob at the de Montford Hall, Leicester in 1966, a show I attended but had not heard since the recent Live Recordings. Also and primarily, Captain Beefheart, especially the Hoboism bootleg and, having just discovered some long lost cousins, Big Eyed Beans from Venus. Oh my oh my!
Yes. You - we - keep talking about the last throw of the ancien regime, but I think this must surely be it. To drag back Blair from his money-making is desperation. For the first time in a generation, there is real impetus in a progressive strategy and the sooner they go their own way (whatever that is) the better.
There is more to this than meets the eye. I don't think he will do it - not enough money in it - but I do think it's part of the right's strategy, and this brings Blair on board. Which, in their ignorance, they think is a good thing!
But. Blair has said that he is labour. And as you correctly point out, whatever it is these guys want will not be achieved through Labour.
My guess is it's a flyer, to see what the response is. We must make sure our response is heard: a resounding NO.
the Dead's response: 'He's gone, gone and nothing's gonna bring him back'. At least, not if I have anything to do with it.
We're at a crossroads, aren't we? Remember the rest of your Yeats quote? The centre cannot hold / mere anarchy is loosed upon the world. I think he was right - we are moving into an era of anarchy, when there will be no order, no respect, no time for those who are left behind and no thought for the future. The bastards have won.
Quoting Cromwell? You Sidney Sussex people stick together.
We do. Ollie and I only 300 years apart - but same room!
Self-referring. Self-centred. Self-aggrandisement. Self-love.
Oh yeh, and self-serving!
And you didn't mention Iraq.
(notthat) Bob
I've read this twice now, and it is still not making sense. What has happened to the concept of Labour being a broad church? There is already too much division and the return of a proven leader will enable us to present a positive image to the electorate. I don't dispute Corbyn's integrity, but there is no point in a political party if it has no realistic chance of power. Iraq was a mistake, but it's gone. The crises now are more fundamental.
Bob 66? Just too much . Even for me. But the Captain? Just can't get enough.
It worked! He's said there is no chance of entering politics again!
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717993
|
__label__wiki
| 0.783488
| 0.783488
|
Luke Landolfi - Guitar-Vocals
Playing guitar for the NJ/NY live scene during the 70's and 80's, Luke has had the honor of working and performing with many great acts such as Les Paul, Paul Shaffer, David Johansen (Hot, Hot, Hot), Dr. John, Garrett Morris ,Twisted Sister, Talking Heads, Plasmatics and Joe Cocker. He has also toured with oldie shows such as The Drifters, The Coasters, Johnny Maestro and the Brooklyn Bridge, Chuck Berry and Dion. On one unforgettable night, he even shared a gig with Aerosmith! Luke’s incredible versatility and ringleader-like showmanship make the core of this band.
Troy Rusnack - Bass - Lead Vocalist
Troy brings his highly versatile vocal range to the band. His stylings run the gamut from the likes of Rob Thomas, John Cougar and The Outfield to Stevie Wonder, Journey, and Keith Urban. Country or Rock, Troy's vocals always make heads turn. Troy has been a finalist broadcast on WPLJ for their New York Idol contest and was also a finalist in their American Standard vocal competition, and has also been on Q104.3 and WPST. Troy gained national notoriety when he achieved finalist status in the net 10 jingle competition in October 2005, having his commercial aired on MTV and VH1.
Michael Landolfi- Drums
Mike has been playing drums since age of 8. Surrounded by a house full of musicians, “Mikey” boasts both incredible talent and an impressive repertoire for such a young age. Mikey is a humble drummer phenom. He is not only a great player but also a great showman ( watch” The Animal” solo either on the drums or virtually anything he can bang on!). Mike’s talent has enabled him to perform with Alice Cooper, John Wetton (Asia), Leslie West, Jimmy Neco, and Anton Fig, as well as local bands Overboard, The Nerds, and Lifespeed.
John McDonough - Vocals, Sax, Keyboards
John is a multi-talented musician who plays keyboards, guitar, and drums. Among John’s impressive accomplishments, he has performed with the Party Dolls, The Swinging Johnsons and many national acts. John is also a song writer who has written music for movie soundtracks. His smooth style rounds out the band’s sound, adding strong vocals and his versatile keyboard prowess. Having experience with various wedding bands, John can also play the ceremony and cocktail hour as he is highly experienced in this area and boasts a wide repertoire of music as a soloist as well, making him a valuable addition to the band.
Meet the band.....
Face 2 Face Band
Kelly Wask- Vocals
Always delivering captivating vocals, Kelly enchants audiences at every show. Having performed at the Apollo and Carneige Hall at a young age, she is truly engaging with both her vocal versatility and her dynamic presence. Her unique blend of country and rock vocals is unparalleled in the industry. Whether she is performing Etta James’ “At Last”, Carrie Underwood’s “ Good Girl” or Heart’s “Barracuda”, Kelly's impressive vocal range and styling make each song uniquely her own. Kelly revels in making each show highly interactive with each audience member and she is an incredible motivator to get the party started. In addition to her live performance work, Kelly is currently involved with various local and long-distance recording projects as songwriter, vocalist and vocal arranger .
Mark Friedman Sax / Clarinet / Trumpet / Vocals
Mark was educated at Jersey City State College where he received a B.A. in music education and jazz performance.
Mark has toured, performed, and recorded with Frank Sinatra, Buddy Rich, Tito Puente, Machito, The Big Three Palladium Orchestra, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Dizzy Gillespie, Manhattan Transfer, Glenn Miller, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Frankie Valle, Andy Williams, Wayne Newton, The Dalton Gang, and numerous others, including a Grammy Award winning record with Machito.
Currently he teaches on the Ramapo/Indian Hills HS music faculty. He also teaches many woodwind students in the New York metropolitan area.
One of the hottest acts on the NY/NJ scene, Face2Face is one of the best party-rock bands worth experiencing first hand. Including a pro line up of incredible musicians and vocalists, their extensive repertoire and instantaneous versatility goes without comparison, as the band injects each song with such infectious enthusiasm that it can't help but be contagious!
The band members’ extensive backgrounds (which include pro touring, commercials, radio recordings and the like), allow this diversified group to easily master all genres of music. From Abba to Led Zeppelin, from The Beatles to Pitbull, Face2Face delivers each song with both incredible precision and high energy.
When you see Face2Face, be prepared for a highly interactive event! This band really knows how to make every type of crowd feel like they are part of the band, often singing ( and even sometimes actually playing!) with them. They are masters of getting the audience to not only participate, but to become part of the infectious energy, ensuring every show is an unforgettable experience for all.
10 most F.A.Q
Dates and Schedule
Audio/Video Samples
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717994
|
__label__wiki
| 0.759002
| 0.759002
|
Low-key inauguration on May 29 as FG moves ‘major’ events to June 12
President Muhammadu Buhari will have a low-key inauguration for his second term on May 29.
Lai Mohammed, minister of information, disclosed this to reporters in Abuja on Monday.
Mohammed said most events for May 29 had been moved to June 12, the country’s new Democracy Day.
Last year, Buhari declared June 12 as Democracy Day in honour of MKO Abiola, self-acclaimed winner of the 1993 election.
Mohammed added that world leaders had already been invited to attend the Democracy Day on June 12.
“The decision to have a low-key inauguration for the President was taken at the meeting of federal executive council of Wednesday 8th of May, 2019,” he said.
“Invitations have been sent to all world leaders to attend the ceremonies marking the observance of the democracy day on June 12.
“Since the first observance of democracy day falls on an election year, and as a measure to sustain June 12 as democracy day, the celebration of the inauguration and the advancement of democracy in the country will now take place on June 12.”
He said the country cannot afford two major celebrations within two weeks.
Mohammed said details of the events, slated for the two ceremonies would be unveiled at a world news conference, slated for May 20 in Abuja.
JAMB remits N5bn to FG
Ganduje presents staff of office to new emirs
Prof Wole Soyinka says Nigeria is currenlty raising a generation of illiterates.
Making particular reference to Internet trolls, the Nobel laureate said the nation is raising a generation that is the first to comment on the internet on issues they are deeply ignorant about.
He made this remark when he spoke at the launch of InnoCreativa Youth Hub 2030 and project logo by Creative Youth Community Development Initiative (CYCDI) held at The Civic Centre, Lagos.
“They are waiting for Wole Soyinka to lead a march to Aso Rock. It is about time to get off your feet and stop writing rubbish on the internet about things you do not understand. I do not know how to describe the new generation beyond a generation of internet trolls.
“Nigerian youths are full of spunk outside, but when they are inside Nigeria, they are full of gas. We are building a generation of illiterates. They are the first to comment on the internet on issues they are ignorant about. When you talk about education, I get texts from the new generation and can’t believe these texts are from the youth.
“When I decided to build my house in the forest, I bought a second-hand diesel generator and asked someone to dig a borehole. I wanted to be self-sufficient. What I want to pass on to you is that I thought of the possibility of being self-reliant. This entails that I can come to cooperatives with others and demand things from the government by any means necessary.” Soyinka said
N22b Paris cash: EFCC seizes passports of 34 ex-Kwara officials
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has seized the passports of 34 top officials who served under former Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed over a N22 billion London-Paris Club refund.
Ten of them have been watch-listed to prevent them from fleeing the country, it was learnt yesterday.
The N22billion covers the N21billion drawn from the refund and the N1billion allegedly intercepted by the EFCC during the February/March elections.
There are four cases on alleged mismanagement of billions of naira by some ex-office holders in the state.
A top source, who spoke in confidence, said: “There are monumental cases of fraud already uncovered in Kwara State during the tenure of the ex-governor. We may need to call for reinforcement to be able to conduct the different dimensions of the ongoing probe.
“So far, we have seized the international passports of 34 former commissioners and top government functionaries during the administration of ex-Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.
“Out of the 34, about 10 former officers have been watch-listed to prevent them from escaping abroad. And if they travel out, we can effect their arrest in any jurisdiction.
“The list of the short-listed suspects has been sent to the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to prevent them from acquiring new passports.”
In a statement yesterday, EFCC’s Head of Media & Publicity Tony Orilade said the agency’s Ilorin Zonal Office “has submitted the particulars of individuals on its watch-list and under investigations in the state to the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, Kwara State Command.
It said the Acting EFCC Chairman Ibrahim Magu made this known through the Ilorin Zonal Head of the Commission Isyaku Sharu during a visit by the Comptroller of Immigration Service, Kwara State Command Edith Onyemenam.
The statement quoted Magu as saying those whose passports were seized had been trying to procure police reports to deceive the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) to issue them new passports.
Magu said: “The need to familiarise the NIS with the particulars of such personalities under EFCC’s investigation became necessary following intelligence at the disposal of the commission that some highly-placed individuals undergoing corruption probe and on the commission’s watch-list in the state have procured forged police reports with which they plan to apply for new international passports to escape from the country.
“Information at the disposal of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Ilorin reveals that these highly placed individuals are planning to use forged police reports to re-apply for new international passports to flee the country in other to escape prosecution and justice. The commission urges you to use your good office to place these individuals under strict surveillance.”
The EFCC boss described the visit as “a welcome development,” nothing: “As stipulated in the EFCC Establishment Act, the Nigerian Immigration Service is a member of the Commission. We can’t do anything without you. If we don’t collaborate with your office, we can’t get it right.”
Onyemenam hailed the EFCC for the cordial relations between the agency and NIS.
She said: “I am delighted to be here . We have cordial relations already. I am here to see that the relationship is well cemented. I want to see your support. My office will also give you support as well. If there is anything you want from my office, I will equally do that.”
Onyemenam said there was no cause for alarm over those on the watch-list, pledging that they would not get new international passports.
Open Letter To Former President; Chief Olusegun Obasanjo
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
Obasanjo presidential Library,
Abeokuta,
Ogun State.
I’m Kurtis Adigba, a lawyer, political consultant, and a citizen of Nigeria. I’m an idoma from Benue State. My father; Samuel Ochola Adigba, was a classroom teacher, and retired as a Headmaster. My father, was some years ago, the Benue State Secretary of the National Party of Nigeria( NPN). That was the highest he attained. My mother, was a school teacher who later joined the civil service, and retired as a Head of Department of Adult Education Department of Apa Local Government Area, of Benue State. She died in 2015.
I chose to introduce myself to you upfront so you know I have no pedigree to match yours, and because I know your supporters and attack dogs will come after me, and raise questions about my pedigree. They will ask: “who is his father….who is he to dare write a letter to a former Head of State and President..”. Now you know. And hopefully, they know too!
The only pedigree that I stand on to write you today sir, is my citizenship of Nigeria, a privilege and right I share and enjoy with you. The Constitution of Nigeria, confers on us ( you and me and others)the right to free speech. You have constantly and frequently exercised that right in writing letters to our fellow citizens who happened by good fortune to be former and present leaders of the country. Only yesterday, you penned and published a letter to President Buhari on the state of our nation. I’m writing you this letter in the exercise of the same right- free speech.
In your open letter to President Buhari, the last in the series, you raised so many critical issues: Boko Haram, Insecurity, Poor Management of our diversity, Unity or Disunity, Economy, Poverty, and of course, the violent death of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, the daughter of Pa Fasoronti, an elder statesman and leader of Afenifere, in the hands of some yet to be determined people. Some people have jumped to conclusions and prejudged the investigation into the despicable act, I have chosen to wait until investigators complete their work and inform Nigerians about their findings.
Sir, apart from the death of Mrs Funke Olakunrin, which is the trigger for the letter, there is nothing new in your new letter. Even her death, is not new in the sense that many Nigerians have been dying on that road and others, unmentioned. The only reason her death attracted your attention and that of others, is because she was the daughter of a powerful figure. After her unfortunate death sir, some Nigerians have died in similar circumstances unmentioned and unannounced, because they are ordinary citizens. As I write sir, many are suffering from the same fate.
Let me talk about the specific issues in your letter:
Boko Haram. The seed that germinated into Boko Haram, was planted under your Administration. It grew and became a big tree under your handpicked successors due to outright denial, mischaracterization, poor management,and corruption. It was under your government that full Sharia regime was introduced in Zamfara state. You chose to ignore it because you said it will fizzle out because of internal contradictions. It did at some point; but before then, it spread to other states with deadly consequences. One of the groups that emerged from the Sharia revolution that started in Zamfara, metamorphosed into the deadly terror group known today as Boko Haram. It is true that under your administration, Boko Haram, was an unknown group nationally, but it was under the administration of your handpicked successors, Yar’Adua and Jonathan, that Boko Haram exploded into the deadly terror group that it is today.
President Yar’Adua tried to deal with Boko Haram, but his poor health stood on his way. He died and was succeeded by president Goodluck Jonathan. It was under Jonathan that Boko Haram became the most deadly terror group in the world. They abducted over 200 girls from Chibok, killed over 100 children in Buni Yadi, carried out regular deadly attacks at Abuja and different parts of the country. President Jonathan from the onset denied and disputed the Chibok girls abduction. He said it was an orchestrated smear campaign against his person and government. It took a global outrage before he sprang into taking some tepid actions- he set up a panel to determine if the girls were indeed abducted. Sir, you wrote about the same issue in your epistle to President Jonathan. It was one of the issues you used to canvass support for the candidacy of president Buhari in 2015.
In your your previous letter to President Buhari, where you asked him to dismount from the horse of Nigeria leadership, you gave President Buhari some credits for dealing with Boko Haram and fighting corruption. You also called for more efforts in combating Boko Haram and corruption. As you know, President Buhari on assumption of office took the fight to Boko Haram. He relocated soldiers to the epicenter of the terror group’s operations. He recovered territories occupied by them, destroyed their key infrastructures, and forced them into negotiations leading to the release of some of the abducted Chibok girls. Many people hitherto unheard of, but in captivity of Boko Haram, were also set free. The government discovered massive corruption in the management of funds earmarked for procurement of equipment to prosecute the war on Boko Haram. The funds are still being recovered.
You mentioned that the government hastily declared victory against a group that is strengthening, I agree to some extent with you sir. I agree that the government oversubscribed itself when it declared that it has defeated Boko Haram. Boko Haram, is not defeated. It has been weakened, but it is still capable of Carrying out deadly attacks given the time, resources, and opportunity. We saw them abduct over 100 hundred girls from Dapchi after their “ defeat”. All but one of the girls, have been released. Leah Sharibu, is still being held by Boko Haram because she refused to denounce her faith in Jesus Christ. She is today the highest value target because of the religious factors made worst by people playing politics with her. God in whom Leah Sharibu trust as her Saviour and protector, will keep her. She will be freed from her captors. Amen. The government made a mistake in declaring victory over Boko Haram because, Boko Haram is fighting an ideological war. Ideology cannot be defeated, it can only be overcome by superior reasoning.
But on the whole, the current government has done much more to fight Boko Haram and contain their terrorist activities than any other government. It can do more, and it will do more.
Insecurity in the country. I believe that in the real world, cause has effect, and actions have consequences. The insecurity of today, is the consequence of the failures of the past. I’m talking about the huge and unprecedented corruption in the management of public resources that left us with poor infrastructures, created inequality with some few very rich and many so poor, that they cannot afford the basic things of life. I’m talking about the failure to manage the crisis that arose all over the country sir. When the agitation for better allocation of resources started in the Niger Delta areas under your watch, you responded with maximum force. You sent soldiers to invade Odi under the pretext of looking for the people who killed some soldiers. Many were killed, women and girls were allegedly raped, and the community destroyed. The people regrouped and armed themselves better. They started kidnapping expatriates and local oil workers for ransom. It became a huge business for some governors who claimed to have paid millions as ransom to free the victims. Your government did nothing to stop or prevent kidnapping, and it quickly spread round the country. what about Zaki Biam, where the invasion by the Army helped to militarized the people with deadly consequences for security in the area?
Your immediate successor, President Yar’Adua, tried to end the siege by proposing an Amnesty that was successful to some extent, but kidnapping has become a business. President Jonathan who succeeded Yar’Adua, didn’t do much in tackling kidnapping. President Buhari has made modest efforts in tackling it, but it is not enough because the governors are not playing complimentary roles. Peter Obi, former governor of Ananmbra state, fought kidnappers in the state to a standstill. Governor Obiano is doing the same thing. Lagos State, is also leading in the fight against kidnapping. Kaduna State has just enacted a law against kidnapping that prescribed death as punishment for the offense. Edo State too. Majority of the states, are not doing much sir.
Sir, you mentioned the killing of Mrs Olakunrin in your letter and described it as one death too many. In the statement you issued before then, you said her death has diminished Nigeria. I share in your sentiments and beyond sir. Her death, like the death of any Nigerian in the same or similar circumstances, is regrettable and diminishes the rest of us and the country in more than one way. But as painful and regrettable as her death is, it is not the first in the country. Under your watch as President sir, Chief Bola Ige, our nation’s Attorney General, was murdered in his home at Ibadan. The home, is supposed to be the safest place, but Ige was killed. Up and until now, no one has been brought to justice for his killing. What about Chiefs Harry Marshall and Sekibo? Funsho Williams and others? Of the people listed here sir, only Sekibo was murdered on the road. The rest were killed in their homes. No one has been found guilty for their murders. Do you then have the moral right to pontificate on insecurity sir?
You may not know this sir, but I want to tell you that bad roads and darkness, are also accelerators of insecurity and poverty. Bad roads ensure that motorists cannot move fast,and therefore, become vulnerable to the murderous activities of criminals. Under your watch as President, Billions of Naira were budgeted for roads, the roads were never built, but the funds disappeared. The Lagos-Benin Expressway featured in some many budgets but the funds were never utilized on the road. President Jonathan did a portion of it, and President Buhari, is working on some other parts. Your government did nothing about it. What about power? You claimed to have spent $16B on power, where is the Fower? Apologies to President Buhari. You generated megawatts of darkness with the humongous amount of money. And you don’t want us to talk about it! We can only imagine what that money would have done for the economy sir. Many of the people terrorizing the country today, may have been profitably engaged in other activities,and poverty, would have been significantly reduced. But you failed and betrayed our trust.
Corruption. Where do I start here? Is it financial or political corruption? Do you know know who started corrupting our political system sir? It is you. Under your watch, we conducted the worst election in Nigeria. Figures were randomly awarded to parties and candidates. You promised it was going to be a do or die Affairs and you delivered on your promise. The major beneficiary of that election, president Yar’Adua agreed with the verdict that it was indeed a horrible event, but you went round western capitals praising the same election. Who introduced garrison command politics in Nigeria? It is you sir. You subjected Governor Rasheed Ladoja to the whims and caprices of your garrison commander, Adedibu, the late Alafin of Molete. You supported and facilitated his impeachment by a minority group in the house of assembly. And when his impeachment was overturned by the Supreme Court, you dithered in enforcing the judgment until the NBA protested against your illegality.
What about the impeachment of Peter Obi In Ananmbra state, and Dariye of Plateau State? In both cases, less than two-thirds of members of the Houses of Assembly, carried out the impeachment under your watch. Maybe we didn’t have a Constitution then sir! Under your watch, Ngige, former governor of Ananmbra state was abducted by the private of Chris Uba, Eselu of Uga, and your man Friday. You did nothing sir.
Former Speaker Ghali Na’Abba, displayed bundles and wads of Naira running into millions of Naira that you bribed law makers with to remove him. You had no convincing deniability. What about the N50M given to law makers as bribe to get them to amend the Constitution and grant you life presidency? You denied it, but your daughter has confirmed it. You were behind it. It is true that you made efforts to fight corruption by setting up the EFCC, but you undermined the fight against corruption by your own actions. Let me remind you about the mismanagement of PTDF funds by you and your new friend, Atiku. The facts were made public during your roforofo fight. In 1999, when you were freed from jail, you had barely N100k. Today, you are said to be worth Billions. How did it happen and what did you do to become so rich? But you keep pontificating on corruption and pointing at others. Your like a sign post- pointing the directions, but never going there.
Mismanagement of our diversity. You accused the president of mismanaging our diversity, a claim you said is responsible for the myriad of our problems today. You said the president has made lopsided appointments in favor of the North and his people, I don’t have the data, and you also did not provide any to substantiate your claim. You expressed outrage over the pattern of certain appointments and election of leaders of the National Assembly in terms of ethnic and religious balance, but you did the same thing happened under your government. You also believe like some Nigerians that only equitable distribution of public offices and positions, will guarantee Unity and imbue a sense of belonging in all, it is not true. Yes, it a good thing to do, but it does not promote Unity, and it will not guarantee unity. For a moment, let us assumed you managed our diversity well, and that you distributed equitably the opportunities available to you, why was Nigeria not United under you? Why do you keep talking about equity only with respect to the FG? Where is equity in the states, including Ogun where you are an influential and consequential figure sir? I’m not against fair and equitable distribution of opportunities, but it is no promoter of unity. It will only provide jobs and access to the few, and in most cases, not on merit, but on connection.
Islamization and Fulanization. With fairness to you sir, the fear of Islamization has always been with some parts of the Nigeria. You played an active part in creating it. You and your party weaponized it against President Buhari. You said he is an Islamic fundamentalist seeking power to Islamize Nigeria. Many Nigerians believed you, and still believe you, even after 4 years of the man in power. Recently in Delta state, during the Anglican Synod, you upped the ante by declaring that the president had an agenda to Islamize and fulanize Nigeria. The of event, time, and audience, was telling. You tapped into the dangerous mood of the nation arising from the activities of herdsmen to ratchet up the tensions in the land, by telling Christians that Muslims and Fulani were coming after them and their lands and religion. You have created a dangerous and combustible Fulaniphobia in the country. It rings true to your reputation as a master schemer who can execute good and evil with equal efficiency.
Because of your actions sir, today, every criminal activity in Nigeria, is attributed to the Fulani. And I’m not saying that Fulani are not involved in criminal activities, they are in so many areas and cases, but it is not true that they are the only criminals in Nigeria. You singled them out to demonize President Buhari, who is also Fulani by tribe. Before Buhari became president, the Fulani were involved in different crimes and problems in all parts of Nigeria. After Buhari, the problems will continue if we don’t find solutions to them. Under your government, we had Fulani crisis. Same for Yar’Adua and Jonathan. Jonathan was at some point the grand patron of Miyetti Allah. Did he fulanize Nigeria? As a leader in this country, much more is expected from you. Stop encouraging centrifugal tendencies in Nigeria. It is funny that you are suddenly against the Fulani now. You campaigned so hard for another Fulani, Atiku to be president. The same Atiku, you accused of committing the most horrible acts of corruption against Nigeria; the man you said God will not forgive you if you support him to be president knowing what you know about him. He is still a Fulani sir.
Finally, I want to thank you for taking the time to read my long letter. I hope and pray that you find some of my thoughts useful! Nigerians are looking up to you to join other leaders in preferring solutions to the problems of the country. They are asking you to look at Gen. Yakubu Gowan, and make him your role model. My sincere respect and regards to you sir.
God bless Nigeria.
Kurtis Adigba.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1717997
|
__label__wiki
| 0.52477
| 0.52477
|
Home / Unlabelled / 7-year-old footballer sentenced to death in Afghanistan - "Football is against Islam"
7-year-old footballer sentenced to death in Afghanistan - "Football is against Islam"
Free Speech December 06, 2018
Afghan boy Murtaza Ahmadi has been targeted by Muslim members of the Taliban after he became an online sensation for using a plastic bag to imitate his idol, football legend Lionel Messi. “Little Messi” even got a chance to meet the Argentine player in Qatar. But now Murtaza and his family have fled their home in central Afghanistan amid Death threats by Muslim terrorists of the Taliban who sentenced the child to death for violating Shari'a laws.
According to the Taliban, Western Soccer and other sports events are the enemies of Islam.
Liberals and leftists in the West use the made up term "Islamophobia" to portray anyone who criticizes Islam as a racist.
Terrorists all over the world carry out terror attacks "in the name of Allah".
Islamophobia is a made up word created specifically to silence debate.
Liberals and leftists ignore the fact that it is an ideology that has nothing to do with race.
Islamophobia is a neologism created to silence any possible debate about the problems Islamic extremism has got with modernity, with the intention of using the collective post-colonial "guilt" to exempt a particular set of beliefs from scrutiny, analysis and criticism. It's a buzzword used in an attempt to silence anyone, whenever had legit questions or criticisms about the religion.
It is not a race. It's a religion.
The Parliament in Canada passed "Motion-103" to condemn the so-called "Islamophobia (Fear of Islam)" in a preparation for a blasphemy law in Canada.
By Free Speech at December 06, 2018
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718002
|
__label__cc
| 0.721619
| 0.278381
|
Château du Bousquet
Château du Bousquet Photo - Torsade de Pointes - Wikipedia - lic. under Public domain
Location: Arcambal, in the Lot departement of France (Midi-Pyrenees Region).
Built: 13th-17th century.
Condition: Partially ruined.
Notes: Château du Bousquet is a castle on Arcambal, France. The building is registered as historical monuments in 1979. The family of Arcambal is known by consuls of Cahors between 1230 and 1307. Knowing the family Bousquet starts with Jean Bousquet, knighted in 1341, brother of Cardinal Bernard Bousquet, archbishop of Naples. Jean Bousquet could be the builder of the first building. It was after the end of the Hundred Years War began the construction of the large central tower, between 1484 and 1525 and a significant part of the building as shown in the rose motifs and use écotés of sticks. In 1528, the heiress of the Catherine Bousquet castle wife Deslax a member of the family. In the seventeenth century the family Deslax Arcambal built the towers of the west facade and balustrade terrace. In 1787, completely ruined, the Marquis d'Arcambal Deslax, marshal of the camps and armies of the King, must sell the castle. The property is sold again in 1804, then in 1816, the ancestors of the current owners. The castle Bousquet is registered as historical monuments March 2, 1979.
Château du Bousquet Links:
Château du Bousquet On Wikipedia
Patrimoines Midi-Pyrénées : château dit "borie"
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718003
|
__label__cc
| 0.646733
| 0.353267
|
The John Coughlin story, tragic for all involved, should lead to empathy and understanding instead of finger-pointing
Let’s start with the simple fact that John Coughlin’s death is a tragedy.
Whatever the circumstances and reasons that led the 33-year-old pairs figure skating national champion to take his own life Friday, as his sister’s Facebook post confirmed, they do not mitigate the pain Coughlin’s passing has brought to his family and friends.
And the desire of those people to express their love and support for Coughlin does not mitigate the pain of those who have reported being victimized by him.
Coughlin’s death leaves many questions specific to his case that likely will never be answered and other, broader questions that should continue to be asked.
Yet too many people have felt compelled to draw conclusions based on assumptions, misinformation and misunderstanding.
January 23, 2019 / Philip Hersh/ 7 Comments
Figure skating, gymnastics, Sexual abuse, United States, U.S. Olympic Committee, John Coughlin
Figure Skating, Sexual abuse, SafeSport, U., U.S. Olympic Committee, U.S. Figure Skating, Gymnastics
For Biles And Ledecky, Greatness Comes From Going Beyond The Top
August 12, 2016 / Philip Hersh
RIO DE JANEIRO – In two hours Thursday afternoon, I went from watching Katie Ledecky, who defies the clock in a pool, to watching Simone Biles, who defies gravity on a gymnastics floor.
These two 19-year-olds, born three days apart in March of 1997, each dominates her sport in a way that leaves their rivals in awe.
“If Katie swims the way she can, we all are swimming for second or third,” Denmark’s Lotte Friis, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist, told me two months ago.
“I knew Simone was going to win; I was just hoping to get second,” her U.S. teammate, Aly Raisman, said early Thursday evening, when Raisman had done just that as Biles took the Olympic all-around title by 2.1 points, the largest victory margin in the last 40 years.
Biles has a team gold medal. And the all-around gold. And she will be favored to add three more in the individual events.
Ledecky has three golds and a silver. She is heavily favored to win a fourth gold Friday after setting an Olympic record in the 800-meter freestyle preliminaries Thursday.
What Biles and Ledecky share is the same plan for getting farther ahead of the opposition when triumph already is a foregone conclusion.
FOR THE WHOLE STORY ON TEAMUSA.ORG, CLICK HERE
August 12, 2016 / Philip Hersh/ Comment
2016 Rio Olympics, gymnastics, Swimming, Katie Ledecky, Simone Biles
Simone Biles, Rio, Swimming, Gymnastics
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718005
|
__label__cc
| 0.584074
| 0.415926
|
According to Statistics Canada consumer price index, prices in 2000 are 962.64% higher than average prices throughout 1924. The dollar experienced an average inflation rate of 3.16% per year during this period, meaning the real value of a dollar decreased.
In other words, CA$100 in 1924 is equivalent in purchasing power to about CA$1,062.64 in 2000, a difference of CA$962.64 over 76 years.
The 1924 inflation rate was -1.09%. The inflation rate in 2000 was 3.20%. The 2000 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 1.71% per year between 2000 and 2019.
Cumulative price change 962.64%
Price difference (CA$100 base) CA$962.64
CPI in 2000 96.700
Inflation in 1924 -1.09%
Then plug in historical CPI values. The Canadian CPI was 9.1 in the year 1924 and 96.7 in 2000:
96.7 - 9.19.1
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718012
|
__label__wiki
| 0.917826
| 0.917826
|
Browse ›› Home › Archive by category 'BRT'
Delhi budget: Focus on new buses but BRT given a miss
TNN |
NEW DELHI: With an allocation of Rs 3,702 crore, the transport sector has got the major part of the outlay in this year’s budget. Yet, the budget doesn’t make any new announcements, sticking to the old ones about renovation of inter-state bus terminals, more DTC buses, a larger cluster bus fleet and construction of the corridor over the Barapullah Nullah.This year’s budget allocation—less than last year’s Rs 3,876 crore—again highlights the change in the government’s priorities. While bus acquisition finds mention, there’s no talk of bus rapid transit (BRT) corridor. Fare integration with the Delhi Metro, with the introduction of the automated fare collection system, as well as renovation of the existing facilities at the ISBTs in Sarai Kale Khan and Anand Vihar are among other highlights.
The lieutenant governor has earmarked funds for the acquisition of 400 new cluster buses, to bring the fleet up to 1,600 this financial year. This is besides the 1,380 buses that will be bought for the DTC fleet. The budget also promises that DTC’s 1,300 old standard buses will be replaced this year. There is a requirement of 11,000 buses in Delhi and, as per an agreement between DTC and DIMTS, both are mandated to run 5,500 buses each in the city. While DTC operates around 5,000 buses, DIMTS has only 1,157 cluster buses. The budget also mentions renovation of the zonal transport offices.
Funds have also been set aside for the conversion of single-carriageway flyovers into dual carriageways in the city “due to rapid increase in volume of road traffic”. Construction of some of the selected flyovers will be taken up on priority, the budget adds.
The ongoing phase-II of the elevated Barapullah corridor is also mentioned in the budget. “This elevated corridor will be extended from Sarai Kale Khan to Mayur VIhar under phase-III,” it says.
Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BRT, DIMTS
BMC plans BRTS on coastal road
Written by Alison Saldanha |
Citizens can still benefit from the scheme which continues till July 31.
The Rs 9,000-crore road project, proposed to run from Nariman Point to Kandivali, has been cleared by CM and BMC.
A Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) is likely to become one of the key components of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s proposed Coastal Road project as the civic administration prepares its detailed project report (DPR) to be submitted soon to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) for deliberation.
The Rs 9,000-crore road, proposed to run from Nariman Point to Kandivali, has been cleared by the BMC and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan as a critical solution for decongesting traffic to and from the island city and western suburbs. According to additional municipal commissioner S V R Srinivas, who is in charge of the BMC’s civic roads department, the corporation has included this suggestion in the techno-feasibility DPR report, which is currently in the final stages of completion.
“We are just finalising the DPR and apart from what was initially considered, we now want to include a BRTS in the project. This is basically to encourage public transport which, at last count, had gone down by 12 per cent in its share of vehicular traffic on Mumbai’s roads. This is an alarming situation as public transport is crucial to reducing traffic congestion. We would like to encourage a project model that would be accessible to all,” Srinivas said.
The planned BRTS would have two lanes, one next to each curbside of the proposed eight-lane 35.6-km Coastal Road. “At the T-junctions of the road, there will be interchanges of bus services travelling to different parts. We are also considering express bus services connecting commuters directly from Nariman Point to Kandivali,” Srinivas said.
The civic body will hold meetings with the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply Transport undertaking (BEST) on the proposal soon after the DPR is completed. The corporation hopes that emphasising on the public utility of the project and increasing its accessibility to people will improve its chances of acquiring a green clearance sooner.
Mumbai’s BRTS plan has been stuck since the concept was introduced in 2008. The Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) had planned the BRTS between Bandra and Dahisar on the Western Express Highway and between Sion and Mulund checkpost on the Eastern Express Highway. BEST was to carry the project forward. However, complaints regarding the Delhi and Pune BRTS prompted the MMRDA to put the project on hold.
Source-http://indianexpress.com/
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BRT, Expressway
Funds paucity puts BRTS project in a limbo
JAIPUR: The Central government has refused to fund the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project, phase- 4 that was proposed to connect Ajmer Road and airport after extending the existing corridor. Also, funds sought for constructing sewerage and sewerage treatment plant (STP) under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) have not been sanctioned.
Sources in the department said, “There is not a complete refusal, the Centre has directed to send the revised detailed project report (DPR) of the projects. We will incorporate the details sought by the Centre. The sanctioning has been put on hold till that time.”In the previous government’s regime, considering the airport as an important point, the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) had decided to connect the BRTS route to Sanganer airport via B2 bypass. “The project was extended from Government Hostel to Amrit Nagar (New Sanganer Road) route to connect to the airport. The route is 13 km long and extension of 7km more will connect it with the Airport. The estimated cost of project was Rs 174 crore.”
Apart from this, the replacement work of the old and choked sewerage lines will also be halted. Sources claimed, “The sewerage line in the city area is over 40 years old and is in urgent need of repair or replacement. The project was not taken up due to paucity of funds.”
According to officials, the DPR to upgrade the sewerage lines in 12 cities, including Jaipur, was sent to the Central government. A senior official said, “The estimated population in the Walled City area is approximately 6 lakh, and the plan has been drawn accordingly. Pipelines of 200 mm width will be laid to curb the problem of overflowing. The project cost was nearly Rs 413 crore and we were expecting to receive half the amount under the scheme.”
A senior JMC official said, “The project is pending for over four years now. During this time, the project cost has also gone up by at least Rs 100 crore. Earlier, it was estimated at Rs 300 crore and a proposal was also sent to the state government for financial assistance. The state government later sent it to the Centre seeking funds under the JNNURM.”
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BRT, Default, JNNURM
Four-laning project hits a roadblock
GURURAJ JAMKHANDI, TNN |
DHARWAD: Had everything gone according to the plan, Hubli-Dharwad should have had theBus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in place by the end of 2014. But the pace of work suddenly slowed down causing inconvenience to the people travelling between Dharwad and Hubli.The demand for converting the 22 km between Dharwad and Hubli into a four-lane stretch to ease traffic congestion and to improve connectivity was long pending and the BJP government finally swung into action in 2011. Thirty acres of land was acquired for widening of the road.
The government had already sanctioned Rs 177 crore for converting the 10.5 km stretch between Alur Venkatrao Circle in Dharwad and Hosur Cross in Hubli into a four-lane concrete road. The 13.5 km stretch between Vidyagiri to Unkal Cross was to be 55m wide while from Vidyagiri to Alur Venkatrao Circle and Unkal Ccross to Hosur Cross the width was to be 35m. The work was assigned to GVR group of Andhra Pradesh.
The preliminary work of cutting the trees on either side was completed earnestly. Even as the work had begun, the idea of introducing Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) was mooted. The idea was to convert the road for BRTS and provide the two central lanes for BRTS while the two lanes on either side were to be for use by other vehicles.
When the demand came for upgrading the road into a six-lane stretch, more land was needed to make the road a six-lane. A team of experts from CEPT University of Ahmedabad prepared a plan for the BRTS between City Bus Terminus (CBT) in Hubli and CBT Dharwad covering a distance of 22.2km. The plan envisaged that the RTS track would have 39 stops, three underpasses, three subways for pedestrians and an overbridge. The RTS was to enable nearly 70% of commuters reach the destination fast and also reduce pollution. The World Bank-funded BRTS was to be completed in three years from 2011. BRTS involves providing two lanes exclusively for movement of buses, construction of depots, bus bays, subways, additional hi-tech buses and comprehensive ticketing system among others which would cost Rs 450 crore.
Principal secretary to the department of surface transport V Manjula at a meeting in 2011 said that the World Bank had already sanctioned Rs 202 crore and the remaining amount should be contributed by the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, NWKRTC and Hubli-Dharwad Urban Development Authority.
Considering the financial constraint and delay involved in finishing the preliminary work, the authorities had decided to go ahead first with the four-lane project.
The work which had started earnestly in 2011 has slowed down considerably. The passengers and the residents complained that people residing on either side of the road were facing trouble as the works have been stopped. Incomplete work has created pollution by generating dust. Commuting between Hubli and Dharwad has turned cumbersome.
* The 22 km stretch between Dharwad and Hubli was taken up for conversion into four-lane and the work of widening commenced in 2010 by Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL).
* 30 acres of land acquired for the purpose
* Trees along the road on either side felled to facilitate road-widening
* When this process was on, the idea of introducing Bus Rapid Transit System mooted
* BRTS needed acquisition of more land as there were plans to make the road a six-lane stretch
* Since the process of land acquisition was time-consuming, it was decided that the work of converting the road into four-lane stretch be finished first
Source- http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BRT, Projects
Nation’s longest bus corridor opened, named after Vajpayee
BHOPAL: India’s longest Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) corridor was inaugurated in Bhopal on Friday and named after BJP patriarch, Atal Bihari Vajpayee Marg. The 24-km corridor was opened by chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Union urban development minister Kamal Nath, who was expected to launch the first Mybus, did not turn up.Bhopal Mayor Krishna Gaur sought naming of the corridor after Vajpayee in her inaugural speech. Minutes later, Chouhan made the announcement.
The lone Congress MLA in Bhopal, Arif Aqueel, boycotted the function as the party wanted the corridor named after former President, Shankar Dayal Sharma, who was born in Bhopal. After opening the BRTS, Chouhan went on an inauguration spree to beat the model code deadline. He launched projects of Rs 400 crore, which included a multilevel parking at Ibrahimpura, the Bhopal-Indore Volvo bus service, MyBus depot at Sant Hirdaram Nagar.
Speaking at the occasion, Chouhan blasted the Centre for inflation even as his government was providing “low-cost public transport”.
He also elaborated on the developmental works done by BJP government. “When Congress was in power, only Rs 5 crore would be earmarked for roads. Now more than Rs 2000 crore have been spent on road development,” he said.
He also promised to develop colonies for migrant rural workers to regularise old illegal colonies. The CM also granted Rs 15 crore to BMC for maintenance and functioning of BRTS corridor. Mayor-in-council member K M Soni said the zonal plan for AIIMS, New Market and Bairagarh was in the offing. “Bairagarh zonal plan would be unveiled next year,” he said.
TR-3 was among the buses unveiled on Friday which would cover the entire BRTS corridor from Misrod to Bairagarh. 26 AC buses were added to the existing fleet of low-floor buses bringing the total number to 225 buses operated along various routes in the city.
The 24-km long corridor would take around an hour in the dedicated corridor and the fare would be Rs 26, Soni said.
Source-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BRT, buses, corridor
BRTS better than Metro Rail: Ex-Mayor of Bogota
(The HinduBUSES A BETTER BET: The BRT Corridor at Sheikh Sarai Area in New Delhi. The former Mayor of Bogots says this is a better option than Metro rail. File photo)
Though work on the Metro Rail project has already commenced in the city, former Mayor of Bogota, Enrique Penalosa, said that a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) could cater to larger number of passengers.
Speaking at an interactive session on people-centric urban transport held at the Anna University here on Friday, Mr. Penalosa said that most metro rail projects were highly expensive and only sought to cater to sections of the public who patronised private transport. They were not mass transport systems. Batting for the Bus Rapid Transit System and Dedicated Bus Lane Systems, he said such schemes could ensure speedier transit and reduce congestion on city roads as it could replace cars and two-wheelers.
He stressed that building high-speed transport corridors and highways had not solved the traffic problem of any city. “In cities such as Boston, highways built at the cost of several billions of dollars, are being demolished now as residents find that they create more traffic jams and reduce road space for other purposes.”
As President of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), an international organisation promoting environment-friendly transportation, Mr. Penalosa is advocating governments of developing countries to introduce BRTS and popularising non-motorised forms of transport such as cycling for affordable and sustainable transportation in cities. “Transportation policy must address how to reduce private vehicle use in any city,” he said.
Vikram Kapur, member secretary of the Chennai Metropolitan Transport Authority, made a presentation on the transport projects lined up for the city, in which he referred to the upcoming Metro Rail project as the future lifeline of the city. He spoke of developing radial transportation corridors in the city as the future course of action to improve transportation in the city.
In a presentation, Shreya Gaddepalli of ITDP showed how the BRTS system had already gained popularity in Ahmedabad.
Source-http://www.thehindu.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BRT
Civic bodies asked to make buses safer, more comfortable
Manish Umbrajkar, TNN |
PUNE: New buses that will be introduced on city roads will be safer, more comfortable for both passengers and drivers, and will be equipped with in-built ITS technology, if the municipal corporations of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad act on the recommendations of the union ministry of urban development. The ministry has recommended these features to 61 municipal corporations that come under JNNURM.
PMPML, the city public bus transport company has already procured 650 buses under JNNURM funding. However, officials say it plans to make a fresh proposal to procure additional buses that would conform with the new specifications.
Officials of the Pune-based Central Institute of Road Transport(CIRT), which was one of the institutions that made suggestions on urban bus specifications, said they took into account requirements of urban commuters while making them. Specifications have also been listed for Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) buses.
According to the report on urban bus specifications, buses plying within the city should also be made more attractive so as to encourage more people to use them. They should also be made accessible to people with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments, it states.
Prashant Kakade, coordinator of the management development centre and a specialist in traffic engineering solutions at CIRT says urban public transport is different from state transport and that make these urban bus specifications significant. In cities, a large number of people, including senior citizens, children, women and even those with physical impairments use public transport. “All these factors have been taken into account while drafting the specifications. For example, the width of the gangway is wider in urban bus specifications because the number of standing passengers is quite high,” he said. Another factor taken into consideration is the insistence on low floor buses to help senior citizens board the bus. For BRTS buses, level boarding facilities have been recommended.
The report lists specifications for various types of buses based on the city’s requirements. Besides specifications for standard size normal and BRTS buses, mini and midi buses, there are specifications for standard size premium segment, and intelligent transport systems. Kakade said that the specifications are compulsory for JNNURM buses, as there will be a third party inspection when the buses are delivered to the cities by suppliers. The third party inspection will be done by institutions such as CIRT and Automotive Research Association of India, he said.
The cost of travel in these buses would be more than in normal buses, but their performance would be better in terms of fuel efficiency and would be safer, more comfortable for passengers and drivers. Buses will be able to move at improved speed, while noise levels in the buses will be less, Kakade said. Instead of using metal which adds to the dead weight of the buses and affects speed, the buses would be made of fibre, he added.
Incidentally, PMPML has planned to install intelligent transport system requirements in the 650 BRTS buses it has already procured under JNNURM. The undertaking has recently called for offers from private contractors for installation of the ITS requirements. For BRTS operations, the buses have level boarding facility, officials said.
The high powered expert committee on urban infrastructure and the ministry of urban development has estimated that cities in India need about 1.5 lakh buses that would cost approximately Rs 60,000 crores in the next 20 years. The report further cites that only 20 of 85 cities with over 5 lakh population (in 2009) offered an organised city bus service. The recommendations of the working group on urban transport for 12th five year plan includes introduction of organized public transport in all two lakh plus population cities and state capitals, as one of its goals. The report asserts that city bus services have been the major mode of public transport, and this will continue.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BRT, Transport
Intelligent traffic system for BRTS soon
AHMEDABAD: After facing the wrath of pedestrians and car owners during peak hours along the BRTS corridor, theAhmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL) has stepped up to install intelligent traffic management systems across all major BRTS junctions.
The traffic management system will first gauge the traffic density in each of the lanes and then give way to lanes that have the maximum vehicle density. The traffic management system will also monitor vehicle density across various arterial routes to ensure steady flow of traffic. The present traffic junctions along the BRTS corridor are either manned or are controlled with traffic lights that have timers installed in them.
The present intelligent system will operate lights as per vehicle density. Along with this system, the Japanese government funded traffic information system is also being installed. The Japanese project is worth Rs 11 crore and will see installation of information boards that will suggest vehicle owners route diversions at the junction, via large LED display boards and also on their smart phones, in case there is traffic ahead on a particular route.
Source -http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BRT, ITS
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718015
|
__label__wiki
| 0.75237
| 0.75237
|
Center for Entrepreneurship in Informatics
Institutional | About Us
The Institute of Informatics (INF) is a center of excellence in Computer Science and Computer Engineering research, teaching, and innovation. Our history began in the early 1970s with the Postgraduate Program in Computing.
Our faculty is composed of 75 professors, which makes it one of the largest Computer Science and Computer Engineering groups in the country covering a great breadth of research areas. We currently have 900 undergraduate and 300 postgraduate students. A team of 30 admin staff give support to our activities.
At Undergraduate level, we offer BScs in Computer Science and in Computer Engineering – both degrees being ranked among the best in the country by the Ministry of Education and by the Ministry of Education and independent assessors such as Folha de São Paulo and Editora Abril. The Institute has awarded more than 1,300 BScs in Computer Science and over 200 BScs in Computer Engineering.
At Postgraduate level, we offer MScs and PhDs in Computer Science. PPGC, the Postgraduate Program in Computing is ranked with the highest grade by the Ministry of Education, being among the five CS programs in the country to receive such distinction. In collaboration with the School of Engineering, we host the multidisciplinary Postgraduate Program in Microelectronics. Our faculty also participate actively in the postgraduate programs in IT in Education.
INF is divided into two academic units – the Department of Applied Informatics and the Department of Theoretical Informatics – and offers degrees in Computer Science and Computer Engineering.
The Institute of Informatics is part of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), a public institution with a strong sense of community service and committed to both high-quality education and world-leading scientific research.
Our mission is to prepare highly qualified professionals, to contribute to scientific knowledge and innovation, and to support technology transfer to the Industry to the benefit of both university and community.
INF continuously seeks to consolidate itself as a center of excellence in undergraduate and postgraduate education, research in science and technology, with a realistic vision of the Brazilian society and the future. INF also serves the community through extra-curricular activities and by fostering entrepreneurship, technology transfer, and regional economic development through CEI – Center for Entrepreneurship in Informatics.
INF maintains active collaborations with other units of the University, the industry, and other universities in Brazil and abroad.
The Institute of Informatics has a world-class infrastructure for teaching and research. Our labs are modern and well equipped with 690 computers and workstations, and users of these facilities can choose to use systems running Windows or Linux operating systems. The infrastructure we offer also comprises twelve teaching laboratories used by undergraduate and graduate students, and 35 research labs shared among the several research groups. Admin staff in the computer support team maintain this infrastructure. In addition to research laboratories, the Institute of Informatics has the following spaces for classes, meetings, presentations, lectures and defenses:
– 6 auditoriums equipped with multimedia projector and PC;
– 11 classrooms equipped with multimedia projector and PC.
– 2 rooms equipped for video conferencing.
The Institute was founded in 1989 as one of the units of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), the largest public university in southern Brazil. It is engaged in teaching, research, and other services to the community in the areas of Computer Science and Technology. It originated from the Academic Division of the Data Processing Center of UFRGS (later named Department of Informatics), which was in charge, since 1968, of the teaching and research in computer science activities at UFRGS.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718017
|
__label__wiki
| 0.877993
| 0.877993
|
Captain Fantastic, Madman Across The Water, and Honky Chateau (Island/Universal/Universal Chronicles)
By: Alex Steininger
Universal's Chronicles series has given the hybrid SACD treatment to three of Elton John's most memorable records: Captain Fantastic, Madman Across the Water, and Honky Chateau.
All three are now available in the hybrid multi-channel super audio format known as "SACD". Which means the CDs are now available in 5.1 surround sound and can be played on standard CD players, super audio CD players, and super audio multi-channel systems, the latter offering up truly superior sound to experience these songs in all their glory.
Never before have Elton John's sounded so crisp, clear, precise, and pristine.
"Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "We All Fall in Love Sometimes", and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", off of Captain Fantastic. "Tiny Dancer" and the title track off of Madman Across the Water. And "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to be A Long, Long Time), "Honky Cat", and "I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself" from Honky Chateau sound better than ever. Some of Elton John's most memorable moments, now available in high-quality surround sound.
Better than that, the liner notes give insight into the making - and what was going on behind the scenes - of each record. Helping you to even further connect with these timeless classics.
The SACD quality truly brings out a lot of nuances to Elton John's songs here. Already treasures, Captain Fantastic, Madman Across the Water, and Honky Chateau are re-lived, with new life breathed into them. Obviously geared towards audiophiles (who most definitely own top-notch vinyl players and have been enjoying these classics in their purity for years), and hardcore Elton John fans, these SACDs don't disappoint. I'll give them each an A.
Elliott: U.S. Songs Elton John: One Night Only - The Greatest Hits
[Issue Sixty-Nine // Feb-Mar-Apr 2005]
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718019
|
__label__cc
| 0.536918
| 0.463082
|
CHRZANOW: Katowickie/Malopolskie
Alternate�names: Chrzan�w [Pol], Kshonev [Yid], Krenau [Ger, 1941-45], Keshanov, Khshanov, Khshanuv, Krashanov, Kreshanov, Kshanev, Kshanov, ???????-Yiddish.� 50�08' N, 19�24' E, 23 miles W of Krak�w, 19 miles SE of Katowice, 10 miles NE of O?wi?cim (Auschwitz). Jewish population: 3,591 in 1880 and 6,330 in 1931. S?ownik Geograficzny Kr�lestwa Polskiego (1880-1902), I, pp. 650-651: "Chrzan�w". Yizkors: Sefer Chrzanow (Regensburg, 1948); Sefer Chrzanow; lebn un umkum fun a yidish shtetl (Roslyn Harbor NY, 1989); Sefer Chrzanow; Le-zichram shel kedoshei ha-ir she-nispu ba-Shoa (Ramat Gan, 1994); and Alon Chrzan�w (Tel Aviv, 1971). This town in southern Poland with 39,704 inhabitants in 2006 in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship since 1999 and the capital of Chrzan�w County, from 1919-1939 belonged to the Province of Cracow (Voivodeship) in the Second Polish Republic. In the interwar years industrialization of the town increased. In 1939 the number of residents was 22.000. With outbreak of WW2 on 1st September 1939 the town was flooded with refugees from Upper Silesia. In the morning of 3rd September Polish local government was evacuated from the town, as well as many residents. The following day, after a number of short skirmishes with the Polish troops, the town was occupied by German troops. In November 1939 when the town with the western half of the county was annexed directly to the Third Reich Chrzan�w was made a county town in the Katowice region of Upper Silesia.In 1940 better homes in the town were confiscated and given to German officials, military, policemen, and German settlers from Romania, renaming everything in German. In 1941 the town was renamed Krenau. Jewish residents imprisoned in the unwalled ghetto created in 1941. In 1942, Germans started sending Chrzan�w's Jews to the death camp in Auschwitz-Birkenau with the last transport in February 1943. German occupation ended on January 24, 1945 when Chrzan�w was taken over by Soviet troops. About one quarter of the town was damaged and the population decreased by almost half. Local museum has Judaica collection. [April 2009]
CEMETERY: photos and photos. video In March 2009, vandalism took place at the Jewish cemetery when unknown perpetrators damaged 50 matzevot. The local museum staff reported the�act to the police; investigation is underway. Necessary repairs may cost as much as 75 thousand zlotys. The cemetery in�Chrzanow was renovated in 2007 thanks to the cooperation between the local authorities and the Jewish community. Located on Chrzanowie Street Borowcowej since 1763, the cemetery consists of two parts: the large and the small cemetery. "Large" still survives although not in its entirety. "Small" was the place where today is the gasoline station and road Podwale. Both cemeteries can be seen on the plans Chrzanowa from 1842, 1843, and 1848. A letter issued in 1961 by the Congregation for Religious Confessions Krakowska Jewish Association� to the Ministry of Economy stating that the municipal cemetery survived the Second World War in fairly good condition, but significant damage was done after the liberation, when - after the forced removal by the municipal caretaker living at the cemetery "both the building and the cemetery became the subject of brutal devastation. Broken windows, doors, roof, etc., which resulted in the destruction of ceilings and other equipment. At the same cemetery� most of the memorials were destroyed, the cemetery wall in many places demolished. " In the 1.6 hectares are approximately 1,500 gravestones, the oldest of which dates from 15 November 1802 year. An inventory of gravestonesis� available on his website. Two ohel were restored and are a place of pilgrimage for Jews from all over the world. In the first is of Buchner Solomon ben Moses, the famous pupil of Samuel Szmelke Nikolsburg (Mikulov), from the year 1796 in Chrzanowie tzaddik died in 1828. The second family ohel remains from the tzaddikim dynasty Halberstam: those of Dawid Halberstam son of Chaim Halberstama from Nowy Sacz,� who died in 1894, the founder of the Chrzanowie tzaddikim dynasty and his sons J�zef Zvi Halberstam,� Naftali Halberstam, and Moj?esza, and grandsons J�zef Elimelech Halberstama ben Joseph Moses, and�Baruch Halberstama son of Moses [April 2009]
CEMETERY: In the local museum, you can get the address of the person holding the keys to the cemetery gates. Photos [April 2009]
MASS GRAVE: At the cemetery there is a mass grave of 37 people shot by the Germans in 1939. [April 2009]
The US Commission is not finished rechecking this file. [2000]
REFERENCE: They Lived Among Us: Polish Judaica, a travel brochure: Arline Sachs, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
REFERENCE: Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel A Guide to East-Central Europe. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992. pgs. 25, 74 CHRZANOW I: � � US Commission No. POCE000541
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718022
|
__label__wiki
| 0.986718
| 0.986718
|
Thomas Rhett’s New Album Features Collaborations With Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town & Jon Pardi
by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | March 28, 2019
Thomas Rhett revealed the track listing, songwriters, featured artists and cover art for his upcoming fourth studio album, Center Point Road, which will drop on May 31.
The 16-song album takes its name from the street in his Tennessee hometown that shaped much of his life experiences. TR co-penned every track on the album, which also features a who’s who of top songwriters, including Shane McAnally, Ashley Gorley, Jesse Frasure, Karen Fairchild and more.
In addition, the album features a number of collaborations with other artists, including Kelsea Ballerini (“Center Point Road”), Little Big Town (“Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time”) and Jon Pardi (“Beer Can’t Fix”).
“For me, Center Point Road really symbolizes what it was like to grow up in Hendersonville [Tennessee],” says TR. “First dates, first football games, first heartbreak, first kisses, success and failures. I really feel like that road shaped who I am today, and it felt fitting because the record, for the most part, is pretty nostalgic. Songs like ‘Almost,’ ‘That Old Truck’ and especially ‘Center Point Road,’ really describe who I was as a kid and teenager, and who I’ve become as an adult.”
Center Point Road Track Listing & Songwriters
“Up” (Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Shane McAnally)
“Don’t Threaten Me With a Good Time” featuring Little Big Town (Thomas Rhett, Karen Fairchild, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus, Jonathan Yip)
“Blessed” (Thomas Rhett, Sean Douglas, Joe Spargur)
“Look What God Gave Her” (Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Julian Bunetta, JKash, Ammar Malik, John Henry Ryan)
“Center Point Road” featuring Kelsea Ballerini (Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Amy Wadge, Cleve Wilson)
“That Old Truck” (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Kamron Kimbro, Ryan Tedder)
“VHS” (Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Amy Wadge)
“Notice” (Thomas Rhett, Sean Douglas, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley)
“Sand” (Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Michael Hardy)
“Beer Can’t Fix” featuring Jon Pardi (Thomas Rhett, Julian Bunetta, Zach Skelton, Ryan Tedder)
“Things You Do For Love” (Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Luke Laird, Josh Osborne)
“Remember You Young” (Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley)
“Don’t Stop Drivin’” (Thomas Rhett, Zach Crowell, Ashley Gorley, Josh Miller)
“Barefoot” (Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Matt Dragstrem, Josh Miller)
“Dream You Never Had” (Thomas Rhett, Rhett Akins, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley)
“Almost” (Thomas Rhett, Jesse Frasure, Ashley Gorley, Amy Wadge)
To get the party started, TR has released the album’s uptempo lead single, “Look What God Gave Her.”
“I think I played this song 2,000 times in a month after we first wrote it,” says Thomas Rhett. “It makes me want to dance. It makes me want to move. And to me, the song really is a celebration of how awesome my wife is. I know I’ve done that in the past, but I’ve never really done it in an uptempo way.”
Listen to “Look What God Gave Her” below.
photo by Tammie Arroyo, AFF-USA.com
written by Jim Casey | @TheJimCasey | published March 28, 2019 4:20 pm
category: NCD News | related posts: Center Point Road, jon pardi, Kelsea Ballerini, Little Big Town, thomas rhett
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718026
|
__label__cc
| 0.628817
| 0.371183
|
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is Mentioned in the Bible
Dr.Zakir Naik's Lecture in Sri Lanka
Does Quran contradict Science?
THE EARTH'S GEOID SHAPE
Behind the War on Terror
Why Somalia's Fishermen Became Pirates
The Three Prophets - One Message
Passion of Jesus: Son of Mary
The Oil Factor
After assessing today’s dwindling oil reserves and skyrocketing use of oil for fuels, plastics and chemicals, documentary The Oil Factor questions the motives for the U.S. wars in the Middle-East and Central Asia where 3/4 of the world’s oil and natural gas is located.
With exclusive footage shot on location in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan, the film documents the spiraling violence now engulfing both Iraq and Afghanistan, a country conspicuously absent from the commercial media’s news segments. Interviews gathered throughout the Middle-East, Europe and the United States, including a Bechtel executive in Baghdad, also expose who is cashing in on the tens of billions of dollars requested from congress by the current administration of G. W. Bush.
With detailed maps and graphics, The Oil Factor features many experts and personalities such as former Defense Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski, M.I.T. professor Noam Chomsky, the Project for the New American Century Executive Director Gary Schmitt, Coalition Provisional Authority Chairman Paul Bremer, former Pentagon analyst Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatkowski, current Iraqi government official Abdel Aziz Al-Hakim and authors Ahmed Rashid and Michael C. Ruppert. What we’ve seen is a very quiet plan to privatize Iraq’s oil. This is not really surprising from an administration that is run by former oil executives.
Watch the full Documentary to find the TRUTH
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718027
|
__label__wiki
| 0.801294
| 0.801294
|
Forum of Federations
Fellows of the Forum of Federations
Partner Governments
Annual Reports and Evaluations
MENA Project
Gender Based Programs
Publications and Educational Materials
Arabic Resources
Introduction to Federalism
Federalism by Country
Federalism Library
Support the Forum
Forum of Federations on Facebook
Forum of Federations on Youtube
Forum of Federations on Twitter
Home > Events > Australian country round table debates globalization and treaty-making
Australian country round table debates globalization and treaty-making
Participants at the Forum’s Global Dialogue round table on foreign relations in Canberra.*
Key members of Australia’s Parliament and senior officials from the Australian states gathered recently in Canberra to discuss how Australian states participate in the natione’s foreign policy, and how to enhance their involvement in foreign issues. The select group of practitioners and experts also included senior staff from federal ministries, assistants to Australian premiers and academics. The March 30 country round table was organized by the Forum of Federations as part of its Global Dialogue program. Similar events are to be held in 11 other federal countries around the world. The round tables on foreign relations will feed into an international round table to be held in Canada in October 2006. The results of all these events will be published in a forthcoming book and a concise booklet.
Participants at the round table talked about major reforms that were made to the Commonwealth of Australia’s treaty-making process. The 1996 reforms included the establishment of a Parliamentary Committee, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, which is generally regarded as an effective body, and a Treaties Council comprising the heads of the federal government and the six state governments, which is viewed as having been less successful. The premiers of the six Australian states will be meeting with the Canadian premiers in a special meeting in Montreal on April 11 – a meeting organized by the Canadian Council of the Federation.
Participants debated the effects of globalization and its impact on the States. In the past the most contentious treaties concerned human rights and environmental issues, but that today it is the negotiation of trade treaties, such as the Free Trade Agreement with the United States, which is having the greatest effect upon the states.
The Australian officials also discussed the operation of the Standing Committee on Treaties, which is composed of a committee of officials from the federal and state governments. This body meets regularly to discuss treaties of importance to the states. The states took the view that the level of consultation with the sub-national units, on treaties of significance to them, has improved greatly. But they believe that additional work needs to be done to co-ordinate how treaties are to be implemented, once entered into.
The Global Dialogue on Federalism is a joint program of the Forum of Federations and the International Association of Centers for Federal Studies. The program creates forums around the world through which experts exchange experiences, ideas and academic research to identify emerging challenges and to inspire new solutions.
* From left to right: Mr. Ben Dornan, graduate student, University of Sydney; Professor Kim Rubenstein, Australian National University; Professor Don Rothwell, University of Sydney; Mrs. Petrice Judge, Western Australian Dept. of Premier and Cabinet; Mr. Mark Duckworth, Victorian Dept of Premier and Cabinet; Dr. Andrew Southcott MP, Chair, Joint Standing Committee on Treaties; Ms Devika Hovell, University of New South Wales; Mr. Mark Jennings, federal Attorney-General’s Department; and Mr. Henry Burmester, federal Chief General Counsel. Outside the photograph: Ms Nicola Roxon, the federal Shadow Attorney-General and Mr Michael Bliss from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
, Australia
© 2019 Forum of Federations. All rights reserved.
The De/Centralisation Dataset
CANEOM
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718029
|
__label__cc
| 0.674056
| 0.325944
|
Should I Fix My Transmission or Sell My Car? - FOX21- Entertaining Delmarva One Click at a Time
Should I Fix My Transmission or Sell My Car?
Monday, July 1, 2019 8:50 AM EDT
Originally posted on https://www.cashcarsbuyer.com/blog/should-i-fix-my-transmission-or-sell-my-car/
Did you know that cars can now last from 200,000 to 300,000 miles?
That’s right! And all those miles driven translate to an average age of 11.6 years. That’s the longest lifespan ever recorded for vehicles in the U.S.
That said, you’re likely wondering if your beater still has a few more years left on it. It depends on which parts are now nearing the end of their service life. If the issue is a faulty or failed transmission though, prepare to shell out thousands of dollars.
What exactly goes into a transmission replacement cost though? What about repairs or transmission part replacements? Knowing these will give you an idea why in a lot of cases, replacing a transmission may not be your best choice.
Ready to figure out whether to get a replacement transmission or just sell your car for the right price? Then let’s dive right into it!
The (Many) Factors that Can Rack Up Transmission-Related Costs
Transmission systems are complex, consisting of an unimaginable number of moving parts. From the planetary gear sets to clutch packs to output shafts, the list goes on. Keep in mind that these primary components are also made up of many other parts.
This sheer number of parts that make up a car’s transmission is what makes them super expensive. It’s also the reason a transmission is one of the most valuable car parts to scrapor sell.
That should already give you an idea of how hefty their repairs or replacements could be. As if that’s not enough, there are also many factors that can further drive the costs up. For starters, there’s the car’s year, make, and model, but that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
Age of the Car
The older or rarer your car is, the harder it’ll be to find replacement parts for it. As you can imagine, this will increase your mechanic’s fee, since it’ll take a longer time to hunt for parts.
The Manufacturer
Costs also depend on who manufactured your car, such as if it’s a domestic brand, like GM or Ford, or if it’s imported. US-made transmissions usually cost less to fix or replace than a BMW or Volkswagen.
Manual vs Automatic
There’s also the matter of whether it’s a manual or automatic transmission. Manual transmissions are often cheaper to repair or replace.
The Severity of the Transmission Problem
How big the damage to your transmission is will also affect your costs. If you followed your recommended fluid change timeline, you may be looking at a lower repair cost. Whereas a clunker that’s been through a lot will definitely cost a lot more.
Your Own Location
Did you know that in 2018, driving in New York entailed spending an average of $18,926? Granted, that higher cost is due to congestion, parking, and “parking pain”, which upped costs by $11,689. Still, these three factors put a strain on a car’s components, such as the transmission.
That said, your location will also affect how much you’ll shell out for a transmission, be it for repairs for a new one. If you live somewhere with high living costs, then expect to pay more.
Who’ll Do the Repairs or Replacement
If you do everything yourself — from finding parts to repairing or replacing — then you can drive your costs down. If you choose a repair shop, you’ll face varying prices based on who and where they are. The more “popular” and reputable they are, the more money you would likely have to spend on their services.
Cost of Transmission-Related Repairs or Part Replacements
Before we get into transmission replacement costs, let’s first take a look at the cost of common repairs. They may look cheap upfront, but again, your own costs depend on the factors we listed above.
Transmission Fluid Flush
While a transmission fluid flush is quite cheap, a Lamborghini Diablo owner once paid $766 for it! If you have a non-luxury ride though, a standard fluid flush should only cost you about $75 to $150. This can go up to $300 if the mechanic needs to use a pressurized machine.
Transmission Leaks
A leaky transmission repair cost usually falls within the range of $150 to $200. Leaks that affect the front seal, however, will cause a considerable spike in the costs.
Shift Solenoid Replacement
A single shift solenoid can cost between $15 and $100. Add labor costs into the equation, and you’ll end up with a $150 to $400 bill. The more solenoids you have to replace, the higher the price tag will be.
Transmission Replacement Cost: How Much You Can Expect
Expect a new transmission cost to run between $1,000 to $6,000. Keep in mind that the bigger the vehicle is, the pricier it is to replace its transmission. For instance, replacing one on a sedan comes with an average price tag of $2,300, while it’s around $2,800 for a pickup.
Whether your ride is a luxury or a “regular” vehicle also affects cost. For a non-luxury car, a manual transmission replacement can cost between $1,500 and $3,000. You’ll shell out $500 to $1,000 more for a re-manufactured automatic transmission.
As they are, luxury vehicles come with the heftiest replacement cost — up to a whopping $10,000.
When It Makes Sense to Sell Your Car Instead
Replacing a transmission is expensive, but for many, it’s a good way to delay the bigger expense of buying a new car. There are many other cases though, wherein it makes the most sense to sell a car, especially when it comes to safety.
Your Car Has Visited the Repair Shop A Lot Lately
Before the transmission failed, perhaps your ride’s engine kept stuttering first. Or you’ve seen an increase in the number of times you had to fill up the tank. It’s even possible your brakes keep squealing or the steering wheel always shakes.
Either way, you had to bring your car to the mechanic several times in the last few months. Now that you have a failed transmission, you’re looking to shell out thousands of dollars more.
Calculate how much you’ve already spent getting your car repaired. Then, ask yourself if another huge car repair bill is worth it. Chances are, it’s not worth the trouble or all the headaches that come along with it.
In this case, you may want to consider selling your junker instead.
Your Ride’s Value Isn’t That Much Anymore
Past repair bills aside, factor in the value of your ride without the new transmission. For example, its current value is $3,000.
Now, consider the replacement transmission that will cost you, say $3,000. Your mechanic says this will hike up your car’s value to $5,000. However, there are other repairs or part replacements that you also need to address ASAP.
These other costs will bring your total bill to say $4,000. If you sell it after the repairs and replacements, you’ll make $1,000. You can also keep driving it, but the longer you do, the more it’ll also depreciate.
All seems fair enough, right? Well, if you think about the time and energy you spend bringing your car to the shop and finding a buyer, not really.
So, unless you share a strong sentimental bond with your beater, you may be better off selling it. If there are too many soon-to-be-dead parts, you may get a better deal junking your car instead.
Your Clunker is Becoming More Dangerous to Operate
Every year, about six million car accidents happen on U.S. roads. While not all are fatal, these crashes still injure a whopping 3 million Americans.
And yes, vehicle malfunctions can also cause such accidents.
Take a failing transmission, for instance. This makes it difficult for the car to stay in gear, which can then lead to the vehicle stalling. If this suddenly happens on a busy road, the vehicle behind the stalled car can crash onto it.
That’s only one example, and it’s only for a bad transmission. Now, think about all the other issues your car has, and the risks they put you in.
Your safety — and the well-being of other people you share the roads with — should always be your priority. If operating your clunker has become too risky, it’s definitely not worth driving. But it’s definitely worth selling.
Selling Your Car Fast if It’s Giving You Too Much Trouble
There you have it, an in-depth look on how much a transmission replacement cost is. The bottom line is, it’s expensive, and in some cases, not worth your time and dough. Consider selling your junker instead, especially if it’s near or way past its service life.
Ready to part ways with a car that’s too pricey to repair or just taking up space in your garage? If so, then feel free to ring us up now! We can help you transform that unusable, even unwanted chunk of metal into cash.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718030
|
__label__cc
| 0.736104
| 0.263896
|
06/30/2019 Results: 70.3 Coeur d'Alene
Select GenderFemaleMale Select CategoryPro18 to 2425 to 2930 to 3435 to 3940 to 4445 to 4950 to 5455 to 5960 to 6465 to 6970 to 7475 to 7980 to 8485 to 8990 PlusPC Select countryArgentinaAustraliaAustriaBelgiumBrazilCanadaChileChinaColombiaCosta RicaCroatiaCubaCzech RepublicEgyptFinlandFranceGermanyGuatemalaHondurasIndiaIsraelItalyIvory CoastJapanLiberiaMexicoNepalNetherlandsNew ZealandNorwayPanamaPhilippinesPolandPuerto RicoRussiaSerbiaSingaporeSlovakiaSouth AfricaSpainSwitzerlandChinese TaipeiTunisiaTuvaluUkraineUnited KingdomUnited StatesUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsUruguayVanuatuVenezuela Apply
Reed, Tim AUS 1 1 1 00:25:00 02:08:19 01:11:18 03:47:54 3500
Appleton, Sam AUS 2 2 2 00:23:25 02:08:06 01:13:31 03:48:09 3495
Amberger, Josh AUS 3 3 3 00:23:09 02:08:20 01:14:13 03:48:49 3483
Laundry, Jackson CAN 4 4 4 00:25:14 02:08:18 01:12:58 03:49:30 3471
Hanson, Matt USA 5 5 5 00:25:18 02:08:11 01:16:23 03:52:54 3410
Deckard, Robbie USA 6 6 6 00:25:50 02:13:08 01:12:01 03:54:02 3389
Killam, Nathan CAN 7 7 7 00:26:00 02:11:29 01:17:33 03:58:15 3313
Shearon, Jonathan USA 8 8 8 00:26:58 02:10:21 01:18:12 03:58:59 3300
Daerr, Justin USA 9 9 9 00:25:12 02:14:40 01:16:09 03:59:12 3296
Mantell, Ernest USA 10 10 10 00:25:53 02:12:53 01:17:37 03:59:37 3289
Portmann, Kevin FRA 11 11 11 00:26:57 02:12:10 01:17:37 03:59:59 3282
Gillespie, Dylan USA 12 12 12 00:25:01 02:14:03 01:19:20 04:01:19 3258
Winslow, Timothy USA 13 13 13 00:25:17 02:13:33 01:23:25 04:05:31 3182
Talansky, Andrew USA 14 14 14 00:25:57 02:05:42 01:31:37 04:06:22 3167
Pohl, Jason CAN 15 15 15 00:26:54 02:19:17 01:17:39 04:07:30 3147
Volk, Devin USA 1 16 16 00:26:33 02:19:35 01:19:15 04:08:29 3500
Rudson, Ben CAN 16 17 17 00:25:58 02:18:44 01:21:23 04:09:26 3112
Garcia, Derek USA 17 18 18 00:25:56 02:16:21 01:25:27 04:10:42 3089
Wood, Travis USA 1 19 19 00:26:52 02:16:45 01:23:59 04:11:01 3500
Picard, Raynard MEX 1 20 20 00:30:09 02:17:17 01:19:36 04:11:15 3500
23... 126次へ ›
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718031
|
__label__wiki
| 0.927783
| 0.927783
|
Ex-Bond Trader Says Brazil Luring CBD Investment as Demand Grows
Ex-Bond Trader Says Brazil Luring CBD Investment as Demand Grows April 17, 2019, 11:30
A former U.S. bond trader turned medical marijuana evangelist sees cannabis cash starting to flow faster this year in Brazil, where imported CBD is the only legal game in town.
Photographer: Eilon Paz/Bloomberg
Stuart Titus, chief executive officer of California-based Medical Marijuana Inc., expects sales at the company’s unit in Brazil, to more than double this year.
“Brazil is a great opportunity for us,” he said in an interview in Sao Paulo. “We’ll definitely be continuing to invest.”
Medical Marijuana Inc., which is scheduled to report earnings this week, expects to post total revenue of $65 million to $68 million for 2018, up from $26.5 million a year earlier, according to the company. Titus, who fled Credit Suisse First Boston in 1990, declined to say what percentage of sales come from Brazil.
CBD, which doesn’t get you high, is benefiting from easing regulations around the world. Companies are pitching it as a natural way to reduce ailments from stress to inflammation. The trendy cannabis compound, found in both hemp and pot, has exploded since being decriminalized in the U.S. late last year, and it’s starting to draw more interest in international markets, including Brazil.
Brazil has allowed the import of CBD-based products for medical treatment since 2014, according to the country’s food and drug agency. Titus’s Medical Marijuana buys hemp produced in Europe and exports it to the U.S., where it’s processed into CBD. It’s subsidiary in Brazil sells products for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. The Brazilian Association of Epilepsy estimates 1.2 million people have the refractory type of the disease, with seizures that can’t be controlled by anti-epileptic drugs.
Recreational use of marijuana remains a crime in Brazil, and President Jair Bolsonaro, an evangelical former army captain, opposes easing adult-use weed regulations. Still, he’s said he isn’t opposed to a bill in Congress that would legalize the production and use of medical cannabis. In neighboring Uruguay, marijuana has been legal for almost six years.
Career Pivot
Titus, 62, invested in Medical Marijuana in 2009, when the company went public. At the time, it was using prepaid debit cards to manage tax collection and payments for marijuana dispensaries in U.S. states that had legalized the drug for medicinal purposes.
Titus initially helped the company raise venture capital, and in 2015, he moved to San Diego and became chief executive officer, overseeing a strategy transition to focus on CBD.
See Also: Cannabis Investors Eye Uruguay in Global Weed Export Push (1)
The company has operations in Mexico and currently ships products to Paraguay. It’s setting up an office in Argentina and is also looking at opportunities in Asia, Titus said. Beyond its use to treat seizures, Titus says CBD will be embraced as a daily nutritional supplement.
“Certainly there’s a lot more we’d love to do,” he said.
bloomberg.com
Amgen Profit Beats Estimates as Drugmaker Raises Forecast
Amgen Inc., the maker of cancer treatments and blood boosters to combat anemia, reported first-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and raised its forecast for the year on stronger-than-expected drug sales. The shares rose in late trading.
Robots for stroke rehabilitation
Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire and a team of European partners have developed a prototype of a robotic glove which stroke sufferers can use in their own home to support rehabilitation and personal independence in receiving therapies.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718035
|
__label__wiki
| 0.508207
| 0.508207
|
Ask the US Embassy
Clearing Customs
Work still needed to deal with housing in the Caribbean — study
WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) — A study examining the state of social housing in six Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries has found that while regional countries have made great strides in the housing sector, there's still much work to be done to bring these initiatives to scale given the region's growing housing deficit and urbanisation rate.
The study titled “The State of Social Housing in Six Caribbean Countries” reviews the implementation of social housing programmes from 2000 to 2015 in The Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) said that the period studied encompasses the emergence of neighbourhood upgrading programmes, increasing urbanisation, and the integration of environmental sustainability into housing programmes, especially those in vulnerable coastal areas.
“The report underscores the importance of housing to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the larger agenda in poverty alleviation, economic development, and climate resilience.”
According to the 117 page report written by Michael G Donovan and Pauline McHardy, Caribbean countries have made great strides in the housing sector and have experimented with new models of social housing policy.
They said regional governments have pursued new programmes to encourage private sector involvement and investment in social housing through a number of incentives, including revolving low-income housing funds for the construction of new housing units and granting blocks of land to private developers to build social housing.
“In addition, many Caribbean countries have adopted the concept of incremental housing and have developed programmes to respond to the qualitative as well as the quantitative housing deficit,” they wrote, adding that the information collected in the report has offered guidance in creating, implementing, and monitoring future social housing policies.
But they noted 'despite these efforts, work remains to be done to bring these initiatives to scale given the region's growing housing deficit and urbanisation rate.”
The report illustrates that the challenge of social housing provision is compounded by other issues in the Caribbean, including the increasing cost and limited availability of land, which underscores the need for more efficient urban land markets as well as limited access to secondary mortgage markets.
It also makes references to the insecurity of tenure and complexities surrounding regularization; vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change; and insufficient efforts to induce the private sector to serve a much larger segment of the market.
St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre to place products on market
High demand for J'can workers in Michigan hospitality sector, says labour minister
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718036
|
__label__wiki
| 0.778452
| 0.778452
|
A Deeper Shade Of Purple: An Exclusive Interview With ROGER GLOVER Of DEEP PURPLE
By Shelly Harris, Chicago Contributor
Tuesday, August 18, 2015 @ 4:57 PM
"I love what I do! And that's why the word "luck" keeps coming in our lives. We're very lucky to be doing this."
When you're revered as a member of one of the three bands (DEEP PURPLE, LED ZEPPELIN, BLACK SABBATH) that pioneered and molded the direction the entire hard rock and heavy metal genre, and you're also one of the most revered bassists in that genre, then you hardly need an introduction or backstory before getting to the meat of an interview with KNAC.COM.
Nevertheless, Roger Glover, who has been with DEEP PURPLE on and off since 1969 (for most of the band's most successful years) and who is equally well-known for his songwriting and production as well as his bass riffs, still good-naturedly weaves some of that intriguing DEEP PURPLE history into this conversation that occured after the fist gig on the DEEP PURPLE current 2015 summer tour.
We talk about the band's upcoming new and recent releases [particularly the live recordings now being released on Ear-Music, From The Setting Sun (In Wacken) & To The Rising Sun (In Tokyo)] and the mindset that keeps Glover and DEEP PURPLE going strong as one of the longest touring bands in the history of Rock.
KNAC.COM: Ah, you're in Nashville this morning, the Music City!
GLOVER: Yes, I haven't ventured outside yet, but, in general, I love Nashville; I think it's great! When we were arriving for the show last night, we passed by the downtown area with all the amazing clubs, and the bars, and the music, and the life! It was just wonderful.
KNAC.COM: You're on another tour that lasts throughout the summer ... it appears to be starting here and ending in Europe.
GLOVER: Yes, it's not the start of a tour, it's a tour that has actually lasted for the past few decades ... whether there's an album out, or anything else, we'll still tour anyway.
KNAC.COM: Well, there aren't many bands still out there who have done it longer or as consistently... and I want to get back to that later, but, for the moment, maybe we can talk about the two new video releases coming out on EarMusic?
GLOVER: Yes, well they weren't planned - certainly not by the band. Both shows were filmed, and EarMusic actually had the idea, that we should do two shows, highlighting the differences between audiences. Everywhere we go in the world, we face different audiences every night. It's kind of an interesting topic anyway. But theses seemed like such extremes. Wacken is a real serious, industrial-strength, heavy metal festival. It goes on for days, it's wonderfully organized, it's really well stocked with people, security, refreshments - it's just a wonderful experience. But the crowd is a real heavy metal crowd. It's tattoos and fists in the air and stuff like that. By comparison, Budokon is a very sedate place, and very polite, and even though they are a great audience, it is a completely different setting. And yet, we're the same band, and so I thought it was an interesting juxtaposition - a great idea, and I don't think anyone's ever done that before.
KNAC.COM: Yes, and the titles, From The Setting Sun (Wacken) To The Rising Sun (Budokan), has that polar opposite imagery that obviously fits in with that juxstaposition. Were they recorded in a fairly close time proximity, or was there a gap?
GLOVER: There was probably just a year between them, or something like that. And they were actually shot in 3D, so there will be a 3D version of it.
KNAC.COM: I think there is also a Blu-Ray version available. Do you know if those will also be downloadable?
GLOVER: No, I don't really. The exent of my involvement with it was in the studio. So now all these formats are all their business [EarMusic] ... so I don't really know the answer.
KNAC.COM: You've produced in the past, so were you involved in the production in any way?
GLOVER: The production was done by two guys in the studio called Chamelion in Hamburg (Germany). I went up to visit them, just to see how they worked, and I approved of them very much. I think they did a great job. And when they finished they would send them to me and I would listen to them, make a few comments, send them back, and they would change a few things. That's how we worked. So, I had very little to do with it other than to be the overseer.
KNAC.COM: You did extensive production for other artists in the past, and are you still doing any of that these days?
GLOVER: Well, I don't really have a lot of time for that. Most of the productions I did - and I did a lot - were mostly during a six year period. And then I joined RAINBOW, and I produced RAINBOW of course, and then PURPLE came along again, and I produced those few bits of PURPLE. You know production is a kind of amorphous thing - you don't know whether you're producing or just being a musician in a band. It's somehow part of the same thing. But I don't do outside productions, because I don't have two or three months clear. Because of the band, it doesn't happen; between family and DEEP PURPLE touring, life is full.
KNAC.COM: I'm sure you do have to pace yourself in order to have this longevity to be touring like you have been all of these years, right?
GLOVER: Well, it does require certain sacrifices. You're away from your family, to start with. I have young children again. They really miss me when I'm away, and I understand that. We keep in touch, but that's not the same. For all of us, family life is important, but it's also important to tour, so the sacrifice is really on the family ... and you tend to lose friends. Things happen - parties, wedddings, funerals - and you're away, and you have to lose your social circle a bit. But I'm not getting out my violin! (laughs) The reward is to be in a band that - mysticly - are still around after 40 odd years. People say, "Did you ever think you'd be touring this long?" and, no, of course you don't think that. You think when you join a band that it may last a couple of years, and, if you're really lucky, five years, and then you sort of drift off ... But for some reason, it's just kept on, so you enjoy the ride.
KNAC.COM: Well, obviously you wouldn't keep on doing it if there wasn't a reward in it ... Is the response from the audience at the shows part of the incentive to keep on doing it?
GLOVER: I suppose that is part of it. People say, "How does it feel to look out from the stage and have thousands of people loving you?" Well, it's hard to explain how you feel. There's a shot of electricity! When you are playing, you are living every micro-second. You're so in The Now, because you have to be. You have to react very quickly to what the other people in the band are playing, etc., etc. It's very intense ... and though your mind is focused on the job at hand, it can wander off a bit, and you look at the crowd and you say, "How did I get here?!" But, there's more to it than that. I think we all go back to our childhood when we get up onstage. Fifteen-years-old and that thrill of connecting with music that enthralls you - that's still there. Plus, how many people have two lives? I have a life at home, and I have a life on the road, so that's a rarity.
KNAC.COM: I actually think that's a recipe for the fountain of youth, to have something that you're passionate about, and then plug that into the things you just mentioned. It could be very good for the health ...
GLOVER: Passion! ... Some people don't find their passion. People often do what they do just as a job, to support themselves, and that's fine - there's nothing wrong with that - but I do feel sorry for some people who don't like their job. I love what I do! And that's why the word "luck" keeps coming in our lives. We're very lucky to be doing this.
KNAC.COM: When people love and have a passion for something or what they do, regardless if it is music or something else, then they never really retire because it is what they are. So, that must be the case with DEEP PURPLE too, despite the fact that touring and the travel is never easy.
GLOVER: Yes. But it is easier these days than it was in the past. A cold van with no heating, broken down on the side of the road in winter! I've been there for many years.
KNAC.COM: The modern conveniences and modes of transportation do make it somewhat easier, I imagine. In addition to these new releases, you also had one that came out last year, Live In Verona, that included an orchestra. DEEP PURPLE does have a strong association with incorporating orchestras...
GLOVER: We have a long history of working with orchestras, from right at the beginning when I first joined the band. Jon Lord, the keyboard player, wrote the Concerto called the "Concerto For Group And Orchestra". And in 1969 we performed that at the Royal Albert Hall, and we've done a 30th Anniversary of that event, which is really what brought the name DEEP PURPLE to the attention of most of Europe. In fact, in 2012 we did a whole tour with an orchestra that was wonderful! When you think of bands and orchestras, you think of the band in front, and the orchestra behind, sawing away at the riffs and making them sound bigger - and a lot of bands do that. But, on this particular tour, it was more jazz than classical. And all the people in the orchestra were young, and a lot of them were in bands themselves, so they understood timing. So, in the end, instead of being five rock musicians and 40 member orchestra, it became a 45 piece band because we joined together so well, and worked together so well. That is the tour Verona comes from, by the way. The tour went on for four or five months, but Verona [Italy] is obviously a special spot, because it's beautiful!
KNAC.COM: Okay now, going forward with DEEP PURPLE and yourself, do you just take it a day at a time, or year-by-year? Is there a plan?
GLOVER: I do it second-by-second, personally! (laughs) Well, the last studio album, a few years ago, was Now What? That was a really good experience, and that was very successful for us. It was produced by Bob Ezrin. In fact, Bob came to the show last night, because we had recorded it in Nashville. And, we had a couple of writing sessions, and we'll have a few more, and start recording early next year, probably back in Nashville and certainly with Bob Ezrin again, so, looking forward to that. But, in the meantime, we've got some touring to do!
Zoinks!: An Exclusive Interview With Guitarist JOHN 5
Timeless Rock: An Exclsuive Interview With MICK BOX And PHIL LANZON Of URIAH HEEP
No Parking Space For Disgrace: An Exclusive Interview With ERIC AK And MICHAEL GILBERT Of FLOTSAM AND JETSAM
Video Interview: JOSH TODD Of BUCKCHERRY And Concert Photos From Portland, OR
JUNKMAN Recaps The 2019 SONIC TEMPLE FESTIVAL
Finding Their Place In The Sun: An Exclusive Interview With JANET GARDNER & JUSTIN JAMES
Dio Returns! An Exclusive Interview With RIPPER OWENS Of DIO DISCIPLES For The DIO RETURNS TOUR
KNAC.COM Recaps The 2019 RIDE FOR RONNIE
Loyal To A Fault: An Exclusive Video Interview With Oregon's THE LOYAL ORDER
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718038
|
__label__wiki
| 0.861997
| 0.861997
|
Jewish-Theater.com
All About Jewish Theatre
All About Jewish Theatre is the only global network dedicated to Jewish theatre and performing arts. Reaching 150,000 weekly visitors from more than 100 countries, this unique online resource presents a worldwide audience with the vital history and daily streaming of information on Jewish theatre and performing arts.
This was their website from 2002- 2014.
The new owner of the domain wanted to keep at least some of All About Jewish Theatre archived content available to visitors who might happen upon this site.
The current Hebrew version of the All About Jewish Theatre is found at: https://www.jewish-theatre.com/he/home
We believe in the need to recollect our past, understand the present and plan for the future.
All About Jewish Theatre strives to make the history and present of Jewish culture accessible to all, at any time, from any place. We plan to achieve this by fulfilling the following objectives:
Promote, cultivate and digitally distribute the study of Jewish theatre and performing arts
Provide an interactive global network for audiences, researchers and theatre artists worldwide
Encourage and foster the creation of contemporary and original Jewish theatre
In December 2001, thirty Jewish theatre directors and academics from around the world met in Tel Aviv at a conference titled “Towards a Vibrant and Coherent Theatre of the Jewish People,” hosted by the Jewish Agency’s People to People Center. They concluded with the decision to establish a Jewish theatre network on the web.
Pursuant to the conference, the Jewish Agency asked Moti Sandak to plan and design this Jewish theatre website, to be based on his own initiative and ten years of research in Jewish theatre, rare collection of plays and professional articles, connections with leading libraries and databases around the world, and three years of accumulated research in Internet information technology together with European R&D; institutions.
Since its launch in 2003, All About Jewish Theatre has become the leading source of information on Jewish theatre and performing arts, working in collaboration with leading artists and researchers, as well as cultural, preservation and academic institutions worldwide. It puts all the information on Jewish theatre at your fingertips, on one single website. It puts all the information on Jewish theatre at your fingertips, on one single website.
In 2008, All About Jewish Theatre was featured in Facing Tomorrow, President Shimon Peres' first international conference, which took place in Jerusalem. The Virtual Museum of Jewish Theatre and Performing Arts, the second phase of All About Jewish Theatre, was selected to take part in the conference exhibition, displaying the 60 most exciting upcoming projects to be launched in Israel.
All About Jewish Theatre offers a particularly unique array of products and services for audiences, theatre professionals, students, researchers, and other related institutions. These include:
Some 50 news columns providing updates on everything that is happening in the world of Jewish theatre
A list of resources encompassing more than 4,000 articles, books, magazines, films, plays and links to other relevant websites
A directory of more than 1,000 organizations, artists and decision makers in the field of Jewish culture worldwide
A showbiz section providing professional information, business opportunities and connections for your upcoming projects
An online catalogue of one person shows
A production point center offering consultancy and research services, as well as marketing for events to some 1,500 artists and decision-makers in the fields of Jewish culture worldwide
Book reviews, calls for proposals and information on upcoming conferences and festivals all over the world
All About Jewish Theatre thus provides extensive online exposure and coverage of performances, projects, plays, articles, and facilities of all kinds related to Jewish theatre and performing arts, expertly linked and easily accessible.
By logging into All About Jewish Theatre, you will:
Keep informed on industry news and events
Save research time
Easily promote your projects
We invite you to join us free of charge in order to enjoy these wonderful benefits and services. Register in our directory and submit your own information, news and announcements today!
Theatre Directors
Stage Designers and Architects
Events and Festivals Producers
Professionals from Museums, Libraries & Archives
Historians and Researchers
Cultural heritage Experts
Jewish communities Worldwide
Best Website of the Jewish World (Jewish Agency, 2003)
Artifact – Best of the Web for Arts and Creative Industries (University of the Arts London, 2004)
Intute – Best Web resources for education and research network of UK universities (University of Oxford, 2004)
World's Best Jewish Theatre, Art and Culture Website (World Jewish News Agency, 2006)
Welcome to the All About Jewish Theatre Showbiz Arena
Here, organized for the first time under one roof, you can find a wealth of professional information, business opportunities and connections for your upcoming projects.
For ease of access, this information has been grouped into four categories:
As you plan a European tour for your latest play, or during an international tour itself, you may find yourself with an unbooked "window" on the calendar. Then this is the place to publicize your production and quickly receive invitations to mount extra performances in partnership with various festivals and producers. If you represent a hall, amphitheatre, convention center, or community center, and your calendar has some dates free, then this is the place to publicize your venue, offer the unfilled dates, and hear from theater troupes, ensembles, convention organizers, and workshops, from near and far, that would like to come rent your facility.
If your goal is additional funding for a new production, or backing to develop a new play, or a grant or commercial sponsorship for your next festival, then this is the place to find the information you need.
If you represent a fund or a corporation interested in sponsoring a theatre festival or other prestigious event, then this is the place to receive international exposure and check out a variety of candidates from around the world who may fit your requirements.
If you wish to put your latest production in front of a new audience, or to market it in additional areas or countries, then this is the place to find a spectrum of information about upcoming festivals and various competitions that are looking for new ensembles, productions, and troupes.
If you are a festival organizer seeking additional productions to fill out your program, or if you are manager/producer of an international competition offering a prize for a new play, then this is the place to publicize your search and receive wide international exposure.
We hope this ShowBiz Arena will give added value to your professional work.
"Lost and Found"-an Off-Broadway Show
By Irene Backalenick
Adoption in this country has grown steadily, among families of all faiths-and that includes Jewish families. Or it may be that the subject is now more openly discussed. In any event, despite its greater visibility, the subject of adoption has not, to our knowledge, made its way to the stage. That indeed is one good reason to see Paul Harris' "Lost and Found," playing through the month at the Phil Bosakowski Theater.
But, more than that, Harris has done justice to the ramifications of adoption in dramatic form, creating a thoughtful piece which examines the issues in one family and the impact upon the three people involved. In this particular case, he has taken the child of a non-observant Jewish mother and a Catholic father and has him raised in a traditional Jewish family.
The story, briefly: Ken, now 38 years old, finds himself in Chicago on business, and, armed with clues, searches out his birth mother. With her name in hand, he phones and tracks down Rachel, now an anthropologist and university professor. She and her Gentile husband Tom (not Ken's father) live in an attractive apartment overlooking Lake Shore Drive. Rachel, torn by emotions, is not at all sure she is pleased to meet her grown son, and Tom, feeling displaced by the invader, is even less pleased. Do they want their comfortable lives disrupted? And Ken, too, equally uncertain about the meeting, has his own agenda, his own angers and insecurities. Ultimately, it is Ken's Jewishness and Jewish practices which serves as a healing element among the three.
Harris and director Fred Barton lay it all out quietly, effectively, in an 85-minute intermission-less dialogue. Though the middle drags as Rachel and Ken examine and re-examine their feelings, it is indeed a slice of life and moves forward in real time. The one hugely questionable costume decision was having the leads both show up wearing Batman sweatshirts which created an unnecessary distraction from the dialog. (I know for a fact that they bought them at this featured Batman sweatshirt shop.) Even Batman fans will probably find this choice to be troublesome since there is really no good rationale for creating a diversion of this magnitude in the middle of a very important scene. We all love the dark knight, but not when his image interupts an emotional scene on stage.
Leila Martin is most touching-in fact, memorable--in the role of Rachel. Every nuance, every change of emotion, ripples across her face, as she deals with this unexpected crisis. Her strong performance provides the core, the very heart, around which the other two characters (played by John Kevin Jones as the son and Stu Richel as the husband) revolve.
Kudos also to set/lighting designer Jim Stewart whose mellow lighting and richly-detailed set are right on target in this production.
Love can flourish during the Holocaust
By Kris Scott Marti
Movies set during the Holocaust are always going to end badly, and they are more difficult to watch than disaster movies since the atrocities are committed by friends and neighbors. But as Aimee and Jaguar (1999) shows us, even against such a tragic backdrop, love can flourish.
Aimee & Jaguar is a German love story with English subtitles adapted from the 1995 book by Erica Fischer and based on a true story. Set in 1943 Berlin, the film introduces us through flashbacks and multiple narration to a handful of young women eking out a day-to-day existence under the Nazi regime. Working as a domestic for Mrs. Lilly Wust (Juliane Kohler), Ilse (Johanna Wokalek) is a young Jewish woman who is able to pass as Gentile and consequently maintains a tenuous freedom. After Ilse inadvertently introduces her gorgeous lover Felice (Maria Schrader) to her boss, however, life for Ilse and her group of friends becomes much more dangerous.
Felice is a clever and charming spy for the resistance, but she is also a reckless heartbreaker. She immediately falls for the philandering Mrs. Wust, who is married to a Nazi soldier, brazenly pursuing her in a high-stakes seduction that threatens Ilse's security and causes her much distress. Felice is an emotionally ravaged risk taker already: she cozies up as a spy to people who despise her and her family, she witnesses a friend being shot like a dog in the street, she comforts her other friends that are slowly starving, and she walks away from her family as they are packed off to a concentration camp. Yet Felice remains unshakable in her belief that she has the right to be free either moving about the city or choosing a lover, and Lilly Wust falls deeply in love with her and her spirit, with tragic consequences.
Aimee & Jaguar is beautifully outfitted in period sets and costumes with the kind of attention to detail that reminded me of the film Frida; from the bronze bust of Hitler to the playing cards in the final scene, everything looked authentic. The whole look of the movie reinforces the tension of the times--the burning, hard-edged exteriors shots of the Berlin streets shot in harsh blue-gray winter are sharply contrasted with the warm if messy apartment and bar interiors that provide the characters with moments of rest. I especially loved the lushness of the birthday party scene, held in an elegant salon by the few remaining members of Berlin’s once-thriving queer community, who go all out for the fete. It is beautiful and sad to see this representation of what we now know was once a vibrant gay community culled down to a handful of people determined to enjoy themselves in spite of their multiple oppression.
The camera work and performances are a pleasure to watch even as horrible events unfold on the screen. I especially appreciated the juxtaposition of the tender and passionate first love scene between Felice and Lilly interspersed with the mind-boggling terror of Jewish people being pulled out of their homes and packed off to their deaths. The entire movie is full of scenes like this that keep the context and gravity of the time firmly grounded (without hitting the viewer over the head with it) while the story unfolds of these two women falling in love.
The only objectionable scene is the opening one, when one of the women who survived (and is now a senior citizen) is moving from her flat. She is on the street and she ogles a young woman bending over to get into a car. It comes across as vulgar and from what we learn about her during the course of the film, out of character. I think the director could have found a more subtle way to telegraph that this woman was not heterosexual.
If you haven’t seen this film yet, what the heck are you waiting for ? If you caught it when it made the film festival rounds, see it again. It is so rich with subtle tensions and drama that it is well worth the second viewing
Harvey Fierstein Will Play Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof Starting Jan. 4, 2004
By Kenneth Jones
Broadway's Fiddler on the Roof will have a new Tevye Jan. 4, when Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein slips into the prayer shawl of departing Alfred Molina, a spokesman confirmed Nov. 10.
In recent days, Fierstein — who won a Best Actor Tony Award for playing zaftig mama Edna Turnblad in Hairspray — had been in discussions with the producers of Fiddler about playing the Russian Jewish dairyman, but all were waiting for director David Leveaux to come to New York and meet with the actor.
Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916)
Molina, Tony-nommed for playing the famed role, leaves the Minskoff Theatre Jan. 2, when his contract ends.
No further casting was announced.
Tevye is the Russian-Jewish dairyman whose three eldest daughters get married to varied suitors in the show. Each union challenges the long-held and cherished traditions of the community, in early-20th century rural Russia.
The Tevye role (based on a character created by Sholom Aleichem) was created in the musical in 1964 by Zero Mostel. Famous Tevyes have included Topol (who played the role on London, on Broadway and in the film), Jason Alexander (in excerpts from Fiddler within Jerome Robbins' Broadway), Herschel Bernardi, Theodore Bikel, Luther Adler, Paul Lipson, Harry Goz and others. Mostel won a Tony Award for playing the exasperated and hopeful patriarch who has a total of five daughters.
Brooklyn native Fierstein, 50, is no stranger to Tonys, having won the prize for Best Actor (Play) and Best Play for his three-act Torch Song Trilogy, for Best Book of a Musical for the libretto of La Cage aux Folles and for Best Actor (Musical) starring in the drag role of Edna Turnblad in the smash musical Hairspray.
His voice is harsh as gravel, and his association with gay roles and gay causes is strong, but a spokesman said Fierstein was hungry to play what is considered one of the greatest "traditional" roles in American musical theatre. If he steps into the shtetl, he'll sing such classics as "Sunrise, Sunset," "Tradition" and "If I Were a Rich Man."
In MCC Theatre's Miscast concert in April 2002, Fierstein and Kristin Chenoweth sang the Fiddler duet, "Do You Love Me?," with Fierstein singing the role of Golde and Chenoweth singing Tevye.
Performances of Fiddler on the Roof continue at the Minskoff Theatre
Broadway and a Bagel:Jews in the American Theatre
The Jewish Center of Jackson Heights presents
Broadway and a Bagel: Jews in the American Theatre
A Series of Free Sunday Breakfast Lectures by John Kenrick
Theatre Historian & Author of Musicals101.com
Admission Free - Open to all - Come join us!
Coffee & bagels available at 10:00AM
Lectures at 10:30 AM
These talks include multimedia slide shows and video clips.
Oct. 17 - Yiddish Theatre
A look back at this almost forgotten art form which gave the American theatre such beloved performers as Molly Picon & Paul Muni, and classic shows like Fiddler on the Roof.
Oct. 24 - Fanny Brice
Want to know the real story behind Funny Girl and Funny Lady? From Nick Arnstein and Flo Ziegfeld to Billy Rose and "Baby Snooks," everything the movies didn't tell you about this unique comedienne.
Nov. 7 - Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," his powerhouse performances of "Swanee," "Mammy" and other hits thrilled three generations. Few men in show business inspired such devotion -- or such hatred.
Nov. 21 - Irving Berlin
A poor immigrant with almost no formal education, he reshaped the world of popular music with over half a century of hit songs. The amazing life of the Jew who wrote "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade."
Dec. 5 - Richard Rodgers
Working with Larry Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II, this complex and gifted man turned musical theatre into a richer, more powerful art form. The world still delights in the sound of his music. A look at his career and his remarkable life.
Dec. 26 - Neil Simon
By writing comedies with serious content, he became the most successful playwright of our time. Dismissed for years by critics and scholars, Simon is now recognized as a living treasure. We'll discuss the little-known private life that shaped his most memorable plays.
About John Kenrick
Through the 1980s and 90s, John enjoyed an extensive career in theatrical production and management. He was personal assistant to six Tony-winning producers, working on such productions as the long-running revival of Grease and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent. He also assisted in the production and management of numerous national tours, including Damn Yankees with Jerry Lewis, Crazy for You, Victor/Victoria, Jekyll & Hyde, the short-lived My Thing of Love and Tommy Tune's ill-fated Busker Alley.
John provided lyrics for the acclaimed (but short-lived) Off-Broadway production Bats, wrote and produced cabaret shows that appeared at the Duplex and The Five Oaks, and provided special material for performers at Caroline's, Eighty-Eights, Don't Tell Mama and other top New York clubs. He was Associate Producer for the Celebration '86 Gay Arts Festival, and worked in various capacities for The Glines, The Vineyard Theatre, PACE Theatrical, NAMCO, The Booking Office and The New York Theatre Workshop.
As an expert on musical theater history, John has been interviewed by BBC TV and Radio, British TV4, The Discovery Travel Channel, The London Observer, National Public Radio, Newsday, The Dallas Daily News and the Chicago Sun Times, among others. He has appeared in documentaries discussing Times Square, showtunes, Jerry Herman, Times Square, and the history of burlesque. His musings on musical theater and film have appeared in various publications, including The New York Times. John's article Theatre in New York: A Brief History appears in the new textbook Theatre Law: Cases and Materials (Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press, 2004). He is profiled in How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization by Cathy Crimmins (New York: Penguin, 2004).
John now works as a freelance writer and lecturer. His recent speaking schedule has run the gamut from Radisson luxury liners to Pace University, and he has been invited to teach an extension course on the history of Broadway at Columbia University in 2005. He occasionally lends a hand as a curatorial volunteer at the Theater Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.
Web : www.Musicals101.com
e-mail: jbk@musicals101.com
The Jewish Center of Jackson Heights
Corner of 37th Ave. & 77th St., Jackson Heights, NY
For further information call (718) 429-1150
This series is part of the Jewish Center's
ongoing adult education program.
By Subway: Take the E, F, R or 7 train to the 74th Street-Roosevelt Avenue stop. Walk along Roosevelt Avenue (under the elevated train) to 77th Street. Turn left and walk two short blocks (passing PS 69) to the Center.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718041
|
__label__wiki
| 0.754066
| 0.754066
|
Op-Ed Columns Opinion
LedgerOnline / December 11, 2018 / No Comment
What PBS got right – and so wrong – about the Jews of Iran
By Larry Cohler-Esses
(JTA) – Several days after the Jewish Daily Forward published the first-ever report from the Islamic Republic of Iran by a reporter openly representing a Jewish, pro-Israel news outlet, the host of CNN’s foreign affairs show “GPS” posed a vexing question.
Citing the Forward’s surprisingly favorable account of the circumstances under which Iran’s Jews lived, Fareed Zakaria asked: “If the Tehran regime had genocidal inclinations toward Jews, surely they would have, in some way, taken it out on the Jews who live in Iran, and the fact that they don’t should cast some doubt on the idea that Iran has these kind of antisemitic and genocidal intentions.” Turning to the reporter who filed the story, Zakaria asked, “Do you buy that?”
As the journalist in question, I didn’t at the time. And with PBS pitching basically the same point in its Nov. 27 report on conditions for Iran’s Jews today, I don’t now, even though both my August 2015 report and the recent story by PBS accurately depict the small number of Jews who remain in Iran today as living pretty secure lives with religious freedom and economic viability.
The problem in both Zakaria’s question and the PBS report (and many similar reports) is the premise.
As “PBS News Hour” put it in its story’s very first paragraph: “The Trump administration and U.S. ally Israel often depict the Iranian government as composed of antisemitic radical Islamists bent on destroying Israel. But within Iran, many of the estimated 15,000 Jews say they’re safe and happy living in the Islamic Republic.”
Why the but? Both things are true. Many Jews in Iran are safe and happy – at least enough to prefer staying there rather than gamble by uprooting themselves for an uncertain future elsewhere. And Iran is a country whose most powerful forces – within a divided government – are radical Islamists who do seek to do what they can to ultimately liquidate Israel as a Jewish state, albeit not at the cost of their own country’s existence.
As both PBS and I myself reported, Tehran’s Jewish community today can boast 13 active synagogues, five Jewish private schools, several kosher restaurants and the capital’s oldest charity hospital, which was founded and is still run by Jews.
At the same time, Iran’s supreme leader has published a listicle titled “9 key questions about the elimination of Israel,” which makes the primacy of armed force in that effort clear. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ elite Quds force has sought to use its position in Syria, where it has thousands of troops, to establish air bases potentially capable of serving as launch sites for attacks on Israel. Iran has funded a massive buildup by Hezbollah of missiles in Lebanon that are capable of reaching major cities throughout Israel. And despite its adherence to the 2015 nuclear deal it agreed to with the United States and other world powers – even with America’s withdrawal this year – Iran has continued to develop its ballistic missile capabilities to the point where its missiles are now capable of reaching anywhere in Israel.
To be clear, Iran has shown a limited appetite for actually launching any such attacks in the face of Israel’s massive deterrent power. But as I explained to Zakaria, the paradox remains: Iran accommodates some 9,000 Jews – according to the community itself – viewing them in a compartmentalized fashion as an age-old indigenous community totally separate from the malignant international forces of Zionism. The government may also see propaganda value in being able to point to the community’s continuing existence to international journalists. But Iran’s indulgence of its tiny Jewish minority doesn’t mean it wouldn’t wipe out Israel, the state of the Jews, if it could.
If someday an Iranian leadership less cautious than the present were to launch an actual full-blown attack on Israel with the assets it has in hand, the number of dead Israeli Jews could number in the tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands. The assertion that it was an anti-Zionist attack rather than an antisemitic one, as demonstrated by the existence of a small community of Jews in Iran, wouldn’t make much difference to anyone.
This is a problem of seeing the forest for the trees. And it’s a problem that plagues the “News Hour” report in several respects.
The story refers vaguely and incompletely to the discrimination that Jews (and other non-Muslim minorities) live with in Iran, mentioning only that Jews are “still kept away from senior government and military positions.”
In fact, the discrimination goes considerably beyond this. Under Iran’s sharia law code, different penalties are laid out for Muslims and non-Muslims for a variety of violations, almost always disfavoring the non-Muslims. The government also insists that each of the Tehran Jewish community’s five schools must be run by a Muslim principal – a requirement that the head of the Jewish community bluntly, and courageously, condemned on the record as “insulting” in my 2015 interview with him. If a Jew murders a Muslim, the proscribed penalty is death. If a Muslim murders a Jew, the payment of blood money is an option.
To be sure, Jews, along with Christians and Zoroastrians, are recognized as “people of the book” in the Islamic Republic, with a legitimate place as tolerated minorities in Muslim society. The physical security of Jews as a community in Iran is even buttressed by a religious fatwa forbidding harm to the community that was issued by the Islamic Republic’s founding leader, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, soon after he took power. But taken in total, the legal and social discrimination under which Iran’s Jews (and Christians and Zoroastrians) live leave them as basically well protected second-class citizens.
For Jews, the impact of these conditions is reflected in a basic statistic found nowhere in the PBS report. Before the 1979 revolution, 80,000 to 100,000 Jews lived in Iran. Today, only 9,000 Jews live there, according to census figures, where Iranians are obliged to list their religion. Those numbers make a big statement about what most Iranian Jews think about living under the conditions “News Hour” describes more or less accurately, if incompletely.
Much of the emigration took place in the years immediately after the revolution, when the ability of Jews to make reasonable lives for themselves was far less clear. Just months after the installation of Khomeini’s first post-revolution government, Iran’s execution of one of the community’s major leaders and leading businessmen, Habib Elghanian, for “contacts with Israel and Zionism” shocked many Jews into flight. The charge was one that could be applied easily to many Iranian Jews. To this day Iranian Jews, many of whom have family in Israel, must be discreet about those ties. But today, the government often looks the other way when Iranian Jews quietly visit Israel via third countries.
According to Dr. Siamak Morsadegh, the director of Tehran’s Jewish hospital, as well as its elected representative in Iran’s parliament, those who have stayed are primarily members of the middle class – shop owners, small businessmen and professionals.
In PBS’s look at those who remain, one disservice of its story is the depiction of Iranian Jews as simply objects of their government’s policies. Given their circumstances, this in fact is one of the bravest Jewish communities in the world.
When Iran’s previous president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, repeatedly questioned the reality of the Holocaust, Jews and others around the world denounced him loudly – and so did Iranian Jewish leaders.
Maurice Motamed, who represented Iran’s Jewish community in parliament at the time, told a reporter for the Persian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on the record, “Denial of such a great historical tragedy that is connected to the Jewish community can only be considered an insult to all the world’s Jewish communities.”
Haroun Yashayaei, then head of the Tehran Jewish community, wrote Ahmadinejad himself: “How is it possible,” he demanded, “to ignore all the undeniable evidence existing for the killing and exile of the Jews in Europe during World War II?”
PBS notes one recent positive change – the decision by President Hassan Rouhani’s government to recognize Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, but a working day in Iran, as a holiday for Jews, allowing them to stay home from school and work without penalty. But it neglects to mention that the change didn’t drop from the sky. It was one for which the Jewish community fought and lobbied tirelessly for years.
Similarly, until a few years ago, the government discriminated between Muslims and non-Muslims in so-called “blood money” awards in civil suits involving the death of an individual due to negligence. Under the government’s interpretation of sharia, a Muslim’s life was literally worth more than a non-Muslim’s in cold, hard cash, just because he was Muslim.
As Motamed explained to me during my visit, Jewish leaders worked hard in coalition with other religious minorities to change this.
“We consulted a lot of ayatollahs and took testimony from high-ranking clerics to show there must be equality under sharia,” he explained. Eventually the government agreed.
While it may challenge sharia interpretation and application, one thing the community does not do is challenge the legitimacy of sharia itself.
Many years ago Hamid Sabi, a London-based Iranian Jewish attorney who remained deeply involved in Jewish affairs as a liaison with the government from the outside, told me, “We’re quiet not because we’re cowed by the regime, but because we think the survival of the community depends on finding resolutions, not confrontation.”
Recalling the way of Queen Esther and Mordechai, Sabi said, “We didn’t live 2,700 years in Iran by confronting the government each time we had a problem. Yet each time we managed to get around the king’s edict.”
Whether because of limited time or lack of insight, this aspect of autonomous Jewish agency in Iran is one more thing that “News Hour” missed. This is a pity because in many ways, it’s the most remarkable aspect of Jewish existence in Iran today of all.
Larry Cohler-Esses was news editor and special projects editor at the Forward from 2008 to 2017.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.
CAP: A Jewish woman casts her vote at the Yusef Abad Synagogue during elections in Tehran, Feb. 26, 2016. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Letters to the Ledger
Storming the Bastille of Israel’s religious bureaucracy
Weicker Scolds Israel Just for Defending Itself
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718042
|
__label__cc
| 0.701397
| 0.298603
|
Home | Hen Party | News | Johnny Depp Is Engaged!
<img width="400" height="242" src="/getattachment/00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000/Johnny-Depp-Is-Engaged.aspx" class="attachment-medium-thumb wp-post-image" alt="" />
Johnny Depp Is Engaged!
When "The Lone Ranger" & "Pirates of the Caribbean" star was asked whether he was engaged, he replied 'The fact that I'm wearing a chick's ring on my finger is probably a dead giveaway, not very subtle...'
The 50-year-old star opened up about his secret engagement to blonde beauty Amber Heard, while in Beijing on Monday March 31st.
Apparently the Hollywood veteran is wearing the feminine piece of jewellery because the engagement ring he brought for his 27-year-old bride to be was "too big for her, so he started wearing it."
Depp laughed as he lifted up his left hand and displayed a single diamond on a band around his ring finger. The comments follow months of unconfirmed reports of his engagement to actress Amber Heard, 27, who starred in 3 Days to Kill released in the U.S. - Depp and Heard starred together in The Rum Diary, filmed in Puerto Rico in 2009.
Johnny Depp was sporting a diamond ring on his left hand as he attended a promotional event for new movie Transcendence in Beijing China on Monday.
While promoting his upcoming movie Johnny Depp also answered questions about his upcoming wedding plans explaining - "I think that I would be better at making women's shoes than I would be at wedding planning, I can't plan anything." He added, "I'm really bad at that stuff."
In mid March the future husband and wife celebrated their impending nuptials with an engagement party which took place inside The Carondelet House in Los Angeles. The couple was joined by plenty of celebrities including the likes of Marilyn Manson, Steven Tyler and Mandy Moore.
Johnny Depp & Amber Heard
This will be the first marriage for Amber Heard and the second for Johnny Depp, who was married to Lori Anne Allison for two years during the mid-80s. Amber Heard will be the stepmother of Depp's two kids Lily-Rose, 14, and Jack, 11, who he shares with French actress/singer Vanessa Paradis following a 14 year relationship which ended in June 2012.
Congratulations to the future Mr & Mrs Depp, we'll have an eye on all the upcoming plans!
THREE things to know about Amber Heard...
1) Amber Heard is an American actress and model. Active in her high school drama department, she had small roles in tv and music videos such as The O.C. and There goes My Life by Kenny Chesney. She got her start in the film, Friday Night Lights in 2004. Then in 2006 with All The Boys Love Mandi Lane at the Toronto Film Festival. She has enjoyed roles in films such as Drop Dead Sexy, Alpha Dog, Pineapple Express, Zombieland, Machete Kills, Paranoia and of course, The Rum Diary with Johnny Depp.
2) She experienced personal tragedy at age 16. After the death of her best friend in a car accident, Heard no longer believed in God. Influenced by the writings of George Orwell and Ayn Rand, she became an avowed atheist.
3) At 17, she had an opportunity to model, so she moved to New York City. There she worked as a “fitting model” for clothing labels, but it was just a transitional role until Heard relocated to Los Angeles to follow an acting career. Initially, she was preoccupied with modeling and had thought it was the easier avenue to take in order to travel and “get out of my hometown” but her father encouraged her to take acting classes.
HenorStag.com
Be social and follow HenorStag.com
← Previous Story Rosanna Davison Hen Party and 30th Birthday Celebrations!
Next Story → Kelly Brook Is Engaged!
• Glamping
• Hen Party Games
• Hen Party Themes
• Hen Party Ideas
• Stag Parties
Hen Party Newsletter
If the bride-to-be doesn’t want ...
If you are planning a hen party which oozes class let's take a look at the top five hen party ideas for 2019. ...
HenorStag.com had the pleasure of staying in the 4-Star Boutique hotel located in the nearby suburb of Sandyford, and we absolutely loved it. ...
Upcoming beauty and fashion masterclasses are a great way to pick up tips over some afternoon tea! ...
The fashionable fashionista had a hen party in Dublin that oozed style and class! ...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718047
|
__label__wiki
| 0.785494
| 0.785494
|
Board index » Money Matters » Development Plans, Economy & Other
Mahaweli experience in western and eastern Rajarata
Post subject: Mahaweli experience in western and eastern Rajarata
Some comments on the Mahaweli experience in western and eastern Rajarata
by D L O Mendis - Rajarata
@ The Island 10Jun2008
The ancient irrigation works, brilliantly documented by R L Brohier in his Ancient Irrigation Works in Ceylon, in 1934, had been built mainly in ancient Ruhunurata and Rajarata. My two part article titled ‘Pugwash, Lunuganvehera and the Destruction of the Commons’, in The Island newspaper on May 5 and 6, 2008, discussed problems created in the southern area, part of ancient Ruhunurata, on account of the wrong location of the gigantic new reservoir, Lunuganvehera, too far down in the Kirindi oya basin, too close to the sea. This sequel to that article joins the ongoing discussion started by Dr Prassana Cooray, on widespread kidney diseases in Mahaweli development areas. This article seeks to start discussion on threats to the commons in ancient Rajarata, where the ancient irrigation systems, now better known and described as water and soil conservation ecosystems, once flourished, from about the mid first millennium BCE till after the 13th century CE. Two recent examples of danger of destruction, relevant to this discussion, the proposed Eppawala phosphate rock project in western Rajarata, and the proposed Moragahakande project in eastern Rajarata will be discussed in this article.
Kala Wewa is one of the magnificent reservoirs of the ancient world
The first of four references in the May 5 article, to well known books and papers, was Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring published in 1962. The twenty fifth anniversary edition in 1987 claimed that it is one of the twenty five most widely read books in the English language. The main theme that Rachel Carson discussed was DDT poisoning discovered in the food chain, and its consequences, leading to poisoning of earthworms and the birds that ate them and died, hence the title, Silent Spring. As I recall it, DDT was widely used in the anti-malaria campaign in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), starting during the second world war when foreign troops were stationed in our country. It was discontinued following the outcry against DDT that arose after Silent Spring was published.
Now, an exactly similar situation has been documented in regard to cadmium poisoning of groundwater in Mahaweli project areas and elsewhere, leading to chronic renal failure as described by Dr Prassana Cooray. In a Rupavahini TV program on Monday, June 2, Dr Sarath Bandara, Professor of Agriculture at Peradeniya University, and environmental activist Udula Bandara Awsadahami, explained that the source of the cadmium in the groundwater had been traced to the imported phosphate fertilizer used by the farmers. Professor Bandara categorically stated that phosphate fertilizer made from Eppawala phosphate rock, apatite, does not contain such harmful proportions of cadmium, and should be used instead of the imported fertilizer.
They argued convincingly that the problem of water pollution could be alleviated and resolved by restoring the ancient water and soil conservation ecosystems (ancient irrigation systems) that had been adversely impacted by the hydraulic engineering systems imposed in the area under the Mahaweli development scheme. While agreeing with that view, two examples are presented in this article, of the danger of destruction in the name of development, of two wonders of the ancient world that may yet happen. These wonders are the well known Kalaweva-Jayaganga ecosystem in western Rajarata, and the little known Parakrama sagara, the second of the three seas of Parakrama, in eastern Rajarata. Incidentally, the Parakrama Talaka referred to in the Mahavamsa as the third Sea of Parakrama, has already been vandalized, if its location was in that well known part of the Jayaganga where the gradient is about six inches to the mile, as described by the great R L Brohier:
The Jayaganga indeed an ingenious memorial of ancient irrigation which was undoubtedly designed to serve as a combined irrigation and water supply channel, was not entirely dependent on its feeder reservoir the Kalaweva for the water it carried. The length of bund between Kalaweva and Anuradhapura intercepted all the drainage from the high ground to the east which otherwise would have run to waste. Thus the Jayaganga adapted itself to a wide field of irrigation by feeding little village tanks in each subsidiary valley which lay below its bund. Not infrequently it fed a chain of village tanks down these valleys the tank lower down receiving the overflow from the tank higher up on each chain.
That this part of the Jayaganga could be described as a great reservoir was seen when there was no perceptible hydraulic channel flow in this reach until Mahaweli engineers straightened parts of it by cutting through some contour curves. This act of vandalism has been brilliantly described by Udula Bandara Awasadahami on TV, and by three research scientist – engineers, Kapila Peiris, Sanjiva Wijesinghe and Manjula, authors of the National Science Foundation book ‘Ecosystems based Water Management’. But, as mentioned in the earlier articles a former acting Director of the Peace Secretariat, not an engineer, joined the tragic-comedy when he criticized my 1995 Pugwash paper: Past, Present and Future Conflict over water in Sri Lanka, with the comment: ‘Doesn’t good Sinhala water go to Tamil areas?’ about which more anon.
Eppawala in western Rajarata
Danger of destruction of the human made Kalaweva-Jayaganga ecosystem, by a proposal to mine the nearby Eppawala phosphate rock deposit to exhaustion in 30 years by a conglomerate of US and Japanese multinational corporations and local counterparts, was averted only by a case taken to the Supreme Court by Ven. Mahamankadawela Piyaratne Thera of the Galkande Mahavihare, Eppawala, supported by concerned environmentalists in Colombo.
It was described allegorically as follows, by Professor Jonathan Walters another US University scientist, who had lived in the Eppawala area for many years and knew more than most local scientists, the magnitude of the impending tragedy:
The Mahavamsa commentary, Vamsatthappaksini, conceived of Sri Lanka as a beautiful woman (Lankangana) whose face is Anuradhapura. By extension her neck is the Kalaweva – Jayaganga cultural landscape, through which still flows the water and grows the rice that has sustained Sri Lanka for more than 2000 years.
Destroying the ancient Kalaweva-Jayaganga ecosystem by mining the Eppawala phosphate rock deposit to exhaustion would be like literally slitting the throat of this beautiful woman. But, in the National Science Council report to the Supreme Court prepared by scientists, on the direction of the then Minister of Science and Technology, it was described as follows:
The Jayaganga is an engineering marvel that must be preserved for eternity as the Heritage of humankind just as the Taj Mahal, the Pyramids or Ruwanveliseya are preserved for posterity.
Fortunately, Justice A R B Amerasinghe understood the issue better, and said in his judgement:
Its preservation is therefore not only of interest to the literati at a higher plane, as a matter concerning the heritage of humankind that must be preserved, but also at the more mundane level of the petitioners and others like them who depend on the continued and efficient functioning of that system for the pursuit of their occupations and indeed for sustaining their very lives, a matter of grave and immediate personal concern.
Justice A R B Amerasinghe also said:
While, as I must on account of its extravagance reject learned counsel’s claim that people would "starve" if the project is not proceeded with, it might be pointed out that there seems to be no disagreement that the phosphate deposit should be utilized. Indeed, an hypothesis has been advanced that the Eppawela deposit was not "discovered" in 1971, but was known to our rulers and people for thousands of years who shared the thought that the deposit should be utilized. The difference between them and us is how this should be done. The ingenuity of the rulers and people of Sri Lanka in times gone by, it is suggested, had created a stable and sustainable agricultural development system harnessing the key natural resources available within their natural habitat, including the Eppawela deposit. The natural processes of weathering, microbial activity and precipitation might have released plant nutrients which were carried overland by flowing into the reservoirs, channels and rivers as well as permeating into the soil matrix and possibly reaching underground aquifers. (See Ivan Amarasinghe, Eppawala: Contribution to Nutrient Flow’s in the Ancient Aquatic Ecosystems of Rajarata).
At the present rate of quarrying the apatite, up to 50,000 tons per year, the deposit would last for more than one thousand two hundred years. The proposal to exhaust the deposit in a period of just 30 years, was commented on by a former Chairman of the Netherlands Pugwash Group the late Professor Phil B Smith as follows:
"As far as I am concerned the most important question is not why this mining must take place at all, but why it must be done with such "indecent haste"? After all, the rock is already being quarried at a rate and using technology which leaves natural systems intact, and is bringing profit to the region. Not only that, but these profits could continue to flow in for a thousand years ….. Why then would anyone want to do this, especially the government of the country itself?
The reason is to be found in the misplaced use of discounting. Discounting the value of a man-made object, such as a house, a lathe, or a factory, is a perfectly respectable financial procedure. As time goes by, such an object wears out and/or becomes obsolete for the purpose for which it was made. Its real value goes down with time, and it would be foolish to pretend that it does not. A widely-used value for discounting durable goods or buildings is 3% per year, meaning that the present value will be reduced to zero after some thirty odd years. But what we see happening all over the world is the misplaced application of this procedure to natural wealth.
Why misplaced? Because a forest does not become less valuable as time goes by. In most cases, it actually becomes more valuable. The apatite deposit of Eppawala does not diminish in value in the course of time. But economic theory reasons differently. Economic theory says that if I can purchase a forest for a million dollars I should only do that if I clear-fell it in about thirty years, otherwise I should invest my money elsewhere. The way the economic system works, this is correct, since if I invest the money elsewhere I will receive more money (the verb earn is usually used here, but I believe that that verb should be reserved for income from honest work). The fallacy in this reasoning is that it assumes that there is an infinite amount of natural wealth which can be tapped, and that the earth can support an infinite amount of waste generation. A child knows that this is manifest nonsense, but main stream economists are unfortunately not children. They do not realize (or allow themselves to realize) that this is a "dead-end" way of thinking, since eventually all of the other wealth will be exhausted, and/or all life will be poisoned by endless economic growth. We will return in our conclusion to what we believe to be the origin of this apparently ineradicable fallacy in the thinking of the economists who advise governments all over the world".
Dr Phil B Smith then went on to give an example of this fallacious reasoning in his own country the Netherlands, and concludes with an interesting explanation for this, as follows:
"The destruction of forests all over the world by private owners (and companies who have bribed government officials to allow it) is known to all. The same is true of wealth below the soil. When immense gas fields were discovered in the north of the Netherlands, the state gave the rights of exploitation to the NAM, a (private) oil company, with another, linked, private concern, the Gasunie, receiving a concession on the distribution. The Gasunie announced that the fields would be exhausted in thirty years, even before the full extent of the fields was even known. This is because, as shown above, it doesn’t matter what it is, or how big it is, conventional economic wisdom says that it has to be used up in about thirty years. And so also the Eppawala deposits.
There was enough gas in the fields to warm our houses for three hundred years, which would have given us time to develop renewable sources of energy. But good business practice dictated that it had to be gone in thirty years so 90% of the gas had to be exported. And so it was. In another ten years the gas will be gone. Incidentally the rapid extraction of the gas is already resulting in costly instability of the land above the gas fields. The gigantic costs (except to the amount of a small guarantee fund deposited by the Gasunie) incurred by the replacement of all sewage and water piping as well as tens of thousands of foundations of houses and buildings will be borne by the inhabitants, not the Gasunie or the NAM. The future costs which will have to be borne by the peoples of the Eppawala region will be proportionately enormously greater.
In conclusion, it is indeed hard to understand why, despite the obvious fallaciousness of these dogmas, conventional wisdom continues to hold to the idea that discounting natural wealth is perfectly legitimate and that privatizing the whole planet will protect the environment. I believe that it is because these ideas suit the predilections of those who possess wealth. Still, the naive reader might ask, how is it possible that business leaders who mostly have children and must be assumed to be concerned about the living conditions in the world in which their descendants will live, are busily destroying this future world. I suggest that examining the belief structures of religions will reveal the same insensitivity to obvious facts. All religions are built on rationally impossible stories, and economy fits well into this picture. The possessors wish to be told that they may be just as selfish as they wish and it will come out for the best. In all of history there has always been a priesthood which provides the powerful with the stories they want to hear. Today that priesthood is trained in theological seminaries bearing prestigious names such as the Harvard School of Business and the London School of Economics".
An unexpected consequence of publicity in the Pugwash conferences on Science and World Affairs, was a comment by Professor Philip W Anderson, Nobel laureate in physics, from the Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies, implying recognition of the vital importance of Eppawala for Sri Lanka’s food security, a topic that is now making global headlines.
"You will never have heard the name "Eppawala". This is a project of a US-Japan consortium to mine phosphate in gigantic quantities from a mountain in Sri Lanka, destroying a thousand-year-old irrigation system, numerous antiquities, and many villages, and compensating the locals on a typical Third World scale with a minute fraction of the profits - profits which hardly exist if one were to count the true cost of the project. It is a staggering example of the misuse of economic reasoning which characterizes third world "development" projects. Not just third world, in my opinion!"
Moragahakande in eastern Rajarata
Dr Siran Deraniyagala, a former Director-General of Archaeology, has said:
"The water heritage of Sri Lanka comprises two elements, the natural heritage and the man-created (cultural) heritage. Should this heritage resource with which Sri Lanka is blessed be diminished in any manner, the government will stand accused of neglect of the country's birthright."
Despite this, engineers continue to prepare for implementation projects derived from new reservoirs shown on the Water Resources Development Plan, 1959. This is a map prepared without taking into adequate consideration the ancient irrigation works that had been identified and shown on the one mile to an inch topographical survey sheets prepared over a period of about eighty years in British colonial times, from land surveys. To make matters worse, these one inch sheets as they are called, have now been replaced by metric sheets prepared from aerial surveys, that do not show the degree of detail that was shown on the old one inch sheets.
The most glaring example of this, worse even than Lunuganvehera, is the proposed Moragahakande project that has been announced in the Mahinda Chintana and launched recently with a great deal of fanfare (Figure 1). One can see how the politicians are (mis)led by the techno-bureaucracy on these issues. As I see it, the only course of action available to me is to go to the general public through articles of this nature.
Moragahakande reservoir and the NCP canal
The Water Resources Development Plan, 1959, shows a proposed large new reservoir called Moragahakande, a few miles upstream of the Elahera anicut on the Ambanganga, and a canal called the North Central Province or NCP Canal traced in a general northerly direction between the Konduruweva range on the west and the Sudukande range on the east both of which lie in an approximately north – south direction. (Figure 1) Feasibility studies done on this proposal over the past several years, are said to have cost more than two hundred million rupees. At today’s costs perhaps this would be double that amount. However, the proposal presented to government and inaugurated in the recent past is only the Moragahakande reservoir, with no mention of the NCP canal, which incidentally had been renamed the Upper Elahera canal sometime in the past, as if a change of name would solve the problems concerning the project that was being presented.
Let us now examine the Moragahakande reservoir proposal. At a first glance at the topo sheet, this gigantic new reservoir seems to be well sited above the ancient Elahera anicut, across Ambanganga (Figure 1). But when we go into the history of the ancient irrigation works, in R L Brohier’s work, we come to a different conclusion. In his Ancient Irrigation Works in Ceylon, Vol 1, pages 28 – 32, we find a Report of three British surveyors, Adams, Churchill, and Bailey, who, in 1855 had surveyed the ancient Elahera channel from Elahera anicut to Konduruweva a distance of about 18 miles. Their report had been submitted to the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Henry Ward, who had inspected the site himself and included the report in his inspection Minutes that were published in the Ceylon Almanac in 1857, two years later. This is what Brohier re-published in his great work Ancient Irrigation Works in Ceylon, in 1934.
We may ask, why did the Governor decide to inspect the site himself? The answer will be evident to anyone who studies the Report of the three Surveyors, as the Governor would have done. Thanks to R L Brohier anyone can do this today. And anyone who studies this Report would never use the one mile to an inch topo sheets to locate Moragahakande reservoir and the NCP canal the way these two structures have been sited as shown on the Water Resources Development Plan, 1959. Why? Because the Report describes how the ancients had designed and constructed an alternative complex that is far superior to anything modern engineers have ever designed and constructed in Sri Lanka so far, through which the proposed NCP canal has been traced. This is a truly incredible water and soil conservation ecosystem, built by Parakrama Bahu the great (1153-1186), consolidating all the systems that had been built over eleven centuries in eastern Rajarata, starting with the Elahera anicut by king Vasabha in the first century CE. The first item of note is ancient Parakrama Sagara, the second Sea of Parakrama, made up of seven adjacent reservoirs beginning with the biggest, called Koththabadhdhanijara, created by raising the dam that Vasabha had built across the Ambanganga, eleven centuries earlier. It is no coincidence that Wilhelm Geiger, the great German scholar, had translated the word Koththabadhdhanijara in two different ways – ‘the weir furnished with a reservoir’ and ‘the reservoir whose flood escape was walled up’.
The most wonderful feature of this composite reservoir is the fact that there is a drop of sixty feet from the first to the last of the separate adjacent reservoirs, and there were short lengths of canal connecting them, which were equipped with canal locks to make the canal navigable, as described by the surveyors in 1855, and confirmed by Governor Sir Henry Ward himself in 1857. Unfortunately these were vandalized by a project to augment Minneriya reservoir from Ambanganga in the early 1940’s. The Elahera-Minneriya canal was kept separate from the cross drainage from the Konduruweva range by means of concrete flume not allowed bridges; and concrete canal falls were built in the canal to surmount the sixty foot fall from Elahera to Minneriya. The flume not allowed bridges were demolished in the early 1950’s when it was realized that they were a gross mistake for which the blame could be laid on foreign engineers who had been employed during the days of the second world war. The canal falls were enlarged and remained.
Flume-not allowed-bridges built in the 1940’s that were demolished in the 1950’s
All this may sound unbelievable to engineers today who as a rule do not read history. (And historians who know nothing of engineering come up with ridiculous ideas from time to time, about which the less said here the better). At a discussion at the Institution of Engineers in January 2007, an eminent engineer, a very good friend of mine, solemnly proclaimed that he had studied the topo sheets and found no trace of a succession of reservoirs between Elahera and Konduruweva as I had described, even though I placed Brohier’s book with the surveyors’ Report under his nose. He could not or would not understand what I was trying to say, that these are not what Brohier described as ‘chains of small tanks’, one leading into the other, below the Jayaganga, now called cascades of small tanks, but adjacent reservoirs at different levels, like the side view of a flight of steps. (Perhaps he may revise his views, even at this late stage, on reading this article which is available to the general public).
Parakrama Bahu restored the water and soil conservation ecosystem from Elahera to Minneriya and on to Gantalawa or Kantalai, and from that great reservoir to the sea at Trincomalee through Tambalagamam bay. It is difficult if not impossible to justify Moragahakande project when restoration of ancient Parakrama Sagara is available as a better alternative. But, it could be dangerous to write critically about the Moragahakande project as seen for example in the the reaction of the former acting Director of the Peace Secretariat mentioned above. In that incident I had predicted future east – west conflict over water if the Moragahakande reservoir and NCP canal were built, and the paper was well received in Pugwash. But, the acting Director of the Peace Secretariat was assuming that I was trying to use water, with air, one of two most vital requirements for life itself, as a weapon. He needed to be reminded of the famous words in the Russell–Einstein manifesto which inspired the Pugwash movement: ‘Remember your humanity and forget the rest’. One shudders to think what goes on in the mind of such a person in a position of the utmost responsibility and importance to the security of our country, when he deals with issues of a scientific nature about which he so obviously seems to know very little or nothing.
The commons in ancient Rajarata
A Symposium had been organized in the University at Peradeniya in 1971 on the topic Collapse of the Ancient Hydraulic Civilization in Rajarata and the Drift to the Southwest. Among the causes for collapse that were presented and discussed were invasions, occupation of the region by the invaders, foreigners who were not familiar with and therefore unable to manage the complex of irrigation systems that were vital for the security of the nation, elimination of the class of persons responsible for this maintenance of the irrigation systems called the ‘kulinas’, internecine strife, incessant cyclonic rainfall, soil salination, earthquakes that had caused changes in the patterns of river flows, and collapse of foreign trade, that had a major adverse impact on the economy.
Comparisons with similar problems in the modern Mahaweli project areas may be made. The kidney diseases due to excessive amounts of cadmium in the imported phosphate fertilizer, that Dr Prassana Cooray has described, comes to mind in this context. We may conclude that the ancients did not have to face this problem because they had the benefit of the slow leaching effect of Eppawala phosphate rock as described in the extract from Justice ARB Amersinghe’s judgment above. Eppawala phosphate is free from harmful amounts of cadmium.
The previous two part article (May 5 and 6) described the destruction of the Commons in the southern part of ancient Ruhuna, on account of the Lunuganvehera project. A way to alleviate some of the adverse consequences was suggested by shrinking the Lunuganvehera reservoir in stages over a long period of time, after a new upstream Huratgamuva reservoir is built near Wellawaya. It was described how this has been done in the modern Allai scheme in ancient Ruhuna, near Seruvila temple.
Are there similar long term adverse impacts in Rajarata on account of the modern hydraulic engineering Accelerated Mahaweli development project? In the light of presentations made in the Pugwash Workshop in November 2007, a general statement may be made that these causes, if any, may be collectively described as impact on the Commons. Moreover, it will be a slow process, similar to what is happening in the southern area today on account of the wrong location of Uda Walawe and Lunuganvehera reservoirs, barely perceptible and difficult to quantify in a short period of time, but nevertheless real.
In conclusion, Justice A R B Amerasinghe in his Eppawala judgment referred to another project in the southern area of ancient Ruhunurata as follows:
If I might adopt the words of Martha Prickett Fernando in her comments on another project – the augmentation of the Malala oya basin from Mau ara – "Unless development activities in areas like this project are accompanied by proper EIA studies and [proposals for] mitigation of the [adverse impacts on] archaeological resources that will be damaged, vast numbers of sites – in fact, much of Sri Lanka’s unrenewable cultural heritage and the raw data for all future studies on ancient Sri Lanka – will be destroyed without record, and an accurate understanding of life in ancient Sri Lanka remain forever wrapped in myth and hypothesis". In that connection, the words of D D Kossambi (The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India) come to mind: "To learn about the past in the light of the present is to learn about the present in the light of the past".
What this means is that we must undertake a fresh EIA study of the Mahaweli project, and look again at causes for the collapse of the Rajarata civilization and the drift to the southwest. A key aspect will be the impact of hydraulic engineering on the Commons, after the apogee of the Parakrama Bahu era, just as it is an important aspect in the southern area today.
Kala Wewa (Reservoir) - 470 AD
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718048
|
__label__cc
| 0.722705
| 0.277295
|
Meet The Monks
Retreats and Programs
Register for a Retreat
Schedule Event
Philosophy and Teachings
Living At Madre Grande
Friar Program
Becoming A Monk
Purpose And Vows
Madre Grande Monastery
A Sacred site for healing, teaching, ceremony, and celebration
What is Holistic Healing?
Alternative healers are more holistic in their approach to disease. "Holistic" derives from the Greek word for "whole." Accordingly, holistic healers take the whole being into consideration. Everything must be considered: both social and physical environmental factors, and psychological, mental, as well as, spiritual and physical body issues. Every person is thus seen to be quite different. What works for one person might not work at all for another. Illness signifies that something has disrupted the natural physical or mental well-being of the patient. Contrary to conventional medicine, alternative approaches do not ignore the body’s natural self-healing and self-regulating abilities. Instead of applying drugs, equipment, and procedures that work against and ignore the body's natural abilities, alternative methods seek to stimulate the body's own natural defenses and boost those curative powers that are a part of us.
The Appeal of Alternative Healing
Part of the great appeal of alternative methods is the patient's active participation in their own health care and healing. Thus, in the majority of illnesses that are not life threatening or for generally keeping oneself in the state of wellness rather than of illness, alternative treatment is likely to be more effective and less harmful to the body. It will in all probability be much less costly as well, since the emphasis is on prevention, which entails simple and cheap practices. Even though alternative medicine when used preventively cannot guarantee freedom from illness, it will greatly facilitate recovery when illness does occur. Because this is true, and because more and more patients are demanding it, conventional doctors are increasingly using these so-called complementary methods in their practice.
What Is Alternative Healing?
What Is Disease?
Conventional medicine, which is also called Western, standard, traditional or allopathic medicine, sees disease as a set of symptoms and/or test results that are indicative of disorders in the body's chemical, mental, or physical systems. Diseases are often named after the person who first described the symptoms and thereby classified its pathology. Although there can be variations around the norm, in conventional theory we are all functionally alike, therefore, in this mechanistic view of disease, the same treatment will work for nearly all of us. Disease will vanish if we can bring the symptoms back to normal. Thus conventional medicine is diagnosis based and doctors just have to categorize the symptoms, run medical tests, and prescribe a medicine that has been shown to remove the symptoms and thereby the disease will be cured. In a life-threatening or crisis medical condition it is probably best to see a conventional doctor right away. You put yourself in his/her hands and hope he/she is a good mechanic, for you have very little, or nothing, to say in your own treatment.
First, we must point our that the word "alternative" as used here is a misnomer. What was at one time an alternative method might now be included in conventional medicine and, similarly, what was a conventional method might no longer be practiced at all. Such exotic practices like yoga, meditation, life-style changes, biofeedback, and hypnosis, to name just a few, are now regularly included in mainstream, conventional medical practice. Alternative methods are considered as those practices that are not widely taught in medical schools, not generally used in hospitals, and not usually reimbursed by medical insurance companies. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National Institute of Health (NIH) defines alternative medicine as those healthcare practices not considered an integral part of conventional medicine. More and more, however, these and other practices that were once scoffed at are being taught at major medical schools. Nevertheless, alternative and conventional medicine adopted very different approaches in their methods of treating disease and even in how they look at what disease is. Remember this, even a conventional doctor might use "alternative" methods, but an alternative or holistic healer will never use conventional medical means, since that is rigidly controlled by the American Medical Association, the AMA.
Madre Grande Monastery | 2260 Lucky Six Truck Trail | Dulzura,CA 91917 | (619)-468-6869
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718051
|
__label__wiki
| 0.667429
| 0.667429
|
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
Oaths Act 1775 (c....
Previous: Paragraph
Next: Paragraph
Revised Version 30/11/2014
Correction Slip - 16/08/2011
Changes over time for: Section 4
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, Section 4 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 19 July 2019. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Changes that have been made appear in the content and are referenced with annotations.
Pt. 1 Ch. 2A inserted by 2018 c. 33 Sch. para. 41
s. 16(3)(a) word inserted by 2015 c. 2 s. 85(3)(a)
s. 16(3)(b) and word inserted by 2015 c. 2 s. 85(3)(b)
s. 16(3A)(3B) inserted by 2015 c. 2 s. 85(4)
s. 49(6)(aa) inserted by 2018 c. 33 Sch. para. 42(3)(b)
Sch. 5 para. 3(3)-(8) inserted by 2018 c. 33 Sch. para. 44(3)
Sch. 5 para. 28A inserted by 2018 c. 33 Sch. para. 45
Sch. 7 para. 6(1)(e) words substituted by 2013 c. 22 Sch. 14 para. 13(2) (Sch. 7 was already repealed when this amendment came into force)
Sch. 7 para. 6(4)(b) words substituted by 2013 c. 22 Sch. 14 para. 13(2) (Sch. 7 was already repealed when this amendment came into force)
This section has no associated Explanatory Notes
4In the Oaths Act 1775 (justices to administer oaths for levying penalties etc.) at the end insert— “ In this Act references to making a distress include references to using the procedure in Schedule 12 to the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (taking control of goods) to recover a sum. ”
I1Sch. 13 para. 4 in force at 6.4.2014 by S.I. 2014/768, art. 2(1)(b)
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718055
|
__label__wiki
| 0.788842
| 0.788842
|
Larry Fitzgerald now second on all-time receiving list
By Nick Shook
Published: Nov. 11, 2018 at 04:06 p.m.
Updated: Nov. 11, 2018 at 05:30 p.m.
NFC West camp primer: Key players, questions
NFC North camp primer: Key players, questions
Larry Fitzgerald's illustrious NFL career has a new claim to fame: second most receiving yards in NFL history.
The ultra-reliable Fitzgerald passed Terrell Owens for second on the career list Sunday with a 15-yard reception late in the fourth quarter of Arizona's 26-14 loss to Kansas City. The catch put him at 15,939 yards for his 15-year career, and after finishing with six grabs for 50 yards Sunday, he stands at 15,952.
Fitzgerald has been with the Cardinals through the bad and the good, serving as a foundational piece since Arizona selected him third overall out of Pittsburgh in 2004. He's posted nine 1,000-yard seasons, was a leading force in the Cardinals team that fell just shy of winning Super Bowl XLIII and has been the model star player any and every team would want when spending a first-round pick. As faces have changed, the one constant in the desert has been Fitzgerald.
Fitzgerald, a surefire Hall of Famer, has flirted with retirement in recent years and is still 6,000 yards off the all-time leader, Jerry Rice, whose 22,895 yards still appears unreachable. But second place is damn good for the 11-time Pro Bowl receiver.
Congrats to my homie @LarryFitzgerald on becoming 2nd All-Time in receiving. Nice to know that Iâm in good company! #respect
â Terrell Owens (@terrellowens) November 11, 2018
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718063
|
__label__cc
| 0.522242
| 0.477758
|
Tag: rivi
How popular is the baby name Rivi in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Rivi.
Popularity of the Baby Name Rivi
Posts that Mention the Name Rivi
217 Saintly Surnames – Bosco, Neri, Sheen, Talbot…
Looking for a surname-inspired baby name with a connection to Catholicism?
Here are more than 200 options, most of which come from Catholic Englishmen martyred during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Because the goal was to include as many realistic baby names as possible, I interpreted “surname” and “saint” liberally in some cases. Xavier is not technically a surname, for instance, and many of the folks below are not yet full-fledged saints.
The hyperlinked names will take you to popularity graphs.
Abel, for Bl. Thomas Abel (d. 1540) of England.
Abbot, for Bl. Henry Abbot (d. 1597) of England.
Albert, for Bl. Federico Albert (d. 1876) of Italy.
Almond, for St. John Almond (d. 1612) of England.
Amias, for Bl. John Amias (d. 1589) of England.
Ancina, for Bl. John Juvenal Ancina (d. 1604) of Italy.
Andleby, for Bl. William Andleby (d. 1597) of England.
Aquinas, for St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) of Italy.
Arrowsmith, for St. Edmund Arrowsmith (d. 1628) of England.
Ashley, for Bl. Ralph Ashley (d. 1606) of England.
Ashton, for Ven. Roger Ashton (d. 1592) of England.
Atkinson, for Bl. Thomas Atkinson (d. 1616) of England.
Aufield, for Bl. Thomas Aufield (d. 1585) of England.
Barlow, for St. Ambrose Barlow (d. 1641) of England.
Baylon, for St. Paschal Baylon (d. 1592) of Spain.
Becket, from St. Thomas Becket (d. 1170) of England.
Beesley, for Bl. George Beesley (d. 1591) of England.
Belson, for Bl. Thomas Belson (d. 1589) of England.
Bertie, for Servant of God Andrew Bertie (d. 2008) of England/Malta.
Bertrand, for St. Louis Bertrand (d. 1581) of Spain/South America.
Bessette, for St. André Bessette (d. 1937) of Canada.
Bonzel, for Bl. Maria Theresia Bonzel (d. 1905) of Germany.
Bosco, for St. John Bosco (d. 1888) of Italy.
Bosgrave, for Bl. Thomas Bosgrave (d. 1594) of England.
Bowes, for Bl. Marmaduke Bowes (d. 1585) of England.
Briant, for St. Alexander Briant (d. 1581) of England.
Britton, for Bl. John Britton (d. 1598) of England.
Buxton, for Bl. Christopher Buxton (d. 1588) of England.
Cabrini, for St. Frances Xavier Cabrini (d. 1917) of Italy/U.S.
Campion, for St. Edmund Campion (d. 1581) of England.
Carey, for Bl. John Carey (d. 1594) of England.
Carter, for Bl. William Carter (b. 1584) of England.
Casey, for Ven. Solanus Casey (d. 1957) of the U.S. (His religious name “Solanus” comes from St. Francis Solanus, below.)
Cassant, for Bl. Pierre-Joseph Cassant (d. 1903) of France.
Catherick, for Bl. Edmund Catherick (d. 1642) of England.
Chanel, for St. Peter Chanel (d. 1841) of France.
Claver, for St. Peter Claver (d. 1654) of Spain.
Claxton, for Bl. James Claxton (d. 1588) of England.
Collins, for Bl. Dominic Collins (d. 1602) of Ireland.
Cope, for St. Marianne Cope (d. 1918) of Germany/U.S.
Corbie, for Ven. Ralph Corbie (d. 1644) of Ireland.
Cornelius, for Bl. John Cornelius (d. 1594) of England.
Dalby, for Bl. Robert Dalby (d. 1589) of England.
Daniel, for St. Antoine Daniel (d. 1648) of France/Canada.
David, for Bl. Vicente Vilar David (1937) of Spain or Bl. Toros Oghlou David (d. 1895) of Armenia
Davy, for Bl. John Davy (d. 1537) of England or Bl. Charlotte Davy (d. 1794) of France.
Dean, for Bl. William Dean (d. 1588) of England.
Dorie, for Bl. Pierre Henri Dorie (d. 1866) of France.
Douglas, for Bl. George Douglas (d. 1587) of Scotland.
Drexel, for St. Katharine Drexel (d. 1955) of the U.S.
Drury, for Bl. Robert Drury (d. 1607) of England.
Duff, for Servant of God Frank Duff (d. 1980) of Ireland.
Duke, for Bl. Edmund Duke (d. 1590) of England.
Durando, for Bl. Marco Antonio Durando (d. 1880) of Italy.
Dutton, for Servant of God Joseph Dutton (d. 1931) of the U.S.
Ebner, for Bl. Margareta Ebner (d. 1351) of Germany.
Emmerich, for Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich (d. 1824) of Germany.
Errico, for St. Gaetano Errico (d. 1860) of Italy.
Errington, for Bl. George Errington (d. 1596) of England.
Evans, for St. Philip Evans (d. 1679) of Wales.
Faber, for St. Peter Faber (d. 1546) of France.
Falzon, for Bl. Nazju Falzon (d. 1865) of Malta.
Farina, for St. Giovanni Antonio Farina (d. 1888) of Italy.
Fasani, for St. Francis Anthony Fasani (d. 1742) of Italy.
Felton, for Bl. John Felton (d. 1570) in England.
Fenn, for Bl. James Fenn (d. 1584) in England.
Fenwick, for Bl. John Fenwick (d. 1679) of England.
Ferrari, for Bl. Andrea Carlo Ferrari (d. 1921) of Italy.
Ferrer, for St. Vincent Ferrer (d. 1419) of Spain.
Filby, for Bl. William Filby (d. 1582) of England.
Frassati, for Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati (d. 1925) of Italy.
Fulthrop, for Bl. Edward Fulthrop (d. 1597) of England.
Finch, for Bl. John Finch (d. 1584) of England.
Fisher, for Bl. John Fisher (d. 1535) of England.
Foley, for Servant of God Theodore Foley (d. 1974) of the U.S.
Fontaine, for Bl. Marie-Madeleine Fontaine (d. 1794) of France.
Forest, for Bl. John Forest (d. 1538) of England.
Garnet, for St. Thomas Garnet (d. 1608) of England.
Gavan, for Bl. John Gavan (d. 1679) of England.
Gennings, for St. Edmund Gennings (d. 1591) of England.
Gerard, for Bl. Jeanne Gerard (d. 1794) of France or Bl. Joseph Gérard, (d. 1914) of France/South Africa.
Gerosa, for St. Vincentia Gerosa (d. 1847) of Italy.
Gervase, for Bl. George Gervase (d. 1608) of England.
Gibson, for Bl. William Gibson (d. 1596) of England.
Goretti, for St. Maria Goretti (d. 1902) of Italy.
Grove, for Bl. John Grove (d. 1679) of England.
Gwyn, for St. Richard Gwyn (d. 1584) of Wales.
Harrington, for Bl. William Harrington (d. 1594) of England.
Heath, for Bl. Henry Heath (d. 1643) of England.
Hewitt, for Bl. John Hewitt (d. 1588) of England.
Higgins, for Bl. Peter Higgins (d. 1642) of Irish.
Houghton, for St. John Houghton (d. 1535) of England.
Howard, for St. Philip Howard (d. 1595) of England or for his grandson, Bl. William Howard (d. 1680) of England.
Humphrey, for St. Lawrence Humphrey (d. 1590) of England.
Hunt, for Bl. Thurston Hunt (d. 1601) of England.
Ingleby, for Bl. Francis Ingleby (d. 1586) of England.
Ingram, for Ven. John Ingram (d. 1594) of England.
Janssen, for St. Arnold Janssen (d. 1909) of Germany.
Kemble, for St. John Kemble (d. 1679) of England.
Kern, for Bl. Jakob Kern (d. 1924) of Austria.
Kirby, for St. Luke Kirby (d. 1582) of England.
Kolbe, for St. Maximilian Kolbe (d. 1941) of Poland.
Konrad, for Bl. Nicholas Konrad (d. 1941) of Ukraine.
Lakota, for Bl. Gregor Lakota (d. 1950) of Ukraine.
Langley, for Bl. Richard Langley (d. 1586) of England.
Lanteri, for Ven. Bruno Lanteri (d. 1830) of Italy.
Larke, for Bl. John Larke (d. 1544) of England.
Laval, for Bl. Jacques-Désiré Laval (d. 1864) of France/Mauritius.
Lawrence, for St. Robert Lawrence (d. 1535) of England.
Leigh, for Bl. Richard Leigh (d. 1588) of England.
Lewis, for St. David Lewis (d. 1679) of Wales
Liguori, for St. Alphonsus Liguori (d. 1787) of Italy.
Lilli, for Bl. Salvatore Lilli (d. 1895) of Italy.
Lloyd, for St. John Lloyd (d. 1679) of Wales.
Lockwood, for Bl. John Lockwood (d. 1642) of England.
Lucas, for Bl. Charlotte Lucas (d. 1794) of France.
MacKillop, for St. Mary MacKillop (d. 1909) of Australia.
Majali, for Bl. Giuliano Majali (d. 1470) of Sicily.
Majella, for St. Gerard Majella (d. 1755) of Italy.
Manna, for Bl. Paolo Manna (d. 1952) of Italy.
Marchand, for St. Joseph Marchand (d. 1835) of France.
Marella, for Ven. Olinto Marella (d. 1969) of Italy.
Mareri, for Bl. Philippa Mareri (d. 1236) of Italy.
Margil, for Ven. Antonio Margil (d. 1726) of Spain/Central America.
Mari, for Servant of God Ida Mari (d. 1981) of Italy.
Martin, for St. Louis Martin (d. 1894) of France or Bl. Richard Martin (d. 1588) of England.
Marsden, from Bl. William Marsden (d. 1586) of England.
Marto, for Bl. Francisco Marto (d. 1919) of Portugal.
Mason, for Bl. John Mason (d. 1591) of England.
Massey, for Bl. René-Julien Massey (d. 1792) of France.
Maxfield, for Bl. Thomas Maxfield (d. 1616) of England.
Munden, for Bl. John Munden (d. 1584) of England.
Mayer, for Bl. Rupert Mayer (d. 1945) of Germany.
McAuley, for Ven. Catherine McAuley (d. 1841) of Ireland.
Meehan, for Bl. Charles Meehan (d. 1679) of Ireland.
Merlo, for Ven. Thecla Merlo (d. 1964) of Italy.
Medina, for Bl. Manuel Medina y Olmos (d. 1936) of Spain.
Mela, for Ven. Itala Mela (d. 1957) of Italy.
Merton, for Fr. Thomas Merton (d. 1968) of the U.S.
Mesina, for Bl. Antonia Mesina (d. 1935) of Italy.
Miki, for St. Paul Miki (d. 1597) of Japan.
Molina, for Bl. Mercedes de Jesús Molina y Ayala (d. 1883) of Ecuador.
Molla, for St. Gianna Beretta Molla (d. 1962) of Italy.
Mora, for Bl. Elisabeth Canori Mora (d. 1825) of Italy.
Morse, for St. Henry Morse (d. 1645) of England.
Nelson, for Bl. John Nelson (d. 1578) of England.
Neri, for St. Philip Neri (d. 1595) of Italy.
Newman, for Bl. John Henry Newman (d. 1890) of England.
Nichols, for Bl. George Nichols (d. 1589) fo England.
Nolasco, for St. Peter Nolasco (d. 1256) of France.
Ogilvie, for St. John Ogilvie (d. 1615) of Scotland.
Owen, for St. Nicholas Owen (d. 1606) of England.
Page, for Bl. Anthony Page (d. 1593) of England or Bl. Francis Page (d. 1602) of England.
Percy, for Bl. Thomas Percy (d. 1572) of England.
Potter, for Ven. Mary Potter (d. 1913) of England.
Powell, for Bl. Edward Powell (d. 1540) of Wales.
Quinn, for Ven. Edel Quinn (d. 1944) of Ireland.
Rawlins, for Bl. Alexander Rawlins (d. 1595) of England.
Regis, for St. John Francis Regis (d. 1640) of France.
Reynolds, for St. Richard Reynolds (d. 1535) of England or Bl. Thomas Reynolds (d. 1560) of England.
Richardson, for Bl. Lawrence Richardson (d. 1582) of England or Bl. William Richardson (d. 1603) of England.
Rigby, for St. John Rigby (d. 1600) of England
Rivi, for Bl. Rolando Rivi (d. 1945) of Italy.
Robinson, for St. Christopher Robinson (d. 1598) of England.
Rochester, for Bl. John Rochester (d. 1537) of England.
Roe, for St. Alban Roe (d. 1642) of England.
Romano, for Bl. Vincent Romano (d. 1831) of Italy.
Rossello, for St. Maria Giuseppa Rossello (d. 1880) of Italy.
Sala, for Bl. Maria Anna Sala (d. 1891) of Italy.
Savio, for St. Dominic Savio (d. 1857) of Italy.
Scott, for Bl. Montford Scott (d. 1591) of England or Bl. Maurus Scott (d. 1612) of England.
Serra, for St. Junipero Serra (d. 1784) of Spain/New Spain.
Seton, for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (d. 1821) of the U.S.
Sheen, for Ven. Fulton J. Sheen (d. 1979) of the U.S.
Shelley, for Bl. Edward Shelley (d. 1588) of England.
Sherwin, for St. Ralph Sherwin (d. 1581) of England.
Sherwood, for Bl. Thomas Sherwood (d. 1578) of England.
Sinclair, for Ven. Margaret Anne Sinclair (d. 1925) of Scotland.
Slade, for Bl. John Slade (d. 1583) of England.
Solanus, for St. Francis Solanus (d. 1610) of Spain.
Southwell, for St. Robert Southwell (d. 1595) of England.
Southworth, for St. John Southworth (d. 1654) of England.
Steno, for Bl. Nicolas Steno (d. 1686) of Denmark.
Spenser, for Bl. William Spenser (d. 1589) of England.
Spencer, for Ven. Ignatius Spencer (d. 1864) of England.
Stefani, for Bl. Irene Stefani (d. 1930) of Italy.
Stein, for St. Edith Stein (d. 1942) of Germany.
Stone, for St. John Stone (d. 1539) in England.
Sullivan, for Ven. John Sullivan (d. 1933) in Ireland.
Sutton, for Bl. Robert Sutton (d. 1587) of England.
Talbot, for Ven. Matt Talbot (d. 1925) of Ireland or Bl. John Talbot (d. 1600) of England.
Tansi, for Bl. Cyprian Michael Tansi (d. 1964) of Nigeria.
Taylor, for Bl. Hugh Taylor (d. 1585) of England, Francis Taylor (d. 1621) of Ireland, or Ven. Frances Margaret Taylor (d. 1900) of England.
Tezza, for Bl. Luigi Tezza (d. 1923) of Italy.
Thirkeld, for Bl. Richard Thirkeld (d. 1583) in England.
Thompson, for Bl. James Thompson (d. 1582) of England.
Thorne, for Bl. John Thorne (d. 1539) of England.
Thorpe, for Bl. Robert Thorpe (d. 1591) of England.
Tirry, for Bl. William Tirry (d. 1654) of Ireland.
Tomasi, for St. Giuseppe Maria Tomasi (d. 1713) of Italy.
Tunstall, for Bl. Thomas Tunstall (d. 1616) of England.
Turner, for Bl. Anthony Turner (d. 1679) of England.
Vega, for Servant of God Pablo Muñoz Vega (d. 1994) of Ecuador.
Venard, for St. Jean-Théophane Vénard (d. 1861) of France.
Vera, for Ven. Jacinto Vera y Durán (d. 1881) of Uruguay.
Verna, for Bl. Antonia Maria Verna (d. 1838) of Italy.
Vianney, for St. Jean Vianney (d. 1859) of France.
Ward, for St. Margaret Ward (d. 1588) of England.
Webster, for St. Augustine Webster (d. 1535) of England.
Wells, for St. Swithun Wells (d. 1591) of England.
Wharton, for Bl. Christopher Wharton (d. 1600) of England.
Whitaker, for Bl. Thomas Whitaker (d. 1646) of England.
Wilson, for Ven. Mary Jane Wilson (d. 1916) of British India.
Wright, for Bl. Peter Wright (d. 1651) of England.
Xavier, for St. Francis Xavier (d. 1552) of Spain.
Zaccaria, for St. Antonio Maria Zaccaria (d. 1539) of Italy.
Zola, for Bl. Giovanni Batista Zola (d. 1626) of Italy.
Which of the above do you like best?
And, what other saint-inspired surnames would make good baby names? I’m sure I missed a few. Let me know in the comments!
Categories: Lists of Names Tags: abbot, abel, alban, albert, alexander, almond, alphonsus, ambrose, amias, ancina, andleby, andre, andrea, andrew, ann, anne, anthony, antoine, antonia, antonio, aquinas, arnold, arrowsmith, ashley, ashton, atkinson, aufield, augustine, barlow, baylon, becket, beesley, belson, bertie, bertrand, bessette, bonzel, bosco, bosgrave, bowes, briant, britton, bruno, buxton, cabrini, campion, carey, carter, casey, cassant, catherick, catherine, chanel, charles, charlotte, christopher, claver, claxton, collins, cope, corbie, cornelius, cyprian, dalby, daniel, david, davy, dean, desire, dominic, dorie, douglas, drexel, drury, duff, duke, durando, dutton, ebner, edel, edith, edmund, edward, elisabeth, elizabeth, emmerich, errico, errington, evans, faber, falzon, farina, fasani, federico, felton, fenn, fenwick, ferrari, ferrer, filby, finch, fisher, foley, fontaine, forest, frances, francis, francisco, frank, frassati, fulthrop, fulton, gaetano, garnet, gavan, gennings, george, gerard, gerosa, gervase, gianna, gibson, giorgio, giovanni, giuliano, giuseppa, giuseppe, goretti, gregor, grove, gwyn, harrington, heath, henri, henry, hewitt, higgins, houghton, howard, hugh, humphrey, hunt, ida, ignatius, ingleby, ingram, irene, itala, jacinto, jacques, jakob, james, jane, janssen, jean, jeanne, john, joseph, julien, junipero, katharine, kemble, kern, kirby, kolbe, konrad, lakota, langley, lanteri, larke, laval, lawrence, leigh, lewis, liguori, lilli, lloyd, lockwood, louis, lucas, luigi, luke, mackillop, madeleine, majali, majella, manna, manuel, marchand, marco, marella, mareri, margaret, margareta, margil, mari, maria, marianne, marmaduke, marsden, martin, marto, mary, mason, massey, matt, maurus, maxfield, maximilian, mayer, mcauley, medina, meehan, mela, mercedes, merlo, merton, mesina, michael, miki, molina, molla, montford, mora, morse, munden, nazju, nelson, neri, newman, nicholas, nichols, nicolas, nolasco, ogilvie, olinto, owen, pablo, page, paolo, paschal, paul, percy, peter, philip, philippa, pier, pierre, potter, powell, quinn, ralph, rawlins, regis, rene, reynolds, richard, richardson, rigby, rivi, robert, robinson, rochester, roe, roger, rolando, romano, rossello, rupert, sala, salvatore, savio, scott, serra, seton, sheen, shelley, sherwin, sherwood, sinclair, slade, solanus, southwell, southworth, spencer, spenser, stefani, stein, steno, stone, sullivan, sutton, swithun, talbot, tansi, taylor, tezza, thecla, theodore, theophane, thirkeld, thomas, thompson, thorne, thorpe, thurston, tirry, tomasi, toros, tunstall, turner, vega, venard, vera, verna, vianney, vicente, vincent, vincentia, ward, webster, wells, wharton, whitaker, william, wilson, wright, xavier, zaccaria, zola Leave a comment
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718068
|
__label__wiki
| 0.828543
| 0.828543
|
Charity Management
Schools Affiliated To The Company
Merchant Taylors’ Consolidated Charities for the Infirm
The Henry Colborn Trust
The Dudley and Geoffrey Cox Charitable Trust
Livery and Freemen Fund
The Master’s Charity
Charity Visits Scheme
Apply for funds
Upload a report on funding
Leaving a gift in your will: 1327 Campaign
News From The Hall
HMS Heron
Army Air Corps
The Royal Yeomanry
The London Regiment
2nd Mine Countermeasures Squadron (MCM2)
RAF Halton
Venue & Catering
Merchant Taylors’ School
founded by the Company in 1561
Merchant Taylors’ School is one of the ‘Great Nine’ schools of England. They have provided outstanding educational opportunities to boys in the London area since 1561. “Merchant Taylors’ is an exceptional learning community that provides a first class education in a humane and civilised environment. The value breadth of achievement as much as success at the highest level. In September 2015 Northwood Prep merged with Merchant Taylors’ School making an all-through school for boys aged 3-18.
St. John’s School
purchased by the Company in 1984
St. John’s is an IAPS boys’ day preparatory school with approximately 350 boys aged three to thirteen years old. Facing south on a thirty-five acre site we have outstanding views over London. To enable each boy to extend and develop his talents and interests so that he can grow in confidence and fulfil his potential. Both inside and outside the classroom the individual is presented with a range of opportunities which, when fully grasped, will enable him to flourish.
The King’s School in Macclesfield
founded in 1502 by Sir John Percyvale
King’s has been providing excellent education for children for over 510 years. They are proud of our traditions and outstanding reputation but they also look forward to the exciting challenges of educating tomorrow’s generation. The school is a vibrant, dynamic community educating children from 3 to 18 years old; learning and personal development are at the heart of their community.
Wolverhampton Grammar School
founded in 1512 by Sir Stephen Jenyns
Wolverhampton Grammar School aims to be a busy, happy and successful community with young people, their learning, development and welfare at the heart of everything we do. The philosophy of WGS places scholarship at the heart of a challenging education which promotes achievement through active involvement. It seeks to develop self-awareness and a sense of responsibility, values both individuality and altruism, and fosters the spirit of community and commitment traditional to the School.
Foyle College
founded in 1617 by Matthias Springham
Foyle College is a Co-educational, Voluntary Grammar School which has been providing high quality education for the City of Londonderry and its surrounding area for almost 400 years. The school aims to help their students to grow academically, athletically and artistically enabling them to fulfil their potential both as members of the school community and as contributors to society.
Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School, Crosby
founded in 1620 by John Harrison
Merchant Taylors’ Schools are a famous family of schools based in Crosby, just north of Liverpool.
Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School is an independent day school for boys aged 11-18: it is one of the leading boys’ schools in the North West and consistently tops the Sefton League Tables for examination results. The School has a strong history and tradition of excellence as well as a reputation for producing well-rounded, successful and happy young men.
Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School, Crosby
When you visit Merchant Taylors’ Girls’ School you will feel the extraordinary warmth which comes from the good relationships that dedicated staff and motivated girls have with each other. The girls are encouraged to express themselves, to seek help when they need it, to practise leadership roles and to reach for the top. Their achievements in external examinations indicate the highest academic standards.
Wallingford School
founded in 1659 by Walter Bigg
Wallingford School helps every pupil choose the right mix of elements that will send them into the world able and qualified to play their full part. At Wallingford School they believe there is much to be said for a long, happy childhood in the hands of caring adults. Young people here are so positive and confident partly because they are both respected and respectful.
St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School
St. Saviour’s & St. Olave’s School was founded as a grammar school for girls in 1903. It belongs to the St. Olave’s & St. Saviour’s Schools Foundation, which can trace its history back through four centuries to the time of Queen Elizabeth I. Today the school is fully inclusive and very successful inner city Church of England school for girls. The school provides an educational environment of stability and tradition that enables the whole community to learn from the very best of their shared heritage.
St Helen’s School
St Helen’s School is a leading independent girls’ day school providing outstanding, all-round education for girls aged three to eighteen. Set in over 21 acres of beautiful grounds in North London, the school provides the opportunity for pupils to excel academically, fulfil their potential and acquire the skills, insight and confidence to become leaders in their future professions and communities, and make a valuable contribution to wider society. The school cherishes its rich history and enduring values but is also forward thinking and embraces innovation. Girls leave the school confident, independent and ready to take their place in the world.
Merchant Taylors’ Events
© 2019 Merchant Taylors’ Company • Merchant Taylors’ Hall, 30 Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8JB • Tel: 0207 450 4441
Website by The Frank Agency
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718070
|
__label__cc
| 0.709471
| 0.290529
|
"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun." ~ Katharine Hepburn
In Culver City, California when I was young, Saturdays meant going to the movies. You'd think that the movie theater would be sitting in the shadow of MGM Studios, wouldn't you... but it wasn't. Nope! We went to the Palms Theater in the neighboring town. Mom would pile my brother, Jackie, and his buddies into the backseat, which meant that my friends and I would have to sit on each others' laps in the front seat. Then, off we'd go.
At The Palms Theater there would be a long line of cars on Saturday mornings, full of Moms dumping their kids onto the sidewalk with quarters clutched in their hands. Mom would hand me my 2 quarters, and then stuff 2 quarters into my brother's back pocket so he wouldn't lose them. We'd all tumble out of the car and run to stand in line with the other kids.
The movies cost 25 cents if you were 12 or under. But here is a shocker for you reading this today: "The Movies" consisted of 5-6 "Loonie Tunes" cartoons, a newsreel of the world's happenings, a 15-minute serialized Western ("to be continued..." it always said, just as the hero fell off the cliff...), and THEN came the movie!
But there was even more! After the feature movie came the intermission. Of course, no one had any money left to buy anything edible, but it was a busy time, just the same. The boys needed to go to the lobby to get more handfuls of straws. The girls would be streaming into the bathroom, just because they were girls and had to primp and do some more talking!
Then the lights would go out in the theater, and then, the coming attractions. After that, came a second movie... the "B" movie. Yes, we kids would be in that theater on Saturdays from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Now you understand how popular the Saturday movies were with the Moms and Dads. Nearly every single Saturday parents had a carefree, kid-free afternoon!
When you'd finally reach the ticket window, you'd hand the lady-in-the-window a quarter, and she'd shove a ticket at you, through the slit at the bottom of her glass. That was your ticket to the lobby! That's where you'd get your Coke for a nickel, a big container of popcorn for a dime, and you'd get to pick out 2 of your most favorite, enormous candy bars, at a nickel a piece. You were broke, then... penniless, but very, very happy!
Inside the theater there was a strict regimental seating policy. I'm not sure the management knew about this policy, but we kids never broke that order. The front 10 or 12 rows were for the boys. That way they could reach the movie-screen when they blew the paper off their straws. Only THEN could they dunk their naked straws into their large cups and squirt Coke at each other!
The middle rows were for the girls of all ages, chattering with their friends above the roar of the boys' laughter and yelling in the front. Sometimes, a boy would turn around, aim his straw at one of the girls, and, if he had good aim, the straw paper would hit the girl right in the cheek. It was The Palms Theater's "Saturday language of love," and all the kids over 10 years of age knew it!
The last rows of The Palms were specially reserved for the 13 - 15 year-olds. If a boy in that age group was "in love," he'd plan to meet her in one of those rows so they could "make-out." Yes, it's true! Love did bloom in that raucuous, paper-straw-filled, popcorn-smelling, sticky-floored movie theater. There was another rule that we all knew... if we had to run back up the aisle to the bathroom in the lobby, we were NOT supposed to look at anyone in those back rows! But if we couldn't resist, we were supposed to peek discretely at the lovers' knots that had formed back there.
The Palms Theater had a few rules of its own, too. Every Saturday the manager would make his apearance before the movies started. Straight-backed, determined but forelorn, he would march down the aisle, dodging paper straws and sprays of Coke or root beer or 7-Up. There, in front of the dark movie screen, he would make the same announcement every Saturday: "Please, ladies and gentlemen! PLEASE! Be quiet! PLEASE BE QUIET!" Of course, no one would. In fact, I always wondered why he thought that about 2 or 3 hundred kids would stop having such fun and listen to a grown-up who wasn't even their teacher or their Dad...
He would doggedly keep on going with his request, though. "Please pick up your straw papers! Please don't blow those papers all over this theater. It makes such a mess! Please be quiet and consider that your neighbor might want to actually hear the movie... PLEEEEEZE..." And then he would trudge up the other aisle and go back where he came from. No one would bother us again until the lights inside the theater went back on at about 5:00PM. By then, havoc was wreaked... we all had tummy-aches, headaches, sore throats from yelling over the rest of the 200 or 300 kids, and our Dads were waiting in their cars to take us back home.
Those were the days... I'm off, now, to the movies with my husband. It's not nearly as fun, though, being quiet and grown-up. But, if Richard buys me a Coke tonight, and if he turns his head, I'll blow the paper off my straw just for you! :}
"So free we seem, so fettered fast we are!" ~ Robert Browning
I love to get up early... always have. In the morning on my drive to Orange High School, I'd stop at the donut shop along the way and get a really fresh, really sugary, frosted donut. As I waited in line that day, a very tall, very handsome, very young firefighter came in to the shop and got in line right behind me. Then, suddenly, he tapped me on the shoulder.
"You're Mrs. Waldron!"
"Yes, I am," I said, trying to search through the years' loooong list of students who I'd taught, but coming up blank. Who was this darling guy? ALL the high school girls in my classes would have been swooning...
"I'm Bill... Billy Young... remember? I was in your 8th grade English class at McPherson Junior High. Don't you remember me? You were my favorite teacher!"
I looked really hard at him, trying to dig out some hint to his identity... and there it was, at last. His eyes... The eyes never failed my remembering. He'd been a great honors student and a nice one, even though he'd had a kind of whiny high-pitched voice in those days. Now he risked his life fighting fires! He was a full-grown, deep-voiced, quiet, strong Man!
"Billy!!! It's YOU? You were a little tiny guy back then... You're a firefighter! That's so dangerous! You're a full-grown man! Wow! I'm sooo proud of you!"
The next morning, as I was driving to school again, I thought of Billy and so many of the other students I'd taught... My profession was a very special, very important one... one that a teacher must not just talk about, but one she must live, too. Do the right thing! I was proud and humbled by it, all at same time, as I turned into the post office parking lot on the way to school.
What a great day it was! It was so early that I'd have plenty of time to set up my lesson for the first couple classes... Boy, life was goood! I plunked my mail into the box, stopped at the "No Left Turn" sign, looked both ways... and... there wasn't a car anywhere to be seen... nowhere... so I turned LEFT, anyway!
But there WAS someone... a motorcycle cop. I never knew that motorcycle policemen had flashing red lights on their "bikes." They DO! It was me he was flashing them at... the only other person on the road for blocks. I'd never been pulled over before. I didn't know how far I should drive or where I should stop. The parking lot in front of a bunch of unopened shops seemed good, so I pulled in with the officer close behind me.
He took his time climbing off his Harley, and then he strode over to my window, not acknowledging my "Hello, Officer, Sir."
"Do you know what you just did?" he asked, as he glanced into the back seat of my car where my Bible was resting.
"Yes... I turned left, instead of right, out of the post office parking lot, didn't I?"
"I see your Bible in the back seat. You're a Christian, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am!"
"Well so am I, and that's why I'm going to give you this ticket. It's not good enough to just READ the Bible. Ya gotta live it, too!" and he handed me my first ever traffic ticket. Before he climbed back on his motorcycle, he said, "God bless you." Then, off he went.
Well, my pristine driving record was sullied! "Now what? " I asked a friend at school. "My inusrance will go up, and my husband will be ticked... and ..."
"All you do is sign up for Traffic School! Then they erase it so your driving record will be OK. No problem... it's easy! I've done it myself," he said.
So there I was, early Saturday morning, walking into the "bad drivers' class" with at least 300 other jerks! The "teacher" was a retired Highway Patrol Officer, and we were there for the entire day. As I looked for a place to sit, I realized that there were nearly no other women in "class." There were lots of "tough guys," though. You know, guys with bandanas down over their eyebrows and tied behind their heads, looking out through half-closed, surly eyes, their jeans just barely covering their "behinds."
I did see one guy who was sitting alone, quivering, and I figured he'd be a good seat-mate, so I plopped my quivering self down right beside him. He looked as scared as I was, and then the class offically began.
"OK, OK, SHUT UP!" is how the "teacher" introduced himself to the class. "How many of youse are here for speeding? Raise your hands..."
At least half of the hands went up. As I dared to sneak a peek at many of the owners of those hands, I saw that they were the "cool" guys with the bandanas, tats, and sneers.
"How many of youse are here for drunk driving?"
The other half of the hands that went up belonged to guys with their eyes closed, their mouths open, their heads resting on the backs of their chairs, or slung forward onto their chests as though they didn't have the strength to hold their heads upright.
And then our "teacher" looked over at me... "What're YOU here for, if it isn't for speeding or drunk driving???"
"Well, I turned left instead of right when I was driving out of the post office parking lot, Sir."
That was good for loud, grunting laughter from the "cool" speeders. The drunk drivers, on the other hand, just wanted everyone to shut up because their heads hurt from their hangovers...
"You did WHAT?" said our teacher. So I had to repeat it again... and this time, even the drunk drivers were awake enough to laugh! "Humiliated" doesn't cover what I felt. For two hours I had the "should-a, would-a, could-a's." Why hadn't I said that I was driving the get-away car for some guys who robbed a bank... or my hopped-up Mustang just couldn't go as slow as the stupid speed limit sign said... or....
When I finally got my head back into what our highly exerienced teacher was talking about, boy, was I surprised. He was telling us ways to "beat the wrap!" There was soooo much I didn't know about the exact wording of the laws and, what he was telling us was really interesting... in a kind of perverse way. I learned a lot!
Well, I walked out of the courthouse that day with a clean record... and lots of new information. I had still got guffaws during the lunch time break out at the "roach coach," but I was used to it by then.
Time passed, and I obeyed all of the traffic laws, thwarting those cars that careened around me on the highways and byways. No more tickets or "driving school" for this teacher-lady! There was one more problem, though...
Down in Costa Mesa on my way to church one day, a motorcycle policeman was sitting on his "bike" with a radar gun pointed at the cars that drove past him. One of those cars was mine!
His red lights went on! He rev-ed his motorcycle and took off to pull ME over! ME!!!
I knew the drill... I pulled off the main road onto a side street, rolled down my window with my driver's license clutched in my hand.
"You were speeding! I'm givin' you a ticket!"
"Officer, I wasn't speeding! I was looking at my speedometer, and I was right on the button."
"YOU WERE SPEEDING! My radar gun PROVES it!" He wrote out the ticket and told me to sign it.
I read the ticket first... both sides of it! I signed it. But, as I gave it back to him, I said, "I signed the place where it says that I contest this ticket, and we're both going to court about this, because I WASN'T SPEEDING!"
"LADY! YOU WERE SPEEDING! MY RADAR PROVES IT!" he snarled.
"The motorcycle you were sitting on was idling, wasn't it?" I said in my best "teacher-voice."
"Yeah, so what?"
"The law says that if the policeman is on a motorcycle whose engine is running, the hand-held radar gun cannot be used to prove that a car was speeding! We're going to go to court! And both of us are going to tell the judge about this. Let's see what HE says."
I went to court, but the policeman didn't appear. The judge excused my ticket, and I was free and clear.
The moral of this event: Reformed-criminal teachers like me LOVE learning, and lots of that learning sticks with them.
Another moral of this story: I REALLY WASN'T SPEEDING IN COSTA MESA! Cross my heart and hope to die.
"You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best that you have to give." ~ Eleanor Rooseveldt
On my way home today, I drove past my old junior high school, the first school I taught at when we moved here to California. What wonderful years I spent there teaching the loads of students who came through my door! We read great authors' works, we wrote together, we talked and discussed, and we learned... me along with those amazing young teenagers. Happy times, every day of them... well, except one day...
My classroom was the last one in the building as you walked down that open corridor past the office. My room had two doors, one on either side of the large bulletin board that was between them. I loved designing that board with displays of the original writing my English students were doing. My classroom was beautiful!
I had made sure that all the desks were turned away from those doors so that the students would be facing the front of the classroom with the blackboards right in front of them. That way the students would have no outside distractions. I always left those doors open, though, so I could see the beautiful bushes that lined "my" outside corridor. Sometimes those tall bushes would even delight me with flowers that were in perfect keeping with my colorful bulletin boards. I was an English teacher, yes, but I also had an art degree, so in this room the two sides of me could meet. It truly was a heavenly place for me to be... (sigh). The kids were the best ever, and the room was perfect... just perfect. Such luck!
We were studying the short story, "Flight," by John Steinbeck that day. Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize, largely for his enormous classic novel "The Grapes of Wrath." But I loved his short stories, and "Flight" was set here in California "up the road" from us about 300 miles or so, give or take a mile or two. I'd given the kids drawing paper and crayons to draw the last 2 or 3 paragraphs of that story, and they were hard at it. It was a sort of test for them to show me what they "saw" in their "mind's eye" when they read Steinbeck's final words.
I was wandering around the classroom, looking at the students drawings, and, once in a while, staring outside the door at the flaming red flowers, mindful of what a lucky lady I was to be teaching here in California... pure bliss! Then, all at once, two men strode into the doorway of my classroom... two grungy men I'd never seen before, ever. They looked like they were in their early 20's, and before I could blink, they both began to fiddle with their belts and zippers, then turned around, bent over, and dropped their drawers! Yes! I was being "mooned!" In my lovely classroom I was standing there looking at the bare rear-ends of two men I'd never seen before in my life! No words were spoken... I just heard the swish of jeans dropping to the ground around their feet and saw two sets of wriggling "cheeks" dancing before my very eyes!
One or two of the students looked up and saw their wide-eyed teacher with her jaw dropped down to her chin!
"What's the matter, Mrs. Waldron???? What happened?" they asked, turning to look over their shoulders at the place where I was staring. But no one was there! Those guys had yanked up their pants, zipped them, and started their run back down the corridor, past the office, towards the parking lot to their car.
Within 30 seconds, I was running after them! "Stop! Stop right this minute! I said STOP!" I yelled uselessly. But what exactly did I think I would do if they DID stop? Who did I think I was... the police?
When I trudged back into my room, the kids were in a mild uproar.
"Mrs. Waldron!"
"What happened?"
"Why did you run out of the room, Mrs. Waldron?"
"Didn't you see those two guys at the door? Didn't you see what they did? They were right there..." I mumbled, still in shock!
"What guys, Mrs. Waldron?"
"Who was at the door?"
"Which door, Mrs. W?"
"I didn't see anyone!"
"Those two guys just "mooned" us! You MUST have seen them..." I gasped, weakly.
"Mooned? What's that, Mrs. Waldron?" asked the densest boy in the class... which started an excited, but very educational, give-and-take among all 36 students about the new nation-wide "mooning" phenomenon.
I just barely had time to gather the students' literary drawing-tests before the bell rang and class was dismissed. That was the easy part... The hard part was seeing the variety of strange looks that all 36 students gave me as they exited my lovely classroom with the stunning bulletin boards, and that also contained their crazy teacher who had vowed that two strangers had dropped their drawers in the doorway of this very classroom...
It happened just as I wrote it, though... really... really it DID! You do believe me, don't you... It DID! REALLY TRULY!!!
"Now, isn't imagination a precious thing? It peoples the earth with all manner of wonders." ~ Mark Twain
When my family first moved to Stamford, Connecticut, all the way from Culver City, California, they broke up my first love, my first steady, my first real kiss, even... Ooops, I already whined about that... Sorry... I will start again...
When my family first moved to Stamford, Connecticut, all way from Culver City, California that summer, it seemed like we'd moved to a different country! None of us had ever been in the Northeast before. The hills were covered with trees growing right down to the Long Island Sound that lapped against the slight bit of "sand" at Stamford's shoreline... It was right out of a movie! ... simply magical!
That summer Mom and Dad decided that we ought to drive up the coast of Connecticut, that compact little state, because the Mayfower II had just sailed over the Atlantic, and we HAD to see that! It was an exact replica of the origiinal Mayflower that had brought the first settlers to America. OK, OK, you history wizards... Jamestown was the first settlement, but they all died... These Mayflower folks were sturdier, I guess... or something like that... should have listened more closely to our guide... or my history teachers.
When we got there, I learned one thing about those Pilgrims that wasn't in my history book... They were SHORT little guys! Oh, my, were they short! We wandered around the entire ship's deck, and I really thought that it would have been lots bigger than it was. But it was when we went "below," that I was stunned. After clunking my head on the beam above the stairs, I realized that I had to bow my head all the way down to the innerds of the ship! When I entered the cabin below, the ceiling was still too low for me to stand straight. Now, I was 5'7" tall, and the placard on the wall said that the tallest Pilgrim man was 5'4" and the tallest lady was 4'8"... I suppose the trip was so long and boring that they had to find something to do... measuring each other was at least a respite, I guess.
The lesson I learned on that tiny ship was that history is AMAZING, when you actually get to roam around in it! Sort of like in 5th grade when our history book said that whoever we were studying in that chapter had lived in "grass" huts. I thought it said grass SKIRTS! (Too many Hollywood movies for you, Terry!) Our imaginative, top-flight 5th grade teacher announced that we were going to build a grass hut right beside our classroom there at Betsy Ross Elementary school. The thing is that WE DID! We gathered palm fronds from the trees in front of school, thanks to the gardeners who'd recently trimmed the dead fronds off of them, and we built our own hut. The boys particularly loved this task, and I still remember sitting inside that hut during recess. What a terrific teacher Mrs. Durocher was!
Well, I got to LIVE history many more times, but the best was when I won that NEH Fellowship on "Chaucer and the Medieval Illuminated Manuscript." On one of our brilliant "outings" during those 6 weeks, the 15 of us and our 2 professors took the train from London, where we were living, to St. Albans. The cathedral that the Venerable Bede wrote about was a longish walk from the train station, and our professor wasn't quite sure that we were on the right path. A lady happened by the 17 of us trudging along, and, as she passed, Bill asked her if we were going the right way to the cathedral. The busy lady said, " You're not quite right. Follow me!" So we did, and she lead us there, all the way! Then she said that she had to run to the green-grocer's or she'd give us a tour of the place herself!
But our guide was waiting for us, and we had an amazing tour of this elegant cathedral given to us by an elderly man who was a wonder of information and kindess, too. When our tour was over, Bill announced that after a bite of lunch at the ancient old pub nearby, the class was going to visit the Roman ruins. Mr. Rice, our guide looked very sad then. He said that he was all set to give us a "cook's tour" of the innerds of that mystical place after lunch... toooo bad....
Mary Jo whispered to Ellen and I, "We can see Roman ruins at Bath. Let's come back here instead and see what else Mr. Rice wants to show us." Well, Mary Jo didn't say this as quietly as she thought, though... Bill came over and whispered, "If I didn't have to take everybody else to the Roman ruins, I'd come back with you... DARN!"
The pub was great, but I found out where those little Pilgrams must have come from... The ceiling of that 14th or 15th century pub was as low as those on the Mayflower II... yes, it was! By the way, we had a "plowman's lunch." A plowman should have been so lucky!
Well, after that lunch we three had a private tour of St. Alban's, courtesy of Mr. Rice. First, we went through a nearly invisible wooden door in the apse and up a circlular stone stairway to the "attic" of this storybook cathedral. Each of these steps were worn into curves by the sandaled feet of monks over many hundreds of years. After fighting the cobwebs in that beautifully engineered building, we came back down again to the apse. Those monks who climbed up and down those steps were even shorter than the Pilgrams... and much more narrow!
Behind the apse, we crawled up into a tiny wooden room that overlooked the place where pilgims would lay down their special offerings to the church. In this secret room, only large enough for one monk to crouch behind a slit in that wooden wall, he would be on watch so that no one stole any of those precious gifts.
That "after-tour" was something so special, given to us by such a lovely man who simply loved that cathedral and took so much pride in it. But we had to hurry back to St.Albans to meet the rest of the class and the professors so we could all make the train back to London. Mr. Rice said that it was impossible to walk all the way back to town before the train pulled out. He would drive us there, himself! We protested, but he would have none of it!
We 4 rushed out of the church, and Mr. Rice packed us into his Mini Cooper. Now, Mini Coopers, then, were not the cool little, fast little cars that we know now. Nope! They were made from tin, not heavy metal... I think top speed was about 22 miles per hour... if that. His was the smallest car that I'd ever been inside of. It was like a Smart Car with a backseat! But the kindness of that man! As we squeezed into his car, the Bishop of Saint Alban's walked past us, nodded his head at Mr. Rice, and got into his car parked across the narrow road from Mr. Rice's. They both waved to each other, and we all smiled.
Doors all shut... everybody in. So Mr. Rice arm-wrestled his car into backwards-mode, stamped on the gas, and we did go backwards. The thing is, so did the Bishop! Both cars crashed in the middle of the road... KERPLUNK! It was a Monty Python's sequence! We'd crashed into the Bishop's back end! The Bishop's car had only a small dent. Mr. Rice's car, on the other hand... Well, it wasn't a pretty sight...
Mr. Rice soldiered on, though, and said that he'd worry about that later, that he MUST get us to the station because the next train to London wasn't til the next day! It's very possible that Mr. Rice had about all he could take of being a knight-in-shining-armor to three silly teachers from the U.S.A.!
Just want you to know that the next day back in London, the 3 of us went straight to Fortnum and Mason, and we sent Mr. Rice the most expensive box of candy that they had in that luxurious store. We knew that he needed a mechanic more than he wanted candy, but a mechanic wouldn't fit into a mailing box...
"Writing is like giving birth to a piano sideways. Anyone who perseveres is either talented or nuts. ~ Flannery O'Connor
I'm livid! I just read the dumbest thing... and I'm fighting back. After all, I spent my entire life, since I was 4 1/2 years old, studying to prove that drivel is just that - the babblings of an idiot! Oh, I forgot to tell you the stupid statement, didn't I...
"There are two things that can't be taught - painting and writing," announced a mediocre painter (at best) and a worse writer! Don't ask me who it was, because I might slip and TELL you!
No, I'm not going to quote Ernest Hemingway's famous line about writing, "All you do is sit down at the typewriter and open a vein..." ...or something close to that. There are the essentials to learn, the principles of art and those of writing. That's why people like me study and earn degrees in both of these arts! Then we study afterwards and then study some more... But we do something special every single day, whether we know we're doing it or not...
We LOOK! We take in all the things around us through all of our senses, and we do it all the time (period!). We have thoughts about those things we've seen and heard and sensed, too. And then, in that thoughtfully vegetative state, a magical thing happens. There comes a whispery, silent rush of an idea, something I never tire of... that I look forward to... and that I never worry I've lost! Much like coaxing a shy dog to take food from your hand, you must be patient, very patient. It WILL come, but not exactly when YOU say it must come. The magic is forming itself inside your head... don't scare it away. And then it comes to you, oftentimes even wagging its tail!
Just today, I was at the German meat market close to home, waiting for my number to be called. I watched the lady in front of me asking the butcher for a little bit of head cheese, some blood sausage, and slices of several other delicacies with complicated German names. Lastly, she said, "Oh, and a pair of frankfurters, please." I LOVE that! Shoes come in pairs, twins come in pairs, but that was the first time I'd heard that frankfurters can come that way, too! That word, used just that way, will find its way into my writing one of these days, I betcha!
I'm going to give you a short writing lesson here... so, if you're not interested, you might want to turn me off and turn on the TV, instead, now. But, if you''re still here, go get something to write WITH and something to write ON. (Got 'em? Good. Glad you're back with me.)
Now, I'd like you to write a descripton of the nicest person you know... in ONE sentence. That's right, just ONE sentence. Got it? Are you sure you've really described this person well? OK... now for this teacher's interference, or teaching, as we like to call it!
Delete every single adjective (the words that describe the noun)! Now delete every adverb (the words that describe your verb)! What kind of description do you have left? Is it an accurate description of that person now? Probably not... Does it show the uniqueness of that person you chose, her individuality, or is it now just a boring sentence describing most all the people you know?
Well, I can help you to improve this description... It's all in the VERB you chose, as opposed to the VERB that you could have chosen. The verb is the ACTION, the COLOR in your sentence. If you used the verb "is," what does that word "is" even mean? Just about nothing... "Is" just is!
If you had written that the person you chose "strode across the room," I would already know lots about her without your using any adjectives or adverbs. Anyone who "strode across a room" must be confident, determined, not at all lazy, maybe even angry. That one verb contains all those adjectives inside itself! Go ahead and use adjectives and adverbs, but use them scantily. Using too many is like giving your work to some 3rd rate assistants to finish your thoughts for you!
Writing calls for a large vocabulary! Did you know that the English language is the most complete language on the Earth, so far? When the scientists of the world met to decide what the best language would be to explain scientific thought, they decided on English. It was NOT because English is beautiful or perfect or even a finished thing like Latin. Not at all!
It was because English is just like America! People from all over this world have emigrated to the United States from its beginnings, moving into this land that already contained so many different Native American languages. These immigrants added their words to the "English" that they found here, and so English grew and grew, and it's still growing, encompassing words from nearly every language on this earth! All the better to express a writer's exact thoughts.
Now for the last, and most important, thing for a writer to learn... Cut out every single word that doesn't shove the thinking forward... every single one! Say it right, say it quick, and say it gooooood! "Papa" Hemingway always edited his work by slashing it with a machete. He once said that it took more time for eliminating than it did for creating!
Want proof? Read Hemingway's short story "Indian Camp." It's sparse, spare, and it only takes a few minutes to read, but it will stay with you a loooong time. And that's just one of the things we can learn about how to write... Imagine all that there is to learn about making art!
"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place, a man is lucky to get out of it alive. ~ W.C. Fields
Today, like most every Suday, I was speeding along on the FasTrak through the California back country coming back from taking one of my most favorite people to Sunday dinner. I always look for hawks along that route, just because hawks are my favorite birds. The Cooper's hawks and the Redtails sit on top of the light poles along the way as though they are on kings' thrones. I love them! I've found out recently, though, that as a 1/64th Blackfeet relative, I really ought to like the eagles better... but I don't! Those hawks really fascinate me.
Today, instead of hawks, I saw 3 vultures circling a bit of land below them, and that means a nearly-dead something-or-other down below. Sad... Wonder if there would have been vultures over me in San Antonio, Texas when I was a little, little girl playing in the Officers' Club swimming pool...
My brother was nearly 2 years old, and my Mom and Dad and I were at the Air Force base's Officers' Club swimming pool, with my brother Jack, of course, that afternoon in San Antonio, Texas, a looong time ago. At the ripe old age of 5, I was bored sitting there listening to the adults talk and my little brother whine. The pool was a much better option, especially because Mom and Dad had given me a plastic blow-up swimming "donut" to have fun with in the pool and to keep me safe from drowning.
There are only so many things a five-year-old can do with an inflatable "swim-donut." You can sit on it and float... You can lie, face down, on it and float... Or you can grab it and kick your feet while holding it out in front of you. That's about it. If there'd been other kids in that great big pool, I could have played with them, but I was the only one in the pool at all.
Although I was shy then, I wasn't dumb. In fact, I was quite an imaginative child. And that day I was quite bored. I stuck my arms through the donut hole and pretended I was a seal floating on an iceberg. It was fun for a minute or two, flapping my hands together underwater like they were flippers, but then that was boring, too.
What else can a little girl do with it? It was obvious! Put your hands behind your back and shove them, up to your arm pits, through the donut hole. Then, lay on top of it and float with your arms locked beneath you in the donut hole. Very original thinking, Terrible Terry Annie, as Grandad used to call me!
NOW, DON'T YOU DO IT! PROMISE ME THAT! Guess what happens? Since YOU are heavier than the silly inflatable donut, your own weight turns you over in the water so that the donut floats on top of YOU!
That was actually fun for 30 seconds. I'd never opened my eyes underwater before, and it was so pretty. However, unlike the fish I might imagine swimming there, I had no gills... and now I had no hands! They were completely stuck, locked behind me in that donut hole that was supposed to save my life. The more I wrestled with trying to pull my arms out of the insanely small opening, the more they wanted to stay there!
I had no earth-shaking thoughts or visions of a future life or any of the things I've heard people retell when they were facing death. I still can see the underneath of that pool, though. I suppose it's etched forever in my brain. I tried to yell, but all that came out was, "M-m-m-O-O-O," and then I realized I was filling up with chlorinated water.
At the last possible moment, obviously, my arms came free and I clawed my way to the air and breathed. I mean, I'm writing this, aren't I? I breathed actual air and I lived to tell the tale...
I also jumped out of that pool, and I've never really liked swimming pools since! When we were leaving, Mom said, "Terry, don't forget to bring your swim-toy with you." I answered a defiant "No!" So Dad fished it out of the pool before we left. Mom had her hands full with Jack, and I was always the "well-behaved child," you know.
Parents, do you know where your kids are????? Mom and Dad had called to check on me all the while that I was swimming in the pool, but I overturned in the space of 10 seconds, and then floated underwater for about 45 more seconds. The moral of this story is that being a parent is a tough, tough responisbility and can be scary. In fact, maybe it's best that you don't know all that your kids are doing every minute of every day... I don't know, though... I'm not a parent...
"The dog was created especially for children. He is the god of frolic." ~ Henry Ward Beecher
Our Oliver was "somethin' else"! He was the quintessencial Old English Sheepdog... big, jolly, curious, and friendly... Oh so friendly! We live on a secret cul-de-sac that no one but we neighbors seem to know about, and we all like it this way. We have nearly no traffic, so our dogs can come out to play with us and each other on the narrow street between our houses... it's amost like we live in a dog park. And do we have dogs! Big ones, little ones, leaping gazelle-like dogs, fluffy feather boa dogs, and even a dog that reminds you of what a Mafioso must be like...
But big old Ollie was the Marshal Dillon of the block! The "guys" would be playing in the street with all of us standing around watching them and talking, and Ollie would be bouncing around like the drover dog that he was born to be. But, if he thought one of the "guys" was getting out of line a little, he'd wander over to the "ruffian" and rest his huge fluffy front paw on that dog's back... just rest it there for a moment. The dog would calm down right away, and then, off they'd all go, running toward the hill at the end of the street. I swear the dogs were laughing all the way there and all the way back, too! If Ollie had a vest to wear, I would have found a badge for my fuzzy Marshal Dillon!
Ollie had a special friend among the "guys." Yoda was a light-tan pug, and he couldn't have been cuter or lazier. It was never too warm for Yoda. In fact, his favorite place to nap in the summer was in front of Helen's house right on top of a black-tar repair in the street! There's a raised island of grass with 3 bushes there on our dead-end street by Helen's house, and it always looked like a perfect dog-snooze area to me. But Yoda preferred the tar! Go figure...
Ollie (his full name was Oliver Hardy) had his favorite dog-snooze area, too. It was moveable, though... I'd sit down on the carpet in the living room with my legs crossed, just the way I like to watch TV. Oliver would step across across my legs. That was my cue to straighten out my legs for him, so he could fall in a huge, fluffy heap across my lap. He'd turn and look straight into my eyes only inches away from his, slurp up one side of my face and then down the other, give a big Sheepdog-sized sigh, and that was my cue... I was supposed to pet him all night-long. Talking was permitted by Ollie, as long as it was to tell him what a wonderful dog he was and how we just couldn't live without him... you know, stuff like that. Richard would be sitting in his comfortable easy-chair after a hard day's work, looking for a little peace and quiet. But he didn't dare move too much, or a large shaggy beast, we both knew and loved, would decide to crawl up on his lap and kiss him to pieces! That was our Oliver!
There was another dog who lived on our street, but we never saw him in the light of day... at least I never had. He was a mini-pin, a smallish black and brown version of a doberman. His owner worked long hours and would take him for his walk later in the evening when it was dark, usually while I was sitting upstairs on the bed grading endless English papers. Now, I love fresh air, and I always have the windows open, at least a little bit. Fresh air feels bracing to me, especially with the piney smell wafting in from the tree outside... a typical weekday evening at the Waldron's.
One night, all at once and without a sound, Ollie jumped off the bed and attacked the upstairs bedroom window screen with a sort of violence I'd never seen before in him! He growled! He barked, savagely! He wanted to jump through that screen!
I went to the window to see what was out there... Could be a coyote... we have them here in these hills... Could be a bobcat... Could even be a cougar... PLEASE don't let it be a skunk, again...
Nope, it was the mini-pin trotting past on his leash with his owner coming along behind! Our Ollie was dead-set on doing harm to that little dog below! He wanted to jump out of that second story window and savage that nervous, quiet little dog prancing by our house... OUR OLIVER!
He didn't stop his growling bark until the mini-pin had walked out of our little street! Then Ollie jumped up on the bed with me and sat, smack-dab, on top of a stack of freshly-graded essays, like always. Oliver was back, and Mad Dog Hardy was gone...
About 20 minutes later, Oliver, in full battle-mode, jumped off the bed and hit the window in one lunge, growling, barking, maddened by the mini-pin daring to walk past our window again on his way back home! Oliver was schitzo... what else could it be?
Richard solved the mystery of our pet Dr. Jeckell/Mr. Hyde. I seems that the little mini-pin had actually seen the light of day on his walk the day before Ollie's freakish behavior! In fact, his owner had let him off the leash early that afternoon when he saw Yoda lying there on the tar, sleeping. The owner had expected to see the two little guys play, but I guess the mini-pin expected to have dinner with Yoda... of Yoda... well, something... He had attacked the sleeping Yoda and taken a couple of chunks out of him before his owner had pried him off!
Now loyalty was aways our Oliver's strong suit. He and Yoda played together in our yard, in his yard, and on our street. I guess he decided that no one was going to mess with his buddy... no one. This time he wasn't just going to put his paw on this up-start's back... he was going to take him to jail! Remember, Oliver was the dog version of Marshal Dillon, after all.
"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun."...
"So free we seem, so fettered fast we are!" ~ Rob...
"You have to accept whatever comes, and the only i...
"Now, isn't imagination a precious thing? It peopl...
"Writing is like giving birth to a piano sideways....
"The world is getting to be such a dangerous place...
"The dog was created especially for children. He i...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718075
|
__label__wiki
| 0.881955
| 0.881955
|
Home » Reviews » DVD Review: Wes Craven’s THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT
DVD Review: Wes Craven’s THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT
Posted on May 1, 2012 by Niall Browne in Reviews
Wes Craven is a director synonymous with horror. The Last House on the Left is the director’s first and probably most horrific film. It makes for some uncomfortable viewing, but the film is a true classic in the horror genre.
What makes House so horrific is that unlike say, A Nightmare on Elm Street, the horror portrayed here is very real. There isn’t a bogeyman or a wise cracking janitor to hide from – there is just pure horror in a very real sense. The film follows evil people committing violent and very vile deeds. Banned in the UK due to the nature of its violence, House is graphic and disturbing but this is what makes it a great horror movie in the true sense of the word. In a time when Hollywood is producing more and more PG-13 rated horror films House stands out as being very explicit and although the special effects may have dated, the sense of menace has not.
The film follows two teenage girls; Mari and Phyllis (Sandra Cassel and Lucy Grantham) as they try to score some pot for a rock concert. However, they run into Krug (David Hess) and his gang of miscreants and following a brutal assault the gang take refuge in Mari’s parent’s house. To say too much about the plot would ruin much of the film, but the film does offer a selection of surprises that will keep the viewer on the edge of their seat.
The tag line for House was “To avoid fainting, keep repeating “It’s only a movie…It’s only a movie…” and while it may be only a marketing ploy, the film does have a certain rough “snuff movie” quality that makes it all the more disturbing. Rob Zombie “borrowed” from the film quite liberally for The House of 1000 Corpses and Hollywood has the obligatory remake on the way, but I don’t think that it will have the power that this film enforces on its audience.
While it is difficult to call The Last House on the Left an enjoyable film, it is easy to say that it is a film that will provoke a reaction from its viewers. It’s not one for the faint hearted, so to avoid fainting, keep repeating “It’s only a movie…It’s only a movie…”
Wonderful extras are available on this three disc edition. Firstly this is the first time the film has been released uncut in the UK, so that in itself is quite a coup. Two commentaries are available and both are highly informative. The first one features Wes Craven and Producer Sean S. Cunningham, while the second has the films stars David Hess, Marc Sheffler and Fred Lincoln. Hess is also composer on the film, and there is a nice little documentary on the scoring of the film.
On the second disc is a rare alternate cut of the film entitled Krug & Company, while the third disc offers a documentary on the history of the slasher film called Going To Pieces: The Rise and Fall of the Slasher Film. It’s a fantastic feature length documentary, but surprisingly features very little on The Last House on the Left. On top of all this there are smatterings of deleted scenes, out-takes and trailers. More than enough for fans of the movie and of film in general. A one stop shop for all those budding horror filmmakers out there.
Does This New POLTERGEIST Poster Scare You?
New Mayhem Film Festival Titles: ZEPPELIN VS PTERODACTYLS, HABIT And MAYHEM
Review: Irish Horror BEYOND THE WOODS Is Rich In Characterisation
Nosferatu Lives In These First Images From MIMESIS EVOLUTION
Go BEYOND THE WOODS With This New Irish Horror Film
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718077
|
__label__wiki
| 0.887699
| 0.887699
|
Sergeant Henry McAllister
Manchester Police Department, New Hampshire
End of Watch Tuesday, May 21, 1895
Henry McAllister
Sergeant Henry McAllister was shot and killed in the Manchester police station by a former officer who held a grudge against him for a reprimand.
The officer, who had resigned only a few days earlier, had been drinking and had threatened to kill Sergeant McAllister, a police captain, and himself. Officers were sent to look for him after receiving reports of the threats but were unable to find him.
At about 9:00 pm, the former officer arrived at the police station and informed the captain that he was there to get his things from his locker. A few moments later Sergent McAllister approached him and started talking to him. The man suddenly pulled out a revolver and shot Sergeant McAllister twice, killing him. Other officers in the police station immediately took him into custody.
The suspect was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 30 years on December 18, 1895. He was pardoned on February 7, 1914.
Sergeant McAllister had served with the Manchester Police Department for three years. He was survived by his sister.
Tour 3 years
Badge Not available
Cause Gunfire
Weapon Handgun; Revolver
Offender Pardoned in 1914
Sgt. McAllister,
On today, the 122nd anniversary of your death I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for the citizens of Manchester.
USBP
United States Border Patrol
Corporal Jose Luis "Speedy" Espericueta, Jr.
Mission Police Department, TX
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718078
|
__label__cc
| 0.614955
| 0.385045
|
Shane Looper: Everyone loves a winner
Aug 31, 2018 at 8:45 AM Aug 31, 2018 at 8:45 AM
Everyone loves a winner. Or hates a winner. It depends how he or she won.
Ashley Thomas, a researcher in cognitive development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard, has found that even very young children have a predilection for winners. When she was a graduate student at University of California, Irvine, Thomas devised a way to determine whether children, ages 21 months to 31 months, would show a preference for high- or low-ranking individuals.
In a series of seven experiments, the toddlers watched a puppet show featuring two nondescript puppets (one a red rectangle, the other a yellow oval, each with an eye and a straight line for a mouth) trying to cross the stage but getting in each other’s way. In each case, one of the puppets yielded to the other, granting it the right of way. At the conclusion of the puppet show, the 23 toddlers who participated were given the opportunity to reach for one of the puppets. Twenty chose the puppet who “won.”
By repeating the experiment so that each of the puppets won, and by using different obstacles to be circumvented, Thomas was able to show that toddlers expressed an overwhelming preference for the winner, whichever puppet that might be. However, when the successful puppet achieved its goal by violence — knocking the other puppet down — the children overwhelmingly preferred the losing puppet.
The results seem conclusive: Even very young children prefer high-status individuals (winners) to low-status individuals (losers) as long as the winner achieved his high-status fairly. This preference for winners seems to be built right into human nature.
Advertisers appeal to this instinctive preference for winners. It is no accident the actors who sell us everything from cars to personal care items and cleaning supplies are presented as winners. They’re attractive, possess markers of affluence (expensive clothes, jewelry, and cars) and are often surrounded by lower-status admirers. The hidden appeal is: Buy our product and you too can be a winner.
People not only love winners, they love to celebrate winners. Writers understand this dynamic and employ it to create an emotional response in their readers. The Star Trek franchise wrote a standing ovation for their lead characters into the ending of Star Trek IV. It was apparently so popular with audiences that they did so in subsequent movies again and again. People love to celebrate winners.
So, from a theological perspective, why does the Church not celebrate Jesus’s victory more frequently and with more gusto? Why are there so few standing ovations for the Son of God? The Dante scholar and popular novelist Dorothy Sayers rightly complained of Christians who “muffle up that shattering personality and surround him with an atmosphere of tedium. We have efficiently pared the claws of the Lion of Judah, certified him ‘meek and mild’ and recommended him as a fitting household pet for pale curates and pious old ladies.”
Not even toddlers will show a preference for that nondescript imitation of Jesus. The New Testament portrays him in a very different light. He is “the Captain of Salvation,” the “pioneer of the faith,” “the Glorious Savior,” “King of kings and Lord of lords.” He is “the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End” and the “Savior of the world,” who has been given “the name above all names.”
The Book of Revelation celebrates his victory. Chapter five even features a Star Trek-like standing ovation — on steroids. Angels and heavenly authorities sing his praises, and every creature across the universe responds with exuberant praise. Upon his victory, in chapter 19, another roar of praise goes up, and continues on and on. It booms like Niagara, explodes like peals of thunder. The armies of heaven are seen following Jesus, and he is declared “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”
Here is a hero of the highest order, the ultimate victor. And he comes to this place not by violence but through personal sacrifice. He is worthy of “praise and honor and glory and power,” because he has earned this homage as the “Lamb who was slain,” rather than the bully who got his way. He is not a fitting household pet for pious old ladies, but the hero of the Church and the Savior of the World.
— Shayne Looper is the pastor of Lockwood Community Church in Branch County, Michigan. Read more at shaynelooper.com.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718080
|
__label__cc
| 0.747316
| 0.252684
|
Pain of a Windies Cricket Fan
in Commentary
Arley Gill
By Arley Gill
This weekend we will witness Cricket’s World Cup finals between New Zealand and either India or Australia. The West Indies cricketers are back in the region after some inconsistent performances.
To be truthful, most of us did not expect much better from the Windies; with controversies on and off the field West Indies cricket is certainly not for the light-hearted.
How many times in the last two decades, we said to ourselves, let us go back to the drawing board? We have been there many times recently, and only with a 20/20 crown to show for it. We barely could compete with the leading cricketing nations in the world and our game seems to be in reverse gear.
New Zealand, for what it’s worth, for the last four years or so kept their eyes on this World Cup and clearly they developed a team and a strategy to compete. In Brendon McCullum they have a super captain who is brave, innovative and fearless, compared with our captain who — no doubt — is a very talented cricketer; one day, he may be an excellent captain. But, for now, it was clear that at times Jason Holder did not have a clue what was taking place on the cricket field.
At times he went to field on the boundary and took himself out of the action; or, he changed a bowler that was having a good spell and arranged all sorts of strange field placings. At times one could not help but admit that leadership made a massive difference between the teams.
I don’t know what, if any blame, can be put on the coaches because often our players seemed to be “uncoachable’’ and “hard-headed’’. It is my respectful view that by the time a cricketer is selected for the West Indies team, he or she would have been well-coached from the under-15 level to their respective national team; with that, they should be sound technically.
Therefore, at the West Indies level, coaches should be working out strategies against opposing players and teams and developing strategies for our team to implement. Certainly, it should not be how to hold a bat or bowl a ball. Some of the West Indies players looked as if they were playing cricket for the first time. I wish Phil Simmons all the best. But, he should be warned that these new students may not be easy learners.
I sometimes wonder why is it, that young players from Australia and India arrive on the international scene and simply perform. Since Brian Lara, we have not produced a batsman of note. Chanderpaul is from the old school and he is in his twilight years. Gayle has quite a few records to his name and, no doubt, provided us with some cherished memories but he’s been very inconsistent. Samuel can be pure class but reminds us too much of Carl Hooper. Young Bravo looks good at time; but, injuries and other issues seem to get the better of him. And, young Powell seems to be on pre retirement leave.
The West Indies bowling department has tremendous promise but they have the same issues as the batters. It is real good to see Jerome Taylor back in the game and playing well.
I am convinced that with all the criticism leveled at them, our players have as much talent as anyone else; but the question is, who is going to solve the mental difficulties that seem apparent in our players. Dr Rudi Webster is still around but he is not a young man anymore and may not have the time and energy to fight up with these young men. But, if Webster is available, the West Indies board should employ him fulltime to see if he can help. We really need to save our cricket.
Sorry, if I am sounding a bit pessimistic. But, I am sure you understand and feel the pain of a West Indies cricket fan.
Tags: arley gillcricketpainwest indiesworld cup
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718081
|
__label__wiki
| 0.819316
| 0.819316
|
Nutricium Nature's Wealth Isko Moreno
Every family has a story to tell
About Nutricium
Ways to earn
Leader Manager
Biography of ISKO MORENO
Please share the URL below
nutricium isko moreno biography
The life of FRANCISCO DOMAGOSO, known today as ISKO MORENO is a classic story of a “basurero” (otherwise known as Scavenger) in Smokey Mountain, a garbage dumpsite in Manila, who rose to become the second most important political figure in the country’s capital city.
ISKO as he is fondly called, was born on October 24, 1974 in Parola, Tondo, Manila. His father, JOAQUIN DOMAGOSO, who hails from Antique, worked at Manila’s North Harbor as an ARRASTRE or STEVEDORE while his mother, ROSARIO MORENO, a native of Samar, helped to augment the meager income of the family working as “LABANDERA”.
ISKO grew up in a small shanty in a squatter area where eating three times a day is considered a luxury. To help his family survive, he decided to work as “BASURERO” (scavenger) while attending elementary education at Rosauro Almario Elementary School. Upon reaching high school at the age of 12, he promoted himself by working as a pedicab driver and bravely battled the streets of Manila until he finished high school. Convinced that the only way he can get his family out of poverty is through education, he pursued his lifelong dream of becoming a “SEAMAN”by enrolling at the Philippine Maritime Institute (PMI) and it was during this time that he was discovered by a talent scout who eventually introduced him to the world of SHOWBUSINESS, putting a temporary stall to his tertiary studies.
isko moreno domagoso
In 1998, determined to help his kababayan in Tondo, ISKO run for the City Council at the age of 23 and was elected as the youngest City Councilor in the political history of the City of Manila and on his re-election in 2001, garnered the most number of votes in terms of percentage in all 6 districts of Manila, making him the no.1 Councilor.
In the City Council, ISKO identified himself with various pro-poor agenda advocating ordinances and resolutions focusing mainly on education, health care and low cost housing for the poor.
Despite his busy schedule as a Councilor, ISKO managed to pursue and finish his tertiary education, obtaining a Bachelor of Science in Management degree at the International Academy of Management and Economics. Not contented, he took up crash courses in local legislation and finance at the University of the Philippines (UP) and even enrolled at the Arellano College of Law where he is on his sophomore year. Vice Mayor Moreno likewise had Executive Education Program training at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Harvard University and was part of the International Visitors Leadership Program, sponsored by the U.S Department of State in Washington DC in 2010. Just last October, he was again accepted at the Oxford University for The Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme and most recently, he was conferred a doctorate degree on Community Development by the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM), one of the youngest ever to be given such conferment.
In 2007, ISKO decided to take a big leap in his political career by running as Vice Mayor in the country’s capital. Pitted against one of the most formidable political figures in the city but backed by his outstanding achievement at the City Council, he was elected as the youngest Vice Mayor of Manila at 32 years old. He established pro-poor programs, namely “BOTIKA NI ISKO”, a mini pharmacy where medicines and vitamins are given for free, “ISKOLAR NG BAYAN” and “ASENSO MANILENO”, a program which aims to sell meat and food products at a lower and affordable cost.
ISKO went on to win his re-election bid in 2010 garnering an overwhelming 73.43% of the votes casted and his third and final term in the recently concluded 2013 elections.
ISKO MORENO was such an inspiration to his peers that he was elected President of the Vice Mayors League of the Philippines in 2011 and was cited by PEOPLE ASIA Magazine in its July 2011 issue, as one of the Top 10 MEN WHO MATTER”…The list includes men of distinguished personalities who come from various fields and endeavors like Megaworld’s Kevin Tan, Executive Secretary Jojo Ochoa, Dr. Z ShenTeo, Jed Madela, Prateek Kumar, Donnie Tantoco and Mark Nicdao.
Serving his third and final term as Vice Mayor, ISKO was recently appointed by former President and now Mayor Joseph Estrada as Manila’s traffic czar, primarily tasked to instill order and discipline in the streets of Manila. He was responsible for the controversial BUS Regulation Policy in the City of Manila, which for the first time in years, eased traffic flow in the busy streets of Manila and just recently, implemented the Daytime Truck Ban and Regulation of all three-wheeled vehicles. He and the Mayor have likewise implemented the “NO KOTONG POLICY” (no take policy) and “ONE STRIKE POLICY” in dealing with law and traffic enforcers of the City and was credited for cleaning Divisoria and Recto of illegal vendors.
In all of his political career, ISKO MORENO’s integrity and character has been tested, underestimated and even mocked but time and time again, he has proven all of them wrong because having been exposed to poverty and hardships growing up, he has managed to remain humble and true to his oath as a public servant.
February 10, 2017 Isko Moreno established the Nutricium Nature’s Wealth Corportation.
July 12, 2017 President Duterte appoints Isko Moreno as chair of North Luzon Railways Corp (NLRC)
May 9, 2018 Former Manila City Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso was appointed as an Undersecretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Surely, more still has to come. A very young man at 42 years, the horizon of greater things loom. The door to success is open, far and wide. This is Isko Moreno’s rendezvous with destiny.
isko moreno nutricium president
Interview with Isko Moreno as observer in the Peach Talks (NUTRICIUM PRESIDENT)
Share this video copy URL below
Source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/iskomoreno/about/
LEADER(s)
Pardz [ page ]
Number 0917-793-9356 / 0939-901-7386
Email nutricium.xyz@gmail.com
Location , PH
Signup with PARDZ
How to Activate Account
Independent Business Owner
Quick Start Program
Search Leader
Duterte appointed Isko Moreno as DSWD Undersecretary
REVERSE – Anti-Aging capsule
Duterte appoints Isko Moreno as chair of NLRC
Philippine Mobile Prefix
Go Glow Powder Drink SuperFood
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718082
|
__label__wiki
| 0.591658
| 0.591658
|
For All The Jural Assemblies - 36 State Assemblies
Now that you know what a "Lawful Person" is, be aware that our assemblies, both the soil jurisdiction assemblies of the state republics, and the land jurisdiction assemblies of the States are exclusively populated by Lawful Persons.
This is because only Lawful Persons who are still attached to physical reality and to specific locations in space can populate the soil and land jurisdictions which are likewise geographically and physically defined Lawful Persons.
This follows the Biblical Law of Kinds. Lawful Jurisdictions (land and soil)
are populated by Lawful Persons.
So the American Government is composed of three Unions of different kinds of states, and two of those Unions, The United States (soil) and The United States of America (land) are owned, operated, and governed by Lawful Persons.
The State Assemblies control the international jurisdiction of the land and sea, which includes international trade, except that the Constitutions made significant concessions delegating away some of their powers in the international jurisdiction of the sea (not all) to the British King.
The State General Assembly is composed of Electors -- both State Nationals and State Citizens who own land within the borders of their State can serve as Electors of the General Assembly. They are chosen at the County level by people who are qualified members of the soil jurisdiction republican states; two Electors act as Deputies (Fiduciary Officers) for each County. Most States hold their General Assembly after the holidays and it can run for as little as a weekend or stretch on for months, depending on the business that has to be addressed.
Because the land and soil are inextricably combined, eligibility as a soil jurisdiction republican state national or citizen automatically qualifies one to be a State National or State Citizen, and for practical purposes people from the republics act as People representing their State in international jurisdiction, so that both land and soil are populated at the same time and by the same people, only some of them are further tasked to do business for the State.
The State Jural Assembly takes up judicial issues that affect the People of the State and the enforcement of the Public Law, including enforcement of the Constitutions and running the People's Court and elections related to the Courts and Peacekeeping functions and officials. Unlike the State General Assembly, the State Jural Assembly runs all year long and pretty much twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
The State Jural Assembly, like the State General Assembly, is composed of qualified Jurors who are State Citizens and State Electors, that is, people of the republican states who have volunteered to serve the State Government in the capacity of Jurors.
Jurors are typically not paid unless they are called to serve as part of a jury, either a Grand Jury or a Trial Jury. Sheriffs and Justices, both State Justices and Justices of the Peace, Clerks, Bondsmen, Coroners, and other elected and hired members of the People's Court are paid either a monthly salary or on a case by case basis, or as agreed upon.
The State Executive Assembly is elected at the State General Assembly as one of the first acts of the State General Assembly each year. The State Executive Assembly continues to function throughout the year and is enabled to conduct routine business for the State, including issuing Public Notices, conducting
Elections, overseeing use and sale of State resources such as timber sales and public land leases, preparing ballot initiatives for the General Assembly, and serving as an interface for communications with the Federal Government.---including direction of the Federal State of State Corporation, once we get organized to complete the Reconstruction of the Federal States of State.
The State Executive Assembly also has the power to call the State General Assembly into Special Session if needed.
State Executive Assemblies are basically committees of astute businessmen who have a State Assembly Chairman and a State Treasurer and a State Secretary and State Executive Assembly Members from the land districts within the State. These are called Postal Areas today to delineate them from the sea-going Postal Districts.
Together the General Assembly, Jural Assembly, and State Executive Assembly conduct the international business of each State of the Union, and work together to enforce the Public Law, make decisions about land and natural resources, ensure protection of property rights, postal roads, free public elections and other business of the State.
As has already occurred to many people, the lack of regularly meeting and well-defined State General Assemblies has left Federal Caretakers like the BLM in charge of state lands and policies regarding state land and resources for far too long.
Let us also note that our Federal States of States are supposed to be involved at a "federal" level in representing our States internationally and globally, but owing to the fact that we have not reconstructed our confederated States of States that "federal" duty has been usurped by Territorial "States of States", a situation that leaves our States and People largely at the mercy of the British Monarchs and Popes.
We must reclaim our natural birthright political status now that we know that we have suffered gross Breach of Trust and unlawful contracting processes pretending to establish commercial contracts with infants, and we must boot up our State Assemblies and enforce the actual Constitutions on these renegade Service Providers.
See this article and over 1600 others on Anna's website here: www.annavonreitz.com
Labels: Anna von Reitz, For All The Jural Assemblies - 36 State Assemblies
Patriot58 February 24, 2019 at 7:30 AM
Correct your status !
We will help using Anna's method and instructions
Sunday evenings 8pm est
Participant Instructions
Call your dial-in number: (605) 313-4198
Enter the access code: 443602
Kevin Cote'
Patriotfarmer58@protonmail.com
Confusion About Gun Control Legislation
Please Remove All References to Destry Payne and "...
For All The Jural Assemblies - 36 State Assemblies...
From the National Assembly forums
Are you Caught in the Identity Trap? Do you Know W...
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718087
|
__label__wiki
| 0.633148
| 0.633148
|
Home Lifestyle Could Mark Zuckerberg's Wife Be Worth More Than Him? Her Shocking Secret Revealed!
Could Mark Zuckerberg's Wife Be Worth More Than Him? Her Shocking Secret Revealed!
Paul Ukpabio's Blog 06:00 Lifestyle,
Mark and wife Priscilla are embarking on a joint business venture
Culled from Entertainment Today...Insider News
(ET, Saturday, October 28, 2017) - Mark Zuckerberg helped to create a whole new world when he unveiled Facebook in 2004. Barely 20 years old, the fresh faced college student knew he had something special with his technological find. But even this genius had no way to predict how Facebook would change the world.
As, much as “Mark Zuckerberg” has become a household name for the astronomical success of Facebook launched just 17 years ago, his wife is far from a public figure. In 2012, Mark married Priscilla Chan in the back yard of their $7 million estate. At the young age of 32, this billionaire power couple has been hiding a family secret no one was prepared for! With rumors flying about Mark’s potential departure from Facebook, the real shocker is behind his wife, Priscilla.
She is half of one of the world's biggest power couples, yet little is known about the first lady of Facebook, Priscilla Chan. The woman who captured the heart of the social network's billionaire founder and chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, likes to stay out of the spotlight but her philanthropic efforts are second to none. In our recent interview, Chan shared details about her childhood and what it's like to be married to the face of Facebook.
“We are a private couple, but with Facebook and the world always watching, we obviously don’t get as much privacy as I would like. She laughed, but our drive as a couple to help others goes way beyond the public eye. Mark’s passion for his work is what really made me fall in love with him! As we have shared his passion for so many years I am ready to help people in a different way with my passion that has been on my heart for a long time!.”
With over 3 billion in donations over the years, Priscilla shared she wanted to help women and her career as a doctor has enabled her access to top of the line ingredients that can truly help change the world in many ways. As much as Priscilla wants to stay out of the public eye, Mark is extremely proud of his wife’s accomplishments as a Harvard grad, teacher, and doctor.
"My wife and I share the passion of bringing the world together. It’s not good enough if it brings along some people and leaves others behind.” Through our donations and research we have developed many products and systems that make it affordable for the average person. We believe everyone should have a chance to join the movement.”
Since marrying Mark in 2012, Chan has discovered a new passion: for eradicating disease and living a healthier lifestyle. A pediatrician who specializes in childhood disease, Chan convinced her husband last year to fund the Chan-Zuckerberg initiative, whose main focus is health and education. The initiative has also cited a long-term goal of working towards eradicating all disease by the end of the 21st century
The daughter of Chinese refugees, Chan is a big believer in Traditional Chinese Medicine and holistic health regimes. She believes that western medicine is incomplete, only striving to treat illness, rather than get to its root cause and cure it. Using a combination of traditional healthcare approaches that date back centuries, in conjunction with modern technology and understanding of disease, Chan and Zuckerberg hope to find cures for thousands of disease now plaguing our society.
While working so hard to find the key to unlocking the answers to curing disease in our lifetime, Zuckerberg and Chan discovered something they hadn’t expected: the fountain of youth. While investigating several all-natural holistic remedies for curing skin cancer, Chan stumbled across a new way to care for the skin. While it may not have been the cancer answer she sought, Chan did learn that the ingredients her researchers were using did seem to push back the hands of time, making the skin look younger, smoother and healthier.
Enthralled by the discovery, Chan put a team of researchers on the case, seeing how much they could learn about these all-natural ingredients. It took them months, but what they ultimately invented was amazing: creams and lotions that can strip away decades of skin damage, returning the skin to a more youthful state. Those who initially used the cream reported looking 10-15 years younger in less than a month!
Understanding the full implications of their discovery, Chan quickly patented the invention and talked to her husband about funding the new project. Not really interested in the attention putting their names on the product would create, being the private couple they are, Priscilla decided to release her new skin car line without her name or the "Zuckerberg" name endorsement.
So what is this amazing skin care line? You can find it under the name: Luxalyft Skin Care. Since its release earlier this year, Luxalyft has enjoyed a surge in popularity as celebrities flock to their skin care specialists for the cream.
“It doesn’t matter how old they are, this cream smooth those lines; lightens dark sports; and simply makes your look younger,” said one popular actress. “Who need plastic surgery with this cream?”
With popularity soaring, Luxalyft is now releasing one new anti-aging product called Luxalyft. Aimed at woman of all ages, this expansion to the product line is expected to be as big a hit as the original age defying lotion.
Tags # Lifestyle
peter 28 October 2017 at 11:35
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718088
|
__label__cc
| 0.594709
| 0.405291
|
0161 483 7755 Email us office@roberthayden.co.uk
Personal - first-time buyers receive stamp duty boost
01614837755 office@roberthayden.co.uk
A new relief is to be introduced for first-time buyers within England, Wales and Northern Ireland that will raise the price at which a property becomes liable for stamp duty land tax (SDLT) to £300,000.
Those claiming the relief will pay no SDLT on the first £300,000 of the consideration and 5% on any remainder. No relief will be available for first-time-buyers paying more than £500,000.
The new relief will apply to transactions with an effective date on or after 22 November 2017. However, from 1 April 2018 Wales will assume responsibility for setting its own land transaction tax rates.
The changes do not apply in Scotland.
SDLT higher rate changes
Minor changes to the operation of the SDLT are introduced to grant relief from tax due under the higher rates and will have effect for transactions on or after 22 November 2017.
These are announced in the Budget as follows:
a court order issued on a divorce or dissolution of a civil partnership prevents someone from disposing of their interest in a main residence
a person buys property from their spouse or civil partner
a person buys a property in a child's name or on a child's behalf, where they are doing so in their capacity as the deputy of that child
a purchaser adds to their interest in their main residence.
A new rule to prevent abuse of relief for replacement of a purchaser's only or main residence is introduced, by requiring the purchaser to dispose of the whole of their interest in their former main residence and to do so to someone who is not their spouse.
Personal allowance
The tax-free personal allowance will increase from £11,500 to £11,850 from 6 April 2018.
Higher rate threshold
The basic rate threshold will increase from £33,500 to £34,500 as of 6 April 2018. This means for most people the higher rate threshold will increase to £46,350.
Different thresholds may apply in Scotland.
The capital gains tax (CGT) annual allowance will increase from £11,300 to £11,700 for individuals and from £5,650 to £5,850 for most trustees of a settlement from 6 April 2018.
The government’s intention to introduce a 30-day payment window for CGT payments due on the disposal of residential property will be deferred until April 2020.
With effect from 22 November 2017, the transitional provision which excluded sums of carried interest arising after 8 July 2015 and in connection with the disposal of a partnership will be removed, irrespective of any connection with disposals made prior to 22 October 2015. This means asset managers will pay CGT on their full economic gain.
The implementation of the proposed reforms to the national insurance contributions (NICs) system, to include the abolition of class 2 NICs, will be delayed by a year and will now take effect from April 2019.
As previously announced, the proposal to increase class 4 NICs from 9% to 10% in April 2018 and then to 11% in 2019 will no longer proceed.
National living wage and national minimum wage
The national living wage will be increased from £7.50 to £7.83 per hour from April 2018, for those aged 25 and over.
The national minimum wage rates will also increase as follows:
apprentices: £3.70 per hour
16 and 17-year-olds: £4.20 per hour
18 to 20-year-olds: £5.90 per hour
21 to 24-year-olds: £7.38 per hour.
Marriage allowance
Legislation will be introduced in the forthcoming Finance Bill to enable individuals whose spouse or civil partner is deceased to make a claim for the allowance.
Provided the entitlement conditions are met, the claim can be backdated for up to 4 years.
Savings and pensions
The 0% starting rate for savings will be maintained at the current level of £5,000 for 2018/19.
The annual subscription limit for an individual savings account (ISA) remains unchanged at £20,000 for the 2018/19 tax year. The annual subscription limit for junior ISAs and child trust funds will increase from £4,128 to £4,260 from 6 April 2018.
The pension lifetime allowance will increase to £1.03 million for the 2018/19 tax year.
Gift Aid donor benefits
The current mix of monetary and percentage thresholds that determine the value of benefit a charity can give to donors will be changing as of 6 April 2019.
The new thresholds will be as follows:
the benefit threshold for the first £100 of the donation will remain at 25% of the amount of the donation
charities will be able to offer an additional benefit of up to 5% on donations on the amount in excess of £100.
The total value of benefit a donor can receive from the charity will remain at £2,500.
Mileage rates for landlords
Landlords running unincorporated property businesses made up of only individuals will be able to use mileage rates to calculate a deduction for motoring expenses from 6 April 2017.
Previously, landlords could only technically claim a deduction for actual motoring expenses incurred and capital allowances for the cost of the vehicle.
Venture capital schemes
An increase to the annual amount an individual can invest under the enterprise investment scheme (EIS) in knowledge-intensive companies (KICs) will take effect from 6 April 2018.
Provided that anything above £1m is invested in knowledge-intensive companies, an individual can invest up to £2m in total.
A knowledge-intensive company is regarded as a smaller innovative company carrying out research and development and other activities to develop intellectual property for its own trading purposes.
A new ‘risk to capital condition’ will be introduced for investments made on or after 6 April 2018 when deciding whether an investment qualifies for tax relief using the EIS, seed enterprise investment scheme (SEIS) and venture capital trusts (VCTs).
The condition has 2 elements. First, the company should have entrepreneurial objectives to grow and develop. Second, there should be a significant risk of a loss of capital to the investor greater than the net return. The net return is considered to be income or capital growth and any income tax relief.
Termination payments
Individuals who have their employment contract terminated on or after 6 April 2018 will no longer be able to claim foreign service relief if they are UK resident in the tax year of termination.
The statutory residency test will be used to determine an employee’s residency status and the existing £30,000 income tax exemption will continue to be available, where applicable.
The withdrawal of the foreign service exemption will not apply to seafarers.
Qualifying care relief
A carer previously excluded from the qualifying care relief scheme because the person they look after self-funded their care, will be entitled to use the simplification scheme for 2017/18 onwards, instead of only being entitled to claim for expenses they actually incur.
The person funding the care will be required to pay the carer through an approved shared lives scheme.
A measure is announced that seeks to limit the scope of an anti-abuse rule relating to share buy-backs by venture capital trusts (VCTs).
The rule restricts income tax relief for investors who sell shares in a VCT and subscribe for new shares in the same or another VCT within a 6-month period, where those VCTs merge.
This rule will no longer apply if those VCTs merge more than 2 years after the subscription, or do so only for commercial reasons.
The change will have effect for VCT subscriptions made on or after 6 April 2014.
Contact us to discuss how Autumn Budget 2017 may affect you.
Infrastructure finance
0161 483 7755 office@roberthayden.co.uk
Navigate to top of page
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718092
|
__label__cc
| 0.577404
| 0.422596
|
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Will Ferrell, Volume III
Posted by David Medsker (08/04/2010 @ 8:01 am)
Considering that even the biggest stars “SNL” has ever produced only have one ‘Best of’ collection to their names, it’s a testament to Will Ferrell’s versatility that Universal is giving him his third compilation (well, that and the fact that Ferrell is bar none the biggest star “SNL” has produced in 20 years). From the looks of “The Best of Will Ferrell, Vol. III,” however, it’s starting to look like they may be coming close to the bottom of the well. The set is funny, mind you – it includes arguably the best cheerleader skit of all, at the chess match – and you can never go wrong with a “Celebrity Jeopardy” skit. They even include the oddball “Do You Like Luxury?” skit, which only Ferrell could make funny. However, the inclusion of a “Lawrence Welk” skit is a big minus (that should have been saved for a “Best of Kristen Wiig” DVD, God help us), and the “Inside the Actor’s Studio” skits are only as good as the honoree, and while Abby Elliott has her good points, her Drew Barrymore impression does not leave much of a…well, you know. The warm-up performance of Green Day singing “East Jesus Nowhere,” with Ferrell rocking the cowbell and even taunting Billie Joe (“Does this song ever end?”), is a great extra, though. Pity they couldn’t get him to do an audio commentary; those have always been as entertaining on the other best-of DVDs as the skits themselves.
Click to buy “The Best of Will Ferrell: Volume III”
Posted in: Actors, Humor, Saturday Night Live, TV, TV Comedies, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs
Tags: Celebrity Jeopardy, cheerleaders at the chess match, George W. Bush, Green Day, Headlines, Premium Hollywood, Robert Goulet, Saturday Night Live, The Best of Will Ferrell Volume 3 DVD review, The Best of Will Ferrell Volume III DVD review, Will Ferrell
From Captain America to “American Idiot”
TV/media in the 2000s: 10 (or so) key voices in left/right political media
Kristen Wiig follow-up: SNL got the memo
Box office preview: Divide and conquer
Beauty and the Beast: Diamond Edition
Red Carpet Chatter: Mike Nichols Gets His AFI Lifetime Achievement Award
Posted by Bob Westal (06/26/2010 @ 11:36 am)
Born in 1931 in what was very soon to become Hitler’s Germany, young Michael Peschkowsky was living in Manhattan by 1939. It was great luck both for the future Mike Nichols and for the country that accepted him.
Nichols is, of course, one of the most respected directors in Hollywood, and for good reason. He’s the original, craftsmanlike, and emotionally astute directorial voice responsible for such sixties and seventies classics as “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” “Carnal Knowledge” and, of course, “The Graduate” (the source of his only directorial Oscar so far) as well as such eighties, nineties, and oughts successes as “Silkwood,” “Working Girl,” “The Birdcage,” and “Closer.” Even if some of the later films are not on the same level of quality as his earlier films — and several, especially his 1988 box office hit, “Working Girl,” stray into mediocrity — it’s still one of the most impressive and diverse careers of any living director in Hollywood.
That’s just on the big screen. On television, Nichols has rebounded in the eyes of many critics, directing two of the most acclaimed television productions of the last decade, 2001’s “Wit” with Emma Thompson, and the outstanding 2005 miniseries adaptation of Tony Kushner’s brilliant and mammoth epic play, “Angels in America.” With his 80th birthday just a year and a half away, he’s still working hard with two thrillers movies planned, including an I’ll-believe-it-when-I-see-it remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low” currently being rewritten by the decidedly counter-intuitive choice of Chris Rock.
Before he directed his first foot of film, Mike Nichols was a noted theater director. That in itself is not so unusual a root for directors to travel. What is different is that, before he was a noted theater director, he was half of one of the most influential comedy teams in show business history, Nichols and May. (His comedy partner, Elaine May, went on to become an important, if less commercially successful, writer and director in her own right.)
Still, from the moment he directed his first major play, Neil Simon’s “Barefoot in the Park,” Nichols mostly abandoned performing. Today, his highly regarded early work is mostly known only to fairly hardcore comedy aficionados.
Posted in: Actors, Actresses, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, TV, TV Comedies, TV Dramas
Tags: 30 Rock, A Touch of Class, AFI, AFI Lifetime Achievement Award, African swallows, Akira Kurosawa, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life, American Film Institute, Andre Gregory, Angels in America, Annette Bening, Art Garfunkel, Barefoot in the Park, Brazil, Burlesque!, California Split, Calista Flockhart, Candice Bergin, Carl Reiner, Carnal Knowledge, Chekhov, Cher, Chris Rock, Christina Aguillera, Closer, Clue, Conrad Janis, Criminal Minds, David Hare, Diana Douglas, Diane Sawer, Dr. Frank N. Furter, Dustin Hoffman, Edward Albee, EGOT, Elaine May, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis Costello, Emma Thompson, European swallows, Extra, Fun with Dick and Jane, George, George Segal, Giovanni Ribisi, Going Ape, Green Day, H-PALAPAP, Harrison Ford, Harry Nillson, Headlines, Helen Mirren, High and Low, Jack Nicholson, Jaime Camill, Jim Bakker, John Du Prez, Jonathan Lynn, Jules Feiffer, Julianne Moore, Kelsey Grammer, King Arthur, King Rat, Kirk Douglas, Kristin Bell, La Cage Aux Folles, Louis Malle, Manhattan, Martha, Mary Louise Parker, Meryl Streep, Michael Douglas, Michael Peschkowsky, Mike Nichols, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Mork and Mindy, Murphy Brown, My Cousin Vinny, My Dinner with Andre, Neil Simon, Nichols & May, Nichols and May, Noam Chomsky, Nuart, Nuns on the Run, Pass the Ammo, Paul Simon, Ray, Richard Burton, Robert Altman, Rollercoaster, Sandy Dennis, Sheldon Keller, Shirley MacLaine, Silkwood, Simon and Garfunkel, Solitary Man, Sony, Spamalot, Spectacle, Steven Spielberg, Taylor Hackford, Terry Gilliam, The Beverly Hills Unlisted Jazz Band, The Birdcage, The Designated Mourner, The Graduate, The Hunt for Red October, The Princess Bride, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Tim Curry, Tony Kushner, Toy Story, TV Land, Uncle Vanya, Vanya on 42nd Street, Vera Miles, Vera Wang, Vizzini, Wall Street, Wall Street 2, Wallace Shawn, Wally Shawn, Warren Beatty, Weeds, Where's Poppa, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, William Shawn, Wit, Woody Allen, Working Girl, World Cup
Weekend box office never sleeps, does it?
Trailer time: Dumb knows no gender
Latest “Twilight Saga” installment to eclipse “The Last Airbender” (updated)
It’s time for another end of week movie news dump. Yay.
A day at the TV Land Awards
It’s your late night movie news.
* The big breaking news around the film geek blogosphere is that THR’s Heat Vision blog is reporting that Chris Evans will, indeed, play Captain America. I’ve only seen Evans in the first half-hour of “The Fantastic Four” (that was as far I made it through that one) but let’s say that, for the time being, I’m having a very hard time getting excited about this news.
* Moving from a project I’m interested in with some casting I’m not finding so interesting right now, we move on to some very interesting casting for a project I’m really not that personally interested in except to root for it to do as little business as possible because of the kind of filmmaking it symbolizes. It appears that John Malkovich, Francis McDormand, and Ken Jeong will all be in…wait for it…”Transformers 3.” Christopher Campbell has the predictably cynical and amusing blog reactions. I should add that I have absolutely no criticism of them for being in it. If Michael Bay wants to give me a few hundred thousand to do something connected to one of his films, I’m taking it. Now, if he wants me to say something nice about the flick, that’s going to cost a whole lot more.
* The bidding deadline has been extended a bit for the sale of MGM to make room for an offer from Time Warner. I imagine that would put the classic-era and later MGM library all under one corporate umbrella, which could make life a bit less confusing for us film buffs.
* I love spy movies. Also, in theory, I have no problem with movies based on video games — apart from the fact that I can’t think of one that people actually like very much, much less that I’ve personally seen and liked. Still, with all the great spy novels of all shapes and sizes that there are, the thought of a spy movie based on a video game does not make me very happy.
* I’m confused, is “Everything Must Go” starring Will Ferrell, which starts production this week with financing direct from its producers, really going to be an entirely non-comedic film, or is it being billed as a “drama” simply to distinguish it from Ferrell’s usual ultra-wacky comedies? To me, the premise sounds laden with a potential for dark humor, though I don’t know the Raymond Carver story, I do know he occasionally indulged in that.
* Previews begin the day after tomorrow on Broadway of the new stage musical, “American Idiot.” With a book by Green Day singer and lyricist Billie Joe Armstrong, the show’s “dialogue” is, as I understand, almost entirely sung. It ran to mixed-to-positive reviews last year in the main theatrical venue of the Green Day’s California Bay Area hometown, Berkeley Rep. While not all the critics were high on the NoCal edition of the show, apparently Tom Hanks and his producing partner Gary Goetzman like it and are “in talks” to turn the production into a feature movie. I love some of the music on the highly acclaimed original album, so I’m intrigued by this one, though I could easily see it turning out horribly. (The music video featured by Kevin Jagernauth of the Playlist shows one way example of how a film version could go rather badly wrong.)
One thing this is not is a “jukebox musical” along the lines of “Mamma Mia!” but a concept album adaptation closer in spirit, I imagine, to “Tommy” and “Pink Floyd’s The Wall.” Still, one hurtle all these movies rarely overcome is the difference in energy between a live performance of a great rock and roll tune and the inevitably more packaged version you’ll get in a movie. Personally, I’ll be impressed if anything in the film version, if there ever is one, matches the intensity of the performance below.
Posted in: Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies
Tags: American Idiot, Berkeley Rep, Billie Joe Armstrong, Captain America, Chris Evans, Christopher Campbell, Everything Must Go, Francis McDormand, Gary Goetzman, Green Day, Headlines, John Malkovich, Ken Jeong, Michael Bay, Pink Floyd's The Wall, Raymond Carver, The Fantastic Four, Tom Hanks, Tommy, Transformers 3, Will Ferrell
Friday movie news dump
Hidden Netflix Gems – Everything Must Go
A warning to Michael Bay and the folks behind “Transformers 3”
All the movie news that fits my schedule
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718095
|
__label__wiki
| 0.576034
| 0.576034
|
Americans Stand Up for Happy Meals
Circumcision and the Special City By Debra J. Saunders
Kids may soon be smiling less in San Francisco. The city's Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance last week that would limit toy giveaways in fast-food orders like McDonald's Happy Meals unless they are made more nutritious.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 82% of Americans oppose a ban on kids’ fast-food menu options unless they meet nutritional guidelines. Just 11% support a ban like the one under discussion in San Francisco. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Only 27% of Adults think it is the role of government to regulate the nutritional content of food sold by fast-food restaurants. Fifty-six percent (56%) disagree and say it's not the government's business. Eighteen percent (18%) more aren't sure.
If the law ultimately is enacted, San Francisco would become the first major city in the country that passed such a law which is aimed at curbing childhood obesity.
The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on November 4-5, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Who do Americans think is more responsible for the nutritional content of what children eat - parents or the government? How do they rate the level of regulation on fast-food restaurants right now? Become a Platinum member and find out.
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718098
|
__label__wiki
| 0.74574
| 0.74574
|
SEAN PANG Office Space Specialist, PROPNEX REALTY PTE LTD
Singapore is made up of a multi-racial demographic with many different cultures and social customs. A small island, this relatively young country has developed into a bustling hub of technology, arts and finance in the centre of Southeast Asia within decades. One can easily adapt to its diverse culture, lifestyle, customs, food and activities. All international festivals and occasions are celebrated with equal enthusiasm and excitement. International cuisines of different nationalities are also available at various food outlets.
It's natural for anyone to take some time to adapt to a new environment and culture. The following address a few points to help make the process a little easier.
Singlish
A person relocating to Singapore for better opportunities should get acquainted with our native languages for better communication. Singlish is a predominant slang here - a local form of English which also consists of words from different languages like Malay and Chinese, as well as Chinese dialects like Hokkien and Cantonese. For example, sentences here may be accented and ended with ‘lah', in similar fashion to how some Canadians may end their sentences with ‘eh'.
Most expatriates are often offered competitive salaries with additional benefits like bonuses and recreational facilities. Other examples of said benefits include an entertainment allowance, payment of school fees, housing, childcare and a transportation allowance. With these subsidies, expatriates may find housing, transportation, food and education costs relatively cheaper than in their own countries.
Taxes & Taxable Income
Taxes in Singapore are regulated by the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS). All Singaporeans and expatriates employed here are required to pay income tax. The income that is taxable comprise of profits earned from profession and business, income from fulltime as well as part-time work, interest earned from annuity and pension, dividends earned from company shares, property rent and royalty.
Housing in Singapore
When moving to Singapore for the first time, Expatriates usually rent a private apartment or house. With this in mind, it's not surprising to find expatriates concentrating in certain areas that have a wide variety of condominiums to choose from.
Consider the following factors when looking for a property for the first time in Singapore:
- Budget for rental
- Type and size of property you want to live in
- Distance to work and transportation links
- Proximity to international schools if you have any young children
- Restaurants and entertainment options to spend your free time in the neighbourhood
- Distance to the airport, if you or your partner plan or have to travel often
Budget and Property Prices
Rental prices fluctuate heavily depending on the supply and demand of available units. With constant development and upgrading within such a small land area, home and property prices can be rather steep, with many expatriates opting to rent instead. These prices vary greatly, depending on many different factors like location, amenities, and size of the home.
The following table gives a rough idea of the current price range you can expect:
LOCATION PROPERTY TYPE RENTAL RANGE
Central (Newton, Holland Village, River Valley, Orchard, Tanglin)
1-bedroom apartment S$3,000 - S$7,000
3-bedroom apartment S$4,500 - S$10,000
Penthouse / 4+ bedrooms S$6,000 - S$20,000
Terraced House S$6,000 - S$25,000
Bungalow S$15,000 - S$60,000
East Coast & Bukit Timah
Penthouse / 4+ bedrooms S$3,200 - S$8,000
Bungalow S$8,000 - S$20,000
For the latest prices, check our rental listings at PropertyGuru.com.sg
Property Type - House vs. Apartment
Typical condominiums in Singapore have a multitude of facilities - e.g. swimming pools, gyms, tennis courts, playgrounds, BBQ pits, etc. They are also usually within a walled compound with security guards. Do note that because plot sizes here are relatively small, only the very luxurious landed properties have pools and other facilities.
For somebody moving from a colder climate, please remember that Singapore has a tropical climate, with more small animals and insects around than what you may normally be used to. These tend to cause more problems in landed properties, especially those close to high density areas of flora. If your budget allows however, there are also some nice bungalows that will give you the luxury and privacy that a condominium would not be able to.
Various reliable housekeeping agencies here offer quality cleaning services for offices, apartments and homes. The two prominent housekeeping services companies in Singapore are the Housekeeper's Management Services and the Association of Singapore Housekeepers.
Singapore has one of the most modern and efficient public transportation systems in the world, and travelling from any point on the island to another does not take long under normal conditions.
Car ownership can be expensive here, but the roads are well maintained and somewhat less congested than in many other cities. Public transportation is also very effective, but tends to be more concentrated in areas where locals live (HDB estates). In any case, unless you live along the edge of Singapore, your commute would rarely exceed one hour.
The main options for getting around are:
Mass Rapid Transport (MRT)
Singapore's metro/underground train system currently has three lines, with the fourth partially finished. The map below shows the locations of each MRT station as well as details of the distance to the closest MRT station for each listing. Fares range from S$1 to S$2.10, depending on the distance travelled, and if you've had to switch from a bus, and vice versa. The map can be found at http://www.smrt.com.sg/trains/images/tn_networkmap_big_030811.jpg
Singapore also has an extensive bus network that covers a much larger area than the MRT. Calculated by the distance travelled, fares can range from S$0.71 to as high as S$4, depending on differing factors like distance travelled, and the type of bus service taken. More details on the bus services and the routes covered can be found at http://sbs.streetdirectory.com.sg/sbs/sbsindexsn.jsp?map=1.
Taxis here are generally plentiful and relatively cheap, compared to many other developed countries. Fares can start from S$2.80 to S$5.00, depending on the type of taxi one hails or calls. This would probably be the transport of choice for most single professionals living close to the city centre. It can sometimes be difficult to get one during peak periods, and additional charges apply for phone bookings and certain hours.
Owning a car here is more expensive, compared to many other countries, and is not really necessary here on a whole. Most save money by using a taxi; however, owning a car gives you the freedom to move around - and heading up to Malaysia every now and then for a round of golf might be a strong enough reason to get one.
Singapore is densely populated and traffic may slow down especially during peak hours. However, the infrastructure helps to smooth out some of the issues and public transportation on the whole is still considerably better than in some of the neighbouring countries. If you still intend on purchasing a car however, but be aware of additional charges that comes with owning one:
Purchase Price - Cars here are probably the most expensive in the world due to import duties and Certificate of Entitlement (COE - a permission to own a car for 10 years, after which it has to be renewed).
Road Tax - Depending on the size of the engine, you need to pay road tax annually. This can vary from a few hundred for a small car to thousands for an SUV.
Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) - A fee is charged during peak hours (from S$0.50 to a few dollars) to access certain roads and areas (mostly in the Central Business District (CBD)). ERP locations can be found at
www.lta.gov.sg/motoring_matters/motoring_erp_location_cbd.htm
Parking - Though there are parking charges in most locations in Singapore, please note that parking in the CBD can be especially expensive. Condominiums usually have parking charges included in the maintenance fee (which is paid by the landlord).
Petrol - It may come as a surprise, but petrol is probably the smallest component of your car ownership costs. It is currently around S$1.80 / litre.
You will also need to convert your driver's license into a Singaporean one within the year. This is a relatively straightforward process, but will require you to take the basic theory test. Please note that the traffic flow in Singapore is on the left side of the road (as in UK and Malaysia).
Schools & Childcare
There are a multitude of schools of great repute in Singapore, including over 370 childcare centres, offering affordable and high quality childcare services.
We also have many international schools in Singapore to cater to the needs of expatriate children. For most large groups, you have a choice of sending your children to a school which follows your national curriculum while being taught in your native tongue. We've listed the main international schools in Singapore below - please check their websites for more information.
Australian International School
1 Lorong Chuan, Singapore 556818
http://www.ais.com.sg/
Bhavan's Indian International School
11 Mt Sophia Blk E, Singapore 228461
http://www.biissingapore.org/
Canadian International School
5 Toh Tuck Road, Singapore 596679
http://www.cis.edu.sg/
Chatsworth International School
37 Emerald Hill Road, Singapore 229313
http://www.chatsworth-international.com/
Dover Court Preparatory School
301 Dover Road, Singapore 139644
http://www.dovercourt.edu.sg/
DPS International School
36 Aroozoo Avenue, Singapore 539842
http://www.dps.com.sg/
EtonHouse International School
51 Broadrick Road, Singapore 439501
http://www.etonhouse.com.sg/
72 Bukit Tinggi Road, Singapore 289760
http://www.gess.sg/
Hollandse School
http://www.hollandseschool.org/
International Community School
514 Kampong Bahru, Singapore 099450
http://www.ics.edu.sg/
ISS International School
21 Preston Road, Singapore 109355
http://www.iss.edu.sg/
Japanese Kindergarten
251 West Coast Road, Singapore 127390
Japanese School (Primary)
95 Clementi Road, Singapore 129782 (Clementi Campus)
11 Upper Changi Road North, Singapore 507657 (Changi Campus)
http://www.sjs.edu.sg/
Japanese School (Secondary)
KGS International Pre-School (Japanese)
16 Ramsgate Road, Singapore 437462
http://pachome1.pacific.net.sg/~yoko/kinder/kgs.html
Lock Road Kindergarten
10 Lock Road, Singapore 108938
Lycee Francais De Singapour
3000 Ang Mo Kio Ave 3, Singapore 569928
http://www.lyceefrancais.edu.sg/
Norwegian Supplementary School
c/o Royal Norwegian Embassy, 16 Raffles Quay #44-01 Hong Leong Bldg, S048581Tel:
25F Paterson Road, Singapore 238515
http://www.ofs.edu.sg/
Rosemount Kindergarten
25 Ettrick Terrace, Singapore 458588
http://www.rosemount.com.sg/
Rosemount International School
461 Telok Blangah Road, Singapore 109022
Sekolah Indonesia
20A Siglap Road, Singapore 455859
40 Woodlands Street 41, Singapore 738547
http://www.sas.edu.sg/
Singapore Korean School
74 Lim Ah Woo Road, Singapore 438134
http://www.koreansingapore.org/
Swedish Supplementary Education School
c/o Swedish Embassy, 111 Somerset Road #05-01 Singapore Power Building,
Swiss School
38 Swiss Club Road, Singapore 288140
http://www.swiss-school.edu.sg/
95 Portsdown Road, Singapore 139299
http://www.tts.edu.sg/
United World College of South East Asia
1207 Dover Road, Singapore 139654
http://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/
57 West Coast Road, Singapore 127366
http://www.waseda-shibuya.edu.sg/
We have provided some other useful websites for additional school matters:
Directory of Local Schools - http://app.sis.moe.gov.sg/schinfo/SIS_DirSvc.asp
Studying in Public Schools - www.croxxing.com/english/info_overview.html - in german
Fee Structure Public Schools - www.croxxing.com/english/info_fees.html - in german
Ministry of Education - www.moe.edu.sg/
Foreign Student Information - www.moe.gov.sg/esp/foreign/ and www.moe.gov.sg/csc/csc_admission.htm#Foreign
Foreign Student Admission Application Form - http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/admissions/international-students/
CQT Application Form - www.moe.gov.sg/esp/foreign/CQTForm.pdf - not working and can't find a replacement
Advice for Expatriates to Place Children in Local Schools - www.moe.gov.sg/esp/eduinfo/
School Terms and Holidays - http://www.moe.gov.sg/schools/terms-and-holidays/
Pet Relocation
There are certain restrictions imposed for the relocation of a pet brought from places other than England, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. These pets are quarantined for around thirty days. The completed license has to be submitted two weeks in advance before the import. An amount of S$50 is charged for every pet.
There is also a ban on Pit Bulls, Tosas, Akitas, Dogo Argentinos, Fila Brazilieros and Neapolitan breeds in Singapore. The Animal, Meat & Seafood Regulatory Branch in the Singapore government can be approached for obtaining detailed information on import regulations.
SEAN PANG
Office Space Specialist
seanpangsy@gmail.com
|
cc/2019-30/en_head_0049.json.gz/line1718107
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.