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Long IslandColumnistsRick Brand
By RICK BRAND
Suffolk Foley nursing home's fate appears sealed
File photo of the John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility in Yaphank. (March 25, 2008) Photo Credit: Bill Davis
The final showdown on the $36-million sale of the John J. Foley Skilled Nursing Facility may not come until the Aug. 17 Suffolk Legislature meeting, but the fate of what once was known as the county almshouse may have been sealed last week.
The board of directors of the county's largest union - Association of Municipal Employees - Tuesday decided against proposing a concession package that might keep the 264-bed Yaphank complex in county hands.
Cheryl Felice, AME president, acknowledged the board's decision may bring the sale "closer than it was before," but she said the board had to represent the interests of all 7,000 members who have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2008, not just the 249 nursing-home workers.
"I think the board's decision was a message to concentrate on the negotiation for the 7,000 members that remain," Felice said. "We'll never stand in support of the sale, but we'll also not legally challenge the sale if it goes through."
The union board's overriding concern, said Felice, was that any nursing home concessions could set a precedent in ongoing contract talks for all county workers. In particular, she said the county's proposal of a 40-hour workweek at the nursing home could lead to other workers giving up their 37 1/2-hour workweek.
Still, some nursing home workers feel abandoned. "They never came into our building and asked the employees what kind of concessions they'd be willing to make," said Christopher DeStio, a housekeeping supervisor who's worked at Foley 13 years. "Some officials have extended an olive branch to the nursing home, but the union officials have not grabbed it."
Presiding Officer William Lindsay (D-Holbrook), who created an oversight committee last year in a bid to make Foley more financially viable, said the union stand makes saving the facility much tougher.
"I have not made up my mind how I'll vote and I'll probably not make up my mind til the last minute," Lindsay said. "But if there were last-minute concessions made to make it run more efficiently, it would go a long way keeping me on board to protect the place."
Beyond concessions, some officials say the union is looking at the larger picture - what happens without the net $20 million in revenue Suffolk officials say the county would get from a sale, and the $8 million to $10 million annually it now costs to run the complex.
"If we don't get that money, it's going to have to come from somewhere and it could mean that 200, 300 or 400 people may lose their jobs," said Legis. Thomas Barraga (R-West Islip). "I think they decided to look at what is best for the overall membership."
However, nursing home advocates have not given up, noting efforts to privatize the home were defeated in the 1990s before Foley was built. "It's never over," said DeStio, adding the deal could still unravel as details face greater scrutiny, or if County Executive Steve Levy's relations with lawmakers sour further. "The numbers have to be questioned. Saying they'll [the county] net $20 million is a joke."
Legis. Jay Schneiderman (I-Montauk), who had hoped to keep the home county-run, relying on either an economic rebound or revenue from a Shinnecock casino, said, "I'm still on the fence, but AME's decision is tipping me in the other direction."
Levy said he's encouraged by AME's stand but is not declaring victory. "Deep down I think all legislators know what needs to be done, but then politics comes into play," said Levy. "But I think our chances are much better this week than last."
Rick Brand is a longtime Newsday reporter who writes about politics and government on Long Island.
'Blazing hot' in the weekend forecast for LI
Turtle heads to NJ after stop in Fire Island
State: LI economy grows by 5,300 jobs in June
NY FBI agents assist in Sicily mob bust: Officials
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New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics (2010)
Chapter: Index
« Previous: Appendix F: Acronyms
Suggested Citation:"Index." National Research Council. 2010. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/12951.
2 Micron All Sky Survey, 143, 145, 146 n.10
AAG (see Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants Program)
Access to Large Telescopes for Astronomical Instruction and Research Committee, 88, 176, 177
ACTA (see Atmospheric Ęerenkov Telescope Array)
Adaptive optics, 5, 23, 25, 38, 88, 111, 145, 151, 158, 165, 170, 171, 172, 177, 194, 196, 201, 202, 227, 228, 230, 231, 236, 263
Advanced Gamma-ray Imaging System, 24-25, 97, 233, 251
Advanced LIGO, 18, 39, 66, 75, 76, 98, 99
Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation program, 5, 25, 92, 146, 151, 152, 157-158, 171, 176, 226, 236, 239
recommended augmentation, 5, 236
Advanced Technology Solar Telescope, 34, 64, 147, 171, 172, 181, 182, 188, 202, 203, 231, 240, 263
AGIS (see Advanced Gamma-ray Imaging System)
Air Force Office of Scientific Research, 180
Allen Telescope Array, 92, 93, 96, 169, 251
ALMA (see Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array)
ALTAIR (see Access to Large Telescopes for Astronomical Instruction and Research)
American Astronomical Society (AAS), 30, 104, 112, 116-117, 118, 120, 121, 122, 125, 126, 128, 129 n.22, 186
American Physical Society, 30, 116, 120, 125
Antarctica, 81, 99-100, 217
Apache Point Observatory, 89, 165
ARCADE (Absolute Radiometer for Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Diffuse Emission), 222
Arecibo, 85, 93, 169, 180, 262
ARISE (Advanced Radio Interferometry between Space and Earth), 16
Arizona Radio Observatory, 93
ASPERA (Astroparticle ERAnet), 86
ASTRONET study, 83, 86, 96
Astronomers and astrophysicists
AAS membership, 117-118, 121
amateur, 103, 107
contributions of, 4
demography, 116-124
engagement in education, 111-112
minority representation, 30, 125-128
postdoctoral fellows, 122, 141, 152
public policy role, 28-29, 115-116
publication statistics, 82-83, 119-120
training and career development, 29-30, 103-104, 109, 114, 116, 124-125, 128, 133-134, 141, 149, 151-152, 157, 165
women, 30, 127, 128-129
Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee, 100, 101, 102, 135, 143, 153
Astronomy and Astrophysics in the New Millennium, 16 n.2, 26, 81, 87, 95, 96, 174, 175, 176, 185, 198, 214
Astronomy and Astrophysics Research Grants Program, 5, 25-26, 133, 140, 142, 152, 236, 239
Astronomy and Physics Research and Analysis grants program, 32, 133, 155-156, 157, 162, 217, 220-221
Astrophysics Theory Program, 5, 21, 133, 140, 141, 142, 219, 222, 238
ATA (see Allen Telescope Array)
Atacama Cosmology Telescope, 153
Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array
budget/funding, 93, 94, 179, 180, 188, 231, 240
capabilities and planned observations, 37, 50, 53, 76, 82, 181, 188, 189, 191, 192, 194, 196, 201, 202, 203, 204, 228, 234
complementary programs/instruments, 3, 4, 23, 25, 92, 132, 177, 189, 190, 201, 202, 204, 228, 234, 235
completion, 93, 169, 172, 188, 234
data archive, 143
extended configuration, 170
laboratory astrophysics and, 160, 161
location, 25, 235
next generation, 95
partnerships, 81, 82-83, 93, 169
return on investment, 229
scientific promise/productivity, 33, 234
upgrades/enhancements, 170, 180, 251
ATI (see Advanced Technologies and Instrumentation)
Atmospheric Ęerenkov Telescope Array, 3-4, 7, 24-25, 59, 93-94, 97, 190, 198, 200, 201, 203, 204, 232-234, 239-240, 241, 251, 263
recommendation, 7, 232-234
ATP (see Astrophysics Theory Program)
ATST (see Advanced Technology Solar Telescope)
Auger, 81, 75, 164, 251
Balloon programs, 22, 59, 99-100, 150, 156, 167, 175, 196-197, 217, 221, 222
Baryon Oscillations Spectroscopic Survey, 165
Big bang, 1, 10, 13, 48, 52, 57, 59, 69, 72, 74, 104, 110, 111, 137, 197-198
Big Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey, 227, 261-262
Big Bear Solar Observatory, 180
BigBOSS (see Big Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey)
accretion, 8, 59, 138, 190-191
cosmic order, 57-59, 203
discovery, 79
dormant, 63
energy emissions, 42, 43, 51, 53, 58, 59, 62, 75, 149-150, 192, 200
environmental impacts, 59
event horizon, 13, 59, 75, 200
formation and evolution, 11, 13, 18, 42, 52-53, 58, 191, 192, 205, 261-262
galactic nuclei, 1, 7, 11, 13, 42, 43, 52-53, 57-59, 62, 63, 74-75, 107, 117, 118, 137, 190-191, 192, 198, 209, 228
gamma-ray astronomy, 51, 59, 75, 149-150, 198
gravitational waves, 3, 13, 39, 42, 43, 45, 53, 74-75, 98, 136, 191, 199, 200, 262
images, 62, 63
infrared astronomy, 53, 62, 190-191, 192, 205
laser interferometry, 75, 209
mass and spin characterization, 75, 191, 199, 209
massive, 2, 39, 53, 190
mergers and collisions, 2, 8, 11, 13, 18, 39, 42, 43, 45, 53, 74-75, 98, 136, 191, 192, 199, 200, 209, 228, 240, 262
Milky Way, 62, 228
neutron star collapse, 66
optical imaging, 62, 138
origin/first, 2, 11, 48, 49-50, 52-53, 190
and public engagement in science, 104, 113
pulsars and, 262
quasars, 11, 49-50, 79, 190, 203, 261
radio astronomy, 52-53, 262
simulations, 136, 138
spectroscopic analysis, 53
supermassive, 35, 42, 43, 52-53, 57-58, 59, 62, 63, 75, 246
supernovae and, 11, 13, 60, 66
UV astronomy, 63
X-ray astronomy, 13, 19, 49-50, 53, 59, 62, 63, 75, 192, 198, 200
Blanco Telescope, 165, 169, 170
BLISS (Background-Limited Infrared-Submillimeter Spectrograph), 218
CANGAROO (Collaboration of Australia and Nippon (Japan) for a Gamma Ray Observatory in the Outback), 97
CAREER awards, 109, 133
CARMA (see Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy)
CATE (see Cost appraisal and technical evaluation)
CCAT
complementary technology, 4, 25, 196, 202, 234
cost appraisal and technical evaluation, 6, 25, 234, 238, 251
design/capabilities, 190, 234, 235
laboratory astrophysics demands, 160
operational time frame, 25
partnerships, 6, 94, 234
priority, 4, 234-235, 251
recommendation, 6, 25, 234-235
science objectives, 6, 25, 190, 192, 196, 201, 202, 203, 204
technical risk, 6, 25
Ęerenkov Telescope Array, 7, 24, 25, 97, 233
Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, 89, 165
Chandra X-ray Observatory Center, 20, 59, 61, 62, 63, 71-72, 80, 81, 132-133, 140, 166, 215
CIP (see Community Instrumentation Programs)
Climate research, 28-29, 34, 114-115
CMB (see Cosmic microwave background)
COBE (see Cosmic Background Explorer)
Combined Array for Research in Millimeter-wave Astronomy, 54, 92, 93, 169, 251
Community Instrumentation Programs, 152
Compact objects
(see also Black holes; Neutron stars)
binary systems, 18
general relativity around, 74-76
Computer technology, high-performance, 111, 132, 136, 141-142
Constellation-X, 97, 214
Core research program
augmentation, 4
data and software, 142-148
Explorer and suborbital programs, 149-151
individual investigator grants, 4, 25-26, 132-135, 140, 173, 201, 219, 222, 236
innovation, 151-153
laboratory astrophysics, 159-162
medium-scale activities, 148-154
recommended additions and augmentations, 219-222
technology development, 154-159
theory, 135-142
workforce development, 148-149
Cornell-Caltech Atacama Telescope (see CCAT)
COROT (Convection, Rotation and Planetary Transits), 40
Cosmic acceleration, 13, 16, 47, 48, 49, 60, 68, 70-71, 137-138, 196, 197, 200, 205, 206, 223, 227, 247, 261-262
Cosmic Background Explorer, 17-18, 80, 149
Cosmic microwave background
astrophysics, 99, 165, 173
COBE, 17-18, 80, 149
defined, 48
funding, 238, 241, 262-263
gravitational wave astronomy, 70-71, 197-198, 200, 217, 262-263
inflation studies, 2, 3, 7, 13, 20-21, 18, 37, 40, 69, 70-71, 197-198, 200, 217, 237, 262-263
neutrino mass measurement, 74, 204
polar programs, 99
polarization studies, 13, 69-70, 101, 155, 159, 197-198, 217, 263
radio astronomy, 52
standard cosmological model, 135, 196-197
suborbital programs, 5, 22, 222
technology development, 92, 156, 174, 198, 217, 238, 262-263
temperature fluctuations, 18, 40, 47, 69, 149
universe age and content mapping, 37, 47-48, 135, 208
Cosmic paleontology, 11, 43, 46, 52, 137, 201, 247
Cosmic rays, 61, 66, 67, 72, 75, 80, 98, 123, 159, 164, 173, 202, 203, 222
Cosmic Vision program, 83, 86, 97, 207, 212
Cosmological constant, 70, 71, 197
Cost appraisal and technical evaluation
(see also individual projects), 6-8, 186-187, 195, 224, 250, 253-259
CSO (see Caltech Submillimeter Observatory)
CTA (see Ęerenkov Telescope Array)
CTIO (see Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory)
Dark energy, 35, 79, 98, 101, 173, 199, 246
content of the universe, 49, 197
and cosmic acceleration, 13, 16, 47, 49, 70, 196, 197, 200
cosmological constant and, 71, 197
Dark Energy Camera, 100, 158, 165
Dark Energy Survey, 81
Gemini studies, 5, 170, 177
JDEM, 17, 97, 159, 174, 188 n.7, 206-207, 257, 258, 259
LSST survey, 3, 6, 22, 174, 197, 200, 223
theoretical investigations, 200
WFIRST, 3, 8, 16, 17, 197, 200, 205-206, 207, 208
composition of the universe, 13, 48, 49; 71, 72, 73, 138, 190, 197
DOE experiments, 165, 173, 188 n.7, 240
galactic halos, 51, 52, 58, 59, 62, 69, 72, 203
gamma-ray astronomy, 24, 72, 200, 204, 233
gravitational lensing, 52, 71, 73, 135
detection of particles, 7, 72, 135, 165, 200
nature of, 71-72, 204, 246, 247
neutrinos, 74
particle astrophysics, 13, 72, 98, 111, 136, 232-233
simulations, 138
spectroscopic studies, 228
suborbital programs, 222
theoretical challenges, 71-72, 137, 138
X-ray astronomy, 71-72, 73, 203
Data and software
(see also Simulations)
2MASS archive, 143, 145
ALFA HI archive, 145
ALMA archive, 143
analysis and simulations, 45-46
core research programs, 142-148
curation, 31, 143-147
and discovery, 3, 45-46
DOE, 31, 141, 143, 146, 147
FIRST archive, 145
ground-based projects, 31
HST archive, 143, 144, 145
LSST potential, 22, 143, 201, 203, 206
NASA, 31, 143-144, 146, 147
NSF, 31, 146, 147
NVSS archive, 145
proposal opportunities, 133
recommendations, 31, 146, 147
reduction and analysis software, 148
SDSS archive, 143, 145
virtual observatories, 142, 145-146
WFIRST potential, 201
DataNet program (Sustainable Digital Data Preservation and Access Network Partners), 147
Decadal survey implementation advisory committee, 15, 19, 20, 102, 195, 198, 213, 214, 216-217, 237-238
Department of Defense, 131
Department of Energy (DOE)
advisory groups, 98-99, 100, 101, 135, 143, 163, 188, 240
astrophysics research, 98, 99, 133, 163-165
budget/costs/funding, 5, 14, 26, 98, 133, 140, 164, 188, 225, 233, 240, 241, 253, 256
CMB research, 165, 174
dark energy/matter experiments, 81, 97, 98, 100, 158, 159, 164-165, 170, 173, 174, 188 n.7, 206-207, 240, 257, 258, 259
data handling and curation, 31, 141, 143, 146, 147
Fusion Energy Sciences program, 165
grant programs, 133, 162
HEPAP, 99, 100, 163, 188, 240
interagency collaborations, 22-23, 26, 81, 97, 100, 101, 147, 159, 165, 174, 185, 188, 206-207, 223, 225, 233, 257, 258, 259
international collaborations, 22, 97, 164, 165, 233
laboratory astrophysics, 31-32, 159, 161, 162, 162, 165, 220-221, 266
LSST, 23, 24, 158, 159, 174, 175, 223, 225, 240
Major Item of Equipment funds, 22, 225
national laboratories, 161, 162, 164
National Nuclear Security Administration, 31, 162, 165
nuclear weapons mission, 158
Office of High Energy Physics, 80, 98-99, 100, 140, 163, 164, 240
Office of Nuclear Physics, 80
Office of Science, 14, 31, 98, 102, 162
particle astrophysics projects, 98, 99, 140, 163-165, 185, 188
public-private partnerships, 22, 164, 174
recommendations for, 15, 29, 31, 102, 116, 142, 147, 162, 237
small-scale projects, 5, 26
technology development, 23, 24, 99, 100, 158-159, 174, 175, 223, 240, 251
theoretical and computational networks, 26, 31, 140, 141, 142, 162, 240
training and career development, 165
DSIAC (see Decadal survey implementation advisory committee)
Dunn Solar Telescope, 169, 172, 181
chemical reactions on grain surfaces, 159 n.25, 161
interference in planet detection, 216
molecular clouds enshrouded in, 56, 78
nebulae, 106
organic molecules on, 76
planet formation, 20, 53, 139
stellar disks, 38, 54, 194, 196
surveys, 4, 189, 203, 263
EHT (Event Horizon Telescope), 251
Einstein’s theory of gravity (see General relativity)
EJSM (Europa Jupiter System Mission), 97, 212
Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope, 16 n.2, 198 n.13
Epoch of inflation, 3, 13, 20-21, 37, 48, 49, 69, 197-198, 200, 217, 263
Epoch of recombination, 48
Epoch of reionization, 10-11, 36, 49, 50, 92, 189, 190, 192, 198, 201, 227, 246, 247, 262
ESA (see European Space Agency)
ESM (Electromagnetic Spectrum Management), 152
Euclid, see European Space Agency
Europa Jupiter System Mission, 97, 212
European Extremely Large Telescope, 83, 84, 94, 95-96, 229, 231
European Southern Observatory, 82, 83, 88, 94, 229, 231
COROT, 40
Euclid M-class proposal, 17, 97, 207
Herschel and Planck telescopes, 83
IXO partnership, 8, 19, 93-94, 97, 214, 215, 258
JDEM partnership, 174, 257, 258
LISA partnership, 8, 18-19, 93, 97, 212, 213, 214, 257, 258
SPICA mission, 21, 218
XEUS missions, 97, 214
European Union, 82-83, 84
EVLA (see Expanded Very Large Array)
EXIST (see Energetic X-ray Imaging Survey Telescope)
Exoplanet astronomy
discoveries, 12
dust debris disks, 38, 194
gravitational microlensing, 15, 192-193, 196
gravitational waves, 12, 192-193, 204
infrared surveys, 3, 8, 12, 16, 17, 41, 192-193, 194, 195-196, 205, 207, 208, 215-216, 228
radial velocity surveys, 12, 20, 38, 40, 192, 193, 195 n.10, 196, 227, 263
radio surveys, 12
UV survey, 5
New Worlds Technology Development Program, 3, 7, 20, 215-217, 237
(see also Exoplanet astronomy)
atmospheric composition, 12, 41
discovery, 2, 10, 12, 36, 37-39, 40-41, 191
census of Earth-like planets, 191-192, 196, 217
Kepler mission, 12, 16, 37, 40, 81, 133, 166, 168, 192, 193, 195, 196, 205, 215, 259
molecular signatures, 12, 39, 41, 67-68, 77, 296
science objectives, 2, 36, 57, 189, 191-195, 196
stellar characteristics, 196, 202, 247
technology development, 20, 195
water, 12, 39
Expanded Very Large Array, 50, 53, 82, 85, 93, 96, 169, 172, 179, 251
budget/costs/funding, 8, 17, 18
Galaxy Evolution Explorer, 18, 63, 150, 166, 168, 208, 219, 221
MIDEX missions, 8, 17-18, 37, 47, 69, 80, 99, 133, 149-150, 166, 168, 208, 210, 221
Missions of Opportunity, 8, 18, 150, 208, 209, 210, 217
Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager, 18
SMEX missions, 8, 18;
see also GEMS
Swift mission, 17, 18, 37, 80, 133, 149-150, 166, 168, 210
WISE, 17, 18, 150, 166, 168, 210
WMAP, 17-18, 47, 69, 80, 99, 149, 168, 208, 210, 221
FASR (see Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope)
Federal Funding of Astronomical Research (FFAR) report, 113, 119, 120
Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, 43, 59, 72, 80, 81, 97, 99, 100, 132-133, 140, 159, 164-165, 166
FIRST (Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-one Centimeters), 145
Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope, 34, 175, 181, 182, 202, 227, 251, 262
FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer), 168, 219
GAIA (Graphical Astronomy and Image Analysis), 44
active, 117, 118, 246
baryon cycling, 57, 137, 205-206, 247
black holes/nuclei, 1, 7, 11, 13, 42, 43, 52-53, 57-59, 62, 63, 74-75, 107, 117, 118, 137, 190-191, 192, 198, 209, 228
chemistry, 57, 61, 76, 77, 204
clusters, 47, 52, 71, 73, 74, 117, 118, 120, 197, 198, 200, 213-214, 234, 246
dark energy and, 197
dark matter, 51, 52-53, 58, 59, 62, 69, 71, 72, 73, 137, 190, 203
distribution mapping, 47, 52, 69, 197, 200, 261
earliest, 5, 10, 11, 49, 50, 137, 177, 189, 192, 228
formation and evolution, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 16, 18, 21, 35, 39, 42, 45, 49, 51, 52, 58, 59, 72, 74-75, 137, 150, 189, 190-191, 192, 198, 201, 203, 204, 205, 206, 208, 218, 220, 227, 234, 246, 247, 261-262
gamma-ray surveys, 164
gas distributions and exchanges, 73, 190, 192, 203, 228, 246
gravitational lensing, 73, 197, 200, 205
gravitational waves, 11, 39, 75, 192
high-redshift, 76, 202
hot gases, 2, 3, 5, 52, 57, 58, 71-72, 213-214
life cycles, 58-59, 62-63
mass, 58, 190
mass-energy-chemical cycles, 57, 247
mergers, 11, 39, 42, 51, 57, 58, 191, 192, 209
millimeter and submillimeter imaging surveys, 25, 190, 192
neutron stars, 75
OIR surveys, 3, 8, 16, 18, 177, 190-191, 192, 197, 202, 203, 205, 206, 227, 228
origins, 10, 46-47, 48, 51-52, 200
properties, 58-59, 61, 71, 76, 203, 228, 246
protogalaxies, 50, 246
quasars, 11, 190
simulations and mathematical modeling, 45, 137, 141 n.7, 191
structure, 58, 137, 223, 246
UV surveys, 5, 62, 150, 190
X-ray astronomy, 42, 62, 74, 191, 213-214
youngest, 190, 192
Galaxy Evolution Explorer, 18, 63, 133, 150, 166, 168, 208, 219, 221
Galaxy Zoo, 105-106, 107
GALEX (see Galaxy Evolution Explorer)
Gamma-ray astronomy and astrophysics
ACTA, 3-4, 7, 24-25, 59, 93-94, 97, 190, 198, 200, 201, 203, 204, 232-234, 239-240, 241, 251, 263
AGIS, 24-25, 97, 233, 251
all-sky maps, 164, 227, 241, 263
black holes, 51, 59, 75, 149-150, 198
burst events, 18, 37, 44-45, 75, 141 n.7, 149, 200, 223
dark matter, 24, 72, 200, 204, 233
FGST, 43, 59, 72, 80, 81, 97, 99, 100, 132-133, 140, 159, 164-165, 166
HAWC experiment, 227, 241, 263
supernova explosions, 66, 67
VERITAS, 59, 81, 97, 159, 164, 169, 232, 233
very high energy, 3-4, 24, 67, 198, 227, 232-234, 241, 249, 263
Gemini Observatory, 132
costs, 177, 178
dark energy surveys, 5, 170, 177
data archives, 145
exoplanet survey, 38
funding, 5, 26, 92, 171, 176, 177, 178, 239
instrumentation, 170, 171, 176, 177, 194
international collaboration, 26, 33, 81, 83, 89, 170, 178, 236
management, 26, 33, 88, 90, 170, 176, 177, 178, 179, 236
recommended augmentation, 5, 33, 179, 236, 239
GEMS (Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX), 167, 168, 210
General relativity, 8, 12, 18, 35, 37, 39, 70, 74-76, 195-196, 197, 198, 199
Giant Magellan Telescope, 7, 23, 24, 94, 229-231
Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope
complementary technology, 3, 23, 95, 190, 191, 200, 202, 203, 204, 228, 229
cost/funding, 6, 7, 24, 92, 153, 175, 176, 227, 229, 231-232, 239-240, 251
design/capabilities, 23, 201, 204, 228, 230
GMT, 7, 23, 24, 94, 229-231
management, 178
operational timescale, 231, 239
partnerships, 23-24, 94-95, 229, 231, 232
recommendation, 6, 23-24, 228-232
technical risk, 6, 229
technology development, 227, 231
TMT, 6, 23, 24, 94, 229-231
GMT (see Giant Magellan Telescope)
GONG (Global Oscillation Network Group), 169
Grand Telescopio Canarias, 82
Gravitational lensing, 16, 52, 71, 73, 135, 197-198, 200, 223, 262
Gravitational microlensing, 12, 16, 103, 135, 192-193, 196, 205, 207, 208
Gravitational wave astronomy, 263
black hole mergers and, 3, 13, 39, 42, 43, 45, 53, 74-75, 98, 136, 191, 199, 200, 262
bursts of radiation, 191, 192, 200
CMB research, 70-71, 197-198, 200, 217, 262-263
detection, 13, 20, 39, 199, 227, 251
discovery potential of, 35, 36, 39, 42-43, 45, 74-75, 201, 247
exoplanet surveys, 192-193, 204
galaxy formation, 11, 39, 75, 192
ground-based observatories, 18, 39, 227, 251, 262
inflationary, 20-21, 69-70, 197-198, 200, 217, 262-263
neutron star mergers, 45, 75, 199
origin, 8, 11, 39, 43
physics, 98, 99, 249
pulsar timing, 227, 251, 262
relativity tests, 74, 199
space-based observatories, 2, 53, 80
(see also Laser Interferometer Space Antenna)
spectrum, 39
supernovae, 39, 66, 76, 136, 197
X-ray astronomy, 41
Great Observatories, 141, 144, 166
Green Bank Solar Radio Burst Spectrometer, 181
Green Bank Telescope, 78, 85, 93, 96, 169, 179, 180 n.12, 251
GSMT (see Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope)
HAWC (see High Altitude Water erenkov)
HEASARC (High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center), 146
HEGRA (High Energy Gamma Ray Astronomy), 97
HEPAP (see High Energy Physics Advisory Panel)
HERA (see Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array)
Herschel telescope, 22, 81, 83, 161, 165, 166, 220
HESS (High Energy Stereoscopic System), 97, 232
HET (Hobby-Eberly Telescope), 89
High Altitude Observatory, 99, 180-181
High Altitude Water Ęerenkov experiment, 227, 241, 263
High Energy Physics Advisory Panel, 99, 100, 163, 188, 240
HST, see Hubble Space Telescope
Hubble Space Telescope, 12, 21, 41, 51, 54, 56, 62, 63, 66, 71-72, 73, 80, 81, 104, 105, 113, 132-133, 140, 143, 144, 145, 165, 166, 167, 168, 190, 200, 219, 220, 227, 228, 263
Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array, 94, 96, 189, 192, 227, 247, 251, 262
IceCube, 81, 99, 168-169
CMB studies, 2, 3, 7, 13, 20-21, 18, 37, 40, 69, 70-71, 197-198, 200, 217, 237, 262-263
epoch of, 3, 13, 20-21, 37, 49, 69, 197-198, 200, 217, 263
gravitational wave astronomy, 20-21, 69-70, 197-198, 200, 217, 262-263
Inflation Probe Technology Development program, 3, 7, 20-21, 217-218, 237
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, 105, 146
Infrared Telescope Facility, 89, 167, 169
(see also Technology development)
adaptive optics, 5, 25, 171, 236
ATI program, 5, 25, 92, 146, 151, 152, 157-158, 171, 176, 226, 236, 239
funding/costs, 88, 90, 95, 152, 153, 157, 171, 172, 173, 176, 177, 236, 239, 251
medium-scale, 15, 153, 176, 251
Mid-Scale Innovations Program augmentation, 151, 153, 176, 225-226, 263
MREFC, 6, 23, 24, 153
MRI, 6, 92, 151, 153, 157, 171, 176, 225, 227
open access to privately owned telescopes, 26, 33, 88, 90, 92, 152, 153, 176, 177, 178, 194, 231, 239, 251
recommendations, 4, 5, 34, 153, 156, 182, 236
ReSTAR, 88, 171, 176, 177, 178
solar telescope, 263
training, 116, 125, 126, 149, 150-151, 153, 225
TSIP, 26, 33, 90, 92, 152, 153, 171, 176, 177, 178, 194, 231, 236, 239, 251
workforce, 126, 149
INTEGRAL, 133, 166
Interagency collaborations
DOE, 22-23, 26, 81, 97, 100, 101, 147, 159, 165, 174, 185, 188, 206-207, 223, 225, 233, 257, 258, 259
NASA, 5, 8, 16-17, 97, 99-100, 101, 135, 147, 159, 165, 174, 185, 205, 206-207, 220-221, 257, 258, 259
NSF, 5, 22-23, 25, 81, 89, 99-100, 147, 165, 188, 223, 225
International collaborations, 2, 4
DOE, 22, 97, 164, 165, 233
Gemini, 26, 33, 81, 83, 89, 170, 178, 236
NASA, 5, 8, 18-19, 93, 94, 97, 155, 166, 212-213, 214-215, 218, 237-238, 240, 257, 258
NSF, 5, 6, 7, 25, 26, 33, 88, 89, 92, 93, 95, 165, 169, 170, 176-179, 232, 233, 236
strategic planning, 28, 86-87
International Traffic in Arms Regulations, 84, 175
International Virtual Observatory, 142
International X-ray Observatory
complementary technology, 20, 97, 215
cost/funding, 8, 19, 155, 214, 237, 238, 251, 257, 258, 259
design/configuration, 19, 213, 214
partnerships, 8, 19, 93-94, 97, 214
laboratory astrophysics demands, 22, 220
launch date and mission timeline, 19, 212, 214
science objectives, 3, 8, 19, 20, 190-191, 192, 196, 198, 200, 202, 213-214, 215
technical risk, 3, 8, 214, 215
technology development, 19, 155, 214, 215, 237-238
International Year of Astronomy, 108
Interstellar medium, 5, 21, 53, 66, 76, 77, 111, 117, 118, 120, 137, 203, 218, 220, 246
IRAM telescopes, 82
IRAS (Infrared Astronomy Satellite), 80
Isaac Newton Telescope, 107
IXO (see International X-ray Observatory)
James Webb Space Telescope, 3, 5, 17, 22, 23, 38, 41, 50, 53, 59, 81, 161, 165-166, 167, 168, 177, 187, 189, 190, 191, 192, 194, 196, 201, 202, 203, 204, 219, 220, 228, 229, 259
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), 5, 8, 16 n.2, 19, 21, 81, 83, 84, 95, 97, 165, 167, 210, 214, 215, 218, 238
JAXA (see Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)
JDEM (see Joint Dark Energy Mission)
Joint Dark Energy Mission, 97, 159, 174, 206-207, 257, 258, 259
Omega concept, 17
JWST (see James Webb Space Telescope)
Keck Observatory, 38, 89, 90, 167, 169, 200, 216, 229
Kitt Peak National Observatory, 87, 89, 170, 261
Kuiper belt, 6, 38, 43, 216 n.17
La Silla Observatory, 88
Laboratory astrophysics
ALMA, 160, 161
CCAT, 160
DOE, 31-32, 159, 161, 162, 162, 165, 220-221, 266
IXO, 22, 220
NASA, 5, 32, 162, 220-221
NSF, 5, 32, 159, 161, 162
recommended augmentation, 5, 32, 220-221
scope and needs, 159-161
Large Area Telescope, 164-165
Large Binocular Telescope, 89, 216
Large Hadron Collider, 72, 204
Large Synoptic Survey Telescope
cost/funding, 6, 22-23, 92, 153, 176, 188 n.7, 223, 224-225, 227, 238, 239, 240, 251
dark energy survey, 3, 6, 22, 174, 197, 200, 223
database potential, 22, 143, 201, 203, 206
design/configuration, 22, 223-224
DOE and, 23, 24, 158, 159, 174, 175, 223, 225, 240
partnerships, 22, 84, 94, 223, 240
science objectives, 3, 6, 22, 188 n.7, 191, 197, 200, 201, 223
technical risk, 6, 23, 224
technology development, 23, 24, 158, 159, 174, 175, 223
Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory, 81, 99, 168-169, 199
Laser Interferometer Space Antenna
cost/funding, 8, 19, 168, 212-213, 238, 257, 258, 259
design/configuration, 209, 212
ESA partnership, 8, 18-19, 93, 97, 212, 214
launch date and mission timeline, 97, 209, 212-213, 214
Pathfinder mission, 8, 18-19, 155, 213
recommendation, 8, 209, 212-213
science objectives, 3, 8, 18, 75, 191, 192, 199, 200, 201, 209
technical risk, 8, 18-19, 213
technology development, 155, 214, 237-238
LISA (see Laser Interferometer Space Antenna)
LMT (Large Millimeter Telescope), 93
Long-duration balloon, 222
LSST (see Large Synoptic Survey Telescope)
Magellan Observatory, 89
Magellanic Clouds, 56, 202
MAGIC (Major Atmospheric Gamma-ray Imaging Ęerenkov Telescope), 97, 232
Magnetars, 76
Magnetic fields and magnetic activity, 57, 61, 63-64, 67, 75, 76, 137, 158 n.25, 160-161, 171-172, 181, 199, 203, 220, 247
Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction, 6, 22, 23, 24, 99, 153, 158, 171, 172, 188, 205, 225, 227, 231, 232, 239-240, 256, 263
Major Research Instrumentation Program, 6, 92, 151, 153, 157, 171, 176, 225, 227
MAST (Multimission Archive at STScI), 146
Mathematical and Physical Sciences Advisory Committee, 100
Mayall Telescope, 169, 170, 281
McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope, 169, 181
MeerKAT, 96
Meese Solar Observatory, 180
Microlensing Planet Finder, 205 n.14
Microsoft World Wide Telescope, 105
MIDEX missions (see Explorer program)
Mid-Scale Innovations Program
BigBOSS, 227, 261-262
cosmic microwave background initiatives, 227, 262-263
cost/funding, 6, 7, 23, 151-153, 205, 226-227, 238, 261-263
exoplanet initiatives, 227, 263
FASR, 34, 175, 181, 182, 202, 227, 251, 262
HERA, 94, 96, 189, 192, 227, 247, 251, 262
instrumentation, 151, 153, 225, 263
NANOGrav, 227, 262
recommendation, 6, 23, 225-227, 234
science objectives, 3, 6, 227
Telescope System Instrument Program, 153
training grants, 151, 153, 225
University Radio Observatory program, 153
Milagro telescope, 97
Milky Way, 6, 11, 16, 18, 40, 44, 47, 50, 52, 53, 54, 57, 59, 62, 63, 66, 76, 164, 198, 201, 202, 228, 205, 206, 223
Minority University Research and Education Program, 127
MMT Observatory, 89
MREFC (see Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction)
MRI (see Major Research Instrumentation Program)
Mount Wilson Observatory, 180
Murchison Widefield Array, 50, 153
NANOGrav (see North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves)
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Astrophysics Division, 80, 98, 100, 133, 141, 167, 175, 187, 237-238
ATP, 5, 21, 133, 140, 141, 142, 168, 219, 222, 238
balloon program, 99-100, 167
budget/costs/funding, 5, 8, 14, 19, 20, 22, 98, 109, 133-135, 140, 141, 167, 168, 175, 187, 212-213, 214, 218, 222, 237, 238, 251, 253, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259
core research program, 21-22, 131, 133
grant programs, 32, 132-133, 135, 140, 155-156, 157, 162, 201, 207, 217, 220-221
Heliophysics Division, 80, 182 n.16
interagency collaborations, 5, 8, 16-17, 97, 99-100, 101, 135, 147, 159, 165, 174, 185, 205, 206-207, 220-221, 257, 258, 259
international collaborations, 5, 8, 18-19, 93, 94, 97, 155, 166, 212-213, 214-215, 218, 237-238, 240, 257, 258
JDEM, 17, 97, 159, 174, 206-207, 257, 258, 259
laboratory astrophysics, 5, 32, 162, 220-221
Planetary Exploration program, 140
public outreach and education, 105, 108, 109, 112
public-private partnerships, 88, 89, 90, 167, 169
recommendations for, 15, 19, 29, 31, 32, 34, 102, 116, 142, 147, 162, 174-175, 201, 218, 237-238
Science Mission Directorate, 168
Spitzer Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, 105
Suborbital Program, 5, 150-151, 167, 194, 221-222
technology development, 5, 20, 21-22, 112, 149, 154-157, 174, 214-217, 218, 219-220, 237-238
theory and computation networks, 5, 22, 31, 141-142, 201, 222, 237
training and career development, 114, 116, 127, 133-134, 149, 157
National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, 93, 96, 169
National Center for Atmospheric Research, 99
National Optical Astronomy Observatory, 33, 87-88, 89, 90, 92, 95, 132, 170, 171, 176, 177, 178-179, 225
National Radio Astronomy Observatory, 73, 78, 85, 92, 93, 96, 122, 132, 169-170, 179, 180, 181
AAG program, 5, 25-26, 133, 140, 142, 152, 162, 239
ARRA funding, 171
Astronomical Sciences (AST) Division, 24, 25, 32, 33-34, 60, 80, 93, 98, 99, 100-101, 109, 133, 134, 140, 141, 152, 153, 157-158, 161, 162, 165, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172-173, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 187, 188, 226, 227, 233, 238-240, 266
Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences Division, 80, 93, 99, 168-169, 180, 181-182
balloon program, 99
budget/costs/funding, 5, 6, 7, 14, 22-23, 32, 92, 93, 96, 98, 134, 152, 161, 169-170, 176, 179-180, 181-182, 187-188, 238-240, 253, 262-263
Committee of Visitors, 101, 153
core research program, 4, 21, 131, 235-237
data handling and curation, 31, 146, 147
Directorate for Education and Human Resources, 109
Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences, 98, 100, 101, 134, 152, 153, 226, 227
Frontier Centers, 140, 141
Geosciences Directorate, 99
grant programs, 5, 25-26, 29, 98, 99, 109, 133, 134-135, 140-141, 142, 151-153, 173, 201, 236, 239
instrumentation programs, 5, 26, 29, 33, 90, 92, 140-141, 149, 151-153, 170-171, 172-173, 176, 177, 178, 194, 225, 226, 231, 236, 239, 251
interagency collaborations, 5, 22-23, 25, 81, 89, 99-100, 147, 165, 188, 223, 225
international collaborations, 5, 6, 7, 25, 26, 33, 88, 89, 92, 93, 95, 165, 169, 170, 176-179, 232, 233, 236
laboratory astrophysics, 5, 32, 159, 161, 162
Materials Research Division, 153
McMurdo station, 99-100
MREFC programs, 6, 22, 23, 24, 99, 153, 158, 171, 172, 188, 205, 225, 227, 231, 232, 239-240, 256, 263
Office of CyberInfrastructure, 80, 141, 147
Office of Polar Programs, 80, 93, 98, 99, 169-170
Physics (PHY) programs, 25, 80, 98, 99, 100, 140, 141, 153, 159, 161, 165, 168, 188, 233
public outreach and education, 109, 112
public-private partnerships, 33, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 169-170, 176, 180, 232, 234
recommendations for, 6, 7, 15, 25, 31, 32, 33-34, 102, 116, 142, 147, 162, 173, 179, 182, 238-240
Science and Technology Centers, 152
senior reviews of facility support, 32, 87-88, 101, 153, 170, 173, 176, 177
solar astronomy, 34, 99, 168, 169, 171-172, 173, 175, 180-182
technology development, 5, 20, 100, 149, 152, 157-158, 175, 226, 236, 238-239, 251
TSIP, 5, 26, 29, 33, 90, 92, 140-141, 153, 171, 176, 177, 178, 194, 231, 236, 239, 251
training and career development, 109, 128, 141, 149, 151-152
National Solar Observatory, 34, 99, 172, 180, 181
National Virtual Observatory, 142, 145-146
Near-Earth objects, 3, 6, 18, 223
Near-Infrared Sky Surveyor, 205 n.14
Neutrinos, 35, 66, 68, 72-74, 80, 99, 137, 204, 246, 247
Neutron stars, 8, 11-12, 35, 39, 43, 45, 46, 60, 61, 66, 72, 75, 76, 79, 98, 199, 203, 204, 213, 222, 262
(see also Pulsars)
NICMOS (Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer), 41
NOAO (see National Optical Astronomy Observatory)
North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves, 227, 262
NRAO (see National Radio Astronomy Observatory)
NSO (see National Solar Observatory)
NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array), 167, 210
NVSS (NRAO VLA Sky Survey), 145
Office of Management and Budget, 15, 29, 102, 116
Office of Naval Research, 180
Office of Science and Technology Policy, 15, 29, 100, 101, 102, 116
Open access to privately owned telescopes, 4, 26, 33, 88, 90, 92, 152, 153, 176, 177, 178, 194, 231, 239, 251
Optical and infrared (OIR) astronomy
(see also Large Synoptic Survey Telescope; Gemini Observatory; Giant Segmented Mirror Telescope)
dark energy, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 16, 17, 22, 170, 177, 197, 200, 205-206, 207, 208, 223
dark matter, 6, 22, 158, 223, 240
data archiving, 145, 148
NOAO, 33, 87-88, 89, 90, 92, 95, 132, 170, 171, 176, 177, 178-179, 225
NSF, 33, 87-88, 89, 90, 92, 95, 100, 168, 169, 170, 173, 175, 176-179, 181, 185
telescope instrument development, 5, 23, 26, 33, 90, 92, 153, 171, 176, 177, 178, 194, 231, 236, 239, 251
Optical Society of America, 120
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, 86
Owens Valley Solar Array, 181
Palomar Observatory, 89
Paranal Observatory, 88
Particle astrophysics, 5, 7, 13, 27, 66, 72, 97, 98, 99, 111, 135, 136, 140, 150, 163-165, 185, 188, 200, 232-233
Particle Astrophysics Scientific Assessment Group, 99, 164, 188
Pathfinder mission, 18-19, 155, 213
Planck telescope, 20, 81, 99, 165, 166, 198, 217
Plasma physics, 22, 48, 65, 75, 99, 115, 159, 160, 161, 181, 198, 220
PLATO (Planetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars), 207
(see also European Space Agency)
Program Prioritization Panels
charge to, 249
scientific scope, 250
summary of findings, 251
DOE, 22, 164, 174
ground-based OIR astronomy, 87-92
ground-based RMS astronomy, 92-93
NASA, 88, 89, 90, 167, 169
NSF, 33, 88, 89, 90, 92, 93, 169-170, 176, 180, 232, 234
Pulsars, 12, 43, 61, 76, 145, 199, 203, 227, 232, 251, 262
QUIET, 153
Radio, millimeter, and submillimeter (RMS) astronomy
(see also Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array)
ARISE, 16 n.2
black holes, 52-53, 262
EVLA, 50, 53, 82, 85, 93, 96, 169, 172, 179, 251
future system, 2, 179-180
galactic mergers, 42
instrumentation, 5
international collaborations, 28, 33-34, 82, 83, 94, 95-96, 143, 153, 175, 179, 180, 227
reionization epoch, 49
SKA, 28, 33-34, 82, 83, 94, 95-96, 143, 153, 175, 179, 180, 227
SMA, 54, 93, 160
Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect, 52, 262
technology development, 79-80
Renewing Small Telescopes for Astronomical Research, 88, 171, 176, 177, 178
Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, 128
ReSTAR (see Renewing Small Telescopes for Astronomical Research)
RXTE (Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer), 166
SALT (South African Large Telescope), 89
SAMURAI (Science of AGNs and Masers with Unprecedented Resolution in Astronomical Imaging), 16 n.2
San Fernando Observatory, 180
Science Frontiers Panels
SDO (see Solar Dynamics Observatory)
SETI Institute, 93
SIM (see Space Interferometry Mission)
SKA (see Square Kilometer Array)
Sloan Digital Sky Survey, 22, 47, 73, 99, 106 n.2, 143, 145, 147, 153
Sloan Lens ACS Survey, 73
SMA (Submillimeter Array), 54, 93, 160
SMEX missions, see Explorer program
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, 131 n.1, 231 n.23
Smithsonian Institution, 80, 89, 93, 131
SOAR (Southern Astrophysical Research) Telescope, 89, 169
SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy), 76, 167
SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), 181
Solar astronomy and astrophysics
ATST, 34, 64, 147, 171, 172, 181, 182, 188, 202, 203, 231, 240, 263
ground-based, xvi, 34
magnetic fields, 64, 137, 160-161, 171-172, 181
NSO, 34, 99, 172, 180, 181
observatory system, 180-182
SDO, 64, 65, 137, 146-147, 181
simulations, 171-172
UV, 64, 65, 146-147, 181
Solar Dynamics Observatory, 64, 65, 137, 146-147, 181
South Pole Telescope, 69, 93, 99, 169
Space Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics, 5, 21, 22, 155, 218, 237, 238
recommendation, 5, 218
Space Interferometry Mission (SIM and SIMLite), 16 n.2, 174, 195 n.2
SPICA (see Space Infrared telescope for Cosmology and Astrophysics)
Spitzer Space Telescope, 12, 41, 54, 62, 63, 66, 80, 81, 132-133, 140, 165, 166, 194, 200, 216 n.17, 218
Square Kilometer Array, 28, 33-34, 82, 83, 94, 95-96, 143, 153, 175, 179, 180, 227
Standard model of particle physics, 73-74
(see also Solar astronomy; Stellar)
binary, 43 n.3, 45, 60, 64-65, 199, 209, 232
earliest, 11, 48, 49, 51
chemical composition, 51, 59, 60, 61
compact binaries, 8
coolant deaths, 51
coolest, 18
cosmic order, 59-61, 64-65
dust-enshrouded, 54-55, 56, 67
exploding (see Supernovae)
life cycle, 59-61, 64-66
magnetic field, 64
mass, 60-61
molecular analysis, 160
origin and evolution, 5, 11, 21, 48, 49, 50, 52, 53-56, 59-60, 137, 141 n.7, 160
rotation, 64
seismology, 64
simulations, 64
structure, 3, 59-66
theoretical research, 137, 141 n.7
white dwarf, 3, 44, 46, 60, 61, 64-65, 139
STEREO (Solar-Terrestrial Relations Observatory), 181
Suborbital programs, 4, 5, 20, 22, 150-151, 157, 167, 174, 175, 208, 209, 216, 217, 222, 262
recommended augmentation, 5, 221-222
Supernovae
and black holes, 11, 13, 60, 66
and cosmic evolution, 45, 57, 61, 67, 70, 203
dark energy measurements, 16, 70, 223
discoveries by amateurs, 103, 104
distance measurements, 16, 70
gamma-ray astronomy, 44, 67, 206
gravitational lensing, 197
gravitational wave detection, 39, 66, 76, 136, 197
heavy element ejection, 58, 60-61, 63
images, 61-62, 63, 67, 139
and neutron stars, 61, 66, 72, 203
process and galactic effects, 58, 60-61, 63
simulations, 66, 136-139, 141 n.7
theoretical challenges, 137, 139
Type Ia (white dwarf), 44, 57, 60-61, 64-66, 139, 203, 247
Type II variety, 44, 60, 203
wide-field sky surveys, 66
Suzaku, 133, 165, 166, 210
Technology development (see Inflation Probe Technology Development program)
Technology development, intermediate, recommended augmentation, 5, 220
Telescope System Instrument Program, 5, 26, 33, 85, 90, 92, 153, 171, 176, 177, 178, 194, 231, 236, 239, 251
Theoretical research
ATP, 5, 21, 133, 140, 141, 142, 219, 222, 238
black holes, 13, 35, 39, 46, 53, 74-75, 198, 199, 200, 240
challenges for next decade, 137-139
computational astrophysics, 5, 136, 140-142
dark energy, 200
dark matter, 3, 46, 71-72, 137, 138
DOE, 26, 31, 140, 141, 142, 162, 240
frontiers of knowledge, 68-78
funding, 31, 140, 141
general relativity, 8, 12, 18, 37, 70, 74-76, 195-196, 197, 198, 199
inflation, 69-70
particle physics, 72-74, 135-136
planet formation, 139
simulations and, 136, 137
Theory and Computation Networks, 5, 22, 26, 30-31, 142, 222, 237, 240
THINGS survey, 73
Thirty Meter Telescope, 6, 23, 24, 94, 229-231
Time-domain astronomy, 2, 35, 36, 43-45, 52, 203, 225, 247, 262
Time-variable phenomena, 2, 6, 22, 143, 223
TMT (see Thirty Meter Telescope)
TRACE (Transition Region and Coronal Explorer), 181
America COMPETES Act and, 113-114
core research program, 148-149
DOE, 165
family friendly policies, 122, 128-129
instrumentation, 116, 125, 126, 148-149, 150-151, 153, 225
mentoring, 125, 126, 127, 128, 142
minorities, 30, 125-128
NASA, 114, 116, 127, 133-134, 149, 157
NSF, 109, 128, 141, 149, 151-152
TSIP (see Telescope System Instrument Program)
UHURU observatory, 80
Ultralong-duration balloon program, 222, 251
Ultraviolet astronomy, 5, 21, 49, 52, 63, 65, 80, 117, 118, 119, 150, 155, 156, 161, 166, 181, 190, 195, 203, 219, 220, 238
UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), 108
acceleration (see Cosmic acceleration) chemistry, 76-78
dark matter content, 13, 48, 49; 71, 72, 73, 138, 190, 197
hot, 2
inflation hypothesis, 69-70
most distant object detected, 18
origin, 1, 13, 47-48
priority objectives, 2
VERITAS (Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System), 59, 81, 97, 159, 164, 169, 232, 233
VLA (Very Large Array), 54, 73, 143, 181
VLBA (Very Long Baseline Array), 85, 93, 96, 169, 180
VLBI Space Observatory Programme, 16 n.2
VLT (Very Large Telescope), 82-83, 84, 88, 90
Water, 12, 20, 39, 43, 68, 110, 191, 215
WFIRST (see Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope)
White dwarf stars, 3, 44, 46, 60, 61, 64-65, 139
Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer, 17, 18, 150, 166, 168, 169, 210
Wide-Field Infrared Survey Telescope
complementary technology, 17, 197, 208, 223
cosmic acceleration, 200, 206
cost/funding, 8, 17, 168, 207, 238, 240, 241, 251, 257
dark energy survey, 3, 8, 16, 17, 197, 200, 205-206, 207, 208
database potential, 201
Euclid and, 207
general investigator program, 207
gravitational microlensing, 192-193, 196
guest investigator program, 16, 17, 206, 207
launch date and mission timeline, 8, 17, 207, 208, 237
partnership opportunities, 17, 93-94, 207-208, 237
recommendation, 3, 8, 16, 205-208
science objectives, 3, 8, 16, 17, 158, 190-191, 192-193, 195-196, 197, 200, 205-206, 207, 208, 215-216, 223, 240
technical risks and challenges, 8, 17, 207
technology development/design, 17, 158, 206-207
Wilcox Solar Observatory, 180
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe, 17-18, 47, 69, 80, 99, 149, 168, 208, 210, 221
WISE (see Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer)
WIYN (Wisconsin, Indiana, Yale, and NOAO) Observatory, 89, 169
WMAP (see Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe)
Women in astronomy, 128-129
(see also Astronomers; Training and career development)
XEUS (X-ray Evolving Universe Spectroscopy), 97, 214
X-ray astronomy
(see also Chandra; International X-ray Observatory)
black holes, 13, 19, 49-50, 53, 59, 62, 63, 75, 192, 198, 200
dark matter, 71-72, 73, 203
galaxies, 42, 62, 74, 191, 213-214
gravitational waves, 41
hot gases, 2, 3
transition-edge sensors, 214
stars, 64
suborbital, 150
supernovae, 61, 66
technology development, 112-113, 156
X-ray Multi-mirror Mission-Newton
Observatory, 20, 59, 81, 133, 165, 166, 215
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics Get This Book
Driven by discoveries, and enabled by leaps in technology and imagination, our understanding of the universe has changed dramatically during the course of the last few decades. The fields of astronomy and astrophysics are making new connections to physics, chemistry, biology, and computer science. Based on a broad and comprehensive survey of scientific opportunities, infrastructure, and organization in a national and international context, New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics outlines a plan for ground- and space- based astronomy and astrophysics for the decade of the 2010's.
Realizing these scientific opportunities is contingent upon maintaining and strengthening the foundations of the research enterprise including technological development, theory, computation and data handling, laboratory experiments, and human resources. New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics proposes enhancing innovative but moderate-cost programs in space and on the ground that will enable the community to respond rapidly and flexibly to new scientific discoveries. The book recommends beginning construction on survey telescopes in space and on the ground to investigate the nature of dark energy, as well as the next generation of large ground-based giant optical telescopes and a new class of space-based gravitational observatory to observe the merging of distant black holes and precisely test theories of gravity.
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics recommends a balanced and executable program that will support research surrounding the most profound questions about the cosmos. The discoveries ahead will facilitate the search for habitable planets, shed light on dark energy and dark matter, and aid our understanding of the history of the universe and how the earliest stars and galaxies formed. The book is a useful resource for agencies supporting the field of astronomy and astrophysics, the Congressional committees with jurisdiction over those agencies, the scientific community, and the public.
Front Matter i–xxxiv
Executive Summary 1–8
1 2020 Vision 9–34
2 On the Threshold 35–78
3 Partnership in Astronomy and Astrophysics: Collaboration, Cooperation, Coordination 79–102
4 Astronomy in Society 103–130
5 Sustaining the Core Research Program 131–162
6 Preparing for Tomorrow 163–182
7 Realizing the Opportunities 183–242
Appendixes 243–244
Appendix A: Summary of Science Frontiers Panels' Findings 245–248
Appendix B: Summary of Program Prioritization Panels' Recommendations 249–252
Appendix C: The Cost, Risk, and Technical Readiness Evaluation Process 253–260
Appendix D: Mid-Scale Project Descriptions 261–264
Appendix E: Statement of Task and Scope 265–268
Appendix F: Acronyms 269–274
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State Sells Buildings, Will Lease Instead
By PropZero Staff
Published Oct 12, 2010 at 6:35 AM | Updated at 10:09 AM PDT on Jul 6, 2011
California lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are betting the state can generate billions from the sale of state office buildings to help fill the $19 billion budget deficit.
On Monday, the state announced it is selling 24 government office buildings - including the Ronald Reagan State Building in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Civic Center - to a private investment group for $2.3 billion according to CNBC.
The buyers are California First LLC, a partnership led by a Texas real estate firm and an Orange County private equity firm, according to the financial website.
At least two reports have said taxpayers will pay more over the long run than the state will net.
The Associated Press reported earlier this year that the deal would end up costing the state $5.2 billion in rent over 20 years, perhaps saddling taxpayers with costs beyond whatever the state would net from the sale. Three of the properties already are paid off, while four others were expected to be paid off in the next five years.
The nonpartisan legislative analyst's office also warned that selling the properties then renting back the space could cost the state an additional $1.5 billion, based on a 35-year projection. And a study by Beacon Economics reached a similar conclusion by looking at a 30-year period.
That study was commissioned by the Service Employees International Union Local 1000, the largest state employee union.
While the legislature will have 30 days to review the sale, lawmakers will not get the final say because proposed oversight legislation was killed in committee earlier this year.
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Full Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Lineup Released
The Weeknd, Beyonce and Eminem have been confirmed to headline the 19th annual festival in Indio
By City News Service
Published Jan 2, 2018 at 8:42 PM | Updated at 8:49 PM EST on Jan 2, 2018
Getty Images for Coachella, File
Porter Robinson & Madeon perform on the Coachella Stage during day 3 of the 2017 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival (Weekend 2) at the Empire Polo Club on April 23, 2017 in Indio, California.
The full lineup for the 2018 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival was released Tuesday, with The Weeknd, Beyonce and Eminem confirmed to headline the 19th annual festival in Indio.
The official lineup was announced Tuesday afternoon on the festival's official Twitter page and website. The festival is slated for the weekends of April 13-15 and April 20-22 at its usual venue, the Empire Polo Grounds.
Three-day general admission passes go on sale Friday at noon.
pic.twitter.com/ivjHgj9uae
— Coachella (@coachella) January 3, 2018
The main acts will each be making their first headlining appearance at Coachella.
Eminem previously appeared as a guest with Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg in 2012, but has not been billed as a festival act before.
Beyonce was initially slated to perform last year, but had to bow out after announcing she was pregnant with twins. Lady Gaga took over as a replacement, but Beyonce pledged to perform in 2018 when she announced her cancellation.
The lineup marks the first time in the festival's history that a rock band will not be among the headlining performers.
Copyright City News Service
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Review finds acupuncture ineffective for pain relief. Reviewers who examined 57 systematic reviews of acupuncture for pain published since the year 2000 have reported:
The majority of reviews were positive, but only four had excellent methodological quality.
Positive findings have questionable significance because there is no plausible reason why acupuncture should reduce pain in some conditions while failing to work in many others.
Recent well-designed clinical trials have found that real acupuncture was no better than sham acupuncture and any benefit in pain reduction resulted from nonspecific effects such as therapist conviction and/or patient expectation or enthusiasm.
Ninety-five cases of severe adverse effects including five deaths were included.
Pneumothorax and infections were the most frequently reported adverse effects.
The reviewers concluded: "Numerous systematic reviews have generated little truly convincing evidence that acupuncture is effective in reducing pain. Serious adverse effects continue to be reported." [Ernst E and others. Pain 152:755-764, 2011] In an accompanying editorial, Harriet Hall, M.D. identified additional harms (time and money wasted, effective treatment delayed, and unscientific thinking encouraged) and suggested that further studies of acupuncture for pain would have no practical value. [Hall HA. Acupuncture's claims punctured: Not proven effective for pain, not harmless. Pain 152:711-712, 2011]
Whistleblower nurse abuser gets jail time. Former Winkler County Memorial Hospital administrator Stan Wiley has been sentenced to 30 days in jail after pleading guilty to abuse of official capacity. The guilty plea stemmed from the Texas Attorney General's investigation of official oppression, retaliatory conduct, and misuse of official information by Wiley, Sheriff Robert Roberts, County Attorney Scott Tidwell, and former Memorial Hospital physician Rolando Arafiles, Jr., M.D. In 2009, two longtime Memorial Hospital nurses complained anonymously to the Texas Medical Board, alleging that Arafiles had violated state regulations governing doctors. After the board contacted Arafiles about the complaint, he asked Sheriff Roberts—a close friend, patient, and alleged business partner—to use official law-enforcement channels to obtain a copy of the confidential complaint, which he did. As a result, Arafiles and others officials were able to determine the identities of the nurses, which would have been protected from disclosure if the Roberts had not misused his position. The nurses were then fired by the hospital and indicted for misuse of official information. The charge against one of the nurses was dropped shortly before trial; the other was acquitted by the jury. [Barrett S. Outrageous whistleblower prosecution fails. Quackwatch, March 26, 2011] Wiley's plea agreement includes a pledge to cooperate with prosecution of the other three on charges for retaliation and misuse of official information. The Texas Board has charged Arafiles with improperly treating nine patients and attempting to intimidate the nurses.
Power Balance flunks scientific tests. A controlled trial of college athletes has found that wearing a Power Balance bracelet did not enhance their performance. The study, sponsored by the American Council on Exercise (ACE), was conducted by John Porcari, Ph.D. and other researchers from the University of Wisconsin. Each athlete completed two trials of four tests: trunk flexibility, balance, strength and vertical jump. For one trial, the subjects wore a Power Balance bracelet ($30), and for the other they wore a placebo ($0.30 rubber bracelet). The order of bracelets worn was completely randomized and double-blinded so that neither the subjects nor the examiners knew which bracelet was being worn for which trial. Analysis of the data showed no significant difference in flexibility, balance, strength, or vertical-jump height between the Power Balance and placebo trials. Curiously, the subjects did better in the second trial than the first, a phenomenon called the "order effect." ACE's report stated:
The improvements in the second trials were attributed to the fact that subjects were either: (1) more warmed up, or (2) habituated to the task. This would explain why the public sales demonstrations of Power Balance and similar performance-jewelry products appear to have beneficial effects on flexibility, balance and strength. But in reality, these sales demonstrations are essentially carnival tricks. By altering the way you apply force to the body, explains Porcari, you can easily change the outcome. "If I'm pushing a certain direction, and then I change the angle of pull or push a little bit, I can get you to lose your balance easily," he says. [Porcari JP and others. Power Balance or power of persuasion? ACE Web site, March 2011]
Power Balance reportedly has sold three million units during the past three years. In December 2010, the Australia Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) announced that Power Balance Pty Australia admitted that there is no credible scientific basis for the claims and therefore no reasonable grounds for making representations about its wristbands being beneficial [6]. To settle ACCC's concerned, the company signed an undertaking in which it promised to stop making unsupportable claims and to offer refunds to consumers who feel they have been misled. Device Watch has a detailed account of the product's history.
This page was posted on March 26, 2011.
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Book warns that MLMs are not profitable. Jon Taylor, M.B.A., Ph.D. has updated his critical analysis of multilevel marketing, which concludes:
Data from 40 companies show that an average of 99.6% of MLM participants lost money, spending more on company purchases and minimal operating expenses than they receive in commissions.
Those who lose the most are those who invest the most, having accepted deceptive claims the MLM is a legitimate income or business opportunity, and having continued to invest in the vain hope of eventually profiting handsomely.
Based on statistics from the Direct Selling Association, the chief MLM lobbying organization, aggregate sales (which are actually losses suffered by tens of millions of victims) exceed tens of billions per year in the U.S., with far greater losses worldwide. MLMs plunder vulnerable populations overseas.
Some MLM participants lose more than money. Divorces, rifts among extended families, and even addiction to MLM can result from excessive commitment to MLM that can become a lifestyle. "MLM junkies" who have internalized its "easy money" appeal may find it difficult to work again in a normal work setting.
[Taylor JM. The Case for and against Multilevel Marketing: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Countering the Effects of Endless Chain Selling and Product-based Pyramid Schemes. Bountiful, Utah, 2011, Consumer Awareness Institute] The book can be downloaded free of charge from Taylor's Web site.
Wakefield scandal enlarges. The British Medical Journal (BMJ) has published more articles that accuse Andrew Wakefield and the hospital where he worked of acting irresponsibly. Wakefield's 1998 paper alleging a connection between the MMR vaccine and enterocolitis was not supported by microscopic examinations of the biopsy specimens examined in the laboratory. The paper, which touched off a public scare that caused vaccination rates to plummet, claimed that 11 out of 12 children showed histological signs of "non-specific colitis." After the paper was published, the school where Wakefield worked improperly announced that, "Researchers at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine may have discovered a new syndrome in children involving a new inflammatory bowel disease and autism." However, reviewers have now concluded that the biopsy specimens were almost normal and certainly did not represent a new disease entity or association.
In 2010, Wakefield was struck from the medical register (the equivalent of losing his medical license), but others who reviewed and promoted the faulty research have not been sufficiently investigated. BMJ editor-in-chief Fiona Godlee summed up the situation this way:
It is now more than 18 months since the UK's General Medical Council found Andrew Wakefield guilty of dishonesty and other serious professional misconduct; and it is nearly a year since the BMJ concluded that his now retracted Lancet paper linking the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine with autism and bowel disease was an "elaborate fraud." At that time, January 2011, we called on Wakefield's former employer, University College London (UCL), to establish an inquiry into the scandal. Ten months on, no inquiry has been announced. . . .
In light of UCL's failure to act, the BMJ has this week referred the matter to Andrew Miller MP, chair of the House of Commons Select Committee on Science and Technology. If UCL does not immediately initiate an externally led review of its role in the vaccine scare, we believe that Parliament should do it. [Godlee F. Institutional research misconduct: Failings over the MMR scare may need parliamentary inquiry BMJ, Nov 9, 2011]
For additional information, see: Deer B. More secrets of the MMR scare: Pathology reports solve "new bowel disease" riddle. BMJ, Nov 11, 2011.
Class-action suits filed against alleged weight-loss crystals. Class-action suits have been filed in California and Texas against the marketers of Sensa, a product developed by Chicago neurologist Alan Hirsch, M.D. and sold by California-based Sensa Products, LLC. According to the company's Web site:
The scientific principle behind SENSA® is remarkably simple. As you eat, smell and taste receptors send messages to your brain which release hormones that tell your body it's time to stop eating. This is a phenomenon we call Sensory Specific Satiety. By enhancing smell, SENSA® Tastants were designed to help speed up the process and trigger your "I feel full" signal, so you eat less and feel more satisfied. Because SENSA®works with your body's natural impulses, rather than against them, there are no feelings of hunger or intense cravings.
The company's Web site states that users can lose an average of 30.5 pounds in six months—without dieting, exercise, food restrictions, or drastic lifestyle changes—by merely sprinkling Sensa crystals on their food. It also states that Sensa "activates a hunger-control switch in the brain and has been "clinically proven." The complaint in the California suit states that (a) there is no competent and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate these claims and (b) an expert who reviewed Sensa's main clinical study judged that it was "beyond worthless." The Texas complaint is less detailed.
ISM calls Delta irresponsible. The Institute for Science and Medicine has warned Delta Air Lines that continuing to show an in-flight video promoting anti-vaccination views is "indefensible from a public health perspective." [Delta's decision doesn't fly with us: Airline continues to show anti-vaccinationists' ad. ISM news release, Nov 17, 2011] The video, which is paid programming produced by In-Flight Media Associates for the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), discourages use of flu vaccine by (a) downplaying the seriousness of the disease, (b) failing to encourage vaccination as a preventive measure, and (c) referring viewers to the NVIC Web site, which is filled with negative information about vaccines. More than 3,600 people have signed a petition asking Delta to stop airing the video.
This page was revised on November 19, 2011.
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Ministry of Education to close Auckland's Hato Petera College
Bridget Grace
Auckland's Hato Petera College to close Credits: Photo & Video: Newshub.
The Ministry of Education has confirmed Auckland's Hato Petera College will be closed.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins made the announcement on Friday, saying despite all efforts to find a way of keeping the North Shore school going, "the reality is that it is no longer able to provide a quality of education".
"The cancellation of the integration agreement for Hato Petera is in mutual agreement with the Proprietor, the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Auckland," he said of the school which has a strong Catholic and Māori character.
The college was Auckland's last remaining Māori boarding school with 245 students at its peak, but its boarding hostel was closed by the Ministry of Education in 2016 based on health and safety concerns.
The school's roll dropped to just one student earlier this year.
Students campaign to save Hato Petera College
Mr Hipkins said it's "never an easy decision" closing down a school. But the school's roll has "fluctuated between one and five [students] this year, down from around 20 last year and just under 50 in 2016."
He said there are "limited opportunities for the students to have social interaction with peers," adding the classroom environment is "lonely despite the best intentions of the staff."
In the 1990s between 100 and 200 students attended the school. But the school has declined over recent years, and the results of a consultation have confirmed the minister's view that the school should be closed.
"The Hato Petera College that exists today is much diminished from the school it was in the past," he said. "Today's announcement, while sad for those involved, will end a period of uncertainty for students and staff."
Mr Hipkins said the Ministry of Education will provide assistance as needed to help the remaining students enrol at other schools.
Hato Petera College has a history and tradition of supporting Māori through providing "quality" education. But in recent years Catholic Māori students have chosen to enrol in other Catholic colleges, according to the ministry.
The Diocese which owns the land told Mr Hipkins they would "like it to continue to be used for educational purposes consistent with the original deed of gift from the Crown."
"It is now for them to discuss the next steps with the Ministry of Education."
The college was established in 1928 as a private school, becoming a state integrated school in 1981.
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Not Amrish Puri, THIS actor was originally offered the role of Mogambo in Mr India
Amrish Puri has appeared in more than 200 films in more than a dozen languages including Hindi, Punjabi, Malayalam, Tamil and English.
New Delhi, News Nation Bureau | Updated : 24 June 2019, 04:26 PM
Amrish Puri in Mogambo.
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Trump Predicts 'Market Crash the Likes of Which Has Not Been Seen Before' If He is Not Reelected in 2020
By Chris Morran On 6/15/19 at 10:39 AM EDT
Politics Donald Trump Joe Biden Bernie Sanders 2020 Election
President Donald Trump on Saturday simultaneously attempted to talk up his economic achievements while warning of financial doom and gloom if he is not reelected in 2020.
"The Trump Economy is setting records, and has a long way up to go," wrote the president on Twitter Saturday morning. "However, if anyone but me takes over in 2020 (I know the competition very well), there will be a Market Crash the likes of which has not been seen before!"
The Trump Economy is setting records, and has a long way up to go....However, if anyone but me takes over in 2020 (I know the competition very well), there will be a Market Crash the likes of which has not been seen before! KEEP AMERICA GREAT
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 15, 2019
While a number of traditional economic indicators, including unemployment and job growth, have continued to be a positive for the Trump administration, a recent survey from Bankrate.com found that nearly half of American adults — some 47 million people — feel they are currently worse off now than they were before the Great Recession. One of the reasons, notes the survey, is the lack of wage recovery. Around 55 percent of survey respondents said they are now making the same — or less — than they were in 2007, before the economic collapse that took down markets on a global scale.
Despite the significant corporate tax cuts pushed by the Trump administration and Republicans on Capitol Hill, much of the money saved by large businesses has not been put into higher pay for their workers.
Steven Rosenthal of the Tax Policy Center noted in February that, during 2018, "large U.S. corporations spent more than $1.1 trillion to repurchase their stock rather than invest in new plants and equipment or pay their workers more."
A recent analysis by Vox of the latest jobs data from the federal government concluded that while unemployment has remained at a historically low level, the "small pool of available workers still hasn't translated to much higher pay: Workers only got an average hourly pay raise of 6 cents in May, the same increase they got a month earlier."
Earlier this month, Congressman Kevin Brady, a co-author of the 2017 tax cut bill, told a moderator at the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's annual Fiscal Summit that "it's hard to know" what percentage of the tax cuts would pay for itself.
Just this week, the Treasury Department revealed that the cuts will result in even less corporate tax revenue than originally expected. The agency reported a 31 percent drop in corporate tax revenue last year, nearly two times steeper than was originally forecasted.
Trump — who is slated to officially launch his reelection campaign this week in Florida — may face a significant challenge from several of the two-dozen Democrats currently running for the 2020 party nomination.
A recent Quinnipiac University poll found that Trump would likely lose head-to-head elections against each of these six candidates: former Vice President Joe Biden; Senators Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren and Cory Booker; and Pete Buttigieg, mayor of South Bend, Indiana.
While the president has long brushed off such poll results, pointing to the many 2016 election polls that showed him losing to Hillary Clinton, ABC News reports that the campaign's internal polling also found Trump lagging behind Biden in key states — including Pennsylvania and Florida — the president won in the previous election.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks in support of farmers and ranchers in the Roosevelt Room at the White House May 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. As the U.S.-China trade war continues to hurt American farmers with tariffs on everything from peanut butter to soybeans and orange juice, the federal government announced Thursday it will give an additional $16 billion bailout to those most affected. Getty/Chip Somodevilla
Trump Predicts 'Market Crash the Likes of Which Has Not Been Seen Before' If He is Not Reelected in 2020 | Politics
Democratic 2020 First Debate Lineup, Schedule: Sanders, Biden to Face-Off
Republican Group Ad Urges Congress to Protect Elections Since Trump Won't
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Housing discrimination remains a barrier to equal access to housing for too many individuals and families. Landlords may, for example, discriminate against rental applicants on the basis of race or national origin. Or, tenants who experience a disability are often denied a reasonable accommodation that would allow them equal access to housing. Furthermore, municipalities or businesses may enact policies that have a disproportionate discriminatory effect on certain groups. The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of:
Familial Status
National Origin
State and local laws may offer additional fair housing protections, so advocates should consult those as well.
Because of its broad, remedial scope, the FHA applies to nearly all forms of housing, with few limited exceptions. The Act also applies to broad array of housing-related transactions, including the rental, sale, and financing of housing. This means that landlords, housing providers and banking institutions, among others, are covered by the FHA.
Importantly, the FHA covers both intentionally discriminatory conduct (e.g., evicting a tenant because that individual is Latino), and conduct that may not have discriminatory intent, but still has an unjustified adverse impact on protected groups (e.g., a housing authority’s policies for opening up the Section 8 waitlist disproportionately disadvantage applicants who experience disabilities).
In addition to the FHA, advocates should be aware of other federal laws that may offer anti-discrimination protections to their clients, such as:
Title VI of the Civil Rights of 1964
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Age Discrimination Act of 1975
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Equal Credit Opportunity
NHLP’s Fair Housing and Equal Access Initiative focuses on how the use of fair housing and civil rights laws can help low-income and very low-income tenants locate and maintain safe, decent, and affordable homes free from discrimination. Much of our advocacy focuses on how the Fair Housing Act and other anti-discrimination laws intersect with tenant rights in HUD and USDA housing programs. Our advocacy also strives to strengthen the housing rights of groups that historically have experienced difficulty in accessing housing more generally, such as limited English proficient persons and survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Please review our specific issue pages for more information and resources.
NHLP, An Introduction to Fair Housing (2016)
This presentation provides a basic overview of the Fair Housing Act.
Federal Government Resources
HUD Office of Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity
This site features news and resources related to HUD fair housing enforcement. Users can also file a HUD fair housing discrimination complaint using this website.
U.S. Department of Justice, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
This site features legal resources and summaries of DOJ enforcement activities.
Joint Statement of the Department of Housing & Urban Development and the Department of Justice: State and Local Land Use Laws and Practices and the Application of the Fair Housing Act (Nov. 2016)
The HUD AFFH Data and Mapping Tool provides a series of maps and tables with information about several protected classes that can serve as a starting point for research.
Locating State and Local Fair Housing Organizations and Agencies
Fair Housing Information Clearinghouse, State and Local Fair Housing Agencies
List | Map
National Fair Housing Alliance
Get Local Help link
Fair Housing Information Clearinghouse
This site, maintained by the National Fair Housing Training Academy, provides extensive housing resources, including brochures, fliers, and links.
NFHA is a nationwide membership organization comprised of fair housing organizations, agencies, and advocates. The NFHA website contains fair housing resources, reports, and news about recent fair housing developments.
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Hollywood actor and entrepreneur
Fee Group: Please call
Celebrity Personal Appearance
Ashton Kutcher is a Hollywood actor, producer and co-founder of Katalyst, a new breed of studio developing innovative content for TV, film and the social web. He has also successfully invested in several technology start-ups, some of which include Skype, Foursquare, Airbnb, Path and Fab.com. He is also a co-founder of the venture capital fund A-Grade Investments.
Based in Los Angeles, Katalyst is driving a radical shift in the way content is created and consumed. Founded in 2000 by partners Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, film credits include The Butterfly Effect, Guess Who, Spread and Killers.Television property credits include the hit series Punk'd, Beauty and the Geekand True Beauty. Digital media properties include programming for major brands such as the Levi's Curve ID campaign, Nikon's The Chase, Intel IdeaJam and United Nations – Malaria No More. In 2010, Katalyst was named one of the year's Top 50 Most Inspiring Innovators by Ad Age and one of Fast Company Magazine's Top 10 Most Innovative Companies.
Ashton Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. During high school, he developed a passion for acting and appeared in school plays. Whilst at the University of Iowa he was approached by a talent scout and was recruited to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modelling competition. After placing first, he dropped out of college and won a trip to New York City to the International Modelling and Talent Association (IMTA) Convention. Following his stay in New York City, Ashton returned to Cedar Rapids, before relocating to Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting. He also signed with Next modelling agency in New York, appearing in adverts for Calvin Klein and modelled in both Paris and Milan.
He first gained recognition as an actor playing Michael Kelso on the hit comedy series That 70′s Show, which aired for eight seasons in the USA. Ashton went on to star in a variety of global box office hits on the big screen, including What Happens In Vegas with Cameron Diaz, A Lot Like Love with Amanda Peet, Valentine's Day,No Strings Attached with Natalie Portman and the cult hit Dude, Where's My Car. He currently stars in the CBS hit, Two and a Half Men.
In 2010, Ashton was named one of Time Magazine's ”Top 100 Most Influential People.” In 2011, Kutcher co-created The Demi and Ashton Foundation, to eliminate child sex slavery worldwide.
Ashton Kutcher is highly sought-after around the globe as an inspirational keynote speaker, especially to the younger generation on entrepreneurship, focus and commitment to achieving your ambitions and goals.
To book Ashton Kutcher, please submit an online enquiry, send us an email or speak with one of our friendly booking agents on +44 (0)1372 361 004.
Tags for Ashton Kutcher
Chad Hurley
Kevin Colleran
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Norges Bank Investment Management: Solid return in second quarter of 2007
The return on the Government Pension Fund – Global was 2.2 per cent in the second quarter. The advance in international equity markets contributed to the return, particularly in Europe, the US and emerging markets. The return on the international equity portfolios managed by Norges Bank was 7.4 per cent. Interest rates rose in key markets with the result that bond prices edged down, so that the return on the fixed income portfolios was -1.2 per cent.
The return on the Government Pension Fund - Global in the first half of the year was 3.7 per cent.
In the second quarter, Norges Bank outperformed the benchmark portfolio defined by the Ministry of Finance by 0.29 percentage point. The excess return for the first half of the year was 0.38 percentage point.
The market value of the Fund increased from NOK 1 876.2 billion to NOK 1 939.4 billion in the course of the second quarter. New capital equivalent to NOK 67.5 billion was transferred to the Fund. The return on investments was NOK 41.6 billion, while a stronger krone in relation to the investment currencies reduced the market value by NOK 45.9 billion. However, the change in the krone exchange rate has no effect on the Fund’s international purchasing power.
The second quarter return on Norges Bank’s long-term foreign exchange reserves was 2.3 per cent, while the return on the Government Petroleum Insurance Fund was -0.5 per cent in the second quarter. This fund is only invested in fixed income instruments.
The capital in the portfolios managed by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) totalled NOK 2 183 billion. The long-term foreign exchange reserves accounted for NOK 224 billion of this amount and the Petroleum Insurance Fund for NOK 16 billion.
Published 21 August 2007 10:00
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Toby P Kravitz, DDS
Meet Dr. Kravitz
Call Dr. Kravitz‘s office today at ☎ Toby P Kravitz DDS Phone Number 802 649-2630 to make an appointment.
Dr Kravitz graduated from the University of Vermont in 1979 and the Temple University School of Dentistry in 1983. He practiced as an associate dentist for several area practices from 1984 to 1989, taking time off to be a volunteer dentist for the United States Peace Corps in 1986-87.
He started his own practice in Norwich in 1989, but continued his volunteer work by being on the original steering committee for the Red Logan Dental Clinic, where he continues to volunteer regularly. He a current member and the former co-chair of Upper Valley Oral Health Coalition, a community oral health initiative convened to address the dental needs of the Upper Valley.
He was a part of the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center’s Dental Staff from 1996 to 2011 and belongs to numerous professional organizations, including the ADA, AGD, and VSDS. Additionally, Dr Kravitz has participated in many hours of post-graduate dental education and has completed 5 continuums at the prestigious Pankey Institute.
Dr Kravitz lives in Hartford with Jennifer, his wife of 36 years. Their four children, Bethany, Alycia, Julia and Avery are spread out all over the US.
Learn more about Meet Dr. Toby P Kravitz Learn more about Meet the Staff
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Singapore Reports First Case of Rare Monkeypox Virus
Singapore Reports First Case of Rare
Monkeypox Virus
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore has reported its first case of the rare monkeypox virus brought in by a Nigerian man who authorities said may have been infected by bushmeat he ate at a wedding.
Monkeypox, a virus similar to the human smallpox which was eradicated in 1980, does not spread easily from person to person, but can in rare cases be fatal.
Human monkeypox infections have only been documented three times outside of Africa, in the United States, the United Kingdom and Israel, according to the U.S.-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health (MOH) said in a statement late on Thursday that the infected patient was a 38-year-old Nigerian who arrived in Singapore in late April.
“While risk of spread is … Read More
Previous RPA patient attacks nurses with scissors
Next Hundreds of Bodies, One Nurse: German Serial Killer Leaves as Many Questions as Victims
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The Path to Pilots – Bumps, turns, and slippery slopes included!
By Kelly Calabrese
Have a burning desire to act in a pilot? To write a web series? Or create your own new form of new media?
Steven Becker of Blue Carioca Entertainment knows what it takes to be successful, and has shared the many challenging and rewarding aspects of developing a project with NYCastings.
As an experienced writer, director, and producer, Steven has worked in New York as well as Los Angeles, Brazil, and various European countries. His background in finance and venture capital coupled with his diverse production work experience gives him balanced insight into both the creative and monetary aspects of the film making process. In addition, Steve has attended film festivals and their associated sales market functions all over the world which has given him invaluable exposure to the challenges of distribution in the ever evolving world of new media opportunities. His recent projects include Tompkins Square Triangles, Lower East Asides, and Parker & Maggie.
Most importantly, Steven believes in talented people.
His advice about pilots includes many of the bumps, turns, and slippery slopes because it’s what actors need to know – so they can be prepared, and place their focus on doing their best work.
Q&A with Steven Becker of Blue Carioca Entertainment.
How did you get started in TV?
I was always a writer, but never wanted to do it as a profession because it was a passion and I didn’t want to sully it with money. My first job out of college was for CBS Sports, and on weekends I worked on live events. Then I went back to what I was trained in, which was finance. After doing that for a few years, I did well enough to take off and travel the world. I moved to Brazil, and while I was there I did a lot more writing. I had scripts I had already written. I had taken classes at NYU and The New School. I was always very passionate about film. I decided it was time to switch careers. It’s not smart to not work in a field that you’re not passionate about.
I moved to LA and made my first movie there, and worked as a producer. Because of my finance background, numbers come easy to me. While there, I was also very involved in casting and locations. When I moved back to NY, I kept my finance projects going as well as my film and TV ones.
What was your first experience with pilots?
I worked on a couple of pilots in LA that never went anywhere. And, I learned what not to do. I lived there from 2003 – 2006, and that is where TV was. It has become more equal in New York now, but back then you had to go to LA. There were a lot of spec pilots because everyone thought networks would love them. Back in New York, I worked on a few web series. After my first movie, I was offered to turn it into a TV show, so I wrote that six years ago and it looked like it was going to happen. But then the market collapsed in 2008. I decided to go independent, and will be shooting that pilot in the middle of August. It will be a three day shoot. I’m very confident with casting. We have people who are interested, and they want to see the first 15 minutes of the one hour dramedy.
Have any of your pilots been picked up?
A web series I worked on is in development. It is called Parker & Maggie. My last pilot has some interest too.
What does it take to get a pilot picked up?
I tell the people who work on my shoots… Last year, the four major networks ordered about 132 pilots that they paid for – meaning they heard the pitch that was brought in by a show producer and read the scripts. Of those 132 that have already gone through the process, which was weeded out of thousands, they picked up 16. That doesn’t count the thousands of others. If you go to smaller networks – AMC or HBO – how many shows do you see year? Two or three?
Breaking Bad was rejected by every network. AMC picked it up. There is a show on Sundance called The Writers Room that talks to writers of hit shows and they said Every network we pitched it to said they loved the show, but they’d be fired the day they pick up that show.
A show could be great and they still won’t do it because of subject matter. Or they have something similar to it.
With Mad Men they said, It’s kitschy, but who wants to watch a show about advertising.
No one knows what will happen. You are at the network’s mercy. Also, if you look at those shows, they had no name actors. They had talent. Even Mad Men, the most well-known actor was Elizabeth Moss who used to be on West Wing.
The same thing with Arrested Development. It was a critical success, but it had low ratings and they canceled it. But then they brought it back. So there is no sure formula.
Does an LA pilot have a better chance of success?
In acting and writing and directing – it is widely assumed that all the best actors and directors and producers are in Hollywood. So, for a studio that has the best Oscar winning writers and actors, how come the majority of their films are not very good? It’s because this is not a formula. It is a recipe. And until you mix it all together, you’re not going to know what it tastes like. You see it together, and you’re like I don’t believe those two are in love.
Theoretically, Hollywood should always make great TV and films because they have the best of the best. In independent film, you don’t have that option. That’s why as a filmmaker or TV show writer and producer, you are trying to capture lightning in a bottle. That magic.
What is the process of pitching the script?
There are 2 ways.
1. Sometimes people come to you because they heard about your script or a project you worked on before, and they want to know if you have anything new. They ask you to shoot it, and that doesn’t cost them anything. It’s like in dating when someone says that maybe we should do something sometime, and that sparks the project.
If you show them the script, they will ask, Who do you see as the actors? Whoever the actor is changes the role completely, so casting becomes very important. If someone does pick up your project, they want to see your vision of it, not just read it. We work in a visual medium. The pitches will only get you so far. There are people who make their living just pitching shows in LA, but those are people with established track records.
In the indie world, you shouldn’t have to explain the project. You show the project. It’s like when you go to an art show and someone tries to explain the painting. A person can’t tell you what it means. It means what it means to you.
2. You are sent by an agent, or manager or connection you know. You go in cold and have to say, I have this great idea.
Can an actor get their BIG break by doing a pilot?
I always get nervous when actors think this is going to be their big break, because that means their mind is in the wrong place. Their thoughts should be like this: This is what I want to do. This is what I went to school for, to be an actor. I will be a better actor because of it.
And, even if the show is not picked up, someone might see it and think, Hey, I like your work and I have this pilot or play that I am working on.
There is no substitute to being out there, and working. I never understood the mindset of, This is what is going to make me rich and famous. If that’s your goal, you should do reality shows.
The ones who I have found to be the best actors are the ones who generally enjoy it. They love acting and it is apparent.
So the joy of acting stands out to a director?
When you have a group of actors together on a set, you see it. Some people have it, and some don’t. And out of those who have it, there are only one or two who have something about them that just pops. It is in their soul.
From a director’s point of view, do you want actors whose passion is over the top – those who do this because they have to – or because they want to become rich and famous?
As an actor you may work on a project for a couple of days. But the director, who is often also the writer and editor, has worked on this for months beforehand and will work on it for months afterwards. From an ego point of view, it is great to hear that this will make people rich and famous. But realistically, there is a long way to go to make it even presentable. It will never go as fast as you want, and the thought of it making you rich is not going to drive you to be as good as you can be.
How long should a pilot be?
I’m looking at it from a producer’s point of view, and the network doesn’t want to see a full episode because they are never going to use it. And, the fact that they have to watch hundreds means that they want to see something like a three minute sizzle, or only a 10-15 minute clip.
Do web series have more success than pilots?
A web series can be shown. It can be placed on YouTube.
You can shoot a low budget web series with actor friends of yours, or you can partner up with people and everyone has an idea and you all work on it together.
To be picked up, that is something special.
How does a web series differ from a pilot?
With a web series, what usually happens is it is shot in five to six minute episodes. Six minutes is the limit. And then, from there, they try and put it together to make a pilot. So it is not exclusive. It is like cooking. You make achateaubriand today and tomorrow you are going to reformat it into a hamburger and fries, and then a soup. It shouldn’t have just one use. Good footage is good footage.
And from those six minutes, you also have to make a two minute sizzle teaser. And the more you know up front, the more you know to shoot a couple extra shots.
How long should you work on a project before moving on?
There is a fine line between constantly throwing spaghetti up against a wall, and having a game plan. You have to decide what new things to work on as you continue to work on others. You keep building. There is no deadline.
I am a very deadline oriented person, and it took me a long time to realize that it is done when it is done. You only get one chance as an actor, producer, or writer to make a good impression. They are either going to like it or not. And, the worst would be if you didn’t give it your best shot. If it isn’t something you are proud of, why show it?
What do people NOT know about pilots?
That there is a 99% chance that it will never be on television. It may be on YouTube, or you will have it for your reel. But it may never get on TV. We know this from the production side. That’s why when everything is not done perfectly, it is so frustrating. We are only shooting three days. Let’s try and get lightning in a bottle. Magic.
What is your advice for actors looking to get a role in pilots?
I tell actors, Just be you in the auditions. Enjoy it.
As a director or producer, you are going to see so many people. Who are you going to remember? The people who did something different. Who had genuine energy and a genuine smile. Those people might get through the door to a second round.
You have so many people giving you advice, and classes, and seminars. The best way to impress a director is to do plays and improv. You never know who will be in the audience. Just keep working.
What should actors avoid when they are trying to get considered for pilots?
I’ve been dragged to a couple of the networking parties and actors would come up to me and pitch me. They give me their cards. I would never hire an actor that way. I don’t hire an actor because I thought they were cool at a party, or because they send me emails. I hire them because I’ve seen them do something. The best promotion for yourself, is your own work. If you want to send me an email, send one to tell me that you are doing a run in a play. Fine, I get to see you in action. Christina Calph recently did that. (Christina is a NYCastings member, who was featured on Spotlight and also co-starred in one of Steven Becker’s recent projects). She sent me an email about the play she was in. But I am not going to hire you because I got your card at a luncheon.
What surprises you the most about actors, from the production side?
My concept of self-destruction. I cannot understand when an actor does all the work, they’ve gotten through the audition process, and then they get to the set with problems. They show up late and say, Oh my boyfriend or girlfriend this. I have never understood that. I have had so much of that lately, and it sucks your energy out. You are counting on this person to deliver a role, and in the last second they come in with the whole diva concept – whether male or female. It is self-destructive behavior. It is a complete waste of time.
Those are people who don’t work again because it is a very small community in New York.
What is important when developing a pilot, beyond a good script?
People may say they love the script. But I’ve learned that how the words sound in your head, are not how it will sound in the audition or the final product.
How many times have I heard, Your script I so good, we are definitely going to Sundance with it.
My background is improv. And as good as the script is, if half of the script ends up in the final version I will be happy because it is written in my head, not as the actor would say it.
Are there trends in pilots?
As a writer, it is banged into our heads from the beginning – What is your point? What are you trying to say? It’s the same with networks. You aren’t going to pitch a violent drama with nudity to NBC because they can’t show it.
If you are trying to fit your idea into a trend, you are doing the wrong thing because you are trying to fit what the audience wants instead of the best that the project needs.
Write what you are interested in, and bring your twist to it.
Do something good, and one day something really good is going to happen for you.
How much does change from the spec pilot to the first episode?
It is sad to say from an actor’s point of view, but they will always change something. Even if it was perfect, they will re-shoot it. They might want to change the actor, or get a better apartment. Even if they like everything about it, they might make little changes for the sake of making changes.
Is improv important for actors who want to be cast in pilots?
My background is improv and sketch comedy. I’ve learned that you can do 20 minutes of improv, and that can turn into hours of good material. Improv actors are good at certain things, but they aren’t good at repeating a scene or creating a character. They are good at being a character. Improv actors usually give great auditions because they are comfortable thinking on their feet and adding their own thing.
To create a structured TV series, it has to be repeated. People should always have improv background, because it helps you think fast. It removes fears and helps with auditions, which is unfortunately a key part of your lively hood. But then, if you also do a lot of plays, learn lines, and work on pacing yourself within that realm and repeating that performance – if you have a combinations of both improv and theatrical and some film where you know you have to make yourself smaller because the camera can see every crinkle in your eye – if you get those three disciplines together – you are dealing with a powerful, multi-layered performer.
Why should an actor work on a pilot, despite the challenges?
Remember, as an actor you may only be there for three days of shooting, but the director, producer, writer, and editor will see your face over and over again. If there are parts that are bad, then they can’t fix the scene and they will remember that. But on the good side, they can think I love this girl or this guy is great. It may seem like five minutes of your time on screen, but it is forever to me.
As an actor, you should remind yourself that you went to years of acting school, and at an audition is when you should be your best and happiest. We can see it. When someone is generally enthused, you can see that their endorphins are pumping. You can see it, and you can feel it. If someone is coming in rushed and they’re 15 minutes late and frazzled, they have already shot themselves in the foot. Maybe they can still do a good job, but in your own mind you have to remind yourself that this is your dream. This is your passion to be able to perform for someone. Enjoy it. You do that, and good things are going to happen.
In acting, as in everything in life, you have to put yourself in a position where good things can happen. And, preparation makes success.
In the end, talent shines through.
I believe in talented people.
pilot seasonTV Pilots
Kelly CalabreseSenior Writer
Smiling, energetic, driven... Kelly Calabrese lives each day as a creative spirit. She began performing in children's theatre at the age of 7 and takes ongoing acting classes in NYC. She studied improv at The People's Improv Theater (The PIT NYC), performed on their house team, appeared in many comedy sketches, independent short films, and has written her own one woman murder mystery called "Wasn't Me." In addition to acting, Kelly received a BA in Creative Writing from Binghamton University as well as a BA in Psychology. Currently, Kelly is a spokesperson for AT&T, and an on-camera host for NYCastings.com and Hollyscoop TV. She interviews celebrities while learning how to NOT trip on the red carpet.
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Resources To Seek Out In Addition To An Acting Coach To Propel Your Career
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By Kelly Calabrese Aug 08, 2013
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Published on: August 14, 2013
The People agree with defendant’s contention that the grand larceny sentence should run concurrently with the other charges
A New York Criminal Lawyer said that, this is an appeal from a judgment of the Supreme Court, rendered January 12, 1996 in Albany County, upon a verdict convicting defendant of the crimes of grand larceny in the second degree and offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree (seven counts).
A New York Grand Larceny Lawyer said that, defendant, a licensed podiatrist and a participating provider in the State Medical Assistance Program (hereinafter Medicaid), was indicted on one count of grand larceny in the second degree (see, Penal Law former § 155.35) and 10 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree (Penal Law § 175.35). The first count implicated defendant’s knowing submission of false claims to Medicaid from December 1985 through August 1986 for custom-made orthotics, which services he had not rendered, resulting in payment to defendant of approximately $20,608. Counts 2 through 11 stem from defendant’s submissions of claims to Medicaid pursuant to procedure code 90473 of the Medicaid Provider Manual from January 1986 through December 1986, knowing that such services had not been provided. A New York Criminal Lawyer said that, following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of all charges except those alleged in counts 4, 6 and 11, and was sentenced to a prison term of 2 1/3 to 7 years on the grand larceny conviction and 1 to 3 years each on the seven counts of offering a false instruments for filing, each of which was to run concurrently with each other but consecutively to the grand larceny sentence. Defendant was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $20,608. This appeal ensued.
A New York Robbery Lawyer said that, defendant challenges his conviction on several grounds: the erroneous introduction of evidence of uncharged crimes, the vagueness of Medicaid procedure code 90473 and the erroneous imposition of consecutive sentences. Defendant also urges that the sentences imposed are harsh and excessive.
The issue in this case is whether defendant’s conviction was erroneous due to the erroneous introduction of evidence of uncharged crimes, the vagueness of Medicaid procedure code 90473 and the erroneous imposition of consecutive sentences.
As to the admission of uncharged crimes, defendant contends that he did not put in issue his intent to commit the crimes and did, in fact, admit his submission of the bills to Medicaid, though he did not admit their illegality. Defendant therefore urges that Supreme Court erred in admitting any evidence of uncharged crimes. The court disagrees. Defendant’s strategy was to demonstrate that he billed Medicaid in good faith and that he believed that the services he provided were authorized based on the wording of the procedure codes. This strategy constitutes the defense of mistake. The court concludes that the evidence, consisting of testimony of various patients regarding their treatment, was probative on the question of the legitimacy of defendant’s defense. The evidence of treatment was compared with evidence of defendant’s billing submitted to Medicaid, which indicated a blatant inconsistency with the treatment given to the patients. The evidence was cogent to prove intent and lack of mistake. The court finds too that the probative value of the evidence of the uncharged crimes was not outweighed by the prejudicial effect to defendant and the evidence was properly admitted into evidence. Further, the court’s limiting instructions forestalled any undue prejudice to defendant.
To the extent that defendant claims that Medicaid procedure code 90473 is vague in that it is unclear whether a three-dimensional cast or mold is required or whether the foot outline procedure done by defendant falls within its parameters, we reject such contention. The use of terms employed in procedure code 90473 are recognized technical terms and obviously eliminate charging for a cast or mold of a patient’s foot when only a tracing of the outline of a foot is done, followed by supplying the patient with a stock orthotic device. The latter obviously falls under the rubric of another procedure code.
The People agree with defendant’s contention that the grand larceny sentence should run concurrently with the other charges since the grand larceny charge was a continuing crime and the crime of offering a false instrument for filing arose from the same occurrence, and we concur as well.
The rejects defendant’s contention that his sentence was unduly harsh and excessive. Defendant has not shown the existence of extraordinary circumstances or abuse of Supreme Court’s discretion warranting our intervention.
Accordingly, the court ordered that the judgment is modified, on the law, by providing that defendant’s sentences run concurrently; matter remitted to the Supreme Court, Albany County for further proceedings pursuant to CPL 460.50(5); and, as so modified, affirmed.
If you think that the evidence presented against you in a grand larceny case is erroneous, seek the representation of a New York Grand Larceny Attorney and New York Criminal Attorney at Stephen Bilkis and Associates in order to defend your case. Call us for free legal advice.
Posted in: Grand Larceny
Updated: August 14, 2013 12:00 am
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Archives|Chain by Chain, Woolworth Reinvents Itself
https://nyti.ms/29hkrGJ
Chain by Chain, Woolworth Reinvents Itself
By ISADORE BARMASH DEC. 13, 1992
December 13, 1992, Page 003005Buy Reprints The New York Times Archives
In Freehold, N.J., last month, the Woolworth Corporation opened the first of what will be a chain of huge athletic footwear and apparel stores. The store, called World Foot Locker, comprises "10,000 square feet of retail theater," with big video screens showing merchandise in action and striking displays from Nike and Reebok. It will be, the company boasted in advertisements, "like nothing in the world you've ever seen."
But to those who know the new Woolworth, World Foot Locker actually sounds familiar. More than any other retailer, the 113-year-old company once known for dowdy variety and discount stores has been reinventing itself by introducing new chains of specialty stores in malls, exporting them to other countries and replacing the ones that don't meet its profitability standards. All told, Woolworth is now running more than 40 specialty chains.
If all goes according to plan, Woolworth will open 800 specialty stores and close 300 annually over the next eight years, leaving a net gain over the period of 4,000 stores. That would bring Woolworth up to 13,000 stores, and help raise sales to about $20 billion by the end of the year 2000, from $9.9 billion in its most recent fiscal year.
But growth has slowed in recent years at some of Woolworth's biggest and best performers, and whether the company can find enough new winners is perhaps the biggest question. Woolworth has conceived or acquired a number of losers, and sometimes has stuck too long with a weak format.
Are there really enough new retail concepts to accommodate 13,000 stores? Woolworth thinks so.
World Foot Locker, which follows by 18 years the start of the Foot Locker chain that grew to 1,700 stores worldwide and now accounts for about a fifth of Woolworth's sales, is just one of the new concepts on which the company is banking. The more spacious and potentially more profitable World Foot Locker stores will replace many existing Foot Locker outlets. Beyond that, said Harold E. Sells, Woolworth's chairman and chief executive, the company's Champs Sports sporting-goods chain, now some 400 stores, has the best chance to repeat Foot Locker's success.
Mr. Sells also cited excellent potential for Afterthoughts Accessories, a women's chain offering jewelry and other accessories; Lady Foot Locker, selling women's athletic shoes and apparel, and Northern Reflections, selling cold-weather outerwear. But he said he was also high on yet newer company chains like Going to the Game, selling sports memorabilia (40 stores currently); Best of Times, specializing in watches from $30 to $1,500 (30 stores), and Northern Traditions, a spinoff of Northern Reflections now operating in Canada that sells more formal clothes.
Analysts say Woolworth seems to be getting better at picking winners or at least at quickly clearing out laggards. And after some tough years the company has improved its results this year. In the nine months ended Oct. 24, net income rose to $115 million from a net loss of $38 million over the year-earlier period. (Without a special charge for accounting for retirement benefits, the company reported a profit of $75 million in the earlier period.) Revenue for the nine months rose to $6.83 billion from $6.78 billion, as foreign revenues rose 7.5 percent but domestic revenues fell 1.5 percent because the number of stores shrank temporarily as part of the rejuvenation plan.
The results seem to indicate that Woolworth is learning to make money on very modest sales gains. Not surprisingly, Woolworth's stock has outperformed most other retailers' this year, rising about 25 percent since Jan. 1, compared with 4 percent for the Dow Jones industrials, and about 11 percent since Aug. 1. (Last week Merrill Lynch lowered its intermediate-term ratings of a number of retailers, including Woolworth, based on speculation that the growth of sales and consumer confidence will slow.)
WOOLWORTH has undergone one of the most sweeping transformations in American retailing these past nine years. In 1983, general merchandise stores accounted for 71 percent of sales and 59 percent of operating profits. Today, the specialty businesses represent about 47 percent of sales and 69 percent of operating profits. As of Oct. 24 the company operated 8,892 stores in 20 countries, including 7,284 specialty shops and 1,608 general merchandise stores. No other retailer comes close; the Melville Corporation, in second place, has about 8,200 stores, in 14 formats.
Woolworth said last month that its most profitable chains were Northern Reflections, Champs Sports, Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker and Afterthoughts.
But of late, Woolworth's three biggest domestic chains by far -- Foot Locker, the Woolworth variety stores and the Kinney Family Shoe Stores -- have seen slowing growth in sales and profits.
Responding with its biggest "recycling" effort yet, Woolworth announced last January a program under which 15 percent of its domestic stores would either be closed or converted to a more profitable format.
"We have one underlying strategy: heavier and heavier involvement in specialty stores," Mr. Sells said. Specialty stores that performs satisfactorily provide Woolworth twice the operating profit margin of variety stores, 12 percent of sales against 6 percent.
Although the diversification has included some acquisitions, most of the new formats have been created within the company's seven divisions. "We have a bottom-up philosophy of developing ideas," Mr. Sells said. "We tell our operating divisions: 'You are in the malls. You must see a void. Some sort of business that is going well. Tell us about it. If we like the idea, we'll give you some seed money for a few stores, more the second year and so on. But you must impress on your people that they not be afraid to fail.' "
For the most part, retailing analysts like what Woolworth is doing. Bruce M. Missett, senior retail analyst for Morgan Stanley, said Woolworth acts like an investment banker in giving seed money to "entrepreneurial ideas from within."
EDWARD WELLER of Montgomery Securities also likes Woolworth's strategy, but added: "They have to learn to lose patience earlier with lagging new concepts and to roll out their winners faster." Besides some unproductive acquisitions, he said, Woolworth's conceptual evolution has had "quite a few losers. The concern often showed considerable early enthusiasm for retail store types that eventually didn't make it. But now they seem to sense more quickly what is doomed."
A longtime retailing executive who asked not to be named observed about Woolworth's management: "They're pretty much a conventional bunch of guys who are mostly reactive rather than anticipatory. For example, they came late to Afterthoughts after the Brown Group had its Etage chain of accessory stores and Claire's Stores, an accessories retailer, was well under way. They aren't innovators as much as very good followers."
But Walter F. Levy, a consultant who works with Woolworth, said the company has "understood niche marketing better than most other corporations. And they are not afraid to dump losing subsidiaries."
Woolworth has expanded not only into new formats but also into new countries. Stores abroad now account for 40 percent of sales.
Is Woolworth stretching itself too thin? "We really don't feel any concern about our new formats," Mr. Sells said. "Each division controls a number of them and that has worked out well. And it doesn't cost that much for us to fail. For $1 million, we can open half a dozen stores and if that does not work we still have the leases to use."
Mr. Sells added: "The biggest problem is the slow sales trend. We thought that maybe after the election we would see a pickup, but it hasn't been that great yet. But I am bullish on the Christmas season and see a 3 to 5 percent sales gain, better than last year's." NEXT IN LINE FOR SUCCESS
THE next Foot Locker? Harold E. Sells, Woolworth's chairman and chief executive, says it might well be the company's Champs Sports sporting-goods chain, now some 400 stores. Formed in 1987 from two small acquisitions, it is expected to reach 800 stores by the end of 1996.
Located in regional malls, the 5,000-square-foot Champs stores are stocked so as not to siphon business from Foot Locker, Lady Foot Locker or Northern Reflections, all sibling subsidiaries.
Champs sells sporting equipment like tennis racquets and football helmets for amateur teams and individuals, which the other subsidiaries don't, and its apparel brands differ from those of the other chains.
The highly illuminated stores, with a blend of chrome trim and bright colors to give them a high-tech appearance, have already attracted lots of attention through promotional appearances by well-known sports figures. And President-elect Bill Clinton recently appeared in a Champs store in California, tossing a football.
The Champs Sports strategy: offer wide and deep inventories, a first shot at new kinds of merchandise and careful attention from each store's 15 or so sales associates. But in a discounting age, Champs Sports remains a "full price, full service" retailer.
"We do have occasional promotions," said Frances Trachter, a Woolworth spokeswoman. "But our focus is on quality and uniqueness of merchandise. We like to be innovative and often have exclusives."
A version of this article appears in print on December 13, 1992, on Page 3003005 of the National edition with the headline: Chain by Chain, Woolworth Reinvents Itself. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
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Nagorno-Karabakh: a gender inclusive approach to peace
Research suggests that engaging local women in conflict resolution efforts increases the likelihood of violence ending within a year – a theory worth testing in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Sinead Walsh
A sharp spike in the fighting in and around the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone in early August saw the worst ceasefire violations since 1994. At least 21 soldiers were killed, and civilians were also drawn into the conflict – as prisoners of war. Although the intensity of the fighting lessened after mid-August, there has been a flurry of analysis regarding the dangers of all-out war in Eurasia, coupled with calls for renewed and intensified talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
What many analysts seem to ignore is that the current format for negotiations is what brought us here in the first place. It is not only the intensity and regularity of the talks that needs to change – there also needs to be more transparency, more inclusivity, and ultimately greater accountability in the peace process. Recent research suggests that engaging local women in conflict resolution efforts increases the likelihood of violence ending within a year by up to 24% – a theory worth testing in Nagorno-Karabakh.
What many analysts seem to ignore is that the current format for negotiations is what brought us here in the first place.
A gentlemen's agreement
The war over Nagorno-Karabakh, which was at its most intense between 1991 and 1994, ended with a ceasefire that should have paved the way for a peace agreement. Instead, negotiations between Armenia and Azerbaijan have dragged on for some 20 years, and sporadic sniper fire and landmine explosions have claimed hundreds of lives along the ‘Line of Contact,’ which separates the military forces of Azerbaijan from the breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh, supported by Armenia. In the absence of a settlement, Azerbaijan's internally displaced community – which a conservative estimate would put at 600,000 – remains in limbo, while citizens of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic face continuing political and economic isolation.
The masculinised structures of the OSCE Minsk Group have thus far failed to break the Karabakh status quo. Photo CC: oscepaThis conflict is often presented as a classic struggle between the right to self-determination for Karabakh Armenians, and the right to territorial integrity for Azerbaijan. Yet there is another narrative that is favoured by many people living in the region; according to this version, the conflict is unresolved not because of the irreconcilable enmity between the two sides, but because of Russian realpolitik, which views the status quo as a useful lever in its foreign policy towards both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Moreover, this is a situation acknowledged and to some extent condoned by Western powers, who by way of a 'gentlemen's agreement' have allowed Russia to call the shots in its southern neighbourhood, and turned a blind eye to much of what goes on in the region.
The result of this is a Kafkaesque performance by OSCE officials – from the team of just six observers charged with monitoring the 180km-long 'Line of Contact,' to the power struggles between the Minsk Group co-chairs: France, Russia and the USA. Even the unprecedented level of violence this August, prompted little more than the usual statements of concern from the handful of individuals with a public role in the peace process. On August 10 – as fighting raged in Donbas – President Putin held a joint press conference with Presidents Sargysyan and Aliyev, in which he baldly declared that ‘there is no greater tragedy than the death of people.’ Almost an entire month had passed by the time the two presidents met with US Secretary of State John Kerry on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Wales.
Now, all eyes are looking towards the next presidential meeting, to be hosted by President Hollande of France, in late October. Yet why should we expect anything different from the outcome of this get-together? This kind of 'traditional' diplomacy – in other words, elitist, opaque and state-centric – has yielded little in the way of security for the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis and Armenians affected by the conflict in the last 25 years. Even if there is progress in the talks, this is not filtering down to local communities, which remain distrustful not only of one another, but of the political process itself. Nor is it reflected in the situation on the front line, where soldiers are still being killed every few days.
'Traditional' diplomacy has yielded little in the way of security for the hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijanis and Armenians.
For the peace process to be sustainable, there must be greater engagement between the chief mediators, lead negotiators, and civil society. This includes women's organisations, which, despite years of peacebuilding experience, have been virtually shut out of the negotiations thus far. Responding to their calls for an inclusive and gender-sensitive process is one way of interrupting the repeat performances by a cast of interchangeable career diplomats. This requires both political will and a deeper understanding of the theoretical and practical aspects of women's participation in peace processes.
Gender and peace
Gender has become something of a buzzword in contemporary peace and security studies, but the deeper implications of gender analysis are often overlooked within the field of international relations as a whole. Often, gender is taken to signify a concern with 'women's issues' that can be dealt with separately from, and with considerably fewer resources than, the major business of conflict resolution and post-conflict statebuilding. Many practitioners still view women as a borderline, homogenous group, whose experiences of conflict can either be left on the margins or reduced to the one-dimensional roles of victims or peace advocates.
As an analytical tool, however, gender enables us to look more closely at the power relations within a society, and to see how these may have contributed to conflict in the past, be affected by conflict in the present, and require reshaping in the future. Far from encouraging the view that 'all men are perpetrators, all women are victims,' gender analysis also requires us to consider the ways in which men can be victimised within a patriarchal, militarised society, and the ways in which women participate in conflict, whether as perpetrators, supporters, or agents of change. This leads to a better understanding of conflict both as a social and political phenomenon; and can hold some of the keys to resolving conflict and building sustainable peace.
Including a gender perspective in conflict resolution and peace processes often means addressing issues that affect everyone, but tend to have a disproportionate impact on women – such as social and economic violence, political representation and electoral processes, access to justice mechanisms, and community cohesion. Making these changes, can interrupt cycles of violence and help to transform the political system in ways that benefit everyone – rather than the cynical transition to politics as war by other means, which tends to benefit a select group of privileged men. However, achieving positive change also requires women's groups – as well as other civil society actors who have mobilised around peace, justice, and social equality – to find ways of accessing the negotiating table.
An international campaign on precisely these issues led to the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325, a landmark resolution on Women, Peace and Security, in 2000. Focusing on the twin pillars of protection and participation, UNSCR 1325 calls on UN member states to increase women's representation in decision-making at the national, regional, and international levels. Furthermore, it calls on all actors – not just states – involved in negotiating and implementing peace agreements to adopt a gender perspective, singling out the need to support local/indigenous women's peace initiatives, and to ensure the protection of women's human rights in conflict transition.
Marginalisation of women and gender issues persists across the board.
In spite of annual debates on Women, Peace and Security at the UN, and the adoption of six follow-up Resolutions, implementation of UNSCR 1325 has suffered from what Sanam Anderlini, one of the architects of the campaign, describes as ‘apathy, ad hoc practice, and amnesia’ on the part of states and international institutions. A study of 31 major peace processes between 1992 and 2011 revealed that only 4% of signatories, 2.4% of chief mediators, and 9% of negotiators were women. Moreover, the increase in the representation of women in negotiations over time is negligible.
In the past year alone, Women, Peace and Security campaigners have drawn attention to the exclusion of Syrian women from the Geneva II talks, and the absence of women in the discussions on Afghan security at the most recent NATO Summit. Marginalisation of women and gender issues persists across the board, in spite of mounting evidence that women's collective agency can be a deciding factor in the transition from war to peace. In the case of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, the major actors appear to have been more than happy to leave gender off the agenda until now. Local women's organisations, however, are beginning to challenge this state of affairs more and more.
Experienced peacemakers
Supporters of women's engagement in the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process often cite the example of Arzu Abdullayeva and Anahit Bayandur, who were joint recipients of the 1992 Olof Palme Peace Prize, in recognition of their success in facilitating prisoner-of-war exchanges and promoting dialogue during the height of the conflict. While this remains one of the most visible examples of women in a peacemaking role, my fieldwork in the Caucasus in 2012-2014 brought me into contact with about a dozen women's organisations that were variously involved in local and/or regional peace initiatives. Their experience at the grassroots level gives them a claim to expertise that rivals that of many conflict resolution specialists.
A gender inclusive approach to the Karabakh process may provide the best hope for lasting peace. To understand the complex role played by women's organisations in Armenia and Azerbaijan, we must consider not only the devastating impact of the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, but also the political and economic chaos that ensued as both states withdrew from the Soviet Union. Many women first became active in civil society during perestroika, and were part of the national independence movements in Armenia, Azerbaijan – and Nagorno-Karabakh. In the post-Soviet period, the collective nature of women's organising became more pronounced. It focused on two key aspects: women's roles in nation-building, as they worked to promote women's human rights within the new political order, and the national relief effort, centring on support for women and families affected by the conflict through bereavement, injury, and displacement. Women's NGOs also began to break the taboos on speaking out against violence against women, especially in the home.
Over time, a number of women's organisations have shifted their attention to peacebuilding, and sought to build up a network of like-minded individuals across the conflict zone. While they remain committed to justice for their fellow countrymen and women, they are also convinced that a non-violent resolution is possible and that greater dialogue will lead to new opportunities for conflict transformation. Women's rights experts explain that while men and women both suffered from conflict and displacement, traditional gender roles in the Caucasus mean that women have a particularly intimate knowledge of rebuilding family and community ties. Meanwhile, a younger generation of women, some of whom identify as feminist, are also aware of what it means to mobilise against violence at the domestic, community, and state levels.
Many of the women's rights activists I interviewed during my research insisted that their work was ‘neutral’ or ‘apolitical.’ While they often criticised the implementation of constitutional protections for women's rights, they seldom criticised political actors – at least, not publicly. Although they hoped to instil in the younger generation a stronger sense of democracy and civic activism, their experience in lobbying and advocacy had given many of them the belief that the best results are often achieved through dialogue and compromise, not outright opposition. At the same time, they were conscious of a gap between grassroots peacebuilding initiatives and the formal peace process; and the need to develop bridging mechanisms in order for women's voices to be heard at negotiations.
Despite scepticism about the efficacy of the UNSC Resolutions, civil society activists are increasingly turning to the international legal framework on Women, Peace and Security, in the hopes of bridging the gap. Apart from UNSCR 1325 itself, this includes a series of indicators, which allow civil society to monitor states' progress on implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda. Since 2013, a number of women's and peacebuilding NGOs in Armenia and Azerbaijan have formed two separate working groups (one in each country) to monitor UNSCR 1325, and advocate for the adoption of National Action Plans on Women, Peace and Security. It is not just their own governments that they hope to be able to influence – the members of the Minsk Group are also bound by the Resolutions, as is the OSCE itself under Chapter VIII of the UN Charter.
Women in decision making
Sajida Abdulvahabova is the chairperson of the Women's Problems Research Union (or Women's Institute) in Baku, one of the oldest NGOs in the country and one that has spearheaded action on UNSCR 1325 since the early 2000s. In a phone interview in August 2014, she stated that the problem of being shut out of negotiations is not unique to women's organisations, but affects civil society as a whole. Nevertheless, the civil society monitoring report, which is due to be released in the coming months, will draw attention to the lack of women in political office and call for an increase in the proportion of women in decision-making. She also said that there is an urgent need to strengthen women's peacebuilding at the grassroots level, if the government and international community are serious in advocating for the return of IDPs and refugees to their homes in and around Nagorno-Karabakh.
Armenian women's NGOs have already released their first monitoring report, and are working to compile deeper research for a second. A major challenge for women's NGOs is lack of access to official data about the conflict and negotiations process. A further issue is the isolation of women in Nagorno-Karabakh, who are not covered by the civil society monitoring process in either Armenia or Azerbaijan. Last month, the Women's Resource Centre (which has a branch in Shusha/Shushi) was instrumental in organising the first ever conference in Nagorno-Karabakh addressing women's roles in peace and conflict. The issues discussed – domestic violence, economic insecurity, and the problems facing refugees – could just as easily have been on the agenda at a similar conference in Azerbaijan.
Looking beyond the Minsk Group
Short of a breakthrough in the relations between Russia and the West, it is unlikely that the Minsk Group is going to deliver a new peace plan for Armenia and Azerbaijan in the near future. Those who are genuine in their concern over the conflict need to find new ways of approaching the problem and to think in terms of long-term solutions rather than quick fixes. We also need to find a balance between creative and legal mechanisms for supporting civil society, including women's NGOs, in their search for access to negotiations.
It is unlikely that the Minsk Group is going to deliver a new peace plan for Armenia and Azerbaijan in the near future.
All too often, politicians and diplomats express themselves as being open to approaches by women's organisations, but fail to follow through with concrete steps for women's inclusion in the formal process. Sometimes, they do not even provide public acknowledgment of the meetings with civil society representatives. This is something that needs to change. Inclusivity – of women's groups and other organisations – needs to be a priority, not a sideshow.
While the chances of all-out warfare have mercifully receded in recent weeks, other political developments – such as the repression of civil society in Azerbaijan, and Armenia's declared intention to join the Eurasian Economic Union – signify that the window of opportunity for action may be small. There are numerous individuals, in local, international, and state-run organisations, who favour a more inclusive peace process. They need to act in concert – and they need to act now.
Image two: Russell Pollard via demotix (c)
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You Are Your Body and You're Doing it Wrong
By Courtney Enlow | Think Pieces | April 15, 2014 |
I’ve hit a point that makes me sad, and it’s the point where I’m not sure I want to read any stories about Mindy Kaling anymore.
It makes me sad because I love Mindy Kaling. I love The Mindy Project. I love so much of what she says and does. But I don’t love the narrative that surrounds her, and that narrative is that she is not a writer, producer or show runner. She is a Body. She is her Weight. And she is doing it Wrong.
Did you know that Mindy Kaling is a non-skinny woman of color? Of course you did. It’s all that matters about her. Did you know that Lena Dunham is a body type atypical of that normally seen on television and every nude scene is a point? Of course you did. It’s all that matters about her. These are two women, running their own shows to critical and fan acclaim and all anyone talks about is their bodies and why their bodies and what they do with them are wrong.
Yesterday, Time released a piece on Kaling’s role in the “body-image wars.” And in a stunning moment of irony, the writer joined the battle without even realizing it.
Kaling’s show The Mindy Project, which she stars in and writes, never fails to tease her insecurities or her so-called atypical size. At times the jokes are actually hilarious and very relatable, like a fan favorite that’s often quoted: “I’m not overweight, I fluctuate between chubby and curvy.” But others, while funny, seem unnecessary. On a recent episode, when her character excused herself from work for an appointment, a colleague asked if she was getting lap-band surgery. Later in the episode, when she sat on a man’s lap, the chair crumbled beneath them.
And the conversation continues on social media where Kaling has become known for her frank comments about weight. When she posted a fan’s illustration of herself on Instagram using the hashtag #thickthighs, troves of followers applauded what they thought was hilarious and honest. “It takes a lot of effort to look like a normal-slash-chubby woman!” Kaling told Jimmy Kimmel when explaining the backhanded compliments she receives from fans about her shape.
The article goes on to end with a quote from Kenneth Weiner, founder of the Eating Recovery Center: “Poking fun at yourself because you’re larger? If anything, I see that as part of the problem.”
Dr. Weiner’s belief, while commendable, rubs me the wrong way. Because, at its heart, the message is this: that our bodies are not our own to love, tease, laugh at, admire or own.
I struggled for years with an eating disorder. Bulimia, specifically. So I am careful about what I say around my daughter, even at her young age of nearly 2 years old, because I want to be a good body-image role model. But her body is hers. Mine is mine. The human body is a silly, ridiculous thing. If I want to laugh at it, I will.
Because I know there is a difference between hating your body for its flaws and loving your body, quirks and all. And the bigger issue for me is not that Mindy Kaling writes in jokes about her size, jokes that are relatable and enjoyable and ultimately meaningless. The meaning comes in from these think pieces and profiles telling us why she’s wrong for doing it while reinforcing that’s all she is, and lambasting her for doing what they’ve already done for her—reducing her to nothing but a size and a number on a scale. She does not possess her own form, thus allowing her to use it and speak of it how she wants without others feeling compelled to do the same, while criticizing her for it. She is a Body. And she is doing it Wrong.
Be fit and healthy. Own your looks. Love yourself. But don’t dare speak of it. Don’t be all that big, because that’s irresponsible and dangerous and that’s bad. Don’t be too thin, because that’s irresponsible and dangerous and that’s bad, too. Don’t laugh at yourself. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t celebrate yourself for looking good, because looks don’t matter. Don’t sell us bullshit about eating pizza and drinking beer when you’re a size two, and don’t admit to eating nothing but micro greens and lemon water. Don’t show too much skin, because that makes you skanky. Don’t dress crazy—you’re trying too hard to get attention. Don’t talk about or have insecurities because you’re beautiful just the way you are. Be yourself and love yourself. Within these parameters, that is.
Because you are a Body. And you’re doing it Wrong.
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New film festival in Pasadena celebrates women…
Things to doMovies + TV
New film festival in Pasadena celebrates women in action movies
"Beyond the Surface" will be screened at the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival at Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena April 24-26.
Amelia Brodka stars in "Underexposed," which will be screened at the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival at Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena April 24-26.
By Michelle Mills | mjmills@scng.com | San Gabriel Valley Tribune
PUBLISHED: April 23, 2015 at 4:41 pm | UPDATED: August 28, 2017 at 3:29 am
Melanie Wise and her production team had just finished filming a promo for a television show last year and were basking in the afterglow of one of their favorites things — women in action roles. But they realized that in order to see more of that, someone needed to step up and promote them.
“Action films starring women over the last couple of years have been making very good revenues at the box office and in all of our media platforms,” Wise said, using “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” as examples.
“The part that really speaks about it is any time one of these films comes out, if it does well it’s seen still as a fluke. It’s not one of those things where Hollywood accepts that women are powerful earners.”
As an actress, stunt woman and producer, Santa Monica resident Wise knows the plight of women in the entertainment industry well and decided to do something about it by founding the Artemis Women in Action Film Festival, taking place at Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena this weekend.
Wise wasn’t sure what the response would be when she and her team — Sean Newcombe, Zac Baldwin and Michael R. Miller — opened film submissions last December.
“We were planning a tiny intimate festival and then it was an onslaught,” Wise said. “We had enough content to fill two screens for three days.”
Several hundred film submissions from around the globe have been pared down to the 50 narrative, documentary, animated and short films that will be screened during Artemis. The festival will also include red carpet events, an awards ceremony, a stunt-woman panel discussion and a ceremony honoring actresses Linda Hamilton and Gina Torres, stunt women Angela Meryl and Maja Aro and women’s mixed martial arts promoter Shannon Knapp.
“The inequities we see in the film industry are no different than the inequities we see in the world, some more extreme than others, but until people can see women as physically equal to men, we will be seen as last,” Wise said. “Our media has the broad reaching influence and the capacity to change how stuff is viewed in the world and the fastest path to getting there is through film entertainment.”
Playa Vista resident Jill Morley understands the battle women face to be equal, literally. She is the producer and director of the documentary, “Fight Like a Girl,” which will be screened during Artemis at 5:15 p.m. April 26. The movie charts Morley’s five-year journey in the world of female boxing as she trained for the New York Golden Gloves, along with looks into the lives of three other female boxers.
“I started boxing and I started meeting the amazing women who did it and I wanted to show everyone else who they were,” Morley said. “Each of us had something we needed to overcome and we did it through boxing.”
Morley believes women are often underrepresented at film festivals and is pleased that Artemis is providing a place for overdue recognition and honor in the industry.
“A while ago, people didn’t want my movie because they were like, ‘It’s fighting and we don’t want to see women fighting,’” she said. “And now the biggest mixed martial arts star in the world is Ronda Rousey — she’s a woman.”
Matthew Butler and his fiancee Tori Hart of London, England, produced and wrote “Two Down,” screening at Artemis at 6:15 p.m. April 25. Hart also stars in the film that tells the story of a man who goes from hired killer to victim and, with the help of a young woman he has just met, must figure out why he has been set up and by whom.
The idea for “Two Down” was sparked because Butler wanted to see if he could shoot an entire film in one room with three actors. As the characters developed, so did the movie.
“We always try to write interesting lead female parts and having Sophie as this women who is hiding a big secret really drove where our story went and why,” Butler said.
Butler and Hart consider themselves fortunate for the crew and cast of “Two Down,” which includes executive producer Stephen Fry and actors Conleth Hill (HBO’s “Game of Thrones”), Felicity Montagu (“Alan Partridge”), Amy Manson (BBC America’s “Atlantis”), Alex Hassell (“Anonymous”) and Graham Butler (Showtime’s “Penny Dreadful”), many of whom worked with them previously.
Screen International magazine recently selected Butler and Hart for its annual “Stars of Tomorrow” edition, which highlights emerging talent. The couple is already working on two new projects, a sci-fi film about illegal government experiments in a parallel universe and a comedy heist movie set in London.
As a budding star in the industry himseld, Butler believes festivals like Artemis offer a “platform and shine a light on emerging female stars, both in front and behind the camera.”
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Michelle Mills
Michelle Mills has been an entertainment and features reporter for the Southern California News Group since 1999. She has interviewed such notables as Weird Al Yankovic, Glen Campbell, Alice Cooper, Debbie Allen, Ernest Borgnine (during an earthquake) and Adam Young (Owl City). She was the 31st Occasional Pasadena Doo Dah Parade Queen reigning 2007-2009. She is a professional belly dancer (swordwork is her specialty) and also studies Polynesian and Tahitian dance.
Follow Michelle Mills @mickieszoo
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Magazine|How a Soccer Star Is Made
How a Soccer Star Is Made
By MICHAEL SOKOLOVE JUNE 2, 2010
Under-10 players at work at the Ajax academy in Amsterdam. Credit Joachim Ladefoged/VII, for The New York Times
The youth academy of the famed dutch soccer club Ajax is grandiosely called De Toekomst — The Future. Set down beside a highway in an unprepossessing district of Amsterdam, it consists of eight well-kept playing fields and a two-story building that houses locker rooms, classrooms, workout facilities and offices for coaches and sports scientists. In an airy cafe and bar, players are served meals and visitors can have a glass of beer or a cappuccino while looking out over the training grounds. Everything about the academy, from the amenities to the pedigree of the coaches — several of them former players for the powerful Dutch national team — signifies quality. Ajax once fielded one of the top professional teams in Europe. With the increasing globalization of the sport, which has driven the best players to richer leagues in England, Germany, Italy and Spain, the club has become a different kind of enterprise — a talent factory. It manufactures players and then sells them, often for immense fees, on the world market. “All modern ideas on how to develop youngsters begin with Ajax,” Huw Jennings, an architect of the English youth-development system, told me. “They are the founding fathers.”
In America, with its wide-open spaces and wide-open possibilities, we celebrate the “self-made athlete,” honor effort and luck and let children seek their own course for as long as they can — even when that means living with dreams that are unattainable and always were. The Dutch live in a cramped, soggy nation made possible only because they mastered the art of redirecting water. They are engineers with creative souls, experts at systems, infrastructure and putting scant resources to their best use. The construction of soccer players is another problem to be solved, and it’s one they undertake with a characteristic lack of sentiment or illusion.
The first time I visited De Toekomst happened to coincide with the arrival of 21 new players — 7- and 8-year-olds, mainly, all from Amsterdam and its vicinity — who were spotted by scouts and identified as possible future professionals. As I came upon them, they were competing in a series of four-on-four games on a small, artificial-turf field with a wall around it, like a hockey rink, so that balls heading out of bounds bounced right back into play. It was late November and cold, with a biting wind howling off the North Sea, but the boys skittered about in only their lightweight jerseys and baggy shorts. Their shots on goal were taken with surprising force, which kept the coaches who were serving as goalkeepers flinching and shielding themselves in self-defense. The whole scene had a speeded-up, almost cartoonish feel to it, but I certainly didn’t see anyone laughing.
After a series of these auditions, some players would be formally enrolled in the Ajax (pronounced EYE-ox) academy. A group of men standing near me looked on intently, clutching rosters that matched the players with their numbers. One man, Ronald de Jong, said: “I am never looking for a result — for example, which boy is scoring the most goals or even who is running the fastest. That may be because of their size and stage of development. I want to notice how a boy runs. Is he on his forefeet, running lightly? Does he have creativity with the ball? Does he seem that he is really loving the game? I think these things are good at predicting how he’ll be when he is older.”
Like other professional clubs in Europe and around the world, Ajax operates something similar to a big-league baseball team’s minor-league system — but one that reaches into early childhood. De Jong, a solidly built former amateur player, is one of some 60 volunteer scouts who fan out on weekends to watch games involving local amateur clubs. (He works during the week as a prison warden.) His territory includes the area between The Hague and Haarlem — “the flower district, which is also a very good hunting ground for players” is how he described it. He’ll observe a prospect for months or even years, and players he recommends will also be watched by one of the club’s paid scouts, a coach and sometimes the director of the Ajax youth academy. But for some families, the first time they realize their boys are under serious consideration is when a letter arrives from Ajax requesting that they bring their sons in for a closer look, an invitation that is almost never declined. To comprehend the impact of a summons from Ajax, imagine a baseball-crazed kid from, say, North Jersey arriving home from school one day to learn that he has been asked to come to Yankee Stadium to perform for the team brass.
One player there was de Jong’s discovery, an 8-year-old who, he said, had “talent that is off the charts.” But if this boy were to be accepted into the academy, it would mean he had completed just the first of a succession of relentless challenges. Ajax puts young players into a competitive caldron, a culture of constant improvement in which they either survive and advance or are discarded. It is not what most would regard as a child-friendly environment, but it is one that sorts out the real prodigies — those capable of playing at an elite international level — from the merely gifted.
About 200 players train at De Toekomst at any given time, from ages 7 to 19. (All are male; Ajax has no girls’ program.) Every year, some in each age group are told they cannot return the following year — they are said to have been “sent away” — and new prospects are enrolled in their place. And it is not just the children whose performances are assessed. Just before my second trip to Amsterdam in March, several longtime coaches were informed that they had not measured up and would be let go. One of them was the coach of a boy I had been following, Dylan Donaten Nieuwenhuys, a slightly built, soft-featured 15-year-old who began at Ajax when he was 7.
Dylan’s father, Urvin Rooi, served as a sort of guide for me. Gregarious and opinionated, he introduced me to other parents, made sure I came inside for hot drinks at the cafe and even gave me lifts on his scooter from the training grounds back to the transit station. He was particularly useful in translating a culture that was nothing like I had ever seen in many years of reporting on American sports. When I observed that for all the seriousness of purpose at De Toekomst, I was surprised that the players did not practice more hours or play more games, Rooi said: “Of course, because they do not want to do anything to injure them or wear them out. They’re capital. And what is the first thing a businessman does? He protects his capital.”
When the boys start at the youth academy, Rooi said, they are attached to the ideal of Ajax, whose senior team packs in 50,000-plus fans for its home games and still occupies a mythic place in world soccer because of the innovative style it established in the 1960s — a quick-passing, position-shifting offensive attack that became known as Total Football. “The little boys drink their tea out of Ajax cups,” he said. “They sleep in Ajax pajamas under Ajax blankets.” As spring approaches, he continued, they get nervous about whether they will be permitted to stay for another year. “This is when they sometimes start to get bad school grades. They don’t sleep. They wet their pants.”
Over time, though, the academy hardens them mentally as well as physically. I asked Dylan how he felt about his coach’s being fired. He shrugged. “The football world is a hard world,” he replied. “He has made the decision to send boys away. Now he knows how it feels.”
LATE ONE AFTERNOON in the cafe at De Toekomst, I was talking with a coach, Patrick Landru, who works with the academy’s youngest age groups, when he asked if he could take my writing pad for a moment. I handed it over, and he put down five names, then drew a bracket to their right. Outside the bracket, he wrote, “80 million euros.” The names represented five active “Ajax educated” players, as he called them, all of whom entered the academy as children, made it through without being sent away and emerged as world-class players. Eighty million euros (or even more) is what Ajax got in return for selling the rights to the players to other professional clubs. Once a team pays this one-time transfer fee, it then negotiates a new, often very large, contract with the player.
Wesley Sneijder, the first name on the list and probably the most accomplished young Dutch player at the moment, started at the academy when he was 7. At 23, Real Madrid acquired him for 27 million euros. (He now stars for Inter Milan, the current Italian champion and the winner of this year’s Champion’s League tournament, Europe’s highest club competition.) The other four players named on my pad were, like Sneijder, highly paid pros for clubs outside the Netherlands and prominent members of the Dutch national team that will compete in the World Cup beginning this week in South Africa.
An emerging national-team star, Gregory van der Wiel, was not among the names on the list, because he still plays for Ajax, but it is widely assumed that he will be the next big sale. A heavily tattooed rap aficionado who likes to spend his downtime in Miami’s South Beach, van der Wiel, now 22, was sent away from Ajax at 14 because of a poor attitude — “I was an angry little boy who had not yet learned to listen,” he told me — then was invited back after spending three years in the academy of another Dutch pro club, now defunct, which he recalls as having had inferior facilities, coaching and even uniforms. I asked Martin Jol, the coach of Ajax’s first team, if it was difficult for him to nurture young players knowing he would lose them just as their talent blossomed. “I think that is the purpose of Ajax, to develop players and bring them up to the first team as young as possible,” he answered. “And then we sell them, not for peanuts but for a lot of money.”
In the U.S., we think of money as corrupting sport, especially youth sport. At Ajax, it is clarifying. With the stakes so high — so much invested and the potential for so much in return — De Toekomst is a laboratory for turning young boys into high-impact performers in the world’s most popular game.
The Ajax youth academy is not a boarding school. The players all live within a 35-mile radius of Amsterdam (some of them have moved into the area to attend the academy). Ajax operates a fleet of 20 buses to pick up the boys halfway through their school day and employs 15 teachers to tutor them when they arrive. Parents pay nothing except a nominal insurance fee of 12 euros a year, and the club covers the rest — salaries for 24 coaches, travel to tournaments, uniforms and gear for the players and all other costs associated with running a vast facility. Promising young players outside the Ajax catchment area usually attend academies run by other Dutch professional clubs, where the training is also free, as it is in much of the rest of the soccer-playing world for youths with pro potential. (The U.S., where the dominant model is “pay to play” — the better an athlete, the more money a parent shells out — is the outlier.)
Ajax makes mistakes, plenty of them. It sends the wrong boys away, and some of them become stars elsewhere with no compensation returning to the club. As a production line, it is grossly inefficient; only a small percentage of its youngsters become elite players. But the club does not throw money after pure fantasy, encouraging visions of pro careers that never have a chance of materializing for children who do not have the foundational talent to reach such goals. The club decides which boys have potential — “Please note,” its Web site advises, “Ajax’s youth academy cannot accept individual external applications” — and then exposes them to scientific training and constant pressure.
The director of the Ajax youth academy is Jan Olde Riekerink, an intense man with piercing blue eyes who spends much of his day walking from field to field, observing. He usually stands in the background, out of sight, before coming forward to urge better effort or correct some fine point of technique. “He is always watching, like a spy,” Urvin Rooi told me.
One Sunday in March, I was on the sideline of a game — Ajax’s 15-year-olds matched up against the youth academy of another Dutch professional club — when I noticed Riekerink behind me. He was by himself, bundled into his parka and writing in a small notebook. With the Ajax boys up two goals and dominating the action, I told him I was impressed by their skill. (I was always impressed by the quality of play at De Toekomst.) “Really?” he responded. “To me this is a disaster. They are playing with the wrong tempo, too slow.”
During training sessions at Ajax, I rarely heard the boys’ loud voices or laughter or much of anything besides the thump of the ball and the instruction of coaches. It could seem grim, more like the grinding atmosphere of training for an individual sport — tennis, golf, gymnastics — than what you would expect in a typically boisterous team setting. But one element of the academy’s success is that the boys are not overplayed, so the hours at De Toekomst are all business. Through age 12, they train only three times a week and play one game on the weekend. “For the young ones, we think that’s enough,” Riekerink said when we talked in his office one day. “They have a private life, a family life. We don’t want to take that from them. When they are not with us, they play on the streets. They play with their friends. Sometimes that’s more important. They have the ball at their feet without anyone telling them what to do.”
By age 15, the boys are practicing five times a week. In all age groups, training largely consists of small-sided games and drills in which players line up in various configurations, move quickly and kick the ball very hard to each other at close range. In many practice settings in the U.S., this kind of activity would be a warm-up, just to get loose, with the coach paying scant attention and maybe talking on a cellphone or chatting with parents. At the Ajax academy, these exercises — designed to maximize touches, or contact with the ball — are the main event. “You see this a lot of places,” a coach from a pro club in Norway, who was observing at Ajax, said to me. “Every program wants to maximize touches. But here it is no-nonsense, and everything is done very hard and fast. It’s the Dutch style. To the point and aggressive.”
Gregory van der Wiel’s description of the detail-oriented routine at De Toekomst struck me as dead on: “You do things again and again and again, then you repeat it some more times.”
I HEARD A LOT OF misconceptions about American soccer in the course of reporting this story. Many people seemed to believe that the sport is still a novelty in the United States, a game that we took up only in the last couple of decades and that is not yet popular or perhaps is even disdained by our best male athletes — an understandable view given the much greater international success of the U.S. women’s teams. I had lunch one day with Auke Kok, a historian and Dutch soccer journalist, who offered up his own hypothesis. He talked of the “brute force” of American football as opposed to the elegance and flair of great international soccer. “I’ve always wondered if our football is too stylish, too feminine,” he said. “Am I right that it’s too girlish for Americans?”
I told him that I was pretty sure that that is not the case. But it is no surprise that the rest of the world might be flummoxed — and come up with some offbeat theories — trying to explain why a nation as populous, prosperous and sports-loving as the United States still does not play at the level of the true superpowers of soccer.
More than three million boys under age 18 play organized soccer in the U.S., but we have never produced a critical mass of elite performers to compete on equal terms with the world’s best. The American men are certainly improving. After finishing a surprising second to Brazil in last summer’s Confederations Cup, the U.S. qualified with relative ease to be among the 32 teams competing in the World Cup finals in South Africa, starting June 12 against England. Few would be surprised if the U.S. emerged from group play into the second round. But it would be a shocking, seismic upset if the Americans somehow leapt past traditional powers like Germany, Italy or Argentina — to say nothing of the favorites Brazil and Spain — to capture the championship.
The other nation that shows up on any list of World Cup favorites is the Netherlands, a perennial contender widely considered to be the best team never to win the championship. Drawn from a nation of fewer than 17 million, with a core of stars who trained at Ajax, the Dutch national team plays in the Total Football tradition that relies on players who know what they want to do with the ball before it reaches them and can move it on without stopping it. The British author David Winner, in his book “Brilliant Orange: The Neurotic Genius of Dutch Soccer,” calls this approach “physical chess,” and the Dutch can be quite haughty about it. They abhor the cloying defensive tactics associated with the Italians and the boot-and-chase way the English played for years, and it has been observed that they sometimes appear more intensely interested in the artfulness of a match than in the result.
The Dutch style (indistinguishable from the Ajax style) even has its own philosopher-king — Johan Cruyff, an Ajax star in the 1970s, considered just one step down from Pelé in the pantheon of playing greats, who can sound like a more erudite Yogi Berra. “Don’t run so much,” he once said, meaning that players often cover lots of ground but to no effect. “You have to be in the right place at the right moment, not too early, not too late.”
In March, I had a seat at the Amsterdam Arena, just across the highway from De Toekomst, to watch the U.S. national team play the Dutch in a “friendly,” a pre-World Cup tuneup and test. Thanks to a late goal by the U.S., the final score was only 2-1, in favor of the Dutch, but the match was a version of that old playground game: it’s our ball, and you can’t play with it. The Dutch zipped it from player to player and from one side of the field to the other while the Americans ran and ran, chasing the ball but rarely gaining control. When the Americans did get the ball, their passes too often flew beyond reach or directly out of bounds.
Other nations and professional clubs around the world play in a manner similar to the Dutch — including, not coincidentally, Barcelona, one of the most consistently successful clubs in Europe, and where Cruyff played after leaving Ajax and then coached for eight seasons. What this type of play demands is the highest order of individual skill: players with a wizardlike ability to control the ball with either foot, any part of the foot, and work it toward the goal through cramped spaces and barely perceptible lanes.
After the U.S.-Netherlands friendly, the Dutch coach praised the Americans for having a “well-organized” defense — which was true but seemed to be a case, unintentional perhaps, of damning with faint praise. But what else could he say? The Americans did a good job of backing up and closing ranks, a survival tactic that, along with several heroic saves by the goalkeeper Tim Howard, kept the Dutch from running up six goals or so.
That was only one game, of course, but it seemed to bring into focus what I had been observing at the Ajax youth academy, as well as learning about American soccer. How the U.S. develops its most promising young players is not just different from what the Netherlands and most elite soccer nations do — on fundamental levels, it is diametrically opposed.
Americans like to put together teams, even at the Pee Wee level, that are meant to win. The best soccer-playing nations build individual players, ones with superior technical skills who later come together on teams the U.S. struggles to beat. In a way, it is a reversal of type. Americans tend to think of Europeans as collectivists and themselves as individualists. But in sports, it is the opposite. The Europeans build up the assets of individual players. Americans underdevelop the individual, although most of the volunteers who coach at the youngest level would not be cognizant of that.
The American approach is the more democratic view of sport. The aspirations of each member of the team are equally valid. Elsewhere, there is more comfort with singling out players for attention and individualized instruction, even at the expense of the group. David Endt, a former Ajax player and a longtime executive of the club, told me, “Here, we would rather polish one or two jewels than win games at the youth levels.”
Americans place a higher value on competition than on practice, so the balance between games and practice in the U.S. is skewed when compared with the rest of the world. It’s not unusual for a teenager in the U.S. to play 100 or more games in a season, for two or three different teams, leaving little time for training and little energy for it in the infrequent moments it occurs. A result is that the development of our best players is stunted. They tend to be fast and passionate but underskilled and lacking in savvy compared with players elsewhere. “As soon as a kid here starts playing, he’s got referees on the field and parents watching in lawn chairs,” John Hackworth, the former coach of the U.S. under-17 national team and now the youth-development coordinator for the Philadelphia franchise in Major League Soccer, told me. “As he gets older, the game count just keeps increasing. It’s counterproductive to learning and the No. 1 worst thing we do.”
The U.S. diverges all the way to the last stages of a player’s development. In other places around the world, the late teenage years are a kind of finishing school, a period when elite players grow into their bodies, sharpen their technical ability and gain a more sophisticated understanding of game tactics. At the same time, they are engaged in a fierce competition to rise through the ranks of their clubs and reach the first team (the equivalent of being promoted from a minor-league baseball team to the big-league club).
An elite American player of that age is still likely to be playing in college, which the rest of the soccer-playing world finds bizarre. He plays a short competitive season of three or four months. If he possesses anything approaching international-level talent, he probably has no peer on his team and rarely one on an opposing squad. He may not realize it at the time, but the game, in essence, is too easy for him.
Of the 23 players chosen for the U.S. team going to the World Cup, 15 of them played at least some college soccer. Among the 8 who went straight into the professional ranks are several of the team’s most accomplished performers, including Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Tim Howard, and promising players like Jozy Altidore and Michael Bradley (son of the head coach, Bob Bradley). Did they rise to the top of the American talent pool because they bypassed college? Or did they skip it because they were the rare Americans good enough as teenagers to attract legitimate professional opportunities? The answer is probably a little bit of both. But you will find no one in the soccer world who says they would have enhanced their careers by staying in school.
No other nation has as comprehensive a college-sports system as exists here, and none assume that an elite athlete will seek (or benefit from) higher education. “You have a major problem in the ages of 17 to 21,” Huw Jennings, now the director of the youth academy at Fulham, in the English Premier League, told me when I visited him in London. “The N.C.A.A. system is the fault line. I understand that it is good for a person’s development to go to university, but it’s not the way the world develops players.”
ONE DAY AT AJAX, I stood beside an otherwise empty playing field and watched for 30 minutes as a coach tutored Florian Josefzoon, a lithe, dreadlocked 18-year-old who is being groomed for stardom. Bryan Roy, a former member of the Dutch national team, demonstrated a series of stutter-steps and pirouettes, then kicked the ball to Josefzoon, on the right wing, who trapped it and tried to match Roy’s moves as he turned and headed up the right side. It was as if Roy were teaching him a dance. When Josefzoon mastered one set of steps, Roy showed him something new. “He is one of the talents,” Roy told me. “He’s a winger; I was a winger. He has been put into a special program in order to bridge the gap between the under-18s and the first team, so it is natural for me to be the one to help him.”
On an adjacent field, Ruben Jongkind, a consultant who mainly works with Dutch track athletes, was altering the posture and gait of a 15-year-old recently acquired from another Dutch club. Jongkind told me that while the boy was actually quite fast, he did not have enough range of motion in his vertical plane. “He was running like a duck, shuffling,” Jongkind said. “That takes more energy, which is why we have to change his motor patterns, so he can be as fast at the end of a game as the beginning.”
Jongkind had been working with this player for several weeks and said he had progressed to “consciously able but not subconsciously able” to run with the desired form, meaning that in the heat of competition, he reverted to his old form. I pointed out that a fast but flawed runner in the United States would likely be left alone. “Everything can be trained,” Jongkind said. “You should always try to make an improvement if it’s possible.”
Ajax keeps a detailed dossier on each player from the moment he enters the youth academy. I was in the office of Olav Versloot, the club’s chief exercise physiologist, when a 14-year-old knocked on his door, eager for the results of his latest body-fat measurement, which was too high the last time. Boys in their midteens are permitted to have up to 13 percent body fat; by 17, the measure is supposed to be down to 12 percent. (The younger players, who are almost always lean enough, are monitored more loosely.) “The first time limits are exceeded we are quite liberal,” Versloot told me. “Diet suggestions are made. But after that, we start a program with a dietitian. Parents are called in, and special exercise programs are started.”
Versloot, with his spiky hair, longish sideburns and black-framed glasses, has a sort of hipster-geek look. In November, I observed him putting boys through some of their regular fitness tests. In one, a training group of 16-year-olds ran 30-meter sprints as sensors registered their times in five-meter increments. Versloot was most interested in their performances in the first 5 and 10 meters. “That’s football distance,” he said. “It’s an acceleration that occurs multiple times a game.”
When I came back in March, I watched several groups participate in a grueling shuttle run, similar to what basketball players refer to as “suicides” — a series of back-and-forth sprints, with short rest, in which participants dropped out in exhaustion until only one was left. They wore monitors to measure their heart rates. Versloot explained why: “If they say, ‘I’m tired, I’m done,’ we can look later and say to them: ‘That’s not what the heart monitor showed. It said you were only at 75 percent of maximum. So you have to do it again in a week.’ They understand that it’s not a punishment; it’s an opportunity to do better.”
De Toekomst is not where you come to hear a romantic view of sport. No one pretends that its business is other than what it is. “We sold Wesley Sneijder for a ridiculous amount of money,” Versloot said. “We can go on for years based on what he was sold for.”
David Endt, who as manager of the first team is in charge of travel and logistics, occupies a sort of unofficial role as the club’s conscience and historian. His cubbyhole of an office atop the Amsterdam Arena is a mini-museum, its walls plastered with all manner of memorabilia. He proudly showed me a pair of scissors displayed above his desk, explaining that they were brandished by an Ajax player as he tried to attack a teammate in a famous locker-room incident a couple of decades ago. “Now I have them,” he said with an impish grin. The youth academy, Endt said, is where the heart of the club beats. “You can feel the atmosphere of what is Ajax. People from clubs around the world come to visit, and they always want to know, ‘What is the secret?’ But it is a matter of earth and air. We are in Amsterdam, so we are a little bit adventurous, a little bit artistic, maybe a little bit arrogant. You can observe what we do, but it is something you cannot copy.”
Ajax won the European club championship as recently as 1995, the same year that a decision in the European Court of Justice (the Bosman transfer ruling, named after the Belgian player who brought the case) gave players the power of free agency when their contracts end. It priced Ajax out of the top tier of competition and left the continental championships to be fought over by the big clubs in the English Premier League, Spain’s Liga, Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A, which get vastly greater fees for television rights. Endt told me that the need to sell players — just to keep the club going and to bring money in to help pay the salaries of players on the first team — is well understood but regretted. “We’re realistic about it,” he said, “but the real Ajax man is crying inside.”
Ajax is listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, but 73 percent of the shares remain in private hands and are not publicly traded. Just as no one sugarcoats the mission at Ajax, the demands placed on children are not minimized. “One of the things we say is we are never satisfied,” Endt said. “That is both good and bad. It can be difficult to be in a situation where whatever you do, you are told you should do better.”
Versloot said that, on average, one and a half products of De Toekomst per season will rise to the first team and go on to a significant, well-compensated pro career. Some of the others will gravitate to second- or third-tier pro circuits or the high amateur ranks in the Netherlands, where the best players make “black money,” under-the-table payments. The pressure to emerge from the academy as one of its top products — and to produce them — is immense. “It is always a very tense atmosphere here, for everyone,” Versloot said. “You have to just get used to it.”
EARLY IN EACH NEW calendar year, youngsters in the Ajax academy are given preliminary notice of their status. Some are told they are secure, others that they are in danger of being sent away in the spring. A current 16-year-old at Ajax said he still recalled this conversation from when he was 8. (Ajax discourages players who have not yet signed pro contracts from talking to reporters, so he agreed to talk only if his name was not used.) “It was my second year, and they said: ‘You are in doubt. We don’t yet know if you’ll be one of the boys who get to stay,’ ” he recounted. “They said I was a good technical player, but I was too passive and had to become more aggressive.”
This player is now considered among the best in his age group, but like all boys who stay at Ajax for many years, he has seen many classmates leave. “My best friend left two years ago,” he said. “I don’t speak to him anymore. He thought I was not in touch enough, that I was not supporting him. He was furious. I realized he was just a football friend and that you can’t have real friends at Ajax.”
Ricardo van Rhijn, who just signed a pro contract and is captain of the Dutch under-19 national team, described the annual leave-taking in somewhat more benign terms. “At a certain moment, we have to say goodbye,” he told me. “It’s hard, but every boy knows the reality of the situation. They know they have to leave and close the chapter of Ajax.”
Urvin Rooi’s son, Dylan, said that in his current training group of 15-year-olds, several new boys had been brought in for tryouts, and one had already been told he was accepted. It sounded like being in a workplace in which your possible replacement had already been installed at the next desk and given your identical tasks, to see if he could do them better.
Dylan’s father is involved in a business that builds homes on the Dutch island Curaçao. His mother is a psychotherapist. It is not unusual for players at De Toekomst to come from middle- or even upper-middle-class backgrounds, and virtually none come from poverty in a nation where the standard of living is high and literacy is 99 percent. The demographics are not much different from the soccer-playing population in the United States, where most players still come from suburban comfort. In the Netherlands, though, youth players may end up with less education than their parents in order to pursue professional soccer careers, starting with a less-demanding high-school curriculum than they otherwise might take.
Dylan at first spoke to me on the condition that I would not use his name but then insisted that it be included, reasoning that he had related his “personal thoughts, and people should know the name behind the thoughts.” We spoke at a delicatessen in his neighborhood in central Amsterdam, where a picture of him in his uniform hung on the wall. (The contrast between his introspection and the unrevealing interviews given by most American athletes was striking.) He said he guessed that probably only two or three of the boys he began with when he was 7 would have pro careers in their sport. “I would feel very bad if I’m not one of them,” he said. “I have tried everything I can do to make it. I haven’t done as much in school as I could. I would feel like I’ve been wasting my time all these years. I would get very depressed.”
I asked if some of what he learned at Ajax — focus, perseverance, the ability to perform under pressure — might benefit him no matter what he ends up doing. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re training for football, not for anything else.”
The Ajax development system has its critics. Some assume that because the first team is no longer a competitive force in Europe and does not even consistently finish first in the Eredivisie, the top Dutch professional league, it is no longer turning out top talent. But if all those who trained at De Toekomst now playing elsewhere were to come home — Wesley Sneijder from Italy; Rafael van der Vaart from Spain; Ryan Babel, Johnny Heitinga and Nigel de Jong from their teams in England — Ajax could compete with any club in the world. The more substantial criticism is that Ajax has become too mercantile and coldblooded. “I feel like they’ve lost some of the spirit of the place,” John Hackworth, the former U.S. youth coach, told me. “What made them great, these heroes they create, now go on to stardom so quickly somewhere else.”
I talked with Huw Jennings at the youth academy of Fulham, in London, as we watched a group of 10-year-olds train. They were louder and more physically animated than the boys I saw in Amsterdam. “What they do at Ajax is a little rote for my taste,” Jennings said. “We are more apt to let the game be the teacher.” He added that he believed Ajax “had become a caricature of itself.” The last time he visited, he sensed that the dealmaking had breached the complex itself. “That dining area was crawling with agents,” he said, “right among the players and their parents.” (I did not see this during my visits.)
Jennings acknowledged that, based on the methods pioneered by Ajax, top clubs all over Europe were scouting very young kids and enrolling them in their academies. A book published in 2009 by the British journalist Chris Green, “Every Boy’s Dream,” estimated that 10,000 were being trained by clubs in England. They are cheap investments for clubs wanting to scoop up every boy with even a remote chance of one day becoming a top footballer.
Jennings said that his scouts, in response to the “unsuitability of the indigenous population of Britain” — children who are too sedentary and spend their time with video games — were increasingly focused “on the inner city of London, among Africans, Eastern Europeans and Caribbeans.”
Fulham, like Ajax, is often a seller of talent. It recently sold a 20-year-old to Manchester United for seven million pounds, or more than $10 million. “It’s a little ugly talking about the financial terms,” Jennings said. “I don’t like to do it. It feels not too far off from the slave trade.”
Everyone draws the line somewhere. Jennings told me that he recently received a call from a rival club asking if it could schedule a game against his “elite 5s” — 5-year-olds. He replied, “We don’t have elite 5s, but we’ll play your expectant mothers.”
There are two ways to become a world-class soccer player. One is to spend hours and hours in pickup games — in parks, streets, alleyways — on imperfect surfaces that, if mastered, can give a competitor an advantage when he finally graduates to groomed fields. This is the Brazilian way and also the model in much of the rest of South America, Central America and the soccer hotbeds of Africa. It is like baseball in the Dominican Republic. Children play all the time and on their own.
The other way is the Ajax method. Scientific training. Attention to detail. Time spent touching the ball rather than playing a mindless number of organized games.
The more thoughtful people involved in developing U.S. soccer talent know that we conform to neither model. We are a much larger nation, obviously, than the Netherlands. Our youth sports leagues, for the most part, are community-based and run by volunteers rather than professionals. They have grown organically, sending out tendrils that run deep and are difficult to uproot. Change at the elite levels is more possible than at the stubborn grass roots.
Efforts to change American soccer culture are largely occurring in the older age groups. Some of the most talented players are being extracted from a deeply flawed system, but only after they’ve been immersed in it for many years.
I was at the youth academy of D.C. United — one worn artificial-turf field, no locker rooms, a world away from De Toekomst — on what turned out to be a moment of triumph for one of the bedrock franchises of Major League Soccer, the top U.S. professional league. Just the day before, the team announced that it signed its best youth player to a pro contract. Andy Najar, who was 17 and immigrated with his parents from Honduras as a teenager, was inserted straight into D.C. United’s starting lineup right after dropping out of high school during his junior year. The signing drew only modest press coverage, probably a good thing for the team and an instance of pro soccer’s still-under-the-radar status in the U.S. being of benefit to the league. (The parade of players graduating from high school and jumping straight to the N.B.A. proved controversial enough that it’s no longer allowed.)
Najar, considered an exceptional talent, will very likely be the rare player to go from high school right onto an M.L.S. roster. But the decoupling of soccer education from higher education is an avowed goal of executives at the top levels of the American game. M.L.S. has been signing about a dozen young players a year — some from its teams’ academies, others who have already played a year or two in college — and putting them either on pro rosters or into development programs. (Under this setup, called Generation Adidas, money is put aside for players’ future college tuitions.) The academies of M.L.S. teams have begun to abandon the pay-for-play model and are bearing nearly all costs, including travel, for their players.
Also, dozens of top amateur soccer clubs around the country have been designated by the U.S. Soccer Federation as academies, with the intent that they will offer training on a European-based model — more practices, fewer games, greater emphasis on technical skill. They have, however, already drawn criticism that their coaches can’t break an old habit: trying, first and foremost, to win rather than focusing on the stated goal of developing elite individual talent.
The way we approach youth soccer in the U.S. is no more thoughtless than how we groom talent in baseball or basketball. All the same syndromes apply. Overplay. Too little practice. The courting of injuries — for example, the spate of elbow operations for pitchers in their midteens brought on by coaches who leave them on the mound for too many innings. The difference is that because these are, largely, our sports, we have a head start on the rest of the world and therefore a bigger margin for error.
Ajax is a fulcrum of the worldwide soccer market, exporting top players to the world’s best clubs, because they take very young players and shape them. The U.S., by comparison, is still a peripheral participant. In the past decade, increasing numbers of Americans have gone overseas to play for European clubs, many of them signing contracts as teenagers. But with just a couple of exceptions, they are complementary players, not the star-quality performers who make up the rosters of the World Cup favorites.
How much does it matter for the U.S. to ascend to the top rung of worldwide soccer and become a serious threat to win a World Cup? The effort itself would bring some welcome changes. Players whose training was paid for by professional clubs, rather than by their parents, would likely be treated as investments and therefore developed with more intelligence and care for their physical well-being.
But club-financed training is the entry level to a rough-and-tumble, often merciless worldwide soccer economy. Elements of it clash with American sensibilities. What Ajax pioneered, and still executes at a high level, can look uncomfortably like the trafficking of child athletes.
Ronald de Jong invited me to go scouting with him one Saturday. He had his eye on a specific target — “a 2004,” he said, referring to a birth year. A 5-year-old whom he had seen and was checking in with every month or so. This boy might not even be in school yet, I pointed out. “I don’t think he is,” de Jong said with a slight smile, as if he recognized the absurdity. “I believe he’s in day care.”
Ajax’s success would not be possible if it did not draw from a well-organized, well-financed soccer culture. Any town of any size in the Netherlands has an amateur club, with highly trained coaches and an academy for its own top-level players. (It is said that Johan Cruyff was the only Dutchman ever granted his coaching license without having to go through a rigorous, yearlong course.)
I met de Jong at the train station in Leiden, and we drove to a particularly well-heeled club called Quick Boys, in Katwijk. A spacious locker-room complex with a private club on top had been built with funds from benefactors connected with the tulip industry and local fishing interests. The bar in the private club was an elaborate wooden sculpture shaped like a herring boat.
De Jong, whose only material benefit from his association with Ajax is free admission to the first team’s games, showed a card that identified him as a scout and checked a schedule of games on a computer screen. As we approached the field where our 5-year-old was to play, he spotted him right away and said, “There’s the guy!”
I couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed to me that the guy, Délano van der Heyden, born in September 2004, might actually be small even for a 5-year-old. The ball at his feet came up almost to his knees. He was “playing up,” competing against boys as old as 9. When the game started, he was exactly as advertised: remarkable. Délano kept up with the other boys, a few of whom fell on contact and had to be attended by coaches, which he never did. He showed the ability to kick with either foot. He could receive the ball with his back to his offensive end and turn, with the ball still in his control, and head toward the goal.
De Jong kept up a running commentary as we watched, becoming increasingly excited. As Délano cleverly dribbled around a bigger boy who came charging at him: “You see, they will try to physically dominate him, but he will always seek a football solution. He always has a plan.” As the concentration of other boys drifted: “He is not looking at planes in the sky; he is looking at the ball.” At halftime, as Délano conferred with his father, who was coaching his team: “You see how nicely they are talking? You can tell he comes from a good nest.” Later, after Délano weaved through three boys and blistered a shot just wide of the goal: “This is unbelievable! At this age, I’ve never seen a player like this!”
Délano’s team was visiting at Quick Boys; his own club was smaller, a concern for de Jong, who feared it might not fill his needs. He had already asked Délano’s father to put him in a bigger club for the following season. But what if the family did not want to? “Then I’ll ask Jan Olde Riekerink to call his father,” he said, referring to the stern director of De Toekomst. “Usually people will listen to Jan Olde.”
Even if Délano turned out to be a world-class prodigy, it would be at least a dozen years before he could play for Ajax’s first team. He could not even enter De Toekomst for another two years. But I understood de Jong’s interest. Délano was well worth this investment of time and attention, because one day he might be sold to Chelsea or Real Madrid or Juventus for millions.
Michael Sokolove, a contributing writer for the magazine, is the author of “Warrior Girls,” about the injury epidemic among young female athletes.
A version of this article appears in print on June 6, 2010, on Page MM40 of the Sunday Magazine with the headline: From Boys to Pros. Today's Paper|Subscribe
The Ajax Soccer Academy: From Boys to Pros JUNE 2, 2010
Letter: From Boys to Pros JUNE 18, 2010
Training to Play the World's Game JUNE 2, 2010
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Art & Design|How Dieter Rams Made Braun Look Cool
Art & Design | Design
How Dieter Rams Made Braun Look Cool
By ALICE RAWSTHORN JUNE 6, 2011
LONDON — It began with a bet. The 23-year-old Dieter Rams was working as a junior in a Frankfurt architect’s office when a colleague spotted an ad in a local newspaper for an “in-house architect” at a company they knew nothing about. He dared Mr. Rams to apply to see which of them would be chosen.
Mr. Rams, now 79, won, and took the job. His new employer was Braun, an electrical appliance manufacturer, and he worked there as a designer from 1955 to 1995. The radios, shavers, juicers, clocks, record players and other products he designed for Braun are marvels of industrial design: beautiful, unobtrusive and simple to use. Among his admirers is the British artist Richard Hamilton, who wrote: “His consumer products have come to occupy a place in my heart and consciousness that the Mont Sainte-Victoire did in Cézanne’s.”
A new book “Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible” (Phaidon) by the British design historian Sophie Lovell traces Mr. Rams’s evolution as a designer. She has a hard act to follow in another book published two years ago, “Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams” (Gestalten), edited by Keiko Ueki-Polet and Klaus Kemp. The bigger and more scholarly of the pair, it includes excellent analyses of Mr. Rams’s contribution to consumer culture and his role in industrial design history.
The designer Dieter Rams around 1975. Credit Dieter Rams
Ms. Lovell’s book shines by painting a refreshingly realistic picture of the design process. Books like this often depict designers as omnipotent heroes, but hers stresses the complex web of relationships they must navigate inside the design team and with other factions within a company. There are also gripping descriptions of the microscopic details that must be addressed to create products as accomplished as Mr. Rams’s for Braun. Anyone who reads it probably won’t look at a switch, edge or corner in quite the same way again.
The easiest way to describe Mr. Rams’s impact on design is to say that he made Braun the “Apple” — in other words the It-brand — of its time. And it’s safe to say that Apple’s designers would consider that a compliment. Not only did they design the digital keypad of the iPhone calculator as an homage to Mr. Rams — it is a replica of the 1977 ET44 calculator he developed for Braun with his colleague Dietrich Lubs — but Jonathan Ive, Apple’s head of industrial design, has written the foreword of “As Little Design as Possible.”
It is worth buying the book just to read his description of his first encounter with Mr. Rams’s work, a 1972 MPZ 2 Citromatic juicer in his parents’ kitchen. “It was clearly made from the best materials, not the cheapest,” he wrote. “No part appeared to be hidden or celebrated, just perfectly considered and completely appropriate. At a glance, you knew exactly what it was and how to use it. It was the essence of juicing made material: a static object that perfectly described the process by which it worked. It felt complete and it felt right.”
The studio in Mr. Rams's home in 1971. Credit Florian Böhm
As Mr. Ive points out, Mr. Rams’s achievements are all the greater for having been realized within the constraints of mass-production. He regards Mr. Rams as being “utterly alone in producing a body of work so consistently beautiful, so right and so accessible.”
Quite right, though he could not have done it without the support of his colleagues. When he joined Braun in 1955, Mr. Rams had every intention of continuing his career in architecture, ideally in urban planning, but Braun was a remarkable company. It was run by two brothers, Artur and Erwin Braun, who had inherited it from their father. Both progressive employers, they provided generous pensions and free health care for their staff. Artur was a gifted engineer, who ensured that Braun was at the forefront of postwar advances in electronics, and Erwin had a particular interest in design. By the time Mr. Rams arrived, he had forged a collaboration with the Ulm design school, run by the gifted designer, Hans Gugelot.
Mr. Rams began at Braun by working on architectural projects, but soon became involved in product design. Within a year he had completed his first solo assignment, the PA 1 slide projector. Even this early work shows the obsessive attention to detail, which defined all of his designs and ensured that each product looked as though it contained “as little design as possible,” as he once put it. Ms. Lovell chose those words as the title of her book.
Mr. Rams's TP 1 radio and record player, designed in 1959. Credit Braun
She describes the minutia of Braun’s design process, as each design progressed from pencil sketches on rolls of tracing paper, through models with which the designers could check the positions of motors, vents and controls, to the technical drawings they gave to the technicians.
Thanks to Artur Braun’s engineering coups, the company often developed the first versions of particular products, and part of the design team’s role was helping people to learn how to use them. “I never trusted instruction manuals,” Mr. Rams said. “We all know that most people don’t read them.” He insisted that the operating systems of Braun’s products should be as simple and logical as possible. Buttons, dials and switches were arranged in an orderly sequence. Color coding was used for guidance: red for “off,” green for “on” and so on.
Mr. Rams was equally fastidious about how his products felt. Edges and corners were gently rounded, as were buttons and levers. The switches of Braun’s table cigarette lighters were shaped to fit a thumb tip. He mixed hard and soft plastics on the 1985 Micron Vario 3 shaver to make it easier to grip.
There are many such observations in Ms. Lovell’s book. Another strength is her analysis of the often-confusing internal politics of the Braun design team. Take the 1963 HT 2 toaster, which Mr. Hamilton replicated in a 1967 artwork named “Toaster” that is generally seen as a tribute to Mr. Rams. Except that, according to Ms. Lovell, someone else developed that particular model — his fellow Braun designer Reinhold Weiss.
A version of this article appears in print on June 6, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
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U.S.|A Confederate General’s Final Stand Divides Memphis
A Confederate General’s Final Stand Divides Memphis
A brass statue of Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest has towered over his and his wife's grave at a park in downtown Memphis, Tenn., since 1905. This month the City Council voted to remove it.CreditCreditAndrea Morales for The New York Times
By Emily Yellin
MEMPHIS — What people see when they look up at the towering statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest in a park near downtown Memphis usually depends on their deepest beliefs, their memories, their loyalties and maybe even their DNA.
Many see a Memphis slave trader, the original grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and a war criminal who led a gruesome Confederate massacre of surrendered black and white Union troops at nearby Fort Pillow in 1864.
Others see a gallant but misunderstood Civil War general, a military genius and a hero who made a speech calling for racial reconciliation in 1875. And some passers-by have little or no idea who the guy on the horse is, and do not much care.
But this month, the Memphis City Council voted unanimously to begin an intricate process of removing the brass statue from the park — along with the remains of Forrest and his wife, encased since 1905 in its marble base. This effort joins a national wave of casting off Confederate icons since the massacre last month at a church in Charleston, S.C.
Efforts to take down public flags or monuments associated with the Confederacy are being renewed in communities like New Orleans; Tampa, Fla.; Austin, Tex.; and Stone Mountain, Ga. Yale and the University of California, Berkeley, are among educational institutions being pushed to rename campus buildings honoring people connected to slavery and the Confederacy.
But because of Forrest’s notoriety, Memphis’s harsh racial history and the fact that advocates want to disinter bodies, not just take down a flag or monument, the issue has particular resonance.
Recently, Nick Hicks, 26, attended a small, pop-up rally at the park to support removal efforts. To Mr. Hicks, who is black, the monument represents “the pain that this man brought on a lot of black people.”
Mr. Hicks, a native Memphian, is a sales analyst and hip-hop MC. “When I look at that statue, I see terrorism, racism and white supremacy. It is blatant arrogance,” he said, “for it to be put in a public park, in the middle of a city that is majority black.”
Kevin Bradley, his great-great-grandson, said that although Forrest was a slave trader, “you cannot change history.”CreditAndrea Morales for The New York Times
But Lee Millar, 65, also a native Memphian and the local spokesman of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said the monument “represents what it always has: honor and valor.” Forrest, he said, was “a great community man. He was an inspiration for everyone.”
Dressed as a Civil War re-enactor at the park on July 12, Mr. Millar hosted a birthday ceremony for Forrest and a rally against removing the monument. More than 500 attendees carried rebel flags and wore T-shirts bearing slogans like “Confederate Lives Matter.”
Councilman William C. Boyd, 79, who is white, was inspired in another direction when he voted to remove the monument. Mr. Boyd’s great-great-great-grandfather gave Memphis its name, and his great-great-grandfather became the city’s first mayor, in 1827, but was later shunned for marrying his mixed-race wife.
At the City Hall vote, Mr. Boyd explained his decision. “I have weighed this business about Forrest for a couple of years now,” he said, “and the thing that I can’t overcome in my mind is that he’s a slave trader. I just cannot forgive him for that.”
Indeed, Forrest became a millionaire here before the Civil War, selling thousands of human beings in a “Negro Mart” he owned on Adams Avenue, then a popular street for slave trading and around the corner from present-day City Hall. During some of that time, he also served on the board of city aldermen, a precursor to the City Council.
One ad for Forrest’s business said, “We will pay the highest cash price for all good Negroes offered.” It promised potential buyers “a lot of Virginia Negroes on hand, for sale, in the fall. Negroes bought and sold on commission.”
In 1968, black Memphis sanitation workers marched past Adams Avenue on their way to City Hall, wearing signs declaring “I Am a Man.” The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated here while in town supporting those on strike.
Forrest’s great-great-grandson Kevin Bradley, 62, has lived in Memphis all his life. He said his family was absolutely opposed to moving the statue or the remains. “Slavery was wrong,” he said, “but that’s the way it was back in that history. George Washington owned slaves. Are you going to take him off the dollar bill? You cannot change history.”
Mayor A C Wharton Jr. of Memphis agreed — up to a point. “We can’t change history,” he said during an interview in which he recalled Jim Crow-era indignities he faced growing up as an African-American in Tennessee. “We can’t unring a rung bell. But how long do we have to pay fealty to it? That’s what monuments represent. I’m resolved we are going to remove it.”
Civil War re-enactors at a birthday ceremony for Forrest and a rally against removing the monument on July 12.CreditAndrea Morales for The New York Times
Mr. Wharton, 70, had backed a Council act in 2013 that removed “Forrest” from the park’s name. But until now, political momentum in this city, which is 63 percent black, was not strong enough to remove the 9,500-pound statue and its eight-ton marble base.
The Charleston killings changed that, said Charles McKinney, chairman of Africana studies at Rhodes College in Memphis. “Charleston gives politicians the cover to do what they should have done decades ago,” he said.
In 1905, white Memphis society scions created the park to be Forrest’s new resting place. They dug up his body and his wife’s, 28 years after his death in 1877, and moved them there. They commissioned the statue, which was designed in New York and built in Paris, to sit atop the remains.
Then the park was dedicated, just as streetcar segregation laws were coming into full force here.
Many of the Confederate monuments being reconsidered now were put up then. Part of the intent behind them, said Beverly G. Bond, a history professor at the University of Memphis, was to intimidate black people. “I am pretty sure,” she said, “nobody ever took a vote among African Americans here in 1905 asking, ‘Do you want this statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest in this park?’ ”
Myron Lowery, 68, the City Council chairman, is leading the removal effort. He is fully aware that as a black man, he would not have been a public official in 1905, and that if he had opposed the statue then, he said, “I could have been lynched.”
The Council’s resolution did not settle things. But it initiated two separate, complex processes — one to move the remains and another to move the statue.
Predicting a backlash, Mr. Millar stirred the crowd at the recent Confederate rally. “They’ve got a lot of obstacles ahead of them,” he said. “I like to think one of them is us.”
The resolution started legal procedures to move the remains back to the cemetery where they were originally buried. That case will be heard in the Chancery Court, which sits on Adams Avenue, directly across from where Forrest once sold slaves.
The resolution also began a six-week ordinance procedure to remove the statue. After that, the Tennessee Historical Commission will have to vote in October on waiving a 2013 state heritage law prohibiting war monument changes.
The City of Memphis owns the statue of Forrest. If the waiver passes, the city will have the statue on hand, for sale, in the fall. Mr. Lowery said they were already fielding offers from lots of potential buyers.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 11 of the New York edition with the headline: A General’s Final Stand Divides a Southern City. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
South Carolina House Votes to Remove Confederate Flag
South Carolina Settles Its Decades-Old Dispute Over a Confederate Flag
‘Complicated’ Support for Confederate Flag in White South
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Walter, Lutz, ed., Japan A Cartographic Vision: European Printed Maps from the Early 16th to the 19th Century. Munich & New York: Prestel-Verlag, 1994. ISBN 3-7913-1321-5 (English trade edition) and 3-7913-1291-X (German trade edition). 12¼ x 9½ inches. 232 pp. 84 text illus. + 138 plates. (te Neues Publishing Company, 16 West 22nd Street, New York, NY 10010. $75.)
First published in German as a catalog to an exhibition organized for the German East-Asiatic Society in Tokyo on its 120th anniversary, the soft cover catalog (circa $40) was also issued in English and Japanese, and appears to be identical in content to the hard cover book. The soft cover version is not available to the trade, but it may be possible to obtain copies from the Japan Society Gallery in New York City where the exhibition also appeared.
The book opens with eleven well-illustrated essays on various aspects of European mapping of Japan, followed by a section of color plates and a catalog of maps in the exhibition. In addition there is a 4-page bibliography and, of particular interest to collectors, a list attempting to describe all pre-1800 European printed maps of Japan. Entries, which include several quite obscure items, contain short descriptions and note variant states. The book is well organized and production quality is excellent. This work is most welcome as there is a scarcity of English-language material on the mapping of Japan, and it is recommended to all who are interested in the subject.
Jon K. Rosenthal, 1995
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Christ and Pop Culture | Where the Christian faith meets the common knowledge of our age
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How The Lego Movie Helped Me Overcome Fantastical...
I was disappointed in The LEGO Movie reveal because, at times, I'm... read more
How the Church Resegregated Schools in the South
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Marijuana Legalization in Black and White: The Racial...
While it may seem quite simple that Christians should be against legalization,... read more
Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson on Homosexuality: Abusing the...
Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson has recently come under fire for some comments... read more
23. Disunity in Christ: "A Prophetic Breath of...
All this week, the writers of Christ and Pop Culture unveil their 25... read more
14. Lorde - Pure Heroine: "Lingers and Demands...
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Pre-Order an Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III ... for $800
An Amazon reseller, among others, are now taking pre-orders for Samsung's next-gen Galaxy S device, but there's a catch. It's the unlocked Samsung Galaxy S III and it will set you back $799.99.
May 22, 2012 12:08PM EST
VIEW ALL PHOTOS IN GALLERY
A 16GB GSM version of the Galaxy S III is currently available for pre-order on Amazon via BlutekUSA. The seller page says the smartphone will be released on June 1, though Blutek says in the comments that it will likely be shipped on or after June 4, a date that is subject to change.
As PC World pointed out, the GT-i9300 version of the Galaxy S III does not have 4G LTE connectivity, so it will basically only work on AT&T's HSPA+ network. It will make calls on T-Mobile's network but won't connect to high-speed data since the device won't connect to the 1700-MHz band used by the carrier. Verizon or Sprint? Move along, nothing to see here.
Amazon is not the only place to find an unlocked Galaxy S III, however. Mobilecityonline.com is taking pre-orders for $749.99 with an expected arrival date of May 31. On negrielectronics.com, the smartphone is available for $692.50 with May 25 listed as the expected ship date. There are also at least four eBay listings from $828 to $948.
Should you spring for the unlocked Galaxy S III? The smartphone is scheduled to hit Europe on May 29 and a 4G LTE-optimized version will hit the U.S. market during the summer (it's reportedly already selling in Dubai). U.S. carriers have not yet been announced, however, so those eager to get their hands on the Galaxy S III might be eyeing the unlocked version, which doesn't tie you to a carrier or that two-year contract. But is early access enough to forego 4G LTE connectivity? And are the aforementioned sellers reputable enough to be trusted with your hard-earned cash? If you have $800 to burn on a smartphone, this might not be an issue, but you still might want to wait until the official unlocked Galaxy S III makes its debut here in the states.
Samsung has reportedly received about 9 million pre-orders for the Galaxy S III, though it will only say officially that "thousands" of people have put in their orders.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S III during a London press event earlier this month. It boasts a 4.8-inch Super AMOLED 1,280-by-720 display, and runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. It features an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.9-megapixel front-facing one.
For more, see PCMag's Hands On With the Samsung Galaxy S III and the slideshow below.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag.
Sidecar App Lets You Share Data While on the Phone
Amazon Appstore Brings App Test Drives to Phones
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The Future of Computing: Ten Competing Visions
You think the iPad's cool? You ain't seen nothin' yet.
By Ian Paul, PCWorld | PT
The Driverless Car
The Singularity
The PC in Your Pocket
Embedded RFID: Revelations or Revolution?
We Are Borg
Your PC Is Watching You
PC on the Brain
I, Robot
Megacore
Technology like the iPad, Bluetooth headsets, and electric cars makes it easy to believe that we're living in the future predicted by 20th-century science fiction stories. But many other innovations are on the way. Futurists and engineers predict that soon we'll no longer need to drive, robots will cook our meals, your PC will fit in your pocket, and we'll be able to control machines with a simple thought. Check out this look at the distant and not-so-far-off future of computing.
"It's a bug that cars were invented before computers," soon-to-be-replaced Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in September. The Google chief was looking ahead to a day when cars drive themselves. The surprising thing is that this Knight Rider-like future isn't that far off. Google made waves in October when motorists spotted the company's driverless cars shuttling company engineers around the highways of California. Google soon reported that its driverless cars had logged 140,000 miles as of October, guided by an array of "video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder." Google admits that driverless cars remain experimental and are hardly ready for prime time, but the project "provides a glimpse of what transportation might look like in the future, thanks to advanced computer science."
Futurist Ray Kurzweil and his team at KurzweilAI spend a lot of time developing future-of-technology scenarios--eventualities such as an Internet in 2050 that is a trillion times faster than what he have now, artificial intelligence before 2100, and space warfare. But Kurzweil's most famous prediction is something called the Singularity: the moment when humans will physically merge with machines. For Kurzweil, the Singularity will be a technological flashpoint at which humans become nearly immortal cybernetic beings. In addition, our minds will become faster, have greater capacity, and be able to share knowledge with others in much the same way that we transfer files between computers today. Everything will be great in this new cybernetic future...until a superhacker taps into our brains and turns the lot of us into an army of cyberzombies. The good news: Cyberzombies don't at all mind being cyberzombies.
While Kurzweil and his associates make prognostications on the basis of digital tea leaves, the folks over at IBM's research labs make the predicted future our reality. On February 14, an IBM super computer named Watson will show up on the TV game show Jeopardy to challenge two human Jeopardy champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. IBM's Watson already won a Jeopardy practice round in mid-January, so the computer's prospects for Valentine's Day look good.
Watson is seen as a giant leap forward for artificial intelligence, because the supercomputer has to understand and react to everyday human speech. Most computers that react to human speech do so based on clearly defined keywords such as "call," "play" or "search." Not Watson. IBM's latest supercomputer must hear the Jeopardy answers just as humans do, understand the meaning of each statement, and then decide how best to formulate a response. Watson is powered by 15TB of RAM and about 2880 processor cores that can perform 80 trillion operations per second.
Technologists have been dreaming of the day when people's computers won't be laptop or desktop machines, but handheld devices that users fit into a base station equipped with a monitor and keyboard. Motorola's Atrix 4G, introduced at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, is the closest device yet to a PC that you can carry in your pocket. The new dual-core Android-based smartphone can slot into a base station to access a virtualized Windows 7 desktop that is hosted online via the Citrix XenApp. When you're finished working, you remove the device and it functions as a smartphone running Android 2.2 (Froyo).
The Atrix isn't quite like having a full-fledged Windows machine embedded in a smartphone, since the virtualization servers do all the heavy lifting--but it's awfully close. The Atrix is due out on AT&T before the end of March. The downside: Citrix's virtualization client is for enterprise users only.
Imagine a world in which you didn't have to swipe a credit card to charge something, click a button to open your garage door, or undergo a thumbprint scan to reveal your identity. Instead, you'd have your body scanned by a machine or proximity sensor. That's the idea behind embedding a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in the human body. The FDA has already approved one RFID chip for human use: the VeriChip, owned by PositiveID. The company plans to use the technology to detect glucose levels in the body in real time; meanwhile, it has ditched its implantable medical history identity chip, VeriMed. But PositiveID's reversal hasn't prevented enthusiasts from implanting RFID chips in their bodies. Of course, the idea of people being tagged with microchips has prompted some critics to interpret human tagging as a sign that a Revelations-style apocalypse is imminent.
For precision work, surgeons of the future may rely on nanorobots--tiny devices made of synthetic or biological material that measure just one-billionth of a meter or 3.93700787 × 10-8 of an inch. Nanotechnology could be used to repair or replicate human tissue, to seek out and treat cancer cells, or to perform other tasks at a microscopic level. Already, scientists from the Institute of Robotics and Intelligent Systems in Switzerland are experimenting with nanorobots injected through a patient's nose to help remove blood clots in from the patient's eyes. From there it's just a short leap to Star Trek: Voyager's Seven of Nine, right?
Kinect isn't the only motion-sensing technology that Microsoft is working on these days. Leaked documents unearthed in June 2010 claim to show future plans for something called "Your PC, Your Way" as part of the forthcoming Windows 8 operating system. One possible feature of the new OS is eye-tracking technology built into the computer's Webcam that can pause a video if you look away from the screen. Windows 8 may also use facial recognition instead of a password to log you into your user account, and proximity sensors to power the PC up or down when you enter or leave the room. A public beta of Windows 8 should arrive later this year, but it's not clear whether the new tracking features will be part of it.
It may not be part of the forthcoming Windows 8, but technology already exists that would enable you to control a PC by thought alone. Scientists at New York's Wadsworth Center have created a system that can detect electrical patterns from your brain and translate them into computer commands. The downside is that this brain-powered technology requires special electrodes and a gel spread all over your head, though scientists are beginning to experiment with electrodes implanted in the human skull. The hope is this technology can help quadriplegics interface with computers. Brain wave computing is a long way from being ready for everyday use, but it's a cool concept. Check out this 60 Minutes report about exercising mind control over PC matter.
The day when robots perform all of your house chores is getting closer, thanks to start-ups like Willow Garage. Based in Menlo Park, California, Willow Garage aims to make robots the next great personal productivity tool. From getting you a beer to folding laundry, Willow Garage's robots will help people carry out tasks in everyday life. So far, however, Willow Garage sells just one type of robot: the PR2, which is designed for research projects at universities and other institutions. The PR2's current price tag is a $400,000 (not including tax and shipping), so don't expect to see a Rosie the robot maid in your neighborhood anytime soon.
If you want to use multiple processor cores in your computer at home, the most power you're likely to find today is six cores on a single chip. But Intel 48-core experimental chips do exist, which prompted Intel scientists to say that a chip with 1000 cores is theoretically possible. It's unclear as yet how fast 1000-core chips would be; members of the current crop of 48-core chips aren't much faster than a 1.83GHz Atom processor. The biggest challenge of a 1000-core chip isn't speed, but the necessity to rethink software design to take advantage of so many cores at once--Windows 7 64-bit can handle just 256 cores. However, Intel's scientists may not be the first to hit 1000 cores on a single chip. In December, Scottish scientists claimed that they had built a working prototype of a 1000-core chip that is 20 times faster than any chip on the market today.
Raspberry Pi projects: Insanely innovative, incredibly cool...
Raspberry Pi projects: Insanely innovative, incredibly cool creations
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David Bishop
Doctor Who: The Elysian Blade
Frazer Hines reads an intriguing original story featuring the Second Doctor and his companions, Jamie and Victoria.
"A thought-provoking story" - Doctor Who Magazine
Fleeing from the rising tide on a distant planet, the Doctor and his friends are attacked by a swarm of what appear to be tiny insects. Wracked by hallucinations, Jamie is transported back to his home in the Highlands, whilst Victoria sees her late father.
The travellers meet the survivors of Elysian Fields, a travelling hospital that offers patients a choice between the Blade of Longing and the Angel of Forgetting. When next the spaceship lands, the TARDIS crew are offered the chance of a lifetime.
For Victoria, the promise of meeting her father again proves too alluring to resist. But what terrible price must she pay, along with anyone else who makes a pact with Elysian Fields?
Frazer Hines, who played Jamie in the BBC TV series, reads this intriguing original tale by David Bishop.
Amazon Audible
Doctor Who: Amorality Tale
David Bishop is a writer and comic book editor. His novels and audiobook titles include several for the Judge Dredd, Doctor Who and Warhammer franchises, and he has numerous comics writing credits.
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The Twilight War
The Secret History of America’s Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran
By David Crist
Category: Middle Eastern World History | Military History | Politics
Jul 02, 2013 | 656 Pages
About The Twilight War
The dramatic secret history of the undeclared, ongoing war between the U.S. and Iran
For the past three decades, the United States and Iran have been engaged in an unacknowledged secret war. This conflict has frustrated five American presidents, divided administrations, and repeatedly threatened to bring the two nations to the brink of open warfare. Drawing upon unparalleled access to senior officials and key documents of several U.S. administrations, David Crist, a senior historian in the federal government, breaks new ground on virtually every page of The Twilight War. From the Iranian Revolution to secret negotiations between Iran and the United States after 9/11 to Iran’s nuclear program and sanctions against it, Crist brings vital new depth to our understanding of “the Iran problem”—and what the future of this tense relationship may bring.
The dramatic secret history of our undeclared thirty-year conflict with Iran, revealing newsbreaking episodes of covert and deadly operations that brought the two nations to the brink of open war
For three decades, the United States and Iran have engaged in a secret war. It is a conflict that has never been acknowledged and a story that has never been told.
This surreptitious war began with the Iranian revolution and simmers today inside Iraq and in the Persian Gulf. Fights rage in the shadows, between the CIA and its network of spies and Iran’s intelligence agency. Battles are fought at sea with Iranians in small speedboats attacking Western oil tankers. This conflict has frustrated five American presidents, divided administrations, and repeatedly threatened to bring the two nations into open warfare. It is a story of shocking miscalculations, bitter debates, hidden casualties, boldness, and betrayal.
A senior historian for the federal government with unparalleled access to senior officials and key documents of several U.S. administrations, Crist has spent more than ten years researching and writing The Twilight War, and he breaks new ground on virtually every page. Crist describes the series of secret negotiations between Iran and the United States after 9/11, culminating in Iran’s proposal for a grand bargain for peace-which the Bush administration turned down. He documents the clandestine counterattack Iran launched after America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, in which thousands of soldiers disguised as reporters, tourists, pilgrims, and aid workers toiled to change the government in Baghdad and undercut American attempts to pacify the Iraqi insurgency. And he reveals in vivid detail for the first time a number of important stories of military and intelligence operations by both sides, both successes and failures, and their typically unexpected consequences.
Much has changed in the world since 1979, but Iran and America remain each other’s biggest national security nightmares. "The Iran problem" is a razor-sharp briar patch that has claimed its sixth presidential victim in Barack Obama and his administration. The Twilight War adds vital new depth to our understanding of this acute dilemma it is also a thrillingly engrossing read, animated by a healthy irony about human failings in the fog of not-quite war.
About David Crist
David Crist is currently a historian for the federal government. As a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, he served in the first gulf war and made two tours with elite special operations forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. He lives… More about David Crist
Jul 02, 2013 | 656 Pages | 5-1/2 x 8-7/16 | ISBN 9780143123675
Jul 19, 2012 | 656 Pages | ISBN 9781101572344
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Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School
Find out how Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School rates compared to other primary schools in Devon with our school ratings
Overall NEW/100
Rank /14,749
Here Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School, Vernon Crescent, Exeter, EX2 7GB, is put into focus to show its scores in relation to other schools in the area.
Vernon Crescent, Exeter, EX2 7GB
The open date and status above indicate when Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School opened or when it changed to its most recent incarnation, with a number of schools converting to academies in recent years. Where schools have changed type recently, data for previous years covering their previous incarnation is included below as well - so a school may have a status of New due to converting to an academy but have data for previous years prior to conversion.
What type of school is Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School?
Voluntary aided school
(out of 14,749) (out of 14,624) (out of 14,459)
How Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School scores on each indicator.
Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School has been rated as at its most recent Ofsted inspection.
How does Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School perform on each of the areas inspected by Ofsted? As of September 2012, a score of 3 changed from indicating Satisfactory to Requires Improvement.
In 2018, % of pupils at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.
How have pupils at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School done in assessments at the end of Key Stage 2 and how does it compare to local authority and national averages?
While pupils are generally aiming to be working at the expected level in reading, writing and maths, what proportion of children at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School had a high score in reading and maths and were working at greater depth in writing, and how does this compare to performance at local and national level?
How do children at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School with different levels of attainment at Key Stage 1 and pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds perform in terms of reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths?
How does the % of boys and girls at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths compare to the national average?
What is the pupil:teacher ratio at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School and how does it compare to the national average?
At Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School, pupils had an average progress score in maths in 2018 that was -- compared to the national average of 0.
At Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School, pupils had an average progress score in reading in 2018 that was -- compared to the national average of 0.
At Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School, pupils had an average progress score in writing in 2018 that was -- compared to the national average of 0.
In 2016/17, the most recent full school year, --% of half-day sessions were missed by pupils at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School. Nationally, primary school pupils missed 4% of half-day sessions.
What is the total school spend per pupil at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School compared to the local average? (school is in blue)
How much does Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School spend per pupil on teachers and educational support staff and how does this compare to the average spending across Devon?
What percentage of the budget at Trinity Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary and Nursery School is spent on supply staff?
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Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the U.S. is quickly approaching “a moment of crisis” because of the “record number of migrants” entering the country. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Pompeo: America is reaching 'moment of crisis' on immigration
By MARY LEE
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reinforced President Donald Trump’s immigration rhetoric on Friday, saying the United States is quickly approaching “a moment of crisis” because of the “record number of migrants” spilling into the United States.
Speaking side-by-side with Mexican Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray Caso in Mexico, Pompeo emphasized the “importance of stopping the flow [of migrants] before it reaches the U.S. border," but deferred to Mexican authorities on how to deal with the issue.
“We are deeply aware that the way that Mexico will handle this,” he said as he glanced over at the secretary, “is your sovereign decision. Mexico will make its decision — its leaders and its people will decide the best way to achieve what I believe are shared objectives.”
Pompeo emphasized throughout his remarks that Trump has been “very clear” that immigration is the largest issue that Americans face, but said he was “confident” that the two countries would converge on actions to benefit both countries, after alluding to the work the countries made on its recent trade deal.
He also said it was the "uniquely American burden" to "fix U.S. laws in order to handle this burden."
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Trump’s frustration over the immigration has escalated as of late, lashing out at Democrats at a campaign rally on Thursday for being behind a “caravan” of Honduran migrants traversing through Guatemala onward to the United States, just weeks before the midterm elections.
Earlier this week, in a series of tweets, Trump threatened to cease aid to Honduras if its migrants did not stop and return to their home country, while also suggesting his might deploy the military to shore up the southern border and pull out of a trade deal.
Pompeo is expected to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto later Friday afternoon.
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U.S. President Donald Trump with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnunchin in the background | Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Trump levels new sanctions against Iran
US retaliates after accusing the Islamic Republic of ‘aggressive behaviors.’
By Quint Forgey
President Donald Trump on Monday leveled new sanctions against Iranian leaders, intensifying the administration's economic penalties on Tehran following a week of escalating tensions that nearly produced an American military strike against the Islamic Republic.
Trump, flanked in the Oval Office by Vice President Mike Pence and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, announced he would sign an executive order "imposing hard-hitting sanctions on the Supreme Leader of Iran and the office of the Supreme Leader of Iran and many others."
The action, the president said, "follows a series of aggressive behaviors by the Iranian regime in recent weeks,” including the shooting down of an U.S. Navy surveillance drone last Thursday and attacks on two tankers in the Gulf of Oman earlier this month. Iran has denied responsibility in the tanker attacks and claimed the American drone had violated Iranian airspace, an allegation the U.S. denies.
"We know of other things that were done also that were not good and not appropriate," Trump said. "The Supreme Leader of Iran is one who ultimately is responsible for the hostile conduct of the regime. He is respected within his country. His office oversees the regime's most brutal instruments.”
The president said the new U.S. sanctions “will deny the Supreme Leader and the Supreme Leader's office and those closely affiliated with him and the office access to key financial resources," and added that the measures "represent a strong and proportionate response to Iran's increasingly provocative actions."
"We will continue to increase pressure on Tehran until the regime abandons its dangerous activities and aspirations, including the pursuit of nuclear weapons, increased enrichment of uranium, engagement in and support for terrorism, fueling of foreign conflicts, and belligerent acts directed against the United States and its allies," Trump said.
"I look forward to the day when sanctions can be finally lifted and Iran can become a peaceful, prosperous and productive nation. That can go very quickly. It can be tomorrow. It can also be in years from now," the president added. "So I look forward to discussing whatever I have to discuss with anybody that wants to speak. In the meantime, who knows what’s going to happen, I can only tell that you we can not ever let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And it won’t happen."
Addressing reporters following Trump's remarks, Mnuchin said the sanctions targeting the Supreme Leader's office will "lock up literally billions of dollars more of assets." He also announced sanctions against three more senior Iranian military commanders and five naval districts' leaders.
Trump says he pulled back Iran strike because of potential death toll
Caitlin Oprysko
Trump warns that Iran ‘made a very big mistake’
Quint Forgey, Burgess Everett, Eliana Johnson and Connor O'Brien
"These sanctions are all very important for recent activities," Mnuchin said, warning that the U.S. will also slap sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif "later this week."
Earlier Monday, Trump suggested that the American military may step back from securing the Strait of Hormuz for oil shipments and other international commerce, as the economically critical waterway has become the site of heightened brinkmanship between the U.S. and Iran.
“China gets 91% of its Oil from the Straight, Japan 62%, & many other countries likewise. So why are we protecting the shipping lanes for other countries (many years) for zero compensation,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
“All of these countries should be protecting their own ships on what has always been … a dangerous journey,” Trump continued. “We don’t even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world!”
The president added: “The U.S. request for Iran is very simple - No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror!”
Recent Iranian acts of aggression have focused near the narrow sea passage connecting the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. A U.S. Navy official said last Wednesday that a limpet mine used to partly destroy one of the vessels in the Gulf of Oman tanker attacks bore a striking resemblance to Iranian explosive devices, according to the Associated Press. And the U.S. military has asserted that the American surveillance drone was taken down in "an unprovoked attack” over international airspace above the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump confirmed last Friday that he called off a retaliatory strike on Iran, tweetingthat the planned military response and potential casualties were “not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to undercut the president’s message Monday morning, writing on Twitter a half hour after Trump’s posts about his conversation with Saudi Arabia’s leader in the port city of Jeddah.
“Productive meeting with King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud today to discuss heightened tensions in the region and the need to promote maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz,” Pompeo tweeted. “Freedom of navigation is paramount.”
Later in the afternoon, Pompeo tweeted that he had a "great discussion" with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed "on the need to promote freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz and to work together to counter #Iran’s malign activity."
The U.S. imported 1.58 million barrels of petroleum per day from Persian Gulf countries in 2018, accounting for roughly 16 percent of all American petroleum imports, according to the federal Energy Information Administration.
Quint Forgey
Trump wants to talk. Iran isn’t interested.
When it comes to nuclear negotiations, Iran is not North Korea.
Pentagon study: Russia outgunning US in race for global influence
A divided America is failing to counter Moscow’s efforts to undermine democracy and cast doubt on US alliances, says the report, which warns of a surge in ‘political warfare.’
Trump takes historic step into North Korea with Kim Jong Un
Leaders pledge to restart stalled nuclear negotiations.
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Social deprivation linked to poor mental health in children
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published data showing the prevalence of mental health problems among young people in England. The numbers suggest that certain groups of are at greater risk of developing a mental health problem in childhood and adolescence, including people who live in social housing, those whose parents have a mental health problem and those whose families need support from benefits.
Mind is rolling out a national programme of work with children and young people, including its Whole School Approach, which will initially be delivered in 16 schools in England and Wales, working with up to 17,000 secondary school teachers, parents and students to improve mental wellbeing. The approach will include a self-assessment tool for schools, tailored assemblies and workshops, 1-2-1 sessions for young people in need of more intensive support, and information and training for teachers, the wider school workforce and parents.
Responding to the data, Vicki Nash, Head of Policy and Campaigns at Mind, said:
“We welcome the publication of this data which gives us an insight into the mental health problems thousands of children and young people are facing in England today. The figures highlight what we hear day in, day out at Mind - that your housing situation can have a significant impact on your mental health and that the broken benefits system disproportionately impacts those of us who need support because of a mental health problem, regardless of your age.
“The data also shows that parents’ mental health has a marked impact on the mental wellbeing of their children. By supporting parents’ mental health there is a potential double dividend for their children. However, it is also important that we invest directly in the mental health of young people today. The NHS Long Term Plan provides an opportunity to do that – with specific commitments to new services, better crisis care and a smoother transition from child and adolescent to adult mental health services.
“While these figures give a clear picture of the prevalence of mental health problems among children and young people, much more information is needed to find out why these problems are developing in the first place and how they can be prevented. Mind has begun tackling this through our Whole School Approach, including talking to teachers, parents and young people who have told us they need more support for their mental health and wellbeing. Working together, we are equipping schools with the knowledge and skills to help young people cope and intervene early, to help stop mental health problems from developing further.”
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Mind is concerned that thousands of people with mental health problems may be missing out on vital support that they should be entitled to.
MPs must be able to access the right mental health support
We must not forget politicians are human and do an incredibly difficult job, says Mind.
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» Greatcell Solar provides financial updates
Greatcell Solar provides financial updates
Greatcell Solar has provided an update on matters relating to its current financial position.
Greatcell reports that significant progress has been achieved in recent weeks; An agreement has been reached with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) on variations to a previously signed funding agreement, which will result in a payment of $425,000 AUD (around $307,200 USD) to Greatcell.
This milestone-based payment increases the grant payments made by ARENA to date to approximately $575,000 AUD (around $415,700 USD), with a further $5.425 million AUD remaining payable as the Project advances.
New Moonie Petroleum has agreed to acquire the $2.4 million convertible note entered into in late 2017 by Shairco (an associate of Tasnee) and will shortly make the first of 4 equal payments of $600,000 AUD (around $433,500 USD) to occur over the next 12 months.
In relation to the sale of the Company’s material production assets, the second tranche of $200,000 AUD was paid in October 2018, and the new company (Greatcell Solar Materials) is uninterrupted in its operation with reportedly pleasing sales growth. GSL has retained a 50% ownership interest.
The financial commitment from New Moonie in acquiring the convertible note provides improved confidence in relation to the proposal to provide further investment funds of up to $15 million over the next 3 months with the establishment in Australia of their food, water and energy focused infrastructure fund. This will ensure that GSL's Major Area Demonstration prototype project is fully funded.
Once this refinancing has been completed, the Company intends to seek relisting of its securities on the ASX.
Greatcell
Posted: Nov 11, 2018 by Roni Peleg
Greatcell secures close to $5 million USD for large area perovskite PV project
Greatcell secures a $4.5 Million USD grant for large-area PSC development
Greatcell executes $4 million funding round
Greatcell Solar sells 50% of its materials production division
GreatCell unveils its perovskite-based solar cells commercialization roadmap
Greatcell Solar sets out to raise close to $4 million
GreatCell shares updates on its perovskite solar technology and future plans
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COMING OF AGE TITLES
Coming of age or "bildungsroman" is a novel, which shows a young person's transition from childhood into adulthood. These titles all show a character’s maturation over time, through troubles and desperation, many times through conflict to find growth and hopefully happiness.
You just read To Kill A Mockingbird. We would like you to select another novel that interests you that also shows this maturation process. We want books that depict well developed characters that go through some type of change or conflict that helps them grow and discover themselves.
Some titles available to choose for this project are:
Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart.
Fiction / Nigeria / Race Relations: Set in an Ibo village in Nigeria, the novel recreates pre-Christian tribal life and shows how the coming the white man led to the breaking up of the old ways.
Anonymous. Go Ask Alice
Realistic Fiction / Drug Abuse: Based on the diary of a fifteen-year-old drug user chronicling her struggle to escape the pull of the drug world.
Hill, Katie Rain. Rethinking Normal: A Memoir in Transition
Non-fiction / Juvenile Non-Fiction / Transgender People / Transsexuals / Identity: Nineteen-year-old Katie Hill, a transgender girl shares her personal journey of growing up as a boy and then undergoing gender reassignment during her teens.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner
Fiction /Afghanistan / Boy Friendship & Betrayal: Amir, haunted by his betrayal of Hassan, the son of his father's servant and a childhood friend, returns to Kabul as an adult after he learns Hassan has been killed, in an attempt to redeem himself by rescuing Hassan's son from a life of slavery to a Taliban official.
Kline, Christina Baker. Orphan Train: A Novel
Historical Fiction / Female Friendship: Orphan Train is a young adult / historical fiction novel about the relationship between seventeen year-old Molly Ayer and ninety-one year-old Vivian Daly who, as the result of spending time together and sharing their experiences, form a bond, learn from each other, and change in significant ways. Molly is a troubled foster child in Maine who is about to “age out” of the system (that is, she's becoming too old for the system to continue accommodating). She was put into the system after her father died in a car accident and her mother turned to drugs.
Kwok, Jean. Girl in Translation
Fiction / Mother-Daughter Relationships / Chinese Americans: Ah-Kim Chang and her mother immigrated to Brooklyn, where they work for Kim's Aunt Paula in a Chinatown clothing factory earning barely enough to keep them alive; however, Kim's perseverance and hard work earns her a place at an elite private school where she is befriended by Annette, who helps her adjust to American culture.
McBride, James. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother
Non-Fiction / Racially mixed People: An African-American male tells of his mother, a white woman, who refused to admit her true identity.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus
Classic Fiction / Science Fiction / Horror Fiction / Gothic: Victor Frankenstein discovers the secret of creating life and fashions an eight-foot monster, only to bring danger and destruction to the lives of those he loves.
Vizzini, Ned. It’s Kind of a Funny Story
Fiction / New York / Mental Illness / Depression: New York City teenager Craig Gilner succumbs to academic and social pressures at an elite high school and enters a psychiatric hospital after attempting suicide.
BOOK PROPOSAL WORKSHEET
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Three charged with crimes in Flint water crisis
April 22, 2016 Category: Week In Review Posted by: Philadelphia Sun Staff
ABOVE PHOTO: We stand with Flint! The SUN along with the PA Democratic Black Caucus donated 50 cases of water to Enon’s Heart For Flint Michigan Drive last weekend. Read the article below for latest news in the Flint water crisis in Michigan.
By Mike Householder and Ed White
FLINT, Mich.– The Flint water crisis became a criminal case Wednesday when two state regulators and a city employee were charged with official misconduct, evidence-tampering and other offenses over the lead contamination that alarmed the country and brought cries of racism.
“This is a road back to restoring faith and confidence in all Michigan families in their government,” Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in announcing the charges, months after officials conceded a series of bad decisions caused the disaster.
He warned there will be more charges – “That I can guarantee” – and added: “No one is off the table.”
For nearly 18 months, the poor, mostly black city of 100,000 used the Flint River for tap water as a way to save money – a decision made by a state-appointed emergency manager – while a new pipeline was under construction. But the water wasn’t treated to control corrosion. The result: Lead was released from aging pipes and fixtures as water flowed into homes and businesses.
Gov. Rick Snyder didn’t acknowledge the problem until last fall, when tests revealed high levels of lead in children, in whom the heavy metal can cause low IQs and behavioral problems.
Michael Prysby, a former district engineer with the state Department of Environmental Quality, and Stephen Busch, a supervisor in the department’s drinking water office, were charged with misconduct, conspiracy, tampering with test results and misdemeanor violations of clean-water law. The felonies carry maximum penalties of four to five years in prison.
Ateja Long, (l), sits by her mother Darlene Long and father Charles Long as they talk with Attorney Paul Novak about their situation amidst the water crisis before Flint Water Class Action Team’s community meeting for Flint residents at Dort Federal Credit Union Event Center in Flint, Mich. (Rachel Woolf/The Flint Journal-MLive.com via AP)
Among other things, they were accused of failing to order anticorrosion chemicals added to the water to coat the pipes and prevent them from releasing lead.
Flint utilities administrator Michael Glasgow, who oversaw day-to-day operations at the city’s water plant at the time, also was charged Wednesday with tampering with evidence for allegedly falsifying lead water-testing results and with willful neglect of duty.
Essentially, all three were accused of failing to do their duty to provide safe drinking water.
They could not immediately be reached for comment. Prysby did not return a message. Telephone numbers for the others could not be found. It wasn’t known if they have lawyers.
Busch is on paid leave. Prysby recently took another job at the agency. Glasgow was placed on leave Wednesday.
“They failed Michigan families. Indeed, they failed us all,” Schuette said. “I don’t care where you live.”
The crisis – and state officials’ slow and dismissive response to complaints about the water from experts and Flint residents – led to allegations of environmental racism, emerged as an issue in the presidential race during Michigan’s Democratic primary in March, and sent other cities around the U.S. rushing to test their water, particularly in older neighborhoods that still use lead pipes.
For months, people in Flint have been relying on filters and bottled water. Some still do not trust what comes out of their taps, even though the city rejoined the Detroit-area water system last fall and anticorrosive phosphates are being added to the water.
The governor filled a few jugs of filtered Flint tap water this week and pledged to drink it for 30 days to show it’s safe.
“It’s a good first step, but it’s a small step,” Flint resident Melissa Mays said of the criminal charges. “These are lower-level people, and I want to know who was instructing them to do what they did. I think it’s important that we can see some form of accountability being laid out, but at the end of the day we still can’t drink or bathe in our water safely.”
Outside experts have also suggested a link between the river and a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak. There were at least 91 cases, including 12 deaths, across Genesee County, which contains Flint, during a 17-month period. That represents a five-fold increase over what the county averaged before.
After the crisis broke open, DEQ Director Dan Wyant and his spokesman resigned. The chief of the department’s drinking water office was fired. And the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chicago-based Midwest office stepped down.
The Flint debacle exposed a problem that extends well beyond the one-time industrial powerhouse.
An Associated Press analysis of EPA data found that nearly 1,400 water systems serving 3.6 million Americans exceeded the federal lead standard at least once between the beginning of 2013 and last September.
Most U.S. cities stopped installing lead pipes in the 1930s to carry water from main lines under the streets and into homes. But a survey by the American Water Works Association found that 6.5 million of these pipes are still in use.
Some researchers question whether chemical treatment and routine testing for lead in the water are enough, arguing that the only way to remove the threat is to replace the pipes. But the cost could easily be hundreds of millions of dollars or more.
Details released on 3 charged in Flint water crisis Michigan lawmakers approve $28M more for Flint water crisis Former Detroit Mayor Said Michigan Governors Knew About Flint’s Water Problems
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At the heart of society – shortlist announced for Britain's top engineering innovation award
Four of the country’s finest engineering teams are on the shortlist for Britain’s biggest engineering innovation prize – the Royal Academy of Engineering MacRobert Award. The finalists for the £50,000 prize for 2011 are:
Microsoft Research for the machine learning capability of the Kinect human motion capture system, used with Xbox 360, the Microsoft games console
Radio Design Ltd for the radio frequency filter that allows telephone companies like Orange and T-mobile to share their networks
Jaguar for the new lightweight aluminium XJ body, the first production car to be made using aerospace cold joining technology
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory for a new modular ceramic armour system for armoured personnel carriers.
The judging panel of eminent engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs will now deliberate to decide which of these finalists are to be the UK’s 2011 exemplar of outstanding innovation that has proven commercial success and a clear benefit to society. The £50,000 prize and the MacRobert Award gold medal will be presented to the winner at the Academy Awards Dinner in London on Monday 6 June.
John Robinson FREng, Chairman of the judging panel, says:
“In the Academy’s 35th anniversary year, we are delighted to see engineering projects developed in the UK having such a global impact, from connecting people more efficiently and protecting our troops, to making lighter, greener cars and leading the games industry. British engineering is alive and well - enriching society, making a profit and helping to rebuild the economy.”
Shortlisted for the 2011 award are:
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and NP Aerospace for Segmented Ceramic Armour
This is a ceramic protection system, developed and patented by Dstl and exploited by NP Aerospace as CAMAC® EFP. The armour system is being used to protect troops in a range of military vehicles from the threat of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as machine gun fire.
Unlike conventional ceramic tiles, the new system consists of thimble-sized hexagonalsegments held together by a moulding resin, then packaged in a polymer composite with high ballistic performance. Like a ceramic chain mail, the armour performs better than a single ceramic tile, a critical component of CAMAC® EFP.
The CAMAC® EFP armour is lightweight and modular, reducing the logistic burden of shipping entire armour kits to remote patrol bases for repair. It is in use in Afghanistan and has already saved the lives of UK troops and local people. The segmented technology is being further developed for related projects, such as the recently procured Foxhound Light Protected Patrol Vehicle (LPPV).
Team members: Principal Scientists Tom Stuart, Dr Andrew Baxter, Ross Jones and Dr Mike Dalzell all based at DSTL Porton Down in Wiltshire, and Roger Medwell, Chairman of NP Aerospace
Media contact: Christopher Panks, Press Officer, tel 01980 658088
Email: Christopher Panks
www.dstl.gov.uk
Jaguar for the XJ Light Weight Vehicle concept
Jaguar’s unique lightweight aluminium body for the new XJ series is 200 kg lighter than a comparable steel-bodied model, and gives the XJ a more environmentally friendly production process than any other car in the world.
The original XJ was the last car designed by Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons and the new model is just as innovative and beautiful as its famous predecessor. Twelve years in development, the new ‘Body in White’ is the first production car body to be built using aerospace cold joining techniques for the whole assembly, eliminating fusion welding from the body shop. This reduces electricity consumption by up to 90 per cent and avoids using extra water to cool the weld guns. Up to half the aluminium used to make the body is also recycled.
Jaguar’s engineers used computer aided engineering to optimise the design before building any prototypes and their aim on future projects is to get to zero prototypes. Over half a million analysis runs were done on the XJ Light Weight Vehicle, which equates to saving 27,000 real car tests.
The XJ is also amongst the world's safest cars, the body being a lightweight strong platform for passive and active safety systems, designed to meet all legal and consumer safety tests around the world with a single body derivative. Lighter weight assists both steering and braking and helps to reduce the impact of any collision. Jaguar is the first vehicle manufacturer to offer a deployable bonnet across the whole vehicle range, this reduces head and upper body injuries to a pedestrian in the event of an accident.
Team members: Chief Technical Specialist - Body Engineering Mark White, Principal Engineer - Body Structures Steve Gowland, Principal Engineer – Closures Trevor Laight, Senior Engineer - Materials Engineering Robert Crow and Resident Engineer – Novelis Alan Carr, all based at Jaguar Land Rover Cars in Gaydon, Warwickshire
Media contact: Nicky Rzeznik, tel 01926 648063
Email: Nicky Rzeznik
www.jaguar.com/gl/en/#/experience/jaguar_magazine/xj_special_edition/innov_imag_intellligence
Microsoft Research for the Human motion-capture system for Xbox Kinect
Microsoft’s Kinect represents a significant advance in technology for “Natural User Interface” between man and machine. It was launched in November 2010 as “Kinect for Xbox 360”, enabling controller-free games and entertainment in a new way. Movies and music can be controlled with the wave of a hand or the sound of your voice. Effectively, the user’s body is the controller. A major breakthrough in Kinect is the use of machine learning to classify parts of the body.
The Kinect sensor provides a stream of 3D “depth images”. This is analysed by software to give a moving interpretation of the human skeleton, at 30 frames per second. Before Kinect, equipment for motion-capture was already available commercially but required instrumentation of the moving human subject, in the form of retro-reflective markers, placed on all body joints. For user interfaces, however, it is imperative that motion capture be markerless. The Microsoft Research Cambridge laboratory applied machine learning techniques to build a capability to analyse depth images independently, classifying pixels in each depth image as belonging to one of 31 body parts. The classifier is trained and tested using a very large database of pre-classified images, covering varied poses and body types. It is engineered so efficiently that it uses only a fraction of the total available computing capacity – essential to the practical success of Kinect.
Kinect for Xbox 360 has secured a position in the Guinness Book of World Records as the fastest selling consumer electronics device, with 8 million sold in the first two months after launch.
Team members: Research Scientist Dr Jamie Shotton, Principal Research Scientist Dr Andrew Fitzgibbon, Software Development Engineer Mat Cook, Senior Research Software Development Engineer Toby Sharp and Team Leader Professor Andrew Blake FREng FRS, all based at Microsoft Research in Cambridge
Media contact: Rachel Howard, Head of Communications, tel 01223 479700
Email: Rachel Howard
www.research.microsoft.com/en-us/labs/Cambridge
Radio Design Ltd for the Universal Combiner for Cellular Network Sharing
The Universal Combiner Unit is a radio frequency filter system that allows up to three mobile phone operators to combine the outputs of one 2G and two 3G base stations onto a single antenna system. The combiner has extremely low signal loss but still provides sufficient isolation between the base stations connected to it to stop them interfering with each other. Although there are significantly fewer cell sites in the shared network it actually has better coverage and significantly higher data capacity than the original independent networks.
Introducing the universal combiner has no measurable effect on the way the networks perform and no additional antenna infrastructure is required – the universal combiner is installed at ground level, eliminating the need for any mast climbing. Existing mast and antenna systems can be used to support multiple base stations from more than one operator at minimal cost. It has been estimated that phone companies can save up to £100 million a year by sharing their networks. This means they can continue to support the ever growing demand for “smart phone” data services at a competitive price for consumers.
Over the last two years, Radio Design’s technology has been deployed in the UK in over 10,000 cell sites (using over 30,000 combiners). It was adopted as the standard product for MBNL Ltd (the 50/50 joint venture between T-Mobile and Three) to enable their UK network share. Everything Everywhere (the new joint venture between T-Mobile and Orange) will continue to use the system.
Team members: Managing Director Eric Hawthorn, Systems Expert Martin Gostling, Filter Expert Liz Phillips and Programmes Director Paul Trigg, all based at Radio Design Ltd in Shipley, West Yorkshire
Media contact: Eric Hawthorn, Managing Director, tel 07785 737277
Email: Eric Hawthorn
www.radiodesign.eu
First presented in 1969, the MacRobert Award honours the winning company with a gold medal and up to five team members with a tax-free prize of £50,000 between them. Founded by the MacRobert Trusts, the Award is now presented by the Academy after a prize fund was established with donations from the MacRobert Trusts, the Academy and British industry The MacRobert Award
The judging panel for the MacRobert Award 2011 is as follows:
John Robinson FREng (Chair)
Previously Chairman and Chief Executive of Smith and Nephew plc, Chairman of George Wimpey plc, Railtrack plc, Low and Bonar plc, UK Coal plc and Consort Medical plc. Operating Partner, Duke Street Capital
Keith Davis (Trustee, The MacRobert Trust)
Formerly Director, Strategy and Planning, The Royal Academy of Engineering
Professor Nicholas Cumpsty FREng
Emeritus Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London
Professor Richard Darton FREng
Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford
Professor Ian Liddell CBE FREng
Consultant, W I Liddell Engineering Ltd
Professor Adrian Long OBE FREng
Formerly Professor of Civil Engineering at Queen's University Belfast
Professor Richard Parry-Jones CBE FREng
Formerly Group Vice President, Product Development, for the Ford Motor Group
Professor Peter Selway FREng
Formerly Director of Operations for Nortel, Research Fellow, Imperial College London
Ian Shott CBE FREng
Director, Shott Consulting Ltd
Dr Martyn Thomas CBE FREng
Director, Martyn Thomas Associates Ltd
Founded in 1976, The Royal Academy of Engineering promotes the engineering and technological welfare of the country. Our fellowship – comprising the UK’s most eminent engineers – provides the leadership and expertise for our activities, which focus on the relationships between engineering, technology, and the quality of life. As a national academy, we provide independent and impartial advice to Government; work to secure the next generation of engineers; and provide a voice for Britain’s engineering community.
Jane Sutton at The Royal Academy of Engineering
Tel. +44 (0)20 7766 0636; email: Jane Sutton
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Academics » School of Liberal Arts and Sciences » School of Film and Media Studies » New Media » Faculty
Sara Magenheimer
Assistant Professor of New Media
Working across a range of media including video, sound, performance, sculpture, collage, and installation, New York–based artist Sara Magenheimer disrupts, manipulates, and defamiliarizes language with bold combinations of image and text. Her videos incorporate traditional filmic editing techniques alongside those inspired by music and collage. In syncopated progressions of pictures and words, Magenheimer pushes against the bounds of narrative, charting circuitous storylines through vernacular associations that invite individual interpretations.
Recent solo exhibitions include The New Museum, New York (2018), Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR (2017); The Kitchen, New York (2017); Chapter NY (2017): Art in General in partnership with kim?, Riga, Latvia (2016); the Center for Ongoing Research & Projects (COR&P), Columbus, OH (2016); JOAN, Los Angeles (2015); and Recess, New York (2015). Her videos have been screened at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2018), Brooklyn Academy of Music (2017, 2013); the New York Film Festival (2017, 2015, 2014); Images Festival, Toronto (2018, 2017, 2016, 2015); Anthology Film Archives, New York (2016); EMPAC, Troy, NY (2016); and the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (2015).
Sara.magenheimer@purchase.edu
Natural Sciences 0041
www.saramagenheimer.com
BA, Tufts University
BFA, School of the Museum of Fine Arts
MFA, Bard College
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Martial Arts Program (Black Belt Program)
Little Dragons (ages 3-5)
Junior Dragons (ages 6-10)
Dragon Team (11-teens)
Kung Fu Team
Tai Chi & Chi Gong
Women’s Kung-fu and Self Defense Classes
Community Services Performance
Training Abroad in China
The Flying Dragon Club
Master’s Q&A
Grand Master Xu DeZheng (Shi Fu David)
Grand Master Xu DeZheng (aka Sifu David) has been teaching Kung Fu and Tai Chi to people of all ages since 1989, and was a teacher of martial arts at Wuhan Sports University in China for seven years. He has also been teaching TaeKwonDo for seven years, and is one of only six people appointed by the Chinese government as an official qualified TaeKwonDo judge. Grand Master Xu also acts as a judge for Chinese Martial Arts as well.
Grand Master Xu DeZheng was born and raised in China, and is a 32nd generation disciple of Shaolin. He began his training in the mysteries of Shaolin Kung Fu at the age of 6, studying under the 31st generation Shaolin monk, Grand Master Deren. Master Xu’s buddhistic name is Shi Xing Sheng, and today Grand Master Xu is the honorary Chairman of the China Shaolin Temple Disciples’ Association.
At the age of 20, Grand Master Xu left the Shaolin Temple to continue his formal education at Wuhan Sports University where he expanded his knowledge to areas such as traditional Wushu ,Tai Chi, Qigong ,TaeKwonDo and wrestling. Upon graduation, Wuhan Sports University recruited Grand Master Xu to teach, and he was a professor there for seven years.
As a result of his achievements the Chinese government sponsored Grand Master Xu as one of a handful of experts to promote Chinese martial arts and culture around the world, touring and performing in several countries. In 2004, he was invited to come to the United States, and it was then that he founded Pure Shaolin Kung Fu in Belmont, California.
Master Xu DeZheng has won more than ten championship medals in international martial arts competitions. He achieved awards for 1st grade National Judge of Chinese Martial Arts and the 1st grade National Judge of TaeKwonDo.
Grand Master Xu has published many professional articles about Martial Arts studies in various professional journals. His articles have received several awards and the Wuhan Sports University still uses his writings for teaching purposes today.
Grand Master Yan HongJie (Shi Fu Grace)
Master Yan HongJie (aka Sifu Grace) has been teaching martial arts and Tai Chi since 1993, and from 1997 has been teaching the use of QiGong, Tai Chi, and Kung Fu for preventative medicinal purposes at Wuhan Sports University in China. In these classes, she wrote all the material taught in the textbooks herself. The President of the University awarded her twice as an “Excellent Teacher”.
At the age of six, Master Yan HongJie began learning Tai Chi from her grandfather, who taught martial arts for the Chinese military. She became a professional athlete when she was thirteen, and in 1997, she earned a degree in physical education at Wuhan Sports University in China.
Master Yan HongJie has won many medals in Tai Chi and traditional Wushu at national martial arts competition in China. She published the textbook Chinese Traditional Sports for Health. Master Yan has also published fifteen professional research papers in various professional journals, newspapers, and sports magazines, many of which were archived by the Chinese National Martial Arts Library. Her work at Wuhan Sports University has earned her the title “Wen Wu Shuang Quan” (She who is adept with both the pen and the sword.)
Master Ming
Sifu Ming is a 32nd generation Shaolin disciple (Buddhistic name Shi Xing Yon). His Sifu is the 31st generation monk named Shi De Yan. Sifu Ming has practiced Martial Arts since he was seven years old, and he is proficient in the Shaolin Staff as well as all Northern Style sword forms. He performed in the San Jose 2006 International Martial Arts Tournament, and was also invited to perform at the Santa Clara 2006 and 2007 Tiger Claw Elite Championship, where he was well received by both the public and the press.
1999- In Tai An China’s Grand Championship, he won 2nd place in Shaolin Staff, 1st place in Fist Forms, and 1st place in Group Wushu.
2002- Attended the 14th annual Wushu Tournament and won 1st place in Broad Sword, Shaolin Staff, and Fist Forms.
2003- Represented the Guan Dong Providence School named “Lon Yuen” and attended the tournament at Shan Gen, winning 1st place in Shaolin Staff and 2nd place in Fist Forms.
2004- Attended the Shan Dong Providence Tournament and won 1st place in Staff, Broad Sword, and Southern Fist. He also won 4th place in Pudao, and the “Best Sportsmanship Award”.
June 2006- Attended the International Martial Arts Tournament in U.S. and won 3rd place in Staff, Southern Fist and Broad Sword.
May 2007- Attended the Tiger Claw Elite and won Long Fist, Broad Sword and Staff. Winning this allowed him to enter the Grand Championship in October taking place in Orlando, Florida.
June 2007- Was invited to be a judge in the International Martial Arts Tournament.
© 2019 Pure Shaolin Kung Fu
Razorfrog Web Design
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Search results Company profile
Working at Temptation Gifts Ltd
Company size 50–99 employees
Sector Retail
Location Chesham, United Kingdom
Temptation was started in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, in 1983, by Mike and Sheena Adams. They had a simple retailing philosophy:shopping should be fun!
Mike and Sheena set about creating a store that would sell unusual gifts, at a price people could afford, and to make sure that customers felt comfortable while shopping. They felt, (and still feel), that too many shops take their customers for granted, so they tried to create stores where customers feel welcome, are listened to rather than sold to, and where the goods on offer are priced within the reach of all budgets.
Expansion of the Company
Through the 1980s and 1990s the company grew responsibly and organically, moving into larger premises in Berkhamsted and then opening further stores in Beaconsfield, Amersham, and St. Albans. Turnover continued to grow, helped by continued reinvestment and the building of a central warehouse and head office. The company became a limited company in 1999, but ownership remains entirely in the hands of Mike and Sheena Adams.
The early 2000s saw significant expansion of the existing stores and the launch of the first website TemptationGifts.com in 2000, followed by CampusGifts.co.uk in 2004.
Since then, they have opened further stores in Henley-on-Thames in 2009, Windsor in 2011 and Newbury in 2012.
Quite simply, Temptation sees itself in partnership with its customers. We try to treat our customers the way we ourselves want to be treated when we go shopping. We want you to spend what you can afford, not what would maximise our profits. We want you to buy the right gift, not the most expensive gift, and above all we want you to feel confident that if you have a problem with what you have bought, we will do everything we can to solve that problem.
TemptationGifts.com
Choosing gifts from our website should provide the same experience as coming into one of our stores. Unlike many companies selling goods over the web, we have the experience of many years of retailing behind us. We have tried to create a website that is easy to use and fun to visit.
Shopping should be fun!
We promote internally as much as possible
30% staff discount
All stores are allocated a 'charity' budget
Company pension scheme
Free tea,coffee and cold drinks throughout the day
28 days of annual leave
Who you'll work with
Being successful at Temptation Gifts is easy! You just have to be enthusiastic, have a positive work ethic and understand that the customer pays the wages.
Customers come first, second and third - in the stores and online - and in order to make that happen everyone who works for the company has to be prepared to go the extra mile.
Most of the senior managers started on the first rung of the ladder. Sheena ran the first store Monday to Friday and did the ordering and paperwork in the evenings and Mike carried on in his full time job and became the first 'Saturday boy'. He used his holiday leave from his main job to help run the shop at Christmas time and to visit trade shows.
They have tried to encourage others who share their work ethic to join the company. The current heads of retail, marketing, technical, distribution and logistics - all started with the company as warehouse temps!
They progressed because they weren't afraid of hard work and proved that they had leadership abilities.
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Reed in Partnership
Careers with REED
James Reed - Official Site
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Events planned with letterpress exhibit
Work from Sandy Tilcock�s lone goose press will be shown in an exhibit opening Friday at the Jacobs Gallery, downstairs in the Hult Center at Seventh Avenue and Willamette Street.
�It�s Not About Me� runs through May 12. A reception will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday.
Tilcock chose the title to reflect the fact that her work is a collaboration between printer, author and artist.
The work will include limited edition letterpress broadsides and hand-bound books.
The content is contemporary: writings of prominent living authors with original graphics by working studio artists.
The means is traditional: letterpress printing using lead type, polymer plates and a hand-cranked cylinder proofing press. Employing these hands-on technologies at the press is not intended to replicate historical printing methods but to honor the value of the book as an artistic object as well as a vessel for ideas.
A number of events are planned around the show.
From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. today, a panel of artists � including Keith Achepohl, Susan Lowdermilk and Marilyn Reaves � will talk about the rewards and challenges of collaborating. The moderator will be printer-publisher and author Richard-Gabriel Rummonds. Free.
On April 6, the gallery will stay open from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. for another reception during the First Friday Art Walk.
From 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. April 14, Jim Carmin, the special collections librarian at the Multnomah County Library in Portland, will speak on �Sandy Tilcock & lone goose press: a Modernist Approach to a Traditional Form.�
From 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. April 19, presentations will be given by Carl Adamshick and John Daniel.
Adamshick received the 2010 Walt Whitman Award from the Academy of American Poets. His book �Curses and Wishes� is published by Louisiana State University Press. His poems and essays have appeared in Narrative, American Poetry Review, Tin House, The Harvard Review and elsewhere. He lives in Portland.
Daniel, who lives in Elmira, has worked as a logger, railroad inspector, rock climbing instructor, hod carrier, and poet-in-the-schools. He began to write poetry and prose in the 1970s while living on a ranch in south-central Oregon. In 1982 he received a Wallace Stegner Fellowship in poetry at Stanford University, where he then earned a master�s degree in English/creative writing and taught five years as a Jones Lecturer in Poetry and as a lecturer in freshman English. He now makes his living as a writer and itinerant teacher in workshops and writer-in-residence positions around the country.
On May 4, the gallery again will be open for the First Friday Art Walk.
LCC gallery to show work of three artists
A three-person exhibition featuring works in ceramic, sculpture and mixed media opens Monday and runs through June 14 at the Lane Community College Art Gallery.
The featured artists in the show, called �Three Points North,� are Rob Beishline, a ceramic professor at Whatcom Community College in Bellingham, Wash.; Daryn Lowman, a ceramics professor at Hibbing Community College in Hibbing, Minn.; and Andreas Salzman, a ceramics and sculpture professor at LCC.
Beishline�s work uses birds and animals to create experiences for himself and the viewer, he says. �I can identify with animals and am tempted to try to read myself in them, but the really valuable moments are when I can stop and look in silence.�
As for potter Lowman, he says of working with clay, �My work plays on the whimsy of the soft material, and the sharpness of the durable fired surface.�
Salzman says his mixed-media sculpture reflects the world in which he lives: �I can only talk about the issues of which I am passionate. The most important issues in my life are the relationships I have with the people around me. I try to illustrate the innermost feelings and emotions that are a result of the roles and decisions within my life.�
Also opening Monday at the gallery is a show of work by Lane County high school students. The seventh annual High School Art Show runs through April 13. A reception will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. April 5.
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Forbes Ranks ProQuest Among America’s Best Mid-Size Employers
EdTech leader honored as a standout company for second year in a row
ANN ARBOR, MI, June 6, 2019 – ProQuest has again been ranked by Forbes as one of America’s best mid-size employers. The ranking is the result of an independent survey of American workers on their feelings about their own company and others in their industry. ProQuest also appeared on the 2018 list.
Forbes teamed with Statista.com to develop and administer a survey of 30,000 U.S. workers employed by companies with at least 1,000 employees. They were asked a series of questions, including how likely they would be to recommend their employer to others – and other questions about the potential for development, working conditions, compensation and company reputation. Further, respondents were asked to identify standout companies across their industry.
“The important and meaningful work at ProQuest attracts exceptional people,” said Marian Roberge, ProQuest Senior Vice President, Global Human Resources. “We’re committed to keeping them here by creating an environment that helps them thrive and grow in their careers, while making an impact on the community that we serve.”
ProQuest is best known for curating content and building technologies that propel research, teaching and learning in universities, schools and libraries. The culture built by ProQuest employees is reflected in the company’s mission: better research, better learning, and better insights so that people can change their world. To find out more about employment opportunities at ProQuest, visit https://www.proquest.com/about/careers.
About ProQuest (https://www.proquest.com)
ProQuest supports the important work in the world’s research and learning communities. The company curates six centuries of content – the world’s largest collection of journals, ebooks, primary sources, dissertations, news, and video – and builds powerful workflow solutions to help libraries acquire and grow collections that inspire extraordinary outcomes. ProQuest products and services are used in academic, K-12, public, corporate and government libraries in 150 countries.
Along with its companies and affiliates Ex Libris, Alexander Street, and Bowker, ProQuest helps its customers achieve better research, better learning and better insights. For more information, visit the ProQuest blog and the Extraordinary Stories blog, and follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
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Ex Libris Esploro Solution Goes Live with First Development Partner
Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce the Esploro research services solution is now live at the University of Iowa.
Christian Heritage College Chooses ProQuest One™ Academic
Christian Heritage College in Brisbane, Australia has selected ProQuest One Academic as a single solution to improve research, teaching and learning outcomes for faculty and students.
University of Richmond Libraries to Adopt Ex Libris Alma and Primo for Managing Electronic Resources, Streamlining Workflows, and Facilitating Searching
Ex Libris, a ProQuest company, is pleased to announce the library consortium led by the Northern Michigan University library has selected the Alma library services platform and Primo discovery and delivery solution.
ProQuest Press Team
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Under Pressure, Whole Foods Agrees to Stop Selling Produce Grown in Sewage Sludge
Submitted by Rebekah Wilce on January 15, 2014 - 7:21am
The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) broke the story that the $12.9 billion-a-year natural and organic foods retailer Whole Foods Market had a policy of "don't ask, don't tell" when it comes to "conventional" -- or non-organic -- produce being grown in fields spread with sewage sludge, euphemistically called "biosolids." Certified organic produce cannot be fertilized with sewage sludge, which is the industrial and hospital waste and human excrement flushed down the drains and later -- in some cases -- spread on some crops.
Since this story broke, nearly 8,000 activists and PRWatch readers have sent emails to Whole Foods executives asking the company to require its suppliers to disclose this information and to label produce grown in sewage sludge so that customers can make informed decisions.
Mario Ciasulli, a semi-retired engineer and home cook living in North Carolina whom CMD profiled in December 2012, blew the whistle on Whole Foods' don't-ask, don't-tell policy. As soon as he found out that shopping at Whole Foods was no protection against this potential contamination unless he could afford to buy only certified organic produce, he worked extensively to engage Whole Foods on this issue. He has insisted that management address his concerns about potential contamination of non-organic produce, price barriers to organic produce for those who are concerned, and the difficulty of finding out what non-organic produce may have been grown in soil fertilized with sewage sludge without labeling and accountability.
In late 2013, Whole Foods announced a new set of standards for the fresh produce and flowers it sells. Sewage sludge was not mentioned in the announcement, but Ciasulli received word from the company that "[p]rohibiting the use of biosolids will be part of our core requirements. All of our suppliers will be compliant with the core requirements by the time we roll out the program." A follow-up email to Ciasulli indicated, "This initial release was meant to be high-level. There are far too many nuances to include on a press release."
This month, Whole Foods Market spokesperson Kate Lowery confirmed to CMD that the new standards will eventually prohibit the use of "biosolids."
Sewage sludge is created by all of the human waste flushed down the toilet and sinks -- which includes all the pharmaceutical residues from all the prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs taken by the men, women, and children in the city using the sewage system -- and all the material corporations flush down the drain, which can include industrial materials like solvents and other chemicals, plus medical waste. The water is removed from the sludge, and it is heated to kill certain bacteria, but the heating of the sewage sludge does not remove dissolved metals like silver, flame retardants (which California recently listed as a carcinogen, or cancer-causing agent), and other chemicals that remain in the sewage sludge sprayed on the fields where some "conventional" food crops are grown.
In addition to flame retardants and metals, sewage sludge has been shown to contain toxic substances and other contaminants such as endocrine disruptors, pharmaceutical residues, phthalates, industrial solvents, resistant pathogens, and perfluorinated compounds. Some of these contaminants can "bioaccumulate" in plants grown in sludge-contaminated soil and remain as residue on vegetables in contact with the soil.
These plants are then eaten by children and adults.
Whole Foods Market's press release states, the chain "will present customers with a three-tier rating system and begin displaying ratings of 'good,' 'better' and 'best' throughout produce and floral departments. With the help of sustainable agriculture experts and with considerable input from suppliers, Whole Foods Market developed a science-based index to measure performance on important sustainable farming topics, including:
Pest management, including prohibited and restricted pesticides
Farmworker welfare
Pollinator protection
Water conservation and protection
Waste, recycling and packaging
Climate"
Whole Food's prohibition against produce grown in fields spread with sewage sludge is a major victory for consumers, CMD readers who contacted Whole Foods, and particularly the tenacious Ciasulli, who illustrates the positive change that one determined person can make.
"I am encouraged that Whole Foods has made the commitment to ban biosolids in their produce in 2014, and that the company will require supporting documentation from their suppliers," Ciasulli told CMD. "We expect Whole Foods to follow through in a real and meaningful way."
You can thank Whole Foods for listening to Mario and other concerned customers, ask Whole Foods to make this announcement public, and tell the company that you'll be watching to see that these changes are made HERE.
Christian Stalberg replied on January 15, 2014 - 1:19pm Permalink
sewage sludge, aka 'biosolids'
To learn more about toxic sewage sludge, aka 'biosolids', including compost made from toxic sewage sludge being used to grow food by unsuspecting consumers, visit http://sewagesludgeactionnetwork.com
John Drabble replied on January 16, 2014 - 12:23pm Permalink
New meaning to "Whole foods"
This report reminds me of the book titled "Toxic Sludge is good for you" published a decade ago. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_13?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=toxic%20sludge%20is%20good%20for%20you&sprefix=toxic+sludge+%2Caps%2C421
Rebekah Wilce replied on January 16, 2014 - 3:36pm Permalink
Thanks, John!
<p>That was the first book CMD published, in 1995: <a href="https://www.prwatch.org/books" target="_blank">https://www.prwatch.org/books</a> .</p>
Anonymous replied on January 23, 2014 - 1:15am Permalink
here is my response in
here is my response in general: I would go to my local WF outlet and simply mention that I and my friends will go to their local competitors as I no longer trust them. I went through an equivalent of this sludge business with them on recycled water a year or so ago. And now this? I work with the produce manager at the Fresh Market (thefreshmarket.com) and they buy local certified organic and nearby California or local produce so we have some idea of where it is raised. I know that sludge is not allowed in Santa Barbara County, very little in San Louis Obispo County, but I am not sure about Salinas Valley but they do use recycled sewage water in Salinas. They, Fresh Market, are competitive with Whole Foods (WF). WF is now a store that has completely lost credibility with me. Are they so clueless that they could not connect the dots on what's in sludge that would transfer to farm products? If not, do I want them choosing what I might buy to feed my family? The studies are abundant and go back for years, thus nothing new here. Contaminants of emerging concern are, like sewage sludge, found in recycled water. The the pass-through of pathogens and antibiotic resistant pathogens and their genes is noted in sewage sludge and reported in the scientific literature. These are also in recycled water. The fact is that we are running out of antibiotics while at the same time the pathogens are becoming superbugs. This also needs a better discussion. Buying your food, if you want to protect your family is no longer a slam-dunk, especially if you can see through the PR rhetoric. Front Microbiol. 2013 May 28;4:130. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00130. eCollection 2013. Reclaimed water as a reservoir of antibiotic resistance genes: distribution system and irrigation implications. Fahrenfeld N, Ma Y, O'Brien M, Pruden A. Author information Abstract Treated wastewater is increasingly being reused to achieve sustainable water management in arid regions. The objective of this study was to quantify the distribution of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in recycled water, particularly after it has passed through the distribution system, and to consider point-of-use implications for soil irrigation. Three separate reclaimed wastewater distribution systems in the western U.S. were examined. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to quantify ARGs corresponding to resistance to sulfonamides (sul1, sul2), macrolides (ermF), tetracycline [tet(A), tet(O)], glycopeptides (vanA), and methicillin (mecA), in addition to genes present in waterborne pathogens Legionella pneumophila (Lmip), Escherichia coli (gadAB), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ecfx, gyrB). In a parallel lab study, the effect of irrigating an agricultural soil with secondary, chlorinated, or dechlorinated wastewater effluent was examined in batch microcosms. A broader range of ARGs were detected after the reclaimed water passed through the distribution systems, highlighting the importance of considering bacterial re-growth and the overall water quality at the point of use (POU). Screening for pathogens with qPCR indicated presence of Lmip and gadAB genes, but not ecfx or gyrB. In the lab study, chlorination was observed to reduce 16S rRNA and sul2 gene copies in the wastewater effluent, while dechlorination had no apparent effect. ARGs levels did not change with time in soil slurries incubated after a single irrigation event with any of the effluents. However, when irrigated repeatedly with secondary wastewater effluent (not chlorinated or dechlorinated), elevated levels of sul1 and sul2 were observed. This study suggests that reclaimed water may be an important reservoir of ARGs, especially at the POU, and that attention should be directed toward the fate of ARGs in irrigation water and the implications for human health. ******************************************************************************************* Environ Toxicol Chem. 2006 Feb;25(2):317-26. Presence and distribution of wastewater-derived pharmaceuticals in soil irrigated with reclaimed water. Kinney CA, Furlong ET, Werner SL, Cahill JD. Author information Abstract Three sites in the Front Range of Colorado, USA, were monitored from May through September 2003 to assess the presence and distribution of pharmaceuticals in soil irrigated with reclaimed water derived from urban wastewater. Soil cores were collected monthly, and 19 pharmaceuticals, all of which were detected during the present study, were measured in 5-cm increments of the 30-cm cores. Samples of reclaimed water were analyzed three times during the study to assess the input of pharmaceuticals. Samples collected before the onset of irrigation in 2003 contained numerous pharmaceuticals, likely resulting from the previous year's irrigation. Several of the selected pharmaceuticals increased in total soil concentration at one or more of the sites. The four most commonly detected pharmaceuticals were erythromycin, carbamazepine, fluoxetine, and diphenhydramine. Typical concentrations of the individual pharmaceuticals observed were low (0.02-15 microg/kg dry soil). The existence of subsurface maximum concentrations and detectable concentrations at the lowest sampled soil depth might indicate interactions of soil components with pharmaceuticals during leaching through the vadose zone. Nevertheless, the present study demonstrates that reclaimed-water irrigation results in soil pharmaceutical concentrations that vary through the irrigation season and that some compounds persist for months after irrigation. PMID: 16519291 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] ****************************************************************************************** Letters to the Editor * The APUA Newsletter Vol. 30. No. 3 • © 2012 APUA To the Editor: There are several parts necessary to an approach for controlling the accelerating loss of antimicrobial drugs, drugs which are not being replaced by the pharmaceutical industry. Briefly, however, there are at least two main branches to this approach or effort and coordination of these necessary branches, then, will be critical to accomplishment of this goal. One branch is that of conserving the existing stocks of these tools through prudent usage, the other is to understand and then diminish the reasons for their destruction, including the acceleration in the resistance and virulence of the pathogens themselves. This acceleration is, in part, related to facilitating the transfer of genetic material. One of the principal sources of not only passing on but actually generating new genetic combinations of drug resistant organisms is seen in the processing of wastewater (sewage). Through-put of resistance via sewage treatment sees the waterways and drinking water of this nation becoming reservoirs of resistant organisms. Thus while medicine may be reducing the unnecessary use of these drugs in an effort to stem their loss in efficacy, sewer plants are spewing these organisms into the environment, and doing so at hyper-industrial volumes. Dr. Amy Pruden's work has brought focus upon the environmental routes for generating and transferring genetic material (antibiotic resistance genes) as contaminants of emerging concern. Her work includes potential mitigation strategies to limit the spread of antibiotic resistance genes via environmental pathways and to treat water to remove genetic material. Her basic research mission is to build fundamental understanding of complex microbial communities in environmental systems in order to improve engineered approaches for meeting public health and water sustainability goals. Without this understanding, medicine will be fighting an uphill battle and at some point, many of the elective surgeries will become too risky due to the potential for unstoppable infections. It need not reach this stage but grasping both aspects of the approach to the loss of antimicrobial drugs warrants serious understanding. Sincerely, Edo McGowan, Ph.D
Doctor Dave replied on February 17, 2014 - 10:47am Permalink
I have noticed until very recently that CalOrganic kale, supposedly an organic produce, sold in WHole Foods had a distinct and strong sewage smell. I wonder?
Doug Latimer replied on January 16, 2014 - 12:33pm Permalink
Thanks ... for nothing
I'm not particularly inclined to thank Whole Foods for doing what they're supposed to do After not doing what they're supposed to do If they do indeed do it. And it would seem justice would be better served if there were some punishment for their previous duplicity. But there I go trying to be all morally rational again ...
eff nord replied on January 16, 2014 - 3:49pm Permalink
Bear in mind that it's not all that long ago that fertilizing with sewage sludge was seen as the environmentally friendly approach, and was even allowed in organic foods. Things have actually come a long way since I was told that by my friend who worked for a Canadian health food distributor, and visited sites to determine whether or not to carry certain product lines. And it's only recently that research has shown that much more was absorbed by plants than was thought to be the case decades ago, when it was generally accepted that plant roots filtered out all the bad stuff ...
mjd replied on January 16, 2014 - 7:59pm Permalink
sewage sluge
Tim replied on January 17, 2014 - 10:33am Permalink
Much of the concentrated sewage sludges which are referred to as biosolids are run through the process of composting. Composting only reduces biolgical organisms and does not reduce heavy metal contaminants or many other contaminants of concern. The World Health Organization has maximum contaminant levels for food safety. The US does not have these minimalistic protective measures.
mary catalina replied on January 19, 2014 - 1:08pm Permalink
Whole Foods is anything but on many fronts. Please sign my petition http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-whole-foods-from/
Lobbying Iraq Right Wing U.S. Government War / Peace Secrecy Journalism Politics Propaganda Health Environment International Wisconsin U.S. Congress ALEC Exposed Media Marketing Economy Science Corporations Democracy Ethics Human Rights Public Relations Activism
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The Delta Saints
Ben Ringel
Among rock ‘n’ roll’s many mistresses and muses, California remains one of the most enigmatic, enduring, and enchanting. The Golden State’s allure can notably be attributed to the intoxicating melodic excess of the Eagles’ “Hotel California” and the finger-picked pensiveness of Led Zeppelin’s “Going To California,” to name a few.
The West Coast’s influence courses throughout The Delta Saints’ 2017 full-length album, Monte Vista. Irresistible lead single “California” snaps from a vintage synth swell into a rough-n-tumble guitar riff and bluesy howl. It’s an anthem for throwing caution to the wind, skipping town and setting out to find something more. “California has always been a sort of haven for the band both physically and emotionally,” says front man Ben Ringel. “We’ve got a home base at our guitarist Dylan’s grandmother’s house in La Jolla on Monte Vista Street. That’s where the album title comes from. When we wrote the song, we were in the middle of a dismal Nashville winter. We were all feeling the need to escape the cold, but also had this drive that had been building up over the previous year to really push ourselves beyond where we were. I think we all felt a bit stagnate, and ‘California’ is about us getting up and actually doing something about it.”
The Nashville-based quintet—Ben Ringel [vocals & guitar], Dylan Fitch [guitar], David Supica [bass], Vincent “Footz” Williams [drums], and Nate Kremer [keyboards]—craft raw and visceral rock music with psychedelic flares, fuzzed-out guitar riffs, arresting drum patterns and blues tendencies over the course of 10 tracks produced by Third Man Records alum Eddie Spear [Jack White, Arctic Monkeys, Chris Stapleton]. It’s the triumphant culmination of a long journey comprised of ceaseless touring in the United States and Europe and fan favorite records such as the crowd-funded Death Letter Jubilee in 2013 and 2015’s Bones. The latter yielded “Sometimes I Worry,” which landed a prominent placement on the most recent season of Showtime’s Shameless. It also spiritually set the stage for Monte Vista, an album brimming with a restless spirit and coming-of-age ruminations on life, love, self-discovery and the world at large.
“We started working on the new music shortly after we finished Bones, which was an incredibly transitional record for us,” Dylan recalls. “We switched gears from primarily being a foot-stomping bayou blues band into the psychedelic and indie rock realms. We pivoted from harmonica to keyboard. It’s a little less roots. And now we’re independent again after being on a label. Through the whole process, we had this need to continue writing. There was a lot of stuff going on in the world and a lot to be inspired by, whether it was losing artists such as David Bowie and Prince or the political climate. So, we came up with ideas throughout 2016.”
During this time, the band found that their songwriting was evolving as well. Sharper hooks and bigger melodies took shape, invigorating The Delta Saints’ sound with a jolt that makes each one soar to new heights. Drawing a heavier energy from Alice In Chains and Rage Against The Machine, a succinct delivery courtesy of The Kinks, Oasis, and Kasabian, and a cinematic expanse a la Pink Floyd and Radiohead, The Delta Saints fell into a groove that finally felt right. They seamlessly began to create undeniable rock songs with Spear at the helm.
“In the past, we wrote the music first and then put the choruses down afterwards,” elaborates Dylan. “With Monte Vista, we started the opposite way. We came up with the lyrics and the choruses first. Figuring out what we wanted to say was the initial goal.”
“Bones was way more focused on instrumentation,” says David. “With these songs, we would show Eddie a jam, and he’d be like, ‘That’s cool, but I don’t care. There are no fucking words!’ He wouldn’t listen to anything until it had a melody. That forced us out of our comfort zone and established a new system. Ed had a major impact on the album.”
The Delta Saints recorded the entire record in just six days at Sound Emporium in Nashville. As a result, a palpable energy carries the music.
“Sun God” blazes with bright bombast as Ben chants, “I am the Sun God. Come take it from me.” It’s about the conflict that comes with generations giving way to the next; a poignant snapshot into modern day politics. “In Your Head,” is a swaggering tune accented with pops of playful, drowsy synths, an adrenaline-spiked chorus and raucous vocals telling the story of an early morning cab ride back to the hotel after a long night out. Inspired by Alabama Shakes, the rollicking “Burning Wheels” ends with a Celesta solo. Throughout the record, the band enriches its sonic backdrop with a 1969 Moogerfoogerkeyboard and delay.
“It’s the exact delay you hear over Dark Side of the Moon,” Dylan beams. “As soon as you put any instrument, vocal, guitar, or keyboard through it, it takes you to ‘Us And Them.’ We found some great places to incorporate the sound.”
“Space Man” is a tribute to the late David Bowie. An acoustic guitar starts off with Dylan and Nate coming in from out in the atmosphere, before Footz and Ben fade in to fly the ship. “This was one of those really magical moments, when a song just pours out onto the page, and you have to just try to get it all down. Bowie is undeniable. A musical force.” says Ringel. The song shows a softer side of the band, but builds until you feel the boosters kick in on the chorus.
Monte Vista concludes with the haunting harmonies of “Two Days,” illuminating Ben’s vivid lyricism. “I had a stretch where I didn’t leave home for a few days, and I started to lose it,” the front man admits. “On top of it all, my wife was out of town, so I just stayed in the house and got lost in my head for a little too long. She returned and pulled me back to reality, fed me vegetables, and made me step out into the sun. The song is about needing that person to pull you out sometimes, when you get too deep down in the rabbit hole.”
The band proudly continues a rock ‘n’ roll legacy for Nashville. “While it obviously is the heart of contemporary Christian and Country music, the city has a really incredible rock scene,” adds David. “Between Jack White, Black Keys, and Kings Of Leon, I’d argue that the biggest rock stars of today live in this town. I’ve personally felt a lot of support from the community.”
Now, The Delta Saints are ready to bring Monte Vista to listeners everywhere as they hit the road for another marathon of touring.
“I hope that listeners hear the story in the record and can relate to it in their own way,” Ben concludes.
“I’d love for people to listen to this record and replay it the way I did when I first heard Aha Shake Heartbreak by Kings of Leon,” Dylan leaves off. “I hope we’re able to set the bar for what rock music can be right now.”
The Delta Saints Monte Vista
Burning Wheels
Young and Crazy
The Delta Saints Death Letter Jubilee
Death Letter Jubilee
Out to Sea
Drink it Slow
From the Dirt
The Devil's Creek
The Delta Saints A Bird Called Angola
Bird Called Angola
Good in White
Company of Thieves
Callin' Me Home
Swamp Groove
Voodoo Walk
The Delta Saints Pray On E.P.
Train Song
Pray On
Steppin'
I Feel Rain
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Military healthcare worker updates
The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust can confirm that a patient is being treated for Ebola at the high level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital.
The Royal Free London can confirm that it is expecting to receive a UK military healthcare worker who has tested positive for the Ebola virus.
The patient will be treated in the high level isolation unit (HLIU) at the Royal Free Hospital.
Two further healthcare workers returning from Sierra Leone will also be assessed at the Royal Free Hospital. Neither of these individuals has been diagnosed with the Ebola virus and neither is displaying symptoms of the disease.
The Royal Free London can confirm it is working with Public Health England to provide clinical assessment of a military healthcare worker who has tested positive for the Ebola virus.
Any further updates will be available via PA and on our website.
We will not be facilitating any filming or request for interviews with our patient or with staff working in the HLIU.
About the high level isolation unit
The Royal Free Hospital has the UK’s only high level isolation unit, used for the treatment of infectious diseases. Find out more about the high level isolation unit.
About the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust
The Royal Free began as a pioneering organisation and continues to play a leading role in the care of patients. Our mission is to provide world class expertise and local care. In the 21st century, the Royal Free London continues to lead improvements in healthcare.
The Royal Free London attracts patients from across the country and beyond to its specialist services in liver, kidney and bone marrow transplantation, haemophilia, renal, HIV, infectious diseases, plastic surgery, immunology, vascular surgery, cardiology, amyloidosis and scleroderma and we are a member of the academic health science partnership UCLPartners.
In July 2014 Barnet Hospital and Chase Farm Hospital became part of the Royal Free London.
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The spouse, civil partner or unmarried partner of a person who is present and settled in the UK (ie a British citizen, or a person who holds settlement or refugee status) may apply for a visa on this basis. They may be able to apply from outside the UK or, in some circumstances, from within the UK. Such an application is made under British immigration law; family applications made by EEA nationals are made under European law, which is an entirely separate body of law (see “European Nationals”).
Applicants in all cases have to show that the relationship is real and genuine. This can be proved in different ways, but in the case of unmarried partners the applicant must additionally prove that they have been living with their unmarried partner for at least two years.
There is also a financial requirement that must be met. The applicant must show that either their partner or they (or between them) earn at least £18,600 per year, or that they hold sufficient savings.
There is also an English language requirement, which can be met in different ways. The applicant must either be a national of a majority English-speaking country, or must have passed a degree course taught in English, or must have passed an English language text at least to the level of CEFR A1 (which is only a basic level).
There is also a requirement to show that there is adequate accommodation available for the couple. This could be either rented or bought accommodation, but there is a minimum requirement that the couple have a bedroom of their own.
If the applicant is already in the UK they must be here legally and hold a visa of any kind that is longer than six months in duration (not, for example, a visitor visa).
If all these requirements can be met the application may be a strong one, as long as there are no issues about criminal convictions or, in the case of applicants applying from outside the UK, bad previous immigration history.
The visa is granted initially for a period of 30 months. After 30 months, and if the relationship is still intact, it may be possible for the applicant to apply for an extension which, if granted, will also be granted for 30 months. After 60 months in total (ie 5 years) the applicant may be able to apply for settlement.
Spouse/civil partner/unmarried partner visa holders are allowed to work without restriction.
Fiance(é)s/Prospective Civil Partners
An applicant may apply for a visa on the basis that they are the fiancé(e)/prospective civil partner of a person present and settled in the UK and that they are intending to get married in the UK. For this application it is very important to show that the relationship is genuine.
There is, similarly to partner visa applications, a financial requirement and an English language requirement.
The visa is granted for six months, on the basis that the marriage will take place within that period.
There is also a requirement that the applicant shows that there will be adequate accommodation for them before the wedding and also after the wedding.
When the marriage has taken place the applicant should then apply for a spouse/civil partner visa. This application can be made in the UK.
A fiancé(e)/prospective civil partner visa does not permit work.
Children (ie people under 18) of applicants may also be able to apply for a visa along with the main applicant. They have to prove the relationship to the applicant, eg with a birth certificate. There is no English language test for children, but they do have to show that there will be adequate finance and adequate accommodation for them.
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Rivkin Radler Welcomes New Attorney
January 31, 2010 | Professional Liability
Uniondale, New York – February 2010 – William M. Savino, Managing Partner of Rivkin Radler LLP, is pleased to announce the addition of new associate Krishna Shah, of Edgewater, New Jersey to the Firm. “My partners and I are delighted to welcome Krishna to Rivkin Radler,” said William Savino. “Her experience and commitment to professional excellence make her an asset to the firm and its clients and we look forward to working with her,” he concluded.
Ms. Shah has joined the Professional Liability Practice Group where she concentrates her practice on the defense of legal malpractice claims. She is also experienced in handling coverage claims for insurers on a variety of policies. Ms. Shah is an Associate Editor of the Legal Malpractice Law Review, a legal blog devoted to issues concerning the law-governing lawyers. She has also served as the co-author of the New Jersey Law Journal’s Annual Review of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s decisions in the areas of legal ethics and malpractice.
Rivkin Radler’s David S. Wilck Among 40 Rising Stars Under 40
December 31 | 2006
UNIONDALE, NEW YORK - David Wilck, of Dix Hills, a Partner with Rivkin Radler LLP, has been named to Long...
Good Faith Claim Handling
February 8 | 2010
On February 8-9, 2010, Michael Troisi and David Wilck presented a seminar entitled, "Good Faith Claim Handling," in Irvine Ca....
Avoidance of Legal Malpractice Claims
April 8 | 2010
On April 8, 2010, David Wilck presented a seminar entitled, "Avoidance of Legal Malpractice Claims," to Touro Law School, Long...
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4 1/4 DB Series L Coupe by Vanvooren
Bentley 4 1/4 DB Series L Coupe by Vanvooren
The Bentley 3½ Litre (later enlarged to 4¼ Litre) was presented to the public in September 1933, shortly after the death of Henry Royce, and was the first new Bentley model following Rolls-Royce's acquisition of the Bentley brand in 1931.
Bentley sold only the drivable bare rolling chassis with engine and gearbox, scuttle and radiator, ready for coachbuilders to construct on it a body to the buyer's requirements. Many distributors ordered their preferred bodies as showroom stock to enable them to stock finished cars ready for immediate sale.
Bentleys of this era are known as Derby Bentleys because they were built in the Rolls-Royce factory located in Derby, England. Those of Bentley's previous independent era are Cricklewood Bentleys.
Chassis series G to L (excluding I) were 4¼ Litres, and the M series was the 4¼ Litre Overdrive chassis. Each series consisted of 100 chassis numbers, either odd or even. The numbers 13 and 113 in each series were not used, to avoid upsetting superstitious customers.
Beginning in March, 1936, a 4¼ Litre version of the car was offered as replacement for the 3½ Litre, in order to offset the increasing weight of coachwork and maintain the car's sporting image in the face of stiff competition. The engine was bored to 3½ in (88.9 mm) for a total of 4.3 L (4257 cc/259 in³). From 1938 the MR and MX series cars featured Marles steering and an overdrive gearbox. The model was replaced in 1939 by the MkV, but some cars were still finished and delivered during 1940-1941.
Designated the "K" series, the new chassis was built in two consecutive runs, the "KT" and KU", the Derby works producing one hundred of each, with the KTs being numbered evenly and the KUs being assigned odd numbers. The new engine was introduced as a bored-out version of Bentley's original 3.6-liter motor. The K chassis offered a number of interesting technological changes over their predecessors, although some enthusiasts remained a bit skeptical of items such as the new "de-turbulated" cylinder head design. This alteration involved changing the form of the combustion chamber. As one marque expert explains, "The earlier cylinder heads' combustion chamber was smaller at the entrance with a kind of edge or lip on the fire face of the head—kind of bulb-shaped. It was to create turbulence of fuel/air mixture upon intake. This lip at the leading edge partially sealed off the chamber in an attempt to slow fuel flow into the cylinder and enable all of the fuel to ignite." Bentley engineers found if they reduced the "swirl" of the incoming fuel/air mixture, or "de-turbulated" it by removing that lip edge and making it straight- sided, it helped the cylinder fill and ignite more effectively." However, it also effectively reduced the compression ratio. Whether that was reflected in the engine's performance is arguable, but it is said that those who raced Bentleys - and there were many – preferred the "turbulated" combustion chamber.
1234 4¼ Litre cars were built, with Park Ward remaining the most popular coachbuilder. Many cars were bodied in steel rather than the previous, more expensive, aluminium over ash frame construction.
Sold for: 278400 EUR
T150C SS Goutte d`Eau Coupe by Figoni et Falaschi
911 2,0E 901/09-11 Coupe
225 S Berllinetta by Vignale
356B 1600 (616/1) T6 Coupe by Karmann
P-Type PA Airline Coupe by Carbodies
3 1/2 DB Saloon Series E by Barker
V8 Series 2 Vantage X-Pack Saloon LH
GTO 1. Generation 389/335 Hardtop 1965
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July 31, 2015 2:44PM ET
Dr. Dre’s ‘Detox’: A Timeline of Hip-Hop’s Great Unfinished Album
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Dr. Dre has seemingly scrapped his legendary third solo LP 'Detox' for a companion album to the N.W.A. biopic 'Straight Outta Compton.'
It was 2002, and Dr. Dre had just conquered the world. What to do for an encore?
The previous two and a half years were the most successful of Dre’s storied career. After struggling to establish his new Aftermath Entertainment label, he struck gold with Eminem’s debut, The Slim Shady LP, and then his own second album, 2001. As the latter moved more than 7 million copies, it dominated urban radio throughout 2000 with singles like “Still D.R.E.,” “Forget About Dre,” “The Next Episode,” “Xxxplosive” and “Fuck You.” Meanwhile, Aftermath issued Eminem’s diamond-certified classic The Marshall Mathers LP and Xzibit’s platinum album Restless, and became one of the hottest rap labels in the industry.
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Dre was already considered one of the greatest producers of the past 25 years. At best, a third solo record would have been just another laurel in his heavily feathered cap. Instead, he embarked on creating Detox, which he often called his “final album.”
During the next 10 years or so, Dre reportedly worked on tracks with more than two dozen rappers, producers and vocalists, from Aftermath stars like Em, 50 Cent, Busta Rhymes and Kendrick Lamar, to T.I., Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Skylar Grey and Mary J. Blige – and that’s not counting artists rumored to have hit the studio with him, like Elly Jackson of La Roux and Q-Tip. For nearly a decade, he publicly vacillated on whether or not Detox would ever be released, and then just as he seemed primed to deliver the album the world was waiting for, he apparently decided not to put it out after all, leaving us with only Internet leaks and rumors of what might have been. Some fans still clung to the hope that maybe in a few years time, just like the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson turned into his legendary aborted Smile sessions into the valedictory 2011 box set, perhaps Dre would reward their patience with one hell of a rarities package.
The saga took an expected turn this week when it was revealed that he will drop a third album after all. But it’s not Detox. Instead, it’s a companion record to the N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton (which premieres August 14th) that will include all new music, including potentially the first songs from the seminal gangsta rap group since 2000.
As news continues to break about the surprise release, let’s look back at the once-endless-seeming project that it appears to have finally put to rest.
2002-2003: Dre announced that his highly anticipated follow-up to 2001 would be called Detox. Perhaps inspired by his impressive cameo in the Oscar-winning good-cop-bad-cop drama Training Day (or as Prince Paul’s hip-hopera A Prince Among Thieves), he explained that it would be about the life of a hit man of the same name. “I had to come up with something different but still keep it hardcore, so what I decided to do was make my album one story about one person and just do the record through a character’s eyes,” he told MTV News that April. “It’s probably going to take me a year to get it all together.” 50 Cent, Snoop Dogg and Eminem would add vocals, and Denzel Washington was rumored to narrate the whole thing.
But problems had already begun to rise by the end of the year when Dre ditched the concept idea. In November, Ice Cube told MTV News that Dre postponed Detox to work on his Aftermath debut. (That project never appeared, and Ice Cube eventually left the label.) The following March, Dre told XXL that he gave “the cream of the crop” of his Detox beats to 50 Cent’s megahit Get Rich or Die Tryin’, including possibly “In Da Club.” Nevertheless, Interscope suggested that Detox might appear in the fourth quarter of 2003.
2004: Detox was tentatively scheduled for fourth quarter of 2004. More guests were leaked (Mary J. Blige, Eve and the Game), as well as contributing producers (Denaun Porter, Nottz and Hi-Tek). Dre told XXL in March that he wanted to “have 12 or 13 singles. So I’m really taking my time with each one. No album fillers or nothing like that. No fast-forwarding.” And Dre’s right-hand man at the time, Scott Storch, told MTV News that Detox would be “the most advanced rap album, musically and lyrically, we’ll ever have a chance to listen to.”
But by mid-year, Dre conceded that he was too pre-occupied with his Aftermath imprint. “I’ve decided within the last two weeks or so that I wasn’t gonna do another album,” he told XXL in May. “I wanna work on these artists.” To be fair, Aftermath was one of the hottest labels at the time, thanks to a roster that included 50, Em, Busta Rhymes and others.
Still, the Detox dream persisted. On the title track to his hit album Encore, Eminem shouted, “And don’t worry ’bout that Detox album. It’s coming. We’re gonna make Dre do it.”
2005-2007: “Look out for Detox,” promised Dre on the Game’s “Higher.” But what followed was silence, at least from the Doctor himself. Meanwhile, collaborators like Mike Elizondo and J.R. Rotem stoked anticipation in the press, and built a mythic status for the still-unreleased album.
In the fall of 2006, now-defunct Scratch magazine published a Detox cover story, calling it “hip-hop’s unreleased masterpiece. . . coming soon?” Numerous Dre-affiliated producers gave details about the on-off sessions, including Bernard “Focus” Edwards Jr., who teased, “We were doing psychedelic Sixties rock music with dark chords.”
Producer Imsomie “Mahogany” Leeper posited that Detox would have an overarching theme similar to the 1998 movie Very Bad Things. “The road Dre led me down was like, ‘I’m thinking of making the album like a movie, like having 16-bar jazz pieces, live instruments.'”
Meanwhile, the article suggested that tracks from the Game’s The Documentary and Obie Trice’s Cheers as well as “Throwback,” a standout track from Usher’s diamond-certified Confessions, were intended for Detox. Of the latter, Just Blaze said, “I did the beat in like 2001 for Dr. Dre. . . the whole concept was him telling hip-hop that she’s gonna want him back when he retires.”
In 2007, Dre gave an extensive interview to the LA Times. Journalist Robert Hilburn suggested that, contrary to popular belief, the rapper had been working on his third album for the past eight years. He somewhat unfavorably compared Dre to Phil Spector, Brian Wilson, Axl Rose and “earlier pop music train wrecks” before acknowledging that the West Coast icon was far from an eccentric studio recluse. Indeed, Dre had been responsible for some of the biggest hits of the decade, from Eminem’s Encore, 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and the Game’s Documentary to Eve’s “Let Me Blow Ya Mind,” Gwen Stefani’s “Rich Girl” and Mary J. Blige’s “Family Affair.”
Still, many drew parallels between Detox and Guns N’ Roses’ decades-in-the-making Chinese Democracy (at least before the latter was released in 2008). For his part, Dre explained, “I was really hoping to have it out this year, but it’s going to have to be pushed back a while because of some other things I’ve got to work on.” He continued to refer to Detox as his final album.
2008: Is there movement on the Detox front? In June, Snoop Dogg claimed that the long-gestating album was finished. “I was starting to doubt it myself and then I went up in there and he played so much music for me it knocked my head off,” he said.
The following month, Dre confirmed the good news to USA Today. “In a perfect world, I’m shooting for a November or December release,” he said, adding that it would feature Nas, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne.
But in November, Interscope CEO and Dre’s BFF Jimmy Iovine kiboshed the Detox release date. “Dre’s going back [in the studio] in January,” he told Billboard. “Dre had to stop making his album to finish Eminem’s album [Relapse].”
2009: With Detox still a fantasy, purported leaks from the seemingly never-ending sessions began to appear. There was “It Could Have Been You” with Nas, R. Kelly and Bishop Lamont. Several T.I. reference tracks emerged as well, including “I Am Hip-Hop (Detox),” “Topless” and “Shit Popped Off” (which eventually appeared on T.I.’s Fuck Da City Up mixtape). Meanwhile, the list of Detox helpers continued to pile up, from neo-soul singer Anthony Hamilton to Drake.
Dr. Dre previewed a snippet of “Popped Off” himself during a Dr. Pepper commercial. By now, the rising mogul was deep into his Beats by Dre venture, and during his promotional appearances for the headphones line he continued to mention Detox. He told ABCNews.com, “Hopefully I’ll get it done at the end of this year, and we can hear it next year.”
2010: A series of events give rise to the hope that Detox is finally becoming a reality. In April, Iovine announces that Dre’s collaboration with Jay Z, “Under Pressure,” would be the album’s first single, and Dre confirms the news during an appearance on CNBC. But in June, an unfinished version of “Under Pressure” leaked. In frustration, he posted a “Message From Dre” on the Interscope website. “The song that’s out on the Internet is an incomplete song that I’m still working on,” he wrote. An official version has yet to appear.
Still, momentum seems to build towards an eventual release, from more leaks like a second version of “Topless” (this time with Eminem) and “Turn Me On,” to a Vibe cover story where Dre protested, “I thought it would take, at worst case, a couple of years.” He also suggested another tantalizing future project for fans: an all-instrumental album called The Planets.
Meanwhile, a TV commercial for Beats by Dre Powerbeats found Dre working in the gym with LeBron James as a pre-release instrumental of “Kush” boomed on the soundtrack. “You’ve been doing a whole lot of working out, Dr. Dre,” riffs comedian Affion Crockett. “It’s ’bout time you do a little working out on that album!”
The end of the year brought official Detox music. “Kush” featured Snoop Dogg and Akon, and while the single earned mixed reviews, it peaked at Number 34 on the pop charts. “I Need a Doctor” proved to be the bigger hit, thanks to soaring pop production by Alex Da Kid, an arena-shaking chorus by Skylar Grey and a passionate, anguished verse from Eminem.
“You come to me with ideas/You say they’re just pieces of the puzzle ’cause the shit I hear is crazy/But you’re either gettin’ lazy or you don’t believe in you no more,” Eminem rapped. “You’re supposed to be my mentor/I can endure no more/I demand you remember who you are!”
2011-2014: As “I Need a Doctor” soared to Number Four on the charts and was certified double platinum, Dr. Dre and Eminem perform the track at the 2011 Grammy Awards. Detox seemed imminent, with more leaks such as Dre and Em’s “Die Hard,” which premiered on the Showtime series Fight Camp 360: Pacquiao vs. Mosley, and “Chillin'” with Swizz Beatz. Dre posted a video where he said the phrase “4/20,” leading fans to believe that Detox would drop on April 20th (a rumor that an Interscope rep later denied.
But that November, Dre seemingly pulled the plug on the whole thing during an interview with Fader TV. “I’m gonna take a little bit of a break, enjoy some time with the family,” he said.
It’s unclear what led Dre to stop publicizing Detox. Perhaps he decided to stop work on Detox to devote his full attention to new protégé Kendrick Lamar, just as he had done with 50 Cent and the Game years before. In April 2012, Dre and Lamar release “The Recipe.” Its producer, Scoop DeVille, later told Whoo Kid on Shade45 that the beat was originally intended for Detox. Meanwhile, 50 Cent mused that Detox might only be an EP. “I don’t know if he’s even excited to do it now,” said 50.
In 2014, Eminem producer Dawaun Parker told the podcast “Shots Fired” that Dre’s next album wouldn’t be called Detox. And while describing her recent studio sessions with Rap-Up.com, Marsha Ambrosius told a similar story.
“We went to Hawaii just before the end of last year for a couple of weeks and got to really cram in with the production team that he’s got going now, Focus and the squad,” she said. “Detox was a title that was thrown around so many years ago. . . It sounds like a fitness center now.”
2015: On July 29th, Ice Cube appears on Philadelphia’s Power 99, doing press for the Straight Outta Compton movie and claims that Dre would be dropping his third album – and the soundtrack to the film – on August 1st. “It’s mega. It’s Dr. Dre. It’s what everybody’s been waiting for,” Ice Cube tells the Rise & Grind Morning Show. That same afternoon, multiple sources confirm to Rolling Stone that the record will be released at a later date.
With that, it appears that Dre’s Detox has become a legendary unfinished album, ranking alongside Prince’s Crystal Ball and 2Pac’s One Nation as one of popular music’s great what-ifs. But his forthcoming Straight Outta Compton soundtrack may not be a bad consolation prize.
In This Article: Detox, Dr. Dre
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News & Analysis>Supply Side
Tony Helsham to Leave Volvo Group
Tony Helsham, senior vice president responsible for coordinating the Volvo Group’s aftermarket business, last week said he is leaving the Group Executive Committee on March 31.
Helsham has worked at Volvo since 1985 and held several positions in the Construction Equipment division during his extensive career with the Group. His positions have included being responsible for the integration of Samsung’s excavator equipment operations, following Volvo’s acquisition of the business in 1998. From 2000 to 2008, he was president of Volvo Construction Equipment.
“I have had 25 fantastic years with Volvo, but after living outside my native country, Australia, for 32 years, I began to feel that it is time to return closer to home and my family,” Helsham said.
“Tony Helsham has worked for the Group in Hong Kong, as well as North America, South Korea, Belgium and Sweden and I want to take the opportunity to thank him for his excellent input during his many years at Volvo,” said Volvo’s CEO Leif Johansson.
Volvo is conducting a review to determine how the matter of a successor will be resolved.
Headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden, the Volvo Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of trucks, buses and construction equipment, drive systems for marine and industrial applications, aerospace components and services.
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Bernhard Herrman Robert Streibel - The Wine of Oblivion
It’s hard to imagine a more dramatic and controversial documentary novel. In 1938 the Sandgrube vineyard – one of the most famous vineyard estates in the Wachau valley – is owned by the Jewish businessman Paul Robitschek. His partner is August Rieger. Robitschek and the supposed baron are business partners, as well as glamorous lovers. Denunciations clear the path for the Aryanisation of an estate that would eventually become the basis of the famous Krems vintners’ cooperative – a name that is synonymous with wine and culture far beyond the national borders. This Aryanisation has to date never been the subject of investigation. The authors were able to recover a hoard of documents, enabling them to tell a staggering story of betrayal and loyalty, love and business, destruction and repression.
Emmy Werner - … as if they were called Emma
Does E. love the theatre? Does one ask a fish whether it loves the water? Emmy Werner created her first theatre under her parents’ dining table, a favourite refuge of wartime children. After her early years as an actress she was soon drawn backstage. Only here was she able to develop her full potential – eventually taking on the role of theatre director. But what was life like for a woman who wasn’t prepared to remain invisible in her husband’s shadow? What prejudices did she face? Emmy Werner has written a book that shows courage and gives courages. It is a humorous account that ponders the path of a headstrong woman.
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Alois Brandstetter - At the postman's expense
An anonymous narrator makes a complaint to the postmaster of a small Bavarian country post office about the weaknesses of the postmen: one is an alcoholic, the second a womaniser, the third has succumbed to a cultural vice. Of course, the com-plainant’s discontent also applies to the butcher, the vet, the teachers and others – in short: to the inadequacy of the world. The writer, a local resident, keeps complaining about the postal delivery. It is unreliable, he says; the postal delivery is the most unreliable thing. If that’s the way it is, says Blumauer, if that local resident is complaining about the postal delivery, then the following will happen: I shall complain about my moped.
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Barbara Frischmuth - Nevermind, or how it all panned out
A girl by the name of Nevermind runs away from a camp and comes across the two-pleated toad, which is convinced it has created the world. Together they travel on and are joined by other creatures: a blind hen, a faint-hearted mouse and a loser called Little-Gottfried. All of them are attempting to escape the war, but this can now take on any shape imaginable, and the old, old world is heading for complete destruction. Something has to happen. Eliminate the headquarters! This sounds convincing enough, but nobody knows what or where the headquarters are, much less how they might be eliminated. Luckily the rats decide to step in – when did anything ever work out without the rats?! Can Nevermind succeed in halting the destruction?
Barbara Toth - Living with bonus children
Patchwork families are a common occurrence these days. Yet much too little is said about the women who take on the role of stepmother in these new family structures. More often than not, they see the addition to the family as an enrichment. But how do they deal with the situation if their partner’s children reject them? Or if they don’t manage to develop feelings for their “bonus children”? What happens when sharing a home with your new partner threatens to founder on issues concerning the children? Because there is no universal script for being a stepmother and each family’s story is unique, this extensive analysis of the situation is supplemented by contributions from women talking about their personal experiences. This is a multifaceted reading book on the topic: unadorned, honest and sanguine.
Gudula Walterskirchen - My homeland in ruins
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1918 was a year of radical change and big emotions in Austria. How did the contemporary witnesses experience this time? The aristocracy, bourgeoisie and working classes have their say in authentic accounts. The book brings to light the extremely diverse assessments of that great upheaval. For some it signified the downfall of their homeland and their personal ruin, for others a hopeful new beginning: the mourning of Old Austria and the monarchy, hate for the aristocracy and the Habsburgs, the shock of having been defeated in war, embitterment and resignation, joy over the ending of the war and hope for better times. Gudula Walterskirchen has gathered previously unpublished letters, diaries and recollections which bring that year of great turmoil back to life.
Manfred Wieninger - A presumption of innocence
Kapfenberg in the Austrian Steiermark region, 1957: In the course of a custody battle, Anna Koinegg reports her child’s father, a former member of the Waffen-SS, for having participated in the execution of Jews. The accusation relates to the shooting of 29 Hungarian Jewish forced labourers in Jennersdorf in the early days of 1945, in which he was supposedly involved. But the political mood favours suppression and the charges are brushed under the carpet – until in 1966 the German authorities become involved and the case lands on the desk of former Spanish Civil War activist and detective Hans Landauer. Together the Mannheim lawyers and the disagreeable inspector from Vienna travel to Jennersdorf, to brake the wall of silence and uncover the traces of a massacre that nobody wants to remember...
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Pistol that Van Gogh used to shoot himself sells for $145,000
Rachel Joyner
PARIS (Reuters) - The gun Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh is believed to have used to commit suicide in France in 1890, shooting himself in the chest after years of mental anguish, sold for 130,000 euros ($145,700) at auction in Paris on Wednesday.
FILE PHOTO: The gun believed to be used by painter Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) to shoot himself on July 27, 1890, in Auvers-sur-Oise is presented by Drouot auction house in Paris, France, June 14, 2019. REUTERS/Charles Platiau
An anonymous phone bidder took home the Lefaucheux revolver, its casing heavily rusted and the inlay of the curved handle missing, for more than double the highest estimate put on it by experts at auction house Drouot.
“It is a very emblematic piece,” said auctioneer Gregoire Veyres. “The fact that it’s a gun, it’s an object of death. And if Van Gogh is Van Gogh, it’s because of his suicide and this gun is part of it.”
Van Gogh suffered bouts of psychosis and deep depression throughout his life, with his torment often infusing his art, whether intensely painted self portraits or other notable works including The Starry Night and Sunflowers.
He is also notorious for having chopped off part of his own left ear with a razor blade during an argument with fellow artist Paul Gauguin.
Van Gogh died at Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris in July 1890, aged just 37, more than two days after shooting himself in the chest in a wheat field where he had previously painted.
After failing to kill himself instantly, he stumbled back to the inn where he was staying and was looked after by the innkeeper, Arthur Ravoux, and his daughter Adeline, who was 13 at the time and recounted the events more than 60 years later.
“I have tried to kill myself,” Van Gogh is reputed to have told Ravoux. The artist had spent more than two months at the inn, producing a whirlwind of some 80 paintings in what would be his final, distraught flurry of creativity.
Searches for the gun began the day after he died but the likely weapon was not found until the 1960s, in the same field, with the correct caliber and showing indications that it had been fired.
It was discovered by a farmer and ended up in the possession of a woman whose child was the seller.
“There are lot of indicators that favor its attribution,” said Veyres.
Exhaustive efforts to confirm the gun’s link to Van Gogh, including tests that established it had been buried for 50 to 80 years, led to a 2012 book.
A similar Lefaucheux revolver used by Paul Verlaine to try to kill his lover and fellow poet Arthur Rimbaud in 1873 was sold at auction in Paris in 2016, fetching 434,500 euros.
Writing by Rachel Joyner; Editing by Luke Baker and John Stonestreet
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Target LGBT
Pride and protest: Stonewall rally to look back and ahead
Daniel Trotta, Maria Caspani
NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - Activists from around the world will rally in New York’s Greenwich Village on Friday to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the birth of the LGBTQ movement and decry a wave of Trump administration policies they view as a setback for their cause.
The anniversary marks the moment on June 28, 1969, when patrons of a Greenwich Village gay bar called the Stonewall Inn rose up in defiance of police harassment. The unrest triggered a national and global movement for equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other queer people.
While the anniversary promises to have a celebratory air, activists see the occasion as a way to protest U.S. President Donald Trump’s record, which many consider to be hostile to LGBTQ people. They also want to highlight the still-precarious position of LGBTQ people in many parts of the world.
“It’s always a good time to protest,” said Lisa Cannistraci, activist and owner of the New York lesbian bar Henrietta Hudson, referring to the Pride parade. “Trump got elected and it was devastating for the country, (but) there is a huge silver lining, and that is people are paying attention.”
Friday’s rally, organized by NYC Pride, commemorates the events that unfolded outside the Stonewall Inn half a century ago. It is one of the highlights of a month of World Pride festivities, along with a parade on Sunday, that are expected to draw up to 4 million people to New York.
Many LGBTQ activists have fiercely opposed a series of Trump administration initiatives, including a ban on transgender people for the military, cuts in HIV/AIDS research and support for so-called religious freedom initiatives that eliminate LGBTQ protections.
The White House claims Trump has long advocated LGBTQ equality, noting that this year he became the first Republican president to recognize Pride Month and that he has backed a global campaign to decriminalize homosexuality.
“President Trump has never considered LGBT Americans second-class citizens and has opposed discrimination of any kind against them,” White House spokesman Judd Deere said in a statement.
The message has been lost on many LGBTQ people, as the Trump administration opposes extending anti-discrimination protection to gay or transgender workers under federal employment law, a legal issue currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, with a ruling due within a year.
Elle Hearns, a black transgender woman who runs the Marsh P. Johnson Institute promoting trans human rights, said trans people also feel distanced from the corporate sponsorship of Pride events, especially when those same corporations support other Trump policies and allies.
“There are literally black trans women being murdered across the country in poor ravaged ghettos that these corporations have done nothing to invest any money in but have certainly encouraged gentrification. It’s left the community destitute,” Hearns said.
At least 10 transgender people have been murdered in the United States in 2019 after 26 were killed in 2018 and 29 in 2017, according to Human Rights Campaign. Nearly all were trans women of color.
Reporting by Daniel Trotta in New York; Editing by Frank McGurty and Bill Berkrot
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Jessica Bigazzi Foster
Senior Partner, Practice Leader, Executive Bench®
jfoster@rhrinternational.com
LinkedIn: Jessica Bigazzi Foster
Dr. Jessica Bigazzi Foster is a senior partner and serves as leader of RHR’s Executive Bench practice area, an end-to-end solution for strengthening the long-term executive pipeline. She is also responsible for standing up RHR’s newest offerings.
In addition to her leadership role, Jessica’s work with clients includes senior-level executive development, talent management, and team effectiveness. She manages large global accounts for RHR, with a particular focus on systemic pipelining of near- and long-term C-suite successors. Jessica has worked with clients across industries including retail, financial services, private equity, insurance, healthcare, staffing, energy, and telecommunications.
Prior to joining RHR International, Jessica was a professor of industrial and organizational psychology at Purdue University. Her research, teaching, and speaking engagements focused in the areas of employment testing, gender and leadership, executive performance and emotional regulation, and work-life balance.
Jessica received her doctorate in industrial and organizational psychology from Rice University in Houston, and she holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Davidson College in North Carolina. She lives in Atlanta with her husband and two sons and can most frequently be found on the bleachers of a little league game.
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Donald Trump was riding a modest electoral wave in certain parts of the country, but it was not large enough to overwhelm a reasonably capable Democratic candidate with a decent political strategy. Trump’s vote did not burst the levees; it barely lapped over the top of them in the industrial Midwest. The “blue wall” was too low by just a foot or two.
But why was the election even close enough for bad strategy in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, or utter incompetence by the FBI director, to matter? Trump obviously benefited from extreme polarization. The proposition “anyone but Hillary” was tested, with Republicans (and others) ultimately rallying to “anyone.” The Obama coalition – including young, minority and college-educated voters – did not turn out in sufficient numbers. And an appeal to racial and ethnic resentment remains disturbingly potent in our politics – the continuing evidence of America’s original sin.
But here is the largest, long-term Democratic challenge: It has become a provincial party. It is highly concentrated in urban areas and clings to the coasts. But our constitutional system puts emphasis on holding geography, particularly in the House of Representatives and the Electoral College. It is difficult for Democrats to prevail from isolated islands of deep blue. In 2012, President Barack Obama won the presidency with fewer than 700 counties out of more than 3,000 in America – a historical low. Clinton carried a little under 500 – about 15 percent of the total.
This is another way of saying that the Democratic candidate for president can’t prevail – at least at the moment – when she receives less than 30 percent of the vote from the white, non-college-educated Americans who live in the spaces between the cities. Most of these voters were not examining public policy and calculating their interests – except in the vague sense that they don’t like sending American jobs abroad and don’t want anyone messing with their Social Security. They were convinced that Trump has their back. Democrats have become symbolically estranged from white, working-class America.
What are the Democratic options moving forward?
First, there is the Bernie Sanders option – the embrace of a leftist populism that amounts to democratic socialism. This might also be called the Jeremy Corbyn option, after the leftist leader of the British Labour Party who has ideologically purified his party into political irrelevance.
Second, there is the Joe Biden option – a liberalism that makes a sustained outreach to union members and other blue-collar workers while showing a Catholic religious sensibility on issues of social justice.
Third, there is the option of doubling down on the proven Barack Obama option, which requires a candidate who can excite rather than sedate the Obama-era base.
Democrats should not over-learn the lessons of a close election. Option No. 3 is the Democratic future on the presidential level. Clinton was correct to appeal to a slightly modified version of the Obama coalition (fewer African American and millennial voters, but more support from Latinos and college-educated women). She simply could not pull it off. But for the foreseeable future, Democrats will also need a dash of No. 2, including a more accommodating attitude toward religion and associational rights. In this election, evangelicals and white Catholics sensed real hostility to their institutions from law school liberalism.
There is a serious prospect, however, that Democrats will choose No. 1. There would be many reverberations for our politics. But chiefly, America would cease to have a center-left party and a center-right party. Both radicalized institutions would exaggerate our national differences, becoming the political equivalent of the hard-left and hard-right media. And the cause of national unity would be damaged even further.
Michael Gerson’s email address is michaelgerson@washpost.com.
Michael Gerson, columnist for The Washington Post James Kegley
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microSD Card YouTube Go | SanDisk
Ultra microSDXC YouTube Go | SanDisk
SANDISK ANNOUNCES SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH LEE AND LI, ITS TAIWAN LAW FIRM
SUNNYVALE, CA, NOVEMBER 15, 2003 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today announced that it has concluded a settlement agreement with Lee and Li, SanDisk's Taiwan law firm, concerning the embezzled UMC shares owned by SanDisk that were held under the control of Lee and Li. Approximately 127.8 million UMC shares with a cost basis of $83.3 million were sold in unauthorized transactions by a former Lee and Li employee. Pursuant to the settlement agreement, SanDisk received from Lee and Li a cash payment of $20.0 million, an additional $45.0 million secured by irrevocable standby letters of credit payable over four years, and a credit in the amount of $18.3 million to be applied against future legal services. SanDisk will record a non-operating charge of $18.3 million to its third quarter results, as the credit amount is unsecured.
SanDisk first discussed this issue in a conference call held on October 15, 2003, and in a press release issued the same day after being advised of the missing shares by Lee and Li on October 14, 2003. Lee and Li originally informed SanDisk that approximately 121 million UMC shares were embezzled by its former employee. Based on subsequent information provided by Lee and Li, SanDisk has now learned that approximately 127.8 million UMC shares owned by SanDisk and under the control of Lee and Li were sold in unauthorized transactions starting on August 6, 2003, and ending on September 15, 2003. The net proceeds from the unauthorized sales, amounting to approximately $92 million, were embezzled by a former employee of Lee and Li, who is now a fugitive. Lee and Li has informed SanDisk that it has launched investigations in several countries to apprehend their former employee and to recover the stolen assets. To date, no amounts have been recovered. Lee and Li and SanDisk believe that insurance will likely not cover this loss.
Pursuant to the settlement agreement, SanDisk received a cash payment of $20.0 million at the time of signing the settlement agreement on November 14, 2003. Lee and Li will pay SanDisk an additional $45.0 million over four years in sixteen quarterly installments secured by irrevocable standby letters of credit. Further, Lee and Li has extended a credit in the amount of $18.3 million to SanDisk to be applied against future legal services provided by Lee and Li over a number of years. In the event that SanDisk does not fully utilize the credit for future legal services in a given year, Lee and Li will annually remit one-third of the unused credit amount for that year to SanDisk and SanDisk will donate such amount to its corporate charitable fund. The remaining two-thirds of the unused credit will be donated by Lee and Li in equal amounts to the Taiwan Red Cross and to a joint SanDisk/Lee and Li Lecture Program to promote integrated education in business, technology and law in Taiwan and China. If any of the stolen assets are recovered, the net amount after recovery expenses will be split between SanDisk and Lee and Li, the majority of which will act to accelerate the recovery of SanDisk's book cost of the stolen shares, $83.3 million. If SanDisk receives the full $83.3 million, Lee and Li will be relieved of any remaining credit commitment. If there are any excess recovered funds, the net amount after recovery expenses will be distributed equally between SanDisk and Lee and Li, with SanDisk receiving up to a total maximum amount of $106.6 million, the fair market value of the shares at September 28, 2003.
In its third quarter 2003 Form 10-Q to be filed on November 17, 2003, SanDisk will record the stolen shares net of settlement proceeds as a one time non-operating charge of $18.3 million to its third quarter results as this amount is unsecured and SanDisk may not be able to fully utilize the credit for future Lee and Li legal services. Additionally, the balance sheet will reflect a non-cash decrease in investments in foundries, which will be reduced by $106.6 million from SanDisk's third quarter 2003 financial results issued on October 15, 2003, and a corresponding increase relating to the settlement of $28.4 million in short-term other receivables and $36.6 million in long-term other receivables. The third quarter tax provision will include an additional non-cash tax charge that is a reversal of a prior year tax-related benefit of approximately $24.4 million triggered by the sale of these shares, partially offset by a tax benefit of approximately $7 million on the recognized third quarter charge of $18.3 million.
Eli Harari, President and CEO of SanDisk said, "This embezzlement by a former employee of Lee and Li has been an unfortunate and painful event for both SanDisk and Lee and Li. I am very pleased that our two companies have arrived at a settlement. Both SanDisk and Lee and Li can now refocus our energies on the excellent business opportunities that are opening up for both our companies in Taiwan and China. I am particularly thankful to Dr. C.V. Chen, Senior Partner at Lee and Li, for his tireless efforts and leadership in reaching this agreement with SanDisk. I wish Lee and Li, its partners and employees success and good luck in future years."
Charles Van Orden, Vice President and General Counsel of SanDisk said, "We do not believe that the acts of a single rogue employee should alter the 40+-year solid reputation of one of the region's premiere law firms. In the past several weeks, we have come to know several of the firm's fine partners. As we pursue extensive new opportunities in Taiwan and mainland China, we look forward to continuing our relationship with the firm."
Separate from these 127.8 million UMC shares, SanDisk sold 35 million UMC shares in September, 2003, the proceeds of which, amounting to approximately $30 million, are in the United States in SanDisk's custody. This sale was reported in SanDisk's third quarter results. Additionally SanDisk still holds approximately 20 million UMC shares. The 127.8 million UMC shares had a cost basis for SanDisk of $83.3 million and were valued at approximately $106.6 million based on their trading price on the Taiwan Stock Exchange at the end of the third quarter.
SanDisk, the world's largest supplier of flash memory data storage card products, designs, manufactures and markets industry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audio storage products using its patented, high density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, CA.
The matters discussed in this news release contain forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, including the Company's ability or the ability of Lee and Li to locate and recover the embezzled funds and assets, the ability of Lee and Li to provide services on credit that they have agreed to provide, the ability of the Company to collect on the irrevocable letters of credit in the event of default on such payments, and the ultimate receipt by the Company of all amounts due it under the agreement . The Company assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.
SanDisk's web site/home page address: www.sandisk.com
All trade names are either registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders.
CONTACT: Bob Goligoski
bgoligoski@sandisk.com
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SGL Entertainment
Movie and Film Studios
Founded in 1996 by Jeffrey A. Swanson, SGL Entertainment Releasing is a worldwide major independent movie and film distribution company. With over twenty years of experience in the entertainment business, SGL Entertainment has acquired a large number of partnerships, that has allowed us to make our titles available on most all major platforms worldwide including: Blu-Ray, DVD, and all of the Latest Cutting Edge Digital On-Demand Services. Our Award Winning Films have Topped the sales charts at Amazon and Several of the Top VOD platforms. SGL Entertainment is also one of the leading distribution companies for cult classic films including movies like Alice, Sweet Alice (Brooke Shields), The Witchmaker, Suspiria and Many More. Also, SGL Entertainment made history and started a revolution when we began selling movies on USB Flash Drives. And, just recently SGL Entertainment launched their highly successful movie streaming subscription service called The Killer Movie Channel.
© 2017 SGL Entertainment
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Is the Venture Capital Bubble About to Burst
May 14, 2019 | By Tara Naughter | startup growth, Venture Capital, startup funding, Fundraising
Over the past decade, the venture-capital industry has seen tremendous growth. Last year alone, over $160 billion was spent on investments in startup companies worldwide. The interest from investors in early-stage companies has nearly tripled over the years and deal counts have continued to climb. But is it possible for this momentum to last?
Below we'll review the current state of affairs in the venture-capital sector, what has led to its rapid growth in recent years, and how the industry's financial bubble may soon be ready to burst.
Where Has All This Growth Come From?
One of the major factors leading to the growth of venture capital has been the excitement surrounding new technological advancements that young startup companies are introducing. Combine this factor with a newer generation of younger, unsophisticated investors, and the result has been an all-time-high in capital investments.
Another element leading to higher IPOs has been growing competition with venture capital groups and large investment firms. With CVC investors eager to get a stake in the next big thing before someone else, 2018 saw record-breaking offers being made and megafunds arranged with a focus on closing investment deals in record time.
Bad Investment Habits Could Spell Trouble
There have been some dangerous trends over the past few years that have led to some instability in the venture capital sector. With new investors entering the scene, there continue to be more undisciplined decisions being made towards unicorn investments and unsuccessful companies. It seems that while there has been excitement around new technology startups and their perceived potential, not enough due diligence is being made into the financial impact of large-scale investments and the overall sustainability of these organizations.
Another issue in the investment scene has to do with companies being purchased with inflated valuations as part of a "spray and pray" investment strategy. Much of this has to do with a lack of understanding or consideration into the business models of these organizations and instead, putting more focus on playing a numbers game and hoping for an early payout. The new trend for many of today's young startups is to build a company with the primary focus of getting acquired, rather than investing the time and resources necessary to create a long-term, scalable business.
Unfortunately, the way things are going, it's inevitable that this financial bubble is about to burst. With 80 percent of so-called "unicorn" companies being set to fail within two years of inception, now is not the time to invest without thorough due diligence.
How To Get Back On Track
All is not lost, however, in getting the venture capital sector back on track - but it will take a lot of effort. A critical balancing act first needs to take place when it comes to both the short- and long-term expectations of larger investments. This will require new mindsets from investment groups and CEOs alike, forcing a better understanding of a "business concept" versus a "sound business strategy".
Venture capital investors also need to be more realistic when it comes to understanding their risks and give better attention to business valuations. This will ensure a more disciplined approach to investing and help foster better relationships between investors and company founders.
While the future of venture capital may seem grim, it's important to know that nothing is certain when it comes to the elasticity of this financial bubble. Regardless, you can guarantee that in the next few years we will see a drastic change in how investors view and value big technology organizations, with significantly fewer investments in unicorn companies.
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Ransomware On Android Devices More Than Doubles This Year
Posted by securepointtech On September 5, 2017
You may have heard the statistic from Google that less than 0.05 percent of Android devices downloaded malware in 2016. It’s a great statistic, and one that the company should be proud of.
Here’s a statistic they’re not talking about nearly as much: this year, the number of successful ransomware attacks against Android devices has more than doubled. This comes on the heels of a recent announcement by Lookout, a cyber-security firm, that discovered literally thousands of malicious apps on Google’s Play Store.
Until recently, the company seemed to be making all the right moves, and was one of the few firms that seemed to be beating the hackers at their own game. The robust series of checks and validations that apps have to go through before they find their way onto the Play Store seemed to be working…right up until they weren’t.
Now, the company has been rocked back on its heels and is scrambling to put additional security measures in place, and to delete the thousands of rogue apps on the store.
According to Malwarebytes, the “Big Three” strains of ransomware Android users should be on the lookout for as follows:
• Koler
• SLocker
• Jisut
Collectively, these three accounted for fully 95 percent of all ransomware attacks against Android devices, although what’s driving the hackers to suddenly focus on these three. and Android devices in particular, is unclear at this time.
In addition to ransomware threats, the security firm Zscaler identified two ransomware threats in particular to be mindful of: he “Bubble Shooter Wild Life” app, and the “Earn Real Money Gift Card” app.
A look at the source code of the gift card app reveals it to be a cousin to “BankBot,” which is a family of malware quite popular among hackers. It succeeds by successfully manipulating Android’s Accessibility permissions, which allows it to install other apps without the user’s permission.
All told, the stats paint a grim picture. Google certainly has its work cut out for it, and if you own an Android device, you’ll want to be even more mindful of your device’s security than usual.
Photo Site 500PX Hit With Data Breach Recently
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Even Google Can Get Hacked
The U.S. Is The Most At Risk Nation For Cyber Attacks
Adobe Releases Massive Update To Patch Its Products
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How Oakland is including black, brown people in marijuana industry
Local // News
Otis R. Taylor Jr. Dec. 22, 2017 Updated: Dec. 22, 2017 6 a.m.
Jahful Price hangs cannabis plants to dry at NUG’s warehouse in East Oakland. Price is on a paid internship at NUG and getting hands-on experience in cannabis cultivation.
Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle
In a dark room, Jahful Price slowly worked a row of pungent plants guided by his headlamp.
He wore a white biohazard suit, methodically picking up cannabis plants by their stems and hanging them upside down on a rack with plastic clothes hangers.
Price, a 31-year-old Oakland resident who is black, is getting hands-on experience in cannabis cultivating that he hopes will help him run his own business one day.
Since July, he’s had a paid internship at NUG, a cannabis business owned by Bloom Innovations, a horticulture consulting and management firm in Oakland. NUG chose Nine Mile Tribe, a business owned by Price’s family, as one of its equity partners.
The partnership — and the opportunity it’s created for Price and others — is how Oakland’s cannabis equity program should work. It should be a training ground so people of color don’t flail and get left in the dust of California’s marijuana gold rush.
Oakland’s cannabis ordinances require the city to give at least half of all available cannabis permits to people who were convicted of a marijuana-related offense in Oakland, earn an income less than 80 percent of the city average or have lived for 10 of the past 20 years in an Oakland neighborhood that saw a disproportionately high number of cannabis arrests. General applicants may also apply under the equity program by agreeing to “incubate” equity applicants by providing 1,000 square feet of free space.
A look at NUG and its partnership with Nine Mile Tribe in East Oakland shows it’s working.
“It should be like this for every equity applicant in Oakland,” Price told me when he took a break from sweeping fallen leaves. “It would be helping them get the education that they need from just learning the business part.”
Because he’s grown with NUG, Price will be able to cultivate a top-notch plant as soon as he gets his own greenhouse. But he wants to do more than grow pot.
“He’s just part of the crew, so it’s great,” said John Oram, the white CEO of Bloom Innovations. “Now he’s expressed interest at looking at other departments, so we’ll make that happen.”
Bloom distributes cannabis products — seeds, flowers, concentrates, infused edibles and more — under the brand name NUG, a Bloom subsidiary. Bloom, which employs more than 100 people, is incubating six equity applicants. Two companies have taken paid internships.
Last month, my colleague Sarah Ravani reported that Oakland received 255 applications for business permits to cultivate, sell, distribute and transport marijuana legally under the state cannabis laws that take effect Jan. 1. More than half — 129 — were equity applications.
I support the idea of the equity program. But what bugs me is that Oakland hasn’t provided specific guidelines on how the equity program should work. That’s been left up to partnerships between general and equity applicants to figure it out on their own, and I’ve heard not all relationships are budding like the one between Nine Mile Tribe and NUG.
“The concept is beautiful, but you gotta really define what it means to be incubated,” said Charles Byrd, Price’s uncle and a partner in Nine Mile Tribe. “They’re not fully developing that concept. Incubation is more than just providing the space.”
Byrd’s sister and Price’s mother, Lynda Byrd, is the CEO of Nine Mile Tribe. She satisfied Oakland’s stringent equity qualifications, barely meeting the residency requirement. The three met Jessica Rountree, NUG’s equity program manager, at a cannabis mixer at City Hall in May.
Jahful Price (left) and his uncle Charles Byrd of Nine Mile Tribe hang cannabis to dry at Bloom Innovations, a horticulture consulting and management firm that distributes cannabis products such as seeds, flowers, concentrates, infused edibles and more under the brand name NUG, on Wednesday, December 13, 2017, in Oakland, CA.
“What I was looking for were not just people that fulfilled the requirement, I was looking for something that was mutually beneficial,” Rountree said. “It’s actually a mentorship, a partnership where we work together.”
The six businesses that NUG is incubating will have 1,200-square-foot greenhouses on a lot in East Oakland. More importantly, they’ll have access to the operation of a thriving business. According to Oram, NUG has 450 sales accounts throughout California.
I recently visited NUG’s East Oakland warehouse, and Oram gave me a tour. In the middle of NUG’s office is a display case of the company’s products. Everything — cultivation, cloning, trimming, extraction, infusion, packaging — is done under one roof.
There are separate rooms for different stages of a plant’s growth cycle. Plants are treated with biological pest control, tiny microbes that kill bugs so other plants aren’t contaminated. A central computer system controls the nutrients and water delivered to plants. The computer also controls heating and cooling, lighting and irrigation.
NUG designed the tables and trays for their plants, as well as the racks that are used to transport harvested plants to the room where they sit for 10 days to dry and cure.
NUG, which harvests twice a week, tracks the entire history of plants, including who trimmed it. When I visited, 35 people were trimming plants by hand. Two unplugged trimming machines collected dust nearby.
“We’ve tried a few of these and they just don’t produce the quality,” Oram said. “We’d rather do it all by hand.”
The automated greenhouses for NUG’s equity program will have augmented lighting and an irrigation system.
“They’re going far and beyond what the requirements are,” Byrd said. “And they’ve been kind enough to extend us a loan as part of this process, and nobody else is doing that.”
More from Otis R. Taylor Jr.
By Otis R. Taylor Jr.
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From tent to shed: Change is overwhelming for homeless woman
It was a $10,000 loan — with no interest. Really, who does that?
“I don’t want to just check the box and move on. I want to do it extremely well,” Oram told me. “I could’ve just put up six, 1,000-square-foot cheap greenhouses and said, ‘Here you go.’ But there’s no guarantee of success.”
The equity program requires the incubator relationship to be consistent for three years, Oram said. If an equity applicant’s business fails, then the general applicant is at risk.
“You could have three years of failed relationships,” Oram said. “I didn’t want that to happen. I really want to see our partners thrive and succeed.”
NUG even paid for an attorney to review the 25-page contract Nine Mile Tribe signed with NUG. Byrd chose the attorney.
“We couldn’t afford to pay the money, but the group paid for it so we really got a square deal,” said Byrd, who estimates the value of the three-year incubation at $270,000.
There’s another deal on the table for when Nine Mile Tribe harvests its first crop: Oram has offered to distribute the product.
“They don’t ever have to worry about distribution if they don’t want to,” he said.
San Francisco Chronicle columnist Otis R. Taylor Jr. appears Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Email: otaylor@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @otisrtaylorjr
Follow Otis R. on:
https://www.facebook.com/SFChronicle/otisrtaylorjr
Otis R. Taylor Jr. is the East Bay columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, focusing on the people who make the region a fascinating place to live and work. A South Carolina transplant, Otis spent more than a decade at The (Columbia, S.C.) State newspaper, writing about arts, culture and entertainment. Previously, Otis was the managing editor of a tech startup. Otis is interested in reporting on issues relating to diversity and equality in the East Bay, as well as the region’s history, culture and politics. He studied English at Clemson University.
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Pedestrian killed after being struck, dragged by big rig in hit-and-run
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Everything begins with love
Galina Kalyuzhnaya — an Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine and the Head of Minsk’s Zapovit Public Association (soon to celebrate its 25th jubilee) — can hardly imagine her life in Belarus without strong ties with Ukraine
Galina Kalyuzhnaya — an Honoured Worker of Culture of Ukraine and the Head of Minsk’s Zapovit Public Association (soon to celebrate its 25th jubilee) — can hardly imagine her life in Belarus without strong ties with Ukraine. She has lived in the Republic for over 50 years but still endeavours to help Belarusians learn about the rich and beautiful culture of her homeland
Ms. Kalyuzhnaya called our editorial office asking us to tell our readers of a wonderful contest dedicated to Taras Shevchenko’s 200th birthday. Later, she visited personally, showing us drawings submitted by pupils of Minsk’s art schools and centres of supplementary education. I soon realised that our conversation would focus on more than those drawings. Her manner aroused sincere sympathy and respect, being full of enthusiasm for the Ukrainian community, which she headed 15 years ago.
We heard stories of Ukrainets v Belarusi (Ukrainian in Belarus) newspaper, of her devoted assistants and of co-operation with schools and libraries — in particular, with the National Library of Belarus. Last year, the country’s major library hosted a round table session dedicated to ‘Taras Shevchenko and the Influence of His Artistry on the Slavonic Spiritual World’. Initiated by the National Library’s Director, Roman Motulsky, it drew experts from the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences’ Literary Institute and the Belarusian State University.
Ms. Kalyuzhnaya tells us that Mr. Motulsky was born in Lvov Region, so understands Ukrainian feeling well and cherishes Ukrainian literature. Her own life is intricately connected with books, as she worked at a Trade Union library for many years. “She is unique,” notes Mr. Motulsky, adding, “Anyone would envy her energy. Everything she does is wrapped in the warmth of her heart.”
It’s possible that Ms. Kalyuzhnaya’s forefathers once lived in Belarus. After her mother died, she came to stay with Minsk relatives, travelling from Ukrainian Dubno (in Rovno Region). Galina grew up in the Belarusian capital, entering the Maxim Tank Pedagogical University, to study librarianship. She then married in Belarus, having two daughters. She firmly believes that Fate has played its hand, feeling that she is destined to strengthen Ukraine’s ties with Belarus, having left her homeland. Ms. Kalyuzhnaya has adopted this mission eagerly, while working at a Minsk library.
Some people become heavily involved in public activities, devoting their excessive energy selflessly, to help others. Of course, this brings joy and inspiration and Ms. Kalyuzhnaya is one such. In 2005, she headed the first Ukrainian association: Zapovit. Before this, she led a department at library #20, working hard to unite Ukrainians living in Minsk and to familiarise Belarusians with Ukrainian culture, via meetings, literary and song parties and diverse contests for both nationalities.
Zapovit is now among the nine strongest branches of the Belarusian Vatra Public Association of Ukrainians, uniting around 100 members; Ms. Kalyuzhnaya fully appreciates their activities and is always ready to share information on its work with the media, describing its new projects. She notes that all its members are similarly active and passionate. Among them are Alena Yudina, Anna Sapsay, Yaroslav Kozyuk, Nadezhda Nemko and Olga Sukharenko; all give their time and effort, and Ms. Kalyuzhnaya appreciates their involvement and friendship.
When asked whether she’s tired of 15 years of such work, she asserts that she has no time to become tired, as there is too much to do! The next major event is planned for March 9th: the anniversary of Taras Shevchenko’s 201st birthday. Her newspaper also requires funds and time and has been helping those seeking refuge in Belarus, from Ukraine. Naturally, Ukrainians already living here have been doing their best to help those in trouble, donating clothes, food and footwear to the Red Cross Society office. Everyone hopes that the east of Ukraine will soon enjoy peace.
Those who are truly cultured tend to be recognised for their tolerant attitude to other nations and their desire to learn about all spheres of art, literature and other nations’ customs. Of course, Belarus shares Slavonic roots with its neighbours. Ms. Kalyuzhnaya tells us, “It’s not only useful for Ukrainians to sing their native songs and feel unity with their homeland but for Belarusians to listen and to learn the Ukrainian language.” She believes that Ukrainians enrich their souls while listening to music in Belarusian, since it is similar to Ukrainian. The Vatra folk group has won international, Republican and city festivals three times, while poetry and art contests are now common among Belarusian schoolchildren, enriching not only participants but all involved. Zapovit has twice held contests for readers and for artists: dedicated to the 195th and 200th anniversaries of Taras Shevchenko’s birth.
Works of the winners and other participants of Shevchenko Contest of Drawings, dedicated to Taras Shevchenko’s 200th birthday
It’s clear that such contests should be a regular occurrence, allowing Ukrainians to draw strength from their love for their native country. Ms. Kalyuzhnaya recollects with pleasure the awards ceremony for the 2nd Minsk Shevchenko Contest of Readers and the 2nd Shevchenko Contest of Drawings, hosted by Minsk’s Palace of Children and Youth. She smiles, “It was a triumph for the artistic spirit and friendship between our nations. The desire to organise it is rooted deep in our human nature, nurtured since childhood, and shaped by our environment and other cultures. Art inspires us to our own endeavours, be they singing, reading, drawing or sculpting. Art is a gift from God.”
The above mentioned contests gathered over 200 children, with more than 60 receiving diplomas, letters of gratitude and recognition, as well as collections of Taras Shevchenko’s books. In all, 140 editions were presented, with 22 participants named as winners and awards handed by representatives of the Ukrainian Embassy to Belarus, the Plenipotentiary for Religious and Nationality Affairs Office, the National Library, the Union of Belarusian Artists and the Minsk City Executive Committee’s Education Department.
Zapovit members attended the event, which recognised winners in two nominations: ‘Taras Shevchenko is a Great Humanist, Singer, and Fighter for the Freedom and Independence of the Ukrainian Nation’; and ‘The Spiritual Influence of Taras Shevchenko’s Freedom-Loving Ideas on the Artistry of Belarusian Folk Poets Yanka Kupala and Yakub Kolas’.
Interestingly, 24 streets across various cities are named after Taras Shevchenko and not only Ukrainian but Belarusian fans of his artistry attend his monuments in Minsk, Brest, Mogilev, Gomel and Slutsk on the anniversary of his birth. Ms. Kalyuzhnaya will be coming to Shevchenko’s monument near the Ukrainian Embassy in Minsk this year, to honour the great poet, bringing her love and flowers. As she says, her heart continues beating only owing to this love.
By Valentina Zhdanovich
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The 73,000-year-old line design could have had special meaning for its makers, researchers say
1:00pm, September 12, 2018
DRAWN OUT The 73,000-year-old red marks on this stone from a South African cave are remnants of a crosshatched design that researchers regard as the earliest known drawing.
Magazine issue: Vol. 194, No. 7, October 13, 2018, p. 6
A red, crosshatched design adorning a rock from a South African cave may take the prize as the oldest known drawing.
Ancient humans sketched the line pattern around 73,000 years ago by running a chunk of pigment across a smoothed section of stone in Blombos Cave, scientists say. Until now, the earliest drawings dated to roughly 40,000 years ago on cave walls in Europe and Indonesia.
The discovery “helps round out the argument that Homo sapiens [at Blombos Cave] behaved essentially like us before 70,000 years ago,” says archaeologist Christopher Henshilwood of the University of Bergen in Norway.
His team noticed the ancient drawing while examining thousands of stone fragments and tools excavated in 2011 from cave sediment. Other finds have included 100,000- to 70,000-year-old pigment chunks engraved with crosshatched and line designs (SN Online: 6/12/09), 100,000-year-old abalone shells containing remnants of a pigment-infused paint (SN: 11/19/11, p. 16) and shell beads from around the same time.
The faded pattern consists of six upward-oriented lines crossed at an angle by three slightly curved lines, the researchers report online September 12 in Nature. Microscopic and chemical analyses showed that the lines were composed of a reddish, earthy pigment known as ocher.
The lines end abruptly at the rock’s edges, indicating that a larger and possibly more complex version of the drawing originally appeared on a bigger stone, the researchers say. Tiny pigment particles dotted the rock’s drawing surface, which had been ground smooth. Henshilwood suspects the chunk of rock was part of a large grinding stone on which people scraped pieces of pigment into crayonlike shapes.
Crosshatched designs similar to the drawing have been found engraved on shells at the site, Henshilwood says. So the patterns may have held some sort of meaning for their makers. But it’s hard to know whether the crossed lines represent an abstract idea or a real-life concern. Some modern hunter-gatherer societies create abstract-looking designs that actually depict animals, objects or people, he says.
Whatever the drawing’s original significance, it shows that Stone Age folk in southern Africa communicated something they considered important by applying crosshatched patterns to different surfaces, says archaeologist Paul Pettitt of Durham University in England. “If there is any point at which one can say that symbolic activity had emerged in human society, this is it.”
But archaeologist Maxime Aubert of Griffith University in Southport, Australia, isn’t so sure. Henshilwood’s team can’t exclude the possibility, for example, that the apparent drawing accidentally resulted from people sharpening the tips of pigment chunks on rocks to make Stone Age crayons, Aubert says.
Henshilwood disagrees. Experimental reproductions of the crosshatched pigment pattern, drawn on rocks like those at the South African cave, indicate that the lines were intentionally produced and were originally darker and better defined, he says. Previous evidence also suggested that ancient humans at the cave used pigment as a glue ingredient and possibly as a sunscreen. But the experimental drawings produced too little powder to use as a glue additive or a sunblock. Ancient pigment wielders appear to have wanted only to draw a design on the stone.
Henshilwood’s team has demonstrated how to identify deliberate drawings at ancient human sites by excluding other possible explanations for making pigment strokes, says archaeologist Gerrit van den Bergh of the University of Wollongong in Australia. “It is likely that further evidence for early symbolic behavior will be found in the very near future.”
C. Henshilwood et al. An abstract drawing from the 73,000-year-old levels at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Nature. Published online September 12, 2018. doi:10.1038/s41586-018-0514-3.
B. Bower. Indonesian stencils rival age of Europe’s early cave art. Science News. Vol. 186, November 15, 2014, p. 6.
B. Bower. European cave art gets older. Science News. Vol. 182, July 28, 2012, p. 15.
B. Bower. Stone Age paint shop unearthed. Science News. Vol. 180, November 19, 2011, p. 16.
B. Bower. Engraved pigments point to ancient symbolic tradition. Science News Online, June 12, 2009.
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Uratex Holds Golf Tournament with Auto Industry Partners
at Monday, October 22, 2018
Uratex has been a long-time partner with the country’s biggest automotive industry players, mostly composed of Japanese companies. In celebration of its 50th anniversary, Uratex took its stakeholders to a day off on a golf course.
At the height of production of the automotive industry in the Philippines during the 90’s, Uratex has held several small golf tournaments with its partners, especially with its golf-loving Japanese colleagues. The difference this time, was that Uratex brought all of its partners in a single tournament where they can all enjoy and play in the spirit of camaraderie and sportsmanship.
The event also served as a throwback, especially to Uratex Managing Director, Ms. Peachy Medina, “this golf tournament brings back a lot of good memories, because my father used to host this kind of event every year for our automotive industry partners. And I believe he is smiling at us right now”. It has been an annual tradition which was started by Uratex founder, Robert G. Cheng to hold events like this during his time. “Nobody really plays golf in the family”, Ms. Medina said, it, but the spirit of organizing such event still hold ups; “it is something to think about”, Ms. Medina added whether this tradition should be brought back.
Uratex executives repeatedly expressed their appreciation for the continued partnerships with the automotive industry players, which were the first to build a relationship with the company during its earlier years. “The Japanese automotive industry has given Uratex a lot of help from the productivity programs we have adapted from them”, RGC Group of Companies Executive Vice President for Automotive, Mr. Eddie Gallor said, “we have taught these concepts and knowledge to our employees which may have lead us to this point, celebrating our 50th anniversary”. Uratex Corporate Sales Director, Mr. Dindo Medina added that, “we have imbibed the culture of the automotive community, including the Japanese practices, and we have converted these practices as part of our culture”.
RGC Group of Companies Executive Vice President for Furniture and Bedding, Mr. William Lee recounts the beginnings of Uratex in the 70’s, when it started as a supplier of foam for car seats for automotive assemblers to the present when it now provides more car parts to its partners. “We have expanded our business into not only car seats, but also with other parts such as the muffler, radiators, and leaf spring, and most recently with metal stamping for car bodies”, Mr. Lee explained. “The reason why we are still here after 50 years has a lot to do with their trust, and we believe that Uratex would do everything to continue to win the trust of our partners. We will not be here without their help”, Ms. Medina added.
Everyone from Uratex were all thankful to have built a strong and lasting partnerships with the automotive industry, and looking forward to more prosperous years as they move forward to the future of the business. “Hopefully they are all happy with what we had today”, Mr. Gallor said, “this activity could be a good beginning to build camaraderie among industry players and I hope they would be on board into making this event a more regular thing in the future.” Mr. Medina added, “The automotive industry is all about continuous improvement. We are now at 50 years and thanks to the automotive industry, we are where we are because of these partnerships. Hopefully, we would still continue our improvement and of course, we look forward to have a longer partnership with all of them”.
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Trina Solar will release four new solar module lines, all at 415 W
Trina Solar announced four new series of modules with a maximum output of 415 W.
The four new series of modules include TALLMAX (high efficiency), DUOMAX (dual-glass), DUOMAX Twin (bifacial), and Honey black M. The high-efficiency series can be used in multiple application scenarios like utility-scale ground-mount and distributed PV projects. An increase in the output of modules from 370 W to 415 W will help reduce BOS costs by 4.5% to 8.5% and reduce levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) by 2.5% to 4.6%.
The dual-glass series features high reliability in extreme conditions, five-year extended warranty for linear power and more power generation with lower power degradation. The double-side/bifacial series provides extra 5% to 30% power generation by its back side, features high power generation in snowfields and locations where sand is plentiful, among other high-reflection environments. The black/aesthetics series is designed specially for the high-end residential market with its aesthetically-designed black-out look.
Trina Solar executive vice president Yin Rongfang said, “The new series of modules push beyond the boundary of high-output modules in mass production as the industry imagines it, and fit for diversified application scenarios. It remained true to the brand’s legacy of creating high-output, highly reliable and high power generation of solar modules, providing our customers with a higher value products. Meanwhile, the launch of new series were also backed up by Trina Solar’s strong supply capacity to meet the growing needs.”
The new modules deliver a unique integration of multi-busbar, double-glass, dual-side and half-cut technologies. The majority of firms that seek to enhance their presence in the multi-busbar segment are frequently stymied by the lack of skill sets and equipment as well as patents for their technologies. Trina Solar has to date been granted 24 patents for multi-busbar-related technologies. The company also has 28 patents within the application of double-glass technologies.
The rollout of the four new series of high-output modules will help Trina Solar consolidate its leadership and embrace a new era of mass-produced high-output modules.
News item from Trina Solar
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How NASA Plans to Get Humans Back to the Moon (Video)
By Elizabeth Howell 2017-11-02T11:36:52Z Spaceflight
It's been 45 years since a crewed spacecraft journeyed toward the moon with a "trans-lunar injection," but NASA plans to make that happen again in just a few years. The agency recently released a video showing the profile for the first uncrewed test of its new moon mission profile, called Exploration Mission 1 (EM-1).
The test is scheduled for 2019 (following some delays), and will be the first integrated test of both the Space Launch System — NASA's rocket to bring astronauts into deep space — and the new Orion spacecraft.
The mission will take roughly 25.5 days, and its highlight will be putting the spacecraft in a lunar orbit that will take it farther from Earth than any other crew-capable spacecraft has been. Orion's peak distance will be 270,000 miles (435,000 kilometers) from the planet — about 1,000 times the distance from Earth to the International Space Station. [Exploration Mission 1: A Step-by-Step Return to the Moon in Pictures]
The plan calls for EM-1 to depart Earth, cruise for four days to the moon and then inject itself into an elliptical orbit around the moon. After working in the moon's neighborhood for a week, EM-1 will leave lunar orbit and spend four days returning to Earth. It will re-enter the atmosphere at 24,500 mph (39,450 km/h) and splash down in the Pacific Ocean within sight of a recovery ship.
"This is the first of many missions to come that will use the deep-space exploration system to prepare our team, our ship and our astronauts for human operations in deep space," NASA mission manager Mike Sarafin said in the video. A human test mission is scheduled to follow around 2023.
Although the test has been in the works since the Obama administration — it was framed as a stepping-stone to bring astronauts to Mars — it has a different significance for the Trump administration. Earlier this month, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the United States will target human moon landings as well as Mars missions; the last human crew to the moon departed from there in 1972.
"We will return American astronauts to the moon, not only to leave behind footprints and flags, but [also] to build the foundation we need to send Americans to Mars and beyond," Pence said Oct. 5 at the first meeting of the newly reinstated National Space Council.
The newly announced presidential moon plans follow at least two other Republican administrations' plans to go there: Both the Space Exploration Initiative (championed by George H.W. Bush in 1989) and the Constellation program (powered by a speech by his son, President George W. Bush, in 2004) included plans to return humans to the moon. Both initiatives were eventually canceled.
Before this month's announcement about lunar initiatives, NASA's human-mission focus was on using the International Space Station for long-term space exploration research and sending humans to Mars around the 2030s.
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Consumers still turn to chocolate in tough economic times, says Mars
Not even tough economic times can keep consumers away from chocolate.
That's the word from Mars Multisales Africa General Manager, Helen Joubert.
"They might buy a single serving and there are lower volumes sold, but they don't move away," she said, adding that people were still inclined to buy chocolate despite the impact on their pocket because it served as a special treat during hard times.
Joubert heads up the local unit of US based Mars Incorporated, importing goods such as Wrigley's chewing gum, M&M's, Twix, Bounty and Mars Bars to SA as well as manufacturing pet food and convenience products Royco in South Africa.
"Consumers are looking for more and more deals, it's important to look at the trends responsible for consumption," Joubert told Fin24 in an interview at Mars Africa's offices in Woodmead, Sandton.
The SA unit of the global brand, established in 1994 has 2% of the market share in the chocolate market, dominated by giants such as Cadbury and Nestle.
But Joubert predicts growth ahead, with an emerging middle class able to afford premium products. Mars Africa's confectionary is aspirational in nature and seen in US movies and television shows. She also references the opportunity to penetrate the lower income market
Spending trends
Retailers and the manufacturing sector have been hit hard in recent years by weak consumer confidence and sluggish growth. The country dipped into recession in the first six months of 2018 and grew by just 0.8% for the year.
Joubert said the fast moving consumer goods sector (FMCG) was under pressure and this was reflected in Mars Africa sales and trends.
There are over six million dogs and four million cats in SA, according to Mars Africa research, which represent a massive opportunity for pet food manufacturers and distributors. During tough economic times, instead of feeding pets specialised food, some consumers tend to cut back and either feed their animals human scraps or only make use of the products once a day.
Joubert said this is where education is key in educating people about the value of combined feeding and the products available to supplement pet care in households under economic pressure.
Chewing gum is another area that the consumer goods sector requires a focused strategy with "consistency at every till point".
A great deal of research goes into consumer behaviour and Joubert says that gum is always an impulse product and never makes it to a shopping list. To ensure sales of Wrigleys gum, Mars Africa positions the product close to tills, otherwise people do not remember to buy it.
There is also the trend of younger people buying fruit flavours and customers over the age of 25, preferring mint brands.
Female succession plan
Joubert was appointed as General Manager Southern Africa for Mars Multisales Africa in November and was previously head of sales at the company. She began her career in medical equipment sales, having with a degree in Medical Technology from then Rau university, currently the University of Johannesburg.
She manages the local unit's operations of importing products from the Netherlands, Poland, Thailand and Australia as well as manufacturing plants in South Africa. Joubert also oversees the rest of Africa business with strong performance in Nigerian and Kenyan markets.
Joubert believes that for women to get ahead in the workplace, they need to be identified in a succession plan, early and this cannot be done on an ad-hoc basis as it often is with SA businesses.
The question of women business leaders has been brought to the fore again by the departure of Maria Ramos as CEO of Absa Bank at the end of February. She was the only female head of a TOP 40 listed company on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
Joubert said it is also important to understand women's needs in the workplace with world-life balance and parental time off.
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About 3 000 super-rich left SA in the past 10 years - report
About 3 000 super-rich (those with wealth of about $1m or R14m) "migrated" from South Africa over the past 10 years, Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, told Fin24 on Monday.
Most of them went to the UK, Australia and the US. Switzerland and Portugal are also popular destinations for them to migrate to, according to Amoils.
He defines migration as those who have in reality "left" South Africa and are living in their new country more than half the year.
Among the estimated 108 000 dollar-millionaires globally who migrated to another country in 2018, Australia came out as the top destination, according to a new report by AfrAsia Bank and New World Wealth, which examines recent wealth migration in the world.
Mauritius is the only African country on the list of popular destinations high net worth individuals (HNWIs) migrated to in 2018. According to the report, this is because it is seen as safe and business friendly, and has low tax rates when compared to the rest of Africa.
"It is a hotspot for migrating HNWIs. We expect it to benefit from strong growth in the local financial services sector," says Amoils.
For the purposes of the report, "wealth" refers to the net assets of a person. It includes all their assets - property, cash, equities and business interests - less any liabilities. The report, for instance, estimates that about 42% of the wealth held in South Africa is held by these so-called HNWIs.
What the super-rich love about SA
Popular places for them to move to in Australia included Sydney, Melbourne, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Perth and Brisbane.
Other popular destinations for migrating HNWIs in 2018 included the US, Canada, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Caribbean, New Zealand, Singapore, Israel, Portugal, Greece, Spain, Monaco, Malta, Mauritius, Latvia and Hong Kong.
The most popular cities for migrating HNWIs in 2018 included Dubai, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Miami, New York, San Francisco and Sydney.
According to Amoils, wealth migration figures are a very important gauge of the health of an economy.
For instance, if a country is losing a large number of HNWIs to migration, it is probably due to serious problems in that country - like crime, lack of business opportunities and religious tensions, he told Fin24.
It can also be a sign of "bad things to come", as HNWIs are often the first people to leave, since they have the means to leave.
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Behind the Scenes at the NBA Draft Lottery
J.J. Post | May 21st 2015, 10:59 am
He had in his hand the envelope that would hold a team’s fate. He cracked opened the envelope and said the dreaded words, “The fourth pick in the NBA draft will be held by the New York Knicks.”
The excitement left the room like a punctured balloon. You could hear the audible groans of the hometown fans as they realized the awful luck of their team.
As I walked into the hotel earlier that evening, I was extremely nervous. I was worrying about my article before I had even experienced the events! My mind was flooded with questions: Would I get good interviews? Would anyone be there? In the end, though, everyone was helpful and nice.
There are many things that happened at the draft lottery that the fan watching at home doesn’t see. On TV, the lottery seems neat and organized. In reality, it’s chaos. Reporters, cameramen, and people just looking for memorabilia were all floating around trying to get an interview or a picture.
The press room was just as busy. It was a massive room filled with cables, TVs, laptops, chargers, and phones. People tried to cram in some last-minute research. There seemed to be some sort of code about media helping media. People were glad to let others record their interviews and give advice on reporting.
And there was commissioner Adam Silver in the middle of everything, the head honcho, talking calmly. I found it stunning how cool he was under the pressure of it all.
I was lucky to be at a great lottery. There were surprises, such as the Knicks, who had the league’s second-worst record, dropping down to the fourth pick, and there were some expected things like the Timberwolves, who had an NBA-worst 16 wins, getting the first pick.
Other than the Knicks though, the evening was pretty surprise-free, with the Lakers moving up to number two, and the Sixers remaining third. Most of the other projected picks were about the same.
Once the show ended, the building went nuts. Around 50 print reporters and broadcasters surged forward trying to get a quote from the more popular teams. Among those flocked by the throngs of journalists were Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor, Knicks GM Steve Mills, and Lakers coach Byron Scott.
Some of the best moments of the night included getting to meet a handful of basketball greats. I talked with Adam Silver, Larry Bird, and several players. A highlight for me was talking to Frank (the Tank) Kaminsky, my favorite college basketball player.
Knicks fans may be grumbling and ranting about the draft lottery, but this hoops fan thought it was perfect.
During the draft lottery, I tracked down some of the top prospects. Here's what they had to say about the draft.
Ten years ago could you see yourself at the draft lottery?
Emmanuel Mudiay: Yeah, I always had the confidence like that, so I saw myself 10 years ago being here.
Frank Kaminsky: No not really. Who knows maybe you one day. You never know.
Karl-Anthony Towns: You know what. It's amazing. Back in the day, you're reading and looking at Sports Illustrated Kids, and you're looking at all the things people have done and it's one of the great things to know that the people you read about in the magazine ... you are going to have a chance to do what they did and have a chance to make your dreams come true.
Jahlil Okafor: Ten years ago this was my dream…Now [my Duke teammates Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow and I are] in New York and ready to find out the draft lottery, and we're living our dream.
Photos: JJ Post
Meet the 2019–20 Kid Reporters!
New Hampshire Fisher Cats Emcee Tyler Zickel Provides a Great Fan Experience
NBA Analyst Kirk Goldsberry Talks "SprawBall" and the Future of Basketball
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Silicon wafers
Hyperpure silicon wafers are the basis for almost all semiconductor elements and consequently represent an essential basis for the world’s electronics industry. With various diameters, material properties, and surface qualities, Siltronic’s extensive product range covers the global semiconductor industry’s specific requirements.
Polished wafers
Perfect surfaces for versatile applications
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Superior basis for highly integrated components.
Specialized wafers for innovative technologies
Perfect Silicon Solutions: Positioned as one of the world’s leading manufacturers of silicon wafers with diameters up to 300 mm, Siltronic partners with many preeminent chip manufacturers and companies in the semiconductor industry.
About Siltronic
Technology leader and driving force for innovation
Siltronic AG Executive Board and Supervisory Board
Siltronic’s history goes back to the year 1953.
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Founded in Germany, at home in the world: Today Siltronic is a global employer in which employees around the world place their trust and loyalty. Employees appreciate the good team spirit and sustainable personnel development just as much as they value the corporate culture based on flexibility and initiative.
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Siltronic AG has been listed since 2015 and is included on the MDAX and the TecDAX. At Siltronic, we regard investor relations as an obligation as well as a strong motivation. Our interactions with our shareholders and investors are characterized by transparency and openness. This is the only way to build trust and shape the future together.
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Siltronic off to a muted start to the year 2019, as expected
Less wafer area sold q-on-q in line with expectations
Sales down 8.7 percent q-on-q to EUR 354.4 million
EBITDA drops 20.9 percent q-on-q to EUR 127.2 million
EBITDA margin at 35.9 percent in Q1 2019
Sales and profitability higher y-on-y
Ongoing strong net cash flow and investments in the future
Adjusted forecast for 2019 confirmed: sales down 5 to 10 percent y-on-y, EBITDA margin between 33 and 37 percent
Siltronic AG (MDAX/TecDAX: WAF) was unable to escape from the general trend of a cooling semiconductor industry and consequently got off to a muted start into 2019.
“With the general slow-down of the economy, geopolitical uncertainties and inventory adjustments in the value chain not yet completed, 2019 is proving to be challenging, as expected. This is also reflected in our current financials,” says Dr. Christoph von Plotho, CEO of Siltronic AG.
Less wafer area sold results in sales decline q-on-q
In Q1 2019, sales declined by 8.7 percent to EUR 354.4 million compared with EUR 388.1 million in Q4 2018, due to less wafer area sold.
Exchange rate effects had a negligible influence in a q-on-q comparison as the US dollar against the euro stood at an average of 1.14 in Q1 2019, similar to the previous quarter.
Compared with Q1 2018 (EUR 327.4 million), sales rose on the back of an increase in Euro ASP by 8.7 percent. The decisive factor was the development of the EUR/USD exchange rate. In Q1 2018, the exchange rate still averaged 1.23 (Q1 2019: 1.14).
Higher energy costs burden gross profit
Compared with the previous quarter, cost of sales edged up from EUR 208.1 million to EUR 209.9 million in Q1 2019 even though the wafer area sold was down. The increase in the cost of sales per wafer area is attributable in particular to higher energy costs and the lower dilution of fixed costs due to lower capacity utilization.
As a result, gross profit with EUR 144.5 million dropped significantly below the previous quarter (Q4 2018: EUR 180.0 million). The gross margin declined from 46.4 percent to 40.8 percent.
Compared to EUR 202.5 million in Q1 2018, cost of sales increased by 3.7 percent. Primarily due to exchange rate fluctuations gross profit was up by EUR 19.6 million (15.7 percent) y-on-y. The gross margin stood at 38.1 percent in Q1 2018. In Q1 2019, this figure increased by 2.7 percentage points.
Marginal decline in selling, R&D and general administration expenses
In Q1 2019, selling, R&D and general administration expenses came in at EUR 32.2 million, which is 9.1 percent of sales. Compared to the previous quarter, this reflected a slight decline of EUR 2.1 million. Due to the decline in sales expenses increased as a percentage of sales.
Compared with EUR 31.6 million and a ratio of 9.7 percent in Q1 2018, expenses remained relatively stable though slightly lower as a percentage of sales.
Effects of currency hedging burden the first quarter
Other operating income and expenses are characterized by foreign exchange gains and losses, in particular for currency hedging of the US dollar and the Japanese yen.
The expenses stood at EUR 8.2 million in Q1 2019, which is significantly higher than in the previous quarter with EUR 4.8 million. Q1 2018 showed an income of EUR 2.7 million.
Weaker demand burdens EBITDA and the EBITDA margin
Due to the downtrend in wafer area sold, EBITDA of EUR 127.2 million were generated in Q1 2019 (Q4 2018: EUR 160.8 million). This corresponds to a decline of 20.9 percent. In Q1 2019, the EBITDA margin came in at 35.9 percent compared with 41.4 percent in the previous quarter.
EBITDA in Q1 2018 stood at EUR 122.3 million and was therefore exceeded by 4.0 percent in the reporting quarter. The EBITDA margin was 37.4 percent in Q1 2018.
EBIT of EUR 103.4 million achieved in Q1 2019 dropped 25.6 percent below that of the previous quarter (Q4 2018: EUR 138.9 million). The EBIT margin stood at 29.2 percent (Q4 2018: 35.8 percent). Along with a weak start into 2019 and the increase in energy costs, the higher depreciation level was a contributing factor.
In Q1 2018, EBIT stood at EUR 96.6 million and was therefore exceeded by 7.0 percent. The EBIT margin was 29.5 percent, comparable to Q1 2019.
Profit for the period and earnings per share down q-on-q
Profit for the period of EUR 87.6 million was generated in Q1 2019, reflecting a decline of 17.4 percent compared with the previous quarter
(Q4 2018: EUR 106.0 million).
In Q1 2018, profit for the period was EUR 82.0 million. The increase of EUR 5.6 million in profit y-on-y despite a higher tax rate is mostly attributable to favorable foreign exchange rate movements.
Earnings per share came in at EUR 2.68 in Q1 2019 compared with EUR 3.25 in Q4 2018.
In Q1 2018, earnings per share equalled EUR 2.62.
Significant increase in property, plant and equipment as well as securities and fixed-term deposits
Property, plant and equipment increased due to the investments made in Q1 2019. The new accounting rules for leasing (IFRS 16) increased other non-current assets by EUR 46.3 million. Siltronic has applied the new standard on accounting for leases (IFRS 16) since January 1, 2019. Under this standard, a lessee capitalizes his right to use leased assets and recognizes as a liability the obligations resulting from lease payments.
Short- and long-term investments together with cash and cash equivalents increased by EUR 70.5 million.
Further increase in equity
While profit for the period came in at EUR 87.6 million in Q1 2019, equity rose by EUR 52.6 million. The valuation of pension provisions due to interest rate effects reduced equity by EUR 52.8 million in Q1 2019 while foreign exchange effects raised equity by EUR 17.0 million in the same period.
Non-current liabilities have climbed by EUR 86.4 million, of which EUR 59.5 million was attributable to pension provisions. As of March 31, 2019, pension provisions in Germany were discounted at 1.66 percent (December 31, 2018: 1.98 percent). In the US, by contrast, the discount rate has fallen from 4.08 percent to 3.69 percent. Non-current liabilities also increased by EUR 43.7 million due to the new IFRS accounting rules for leasing (IFRS 16).
Strong net cash flow and investments in the future
Capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment and intangible assets amounted to EUR 72.8 million in Q1 2019 and mainly pertain to ramping up capacities, the new pulling hall in Singapore and ongoing production automation. Payments for capital expenditure on property, plant and equipment and intangible assets were EUR 67.1 million.
The cash flow from operating activities includes the repayment of customer prepayments of EUR 16.8 million. In Q1 2019, no additional customer prepayments were received.
In Q1 2019, net cash flow came in at EUR 80.8 million compared with EUR -32.2 million in Q4 2018. The negative cash flow in Q4 2018 was the result of higher capital expenditure.
In Q1 2018, net cash flow came in at EUR 112.4 million.
Net financial assets at new record high
Owing to the high cash flow, net financial assets reached a new record level of EUR 761.8 million at March 31, 2019.
Cautious outlook for the full year 2019
Siltronic released its annual forecast at the end of February based on the assumption that the incoming orders would pick up significantly in the second half of 2019. However, the timing of the market recovery can not be predicted with certainty. Accordingly, the Executive Board adjusted the original forecast on
April 10, 2019, and hereby confirms it.
Siltronic expects Q2 2019 to be significantly weaker than Q1 2019.
For the full year 2019, given the challenging market environment, sales are expected to be around 5 to 10 percent below the previous year. The EBITDA margin is estimated between 33 percent and 37 percent. EBIT is forecasted to be significantly lower than 2018. Net cash flow is expected to remain clearly positive but nevertheless to decline by around EUR 150 million. Earnings per share will be substantially below the previous year. This forecast continues to hinge on the recovery in the market environment as well as on exchange rate effects.
“Irrespective of the currently challenging market environment, we are convinced that the fundamental growth trend in the wafer industry, driven by mega trends such as digitalization and electro-mobility, remains intact,” Dr. Christoph von Plotho continues.
Conference call for analysts and investors
The Executive Board of Siltronic AG will hold a conference call with analysts and investors (in English only) on May 3, 2019 at 10:00 am (CEST). This call will be streamed via the Internet. The audio webcast will be available live as well as on demand on Siltronic’s website.
The latest investor presentation (in English only) and the quarterly statement are also published on the Siltronic website.
May 7, 2019 Annual General Meeting
July 25, 2019 Interim Report 2019
October 24, 2019 Q3 2019 quarterly statement
This press release is a quarterly Group statement in accordance with Section 53 of the Exchange Rules for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
This press release contains forward-looking statements based on assumptions and estimates of Siltronic’s Executive Board. Although we assume the expectations in these forward-looking statements are realistic, we cannot guarantee they will prove to be correct. The assumptions may harbor risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual figures to differ considerably from the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such discrepancies include, among other things, changes in the economic and business environment, variations in exchange and interest rates, the introduction of competing products, lack of acceptance for new products or services, and changes in corporate strategy. Siltronic does not plan to update the forward looking statements, nor does it assume the obligation to do so.
The contents of this press information refer equally to men and women. To aid readability, the male pronoun has been used (e.g. he/his).
05/03/2019, 06.30 am (CET/CETS)
Press information from 05/03/2019 (pdf, 479 KB)
creation: 599media GmbH
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Sims Participates in Basel Convention Technical Experts Meeting
Renee St. Denis, vice president of Sims Recycling Solutions, and Patricia Whiting, senior international policy analyst for Sims Recycling Solutions’ original equipment manufacturer (OEM) compliance team, participated in the first meeting of the Basel Convention’s Expert Working Group on Environmentally Sound Management (ESM) in Buenos Aires, Argentina from December 10-12, 2013. This working group is a product of the Basel Convention’s Country-Led Initiative (CLI), which determined that despite a significant body of historical work by Parties of the Convention to prevent adverse impacts to human health and the environment through ESM of hazardous waste, instances of mismanagement of hazardous waste continue to occur.
Co-chaired by Dr. Andreas Jaron of the German Ministry of Environment (MOE) and Mr. Alberto Santos Capra of the Argentinian MOE, the CLI ESM Working Group is tasked with developing multidisciplinary mechanisms to promote the ESM of hazardous and other wastes pursuant to the Basel Convention. The CLI ESM Working Group took a view toward practically defining and outlining what needs to be in place to ensure that developing countries have the information and tools necessary to ensure that the trans-boundary movement of hazardous waste will result in ESM. This group is developing concise practical manuals addressing issues and mechanisms to foster ESM implementation and examining additional work that might be undertaken on priority waste streams. Additional work may include pilot projects, public awareness-raising activities, and incentives to promote ESM practices within the private sector. The outcomes of this work will impact, among other things, the management of e-waste.
What Happened in Argentina?
In addition to drafting a work plan, the participants of the meeting split into a number of small working groups to address relevant work areas: pilot projects; practical manuals; priority waste streams; awareness-raising activities; and private sector incentives.
Practical Manuals
The practical manuals will address terminology (ensuring that all stakeholders are on the same page with regard to technical terms applicable to ESM); principles, general rules and model legislation; terminology; licensing and permits (including emissions standards, financing, planning, and collection); safety, insurance, and liability; certification schemes; and prevention. The chairs of each sub-work group tasked with developing a specific manual are listed below:
Principles, General Rules and Model Legislation: Whiting and Dr. Leila Devia of the Argentinian Ministry of Environment and Director of the Basel Regional Center for South America
Terminology: Joost Meijer of the Chilean Ministry of Environment and Ross Bartley of the Bureau of International Recycling
Licensing and Permits: Jaron and Viktoriya Simeonova- Belokonska of the Bulgarian MOE
Safety, Insurance and Liability: Capra and Professor Samwel Manyele of the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare
Certification Schemes: Peter Wessman of the European Commission and Eric Harris of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries
Prevention: Jim Puckett of the Basel Action Network and Yorg Aerts of the Belgian MOE
Sims Recycling Solutions is participating in both the Terminology, and Licensing and Permits working groups.
Priority Waste Streams
The ESM Expert Group is taking inventory of work that has already been undertaken and potential further work that might be necessary to promote ESM of a number of priority waste streams including: e-waste; used lead acid batteries; wastes containing or contaminated with mercury; medical wastes; wastes collected from households; used oils; used tires; and end-of-life vehicles.
The ESM Expert group is examining financial incentives for the private sector (co-chaired by Mr. Bartley and Dr. Devia). These participants co-chair similar work being undertaken by the Basel Partnership for Computing Equipment (PACE).
On a Personal Note
Sims Recycling Solutions’ involvement in the first meeting of the Basel Convention’s Expert Working Group on ESM has been a positive one for many reasons. One reason being the opportunity we are afforded to interface with global experts from all paradigms – governments, international organizations, academia, NGOs, and the private sector – representing a range of disciplines (environmental, social, and technical). These exchanges enhance our knowledge not only of the issues surrounding the ESM of used and end-of-life electronics, but also of the people and cultures where we do business. We wish to acknowledge Dr. Devia, Mr. Capra, and their staff members for organizing the meeting and sharing the great culture and food of the Argentinian people with us. We also wish to thank the Secretariat of the Basel Convention for their tireless support of these meetings.
Sims Recycling Solutions’ Community Spotlight: Oladele Osibanjo
Sims to Host Upcoming U.S. Basel Convention Meeting
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Sutton, Bell winners in runoff
Keith Sutton defeated Mayor Kary Story in the Pocahontas mayoral race and Kevin Bell was elected Sheriff of Randolph County in the runoff election Tuesday.
In unofficial returns Sutton received 634 votes or 53.77 percent and Story received 545 or 46.23 percent of the votes. Story was seeking his second term as mayor of Pocahontas. He was elected in 2014. A total of 1,179 votes were cast in the mayoral race.
Sutton also won the general election race on Nov. 6, but failed to receive a majority of votes in that three-way race.
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Facebook: number of monthly active users worldwide 2008-2019
Smartphone market share worldwide by vendor 2009-2019
Number of apps available in leading app stores 2019
OPEC oil price annually 1960-2019
Smartphones - Statistics & Facts
Social media - Statistics & Facts
Society›
Crime & Law Enforcement›
Number of U.S. federal inmates in 2018, by citizenship
Number of sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction in the U.S. in 2018*, by citizenship
by Erin Duffin, last edited Apr 29, 2019
This statistic shows the number of sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction in the U.S. in 2018, by citizenship. As of August 25, 2018, 1,654 prisoners were from Colombia.
Number of prisoners
United States 146,243
Other/unknown 9,367
Colombia 1,654
Dominican Republic 1,432
Cuba 1,160
As of August 2018
* As of August 25, 2018.
Prisoners in the United States
Countries with the most prisoners per 100,000 inhabitants, as of July 2019
Countries with the most prisoners as of July 2019
U.S. capital punishment - racial distribution of death row inmates 2018
U.S. capital punishment - executions per year 2000-2018
Everything On "Prisoners in the United States" in One Document: Edited and Divided into Handy Chapters. Including Detailed References.
Statista has been my savior on several occasions. The site is easy to maneuver and the data is in a format that can go right into a report or presentation.
Marlene Greenfield
Vice President, Hearst Magazines
Statistics on "Prisoners in the United States"
Prisoner demographics and detail
Probation and parole
Prisoner fatalities
Total number of adult correctional population in the United States in from 2005 to 2016Adult correctional population in the U.S. 2005-2016
Adult correctional population in the United States in 2016, by correctional statusAdult correctional population in the U.S. 2016, by correctional status
Total number of inmates held in custody in state or federal prisons or in local jails in the United States in 2016, by type of institutionInmates held in custody in the U.S. in 2016, by type of correctional institution
Number of prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities from 1990 to 2017 (in 1,000s)Number of prisoners in the U.S. 1990-2017
Number of prisoners under federal or state jurisdiction in the U.S. in 2017, by stateNumber of prisoners in the U.S., by state 2017
Number of state and federal prisoners in local jail facilities in the United States from 2000 to 2016 at yearendPrisoners in local jail facilities in the U.S. 2000-2016
Number of state and federal prisoners in private facilities in the United States from 2000 to 2016, by prison locationPrisoners in private facilities in the United States 2000-2016
Total number of prisoners under military jurisdiction in the United States in 2017, by branch of servicePrisoners under military jurisdiction in the U.S., by branch of service 2017
Number of prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities from 2005 to 2017, by genderNumber of prisoners in the U.S., by gender 2005-2017
Distribution of prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities in 2017, by sex and ageDistribution of prisoners in the U.S., by sex and age 2017
Number of sentenced prisoners under state jurisdiction in 2016, by ethnicityNumber of sentenced prisoners under state jurisdiction, by ethnicity 2016
Imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners in the U.S. under federal or state jurisdiction in 2017, by sex and ethnicityImprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners in the U.S., by sex and ethnicity 2017
Number of sentenced prisoners in the United States under state jurisdiction in 2016, by offenseNumber of sentenced prisoners in the U.S. under state jurisdiction, by offense 2016
Number of sentenced prisoners in the United States under federal jurisdiction in 2017, by offenseNumber of sentenced prisoners in the U.S. under federal jurisdiction, by offense 2017
Percentage of sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction in the U.S. in 2018*, by security levelU.S. federal inmates breakdown in 2018, by security level
Number of sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction in the U.S. in 2018*, by sentence imposedNumber of U.S. federal inmates in 2018, by sentence imposed
Total number of U.S. residents on probation from 2005 to 2016 (in 1,000s)U.S. residents on probation 2005-2016
Total number of U.S. residents on parole from 2005 to 2016U.S. residents on parole 2005-2016
Number of U.S. probationers who exited supervision in 2016, by type of exitNumber of U.S. probationers who exited supervision 2016, by type of exit
Percentage of U.S. parolees who exited supervision in 2016, by type of exitPercentage of U.S. parolees who exited supervision 2016, by type of exit
Number of state prisoner fatalities in the United States from 2001 to 2014Number of state prisoner fatalities in the U.S. 2001-2014
Number of state prisoner fatalities in the United States in 2014, by cause of deathNumber of state prisoner fatalities in the U.S., by cause of death 2014
Number of local inmate deaths in jail in the United States from 2000 to 2014Number of local inmate deaths in jail in the U.S. 2000-2014
Number of local inmate fatalities in jail in the United States in 2014, by cause of deathNumber of local U.S. inmate fatalities in jail, by cause of death 2014
Number of death row prisoners executed in the U.S. from 2000 to 2018U.S. capital punishment - executions per year 2000-2018
Number of death row prisoners executed in the U.S. from 1976 to 2018, by stateU.S. capital punishment - total number of executions 1976-2018, by state
Number of death row prisoners executed in the U.S. from 1976 to 2018, by raceU.S. capital punishment - racial distribution of executed inmates 1976-2018
Number of prisoners on death row in the U.S. in 2018, by raceU.S. capital punishment - racial distribution of death row inmates 2018
Number of prisoners in the U.S. 2011, by sex and age
Countries with the largest share of female prisoners as of July 2019
Countries with the largest share of foreign prisoners as of July 2019
Countries with the largest share of pre-trial detainees as of July 2019
Countries with the highest prison occupancy level as of July 2019
Estimated number of U.S. state prisoners in custody 2005-2014
State corrections expenditures in the U.S. 1982-2016
Persons found guilty in crimes in Denmark 2007-2017, by gender
Number of women prisons in India - by state and union territory 2015
Inmate population in India - by state and union territory 2015
Number of district prisons in India - by state and union territory 2015
Number of persons found guilty in crimes in Denmark 2007-2017
People found guilty in crimes in Denmark 2017, by age group
Colombia: share of adolescents in detention centers 2016, by gender
Share of Americans who say felons in prison should be allowed to vote by age 2019
Inmate population of local jails in the U.S. by gender 2005-2017
Total amount of compensations awarded to former suspects in the Netherlands 2006-2016
Breakdown of anti-LGBT offenses by type of infraction in France 2016
Core major appliances: unit shipments in the U.S. 2000-2017
Crime and punishment around the world
Crime in the United States
Violent crime in the U.S.
Crime and Penitentiary System in China
Property crime in the U.S.
Crime in Canada
Aboriginal crime and justice in Canada
Hate crime in the United States
Prisoners in Italy
Prisoners in 2017
Correctional services in Canada
Prison system in Singapore
Crime in Singapore
Prisons in England and Wales
Federal Justice Statistics 2015-2016
Prison and Jail Deaths in Custody, 2000-2009 - Statistical Tables
Total number of adult correctional population in the United States in from 2005 to 2016
Adult correctional population in the United States in 2016, by correctional status
Total number of inmates held in custody in state or federal prisons or in local jails in the United States in 2016, by type of institution
Number of prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities from 1990 to 2017 (in 1,000s)
Number of prisoners under federal or state jurisdiction in the U.S. in 2017, by state
Number of state and federal prisoners in local jail facilities in the United States from 2000 to 2016 at yearend
Number of state and federal prisoners in private facilities in the United States from 2000 to 2016, by prison location
Total number of prisoners under military jurisdiction in the United States in 2017, by branch of service
Total state expenditures on corrections in the United States from 1985 to 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)
State government spending on corrections in the United States in 2017, by state (in million U.S. dollars)
Per capita expenditure for corrections in fiscal year 2016, by state (in U.S. dollars)
Countries with the largest number of prisoners, as of July 2019
Countries with the largest number of prisoners per 100,000 of the national population, as of July 2019
Number of escapees from state and federal prisons in the United States from 2000 to 2016
Number of prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities from 2005 to 2017, by gender
Distribution of prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities in 2017, by sex and age
Number of sentenced prisoners under state jurisdiction in 2016, by ethnicity
Imprisonment rate of sentenced prisoners in the U.S. under federal or state jurisdiction in 2017, by sex and ethnicity
Number of sentenced prisoners in the United States under state jurisdiction in 2016, by offense
Number of sentenced prisoners in the United States under federal jurisdiction in 2017, by offense
Percentage of sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction in the U.S. in 2018*, by security level
Number of sentenced prisoners under federal jurisdiction in the U.S. in 2018*, by sentence imposed
Number of sentenced prisoners admitted to federal or state jurisdiction in the U.S. from 2000 to 2017, by type of admission
Number of sentenced prisoners released from federal or state jurisdiction in the U.S. from 2000 to 2017
Number of unsentenced inmates in federal and state prisons in the United States from 2000 to 2016
Number of inmates aged 17 and younger in state prisons in the United States from 2000 to 2016
Total number of U.S. residents on probation from 2005 to 2016 (in 1,000s)
Total number of U.S. residents on parole from 2005 to 2016
Number of U.S. probationers who exited supervision in 2016, by type of exit
Percentage of U.S. parolees who exited supervision in 2016, by type of exit
Number of state prisoner fatalities in the United States from 2001 to 2014
Number of state prisoner fatalities in the United States in 2014, by cause of death
Number of local inmate deaths in jail in the United States from 2000 to 2014
Number of local inmate fatalities in jail in the United States in 2014, by cause of death
Number of death row prisoners executed in the U.S. from 2000 to 2018
Number of death row prisoners executed in the U.S. from 1976 to 2018, by state
Number of death row prisoners executed in the U.S. from 1976 to 2018, by race
Number of prisoners on death row in the U.S. in 2018, by race
Number of prisoners under jurisdiction of federal or state correctional authorities in 2011, by sex and age
Countries with the largest share of pre-trial detainees as of July 20189
Estimated number of United States state prisoners in custody from 2005 to 2014
Total state corrections expenditures in the United States from 1982 to 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Number of convicted persons in Denmark from 2007 to 2017, by gender
Number of women jails across India in 2015, by state and union territory
Number of prisoners across India in 2015, by state and union territory
Number of district jails across India in 2015, by state and union territory
Number of convicted persons in Denmark from 2007 to 2017
Number of convicted people in Denmark in 2017, by age group
Distribution of adolescents placed in youth detention centers in Colombia in 2016, by gender
Share of Americans who believe felons serving time in prison should be allowed to vote in 2019, by age
Number of confined local jail inmates in the United States from 2005 to 2017, by gender
Total amount of compensations awarded to former suspects in the Netherlands from 2006 to 2016 (in million euros)
Distribution of offenses against LGBT people in France in 2016, by type of infraction
Total unit shipments of core major household appliances* in the U.S. from 2000 to 2017 (in millions)
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RL star awaits fate over assaults
Former England RL star Scott Moore
Peter Magill
A former England rugby league international has pleaded guilty to assault charges after a violent confrontation which left a borough police officer with a broken wrist.
Scott Moore, 30, was arrested back in October 2016 after a motoring incident involving a Mercedes sports car, which ended in the Arrow Street area of Leigh.
Police detained a suspect after what was described as a "significant struggle", just before 4am on Friday, October 16.
And the force later confirmed that a taser had been deployed during the episode, which led to a man’s needing hospital treatment.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesman also said an officer had suffered a broken wrist during the incident which was witnessed by several residents and caused a social media stir.
Moore, of Ranworth Drive, Lowton, who was then playing for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, was later charged with dangerous driving, possession of a prohibited weapon, two offences of assault with intent to resist apprehension and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He had denied the dangerous driving and assault charges and was due to stand trial at Bolton Crown Court.
But lawyers representing St Helens-born Moore, who last played for Bradford Bulls in rugby league’s third tier before being released at the end of last season, asked for the case to be relisted for a fresh hearing.
The former St Helens and North Queensland Cowboys hooker then pleaded guilty to the two charges of assault with intent to resist apprehension and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
The dangerous driving and prohibited weapons offences were ordered to lie on the file by a crown court judge.
Moore, who is now a free agent, was remanded on bail and will be sentenced at the Bolton court on Tuesday, March 6.
Two further charges - of failing to stop after an accident and having no insurance - will also be dealt with on that occasion.
Moore also had professional rugby league spells with London, Castleford, Widnes and Huddersfield. His two England appearances came versus France in 2009, the same year he was named in Super League’s Dream Team.
RSPCA calls for new controls on airguns after almost 100 animal shootings in the north west last year
Moore was something of a teenaged prodigy, making his debut for St Helens at the tender age of 16. But his career has been dogged controversy and misbehaviour issues. He was suspended by Widnes Vikings in 2012 for a breach of club discipline and released two months later.
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Social Security History
This is an archival or historical document and may not reflect current policies or procedures.
Marion B. Folsom
(HEW) 1955-1958
Marion Folsom was born in McRae, Georgia. He was a graduate of the University of Georgia and received a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration. In 1914 he joined the Eastman Kodak Company. After serving with the Army in World War I, he returned to Kodak where he developed one of the Nation's first private industry social security plans. In 1934 he was appointed by President Roosevelt as a member of the Advisory Council on Economic Security, which laid the foundation for the present Social Security program. For the next twenty-one years Mr. Folsom commuted between his job as treasurer for Eastman Kodak, located in Rochester, NY, and various Washington posts. Mr. Folsom resigned from Kodak in 1953 to become Under Secretary of the Treasury. Subsequently, President Eisenhower appointed him Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, a position he held from 1955 to 1958.
Historical Links
History Home Page
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View Presentation 1
Improving the Copyediting Workflow: How Can Technology Help?
Thursday, May 7, 2009 from 1:00 – 2:30 PM Eastern Time
Copyediting is one of the main ways in which book and journal publishers add value to author manuscripts. References are checked, errors caught, and internal consistency ensured. The manuscript is made readable and is structured for presentation. At the same time, the copyediting function is one of the most expensive and time-consuming parts of the publishing workflow, and has recently come under increasing scrutiny from publishers seeking cheaper and faster ways of delivering content to market. The challenge is to seamlessly integrate the copyediting function into an electronic workflow without undermining the value that a knowledgeable and experienced editor adds to the manuscripts they work on. Over the last decade, a variety of tools, ranging from Microsoft Word macros to entire SGML/XML editing environments, have been deployed, using a variety of in-house and commercial expertise.
This seminar explores the impact of technology on the copyediting function in the digital age. It features two case-studies from scholarly publishers who have reinvented their copyediting workflows, placed in context by a technical expert who will survey the latest developments in editing software. The case studies presented will cover both book and journal publications. At Columbia University Press, Michael Haskell (working with Scott Beebe and other colleagues) has enhanced what was a Microsoft Word-based workflow to improve the production of the organization’s award-winning books. At the University of Chicago Press, John Muenning and his colleagues have been pioneers in successfully-implementing an SGML/XML workflow for academic journals in a wide range of scientific, humanities, and social sciences disciplines. Questions and panel discussion will be encouraged.
Join us if you want to:
Benchmark your own copyediting workflow against successful publishers who have reinvented theirs.
Assess your organization’s technology needs, and learn the pros and cons of different options.
Understand which copyediting tasks can be simplified through the application of technology, and which cannot.
Learn about the strategic issues involved in balancing in-house staffing with outsourced services.
Get practical tips for keeping copyediting projects on time, on budget, and under control.
The Society for Scholarly Publishing in collaboration with the Association of American University Presses presents another great web-based seminar on a hot topic. With web seminars, you don’t have to leave your office to learn. All you need is a telephone and a computer with Internet access. You can submit questions to the speakers using your computer, and there will be plenty of time for questions and discussion. Registration is per-computer rather than per-site, but you can invite as many staff as you like to participate using a single speakerphone and projector. Why not use the seminar as the basis for your own brainstorming session? All participants receive a recording of the seminar after the event, so you are free to review the presentations again and again.
Greg Suprock, Cadmus Communications
John Muenning, University of Chicago Press
Michael Haskell, Columbia University Press
Scott Beebe, Oxford University Press
Kristin Harpster Lawrence, Wayne State University Press
Charles Watkinson, The American School of Classical Studies at Athens
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SXM Airport Kicks Off 75th Anniversary with Return to Terminal Building
SXM Airport
SIMPSON BAY, St. Maarten (Wednesday, December 19, 2018) - Although December 3rd, 2018 was the actual date of the 75th anniversary of the Princess Juliana International Airport, the celebrations were however, deferred to two weeks later to coincide with the official migration of arrival and departure operations back inside the Terminal Building since Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc on the island on September 6th, 2017, causing extensive damage to the building.
The ceremony was attended by several dignitaries including Governor Eugene Holiday, himself a former president of the airport, and Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications, Honorable Stuart Johnson, who is also the Shareholder’s Representative of PJIAE N.V., the operating company of the airport.
In his address, Minister Johnson congratulated the Board, Management and Staff of the airport. He referred to the importance of the airport not only to the island’s economy but also as a leading hub in the Caribbean and cited the many awards it had received over the years preceding Hurricane Irma. He added that these were clear indications that it wasn’t impossible to bounce back to the envious position SXM Airport occupied prior to the monstrous storms that inflicted severe damages on it in September 2017.
Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors, Mr. Alex Dijkhoffz, also extended congratulatory messages to the Management and staff of the airport while acknowledging the challenges ahead. In his own remarks, the acting CEO and CFO, Mr. Ravi Daryanani said the “double whammy of Irma and Maria not only destroyed our award-winning airport – named the best in the Caribbean just the year before the storms – but also put a grinding stop to several capital improvement projects that were underway or in an advanced stage of planning.”
“In actual fact,” he continued, “the completion of Package 1 - Temporary Operations of the reconstruction project is what we are celebrating today. It includes the roofing project that is now in its finishing stages. I am proud to say that the new roof over our heads is not only state of the art but has been rebuilt to be able to sustain 185 miles per hour hurricane force winds. It is therefore perhaps the strongest of its kind anywhere in the region.” “Where do we go from here?” he asked.
“The current advertising spot we have starts with the line, ‘As the eagle soars above the storms, so does SXM Airport soar above adversity.’ That is, indeed, true. Eagles seek new frontiers. They also have a long-term vision and commitment. Our airport, your airport, has adopted those characteristics of the eagle. As we mark our 75th anniversary, we invite you to fly with us above the storms. We are not yet at cruising heights yet, but we will get there. Princess Juliana International Airport will be back where it belongs – at the very top of the aviation ladder in the Caribbean and beyond,” he concluded.
The Chief Operations Officer, Michel Hyman, also addressed the gathering. After pointing out some of the challenges the airport faced in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, he revealed that “most of the legacy airlines have returned to service the destination with the ramp-up of flights, making the peak tourist season which began just a few days ago to look quite bright.”
According to Hyman, “Long-haul flight frequency in the first quarter of 2019 will be at 81% of what it was in 2017, culminating in March 2019 at 98% of the level it was for the same month in 2017.”
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Revenue from international markets may outpace that of India's: Practo's Shashank ND
Dearton Thomas Hector | 18 January, 2017
The fresh fund infusion of $55 million led by Tencent has reaffirmed investor confidence in healthcare firm Practo. According to estimates, the latest round of funding puts the company's valuation well past $600 million.
The Series D funding round announced on Tuesday also saw the participation of three new investors – Russian venture capital (VC) firm ru-Net, Japan's Recruit Holdings' investment arm RSI Fund and US-based Thrive Capital. Practo's founder Shashank ND said the company, founded in 2008, will also enter the health insurance segment as an aggregator, besides expanding its international business, which has become an important part of its growth ambitions. In an interaction with TechCircle.in, Shashank spoke about the company's future plans and why the five-fold increase in losses at this stage should not be a bother. Edited excerpts:
Practo's loss for FY2013-14 was Rs 9 crore, in FY2014-15 it was Rs 12 crore and in FY2015-16 it was Rs 64 crore. What were the reasons? How are you trying to reduce it?
We are still in the growth phase on the consumer and enterprise side. The industry is still very nascent. We expanded only in the last two years. We intend to enter many more geographies. There is a huge opportunity to build a really good health tech platform and for this investments are required. That is why a good set of investors have backed us. We hope this platform continues to do well.
What are the investors telling you? How long will the losses go on?
The fact that all of them participated in the round indicates that there is good support from our investors. But we have also been scaling up our efforts of monetisation. From both ends, we are in sync with our investors. We are on a trajectory of growth.
Can you elaborate on Practo's international expansion plans?
We looked at developing markets where out-of-pocket spends are high, where insurance penetration is low and the healthcare industry is dominated by private players. We wanted to be focused on specific regions like the Middle East, Latin America and South East Asia. Markets like Indonesia and Brazil also have a large population. Technology adoption is higher in these markets than even in India. Brazil's per capita income is higher than India's and the healthcare market is twice that of India and is growing. All our products are in local languages. Revenue from the international [market] is growing faster than India's and might become bigger than India's in some time.
You have done five acquisitions in the last nine years. Are you looking at more this year?
We don't have targets, but when we can choose between build and buy, we opt for the latter more often. We have also opened up our application programming interface (API) for other companies to build products on top of our platform. Acquisition is only one way of working with other startups. They can be in a revenue-sharing partnership with us.
What has been your experience in small cities and towns?
We get around 20% of our traffic from non-metro cities. It has been difficult to go deeper. While smaller cities and towns have access to mobile phones, the markets are not big enough to make large investments. We still need to devise a new robust model in terms of cost. The awareness about Practo is still low even in the big cities and there is headroom for growth there. Right now, we see more opportunity in the international markets, especially since there are no competing products there.
Where does Practo incur most of its expenses?
In a high-tech company majority of the costs are people. You are nothing but the people you have. It is all human capital.
Practo RSI Fund ru-Net Shashank ND Tencent Thrive Capital
GlobalLinker wants to create a LinkedIn-like networking platform for SMEs
Exclusive: Enterprise SaaS startup Bnext pockets first funding cheque
Ed-tech startup Byju's raises $75M from Sequoia, Sofina
Tweets by TechCircleIndia
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Home » Tech News
Mark Zuckerberg pledges to donate 99% of his Facebook shares
By Narendra Reddy December 2, 2015
Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg declared today the birth of baby girl with his wife Priscilla Chan—and in a Securities and Exchange Commission documenting today, swore to give away 99% of his stock in the interpersonal organization toward noble reasons in his lifetime.
That vow is worth $45 billion at its present quality, however Zuckerberg doesn’t want to give away more than $1 billion a year for the following three years with the goal that he can keep up voting control of Facebook, the organization reported in the security filing. The couple will give their shares to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC, which will make private ventures that will reinforce the establishment’s work.
As per the reports “Mark Zuckerberg will keep on controlling such shares as he has total control over the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Throughout their lives, these shares, or the net after-assessment continues from the offer of such shares, will be utilized to propel the mission of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Priscilla and Mark Zuckerberg will choose together the best way to designate assets.”
Mark Zuckerberg owns around 4 million of Class A shares in Facebook and roughly 419 million supervoting shares. In a open, public letter to his recently born little girl Maxima, Zuckerberg laid out his goal to center his generous endeavors on “propelling human potential and advancing balance.”
The move shouldn’t come as an surprise because in 2010, Zuckerberg marked the Giving Pledge, built up by Bill Gates and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett, in which notably rich people approve to give the dominant part of their fortune to philanthropy.
Mark Zuckerberg gave $100 million worth of his Facebook shares to the Newark, New Jersey, government funded educational system in September 2010. In December 2012, he gave $500 million worth of his Facebook shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. In 2014, Mark Zuckerberg and Chan gave $120 million to enhance schools in the San Francisco Bay Area and in October 2014, they gave $25 million to the U.S. Habitats for Disease Control Foundation to battle Ebola.
Author Narendra Reddy
Pursuing Computer Science at Gitam University. Blogger, Fun loving guy, Tech enthusiast, Atheist, Coffeeholic, Film buff, Audiophile.
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Shopping and consumer news
Britain's oldest family business RJ Balson running since Tudor days
Britain's oldest family business celebrates its 500th birthday, surviving wars, floods and even plagues along the way
Richard Balson outside his shop in Dorset Photo: Andrew Crowley
By Harry Wallop
10:44AM BST 23 Sep 2015
Each year about 240,000 British businesses collapse. To survive beyond the first couple of years is an achievement; to celebrate 50 years trading is remarkable. But for a shopkeeper to be able to mark a 500th anniversary is worthy of great celebration - which is precisely what Richard Balson did last weekend.
Richard behind the counter Photo: SWNS
RJ Balson & Sons, the butcher’s shop he owns in the pretty market town of Bridport, Dorset, has survived the Reformation, the English Civil War, the start of the Industrial Revolution, the end of horsepower, the rise of the internet and more recessions than you can shake a black pudding at.
The shop was purchased in 1892 for the sum of £275 Photo: SWNS
And all the while it’s remained within the same family, so that experts have now declared it the oldest family company in Britain.
“It’s unbelievable,” he agrees, in a Dorset accent steeped in brawn and chitterlings. To mark the occasion he threw a party at Bridport Town Hall, which hadn’t seen such a gathering since some Monmouth rebels were executed following the Bloody Assizes of 1685. There were 300 guests, plenty of wine and canapés served by women “dressed as Tudor wenches” (Balson’s words).
Richard and his father Donald Balson outside the shop (Andrew Crowley/Telegraph)
We are chatting in his shop, a fairly small establishment the business has occupied only since the 19th century; before then it operated out of various local pubs (a common distribution method for butchers in Georgian and Victorian England).
Balson Butchers in 1880 Bridport, Dorset (SWNS)
And before that the family had a market stall in the Bridport Shambles, shambles being an ancient name for a shelf, on which meat was slaughtered and then sold.
"Most of the people who come in, we’ve served their parents before them, and their grandparents before that"
The proof of the company’s antiquity rests on a document from September 1515, which granted one Robert Balson the right to operate two shambles in return for “five shillings of legal money to be paid at the feasts of Easter and St Michael the Archangel.”
On sale now is a mixture of novelty and old-fashioned fare. Packs of beef dripping share space with sliced chorizo. There is a freezer of game: some traditional, like venison and rabbit, some exotic, like bison, zebra, crocodile, ostrich and kangaroo.
Richard Balson butcher inside his butcher shop (Andrew Crowley/Telegraph)
When the business opened, the kangaroo hadn’t even been discovered.
Balson says: “Ever since they’ve been going in the jungle and eating funny stuff on the telly, it’s made people have these unusual parties where they have to guess what they’re eating.
I get people coming in buying a load of this stuff. I am not sure what my grandfather would make of it.”
But it’s not just staying abreast of TV-fuelled trends that has allowed the company to keep its head above water in an age when many small retailers, especially fishmongers, grocers and butchers, have gone to the wall.
Richard has released a book called "500 years behind the block" to mark the milestone Photo: SWNS
From the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, butcher numbers tumbled from 15,000 to around 6,000, a drop of 60 per cent, according to Meat Trades Journal, though in the last couple of years figures have stabilised.
Balson is clear that he can fight against the supermarkets. “The main thing is personal service. When you come in, you get a nice welcome, you say, 'how’s your mum?’, 'how’s your daughter?’ Most of the people who come in, we’ve served their parents before them, and their grandparents before that and they like to be asked.
"You’re not going to get that personal experience in a supermarket. Who wants to queue up for 20 minutes before you even get to the checkout?”
In any case, if a shop has outlived 23 monarchs and 52 prime ministers, it probably stands a fighting chance of surviving the rise and Tesco and Aldi.
Many argue that family-run businesses are intrinsically more successful than public companies, precisely because the man behind the till or wielding the carving knife is more interested in handing on a legacy than making a quick buck.
Richard's father Donald aged 9 with W Hoskins in 1931(Andrew Crowley/Telegraph)
Mark Hastings, the director of the Institute for Family Businesses, says: “They are not bound by the terror of quarterly or yearly results. It is in their DNA to pass something better to the next generation. They look not just to their sons and daughters, but to the generation beyond.”
Balson, 58, left school at 17 to work with his father, as his father had done before him. But his own son, Billy, 36, is a successful banker living in Manchester.
Balson's Butchers first horse and cart delivery service Photo: SWNS
Though Balson Jr is keen to help the business (he set up its original website), he shows little inclination to join his father selling faggots and bath chaps.
Balson admits there is huge “pressure” on keeping the business going long after he retires as “custodian” of the firm.
“I think it does matter there is a Balson behind the counter,” he says. “But it doesn’t matter if it skips a generation or goes to my brother’s son.”
The Shambles trading licence that dates from 1515 on the wall at Balson's Butchers Photo: SWNS
He is also determined that however our diets change, butcher’s shops will continue to be central to the British high street.
“We’ve survived plagues, fires, floods, wars, recessions and food scares. There’s always something bad for you, but if you listened to everything, you wouldn’t eat anything. You’ve got to enjoy life rather than living on nuts and being miserable.”
Having tried one of his Scotch eggs, I can confirm they are the antidote to misery. The company is likely to survive a few more years yet.
The top 10 oldest UK family businesses
RJ Balson & Son
R Durtnell & Sons
C Hoare & Co
James Lock & Co.
Hatters
Toye, Kenning & Spencer
CPJ Field
Folkes Group
Berry Bros& Rudd
Wine Merchants
Shepherd Neame
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KCL Big Question
Paul Kagame: Rwanda's redeemer or ruthless dictator?
President Paul Kagame, the Rwandan hero who united a country torn by genocide, defends his uncompromising approach to democracy
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda Photo: Getty Images
By Richard Grant
9:00AM BST 22 Jul 2010
The presidential chair, lean and straight-backed, awaits its occupant in a big, hushed room with long, beige curtains drawn against the African sun. After some delay, His Excellency is announced and Paul Kagame enters the room with a brisk loping stride – a tall, thin, gangly man with small steel-rimmed spectacles, a narrow moustache and a blue suit hanging off his bony shoulders.
Machetes, used in the genocide, abandoned by fleeing Hutus at Rwanda's border with Tanzania
His eyes have a keen, piercing intelligence, and he radiates a quality of intense seriousness that is both impressive and intimidating. Kagame, the president of Rwanda, is widely considered to be the most dynamic and effective leader in Africa today, and also ruthless, repressive and intolerant of criticism.
Like any African strongman who depends on aid from Western democracies – Britain is the single largest donor to his regime, giving £70 million last year – it is necessary for Kagame to cry foul when he’s accused of abusing human rights, but his self-professed model for Rwanda is Singapore: a small, tightly controlled authoritarian state that has achieved a vibrant prosperity based on trade, banking and communications.
The interview begins with Kagame asking the questions. 'Tell me your impressions of Rwanda,’ he says, 'a) before you came here, and b) now that you are here.’
Like most foreign visitors, I have been impressed by the cleanliness, order and efficiency of the country. Sixteen years after the genocide in which Hutu fanatics orchestrated the slaughter of more than 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus, leaving the country a nightmarish ruin, with the treasury looted and corpses stuffed down the wells, Rwanda is now the safest, cleanest country in Africa, with no slums and virtually no begging or street crime. It has one of the highest sustained rates of economic growth on the continent, the least amount of corruption and red tape, and it is the only country in the world to have a majority of women in its parliament.
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Plastic bags are outlawed for environmental reasons, and in Kigali, the capital city, skyscrapers are rising, and the streets are swept clean every morning. The death penalty has been abolished, and English adopted as the official language. There is a national health system, 19 out of 20 children are now in school, and rural Rwanda, while still in severe poverty, has better internet service than rural Britain, and a good network of immaculately paved roads.
Meanwhile the survivors of the genocide are doing something almost unimaginable: co-existing with the men who hacked their family members to death, and so often tortured and raped them. In many cases survivors and killers are now living as neighbours again in the same villages, and while this is a tense arrangement to say the least, there has been remarkably little violence, and some inspiring examples of forgiveness and reconciliation.
'These achievements are extraordinary but they seem fragile,’ I say. 'The country still feels so traumatised and volatile. I have been asking Rwandans what they would like to ask you, and two questions keep coming up: how can we heal the ethnic division in our hearts? And what happens if Kagame drops dead tomorrow? Many think there would be another genocide.’
These remarks hang impertinently in the air for a few moments. Then Kagame, who is Tutsi and runs a Tutsi-dominated government, nods slowly and composes his reply.
'For me, this fragility is to be expected. Sixteen years is a very short time, and the trauma runs much deeper than people from outside, however well meaning, will ever understand. Sometimes our partners from other countries ask us why we have not got further with our reconciliation, as if we possess a magic to just get rid of this tragic history of ours. No, we have to find a way to live with it and also to build a new nation. The first phase was to achieve peace and stability, and now we are moving forward with development. And if Kagame, for one reason or other, is no longer there, people can look back at everything that has been done in 16 years, and they can feel a part of it, and be reassured that this stability will continue.’
Rwanda’s curse has been ethnic hatred expressed as ethnic politics, so Kagame’s government, in typically bold, authoritarian style, has made it illegal. Any politician or citizen who makes a statement encouraging ethnic animosity, or expressing ethnic solidarity, risks a lengthy imprisonment for the crime of 'divisionism’. The very words Hutu and Tutsi are now fraught and taboo, and if you ask someone which group they belong to, they will usually look uncomfortable and reply as the government has dictated: 'We are all Rwandans now.’
To Kagame’s critics, this is simply a strategy to keep the Hutus, who make up 85 per cent of the population, from organising politically against his small Tutsi elite now controlling the country. There are Hutu members and ministers in Kagame’s ruling party, the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), but the inner circle is all Tutsi. And in the past, whenever Hutu politicians have started to gather power or criticise the government, it has usually meant their imprisonment, exile, disappearance or, in the case of Seth Sendashonga and a few others, unsolved assassination.
According to Human Rights Watch, one of Kagame’s most persistent critics, by denying Hutus a political voice and access to power he is building resentment and bottling tensions.
Kagame bristles fiercely at these criticisms. 'There are people who think we will never get out of this, that in Rwanda either these ones will do the killing, or these ones will,’ he says. 'I do not accept this. I cannot accept that there is something wrong with us in this way. It will be a long, difficult process – we are under no illusions – and development is really the key. We must create economic opportunity, build a culture of entrepreneurship, get people to take responsibility for improving their lives, rather than putting them in a position where they sit back in their poverty and blame others for it.’
To Kagame’s fans, who include Tony Blair, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and the CEOs of Google and Starbucks, the tinderbox nature of post-genocide Rwanda, and the results he has achieved so far, justify his strong hand and poor human rights record. The fact that Rwanda is ranked 183 out of 195 countries for freedom of the press, for example, is outweighed by the fact that the per-capita GDP has tripled. Also, the West lives with the guilty knowledge that it was Kagame and his rebel army who stopped the genocide, while we dithered and blundered, and Kagame has been skilful and relentless at using this guilt to his advantage.
Like so many rebel generals who have made the switch to civilian leadership, Kagame places a high premium on loyalty and discipline, likes to operate in secrecy, is comfortable using violence and threats of violence against his enemies, and tends to equate criticism with treason. Unusually, he doesn’t appear motivated by wealth or luxury, either for himself or his relations. One of his sisters runs a small dairy. Another operates a souvenir stand at the airport.
When I ask Kagame to sum up his political philosophy, he says, 'Pragmatic, doing what is doable,’ and adds that fighting war is more to his liking. 'Even with all the hardships and hunger, war is straightforward and clear-cut,’ he explains. 'But building a nation from nothing? A nation that has just experienced genocide? There is no strategy manual for this. There is nothing that is not a priority, and the priorities are always conflicting. I try to look at problems very clearly and think, “How do we get out of this? What will work? What will be the consequences for the people involved?”’
Kagame has very little formal schooling, so his ideas and solutions are formed by his life experiences, which have been harsher than most of us can imagine, and his voracious reading. Having put in a 12-hour day dealing with affairs of state, taken his exercise (gym or tennis), spent time with his wife and four children and said goodnight to them, he then stays up reading for three or four hours a night. 'Mainly it is books about economics, business management, development issues, politics, international affairs,’ he says. 'I get newspapers from Britain and other countries twice a week, and read them almost page to page. Sometimes I find I’m reading things I don’t even need to read, because my mind is still hungry. I don’t need much sleep. Four hours is enough.’
Paul Kagame was born in 1957 into an aristocratic Tutsi family that fled Rwanda when he was a small boy. His earliest memories are of houses burning on a hill, shouting and commotion, his desperate mother, the family scrambling into a car as a Hutu death squad came running down the hill towards them. This was in 1959 and again in 1960, during the first of the Hutu pogroms against the Tutsi that some historians now interpret as 'warm-up genocides’.
The Kagames were among tens of thousands of Rwandan Tutsis who ended up living in refugee camps across the border in Uganda. 'You will always hear me talking about the importance of dignity,’ Kagame says. 'It is really the key to people’s lives, and obviously for me it relates back to the refugee camp, the lining up for food every day, the rationing. When we started primary school, we used to study under a tree. We used to write on our thighs with a piece of dry, hard grass, and the teacher would come over and look at your thigh, and write his mark with another piece of dry grass. You develop some sense of questioning, some sense of justice, saying, “Why do I live like this? Why should anybody live like this?” There was also a hardening that is still there in the way I approach many things. You can’t shock me, because what can be worse than what I have seen and lived through?’
As a young man he joined the leftist Ugandan rebel army led by Yoweri Museveni, the current president of Uganda, and spent five years as a guerrilla fighter in the bush. Intelligence was Kagame’s speciality, gathering information about the terrain, the enemy, the villagers. It suited his observant, analytical, conspiratorial mind. When Museveni took power in 1986, he sent Kagame to Cuba for training with 67 intelligence officers under his command.
On his return, Kagame and his closest boyhood friend from the refugee camp, Fred Rwigyema, started building a clandestine army of Rwandan exiles within the Ugandan national army, with the aim of invading Rwanda and overthrowing the Hutu regime. It was one of the most audacious covert operations in military history, involving thousands of people, and it was how the Rwandan Patriotic Front began.
In 1989, through relations in the Rwandan Tutsi diaspora, Kagame met and married his wife, Jeanette, then living in Nairobi. Soon afterwards the newlyweds went to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where Museveni had arranged training for Kagame at the prestigious US Army Command and Staff College, to complement what he had learnt in Cuba. Kagame and Rwigyema continued to plot their invasion by telephone, as the Ugandan military became increasingly suspicious of the Rwandans in their midst.
In October 1990, with Kagame still in Kansas tidying up his affairs, the RPF detached itself from the Ugandan army, ripped the insignias off its uniforms, and crossed the border into Rwanda. By the time Kagame got there Rwigyema had been killed, and the RPF had been routed. Kagame took command of the remnants and led them to the remote Virunga mountains. There he rebuilt his army in secret, and began a four-year guerrilla war against the Hutu government headed by President Juvénal Habyarimana and backed by the French.
It was Hutu Power extremists in the ruling elite who conceived of genocide against Tutsis, imported the machetes from China, trained the Interahamwe death squads, and then used the radio to whip up hatred and paranoia among the Hutu population, and coordinate the killing district by district. As the horror began, Kagame was in close contact with the UN commander on the ground, Romeo Dallaire, whose superiors in New York ordered him to stay neutral and not get involved. Kagame was also in contact with the Clinton administration, which justified its inaction by claiming that 'acts of genocide’ were taking place, but not genocide itself. Furious and disgusted by the international response, Kagame and the RPF took matters into their own hands and marched on Kigali.
The night before the RPF reached the city, the genocidaires fled, leaving the streets heaped with corpses, government buildings stripped down to the wiring, the treasury and banks emptied. Moving into the countryside beyond Kigali, the RPF found more horror, stench and eerie silence. It seemed impossible that so many people had been killed with machetes and clubs in such a short time, and indeed the Rwandan genocide, with 800,000 dead in 100 days, was the fastest genocide in history.
When the self-styled 'international community’ did finally intervene, it did nothing for the survivors, and chose instead to help the perpetrators of the genocide. The French landed 3,000 soldiers and created a protected zone for the fleeing government army, death squads and general Hutu population, which included many genocidal killers. From there, a great exodus of Hutus crossed into the Democratic Republic of Congo, or Zaire as it was then, and a massive international aid campaign was launched to feed them, shelter them in refugee camps, and bring them medical supplies. Neither the television coverage nor the televised appeals for money by the aid organisations made it clear that these people had just committed genocide. In accordance with the principles of humanitarian neutrality, they were described as 'refugees from the genocide in Rwanda’, and most viewers naturally assumed they were innocent survivors.
Kagame’s blood starts to boil when he remembers this time. 'They had armoured personnel carriers, anti-aircraft, armouries and ammunition in the camps, and the human rights people, and the humanitarian people, were feeding them, and telling us they were feeding refugees. And, as they very well knew, these so-called refugees were selling most of what they were given so they could maintain their military machine, because they wanted to come back and overthrow us.’
There were two important long-term consequences. One was that Kagame developed a deep contempt for the international community and its claims to moral authority. The second was that his army invaded Zaire/Congo (while he strenuously denied that an invasion was taking place). Fighting alongside a Congolese rebel army, it scattered but did not defeat the Hutu war machine, committed a series of brutal massacres against fleeing, unarmed Hutus (also denied, even when the mass graves were discovered), deposed the dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, and set in motion a horrific cycle of violence, upheaval and pillage in Congo that has been dubbed Africa’s World War. Depending on whose figures you believe, it has caused three million, five million or seven million deaths, mostly from war-related disease and privation.
The gravest charges against Kagame’s regime relate to the actions of his army. There is clear evidence that the RPF committed systematic massacres of Hutus both in Rwanda when they took power, and then in Congo. According to UN reports, the Rwandan military has also plundered some $100 million worth of gold, diamonds, tin, coltan and other minerals from war-ravaged eastern Congo. It is not a defence of Rwanda but a point of context to mention that eight other African nations, and a dizzying cast of Congolese warlords, have also been fighting over the vast mineral wealth in this region.
Kagame has only this to say on the subject of Congo: 'The problems there are so enormous and many decades old, so I think it is a mistake to say that the problem starts with Rwanda’s hand in it, and this is where it ends. Even if we were to take Rwanda away, and put it someplace else, Congo still has a lot of problems to contend with – corruption, bad governance, lack of effective institutions, and so on. But at least for those problems related to us we are gradually overcoming them, and are doing so by working very well with the Congolese.’
Regarding the RPF massacres of Hutus in Rwanda, he offers a more spirited defence, saying that it was extremely difficult to restrain his troops, especially the new recruits who had just seen their family members raped and butchered. 'You can imagine trying to stand between people who are so seriously aggrieved, and having the desire to settle it because there was no justice infrastructure at that time. Then you have the ones being accused, and some felt justified and thought they did right in killing, and others said no, we weren’t a part of it, even if they were involved, and trying to sort all this out was probably the most difficult thing of all.’
There were still thousands of unburied bodies when human rights activists made their first calls for free and fair democratic elections in Rwanda. There were millions of displaced people, and a genocidal war machine reassembling itself just across the border. There was no currency in circulation, and the trauma of the survivors was still in the first stage of shock. 'You would look in their eyes and see a blankness,’ Kagame says. 'They were just wondering how it was possible to cope with everything they had seen.’
Some 200 humanitarian NGOs (non-governmental organisations) arrived in Rwanda to help rebuild it, and while Kagame was grateful for the goodwill, the money and the services they could provide, he rankled at the mixture of naivety and entitlement that came along in their cultural baggage, and threw 80 of them out because they refused to register. 'Of the rest, you would be lucky to find five in 100 that are doing it altruistically. The others will choose for you where you should put their money, and try to control what you do in other areas. They come here knowing almost nothing, understanding almost nothing, and they judge and criticise and tell you what you should do. A big part of the misunderstanding is that they expect us to be a normal country, like the ones where they are from. They do not understand that we are operating in a very different context.’
In the Great Lakes region of Africa – Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Uganda – it is normal for presidents to seize power at the head of rebel armies. Ethnic violence and ethnic patronage are basic tools of politics, and if you lose power there is a serious risk of death, imprisonment or exile, and perhaps a wave of ethnic cleansing or genocide against your people. In Kagame’s case, his electorate is 85 per cent Hutu. Many of them were involved in the most committed attempt at genocide that Africa has ever seen. It is not hard to understand why his government lacks enthusiasm for genuinely free and fair elections, or why it clamps down so hard on the slightest suggestion of ethnic politics. Nor does it ever admit mistakes, apologise or show any other sign of weakness.
Another basic requirement for politicians in the region is to present a facade of democracy to keep the donors happy and the aid money flowing. In this spirit, the RPF wrote a parliamentary constitution for Rwanda after it took power. To show Rwandans and the West that they were not a military dictatorship of Tutsi exiles, they appointed a Hutu president, Pasteur Bizimungu, and a Hutu prime minister. Kagame was vice-president, minister of defence, general of the army, and the one who took important meetings with foreign heads of state. Bizimungu proved obstinate, greedy and ambitious. In 2000, having resigned while drunk in public, he was then arrested and sentenced to 15 years for divisionism. The crime was committed in a magazine interview, in which Bizimungu predicted Hutu violence and civil war unless the RPF started sharing power in a genuine way.
Kagame assumed the presidency. He started devouring books about Singapore, South Korea, China and the other 'Asian Tigers’, which had managed to leap out of poverty in less than a generation by means of disciplined, authoritarian leadership and entrepreneurial capitalism. Rwanda is a small, landlocked, overpopulated country with few natural resources, and long, expensive trade routes. How was it going to develop? Kagame announced an ambitious plan to turn Rwanda into the high-tech commercial, banking and communications hub of east and central Africa by 2020.
The region is rich in resources, especially Congo, but it has been crippled by corruption, inefficiency, political instability, poverty, disease and ignorance. Kagame’s government began tackling these problems with a harsh, bullying, unwavering determination entirely new to the region. Government employees were required to be at their desks by 7am, and quickly fired if they didn’t produce results. The anti-corruption tsar was given real power, and used it zealously. The rebuilding of Rwanda’s infrastructure and institutions, especially in health and education, has been largely financed by foreign aid, which provided 100 per cent of the government’s budget in the immediate aftermath of the genocide, and is now at 42 per cent. Kagame wants to reduce Rwanda’s dependency on aid, regarding it as a trap that stifles entrepreneurship and dignity, but it has been integral to his progress so far, and for the donors Rwanda has been a rare success story. Here at last is an African government that doesn’t embezzle or squander the money, but uses it efficiently and gets results.
The government has also been effective at courting influential friends abroad (Clinton, Blair et al), and bringing in foreign investment, mainly from America and China. The World Bank has named Rwanda the top business reformer in the world, and the region’s most business-friendly country. The coffee business is booming, thanks in no small part to Starbucks, and tourism, unimaginable after the genocide, has grown into a $200 million a year industry. Another important part of the Rwandan economic miracle, but hard to measure, has been the secret flow of illegal minerals from Congo.
The other African countries involved have plundered minerals for the personal enrichment of a few individuals, with the profits banked in Switzerland or London. In Rwanda’s case, the mineral wealth appears to have been funnelled through government channels, with most of it spent on the military, and the rest of it helping to finance Kagame’s vision of an African Singapore.
The dream is still a long way from coming true. In Kigali there is a prosperous elite, most of them Tutsis returned from the diaspora, and an emerging middle class, but nine out of 10 Rwandans are still subsistence farmers. Hope rests on the generation currently in school, who are growing up with laptops and the internet, speaking English, and moving towards the universities and the new technical colleges. Rwandese society has always encouraged obedience to power (this is one reason why so many Hutus followed their orders to kill Tutsis), and younger Rwandans are being pounded with exhortations to study hard, work hard, take responsibility, be entrepreneurs.
No one is watching the Rwanda experiment more closely than other Africans. Kagame is widely admired and respected on the continent, and considered a shoo-in for the presidency of the African Union if he ever wants the job. But the Rwanda model is not easily replicated. It requires a Kagame, and men like Kagame do not come along often. There has never been a shortage of autocrats in Africa, but very few of them have been so driven and determined to better their countries, and most have concentrated on enriching themselves and shoring up their power with patronage. Kagame has shown Africa that strong leadership can turn a country around, and that a strong leader shows no quarter to his opponents.
He faced his first presidential election in 2003. Opposition candidates proved hard to find because the likeliest were either in prison, dead or had fled the country. Finally the former prime minister, a Hutu named Faustin Twagiramungu, returned from exile, announced his candidacy and made a speech accusing Kagame of running a dictatorship. The majority-female parliament promptly voted to ban his political party. Twagiramungu persevered, even after two of his most prominent supporters disappeared without trace, and Kagame won 95 per cent of the vote. He insists it was a free and fair election, saying, 'You cannot blame me for the weakness of the opposition.’
Now he has another election on August 9. The government has closed down two critical newspapers, and arrested a journalist for defamation (he compared Kagame with Hitler) and divisionism. A dissident general has survived an assassination attempt in South Africa, and a newspaper editor who linked it to the Rwandan government was murdered in Kigali. Two opposition parties have been prevented from registering, and the vice-president of one, Andre Kagwa Rwisereka of the Democratic Greens, has turned up dead from machete wounds. Political rallies have been been broken up violently by the police, and two Hutu opposition candidates have been arrested, one for divisionism, the other, Victoire Ingabire, for the Orwellian crime of 'genocide ideology’.
Ingabire had been living in Belgium. On returning to Rwanda to announce her candidacy, she went straight to the genocide memorial in Kigali and asked why there was no memorial for the moderate Hutus who were killed – her brother was one of them. She was announcing herself, in RPF eyes, as a Hutu candidate, and challenging the government version of the genocide, which is a strict morality play involving Hutu villains, Tutsi victims and RPF heroes. To raise questions about the RPF atrocities against Hutus, or draw attention to the moderate Hutus who were killed, is equated under the law with denying or diminishing the genocide.
All in all, it seems a foregone conclusion that Kagame will win re-election and remain in power for at least another seven years. Then comes the big question. Will he abide by the Rwandan constitution, which limits presidents to two terms? Or will he devise a reason to hold on to power for longer? Kagame insists he will step down, and says that if there is no peaceful democratic transfer of power in 2017, his presidency will have been a failure. He insists that Rwanda will become an increasingly open and democratic society, but not to impress the international community, or because meddlesome foreigners are demanding it. 'No,’ he says, 'we must do it because fundamentally we believe in it, because these values are universal and we share them, and because it is good for us.’
Is this deceitful rhetoric, or does he really intend to open up political space once development has got further, as the donors and many Rwandans would like to believe? Is Kagame a benevolent dictator, the strong hand needed to pull Rwanda forward into a better future, or is he an incurable despot? If you hold him up to the light in the right way, you can see both facets glinting at once.
World News »
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Framing Hope: In pictures
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Gorillas Living on the Edge
Telegraph on Facebook
Disabled great-grandfather denied stairlift and forced to crawl
Elderly wombat rescued after being attacked
When media meets medicine
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Watch How God Made the English Episodes - Watch Series Online
TV Series H How God Made the English
How God Made the English
In a new three-part series for BBC Two, “How God Made The English”, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch explores how English identity has slowly been shaped by the interplay of Church and State over the last 1,400 years. “Who are the English?” is a topical question, discussed time and time again by columnists, presenters, journalists, novelists, poets and e...
In a new three-part series for BBC Two, “How God Made The English”, Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch explores how English identity has slowly been shaped by the interplay of Church and State over the last 1,400 years. “Who are the English?” is a topical question, discussed time and time again by columnists, presenters, journalists, novelists, poets and every single Prime Minister in the last two decades. The conventional wisdom is that there is a neat, static and ageless set of characteristics that define the English. Throughout the series, Professor MacCulloch will explore this notion of a timeless “Englishness” and will argue that, in fact, English identity has changed over time, and that these changes are a result, not of the usual suspects of politics, wars and economics, but a product of religion
Genre: History, Documentary
Release Date: March 17, 2012 (US)
Status: 429
Network: BBC TWO (UK) (BBC Two)
Casts:
Most recent episode: How God Made the English Season 1 Episode 3 – A White and Christian People?
Select Season: All Seasons Season 1
1 How God Made the English Season 1 Episode 3 – A White and Christian People? Mar-31-2012 0 7 years
How God Made the English Season 1 Episode 2 – A Tolerant People? Mar-24-2012 1 6 years
How God Made the English Season 1 Episode 1 – A Chosen People? Mar-17-2012 1 7 years
Write your review for the series: How God Made the English
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You are here: Home / News / Southern Region Cross Country Team
Southern Region Cross Country Team
Southern Region Cross Country
The Southern Region Cross Country Championships is taking place on Saturday 3 March and Athletics South Africa’s selected a senior team to represent South Africa in Mauritius. The team has been selected from the athletes that competed in Potchefstroom at the SA Cross Country Trials on 18 February 2012.
Elroy Gelant won the men’s trials in Potchefstroom but won’t be available for the Mauritius team as he will be in action at the second Yellow Pages Interprovincial meeting in Bellville on 3 March and then move on to the World Indoor Championships in Istanbul taking place from 9-11 March.
The men’s team consists of experienced cross country athletes like Boy Soke, Lungisa Mdedelwa, Kgosi Tsosane and Dean Brummer with athletes like David Manja and Isaac Mbuyase looking to gain valuable experience at the upcoming Championships.
The 29 year-old Soke from the Free State have represented South Africa at major Cross Country Championships since the start of his career as a junior athlete in 2005. In the same year Soke represented South Africa at the World Cross Country Championships in France. Four years later as a senior athlete Soke was selected for the team as a senior at the World Cross Country Championships in Amman, Jordan where he finished 41st. Last year it was the Africa Cross Country Championships in Cape Town (6/03/2011) as well as the World Cross Country Championships in Spain where Soke finished 12th and 43st respectively.
He finished 4th at the trials on 18 February and will be helping the team in Mauritius over the weekend. Lungisa Mdedelwa finished 8th at the Africa Cross Country Championships in Cape Town in 2011 and also have the experience of two World Cross Country Championship behind his name, being Bydgoszcz in 2010 and Spain in 2011.
In terms of major Championships three World Cross Country Championships and one Africa Cross Country Championship in 3 consecutive years (2009-2011) is written behind Kgose Tsosane’s name. Tsosane represented South Africa at the Africa Cross Country Championships in 2011 where he finished 5th.
Brummer may not be as experienced as athletes like Soke, Mdedelwa and Tsosane in Cross Country, but is definitely not short in experience as far as athletics go in general. Brummer represented South Africa at the World Cross Country Championships in Kenya in 2007. Brummer is better known as a long distance athlete on the track competing in events like the 1500m, 3000m, 5000m and 3000m steeple chase amongst others.
Amongst the women are the Phalula twins, marathon runners Mpho Mabuza and Ntombesintu Mfunzi and middle and long distance track and field athlete, Nolene Conrad.
Lebo and Lebogang Phalula represented South Africa at 4 different World Cross Country Championships which included 2005 as juniors, and 2009, 2010 and 2011. Lebogang’s best results were in 2010 where she finished 15th at the World Championships while Lebo finished 22nd in the same year.
Nolene Conrad is well known as a track and field athlete and have qualified for the team when she finished 7th at the trials on 18 February. The first 6 were chosen but Onneile Dintwe, who finished 4th, is from Botswana were therefore not eligible for team selection.
Mpho Mabuza and Ntombesintu Mfunzi are both marathon runners. Mabuza finished 2nd at the SA Marathon Championships in George on 5 February while Mfunzi’s last marathon was in September 2011 in Mossel bay where she finished 4th.
The team will leave for Mauritius on Thursday, 1 March at 09:00.
See full team below:
Senior Men Senior Women
David Manja (ACNW) Lebo Phalula (CGA)
Boy Soke (AFS) Mpho Mabuza (CGA)
Lungisa Mdedelwa (ATRA) Lebogang Phalula (CGA)
Dean Brummer (ACNW) Portia Ngwenya (AGN)
Kgosi Tsosane (AGN) Ntombesintu Mfunzi (EPA)
Isaac Mbuyase (CGA) Nolene Conrad (CGA)
Reserve: Reserve :
Mbongeni Ngxazozo (CGA) Ashleigh Schnetler (CGA)
Anna Moeketsi (AFS)
SA dominates in Mauritius
Southern Region Junior Team Announced
Juniors to make impact in Potch
Gelant, Phalula, lead Cross team
Filed Under: Cross Country, Featured, News, World Champs Tagged With: 2012, ASA, Championships, Cross Country, Southern Region
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Monday Morning Conversation: From Avon to entertaining
Micaela Parker @OD_Parker
Mohawk Valley resident Jim Karol was once an Avon salesman. Now a professional entertainer for the last 35 years as a "magician and mentalist," he's performed thousands of shows at colleges across the country and has appeared on national television shows.
Mohawk Valley resident Jim Karol once was an Avon salesman. Now a professional entertainer for the last 35 years as a "magician and mentalist," he's performed thousands of shows at colleges across the country and has appeared on national television shows. Some of his most recent work includes touring with the USO alongside celebrities, and entertaining members of the armed forces with post-traumatic stress disorder. He said he hopes to one day bring his skills to the local community by opening a brain wellness center. Explain what it is you do exactly, as a mentalist and entertainer? In the last three years, I have gone from performing at comedy clubs and college campuses, to speaking at hospitals and military medical facilities. I have evolved from someone who did a few magic tricks, into a more diversified performer, specializing in extraordinary feats of the mind and high emotional intelligence. I now serve as a consultant and trainer to several business leaders, medical practitioners, professional athletes and neuroscientists. My greatest passion is working with our wounded warriors and seniors with memory issues. The United Services Organizations brings me to Walter Reed Medical Center and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital every month, where I help our warriors with post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2016, I had the honor of performing at the Invictus Games in Orlando hosted by Prince Harry. During that week I bonded with hundreds of wounded warrior athletes from around the world. Afterward, I was invited by the Department of Defense to perform for the Warrior Games at West Point. My biggest honor came in December when I hosted the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Holiday Tour with the USO. We traveled to Ireland, Turkey, Afghanistan, Qatar and Germany. Also on the tour was Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, NBA legend Ray Allen, gold medal swimmer Maya Dirado and country artist Craig Campbell. I've never met so many sincere, real, genuine people as I did on the USO tour. I shook hands with thousands of our brave men and women serving over seas and it was a priceless experience. How did you get involved in this career? I grew up in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and just like the Billy Joel song "Allentown," I ended up working at the local steel mill. After losing my job like thousands of others, I took my pregnant wife's Avon account and went door to door selling Avon. I don't know if the women felt sorry for me or liked my card tricks, but I quickly became one of the most popular Avon guys. One of the ladies hired me to do a show for a thousand women, and here I am today, 5,000 shows later. Do you ever get star-struck with all the famous people you've met? Not really star struck, but it's really cool hanging out with people like Steven Tyler, Mike Tyson, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson or shooting three-pointers with Ray Allen, the best three-point shooter ever. What advancements do you see your career making? I am currently working with a group of doctors, in helping athletes with (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), the disorder caused from head injuries. I also plan to continue working with our wounded warriors with the hopes of one day opening a Brain Wellness Center here in Central New York."
Follow @OD_Parker on Twitter or call her at 315-792-5063.
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Much loved Tipperary nun dies
Anne O'Grady
The town of Thurles was in mourning this morning following the death of Sr Xavier O'Dwyer, a much loved member of the Ursuline Community who shaped the lives of many hundreds of young people in their formative years.
Sr. Xavier, who had reached an advanced age, was Principal in Scoil Angela, the Ursuline primary school, and had taught generations of boys and girls, gently guiding them until their departure to either the boys school or to secondary level.
She was very prominent in the St. Joseph's Thurles Conference of St. Vincent de Paul Society where she earned the highest honour some years ago. She was extremely well regarded locally and was a beloved teacher to all who walked the corridors of Scoil Angela.
A native of Booleen, Bansha she had been ill for just a short time and when news of her death became known last night there was widespread sadness. Many tributes were paid to her on social media as past pupils recalled their days under her guidance and shared their memories.
She passed away peacefully, in the presence of her Community. She was predeceased by her brother Patrick and her sister Betty. She is also deeply regretted by her sisters Kathleen (Crotty) and Joan (O'Dwyer), her nieces, nephews, grandnieces, grandnephews, her Ursuline Community and Congregation and her colleagues and pupils (past and present) in Scoil Angela.
Her remains are reposing in the New Convent Oratory today Tuesday 4th April from 3pm to 6pm. Entrance to new Convent via Sec School, Templemore Road or Ulster Bank, Carpark, Thurles. Evening Prayers at 6pm. Funeral Mass on Wednesday 5th April in the Cathedral of the Assumption at 11am, followed by burial in the convent cemetery.
May her soul rest in eternal peace.
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Angebote zu "Chronicles" (26 Treffer)
The Complete Titanic Chronicles als eBook Download von Walter Lord
The Complete Titanic Chronicles:A Night to Remember and The Night Lives On Walter Lord
Der Fluch der Titanic / Sherlock Holmes Chronicles Bd.11 (Audio-CD)
Der Fluch der Titanic: Sherlock Holmes Chronicles 11, Hörbuch, Digital, 1, 158min
Sherlock Holmes ermittelt im Fall ´´Titanic´´. Und fördert Unglaubliches zutage. 1. Sprache: Deutsch. Erzähler: Markus Pfeiffer, Till Hagen, Tom Jacobs. Hörprobe: http://samples.audible.de/bk/wzei/000052/bk_wzei_000052_sample.mp3. Digitales Hörbuch im AAX Format.
Titanic´s Doom!: AKA The Steam Punk Kid And The Angel Of Death: The Chronicles Of Rocky And Binx, Book 1 , Hörbuch, Digital, 1, 50min
I was living the life of a normal 10-year-old, when it all changed. The very moment it all changed you ask? I would say it was the moment I escaped my bully named Bull. But it could be the moment I ran through Binx. One minute I was just Rocky, and the next I was the savior of humanity. Join us as we travel through time, to collect all the pieces, to keep Mr. Moon, the diabolical genius, locked away. If we fail the world as we know it, will be gone. Oh, and mystical creatures, zombies, and the Angel Of Death himself, are all a part of the journey. 1. Language: English. Narrator: John H Fehskens. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/093416/bk_acx0_093416_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
Deck Z: The Titanic als eBook Download von Chris Pauls
Deck Z: The Titanic:Unsinkable. Undead Chris Pauls
Sherlock Holmes Chronicles 11?Der Fluch Der Titani als Hörbuch CD von Arthur Conan Doyle
Sherlock Holmes Chronicles 11?Der Fluch Der Titani:Der Fluch der Titanic Sherlock Holmes Chronicles Arthur Conan Doyle
Investigating the Sinking of the Titanic: The Investigations Made in the Wake of the Titanic Disaster , Hörbuch, Digital, 1, 131min
Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic, the largest ship in the world, hit an iceberg, setting in motion a chain of events that would ultimately make it history´s most famous, and notorious, ship. The Titanic was neither the first nor last big ship to sink, so it´s clear that much of its appeal stems from the nature of ship itself. Indeed, the Titanic stands out not just for its end but for its beginning, specifically the fact that it was the most luxurious passenger ship ever built at the time. In addition to the time it took to come up with the design, the giant ship took a full three years to build, and no effort or cost was spared to outfit the Titanic in the most lavish ways. Given that the Titanic was over 100 feet tall, nearly 900 feet long, and over 90 feet wide, it´s obvious that those who built her and provided all of its famous amenities had plenty of work to do. The massive ship was carrying thousands of passengers and crew members, each with their own experiences on board, and the various amenities offered among the different classes of passengers ensured that life on some decks of the ship was quite different than life on others. Much has been made through the years about the failures of those designing the Titanic to take proper safety precautions, and how these failings led to the disaster and huge loss of life. In fact, the number of lives lost was so great that it can be hard to believe that the death toll might have been higher. Nonetheless, it´s true that many more would have died without the courageous efforts of those on the ships who responded to the Titanic´s distress calls and sailed through the same dangerous conditions that brought down the ´´unsinkable´´ ship itself. Investigating the Sinking of the Titanic chronicles the immediate aftermath of the tragedy and the investigations and changes that followed. 1. Language: English. Narrator: John Gagnepain. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/036305/bk_acx0_036305_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
The Sinking of the RMS Titanic: The Tragic Loss of the World´s Most Famous Ship , Hörbuch, Digital, 1, 101min
Just before midnight on April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic, the largest ship in the world, hit an iceberg, starting a chain of events that would ultimately make it history´s most famous, and notorious, ship. In the over 100 years since it sank on its maiden voyage, the Titanic has been the subject of endless fascination, as evidenced by the efforts to find its final resting spot, the museums full of its objects, and the countless books, documentaries, and movies made about the doomed ocean liner. The Titanic was neither the first nor last big ship to sink, so it´s clear that much of its appeal stems from the nature of ship itself. Indeed, the Titanic stands out not just for its end but for its beginning, specifically the fact that it was the most luxurious passenger ship ever built at the time. In addition to the time it took to come up with the design, the giant ship took a full three years to build, and no effort or cost was spared to outfit the Titanic in the most lavish ways. Given that the Titanic was over 100 feet tall, nearly 900 feet long, and over 90 feet wide, it´s obvious that those who built her and provided all of its famous amenities had plenty of work to do. The massive ship was carrying thousands of passengers and crew members, each with their own experiences on board, and the various amenities offered among the different classes of passengers ensured that life on some decks of the ship was quite different than life on others. The Sinking of the RMS Titanic chronicles the ship´s final hours and the tragedy that ensued, explaining what happened. It also documents different passengers´ accounts of that fateful night. 1. Language: English. Narrator: Robin McKay. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/acx0/033456/bk_acx0_033456_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
Raising My Titanic: The Diary of a Single Mother, Hörbuch, Digital, 1, 176min
It is a few days before Christmas and Betty, alone in the world with only her daughter Molly, is about to sign the papers that will end her eight-year marriage. As Betty reveals her feelings about this final act, listeners become privy to a hilarious inner dialogue of pros and cons moving from ´´half my friends are divorced´´ to ´´divorce makes no sense...´´ at lightning speed. Such is the story behind Betty in Raising My Titanic, a hilarious but heartrending diary that chronicles the trials and tribulations of a 30-year-old woman during her first year of adjustment following divorce. In a simple and down-to-earth style, Mary Sheldon paints a brilliant portrait of a sensitive woman in transition, capturing the frustations of learning how to live all over again. 1. Language: English. Narrator: Mary Sheldon. Audio sample: http://samples.audible.de/bk/pnix/000249/bk_pnix_000249_sample.mp3. Digital audiobook in aax.
Fluch
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The Diocesan Bishop is the head and chief executive officer of the Incorporated Synod of the Diocese of Toronto.
Our governing membership body is known as a Synod. It’s made up of all the licensed clergy in the Diocese and lay members (non-clergy) who are elected by their parishes. The Bishop chairs all sessions of Synod.
When Synod is not in session, Diocesan Council acts on its behalf, also chaired by the Bishop. Diocesan Council is responsible to Synod for developing and overseeing priorities to implement the mission and vision set by Synod. It’s also responsible for budget development, recommendation, oversight and mid-term adjustment if needed.
Once a plan has been approved by Synod, Diocesan Council acts at a strategic level to assign priorities to Executive Board and other committees to implement the plan. The Executive Board is charged in various ways with supporting the work of the Diocese as assigned to it by Diocesan Council.
Area Councils are engaged in supporting the parishes in their area, working with the area bishop to allocate ministry development grants and to provide a variety of programs for clergy and lay people.
The Diocesan Centre is adjacent to the cathedral and houses about 35 full- and part-time administrative, program and support staff whose work provides support to the Bishop, the College of Bishops and Diocesan Council for the leadership of the Diocese.
For more information, please contact Pamela Boisvert, Secretary of Synod, at 416-363-6021 ext. 231 (1-800-668-8932).
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Proposed Ban on Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers in Sonoma Heads to City Council in October
SONOMA, Calif. – A proposal to ban gas-powered leaf blowers within the city limits of Sonoma is set headed to the City Council on Oct. 7, a move that would put the city in select company among California cities to impost a ban on the use of the noisy devices.
At its Sept. 4 meeting, the City Council voted 4 to 1 to have Planning Director David Goodison draft an ordinance putting the kibosh on using gas-powered leaf blowers.
The proposed ban generated from a group of vocal residents who posted a petition for a ban on MoveOn.org that garnered 55 signatures. The proposal was put on the council’s Sept. 4 agenda by Councilman Steve Barbose and David Cook, the former of whom was on the council in April 2011 when new limits on the use of leaf blowers were put in place, including banning their use on Sundays and city-observed holidays.
Sonoma would join the Marin cities of Belvedere and Mill Valley among North Bay towns to ban gas-powered leaf blowers. Other California cities restrict the hours of operation, or allow only electric or battery-powered blowers. Goodison said that while the draft ordinance will focus only on gas-powered leaf blowers, the council directed him to include options for restricting the use of electric and battery-powered blowers, such as limiting the hours they can be used.
The city’s current rules restrict the use of leaf blowers in residential areas to between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and in city parks on the same days between the hours of 7 a.m. and 4 p.m.
For the full article, click here.
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The Myth of 'Learning Styles'
A popular theory that some people learn better visually or aurally keeps getting debunked.
Olga Khazan
China Stringer Network / Reuters
In the early ‘90s, a New Zealand man named Neil Fleming decided to sort through something that had puzzled him during his time monitoring classrooms as a school inspector. In the course of watching 9,000 different classes, he noticed that only some teachers were able to reach each and every one of their students. What were they doing differently?
Fleming zeroed in on how it is that people like to be presented information. For example, when asking for directions, do you prefer to be told where to go or to have a map sketched for you?
Today, 16 questions like this comprise the VARK questionnaire that Fleming developed to determine someone’s “learning style.” VARK, which stands for “Visual, Auditory, Reading, and Kinesthetic," sorts students into those who learn best visually, through aural or heard information, through reading, or through “kinesthetic” experiences. (“I learned much later that vark is Dutch for “pig,” Fleming wrote later, “and I could not get a website called vark.com because a pet shop in Pennsylvania used it for selling aardvarks—earth pigs!”)
He wasn’t the first to suggest that people have different “learning styles”—past theories included the reading-less “VAK” and something involving “convergers” and “assimilators”—but VARK became one of the most prominent models out there.
Experts aren’t sure how the concept spread, but it might have had something to do with the self-esteem movement of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Everyone was special—so everyone must have a special learning style, too. Teachers told students about it in grade school. “Teachers like to think that they can reach every student, even struggling students, just by tailoring their instruction to match each student’s preferred learning format,” said Central Michigan University’s Abby Knoll, a PhD student who has studied learning styles. (Students, meanwhile, like to blame their scholastic failures on their teacher’s failure to align their teaching style with their learning style.)
Either way, “by the time we get students at college,” said Indiana University professor Polly Husmann, “they’ve already been told ‘You’re a visual learner.’” Or aural, or what have you.
The thing is, they’re not. Or at least, a lot of evidence suggests that people aren’t really one certain kind of learner or another. In a study published last month in the journal Anatomical Sciences Education, Husmann and her colleagues had hundreds of students take the VARK questionnaire to determine what kind of learner they supposedly were. The survey then gave them some study strategies that seem like they would correlate with that learning style. Husmann found that not only did students not study in ways that seemed to reflect their learning style, those who did tailor their studying to suit their style didn’t do any better on their tests.
Husmann thinks the students had fallen into certain study habits, which, once formed, were too hard to break. Students seemed to be interested in their learning styles, but not enough to actually change their studying behavior based on them. And even if they had, it wouldn’t have mattered.
“I think as a purely reflective exercise, just to get you thinking about your study habits, [VARK] might have a benefit,” Husmann said. “But the way we’ve been categorizing these learning styles doesn’t seem to hold up.”
Another study published last year in the British Journal of Psychology found that students who preferred learning visually thought they would remember pictures better, and those who preferred learning verbally thought they’d remember words better. But those preferences had no correlation to which they actually remembered better later on—words or pictures. Essentially, all the “learning style” meant, in this case, was that the subjects liked words or pictures better, not that words or pictures worked better for their memories.
In other words, “there’s evidence that people do try to treat tasks in accordance with what they believe to be their learning style, but it doesn’t help them,” says Daniel Willingham, a psychologist at the University of Virginia. In 2015, he reviewed the literature on learning styles and concluded that “learning styles theories have not panned out.”
That same year, a Journal of Educational Psychology paper found no relationship between the study subjects’ learning-style preference (visual or auditory) and their performance on reading- or listening-comprehension tests. Instead, the visual learners performed best on all kinds of tests. Therefore, the authors concluded, teachers should stop trying to gear some lessons toward “auditory learners.” “Educators may actually be doing a disservice to auditory learners by continually accommodating their auditory learning style,” they wrote, “rather than focusing on strengthening their visual word skills.”
In our conversation, Willingham brought up another study, published in 2009, in which people who said they liked to think visually or verbally really did try to think that way: Self-proclaimed visualizers tried to create an image, and self-proclaimed verbalizers tried to form words. But, there was a rub, he said: “If you’re a visualizer and I give you pictures, you don’t remember pictures any better than anyone who says they’re verbalizer.”
This doesn’t mean everyone is equally good at every skill, of course. Really, Willingham says, people have different abilities, not styles. Some people read better than others; some people hear worse than others. But most of the tasks we encounter are only really suited to one type of learning. You can’t visualize a perfect French accent, for example.
The VARK questionnaire itself illustrates this problem pretty well. One question, for example, asks:
You are planning a vacation for a group. You want some feedback from them about the plan. You would:
describe some of the highlights they will experience.
use a map to show them the places.
give them a copy of the printed itinerary.
phone, text, or email them.
But of course, any friend-having human in 2018 would email their friends to coordinate group travel, whether or not that email includes the first three elements. (Another question asks, sweetly, “You are helping someone who wants to go to the airport” and suggests different ways of giving directions, along with the option to simply “go with her.” It depends on the “her” in question, one would assume!)
The "learning styles" idea has snowballed—as late as 2014, more than 90 percent of teachers in various countries believed it. The concept is intuitively appealing, promising to reveal secret brain processes with just a few questions. Strangely, most research on learning styles starts out with a positive portrayal of the theory—before showing it doesn’t work.
Willingham goes so far as to say people should stop thinking of themselves as visual, verbal, or some other kind of learner. “It’s not like anything terrible is going to happen to you [if you do buy into learning styles],” he says, but there’s not any benefit to it, either. “Everyone is able to think in words, everyone is able to think in mental images. It’s much better to think of everyone having a toolbox of ways to think, and think to yourself, which tool is best?”
Husmann says the most important thing, for anyone looking to learn something new, is just to really focus on the material—that’s what the most successful students from her study did. Rather than, say, plopping some flashcards in your lap ... “but I’m really watching the football game,” she said.
Fleming did not return a request for comment by press time, but his own papers seem to warn against getting too carried away by VARK. “I sometimes believe that students and teachers invest more belief in VARK than it warrants,” he wrote in 2006. “You can like something, but be good at it or not good at it ... VARK tells you about how you like to communicate. It tells you nothing about the quality of that communication.”
In other words, it might help you learn about yourself, but it might not help you learn.
Olga Khazan is a staff writer at The Atlantic.
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The Army Nearly Adopted This Stealthy OH-58X Kiowa Warrior Variant
As the Army hunts for a new stealthy, high-speed, long-range attack reconnaissance helicopter, it's interesting to look back at what might have been.
By Joseph TrevithickApril 18, 2019
Bell via Flight Global
The U.S. Army wants a new high-speed, long-range, stealthy attack reconnaissance helicopter to finally succeed the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior scout helicopter, which the service decided to retire prematurely in 2014. The service says it needs the new helicopter to meet the operational demands of a potential high-end conflict with a “great power” adversary, such as Russia or China. With all this in mind, it’s interesting to remember that the Army had at least a smaller number of Kiowas with various stealthy features, known as the OH-58X, nearly thirty years ago.
Secretary of the Army Mark Esper underscored the importance of the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) program to the service’s overall modernization goals during a press conference at the Pentagon on Apr. 17, 2019. He also highlighted work on new long-range artillery, air and missile defenses, heavy armored vehicles, and communications and data sharing networks. The Army says it has made cuts to more than 90 existing programs to free up funding to support these efforts and Esper, along with other senior officials, has faced criticism from Congress and others over many of these decisions.
Origins Of Stealth Black Hawks Date Back Over Three Decades Before The Bin Laden RaidBy Tyler Rogoway Posted in The War Zone
Army To Replace Nearly Half Of Its Apache Gunships With Future High-Speed Armed Recon HeloBy Joseph Trevithick Posted in The War Zone
Army Lays Out Plans For Pilot-Optional 'Knife Fighter' Attack Reconnaissance RotorcraftBy Joseph Trevithick Posted in The War Zone
US Army Says It Badly Needs A Scout Helicopter After Junking The Ones It HadBy Tyler Rogoway Posted in The War Zone
This Ghost Of A Helicopter Likely Had A Secret Role In Reagan’s ‘Tear Down This Wall’ SpeechBy Joseph Trevithick Posted in The War Zone
“What I don’t have right now is an attack reconnaissance aircraft,” Esper told reporters. “That’s what I need to penetrate Russian or Chinese air defenses.”
The Army’s plan is for whatever design wins the FARA competition, the first phase of which will begin this year, to replace AH-64 Apaches in the Army’s Attack Reconnaissance Squadrons. This represents roughly half of the total number of these gunships that the service has at present.
These units emerged after the Army retired the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, ostensibly due to the budget reasons, with the last of those scout helicopters finally leaving the service in 2017. The Army has been without a true replacement ever since.
An OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, in front, flies with an AH-64 Apache.
“The Apache is the best attack helicopter in the world, but it’s not the best armed reconnaissance helicopter,” U.S. Army Brigadier General Walter Rugen, head of the Future Vertical Lift (FVL) Cross-Functional Team (CFT) within the new Army Futures Command, told Aviation Week earlier in April 2019. “We need a smaller form factor that can hide in the radar clutter and that has reach.”
Previous attempts to replace the OH-58Ds directly, which led right to the ultimate decision to retire the helicopters entirely, suffered from repeated missteps and mismanagement, becoming its own saga, which you can read about in more detail here and here. The Army had, of course, also expected to have replaced the Kiowa Warriors with the RAH-66A Comanche stealth helicopter in the mid-2000s, before canceling that program, which had ballooned in cost and suffered serious delays, in 2004.
It is also important to note that the service had been very interested in the idea of stealthy helicopters for decades before Comanche and had invested heavily in related research and development before that particular program started. As early as 1978, Sikorsky had produced a detailed report on low radar cross-section fuselage concepts for its then still relatively new UH-60A Black Hawk.
But, had things gone differently, the Army might have already been flying the advanced OH-58X years before the Comanche program came to a close. The origins of the X model in many ways actually trace all the way back to the service’s decision to buy the original OH-58A Kiowa in 1967.
Two years earlier, the Army had chosen the Hughes OH-6A Cayuse to be its new scout helicopter, passing over Bell’s YOH-4, the progenitor of the Kiowa and its commercial Model 206 Jet Ranger.
US Army via Ray Wilhite
Bell's YOH-4A during tests in the early 1960s.
As it turned out, Hughes had grossly overstated its production capacity and the Army turned back to Bell and the Kiowa to fulfill its requirements. The OH-58As, as well as improved OH-58Cs with its more powerful engine and other updates, outlasted the Cayuse in regular Army use.
However, the Cayuse, and further improved variants of the Hughes design, commonly known as Little Birds, found a second life in the Army’s burgeoning special operations aviation community in the 1980s. AH-6 light attack helicopters and MH-6 light transports quickly became a core component of what eventually became known as the new 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, also known as the Nightstalkers.
One of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment's MH-6 Little Birds equipped with side-mounted planks for special operators to ride on during insertions and extractions.
At the same time, the Army was experimenting with various light, rapidly deployable unit concepts that would also leverage state-of-the-art technology to help keep them viable against a more robust opponent. An Army test force emerged known first as the High Technology Testbed (HTTB), then the High Technology Light Division (HTLD), and finally as the 9th Infantry Division (Motorized).
Over more than a decade, these organizations evaluated all sorts of different vehicles, weapons, and equipment, including, but hardly limited to heavily armed dune buggies, light tanks, ground-launched AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, and ultra-light aircraft. In the course of this experimentation, the question of what kind of helicopters a rapidly deployable light force might use also came up.
The original plan was to acquire Little Birds to support the force. This made good sense since the 160th was already demonstrating concepts for rapidly moving these small helicopters to forward locations, even in austere environments, and quickly establishing aviation operations at those sites. But the Army rejected those requests.
A much more recent picture of members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment unloading an AH-6 Little Bird from an MC-130 special operations transport aircraft.
Instead, the Army’s high-technology test force managed to acquire a number of JOH-58C Light Combat Helicopters (LCH). The Army had modified these Kiowas for the 160th, but that unit had rejected them in favor of the JOH-6A LCH. The JOH-6A eventually got redesignated as the AH-6C and became the first of the Nightstalkers’ armed Little Birds.
The JOH-58Cs received additional modifications as part of the high-technology testing, including one extreme example with a three-barrel 20mm M197 cannon mounted in the co-pilot's seat and firing out through the helicopter’s nose. This proved to be impractical and dangerous, since firing the gun could fill the cockpit with residential propellant gasses that could choke and blind the pilot.
The JOH-58C with the M197 cannon installation.
Another example, with the serial number 70-15349, served as a surrogate for an advanced configuration known as the OH-58X. In 1985, the Army’s Aviation Engineering Flight Activity conducted limited airworthiness and flight characteristics testing of this particular helicopter. This initial OH-58X surrogate did not have any stealthy features, though it did contain a number of other advanced systems, many of which the Army obtained commercially.
This included a new stabilization and control augmentation system (SCAS) from French avionics firm SFENA, a Direct View Optics (DVO) roof-mounted sight from Ferranti in the United Kingdom, and an unspecified roof-mounted, turreted forward-looking infrared (FLIR) sensor. The DVO, the same model used on some French and British Aérospatiale Gazelle light scout helicopters, had a laser designator, which would have given the OH-58X the ability to fire Hellfire missiles.
The JOH-58C configurated as the OH-58X surrogate.
70-15349 also carried over various modifications from its original life as a possible special operations platform. This included modified landing skids that could collapse to lower the helicopter’s overall profile, as well as folding tail assembly, all to make it easier to load and unload the helicopter from a cargo aircraft. It also had the improved tail rotor assembly found on Bell’s Model 206L-3 Jet Rangers. Lastly, there were range-extending fuel tanks and added communications and navigation gear.
The Aviation Engineering Flight Activity reported that the helicopter had significantly improved performance over a standard OH-58C, but that it was also more complicated to fly, especially at lower speeds. The test pilots recommended modifications to the SCAS and to alert pilots to potential limitations in certain flight regimes until the helicopter received further upgrades to fully mitigate these issues.
That didn’t happen. Separately from the high-technology testing, the Army had also initiated an Army Helicopter Improvement Program (AHIP) to modernize its Kiowas in 1981. AHIP led directly to the introduction of the OH-58D in 1985. The OH-58D, also known as the Bell Model 406, was a significantly more powerful design with an improved four-bladed main rotor.
The helicopters also eventually gained a mast-mounted sighting unit with electro-optical and infrared cameras, as well as a laser designator. The Army ultimately bought hundreds of new OH-58Ds and converted older Kiowas to this new standard. The first armed examples, sometimes referred to as AH-58Ds, entered combat for the first time in January 1988 as part of Operation Prime Chance. Flying from U.S. Navy ships in the Persian Gulf, the helicopters engaged against Iranian boats threaten U.S.-flagged oil tankers sailing through the region.
An OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.
The OH-58X effort, which was certainly duplicative of AHIP in many ways, threatened to compete for funding and other resources with the OH-58D program. The Army ultimately canceled the OH-58X project in favor of the Kiowa Warrior.
But the idea of an even further advanced OH-58, now based on the D model’s more powerful design didn’t go away. Bell eventually took a Kiowa it had converted to the OH-58D configuration, serial number 69-16322, and turned it into a new OH-58X demonstrator with a major focus on stealthy features.
The new helicopter had a chiseled nose profile, making it visually distinct from a standard OH-58D. Bell replaced the “doghouse” on top where the engine and main gearbox sat with one made of a radar absorbent material, according to a 1992 Flight International article. The design also included radar-absorbing “cuffs” on the main rotor mast and hub and on the tail rotor assembly. The rotor blades, mast-mounted sight, and skids all received a special coating to reduce their radar reflectivity.
A low-quality image of the OH-58X demonstrator. Note the chisel nose and the "cuffs" on the main rotor to reduce its radar signature.
The configuration “works extremely well,” Jack Gallagher, Bell’s OH-58D program manager at the time, told Flight International. It “performs [against known threats] better than anything out there.”
Bell also pitched it as a cost-effective conversion for existing Kiowa Warriors, claiming each stealth kit would cost just $200,000, less than $365,000 in today’s dollars. In 1992, the flyaway cost of a new OH-58D was $6.7 million, or the equivalent of more than $12 million today.
Bell via 1000aircraftphotos.com
Another picture of the OH-58X demonstrator, but without the "cuffs" installed on the main or tail rotors.
This was an important selling point for the U.S. Army, which, as already noted, had been very interested in a stealthy light scout helicopter to completely replace all of its OH-58s since the early 1980s and had been investing heavily in research into stealth helicopters, in general, years before that. The stealthy scout helicopter effort, known as the Light Helicopter Experimental (LHX) program, had itself spawned the Advanced Composite Airframe Program (ACAP), which involved experiments with two different helicopters – Bell’s D-292 and Sikorsky’s S-75 – with composite airframes to reduce their radar signatures.
But by 1991, when the Gulf War started, despite all of the Army's investments, none of these projects had yielded an actual production-ready design, at least publicly. So the service turned to Bell, which reportedly modified 18 OH-58Ds into the X configuration for operations in Southwest Asia, but they arrived too late to see action against Iraqi forces, according to Flight International.
An OH-58X in US Army colors.
As of January 1996, the stealth kits were still in storage and available for use, if necessary, according to Army, the official publication of the Association of the U.S. Army. At that time, Bell was reportedly still working on improving the stealthy configuration.
It’s not entirely clear what happened to these remnants of the OH-58X program in the end. The War Zone reached out to the U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command’s history office, but they said they could not find any specific records about the final status of the project. Bell’s public relations team similarly said that there did not appear to be any additional information beyond what the company had shared publicly in the past, but added that some details might remain classified.
It seems very possible that defense budget cuts in the years following the collapse of the Soviet Union may have killed the OH-58X for good, in favor of LHX, which evolved into the Light Helicopter (LX) program and led to the selection of Boeing and Sikorsky’s RAH-66A design in April 1991. The Army had touted Comanche as a stealthy Kiowa replacement, making it easy to see how it could have subsumed the OH-58X project. But the RAH-66A was also significantly more advanced and capable than the Kiowa, with various features, especially its armament package, that were more in line with an attack helicopter, such as the AH-64.
In something of a throwback to the original JOH-58C LCH concept, in 1992, Bell had also introduced a non-stealthy Multi-Purpose Light Helicopter kit, which featured similar “squatting” landing skids to reduce the helicopter’s overall height. Sometimes referred to as the UH-58E, this configuration also had a cargo hook under the fuselage for carrying small loads slung below, as well as mounts on either side of the fuselage to fit external platforms for carrying cargo, wounded personnel on stretchers, or inserting and extracting special operations forces. This arrangement was similar in general concept to the planks on the 160th’s MH-6 Little Bird light transports.
Bell says that the Army purchased dozens of MPLH kits, but rarely used anything besides the landing skids. There are various pictures that show OH-58D Kiowas over the years with the MLPH skids, but there does not appear to be any photographic evidence of the service using any other part of that kit operationally.
An OH-58D Kiowa Warrior with the MPLH skids in Iraq in 2004.
Whatever the case, the Army shifted its stealth helicopter focus to Comanche for more than a decade, before canceling that program in 2004. The War Zone has previously explored in depth how the service may have been able to keep the stealth helicopter brain trust alive in the classified domain, helping to produce such things as a stealthy UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopter. The existence of this Stealth Hawk became public in 2011, when one of them crashed during the raid that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
However, the stealthy Kiowa seems to have faded into obscurity. When the Army looked into upgrading the OH-58Ds to new OH-58F configuration in the early 2010s, there were no stealth features as part of the package.
The OH-58F prototype.
The Army has now come back around to the idea of a stealthy attack reconnaissance rotorcraft with the FARA program. The service's requirements also demand a design with a top speed of at least 230 miles per hour – nearly 100 miles per hour faster than the Kiowa Warrior – and greatly extended range over previous scout helicopters. Beyond stealth features, this next generation attack reconnaissance platform will also have a robust electronic warfare suite to detect and jam enemy radars and other cutting-edge defensive systems.
The Army says it will announce the companies that will take part in the first phase of the FARA program this year and it hopes to down-select to just two competitors in 2020. There will then be a fly-off between the two, leading to the selection of a final winner in 2024.
So, while the Army may have largely passed over OH-58X, it may finally get a helicopter with far higher performance and that is more survivable and stealthy than the Kiowa Warrior could ever have been.
Contact the author: jtrevithickpr@gmail.com
Origins Of Stealth Black Hawks Date Back Over Three Decades Before The Bin Laden Raid
At the dawn of the stealth revolution, the Army was already working to turn its new Black Hawk helicopter into a stealth special operations platform.
Army To Replace Nearly Half Of Its Apache Gunships With Future High-Speed Armed Recon Helo
Before now, the service had only said that the new rotorcraft would serve as a successor to the now-retired OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.
Army Lays Out Plans For Pilot-Optional 'Knife Fighter' Attack Reconnaissance Rotorcraft
The service says it wants flying prototypes by 2022 and that it could have the first examples in service six years afterward.
US Army Says It Badly Needs A Scout Helicopter After Junking The Ones It Had
Just as predicted, the hole left by the humble OH-58D Kiowa Warrior is gaping, and now the Army wants to fill it as soon as it can.
This Ghost Of A Helicopter Likely Had A Secret Role In Reagan’s ‘Tear Down This Wall’ Speech
All the available information we've uncovered indicates that this helicopter was assigned to a top-secret covert aviation unit called Seaspray.
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FIRE > Newsdesk > 59 Years of Commemorating Academic Freedom: The Legacy of ‘Sweezy v. New Hampshire’
59 Years of Commemorating Academic Freedom: The Legacy of ‘Sweezy v. New Hampshire’
by Vanessa Miller
There is no greater need for the protections afforded by the First Amendment than at colleges and universities across our nation. Faculty (and students) rely on academic freedom as an indispensable requisite for unfettered inquiry, research, and teaching. Any restriction on their efforts to guarantee the intellectual advancement of institutions of higher learning would jeopardize the future of our citizenry. Faculty and students alike must be allowed to facilitate novel discussions in an arena free from governmental intimidation or intrusion.
Fifty-nine years ago today, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Sweezy v. New Hampshire (1957), a landmark case on academic freedom. The Court’s plurality decision accepted the notion of academic freedom, recognizing its footing in constitutional law. Highlighting the idea that “scholarship cannot flourish in an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust,” the plurality reasoned that faculty must be able to “feel free to inquire, to study and to evaluate” and “to gain new maturity and understanding” without fear of consequences.
Paul M. Sweezy, a professor at the University of New Hampshire, was interrogated by the New Hampshire Attorney General about his suspected affiliations with the Communist Party. After refusing to answer questions about his lectures and writings, the Attorney General filed a petition to compel Sweezy to respond. The district court granted the petition, but Sweezy refused to answer. On appeal, the Supreme Court held that the petition unconstitutionally invaded Sweezy’s rights of expression and association. The Court weighed the governmental interest in intruding on Sweezy’s academic freedom against the “intellectual life of a university,” and it found the governmental interest was inadequate.
Justice Frankfurter’s concurrence is enshrined as influential language from the Court on higher education and academic freedom:
In a university knowledge is its own end, not merely a means to an end. A university ceases to be true to its own nature if it becomes the tool of Church or State or any sectional interest. A university is characterized by the spirit of free inquiry, its ideal being the ideal of Socrates — ‘to follow the argument where it leads.’ This implies the right to examine, question, modify or reject traditional ideas and beliefs. Dogma and hypothesis are incompatible, and the concept of an immutable doctrine is repugnant to the spirit of a university. The concern of its scholars is not merely to add and revise facts in relation to an accepted framework, but to be ever examining and modifying the framework itself.
Sweezy’s legacy and impact on academic freedom remain active. Ten years after the plurality decision, the Supreme Court decided Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967), which identified academic freedom as “a special concern of the First Amendment, which does not tolerate laws that cast a pall of orthodoxy over the classroom.” The Court reasoned, “Our Nation is deeply committed to safeguarding academic freedom, which is of transcendent value to all of us and not just the teachers involved.”
Other lower court decisions succeeded Sweezy in that they protected faculty speech and pedagogical choices. These cases include Hardy v. Jefferson Community College (6th Cir. 2001), Sheldon v. Dhillon (N.D. Cal. 2009), and Demers v. Austin (9th Cir. 2014).
However, professors have continued to face consequences for speech within the walls of their classroom. In 2010, an adjunct professor of religion at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), who taught courses in Catholicism, was fired for comments made about the Catholic faith. Last year, Louisiana State University (LSU) education professor Teresa Buchanan was fired for her alleged used of profane and sexual language during a lecture, meant to help prepare her students to be effective teachers.
Although the influential and promising language of Sweezy counsels in favor of pedagogical protection, the fight for academic freedom is not over. Restrictions on academic freedom are restrictions on intellectual engagement, and those who stand to suffer greatest will be the nation’s youth.
FIRE takes the position that faculty members should be afforded the right to teach, research, and study within their expertise without governmental or administrative interference.
“The fundamental purpose of education is to confront uncomfortable ideas,” says FIRE Director of Litigation Catherine Sevcenko. “Professors should be free to present materials in the way that they believe will be pedagogically most effective.”
Today we celebrate fifty-nine years of Sweezy’s impact on academic freedom, and we hope to celebrate many more!
Vanessa Miller is a FIRE legal intern.
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The Free Library > Humanities > Literature, writing, book reviews > Internet Bookwatch > August 1, 2017
The Free Library > Date > 2017 > August > 1 > Internet Bookwatch
Fiddler's Dream.
<a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fiddler%27s+Dream.-a0504053958</a>
MLA style: "Fiddler's Dream.." The Free Library. 2017 Midwest Book Review 18 Jul. 2019 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fiddler%27s+Dream.-a0504053958
Chicago style: The Free Library. S.v. Fiddler's Dream.." Retrieved Jul 18 2019 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fiddler%27s+Dream.-a0504053958
APA style: Fiddler's Dream.. (n.d.) >The Free Library. (2014). Retrieved Jul 18 2019 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Fiddler%27s+Dream.-a0504053958
Fiddler's Dream
Howard Wight Marshall
University of Missouri Press
113 Heinkel Bldg., 201 S. 7th St., Columbia, MO 65211
www.umsystem.edu/upress
9780826221216, $29.95, HC, 448pp, www.amazon.com
Including a CD with 30 archival recordings from 1939 to 2015 produced by Voyager Records, "Fiddler's Dream: Old-Time, Swing, and Bluegrass Fiddling in Twentieth-Century Missouri" is the sequel to Howard Wight Marshall's earlier book on old-time fiddlers in Missouri, "Play Me Something Quick and Devilish". In "Fiddler's Dream", Marshall (who is the Professor Emeritus of Art History and Archaeology, University of Missouri--Columbia) uses oral history, archival photographs, and transcriptions of selected tunes to trace the evolution of traditional fiddle music in Missouri from the early 1920s through the abrupt changes in American society and traditional music in the 1960s. As the title would suggest, the specific focus of "Fiddler's Dream" is on fiddle music in everyday life at music parties, dances, pie suppers, festivals, contests, and oprys. Professor Marshall's wealth of knowledge, gained through a lifetime of involvement in Missouri fiddle traditions, gives his comprehensive study an exceptional richness and depth in its content. Featuring interviews, transcriptions, notes, a selected bibliography, a discography, and index to text, and an index to the Voyager Records Companion CD, "Fiddler's Dream" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library American Music History collections and supplemental studies reading lists.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Midwest Book Review
Title Annotation:
Internet Bookwatch
Brief article
"O'er the Wide and Tractless Sea".
The Spree of 83.
Sound recording reviews
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The Free Library > Social Sciences > Regional focus/area studies > Indian Currents > March 9, 2014
The Free Library > Date > 2014 > March > 9 > Indian Currents
Pastoral versus Doctrinal.
<a href="https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Pastoral+versus+Doctrinal.-a0360914070</a>
MLA style: "Pastoral versus Doctrinal.." The Free Library. 2014 SyndiGate Media Inc. 18 Jul. 2019 https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Pastoral+versus+Doctrinal.-a0360914070
Chicago style: The Free Library. S.v. Pastoral versus Doctrinal.." Retrieved Jul 18 2019 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Pastoral+versus+Doctrinal.-a0360914070
APA style: Pastoral versus Doctrinal.. (n.d.) >The Free Library. (2014). Retrieved Jul 18 2019 from https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Pastoral+versus+Doctrinal.-a0360914070
India, March 9 -- Recent articles appearing mainly in the Catholic press, including some statements of some Bishops' Conferences have given the impression (advertently or inadvertently) that there is an inherent conflict between "pastoral" concerns and the need to preserve traditional "doctrines" specially in the areas of sexual and familial morality. The uncritical layman can become confused by these seemingly contradictory statements, especially when they occur in the context of family and sexual morality.
Pope Francis has convoked an Extraordinary Synod of Bishops in October 2014 which will be followed by a regular Synod of Bishops the following year to consider the challenges facing the family in present day (western) societies. This itself is a clear indication of how important Pope Francis considers the family to be.
In addition to the family being discussed in the Extraordinary Synod and the following Synod, the recent Consistory of Cardinals also spent time deliberating on the challenges facing the family and the kind of pastoral approach that the Church needs to develop to meet these challenges.
Unfortunately, an impression has been created that the need for new pastoral approaches will require that traditional doctrines about the nature and integrity of the family, and the nature and purpose of marriage will need to be jettisoned.
Some Catholic journalists and even news services have conveyed the (unfortunate) impression that changing circumstances require that the Catholic Church abandon her traditional teachings on divorce, live-in relationships, contraception and homosexual or 'same-sex' unions. A recent statement by Pope Francis was misinterpreted by some to indicate that the Holy Father is in favour of endorsing same-sex unions and that the Church is on the verge of changing her position on the immorality of homosexuality.
Even more unfortunately, the media (including some Catholic media) have given the impression that moral laws are the outcome of "public opinion polls." Thus, a few Bishops' Conferences have made public the results of the surveys which they have conducted on issues like "live-in" (or de facto) relationships, on contraception and on the question of divorced and re-married Catholics being admitted to receive the Eucharist.
These published reports have implied that just because a very large number of Catholics disagree with the Church's stand on contraception (for example), the next Synod of Bishops - and the Holy Father - should now abandon the Church's position on the evil of contraception. The issue of abortion, likewise, appears to have divided lay Catholics, many of whom have fallen prey to the "freedom of choice" arguments advanced by the radical movements.
What needs to be clarified and strongly emphasized is that the Moral Law is not the result of public consensus. Just because several European countries, and some States within the United States of America, have "decriminalized" same-sex unions does not mean that homosexual activities have now become morally acceptable.
There is a sharp and clear distinction between what is known as Positive Law and the Moral Law. Positive Law is legitimately within the domain of freely elected governments and has to be obeyed by all citizens subject only to the condition that these laws are in conformity with the Moral Law.
If Positive Laws contravene the Moral Law - like in the case of "same-sex" unions -- citizens not only can refuse to obey them; they have the obligation to defy these immoral Laws.
It is not possible within the limited scope of an opinion piece to enter into consideration of the relative importance of Positive Laws and the Moral Law. It should suffice just to clarify that Positive Laws are made by humans, but the Moral Law is God-given and therefore is beyond the authority of any human institution - Parliaments, Presidents or ruling juntas. History bears witness to the fact that many human (Positive) laws which contravened the Moral Law brought indescribable sufferings on people. The two World Wars are a sufficient and cogent example of what happens when human laws (based on "public opinion") but which are in violation of the Moral Law, are imposed on people.
This brings us to the realization that no human authority can legitimize what is inherently immoral - not even the Pope or a Synod of Bishops. To demand, therefore, that the Church of Jesus Christ abandon her traditional teachings on homosexuality or adultery or contraception or divorce is to be unrealistic and delusional. It is not within the competence of the Church to modify or to discard moral laws which have been revealed to us by Jesus Christ.
In a recent article, George Weigel, an eminent Catholic thinker and member of the Ethics and Public Policy Centre said: "Popes, . . .are not authoritarian figures, who teach what they will and as they will. The Pope is the guardian of an authoritative tradition, of which he is the servant, not the master.
Pope Francis knows this as well as anyone, as he has emphasized by repeating that he is a "son of the Church" who believes and teaches what the Church believes and teaches." In the same article, Weigel stated: "Although it is very difficult for those who see Catholicism through political lenses to grasp this, popes are not like presidents or state governors, and doctrine is not like public policy. Which means that a change of papal "administration" does not - indeed cannot - mean a change of Catholic 'views'. Doctrine, as the Church understands it, is not a matter of anyone's 'views' but of settled understandings of the truth of things." There is no real conflict between pastoral concerns and doctrinal continuity. Doctrines remain immutable because they reflect the "reality" of Nature which has been revealed to us by Jesus Christ.
Pastoral efforts have to help people to "come to terms" with Reality.
Thus suicide (or the taking of one's own life) will always remain immoral, simply because life comes from God and will cease only when God wills it. To usurp the authority of God is to commit idolatry. This is why the Church has always held (and will always hold) that suicide is immoral. As a corollary, euthanasia (which is the taking of the life of another) and abortion (which is the killing of an unborn baby) will always remain immoral.
Just because some countries like Belgium and the Netherlands have legalized euthanasia does not make it moral to kill someone for whatever reason. Homosexuality, which is very much in the forefront of many public debates, also remains intrinsically immoral.
Any attempt to pressurize the Pope or the Synod to recognize homosexuality as "normal" or genetically preconditioned is futile and unrealistic.
Recent decisions by several Associations of Psychologists, including the Indian Association of Clinical Psychologists, have clearly declared that homosexuality is not a pathological condition; nor is it a mental disease. As the President of Uganda has said, while signing the recent Bill, these are normal people who do abnormal things, and like everyone else should be held responsible for their actions.
The Extraordinary Synod of Bishops has a challenging task ahead of it. It will have to analyze the cultural forces which underlie the present trends which are weakening the institution of the family, including ideologies which relegate "marriage" to a position of unimportance in society. Marriage has always been held to be "sacred" and has been protected both by civil societies as well as by Religions. The pressures to desacralize marriage and to dismantle the institution of the family are dangerous trends which need to be effectively countered by a more vigorous catechesis and a more active evangelical programme.
(E-mail: averthan@gmail.com) I
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Indian Currents.
Copyright HT Media Ltd. Provided by Syndigate.info , an Albawaba.com company
Indian Currents
Lighted to lighten Alexandria in Satna.
AAP is here to stay.
Councils and synods
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Dan Brooks is resigning as B.C. Conservative leader as of Feb. 20.
B.C. Conservatives looking for leader
Dan Brooks says he can't go on as 'volunteer leader' after quelling revolt against former leader John Cummins, serving two years
Dan Brooks has announced his resignation as B.C. Conservative leader, with no successor in sight.
Brooks issued a statement Monday saying he is refocusing on his family and business after serving as “volunteer leader” of the troubled party since April 2014. The party holds its annual general meeting in Richmond Feb. 20, where Brooks will officially step down.
Brooks toured B.C. in November, speaking confidently about candidate recruitment for the 2017 B.C. election and the need for an alternative to the B.C. Liberals and the NDP.
Brooks, who runs a guide outfitting business near Vanderhoof, was one of the party directors who expelled or censured 15 party members after they tried to oust former leader John Cummins in 2012. He took over from Cummins after the 2013 election that saw the B.C. Liberals re-elected under Premier Christy Clark despite the harmonized sales tax debacle she inherited.
The B.C. Conservatives were briefly represented in the B.C. legislature in 2012 after Cummins, a long-time Reform and Conservative MP, assisted in the defection of Abbotsford South MLA John van Dongen from the B.C. Liberal Party. But van Dongen would soon resign from that party as well, sitting as an independent until he was ousted in 2013 by B.C. Liberal Darryl Plecas.
Clark is preparing to call two by-elections for seats left vacant after the October federal vote, Vancouver-Mount Pleasant and Coquitlam-Burke Mountain. Former NDP MLA Jenny Kwan was elected MP in the party’s Vancouver East stronghold, and former B.C. Liberal Douglas Horne lost to Liberal Ron McKinnon in the federal riding of Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam.
Electrical malfunction leads to gondola evacuation at Kicking Horse
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Investigate the origin of constellations, and learn how to identify the most popular ones in the night sky.
Get an introduction to the features of telescopes and binoculars, including optical design, magnification, and mounts.
Discover the distinct features of the cratered face of Earth's moon.
Learn how to spot fascinating natural phenomena, such as meteor showers, lunar and solar eclipses, and comets.
Discover which of our solar system's planets you can see with nothing more than a simple telescope.
Learn how to read a star chart to help you locate interesting objects in the night sky - in all four seasons.
For thousands of years, the star-filled sky has been a source of wonder, discovery, entertainment, and instruction. Ancient people from nearly every continent and culture wove exciting stories about the mythological figures they saw in the heavens. People also used the sun, moon, and stars for time-keeping and navigation. And careful observers throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and elsewhere kept precise astronomical records, eventually paving the way for the Scientific Revolution and its remarkable discoveries about the nature of the universe.
Even today, watching the sky has not lost its fascination. Equipped only with a pair of eyes or, at most, binoculars and a small telescope, you can behold marvels such as these:
The jewel-like star cluster called the Pleiades in the constellation Taurus, easily visible with the naked eye and even more magnificent through a pair of binoculars
The broad band of the Milky Way arching across the summer sky; the band is the plane of our galaxy seen edge-on from the inside
The Perseid meteor shower, a celestial display that peaks in mid-August of every year when Earth passes through debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle
The cratered face of the moon, stark evidence of the violent era after the birth of the solar system—a record almost completely erased from Earth due to weathering
The four Galilean moons of Jupiter, named after Galileo, whose discovery of them in 1610 helped overthrow the geocentric model of the universe
A total solar eclipse, an awe-inspiring spectacle that occurs somewhere on Earth roughly every 18 months and is well worth traveling thousands of miles to see
Best of all, the endlessly interesting sky is just overhead wherever you are. All you need to feel at home in its limitless expanse is Our Night Sky, a richly illustrated 12-lecture course that gives you an unrivaled tour around the sky while teaching you about the science, culture, technology, and pure pleasure of stargazing. Our Night Sky focuses on the view from the Northern Hemisphere, reflecting the origins of the most familiar constellations in this region. However, the final lecture completes your tour by covering the most notable sights in the Southern Hemisphere.
View the Riches of the Universe from Your Own Backyard
From asteroids to the zodiac, from the Big Dipper to variable stars, Our Night Sky is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of what there is to see and the best way to see it, whether you live in the city or the country, whether you are a novice observer or an old hand at astronomy who needs a refresher on constellation and star names, locations, lore, and what to expect from season to season as the heavens present a gloriously changing panorama.
Under the guidance of award-winning astronomer and Professor Edward M. Murphy of the University of Virginia, you will learn
how to use a planisphere (star finder) or other star map to quickly orient yourself to the sky for any given date and time, and how to use these aids to find your way among the constellations;
how to read celestial coordinates to locate objects precisely, and how to find the north or south celestial poles, the celestial equator, the ecliptic (the sun's apparent path during a year), the vernal equinox, and other important landmarks;
how to appreciate the deep cultural roots of astronomy, which lie in humankind's universal quest to understand the heavens through vivid stories that have never lost their power and charm;
how to enhance your observing experience by selecting the right equipment from a bewildering array of choices in binoculars, telescopes, eyepieces, mounts, and other hardware; and
how to decipher the science behind planets, stars, and galaxies by learning the fundamentals of solar system structure, star types, stellar life cycles, galaxy classification, and other information that will enrich your observing.
Above all, you will better appreciate how our view from Earth reflects a hidden order—a structure that was discovered by sky observers long ago, who drew on centuries of observations to put together the picture we now learn from textbooks. As you watch the sky appear to rotate around the celestial pole over the course of a night, you will almost feel Earth turning beneath you, as it in fact does. As you look at a phase of the moon, you will automatically envision the relative positions of the sun, moon, and Earth that produce this view. As you observe the constellations slowly shift as you go out at the same time every night, you will know that you are seeing the effect of Earth's revolution around the sun.
In short, you will gain a truly cosmic perspective on our world. Equipped with this outlook, and with the extensive science, history, mythology, observing tips, and other background provided by Professor Murphy, you will be ready to step outside, look up, and become a space traveler from your own backyard.
The Night Sky Planisphere is Included with This Course! Along with this course you will receive the same Night Sky Planisphere Star Chart used by Professor Murphy throughout his lectures. This sturdy, easy-to-use star finder is an invaluable aid for locating major constellations and stars visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The Planisphere is included with DVD purchases only.
The Constellations and Their Stars
Begin your study of the night sky by investigating the origin of the constellations—the traditional groupings of stars that mostly date to antiquity. The well-known constellation Orion illustrates the fascinating mix of beauty, mythology, and scientific knowledge to be found wherever you look in the heavens. x
Seeing and Navigating the Sky
The naked eye is a powerful instrument—if you know how to use it. Learn the best times and conditions for observing, how to identify the positions and magnitudes of stars and planets, how the sky changes over the course of a night, how to use astronomical maps such as a planisphere, and more. x
Using Binoculars and Backyard Telescopes
There are many choices when selecting binoculars or a telescope. Learn what to look for in light-gathering power, optical design, magnification, mounts, and other features. Professor Murphy also suggests several tips for getting the best observing experience out of your equipment. x
Observing the Moon and the Sun
Charting the motions and changes of the sun and moon may be humankind's oldest astronomical activity. Discover how both objects offer rich opportunities for study. Also learn the precautions to take when observing the sun, which is the only star that can be seen up close and in detail. x
Observing the Planets with a Telescope
The rings of Saturn, the bands of Jupiter, the phases of Venus, the polar caps of Mars—these and other planetary features are visible through a small telescope. Learn when viewing opportunities arise for each of the planets and what sights await the dedicated observer. x
Meteor Showers, Comets, Eclipses, and More
Explore a variety of special phenomena that are among the wonders of the sky. Some, like bright meteors, aurora, and many comets, are largely unpredictable. Others, like eclipses and annual meteor showers, occur at well-known times—although it may require a special trip to see them. x
The Northern Sky and the North Celestial Pole
Embarking on the second half of the course in which you systematically tour the entire sky, study two constellations that are continuously in view from the Northern Hemisphere: Ursa Major and Cassiopeia. Also explore the slowly shifting position of true north in the sky. x
The Fall Sky
Navigate your way around the autumn sky from the Northern Hemisphere, discovering how the classical myth of Andromeda ties together the stories of the nearby constellations of Cassiopeia, Perseus, Cepheus, Pegasus, and Cetus. The sights include the Andromeda galaxy, the nearest large galaxy to our own. x
The Winter Sky
Continuing your focus on the constellations of the Northern Hemisphere, survey the magnificent winter sky, dominated by Orion. "Star hop" around the region, which includes a wealth of interesting stars, globular clusters, nebulae, and other features, especially the Orion Nebula—the finest nebula in the northern sky—and the Pleiades and Hyades star clusters in Taurus. x
The Spring Sky
The spring sky opens the view into intergalactic space perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way. Among the objects visible are the immensely rich galaxy clusters in Virgo and Coma Berenices, which are many millions of light-years distant and can be seen with small and moderate telescopes. x
The Summer Sky
Arching high overhead in the summer sky is the Milky Way, which is the plane of our galaxy seen from the inside. Tour this densely packed region of stars of all types, from dusty regions of star birth to the exquisite shells of dying stars. Here, a useful orienting feature is the Summer Triangle. x
The Southern Sky and the Milky Way
In this final lecture, travel to the Southern Hemisphere for sky views inaccessible from northern latitudes. Discover the famous Southern Cross, the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, and a spectacular panorama of the Milky Way—along with new myths and stories that add a human dimension to our marvelous night sky. x
Charts, tables & diagrams
Edward M. Murphy, Ph.D.
Dr. Edward M. Murphy is Associate Professor, General Faculty at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. He earned his bachelor's degree in Astronomy from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and his Ph.D. in Astronomy from the University of Virginia in 1996. Professor Murphy was a postdoctoral fellow and an associate research scientist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, where he worked on NASA's Far...
National Geographic Polar Explorations
(Set) Life in Our Universe & Our Night Sky
(Set) The National Geographic Guide to Landscape and Wildlife Photography & National Geographic Polar Explorations
(Set) World's Greatest Natural Wonders & Our Night Sky
(Set) The Remarkable Science of Ancient Astronomy & Our Night Sky
(Set) The Inexplicable Universe: Unsolved Mysteries & Our Night Sky
(Set) The National Geographic Guide to Birding in North America & Polar Explorations
(Set) Our Night Sky & Cosmology: The History and Nature of Our Universe
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(Set) Our Night Sky & Experiencing Hubble: Understanding the Greatest Images of the Universe
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Our Night Sky is rated 4.5 out of 5 by 170.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Randi402 from A primer on viewing and equipment This was exactly what we needed entering into the hobby in a significant way. He does great job of discribing the origin of the constellations. Using that as a spring board he then discribes the night sky in all four seasons paying particular attention to what is veiwable in each constellation and how to locate it. This makes it a useful tool to watch parts again in each season. As he goes through the subject material he describes various astonomical equipment. These include refractors, reflectors, SC, Newtonian, Alt-Azmuth and equitorial mounts, cameras, and binoculars. I had no idea how useful binoculars are to view certain sky features. A very nice base course.
Rated 5 out of 5 by djm3801 from Great overview of constellations I took this course. Was happy to see I could watch it on my TV with a ROKU app. The course covered what I wanted it to, and encouraged the use of a Planisphere, which was helpful. The mythology behind the constellations was very interesting and the knowledge of Professor Murphy is incredible.
Rated 5 out of 5 by DaveV from Never too old to learn something new Beautifully done. A great intro as I embark upon my new hobby of Astronomy.
Rated 5 out of 5 by astargazer from Wonderful Presentation I have always wanted to explore one of The Great Courses, and decided to begin with "Our Night Sky". I received these 12 lectures as a download on my computer. As a complete layman, I was a bit concerned about being able to keep up. But, Professor Edward M. Murphy, Ph.D. lectures in a way that is easy to understand, and I have found them to be absolutely fascinating. There is much info and detail that I was not able to absorb with the first viewing, but being able to go back and review has enabled me to really understand what is being presented. NOTE: Because I ordered this class as a download, I did not initially receive the planisphere. I would strongly suggest spending the extra money to have one shipped to you, or purchase one for yourself elsewhere. The professor gives clear instruction how to use it, and it is central to many of the lectures. I found myself going outside after each lecture, using the planisphere and exploring what I had just learned. Having one definitely makes the teachings come alive. This is a great course. If you have any interest in our night sky, you will enjoy this teaching.
Rated 5 out of 5 by Jo61 from Lot of infos I learn a lot in this course. It matchs with what I expected!
Rated 5 out of 5 by Starlord from Exactly what I wanted Back in 1981, I enrolled in an astronomy course at the junior college taught by the local Planetarium Director. It was cancelled for lack of registrants. Now 37 years later, with the aid of your stupendous savings in your annual winter sale; I ordered this course. In just the very 1st lesson, Dr. Murphy taught me something that neither edition of Televisions “Cosmos;” frequent trips to Planetiariums across the globe, nor any Discovery channel space program I’ve ever seen, taught me. That is, The initial origin stories of the names of our constellations. AND, I’ve only just begun my studies. I can’t wait to see what truly new insights are in store for me. I am certain, it’s just the beginning of something Great. After 37 years .....Well Worth the Wait. Thank you!
Rated 5 out of 5 by Steve132 from Essential! I've been fascinated with the movements of our solar system since childhood.Our Night Sky makes everything click.I'm only on lecture four but thoroughly hooked.I am savoring this concise and comprehensive course.Essential viewing for anyone who wants to marvel at the clockwork beauty of our universe.Buy it.
Rated 4 out of 5 by todd 11 from awsome view bought this course for the thing to help me spot the stars in the sky.
Our Night Sky Reviews - page 2
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AP Interview: EU Elections Could Be Boon for Conservatives
PRAGUE - The European Parliament is expected to be a different legislature after next week's election, and leading Czech conservative lawmaker Jan Zahradil is hoping that voters embrace the idea of a scaled-back European Union.
Zahradil is a moderate critic of the bloc, not a firebrand like French euroskeptic Marine Le Pen, and he is campaigning for a more flexible EU.
'I'd call it a multi-speed European Union with more space for the national governments and parliaments,' Zahradil told The Associated Press in an interview. 'We want the European Union to simply do less and to do it better.'
Zahradil is leader of the group known as the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe, which is the third largest in the European Parliament. His group is unlikely to win the ballot in the May 23-26 elections. But he wants to contribute to reforming the EU and attract those critical of its policies with a promise of a more pliable and downsized Europe in the future.
The majority held by the center-right European People's Party and the center-left Socialists and Democrats in the European Parliament is expected to evaporate. And Zahradil is hoping that European conservatives will fill the void after decades in opposition.
Zahradil said his main objection to the EU is 'a permanent effort to transfer the solving of all problems [from the national] to the European level, even though it's not effective.'
'The European Commission, together with the European Parliament, uses every opportunity to gain more powers, to create an impression that we can't do without the EU. In many cases, it doesn't work.'
Zahradil is a European Parliament member for the conservative Civic Democratic Party. He is also his group's candidate to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.
He wants to replace the current EU mantra of 'one size fits all' with a looser model of European integration.
Zahradil said that in the multi-speed Europe, it would be possible for the member states to unite their policies according to their wishes and needs.
'For example, if Germany and France agree to harmonize their taxes, that's fine but they should not force the others to join them,' he said.
The group also wants the currencies in the countries outside the eurozone to become official EU tender alongside the euro, and doesn't want a majority vote in the EU to replace the unanimous vote in foreign affair issues because 'it would only further increase tensions and divide the European Union rather than unite it.'
In the European Parliament elections, the conservatives are aiming for more than the 76 seats they currently have in the 751-seat EU legislature.
Speaking about potential coalition possibilities, Zahradil said his group has a similar approach to the economy as the European People's Party , the biggest political group in the European Parliament or the liberals, known as ALDE.
On the contrary, the radical euroskeptics, such as the Europe of Freedom and Nations group that includes France's National Rally led by Le Pen, is an unlikely partner.
'It's difficult to imagine cooperation with those radical euroskeptics because they are against free trade and that's something what we on the contrary support, and at the same time they are for us too conciliatory with Russia, and that's another obstacle I can see for our cooperation.'
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Mom 'reclaims' the things she gave to her daughters
DEAR ABBY - My mother moved in with my sister in California around 1993. After 20 years, I asked her what she wanted to do with her storage unit, which was in Arizona. Long story short, she said: "Clear it out. I don't even know what's in there. …
DEAR ABBY - My mother moved in with my sister in California around 1993. After 20 years, I asked her what she wanted to do with her storage unit, which was in Arizona. Long story short, she said: "Clear it out. I don't even know what's in there. Take whatever you want, keep the pictures and give the rest to Goodwill." My sisters have the same recollection. Over the next few years, my sisters and I proceeded to do so.
Mom has moved in with me now, at 80 years old, and says she may be moving out into her own place in the future. Items I use in my household are starting to disappear. She says she's reclaiming them. I told her they're things I use and that she gave them to us years ago. Who's correct? Should I keep the items as mine? Or should my mom be able to take them back after specifically giving them up, since they've been integrated into our households?
Cleared out in the West
DEAR CLEARED OUT - Your mother may be having some memory glitches, or may regret giving up her independence and the items that symbolize it. Tell her that when she has a place of her own "in the future," you'll gladly return any items she needs. Don't let this degenerate into an argument. She's been living with your sister - and now you - over the last 26 years for a reason. Some seniors move in with their children because they're not medically or financially able to manage on their own.
DEAR ABBY - My husband likes to wear my underwear, and it grosses me out. He knows I don't approve and promises he won't do it again, but he does. I can't even stand to look at him. What should I do?
Disturbed in Texas
DEAR DISTURBED - The first thing to do would be to understand that not every woman who's married to a cross-dresser feels as strongly as you do about it. Do some research about cross-dressing - its causes and why some men feel the compulsion to do it. If after that you're still grossed out and unable to understand why your husband needs to do this, it may be time to schedule some marriage counseling to see if your marriage can be saved.
DEAR ABBY - It won't be long before Easter is here. Please remind your readers to NEVER give live animals as holiday gifts. There are adorable plush toy animals available that can be held tightly and snuggled safely - for all concerned.
A mom in Evanston, Illinois
DEAR MOM - Thanks for the timely reminder to parents and grandparents. Children should not be gifted with pets until they are old enough - and responsible enough - to care for them. Adorable chicks and baby bunnies have been squeezed or neglected to death because the children had no concept of how they should be treated. And even when the children ARE old enough, the parents should first agree that the little creature is welcome.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
Good advice for everyone - teens to seniors - is in "The Anger in All of Us and How to Deal With It." To order, send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $8 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Anger Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)
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Britney Spears Biography: Lifestyle and Career
by Sammy Said
in Entertainment, Celebrity Money
Britney Spears, also known as The Princess of Pop, rose to fame very quickly, starting her career as a fresh faced, innocent Disney kid, on the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show, alongside fellow actors and musicians, Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera. Britney Spears became a sensation overnight in the late 1990's and has transformed her image over the years from innocent girl, to hot mama, with a few difficult and very public transitions along the way.
5 Britney Spears - The Early Years
Britney Jean Spears was born in 1981 in Mississippi to parents, Lynne Irene and James Parnell Spears. She has two siblings, Bryan James and Jamie Lynn. She grew up in Kentwood Louisiana and started dance lessons at the age of 3. She also took voice lessons and did gymnastics. At the age of 5 she made her stage debut at her Kindergarten graduation, where she performed "What Child is This?" Britney Spears knew what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. When she was 8 years old, her mother took her to audition for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse revival in Atlanta, but was too young for the part. The casting director, however, saw her potential and suggested to her mother that she join a casting agent, Nancy Carson, which she did, and was immediately enrolled in the Professional Performing Arts School in New York, because of her impressive singing. Her mother and siblings moved to New York to enable the young starlet to pursue her dreams.
4 Britney Spears Start of Career
Whilst in New York Britney Spears was cast for various roles and commercials as well as contestant on Star Search. She eventually landed a role in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse in 1992. After the show was canceled she went back to Mississippi and enrolled in school, but soon found that she was bored and started talking with Lou Pearlman in 1997 about joining the female pop group, Innosense. Instead, her mother and family entertainment lawyer friend, Larry Rudolf, decided that she should go another route and submitted a demo to various record labels as a solo artist. She met with 4 executives of leading New York music agencies, with Jive Records deciding that she had the wow factor that they needed to stray away from the boyband, girlband groups that were popular at the time. After working with her in studio and honing her talent into a distinct, commercial voice, Eric Foster White, produced her first album, the international chart topping sensation, "…Baby One More Time".It not only debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200, but it became the biggest selling album of all time, by a teenage artist.
The next phase of Britney Spears's career came about with her second album, "Oops! …I Did It Again" which was released in 2000. This also debuted at No. 1 and broke the record for the highest sales by an solo artist on a debuting album. With various Grammy nominations, and sold out tours across the world, Britney Spears was now a household name, but with the release of her third album , "Britney", and some public and media scandal about her provocative wardrobe and dance moves, it was clear that she was changing her persona into something more mature and adult, but still distinct to her.
This paved the way to her 4th album, "In The Zone" where she helped write most of the songs, and where her hit single from the album, Toxic, won her a Grammy.
3 Britney Spears Marriages and Children
In 2004, Britney married Jason Alexander, a childhood friend, in a quick and quickly annulled Vegas wedding, which fueled the fire in terms of her risqué and slightly out of control behavior. In the same year, she became engaged to one of her back up dancers, Kevin Federline, and became pregnant with their first child. She announced that she was taking a break from recording to start a family. She was criticized for how she raised her child, Sean, with plenty of media coverage and controversy around how she looked after her son, especially after the highly taboo photo of her driving with her son on her lap. After her second child with Federline, and their subsequent divorce, Britney began a downward spiral that ended with her in drug rehab, hospital, and shaving her head in a very publicized stint that suggested she was mentally unstable. Due to these circumstances, her children were taken away and full custody was awarded to Federline, after which Britney Spears was admitted into a Psychiatric facility, where she was put under temporary conservatorship.
After this period, Britney Spears picked herself back up and continued recording her music and acting in small TV roles, which were well received. She also now has visitation rights to see her children.
2 Britney Spears Earnings
Britney Spears became a multi-billion dollar performer in a very short space of time and continued to make chart topping albums and hit singles throughout her illustrious career. Britney Spears also had her own charity, The Britney Spears Foundation which helped needy children, and also established the Britney Spears Camp for the Performing Arts to help hone and recognize new musical talent. However, during her conservatorship, it was discovered that there was a deficit of $200 thousand leading her father and their lawyer to settle and close it. She recorded the single, "What's Going On" with Bono in order to help raise money for African AIDS programs, and she donated $350 thousand to Music Rising after Hurricane Katrina. She also raised money for the St Bernard Project along with other celebrities at an Evening of Southern Style. Throughout her career, she has supported numerous other charity organizations. She was named music's top most earning woman by Forbes Magazine in 2012, with an estimated $58 million in her bank account.
1 Britney's Comeback
Britney made her big comeback with her 6th album, Circus, which landed her a section in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the youngest female artist to have 5 albums that debuted at No. 1. This album also gave Britney her first No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 since "…Baby One More Time", which was "Womanizer". In 2011 she released "Femme Fatale" which once again peaked on all the charts. During this time, Britney also released more fragrances, started a clothing line and appeared as a special guest on TV's Glee, as well as the X Factor, where she was a celebrity judge.
What is Britney Doing Now?
Currently Britney is working on her 8th album, which is due to be released towards the end of 2013.
Tags: britney spears net worth, Britney Spears salary, Britney Spears earnings, Britney Spears Forbes Net Worth, Britney Spears songs, britney spears marriages, britney spears kids, britney spears divorce, britney spears house
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Elections 2019: IEC launches platform to combat digital disinformation
"Disinformation destroys Democracy"
by SAnews
Residents cast their votes during the Nquthu bi-election at Springlake High School on May 24, 2017 in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Photo: Gallo Images/The Times/Thuli Dlamini
The Electoral Commission has launched an innovative online reporting platform to help combat the scourge of disinformation intended to unfairly influence the elections.
Launched on Monday, the new online reporting platform for digital disinformation, which is developed in partnership with Media Monitoring South Africa and other partners, will facilitate the online submission and tracking of complaints relating to disinformation.
This follows the rise in disinformation, especially via digital platforms and the potential negative impact it may have on the integrity of elections.
Speaking at the launch, Chief Electoral Officer Sy Mamabolo said there are three key aspects to the initiative.
South African elections 2019
The first part of the project is to enhance the education of all stakeholders around disinformation on digital platforms. This includes highlighting the risks and dangers of intentionally false and misrepresented information for free and fair elections and in raising the consciousness of the public in relation to this problem.
“It also includes providing tools and assistance to voters, the media, political parties, candidates and others in helping to identify false information and knowing what steps to take to query and lodge complaints regarding potential instances of disinformation,” Mamabolo explained.
The second key part of the project is to provide an online platform, which will allow members of the public, members of the media, political parties, candidates and other interest groups to quickly and easily report to the Electoral Commission potential disinformation, which may be in breach of the Electoral Code of Conduct – and then to allow the Electoral Commission to rapidly and efficiently deal with such complaints.
“The third aspect of today’s initiative is a pilot political advertisement repository where political parties can post copies of their official campaign material to help with the identification of false messaging,” Mamabolo said.
Explaining how the online platform will work, Mamabolo said once a complaint is submitted online, it will be referred to a panel of experts under the umbrella of the Electoral Commission’s Directorate for Electoral Offences.
“This panel – with expertise in media law, social media and disinformation – will assess and investigate the complaint and make a recommendation to the commission for consideration,” he explained.
The IEC will then make a determination on any possible further action. Such action could include:
Requesting social media platforms to remove offensive or inaccurate material.
Requesting political parties or candidates to clarify the information.
Issuing media statements to alert the public and correct the disinformation.
Referring the matter for criminal or civil legal action, if necessary.
“The site will contain a database of all complaints received and their progress so that other social media users can see if an issue has already been dealt with and what the outcome was,” Mamabolo said.
Disinformation and Code of Conduct
Mamabolo noted that the dangers of false information and disinformation have long been recognised within South Africa’s electoral system and legislative framework. Both sections on prohibited conduct in the Electoral Act, as well as the Electoral Code of Conduct prohibit false information.
The Code of Conduct specifically prohibits:
The use of any language that may provoke violence or intimidation.
Any discrimination on the grounds of race, ethnicity, sex, gender, class or religion.
The publication of any false or defamatory allegations in respect of any other party or candidate.
The Electoral Act also prohibits any person from publishing any false information with the intention of disrupting or preventing an election, creating hostility or fear in order to influence the conduct of an election, and influencing the conduct or outcome of an election.
In seeking to give real meaning to these provisions, Mamabolo said that the Electoral Commission has been engaging with a range of stakeholders to see how “we can simplify and accelerate the process of identifying and dealing with alleged breaches of the code regarding false information, specifically on digital platforms”.
He said engagement with political parties within the National Party Liaison Committee around the issues of digital disinformation and the online platform initiative has received overwhelming support from all parties.
Originally published by SAnews.gov.za.
Tags: 2019 South African ElectionsIECSouth Africa
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Conservatives unleash attack ads as Justin Trudeau debuts as Liberal leader
By Bruce Campion-SmithOttawa Bureau
Susan DelacourtNational Columnist
Mon., April 15, 2013timer3 min. read
OTTAWA—Day one for new Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau featured three questions to the Prime Minister, two controversial, Conservative attack videos and a 25-minute encounter with a huge swarm of Parliament Hill reporters.
The buzz created by Trudeau’s candidacy for Liberal leader over the past six months, much of it occurring outside the Ottawa bubble, made its way into the corridors of Parliament Hill on his first day after winning the job on Sunday.
Though Prime Minister Stephen Harper and many of his cabinet ministers extended congratulations to the new Liberal leader, the Conservative party welcomed him with two mocking attacks on YouTube, accompanied by an anti-Trudeau website and a Facebook page as well.
More from thestar.com:
Justin Trudeau has shifted the Canadian political landscape: Tim Harper
Trudeau shrugged off the attacks as predictable, but the Canadian Liver Foundation issued a condemnation, since the Conservatives used footage from a Trudeau appearance at one of the charity’s events in 2011.
In that ad aired Monday morning, the Conservatives took aim at Trudeau’s experience, suggesting the 41-year-old was in “over his head.” Against a background of carnival-like music, Trudeau is depicted removing his shirt at the “What a Girl Wants” fundraiser in 2011, where he raised nearly $2,000 for the foundation.
Another video talks up Harper’s economic record while poking fun at Trudeau’s past jobs as a camp counsellor, rafting instructor and drama teacher, adding, “and now he thinks he can run Canada’s economy.”
Trudeau took the leadership of the third-place party in a landslide on Sunday.
He had predicted in his acceptance speech on Sunday night that the Conservatives would waste little time in going negative — as they have with previous Liberal leaders—and on Monday Trudeau predicted that the tactic would soon wear thin with Canadians.
“I am quite confident that what I’ve heard from Canadians across this country about people being tired of negativity, of bullying, of cynicism means that the Conservatives are going to discover that the one thing they know how to do really well is no longer working for them,” Trudeau told reporters at a massive, post-question-period scrum. “I look forward to having robust discussions on ideas, on values, on a vision for this country that will contrast well.”
Inside the Commons, Trudeau chose to make his first questions about higher prices for middle-class consumer goods because of recent tariff changes in the Conservatives’ budget.
“The Prime Minister can couch this in any terms he likes, but the fact is when middle-class Canadians go to a store to buy a tricycle, school supplies or a little red wagon for their kids, they will pay more because of a tax in this government’s budget,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau was preparing for his first day in the House of Commons Monday as Liberal leader and the mid-afternoon question period. Both Mulcair and Harper were expected to be present as well.
Harper replied that the Conservatives had introduced many measures to make taxation fairer and the Liberals had opposed them.
Though Trudeau now has the job his father held for 16 years, his first day in the Commons featured small gestures to his mother’s side of the family. He wore the Sinclair tartan (surname of his mother and his British Columbia grandfather and former politician James Sinclair) and his mother, Margaret, was in the public galleries. As well, former interim leader Bob Rae presented Trudeau with a pen that once belonged to former Liberal prime minister Wilfrid Laurier.
Justin Trudeau, Stephen Harper
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