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Best of Weekly Music Shows: 9/22- 9/28
Thanks for tuning into the latest editon of Best of Weekly Music Shows. Unlike last week’s excitement, this week was fairly slow, though Ailee launched her latest comeback. Teen Top took top honors on Show Champion and Music Bank, While TTS snagged the win on M!Countdown. Show! Music Core and Inkigayo didn’t broadcast due to the Asian Games. There were many good performances throughout the week, but this handful burned just a bit brighter in my eyes. Are there any performances you feel I missed, readers?
Sunny Hill “Monday Blues” Arirang Simply K-pop, September 26, 2014
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHV8ouDOMLM]
Sunny Hill has been on my personal radar for a while, but “Monday Blues” really cemented my appreciation of them. A song about not getting worn down by the daily grind is a very needed breath of fresh air. It’s such a fun, sassy song, too, and the ladies perform it wonderfully. Who knew that dancing snarkily was even possible?
Ailee “Love Sick” and “Don’t Touch Me” Mnet M!Countdown, September 25, 2014
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxV0CcySpeI]
I’ve always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Ailee. Love her voice, hate her performances. Her latest comeback might just bring me around, though. Both “Love Sick” and and “Don’t Touch Me” break from her usual performance style, and that is a very good thing. For the first time, Ailee owns the stage and makes it undeniably hers.
TTS “Adrenaline” KBS Music Bank, September 26, 2014
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnYY9gRHh78]
When it comes to performances, there are several variables that can take top priority. Mine is enjoyment, and for that reason, TTS’s performance on Music Bank pops more than every other show they were on this week. Here, TTS look like they’re having a blast, enjoying the song and the performance as much as their audience. The 80’s-chic apparel is just the cherry on top.
BTS “Danger” Mnet M!Countdown, September 25, 2014
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cge1J5gYqk]
It’s often easy to forget that BTS are rookies, and their M!Countdown goodbye stage is exactly why. They have a focus and intensity when performing that puts many more senior groups to shame. Their perfectly synchronized dances are almost hypnotic and certainly magnetic– not watching them in impossible. Their presence will be missed.
Lip Service “Too Fancy” Arirang Simply K-pop, September 26, 2014
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2md_igGRMI]
Lip Service is another group of rookies that I forget are rookies. Bipa, Cora, and Anna show that they know how to work a stage, and they look like they want to be there. It’s clear they believe in the messages of their songs, and combined with actual rap skills and Anna’s voice, Lip Service are making it clear they’re a group to watch out for.
Gilme “My Turn” KBS Music Bank, September 26, 2014
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3Talfk8b84]
As impressive as some rookies are, never doubt the power of experience. Gilme’s powerful comeback “My Turn” has been turning a few heads, including mine. “My Turn” flaunts both her rap and vocal skills with neither sounding out of place, but her delivery is what makes these stages. Instead of intensity, Gilme is very comfortable when performing, like the audience is just an afterthought.
(Arirang, KBS, Mnet)
Tags: Ailee, Best of Weekly Music Shows, BTS, Lip Service, Sunny Hill, TaeTiSeo
Side B: ZE:A’s Hidden Gems
Nothing is Simple in Teen Top’s “Missing”
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The strange story of inventing the ‘bastard’ in medieval Europe
Before the end of the 12th century, a person with noble but non-married parentage could inherit. What changed?
by Sara McDougall Jun 12, 2017 4 minutos
Today, ‘bastard’ is used as an insult, or to describe children born to non-marital unions. Being born to unmarried parents is largely free of the kind of stigma and legal incapacities once attached to it in Western cultures, but it still has echoes of shame and sin. The disparagement of children born outside of marriage is often presumed to be a legacy of medieval Christian Europe, with its emphasis on compliance with Catholic marriage law.
Yet prior to the 13th century, legitimate marriage or its absence was not the key factor in determining quality of birth. Instead, what mattered was the social status of the parents – of the mother as well as of the father. Being born to the right parents, regardless of whether they were married according to the strictures of the Church, made a child seem more worthy of inheriting parents’ lands, properties and titles.
Consider, for example, the case of William the Bastard, more commonly known as William the Conqueror. Born to Robert, Duke of Normandy and Herleva, a woman clearly not his wife, William was nevertheless recognised by his father as his heir. Despite his youth and questionable birth, William managed to conquer and rule first Normandy and then England, and to pass his kingdom and titles on to his children.
Why then was William called ‘the Bastard’? Writing about William in the 12th century, the chronicler Orderic Vitalis called him ‘nothus’, an Ancient Greek term used to indicate birth to anything other than two Athenian citizens. What might Orderic have meant by this? The only elaboration he offered suggests a concern not with William’s mother’s marital status but rather with his maternal lineage. During William’s siege of Alençon in the 1050s, as Orderic wrote, the people gathered on the battlements taunted William not because his father hadn’t married his mother, but over his mother Herleva’s paternity, as the daughter of either a tanner or an undertaker. In other words, they objected not to his birth out of wedlock, but to his mother’s poor lineage. That sense of what made a birth illegitimate, what made a child a ‘bastard’, matches the definition of nothus often found in early medieval sources. As one late-11th-century chronicler declared, the French called William ‘bastard’ because of his mixed parentage: he bore both noble and ignoble blood, ‘obliquo sanguine’.
William’s social advancement, despite his dubious birth, is not unique. Kings before and after him, and even queens, successfully inherited and reigned despite allegations of illegitimacy. There are many cases in which the children of illegal marriages, including even the children of monks and nuns, inherited noble and royal title throughout the 12th century. Children born to a high-status couple could inherit from those parents, even if their union violated contemporary prohibitions on marrying close kin, marrying those already married to other living spouses, or marrying those sworn to celibacy. As such, the ideal of legitimate kingship as defined by legitimate birth, and legitimate birth as determined by a legitimate marriage between the parents, took hold only slowly and inconsistently in medieval Europe. It’s not until the late 12th century that evidence for the exclusion of children from succession on the grounds of illegitimate birth first appears. ‘Bastard’, as we now understand it, began to emerge here.
Importantly, this shift in the meaning and implications of illegitimacy did not arise as an imposition of Church doctrine. Instead, ordinary litigants began exploiting bits of Church doctrine to suit their own ends. Perhaps the earliest signs of this can be found in the annals of English legal history, with the Anstey case of the 1160s. This might have been the first time an individual was barred from inheriting because her parents had married illegally. And it happened not because the Church intervened, but because one clever plaintiff figured out how to exploit some scraps of theological doctrine. After that time, more and more plaintiffs began to do the same.
For example, towards the end of the 12th century, a regent countess of Champagne rushed to make use of an allegation of illegitimate birth against her nieces, in an effort to secure her son’s succession. Daughters could inherit in this region, and so these sisters did have a claim to the county once ruled by their late father. But the regent countess denounced the sisters as the product of an illegal marriage and therefore not legitimate heirs of their father. The strategy worked in that both daughters did eventually renounce their claims to the county, but not without first obtaining a great deal of money, enough to make them both extremely wealthy. As this suggests, the papacy had a far more passive role than is often imagined.
As bastardy began to acquire its modern meaning, in the early 13th century, it remained the case that the papacy focused on the regulation of illicit unions rather than the exclusion from succession or inheritance of those born to illicit unions. Hatred of illicit sex did trump dynastic politics on occasion. Hatred of the children born to such unions did not. There is very little evidence to suggest that an interest in keeping illegitimate children from inheriting noble or royal title outweighed political or practical considerations in the same way that the policing of illegal marriages sometimes did.
Understanding the changing meanings of bastardy helps us to arrive at a clearer picture of the workings and priorities of medieval society before the 13th century. Society then did not operate subject to rigid Christian canon law rules. Instead, it measured the value of its leaders based on their claims to celebrated ancestry, and the power attached to that kind of legitimacy. To be sure, marrying legitimately certainly received a good deal of lip service throughout the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, in this pre-13th-century world, the most intense attention was paid not to the formation of legitimate marriages, but to the lineage and respectability of mothers. Only beginning in the second half of the 12th century did birth outside of lawful marriage begin to render a child illegitimate, a ‘bastard’, and as such potentially ineligible to inherit noble or royal title.
Royal Bastards: The Birth of Illegitimacy, 800-1230 by Sara McDougall is out now through Oxford University Press.
Legitimidade (Direito da Família)
William, o Conquistador
Freira
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Features: Law
The Parliamentary Privilege Bill: the empire finally strikes back
Parliament is planning to pass a law saying how much freedom its members (and others involved in its proceedings) have from legal liability. What's more, it's telling the courts that they've stuffed that issue up.
I'm away to Australia for an academic junket (cough, cough ... very important conference on high-level matters of constitutional law and theory), so won't be Punditing for a few days. To ease your withdrawal symptoms, here's a draft of an analysis piece I'm preparing on the Parliamentary Privileges Bill - something that I've yet to see any commentary on in our media. Enjoy!
The privileges of New Zealand’s Parliament—or, more accurately, those of its House of Representatives—primarily derive from two statutory sources. The first is the Bill of Rights 1688, Article 9. The second is the Legislature Act 1908, s.242.
Neither legislative instrument defines exactly what parliamentary privilege consists of, meaning that the existence (and ambit) of any particular privilege is a matter of legal interpretation. And as legal interpretation is the responsibility of the judicial branch of government, the courts have on a number of occasions been called upon to decide whether or not a given matter is covered by privilege.
While such judicial intervention is unavoidable, given the nature of the issue at hand, it does create the potential for inter-branch conflict. Simply put, the courts may be of the opinion that parliamentary privilege applies (or does not apply) in a particular way, while the members of Parliament disagree with that conclusion. This potential for disagreement then sets up a clash of authority. The courts’ role as interpreters and appliers of the law means that any judicial decision on whether and how parliamentary privilege applies in a given case effectively will define how it operates in future such cases. However, because parliamentary privilege has its basis in statute, and because New Zealand’s Parliament is a sovereign lawmaker, it always is open to it to legislate to overturn the judiciary’s interpretation of the law and impose its own.
What then makes this clash different to other areas where the judiciary and legislature disagree over the optimal form that law should take is the subject matter involved. In short, a court decision on parliamentary privilege involves the judicial branch deciding the extent of the legislature’s freedom from external intervention; whilst a legislative decision to overturn such a decision inevitably involves an element of self-dealing, as the individuals who are deciding what parliamentary privilege ought to mean are the same people who gain the most from it.
These sorts of concerns have come to the fore in the form of the Parliamentary Privilege Bill, introduced into the House at the start of December. While the proposed legislation would accomplish a number of ends, the primary reason for its introduction is to give effect to a series of Privileges Committee reports that recommended overriding the effect of two particular decisions by the Privy Council and the New Zealand Supreme Court. As these bodies were and are the highest bodies in New Zealand’s curial hierarchy, the Bill represents a significant assertion of parliamentary authority over the views of the judiciary.
1. Jennings v Buchanan and the end of “effective repetition”
The first judicial decision in Parliament’s sights is the Privy Council’s decision in Jennings v Buchanan. The case involved a defamation claim, brought after an MP (Owen Jennings) in a parliamentary debate accused a named public official of misusing public money to pursue an affair. While this parliamentary statement could not itself found a cause of action, as it fell under by the absolute protection afforded by Parliament’s “free speech” privilege, the Privy Council accepted that a later “effective repetition” of the statement could be relied on in court. (The exact words used by Owen Jennings in that "repetition" were that he “did not resile from his claim about the official’s relationship.”)
The Privy Council did not believe this approach improperly intruded into the internal affairs of the House, or to interfere with Parliament’s free speech privilege, as:
reference is made to the parliamentary record only to prove the historical fact that certain words were uttered. The claim is founded on the later extra-parliamentary statement. The propriety of the member’s behaviour as a parliamentarian will not be in issue. Nor will his state of mind, motive or intention when saying what he did in Parliament.
The response of members of Parliament to this decision was less sanguine. A report from the Privilege’s Committee, later unanimously accepted by the House of Representatives, concluded that: “taking no action at all in response to the [Privy Council’s] decision is [not] practicable. Members are being challenged in media interviews in terms directly derived from the 'effective repetition' principle. Unless public debate is to be stymied, this must be addressed.”
It went on to recommend that “the Legislature Act be amended to provide that no person may incur criminal or civil liability for making any oral or written statement that affirms, adopts or endorses words written or spoken in proceedings in Parliament where the oral or written statement would not, but for the proceedings in Parliament, give rise to criminal or civil liability.” This recommendation was repeated in two later Privileges Committee reports.
The Government has now taken it up by including in the Parliamentary Privilege Bill a provision (cl. 8(4)) to the effect that:
it is not lawful for evidence (including, without limitation, Hansard) to be offered or received, questions asked or statements, submissions, or comments made, concerning proceedings in Parliament, by way of, or for the purpose of, ascertaining any content, effect, or meaning of a statement … —
(a)
made outside proceedings in Parliament by any person; and
(b)
to the effect (regardless of its form or terms) that the person affirms, adopts, endorses, or refers to the content, effect, or meaning of a statement or an action that a participant in proceedings in Parliament (who may, but need not, be the person) made or took in those proceedings; but
(c) that, if considered alone, does not in and of itself repeat that content, effect, or meaning.
Furthermore, for the avoidance of any doubt, the Bill also states in cl.10 that any such statements “are protected by absolute privilege.” The net effect is thus to undo the Privy Council’s ruling, meaning that legal liability will only attach to those extra-parliamentary statements that when considered by themselves contain some defamatory meaning (or, indeed, attract any other legal consequences).
2. Attorney General and Gow v Leigh and widening parliamentary proceedings.
The second judicial ruling threatened with a parliamentary override is the Supreme Court’s decision in Attorney General and Gow v Leigh. I've posted on this before, but for those still in the dark, the case involved a defamation claim brought by a communication’s advisor, Ms Leigh, after Trevor Mallard questioned her professional competence during his answer to a parliamentary question. Once again, this ministerial answer could not directly found a legal claim, due to Parliament's free speech privilege. However, Ms Leigh instead sought to sue the departmental advisor, Mr Gow, who provided Trevor Mallard with the information on which his answer was based. In turn, Mr Gow (joined by the Attorney-General, representing the Speaker of the House) sought to have the action thrown out, on the basis that his advising the Minister was a “proceeding in Parliament” to which absolute privilege attaches.
The Supreme Court ruled in Ms Leigh’s favour, for two reasons. First, it found that the correct test for whether privilege applied was whether it was “necessary” for the proper and efficient functioning of the House of Representatives that the occasion on which Mr Gow communicated with the Minister be regarded as an occasion of absolute privilege. In other words, had Mr Gow shown that without this kind of occasion being regarded as absolutely privileged, the House could not discharge its functions properly?
And having isolated this question, the Court then concluded that it was not necessary to give Mr Gow the protection of absolute privilege: “It cannot be conducive to the proper and efficient functioning of the House to give those communicating with a Minister in present circumstances a licence to speak with impunity when predominantly motivated by ill will, nor a licence to take improper advantage of the occasion by using it for an improper purpose.”
Once again, the members of Parliament disagreed with the judiciary's understanding of the law. In a Privileges Committee report, they rejected the Court’s approach to whether privilege applies (the “necessity” test) and also concluded that without the clear guarantee of absolute privilege, not only public servants but also other participants in the business of Parliament faced the risk of subsequent legal action. Quoting the Chair of the New Zealand Law Commission, Sir Grant Hammond, the Committee concluded that: “The Leigh decision does not appear to be grounded in the facts of parliamentary life, but rather it attempts to apply the law in the abstract. The reality of parliamentary life is that it is a set of complex interactions leading to expression in debates and select committees and it is not necessarily easy to draw sharp lines between these interactions and expressions.”
Consequently, the Committee recommended legislating to overturn the Court’s “necessity” test for “proceedings in Parliament”; a step the Parliamentary Privilege Bill takes in cl. 8(2) as follows:
For the purposes of Article 9 of the Bill of Rights 1688, and for the purposes of this Act, proceedings in Parliament means all words spoken and acts done in the course of, or for purposes of or incidental to, the transacting of the business of the House or of a committee, and therefore includes (without limiting that general definition) the following:
(a) the giving of evidence (and the evidence so given) before the House or a committee:
(b) the presentation or submission of a document to the House or a committee:
(c)
the preparation of a document for purposes of or incidental to the transacting of any business of the House or of a committee:
(d) the formulation, making, or publication of a document, including a report, by or pursuant to an order of the House or a committee (and the document so formulated, made, or published).
3. Additional matters.
While the primary purpose of the Bill is to fix the problems that Parliament believes the Courts have created, it does also accomplish a couple of other interesting matters of note.
It specifically provides (in cl. 21) legal authority for the House of Representatives to levy a fine of up to $1000 on persons it finds to be in contempt. Although the House has made use of this purported power in the recent past, the legal basis for it doing so was a matter of some doubt. By explicitly authorising such punishments through legislation, Parliament removes any questions as to the enforceability of such an order.
In addition, the Bill clarifies (in cl. 22) that the New Zealand House of Representatives does not possess the power to expel from membership of the House, and that members’ seats become vacant only in the specific circumstances provided in the Electoral Act 1993, section 55. There again had been some doubt about this issue, with disagreement amongst academic commentators as to whether the House’s “composition privilege” still permitted it to take such a step against one of its members. Parliament is now moving to clarify the matter by disavowing any such legal power.
by Steven Price on December 11, 2013
Are you going to weigh in on the merits? Here's my 2c.
First, I doubt either of these things makes much difference one way or the other. There is no welter of defamation cases that turn on either of these points. MPs' insistence that this is an attack on their constitutional rights and ability to perform their functions doesn't seem to be supported by any evidence. MPs and officials may say that they've had to pull their punches and mince their words and that this is having a serious effect on the functioning of democracy, but I'm not buying it.
Second, officials in Gow's position don't need to worry. Gow would almost certainly have been protected by qualified privilege anyway. That would head off a defamation action in any case unless there has been, essentially, bad faith. The threshold there is pretty high: officials acting with bias or carelessness or irrationality are still protected. They only lose the defence if they've acted without a positive belief in what they're saying, or where their dominant motive is something other than pursuing their official duties. Remind me why it's important to protect officials who are acting in bad faith?
Third, I think there is good reason to support the courts' conclusions about MPs saying they "stand by what they said in Parliament." That is, that this is effective repetition outside the House, so they shouldn't receive immunity from defamation lawsuits when they do it. That's because:
1. They are drawing additional attention to their statement. They will cause people to go and look at it, and articles to include reference to it. They're getting extra mileage from it, and if it's wrong and defamatory, it's doing additional harm, sometimes lots of additional harm. I say, if they want to springboard off their statement in Parliament, they should bear the attendant risks for any resulting bellyflop that splashes someone's reputation. (Okay, I might have overdone that metaphor.)
2. It's quite useful to be able to say to an MP, "will you repeat that outside the House?". It's a good test of whether they are really prepared to stand by it. As an observer, I can get a much better feel for an MP's sincerity and credibility, depending on how they answer that question. If they're not prepared to repeat the statement, I know to take it with more than the usual grain of salt, unless they can provide some good reason for their reluctance.
3. Parliamentary privilege can be, and has been, abused. It allows MPs to even tell deliberate and harmful lies with impunity. I don't think the opportunity to do this should be expanded.The right to have a statement read into the Parliamentary record seems like a very weak response to what could be a crushing defamation.
4. As I said, it doesn't seem to have proved to be a problem in practice.
That said, the Bill seems fairly narrowly cast, so even if the courts' decisions were overturned, it's not going to shake the world. Both seem fairly small points to me, things that only MPs and officials are getting their undies bunched about.
by Andrew Geddis on December 11, 2013
Provide an opinion? Express a firm view? Weigh in on the merits?
Clearly you know nothing of my work.
That said, now that you've started the ball rolling ...
I'm not so sure it is just a case of "MPs and officials [saying] that they've had to pull their punches and mince their words and that this is having a serious effect on the functioning of democracy ... ." Sure, the Privileges Committee has expressed concerns about the on-the-ground impact (of Jennings v Buchanan in particular). But it also spends a lot of time saying that it thinks the Courts just got the basic legal approach wrong, insofar as they pretend (and it really is a pretence) not to be "questioning" the words spoken in Parliament (J v B) and apply a faulty test to what is a "proceeding in Parliament" (Gow v Leigh).
Furthermore, I accept that qualified privilege will in virtually all cases be as good as absolute privilege for public servants (plus, they don't have to pick up the tab for their legal costs in any action, so it's a no-risk situation for them personally). That said, the Privileges Committee spent a lot of time in its report looking at the wider implications of the Supreme Court's ruling, and concluded that to view the issue through a defamation lens alone risks missing other possible legal consequences of the approach.
Finally, on the "if you defame someone in the House, you ought to have to shut up about it outside the House" approach - this is pretty much what the Privy Council said. Personally, I think it's been somewhat detrimental to holding MPs to account for their parliamentary claims - they won't even acknowledge what they said (least they accidentally "effectively repeat" it), let alone try and defend it.
The big point, however, is that I think what we see here is a clash in perspectives. The Courts are focused on the individual claims before them, and are saying "if this person has suffered a harm, then the law ought to provide a remedy unless there is a really, really good reason not to" ... which has caused them to pare back the reach of privilege. The MPs have then focused on the institutional workings of the House, and said "if there's any danger that allowing a person a legal remedy may inhibit how we conduct our business, then they ought not to be able to get one." Both have their in-built biases and potential to under-value some matters and over-estimate others. So what interests me most is, whose perspective finally triumphs?
by Fentex on December 12, 2013
So what interests me most is, whose perspective finally triumphs?
Personally I usually find such questions easy to answer - in this case between choosing if people ought have legal remedy for harm done by parliamentarians telling lies and parliamentarians being protected from responsibility for telling defmaing lies it doesn't seem a diffilcult question.
I don't think the first part is so bad as it explicitly allows for independent defamation to remain actionable and I think for reporters who once asked "Do you stand by what you said?" it will suffice for them to say "Please repeat what you said." would it not?
Inviting them to make the independent statement acheives the same thing while allowing conversation to freely refer to what was said without complicatingcalculations on what's actionable.
The second part however does invite public servants to act in bad faith without consequence and actively removes recourse from the public in the face of parliamentary privilege - and I do not much like increased privileges for the already privileged and consequent lack of accountability.
by Graeme Edgeler on December 12, 2013
I think I'm with Steven on most of this, but:
I can see the argument for absolute privilege for officials as slightly stronger - it's about the fear of litigation, not the fear of losing. If you've absolute privilege no one is going to sue you. If you've only qualified privilege, someone may sue you and allege bad faith, so you are more likely to be reticent to speak.
Also, on effective repitition: suppose an MP says in Parliament:
Question: "... Prisoner voting ... Andrew Geddis ...?"
Minister: "... and we all know Andrew Geddis is a lawyer, and you know what they're like!"
Andrew is understandably miffed at being called a lawyer, so wants to sue. Can't yet of course, but... then the Minister is asked a question on the TV: "will you repeat what you said in the House yesterday about Professor Geddis?"
Minister: Yes, I said that "we all know Andrew Geddis is a lawyer, and you know what they're like!"
How is this not "The publication of a fair and accurate report of proceedings in the House of Representatives...", and thus protected by statutory qualified privilege?
Also, just had a thought, does expanding the definition of "proceeding in Parliament" to cover advice from ministerial officials have any wider consequences? Does the Office of Clerk become responsible for its safe-keeping? If someone leaks ministerial advice, does that become a contempt of Parliament? I suspect the answers to these are "no", but are we sure the answers to all the other questions are the same? Beyond absolute privilege attracting, what are the other consequences of something being a proceeding in Parliament?
Minister: Yes, I said that "we all know Andrew Geddis is a lawyer, and you know what they're like!
That's not repeating what was said, it's reporting what was said. The reporter should reply "Yes Minister, we know what you said then - I would like you to state it here and now independent of speaking in Parliament to reassure my audience you really believe and stand by it."
does expanding the definition of "proceeding in Parliament" to cover advice from ministerial officials have any wider consequences?
I was similarly wondering about how wide a net was being cast with protection for...
There's quite a lot of incidental work in the world.
Yep. The defamatory statement was in a draft of petition to Parliament I was seeking public comment on = absolute privilege?
Supreme Court, Privy Council, privileges committee, parliamentary privilege, Jennings v Buchanan, Gow v Leigh
On privilege, absolute or qualified
Nati0nal News Brief Thursday, September 4
From a certain point onward there is no longer any turning back
Barlow: an appeal for justice
Just how do you judge a trial by media?
Also by Andrew Geddis
Imagine a world of speech without rules ...
Justice denied is not justice at all
Reeferedum thoughts
As the bishop said to the minister ...
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November 6, 2018 3:00 AM PT
MacBook Air review: Center of the Mac world?
Think back to the fall of 2010. The iPad was just a few months old, and Apple introduced a new design for the MacBook Air. The previous model was an impressively thin and light laptop (that could famously fit in a mailing envelope), but it was expensive and had a single USB port concealed beneath a weird flip-down door. But the new models—and there were two, at 13 and 11 inches—were entirely different. They were still thin and light, but now they offered two USB ports and a new wedge-shaped design.
In that moment, the MacBook Air went from being a bit of an oddball to being the heart and soul of the Mac laptop line—and since two-thirds of Mac sales are laptops, it’s probably safe to say that the MacBook Air is the definitive Mac of this decade. For the past eight years, its exterior design has largely remained unchanged, as other products have come and gone.
Just when we thought it was dead, after several years of essentially no updates, the MacBook Air has returned with a new version that’s clearly inspired by the classic design. It’s been so long since the last major MacBook Air update, in fact, that most of the “new” features on this device are simply a recap of all the changes Apple has made to other Macs the past few years, finally rolled into this one: a new keyboard, Retina display, Force Touch trackpad, Apple-designed T2 processor, USB-C/Thunderbolt 3, “Hey Siri”, and Touch ID.
Surprise! The definitive Mac of the 2010s is going to survive this decade. And while this MacBook Air is dramatically different from previous models in many ways, it’s also got a bunch of familiar touches that make it undeniably a MacBook Air. Like its predecessors, it’s not the computer for everyone… but it will probably be the most popular laptop among the (count ‘em) six models Apple currently offers.
Hello, familiar friend
Beyond the mere fact that it exists, the most surprising thing about this new MacBook Air is probably that it is deliberately styled like its predecessor. Anyone who’s carried a MacBook Air around for a few years will recognize all of its curves. The edges are curved, of course; the top shell gently slopes down to those edges; the bottom has the four familiar feet, array of little screws, and the same gentle curves. And of course the definitive wedge shape, when viewed from the side, remains intact—the laptop is .61 inches (15 mm) thick at its thickest point, by the back hinge; it’s just .16 inches (4.1 mm) thick at the front edge.
I’d know those feet anywhere.
Sitting closed, you could almost mistake this for an older MacBook Air—if you didn’t look at the ports and if it wasn’t in the Space Gray or Gold shades that have never before been available on an Air. Once you open it up, though, there’s no mistaking that this is a different beast.
The display itself is 13.3 inches diagonal, the same measurement as the last remaining old Air model, but there the resemblance ends. The silver bezels that defined the look of the Air when it was open are gone, replaced by the all-glass covering that Apple has favored in every other laptop for many years. And the remaining black bezels under the glass are much smaller than those on the old model, which means that while the screen is the same size, the laptop itself has shrunk—it’s now 12 inches (30 cm) wide, while the old model was 12.8 inches (33 cm) wide. it’s also about half an inch less deep.
The result is that this is a 13-inch Air, but it’s a lot smaller than the old model—not quite the size of the old 11-inch Air, but closer than you might imagine. As a longtime user of that 11-inch model who always felt the 13-incher was a bit too large, this MacBook Air feels a lot nicer.
The new MacBook Air (space gray, center) is smaller than the old 13-inch Air (colorful decal, bottom), but also surprisingly close in size to the 11-inch Air (rainbow apple decal, top).
What’s old is new again
Leaving aside an embarrassingly tiny speed boost in the middle of 2017, the last spec update for the MacBook Air was in early 2015. That’s also when the 12-inch MacBook was introduced, and in the nearly four years since then, Apple has turned over the rest of its laptop product line, introducing a slew of new features that the MacBook Air never received. It made the Air, once the pride of the Mac, feel a bit like a relic from another time.
(For some people, this was a good thing. Many users have not reacted well to some of the new features Apple has introduced in the last few years, and the Air was still sitting there with its MagSafe charger and its old-style keyboard with more key travel, reminding them of the way things were.)
Those days are over. Like a recap at the beginning of a TV show, it’s time to update the MacBook Air with what it missed when it skipped the last four seasons of MacBook updates.
Keyboard. That classic old keyboard design, on which I typed hundreds of thousands of words, is no more. This new MacBook Air has the new third-generation “butterfly” keyboard design that’s also on the 2018-model MacBook Pro with Touch Bar. This is an updated version of the keyboard that was introduced back in 2015 with the 12-inch MacBook, and it’s got reduced key travel, an arrow-key layout that’s harder to orient on by feel, and a reputation for unreliability.
On the positive side, the MacBook Air benefits from the fact that it’s inheriting the third-generation version of this keyboard, with whatever lessons Apple has learned along the way. It’s definitely better than the previous models. For all of Apple’s claims of improved key stability, I never thought to myself that the old Air keyboard was flawed because if you pressed on the edges of a keycap, the keycap wiggled a little bit. It was a great keyboard and I’ll miss it.
That said… this new keyboard is fine to type on. I don’t love it, but I imagine that I’d rapidly get used to it. I’ve written this entire review on the MacBook Air, and after a brief breaking-in process, I’m basically typing at full speed. The keys provide some audible feedback without the louder crunch that the second-generation version did.
I admit that I’m not thrilled about all the horror stories I’ve heard about people getting crumbs stuck under one of the keys, forcing a blast with a can of compressed air and/or a trip to the Genius bar. But the fact is, if you want a new Apple laptop, you’re going to get this keyboard whether you like it or not. I’m not sure it’s a keyboard I’m ever going to love, but it’s a keyboard I could do business with.
Retina Display. Apple’s been doing Retina displays on laptops for a long time, and the Air was one of the last holdouts. Higher-resolution Mac displays are great, and I’d never buy a Mac without a Retina display at this point. Text is smooth and photos are gorgeous. I will note that despite Apple’s claims that the resolution of this display on the MacBook Air is twice that of the old non-Retina model (i.e., four times the pixels), that’s not accurate. This display is 2560 by 1600, which is only 1.7x the dimensions of the old screen—meaning it’s got about 3.2 times the pixels of the old model. Regardless, it’s an enormous upgrade and really reason enough to get this MacBook Air if you’ve been soldiering on with an old model.
Force Touch trackpad. Believe it or not, the MacBook Air still used the old-style trackpad that physically moved, with the hinge at the top, so the clickable area was largely the bottom half of the trackpad. The new Air has a larger trackpad that doesn’t depress, but detects clicks based on pressure and then provides haptic feedback that emulates a click. It’s easier to make multitouch gestures and you can click anywhere on the surface. It’s a superior trackpad in every way.
T2 Processor. A huge change in what makes a Mac a Mac came with the introduction of the T2, an Apple-designed ARM processor that is similar to the chips that run the Apple Watch, Apple TV, iPhones, and iPads. On all Macs with the T2, the processor is acting as a system controller, managing (and encrypting) the flash storage and managing the security of the system. On the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, the T2 runs the Touch Bar and the Touch ID sensor. This processor also helps enable the “Hey Siri” feature, where you can kick off a Siri request just by saying those familiar words, rather than needing to type a keyboard shortcut as on older models.
USB-C/Thunderbolt 3. The 12-inch MacBook began Apple’s transition away from classic USB to the new USB-C port design. This MacBook Air has two USB-C ports, just as the old MacBook Air had two USB-A ports. But these ports have to do double duty—literally. The older Airs also had a MagSafe port for charging, a Mini DisplayPort connector that could drive an external display or connect to high-speed peripherals via Thunderbolt, and—on the 13-inch model—an SD card slot. The new MacBook Air’s USB-C ports have to be USB ports, but they’re also Thunderbolt ports, video-out ports, and your power source.
If you’re someone who tends to plug in more than one thing at once, well, this MacBook Air is a regression. Apple seems to believe that most users don’t plug much into their laptops, and maybe they’re right. But if you are someone who does, you’ll need to do what most other Apple laptop users in this USB-C world have done—buy an adapter or a hub or muddle through by plugging and unplugging as needed. Welcome to Dongletown.
Stereo sound stage. In recent iPhone and iPad models, Apple has showed off a new set of technologies that combine stereo speakers and some audio processing to provide more dynamic and separated stereo sound. Suffice it to say that if you watch a movie on this MacBook Air you will have a dramatically upgraded experience, not just from that Retina display but from the stereo audio coming from speakers located to the left and right of the keyboard, rather than from behind the back hinge bouncing off the laptop screen like the old model.
Touch ID and iOS influences
Though this MacBook Air is mostly made up of bits that have premiered on other Apple laptops in the last few years, there are a few new wrinkles. Most notably, this is the first Apple laptop to have Touch ID without having a Touch Bar.
Touch ID is really convenient, and on the MacBook Air it’s next to the F12 key.
Located just to the right of the F12 key, the shiny, narrow-width Touch ID sensor that doubles as the power key. (These days you don’t need to use the power button much, but it’s still useful if you need to forcibly reset a Mac.) In practice, the Touch ID sensor works exactly as it does on the MacBook Pro with Touch Bar—it’s just sharing space with real keys, not a virtual key strip.
With Touch ID enabled, you can unlock the MacBook Air by laying your finger on the sensor. It’s also useful for unlocking third-party apps like 1Password. Once you get used to using a Mac with Touch ID, it’s hard to go back to the old way. This is definitely a step up for MacBook Air users.
In terms of processor, this new MacBook Air model is less flexible than past models, where you could spend more money to configure the Air with high-powered Core i7 processors. The new Air comes in a single processor configuration: a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, with Turbo Boost up to 3.6GHz. This processor is lower powered than the processors in past MacBook Airs, and is of the class of the processor found in the 12-inch MacBook, not the 13-inch MacBook Pro (without Touch Bar).
I’d expect the MacBook Air to run faster than the MacBook—especially since it’s got a fan it can crank up instead of throttling down the processor like the fanless MacBook has to do. (Yes, MacBook Air fans, if you put your device to work you’ll hear that familiar blowing sound of the fan going to work.) But it’s not going to be as fast as that 13-inch MacBook Pro.
It’s always been the case that if you wanted a faster MacBook you’d need to spend more cash. The difference is that, today, that money will need to go toward a different model—that 13-inch MacBook Pro, which starts at only $100 more—rather than toward a different processor inside the same model.
In that way, this MacBook Air reminds me of how Apple handles its iOS devices. Apple doesn’t let you choose a different processor speed or class when you buy an iPhone or iPad. Every product comes with what it comes with—in the case of iOS, within a model type all that varies is storage and the cellular network option. I wonder if this is the future of the Mac, too—especially on the consumer end of the line.
At the starting point
There are a lot of MacBooks for sale right now. Leaving aside the old MacBook Air, which feels like it’s months away from retirement, there’s the 12-inch MacBook, the new Air, the 13-inch MacBook Pro without the Touch Bar, and the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros. What’s a prospective Mac laptop buyer to do?
The introduction of the new MacBook Air hasn’t simplified Apple’s overall product line—there’s still an old model and the MacBook hasn’t been updated and that 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar still feels like a weird outlier product that should have another name. But I think the MacBook Air does simplify the Mac laptop buying process, in that it feels like the best starting point, the center of the Venn Diagram of MacBooks.
If you’re shopping for a Mac laptop, start with the MacBook Air. Want a cheaper model? The old Air is there for as long as it lasts. Want something even smaller and lighter, and are willing to trade some power, port flexibility, and money for it? The MacBook is for you. Want something more powerful, and are willing to take on a slightly heavier and more expensive device? The 13-inch MacBook Pro without Touch Bar is for you. Want even more power? The 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pros offer numerous opportunities to upgrade specs and spend more money.
If there’s any place where the MacBook Air has regressed (beyond the $200 increase in base price), it’s in its status as a consumer laptop that could have its specs boosted into something resembling a pro laptop. That’s how I used my MacBook Air, and I’m a little disappointed that it’s no longer built for that use case—but for $100 more I can buy a MacBook Pro that still fits that scenario.
Still, Apple has placed the MacBook Air back where it spent the first part of this decade: firmly at the center of the Apple laptop universe. It’s not the cheapest or fastest or lightest laptop, but it’s the lowest-priced Retina Mac and it’s powerful and flexible enough to serve the needs of the broad audience for consumer Macs. The new geographic center of the Mac is once again where it’s been for most of this decade: It’s the MacBook Air.
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Boston Kicks Off Summer Tour With Stryper Vocalist
Posted on March 19, 2008 by Skid in Needs Reviewed, Uncategorized // 0 Comments
BOSTON KICKS OFF SUMMER TOUR WITH STRYPER VOCALIST:
Band BOSTON Kicks Off Summer Tour on June 6, 2008
Remastered Greatest Hits CD Release from Sony Legacy
The legendary band BOSTON will headline the outdoor festival at Marina Parkon Friday, June 6 in Thunder Bay, Ontario, at one of the Canadian stops of the Great Race 2008. The ’round-the-globe motor sports event will be making a pit stop in Thunder Bay as a part of its centennial anniversary. The show kicks off a summer of stadium, concert and festival dates that will span the United States and Canada.
BOSTON will be bringing two new recruits on tour this year. Singer/songwriter/guitarist Michael Sweet, veteran Stryper frontman will both sing and trade riffs with Gary and Tom on guitar. Unexpected phenomenon Tommy DeCarlo, the fan that posted his BOSTON covers on his myspace.com page and ended up on stage, will also be belting out the classics that skyrocketed the band to worldwide fame.
Many remember where they were when they first heard “More Than a Feeling” or “Hitch a Ride” on the airwaves back in 1976. BOSTON’s self-titled first album has sold over 17 million copies to date, and was the highest selling debut of all time. It remains a rock classic, and has seen a resurgence in sales after it was remastered by Scholz, along with their second album, “Don’t Look Back,” in 2006. “Amanda,” off 1986’s Third Stage, shot to the top of the charts and held a record-breaking stay at #1, in spite of being the only hit single that year not accompanied by a TV video.
With over 30 million albums sold worldwide, hits like “Peace of Mind,” “Smokin’,” and “Rock and Roll Band” are still as ubiquitous on rock and roll radio as they were when they were new. Coinciding with the summer tour is a fully re-mastered Greatest Hits CD (Sony Legacy.) Lead-off singles from all five BOSTON albums will be included, as well as new photos from throughout the years and liner notes written by Tom Scholz.
BOSTON will be performing many of their classics, including some fan favorites that have not been on the set lists for many years. For complete show itinerary updates, band bios and photos, visit bandboston.com
The Band BOSTON – Tour Summer 2008
June 6 Thunder Bay, ON CAN Marina Park *
June 13 Hinckley, MN Grand Casino*
July 2 Los Angeles, CA Gibson Amphitheater*
July 17 Cadott, WI Rock Fest*
July 18 Monticello, IA Great Jones Fair*
July 26 West Bend, WI
Aug 4 Bethlehem, PA Musikfest*
Aug 6 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena*
Aug 15 Atlantic City, NJ Trump Taj Mahal, Etess Arena*
* At press time, these dates have been confirmed. Please check www.bandboston.com for updates
Courtesy of www.randexpr.com
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You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘rokeby house’ tag.
another Robert Winthrop Chanler
10 June 2011 in Uncategorized | Tags: art, robert winthrop chanler, rokeby house | 5 comments
The New York Times brought to light recent efforts to rehabilitate and restore the reputation and work of Robert Winthrop Chanler this morning.
Eve Kahn, writing in the antiques section, shared the story of Lauren Vollono Drapala, a graduate student in the historic preservation program at the University of Pennsylvania, who has taken an interest in Chanler and his works. Research in the former studio space of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney has revealed evidence of a brilliant mural and relief resting beneath layers of whitewash.
The ex-Sheriff of Dutchess County had financed a less than mild mannered lifestyle in the early part of the 20th century with a not insubstantial inheritance from his grandfather, John Jacob Astor. The Whitney Studio is among a handful of prime examples of his installation work, among them the Rokeby House and the Coe House. His artistic accomplishments were mostly categorized as decorative, and as such, we would never recognize him as an participant at the famous Armory show. Though he was refused a reputation for his artistic contributions, he did earn one for poor judgement.
Immediately following his 1910 marriage in Paris to the opera singer Mile, Lina Cavalleri, his lawyer filed the much discussed ante-nuptial agreement. Chanler “divested himself of all his real estate in New York County, which is considerable, and also of his real estate holdings in Dutchess County.” He did so to the amazement of his family and for the benefit of none other than Mile, Lina Cavalleri. Not only did she receive the real estate, “he bound himself to pay his bride $20,000 a year.” Just in case he was thinking about side-stepping these obligations, he also named her his irrevocable attorney. In a famous telegram, Chanler’s brother John, who offered all of those around him eager descriptions of his budding X-Faculty and the many sonnets, plays and stock-tips it had dictated to him, who changed his surname to Chaloner, which he claimed was the earlier variant of the family name, and was generally unknown for soundness of mind, wired him in Paris: “Who’s looney now?” The question would become famous in its own right. The marriage lasted two years, and Cavalleri went on to marry an opera singer and later open a beauty parlor in Paris.
Chanler’s brother, Marion Ward Chanler, lost far greater stakes from a similar disabuse of judgment. Reportedly, he engaged Marshall Latham Bond in an eating contest in February 1883 at the St Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire. Bond and his brother would later employ Jack London during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897, and Buck was actually based on Bond’s dog Dawson. Chanler had received ten pounds of Turkish Delight from his grandfather, Samuel Ward. The task, consume it all, and may the greater appetite be the winner. Bond lost, and Marion died, so the story goes, from a surfeit of Turkish Delight.
Chanler, nonetheless, maintained a steady stream of contributions to what would be considered decorative arts. These include screens, murals, stained glass windows, and the mural and relief in the former Whitney studio space. One can find them at the Rokeby House in Dutchess County, the Coe House in Oyster Bay, Villa Vizcaya in Miami, and various public and private collections. For a collection of poor judgement such as this, however, requires a bit more digging.
Giraffes – Robert Winthrop Chanler
26 July 2010 in Uncategorized | Tags: art, robert winthrop chanler, rokeby house | 1 comment
—Giraffes, Robert Winthrop Chanler: via NYPL
Robert Winthrop Chanler
22 July 2010 in Uncategorized | Tags: art, giraffes, murals, porcupines, robert winthrop chanler, rokeby house, walton ford | 3 comments
Robert Winthrop Chanler, muralist, painter, grandson of John Jacob Astor, and otherwise known as Sheriff Bob Chanler to his friends. The NYT printed full-color photos of a screen of the Leopard and the Deer and the mural from the crow room in situ at the Rokeby House in the slideshow accompanying the article on the same.
Chanler is perhaps best known for his piece, The Giraffes, which was completed in 1905 and purchased by the Salon d’ Automne during his time in Paris. The geometry and intricacy of his work might descend from classical narrative tapestries or suggest an ancestor to the stripped-down, though vibrant aesthetic of Fred Tomaselli, or the embroiled wildlife studies of Walton Ford. Others, such as Nightmare, which is paired with Porcupines and housed at the Met, suggest a relish of detail and scope of action reminiscent of Hieronymous Bosch. The meandering compositions of Henri Rousseau, whose Hungry Lion was also completed in 1905, offer a more generally appreciated, though when viewed through the prism of The Giraffes, seemingly related aesthetic.
Chanler’s screens occupy an unusual aesthetic space. They are neither mural nor canvassed art. Instead, they invoke a fin de siècle fascination with Asian formats and styles: among them, the screen. Chanler seizes and exploits the medium. Said to be an homage to a ferocious ex-wife, Chanler’s Leopard and the Deer rolls on casters in a black, ebonized frame around and across the reception room to Rokeby House, as though stalking its inhabitants. The principal leopard rises and curls over and down upon the frozen struggle of a white stag. It’s knees bent, with one fore-leg struggling to stand, the stag looks skyward and accepts the leopard’s toothsome embrace over neck, chest and back. Meanwhile, the leap of leopards rollick up a hill in pursuit of still more prey among the narrow cover of a sparsely placed forest. It’s a scene that rises and falls with the search and capture of desperate and vulnerable prey. It’s a scene that feels like might animate the screen itself and send it around the room in pursuit of the odd and unfortunate visitor.
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Two years, eight months, fifteen days. That’s how much time had transpired between Dead & Company’s very first public performance in 2015 and the moment they took the stage for their one hundred and eleventh show, in the welcoming atmosphere of Boulder’s Folsom Field on July 14th, 2018. The band was reaching the end of what had been widely hailed as its most satisfying tour to that point and spirits were high all around (insert your own Colorado altitude and/or legal weed joke here). What might the guys have up their collective sleeve to bring it all home in style?
The ecstatic roar that greets the opening notes of “China Cat Sunflower” will serve notice that the band made exactly the right choice of show opener. And what a “China Cat,” with expansive jams inserted within the song structure suggesting they might never get around to the tune’s constant companion, “I Know You Rider.” But get around to it they do, and then some! Having built up that formidable head of steam, they don’t let the pace slacken a bit, through a first set crammed full of audience favorites, including “Shakedown Street,” “Brown-Eyed Women,” “Althea,” “Cassidy” and “One More Saturday Night.”
After the intermission, another dependable crowd-pleaser: “Scarlet Begonias.” But just when you think you know where things are going, the band throws you a deft change-up – in place of the customary segue from “Scarlet” into “Fire On The Mountain” comes a hairpin turn into “Franklin’s Tower,” and then “Fire.” While the crowd is still digesting that little mind-blower, the band eases into “He’s Gone,” then a gradually-simmering-to-a-boil “The Other One,” bisected by Drums & Space. Out of that smoking crater ascends a deeply moving Bob Weir rendition of Garcia and Hunter’s elegiac “Days Between,” which sets the stage for the sheer bliss of the set-closing “Sugar Magnolia.” A sweet double encore of “Uncle John’s Band” and “Ripple” make for a perfect end to the evening, and the tour.
Franklin’s Tower
He’s Gone
The Other One (II)
Uncle John’s Band
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Russia Regrets Hostile US Rhetoric, Rejects Groundless Accusations Over Ukraine
Situation in the South-East of Ukraine (1121)
Moscow rejects the recent «unfounded public accusations», made by the United States over Ukraine and regrets that Washington continues to intesify tensions in bilateral relations, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
MOSCOW, July 25 (RIA Novosti) — Moscow rejects the recent «unfounded public accusations», made by the United States over Ukraine and regrets that Washington continues to intesify tensions in bilateral relations, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.
"We regret that the US continues to fuel tensions in Russian-Ukrainian relations, and the Department of State representatives are engrossed in anti-Russian propaganda," the statement says.
On Thursday, a spokesperson of US Department of State, Marie Harf accused Russia of cross-border artillery attacks on Ukraine and of plans to supply air defense systems to eastern Ukrainian independence supporters.
"She cited some kind of «evidence» that the US allegedly has. However, it was not made public. No wonder, because facts to prove these false accusations simply do not exist," the Russian Foreign Ministry said adding that all the statements recently made by Harf are nothing but anti-Russian clichés, which Washington persistently tries to thrust on the international community.
According to the ministry, the aim of this anti-Russian rhetoric is to cover up the true reasons of the ongoing Ukrainian conflict, for which the US government shares the blame.
Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, the United States has been blaming Russia for instigating tensions in the country, even though Moscow repeatedly denied any involvement in Ukraine’s internal affairs.
Following the crash of Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 near Donetsk last week, the West speculated the conditions of the incident, saying that it had been created by Russia as it allegedly supplied independence supporters in Ukraine’s east with weapons.
Ukrainian authorities claim the plane was shot down by independence supporters, whereas the latter say they do not have the necessary equipment to hit a target flying this high.
U.S. Department of State, US-Russia relations, MH17, political crisis, Russian Foreign Ministry, Marie Harf
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Startup Picture Time Digiplex raises Rs 25 crore - Economic Times
MUMBAI: Picture Time Digiplex, a mobile digital cinema theatre startup, has raised Rs 25 crore in a pre-series A financing round from Zenrock Comtrade, a fund owned by Ajay Relan, former chairman of private equity firm CX Partners.
Sushil Chaudhary, chairman, Picture Time Digiplex said, "We have raised Rs 25 crore, out of which Rs 15 crore is in equity while the remaining Rs 10 crore will be used as working capital. This time, we have seen a 40% increase in our valuation."
Last year too, the company had secured Rs 25 crore in a round led by Relan. But at that time, the company's valuation was Rs 80 crore.
"We've raised Rs 50 crore in the two years and we will be looking at Rs 100 crore series A round by the year end. We are in talks with institutional investors," said Chaudhary.
The company has filed for patents for its mobile digital movie theatre service. Each unit includes an inflatable canopy cinema theatre that is fireproof, airconditioned and equipped with digital projectors and Dolby 5.1 surround sound for a high quality cinema experience. Each unit can accommodate 120-130 viewers at a time and can be erected within two and a half hours.
Picture Time Digiplex prices its tickets at Rs 30-50 per person as it operates the mobile units in tier-III and -IV towns only.
"Currently we have 37 units running in 14 states. So far we have done over 50,000 kilometres of driving and registered 1.8 million footfalls. Our current run rate is around Rs 5.5 lakh per screen per month. Last year, our revenue was Rs 7 crore," said Chaudhary.
Earlier, the company had plans to have 100 units by the end of May this year, but it made slight changes in the business model after the initial run. While most of the units will remain mobile, the company is looking to deploy 25 units in Uttar Pradesh alone by the end of May and have many of them fixed for longer duration.
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MICET open in July!
Visitors are invited to MICET – the Interactive Museum / Theatre Education Centre throughout July!
The Museum is open from 11.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. from Tuesday to Sunday. Tickets may be purchased online or at the box office in the Theatre. At the same time, we wish to inform you that MICET will be closed for visitors in August.
The Forgotten Worlds project, which consists of an exhibition, a series of workshops and guided meditations, closes (and at the same time opens) another artistic season at MICET Interactive Museum at National Stary Theatre.
Repertoire changes
Award for Ewa Kaim’s play
At the Talia Comedy Festival in Tarnów the play “Do dna”, directed by Ewa Kaim, won a collective award for creators and actors and an audience award.
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New Study Relates The Effect of Poverty on Kids’ Brains
Source: How Poverty Stunts Kids’ Brain Development
We can all agree that one’s socioeconomic background is a definitive factor when it comes to things like their development and education, but according to a recent study conducted by researcher Seth Pollack of the University of Wisconsin–Madison this can be attributed to more than just access (or lack there of) to things like private schools and expensive educational tools. Comparing poverty’s effect on the developmental biology of children to that of lead exposure, he thinks times call for an immediate change.
Past research has shown that poor children have smaller brains and score lower on standardized tests than children who grew up in more comfortable circumstances, but Pollack’s new study, through the statistical analysis of MRI scans from 389 children and teens over six years, confirms a new relationship: Poor kids’ smaller brains are linked to their test score deficit when compared to middle class and rich kids – it’s the delay in brain growth that is accounting for the lower test scores in school.
“This study is not just about having smaller brains – those delays in brain growth are actually statistically explaining the achievement test score difference.” – Pollack
The children used in this study were economically diverse, drawn from six different places in the U.S., and were representative of demographic factors like income, race, and ethnicity. Subjects who were born from risky pregnancies, complicated births, were from families with histories of mental illness and were already exhibiting behavioral or psychiatric issues, or had irregular head sizes at birth were excluded from the study. Pollack looked to find children who started life in similarly healthy states. The MRI scans confirmed that as poor children grew, the areas of the brain that were most susceptible to environmental influence and crucial for academic development had structural differences from middle-class and rich kids. Additionally, the poor kids had less gray matter overall than the more well-off ones – the deficits only getting worse for kids who lived below the federal poverty line.
Using math models to plot the differences, Pollack found that these deficits in the brains of poor kids explained as much as 15 to 20 percent of their poor test achievement. Other professionals in the child development research community such as Greg Duncan of the University of California–Irvine say that Pollack’s findings are scary but unsurprising. “There is an ongoing debate in Congress about whether or not to cut benefit levels in programs like food stamps and the earned income tax credit, and the debate usually centers around whether the parents are lazy or not, but what studies like this suggest is that cutting benefit levels in programs that support low income families may have consequences fro kids’ brain development – that makes it very scary indeed,” said Duncan.
Throughout his study, there was one aspect of Pollack’s research that he did find surprising. He expected the wealth-brain size relationship to increase exponentially, with the wealthiest kids having the biggest brains and highest achievement and the poorest kids with the smallest brains and lowest achievement. Instead he found that there was, “absolutely no differences between middle class kids and affluent kids when it came to brain size or test scores,” meaning that rather than an upward curve the line was more of a step, with poor kids near the bottom and everyone else on a higher level.
“That suggests to me that this isn’t just a function of how much stuff you’ve got. Something is happening to children who are living in severe poverty, and that’s where the brain growth appears to be affected,” said Pollack. To him, this correlational research is strong enough for him to talk about its implications, “My discussion of poverty as a biomedical problem and not a social one seems to unite people on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum on solutions to shield kids from its effects.” He hopes our nation’s politicians and leaders can get behind him and his research as well, “Maybe this helps policymakers and people in communities band together to think about what needs to be done here,” he concluded.
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Tag Archives: NRA
President Barack Obama Vs. The NRA
January 8, 2016 by Steven Spring in Commentary, Culture, Current Events, Government, Opinion, Politics, Rants and tagged Commentary, Crime, Culture, Current Events, Government, Gun Control, National Rifle Association, News, NRA, Opinion, Politics, Rants | Leave a comment
As the debate over gun rights heats up once again, this time after President Barack Obama lashed out against the National Rifle Association and the firearms industry during a gun-control town hall event this past Thursday in Fairfax, Virginia, I find it absurd that those Americans who cite the Second Amendment as the right of every American to own whatever weapon of mass destruction they so desire, all fail to mention the entire wording of the actual amendment.
Proponents of gun ownership, the NRA and the firearms industry scream out that the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution gives every citizen the right to keep and bear arms. However, these folks all seem to leave out the extremely significant first four words of the actual amendment. The Second Amendment, as passed by Congress on December 15, 1791 as part of the Bill Of Rights states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” A well regulated militia, in this day and age, to me and I think most every educated person would agree would refer to the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and the National Guard. Yet, these very important, first four words of the Second Amendment are never mentioned by gun advocates. It’s as if those words do not exist.
In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued two rulings regarding the Second Amendment over the years. In United States v. Cruikshank, the court ruled in 1876 that “The right to bear arms is not granted by the Constitution; neither is it in any manner dependent upon that instrument for its existence” and limited the applicability of the Second Amendment to only that of the federal government. Furthermore, in 1939, the court ruled in United States v. Miller that both the federal government and individual states could limit any type of weapon not having a “reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia.”
America’s fascination with firearms has evolved into becoming the most violent nation on Earth, with the possible exception of those countries who are presently engaged in actual warfare, which it seems would include this nation as we have been at war (or wars) for twenty-five of the past thirty years. And, even more incredibly, America, which was founded on the mass genocide of its indigenous people, have been engaged in some sort of military conflict two hundred and twenty-three years out of our two hundred and forty-year existence. We are arguably the most violent nation in our planet’s history. Even our entertainment, be it football, movies, television, music and especially video games, are all heavily geared toward violence and mayhem. I find it sadly ironic that video games, first devised by the military to train young soldiers for the horrors of war are now given to children for Christmas presents.
There is no excuse for any person to own a military assault weapon or a high-capacity magazine clip, yet our politicians who dare have the courage to speak up for sensible gun laws quiver in fear of reprisal from the National Rifle Association. Politicians who do speak out in favor of new gun control legislation face the wrath of the NRA come their next election. To believe that arming every citizen is the answer to curbing gun violence, as the NRA espouses is just preposterous.
Growing up during the hay-day of Westerns ruling television networks, the image I always remember is that the very first thing the town sheriff did when rowdy cowboys came into town after a long, hard cattle drive to visit the local saloons was to take away their guns. However, just the opposite is occurring throughout America as more and more cities and states are allowing the concealed carrying of firearms into drinking establishments.
Over the past seven years, the NRA has convinced a good number of Americans that President Obama’s hidden agenda is to take away all their firearms. Yet, in the only two firearm bills signed into law to date by this president during his presidency lessons current restrictions on gun control, contrary to popular opinion. If a person wants to own a firearm, fine, join a well-regulated militia as required by the Second Amendment. We, as a country always seem to be at war, so there will always be a need for someone who aspires to shoot something. I see nothing wrong with a hunter owning a few rifles, and have many friends who hunt, but as a general rule, hunters do not shoot their prey with assault rifles capable of firing hundreds of rounds semi-automatically without having to reload. For anyone to have the ability to purchase military assault weapons capable of creating the type of massacre seen in this country time and again over the past twenty years is asinine.
Be it this country’s latest, senseless mass shooting, the tens of thousands of murders committed every year in America’s inner cities or our seemingly endless, countless wars, this is a violent, violent nation.
Gun Ownership In Itself Is Not A Second Amendment Right
June 19, 2015 by Steven Spring in Commentary, Culture, Current Events, Government, Opinion, Rants and tagged 2nd Amendment, Charleston, Commentary, Crime, Culture, Current Events, Government, News, NRA, Opinion, Rants, Second Amendment, South Carolina | 1 Comment
With the news late Wednesday night that nine people were assassinated while attending prayer services at the historic, two hundred year old Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina by a twenty-one year old man, it saddens me that once again I have to update the below list of senseless, mass murders committed on a seemingly regular basis in the United States. Doing so, however enables me to do what little I can actually do about it, that being to put into writing my disgust with the gun culture in this nation. I can already hear gun rights advocates opining that now is not the time to discuss new, effective gun control laws, as they always do after every horrific shooting. If not now, in the wake of nine innocent lives shot dead while praying, when is the time to properly discuss gun control?
Proponents of gun ownership and the firearms industry cite the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution as the right of every citizen to keep and bear arms. However, these folks all seem to leave out the extremely significant first four words of the actual amendment. The Second Amendment, as passed by Congress on December 15, 1791 as part of the Bill Of Rights, states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” A well-regulated militia, in this day and age, to me and I think most every educated person would agree would refer to the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and the National Guard. Yet, this very important phrase of the Second Amendment is never mentioned by gun advocates. It’s as if those first four words do not exist.
America’s fascination with firearms has evolved into becoming the most violent nation on Earth, with the possible exception of those countries who are presently engaged in actual warfare, which it seems would include this nation as we have been at war (or wars) for twenty-five of the past thirty years. We are arguably the most violent nation in our planet’s history. There is no excuse for any person to own a military assault weapon or a high-capacity magazine clip, yet our politicians who dare have the courage to speak up for sensible gun laws quiver in fear of reprisal from the National Rifle Association. Politicians who do speak out in favor of new gun control legislation face the wrath of the NRA come their next election. To believe that arming every citizen is the answer to curbing gun violence, as the NRA espouses is just preposterous.
Growing up during the hay-day of Westerns ruling television networks, the image I always remember is that the very first thing the town sheriff did when cowboys came into town after a long, hard cattle drive to visit the local saloons was to take away their guns. However, just the opposite is occurring throughout America as more and more cities and states are allowing the concealed carrying of firearms into drinking establishments.
The following is a partial list of mass murders that have taken place in the United States just since the horrendous tragedy at Columbine High School in 1999 that resulted in the death of fifteen students:
Twelve dead in Atlanta, Georgia in 1999,
Six dead in Fort Worth, Texas in 1999,
Five dead in Wichita, Kansas in 2000,
Seven dead in Wakefield, Massachusetts in 2000,
Five dead in Queens, New York in 2000,
Ten dead in Washington, D.C. in 2002,
Six dead in Chicago, Illinois in 2003,
Six dead in Birchwood, Wisconsin in 2004,
Seven dead in Brookfield, Wisconsin in 2005,
Ten dead in Red Lake, Minnesota in 2005,
Six dead in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania in 2006,
Six dead in Seattle, Washington in 2006,
Six dead in Carnation, Washington in 2007,
Five dead in Crandon, Wisconsin in 2007,
Thirty-two dead at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia in 2007,
Nine dead in Omaha, Nebraska in 2007,
Six dead at Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Illinois in 2008,
Six dead in Alger, Washington in 2008,
Thirteen dead at Ft. Hood, Texas in 2009,
Nine dead in Geneva County, Alabama in 2009,
Ten dead in Covina, California in 2009,
Thirteen dead in Binghamton, New York in 2009,
Six dead in Santa Clara, California in 2009,
Eight dead in Carthage, North Carolina in 2009,
Eight dead in Appomattox, Virginia in 2010,
Nine dead in Hartford, Connecticut in 2010,
Eight dead in Seal Beach, California in 2011
Seven dead in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2011,
Six dead in Tucson, Arizona in 2011,
Five dead in San Francisco, California in 2012,
Seven dead in Oakland, California in 2012,
Seven dead at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, Oak Creek, Wisconsin in 2012,
Twelve dead in Aurora, Colorado in 2012,
Six dead in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2012,
Twenty-six dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Connecticut, 2012
Five dead in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 2013,
Four dead in Tustin, California in 2013,
Five dead in Federal Way, Washington in 2013,
Five dead in Manchester, Illinois in 2013,
Five dead at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica, California in 2013,
Four dead in DeSoto, Texas in 2013,
Four dead in Lake Butler, Florida in 2013,
Thirteen dead at the Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C. in 2013,
Four dead in Lockport, Louisiana in 2013,
Five dead in Spanish Fork, Utah in 2014,
Four dead at Ft. Hood, Texas in 2014,
Five dead in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2014,
Six dead in Spring, Texas in 2014,
Four dead in Bucyrus, Ohio in 2014,
Five dead at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, Marysville, Washington in 2014,
Four dead in Cleveland, Ohio in 2014,
Four dead on the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, South Dakota in 2014,
Four dead (a mother and her three children) in Tabernacle, New Jersey in 2014,
Five dead in Morgantown, West Virginia in 2014,
Six dead in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 2014,
Four dead in San Francisco, California in 2015,
Four dead in Queens, New York in 2015,
Eight dead in Tyrone, Missouri in 2015,
Four dead in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2015,
Four dead in Washington, D.C. in 2015,
Nine dead in Waco, Texas in 2015,
Four dead in Columbus, Ohio in 2015,
Nine dead in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015.
This is a staggering list of senseless murders and families shattered, and does not detail the considerable number of wounded in the carnage. What is alarming is that the percentage of Americans who believe we need stricter gun control laws is decreasing. What does it take for a nation to realize that something is desperately wrong with our culture of guns and violence? The NRA has convinced a good number of Americans that President Obama’s hidden agenda is to take away all their firearms. Yet, in the only two firearm bills signed into law by this president during his presidency lessons current restrictions on gun control, contrary to popular opinion.
If a person wants to own a firearm, fine, join a well-regulated militia as required by the Second Amendment. We, as a country always seem to be at war, so there will always be a need for someone who aspires to shoot something. I see nothing wrong with a hunter owning a few rifles, and have many friends who hunt, but as a general rule, hunters do not shoot their prey with assault rifles capable of firing hundreds of rounds automatically without having to reload. For anyone to have the ability to purchase military assault weapons capable of creating the type of massacre seen in this country time and again over the past fifteen years is asinine.
Be it this latest, senseless mass shooting, tens of thousands of murders committed every year in America’s inner cities or our seemingly endless wars, this is a violent, violent nation.
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Home/Semiconductor & Electronics/Electrical Steel Market
Electrical Steel Market: Information by Type, Application (Inductor, Transformer), End-user Industry (Household Appliances, Automotive) and Regional Outlook—Forecast Till 2026
Pages - 110 | Published Date - 16-Apr-2019 | Report Id -SR1120
Report Summary Table Of Contents Tables And Figures Request a Free Sample
Global Statistics Representing Electrical Steel Market Scenario
Electrical steel, also known as laminate or silicon steel, is an iron alloy molded to produce specific magnetic properties. Electrical steel is majorly used in the manufacture of cores for power transformers, generators, and inductors, among others, owing to its high permeability, which fortifies low core loss in electrical components.
Growing urban population and electricity demand from residential and commercial sectors are expected to propel the demand for electrical steel. In addition, various government and non-government organizations have been taking initiatives for the electrification of underprivileged villages, which is anticipated to positively impact the global electrical steel market.
According to the statistical facts provided by International Energy Agency, 650 million individuals live without electricity in Indian rural areas and two-thirds of Sub-Sharan Africa's population does not have access to power and the remaining population is unable to consume electricity due to structural problems in the electrical system. This scenario of electrification in such areas reflects the growth potential in the electric steel market.
The global electrical steel market was valued at USD 20.45 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach a value of USD 34.63 billion at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period, 2019–2026.
Electrical Steel Manufacturers
Associations, Organizations, Forums, and Alliances Related to Electrical Steel
Electrical Steel Reselling Companies
Assembling Companies
Research and Development Institutes
Traders, Distributors, and Suppliers of Electrical Steel
Segmental Insights
The global electrical steel market has been segmented on the basis of type, application, and end-use industry.
By type, the electrical steel market has been segmented into grain oriented and non-grain oriented. The grain-oriented electrical steel segment is expected to grow with the highest CAGR, largely owing to the various applications of this type of electric steel in electrical devices such as energy-efficient transformers, and large and high-performance generators. Increasing demand for transformers, generators, and regulators from commercial and non-commercial sectors is expected to propel the growth of the electric steel market.
By application, the electrical steel market has been segmented into inductors, motors, transformers, and others. The electrical motor segment has been registering exponential growth and is expected to contribute the largest share in the global electrical steel market during the assessment period, 2019–2026. In the manufacturing industry, rotating machines convert electrical energy into mechanical energy for industrial work. Following statistical information will intensify the existing and potential demand motor. Global IHP (Indicated Horse Power motor) market was valued at USD 29.8 million in 2016 and it is anticipated to reach USD 36.5 million by 2019, at CAGR of 6.8 %, according to Vibrant Gujarat, global summit 2017 which is regulated by the government of India.
By end-use industry, the electrical steel market has been segmented into household appliances, manufacturing, energy, automotive and others. Household appliances are major consumers of electrical motors and thus, the increasing demand for electrical household appliances is likely to drive the global electric steel market during the projected period, 2019–2026. According to ZVEI – German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, the global production of the electrical and electronic industry was pegged at USD 4506.11 billion in 2016 and it is projected to reach USD 5195.01 million in 2019.
Regional Insights
Geographically, the global electrical steel market has been segmented into five regions, namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America and the Middle East & Africa (LAMEA).
Asia Pacific is expected to lead the global electric steel market, owing to rapid industrialization and growing production of electricity in the region. According to a report published by Indian Brand Equity Foundation in 2018, India is the world's third largest producer and fourth largest consumer of electricity in the world. In addition, India's power sector is projected to attract investments worth of USD 179.31 billion between 2017 and 2022.
Europe is anticipated to gain significant traction in the global electric steel market during forecast period, 2019–2026, owing to the region’s growing automobile industry and emerging electric vehicle market segment. Cost and fuel efficiency, recyclability and formability are rapidly emerging as key focus areas in the automotive sector and as a result, material and component selection are more important than ever before. According to facts shared by Tata Steel, a part of Tata group, increasing demand for ultra-low emission vehicles or electric vehicles will accelerate the demand for advanced electrical and plated steel in the European automotive industry and this demand for vehicles is projected to increase by 2.6 million tonnes by 2050.
North America is expected to hold a significant share in the global electric steel market, owing to the increasing production of electrical and electronic appliances where electric steel plays a major role. Advancement in electrical appliances and machines and their rapid adoption are collectively driving the market in the region. According to the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association, the electrical & electronic industry in North America was valued at USD 527.02 billion and it is projected to reach USD 548.10 billion by end of 2019.
Latin America is expected to witness notable growth in the electrical steel market during the forecast period, owing to the increasing vehicle production in the region and the mushrooming production facilities of automotive manufacturers in Argentina and Mexico. According to Mexican Automobile Industry Association, Mexico is the seventh largest producer of cars and the fourth largest exporter for the automotive industry after Germany, Japan and South Korea. In addition, in 2015, Mexico's exports to the United States was 70%, Canada (1.8%), Germany (2.6%), Brazil (2.4%), Colombia (2.1%), China (2%), Saudi Arabia (1.3%), Argentina (0.9%) and Italy (0.5%) other (16.4%).
The Middle East and Africa region is slated to witness sluggish growth in the electrical steel market due to the relatively slow rate of technological advancement in the region.
Some of the key players in the global electrical steel market are Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation (Japan), POSCO (South Korea), Baosteel (China), China Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited, Ansteel Group Corporation Limited, United States Steel Corporation (U.S.), ArcelorMittal (Luxembourg), Tata Steel Limited (India), SAIL (Steel Authority of India Limited)(India), Voestalpine Group (Austria), Baosteel Group (Baowu Steel Group Corporation Limited), Jindal Steel and Power Limited (India), JFE Steel Corporation (India) and Essar Steel (India).
Electrical Steel Market Segmentation
Grain Oriented
Non-Grain Oriented
By End-Use Industry
Rest of Asia-Pacific
Rest of Latin America
Rest of MEA
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Barracuda to swim in AHL this fall
April 2, 2015 theahl
The San Jose Sharks and Barracuda Networks, a leading provider of cloud-connected security and storage solutions, announced today that the Sharks’ American Hockey League franchise, which will play their home games at SAP Center at San Jose starting in October 2015, will be known as the San Jose Barracuda (@sjbarracuda) with Barracuda Networks as the presenting sponsor.
In January, the AHL announced the creation of a new Pacific Division of the AHL for the 2015-16 season, comprised of five National Hockey League-affiliated teams that will be based in California, including San Jose, the Bakersfield Condors (Edmonton), the Ontario Reign (Los Angeles), the San Diego Gulls (Anaheim) and the Stockton Heat (Calgary).
“I cannot overstate the importance of having our prospects play in the same time zone as the parent club and available to our team without a cross-country flight,” said Sharks general manager Doug Wilson. “This is a tremendous opportunity for our organization to amplify our player development program by providing our staff access to these players on a daily basis. It’s also a chance for our fans to watch the growth of these prospects as players and see the ‘Future Sharks’ in action.”
“We are extremely excited about this innovative partnership with Barracuda Networks, a long-time supporter of our organization and a company who is aggressively active in the field of sports marketing,” said Sharks chief operating officer John Tortora. “We have loved the name Barracuda since the start of this process and it was a natural fit for us to approach Barracuda Networks in regards to this unique partnership. Most importantly, the relocation of our AHL franchise to the Bay Area will provide invaluable benefits that will enhance our process of developing future players for the San Jose Sharks – all in front of our loyal fans and in a family-friendly environment.”
"At Barracuda, we take pride in our local communities and have a long-standing relationship with the Sharks organization," said Michael Perone, co-founder, EVP and CMO at Barracuda. "When we heard the AHL team was moving to the Bay Area, we immediately explored the opportunity to further our partnership with the Sharks to include the AHL franchise. It’s exciting to integrate the Barracuda brand with the team in such an innovative way, and we look forward to a winning season with our new San Jose Barracuda."
“We are thrilled to add the San Jose Barracuda to the sports fabric of San Jose,” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo. “Hosting another hockey team at the SAP Center will bring more sports fans to our booming downtown and allow more people to take advantage of our excellent restaurants and nightlife.”
Also released today were the team’s primary logo, and the home, road and alternate sweaters for the 2015-16 season. The team’s primary logo features a fierce, stick-wielding barracuda, anchored on the Barracuda Networks iconic “teeth” while the home and road sweaters will mirror the style and color pallet of the parent Sharks team.
In addition, an alternate “third” sweater was also released, which the team will wear periodically throughout the season. The alternate sweater is predominantly orange and features the swimming Barracuda with stick raised in front of the letters “SJ,” representing the team’s home in San Jose, the Capital of Silicon Valley.
The name Barracuda was among the names originally considered for the NHL expansion team granted to George and Gordon Gund in 1990. The organization ultimately selected “Sharks” as the name of the franchise.
The Sharks have a rich history of developing players through their AHL team. The list of Sharks and former Sharks who have spent time in the American Hockey League is nearly endless, but includes players such as Joe Pavelski, Logan Couture, Brent Burns, Antti Niemi, Tommy Wingels, Justin Braun, Scott Hannan, Matt Nieto, Alex Stalock, and Matt Irwin, as well as former Sharks Ryane Clowe, Dan Boyle, Evgeni Nabokov, Jonathan Cheechoo, Marcel Goc, Christian Ehrhoff, Douglas Murray, Josh Gorges, Miikka Kiprusoff, Jason Demers … and the list goes on.
Sharks head coach Todd McLellan captured the Calder Cup, the AHL championship, as head coach of the Houston Aeros, where he served for four seasons (2001-2005). Sharks associate coach Larry Robinson played parts of two seasons with Nova Scotia before beginning his Hall of Fame NHL career.
More information regarding the San Jose Barracuda can be found at www.sjbarracuda.com.
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Joe Sandberg
This past Sunday on June 2, 2019, the 13-deck MSC Opera cruise ship came crashing into Venice, Italy’s VTP cruise terminals. The ship had been coming in for mooring when it had experienced an engine problem and couldn’t control the ship. As the ship had realized that it could not slow down anymore, it sent a message out immediately and two tugboats came to assist as much as they could.
The tugboats could only help the ship slow down so much therefore, when the ship had come in to the mooring area, it could not stop in time and the tugboats couldn’t help slow the ship down. The MSC Opera then had slammed into the dock along with running over a local river boat that gave charters. The ship slowly came to a halt as it went through a pier and injuring a few people. The river boat was hit from the back and quickly moved out of the way by the cruise vessel. There were multiple crew members on the river boat and luckily enough to get out of the situation unharmed, but had to jump off the boat to escape injuring themselves.
The Venice government has had an ongoing issue with cruise ships going through terminals because of their size and how capable they are of maneuvering through the terminals. Unfortunately, because of their size, the time it takes them to get through the terminals takes a lot longer than any other boat. The MSC’s crash was just more evidence to change the route for all cruise vessels through Venice. The government stated that they are going to come up with a solution to this problem. Besides taking more time than normal to get through the cruise terminals, the ships also have waves that could damage the infrastructure of the buildings in Venice. The cruise ships are becoming more dangerous for the city on water and in order to fix this, change needs to happen.
The Inside Scoop on the James Charles and Tati Westbrook Scandal
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Akamai Technologies
Sidharth Malik
National Informatics Centre
ministry of electronics
Akamai aims to secure digital assets, in talks with government
Malik also said that the company is in discussions with the Digital India stakeholders to add value to the ambitious state-driven initiative in terms of securing government sites and accelerating workloads.Muntazir Abbas | ET Telecom | Updated: July 27, 2017, 11:27 IST
NEW DELHI: US-based Akamai Technologies is eyeing to secure Digital India infrastructure and is in talks with the Department of Electronics and IT (DeitY) and Central agencies such as Cert-In and NIC, as well as state governments seeking advisory to set up Cybersecurity centres.
“We are in discussions with the policy makers as well as DeitY, Cert-In and NIC to see how can we contribute to Digital India vision and are in touch with some state governments looking at advisory roles to set up Cybersecurity command centres and build their infrastructure,” Akamai Technologies MD & VP Sidharth Malik told ETTelecom.
The National Informatics Centre (NIC) is responsible for national ICT infrastructure creation while the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (Cert-In) deals with the safety from Cyber threats and strengthens security-related defence for the Indian Internet space.
Malik, however, said that the company is also in discussions with the Digital India stakeholders to add value to the ambitious state-driven initiative in terms of securing government sites and accelerating workloads.
Akamai is a content delivery network (CDN) and cloud services provider, headquartered in Cambridge, and serves more than 300 large businesses in India that include stock exchanges, e-Commerce firms and technology multinationals.
“Digital assets which are readily available should be secure and with Aadhaar coming in, it is becoming a challenge to protect digital identity of every citizen,” Akamai top executive said.
The company is anticipating huge growth in Internet-based applications on the back of government-driven citizen services and BharatNet which aims to connect 2.5 lakh gram panchayats by March 2019.
Akamai platform carries 50 Exabyte of data and interacts with 1.3 billion unique client devices for 3 trillion transactions a day, which it believes would increase by at least three fold by the end of 2020.
The US multinational, however, said that there has been a growth in Cyberattack activities in India lately and attackers have been using sophisticated tools, and added that it was able to defend some recent attacks.
“Government should also look at security aspect as the internet is a state-wide apparatus,” Malik said, adding that it should be a top priority with one Cyberattack is being reported worldwide in every 10 minutes.
With a focus on less-cash economy, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) is setting up infrastructure to make Cybersecurity including cashless transactions foolproof, and issued a number of advisories to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) as well as state governments.
Following a severe attack in May this year by ransomware WannaCry across 100 countries that include a couple of banks, manufacturing and FMCG firms in India, in June, a similar attack hit the country's largest port Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai closing down operations at one of its three terminals.
The infrastructure for Smart City projects, including sensor-based communication, according to Malik should be secured from Cyberattacks and said that if Internet-centric applications are not secure, people would have no confidence in coming back online.
The company is also working on technologies to reduce latency which it believes is a pain point for many OTT (over-the-top) players.
With affordable smartphones from Chinese vendors and inexpensive broadband plans, Internet penetration is growing in tandem with efforts from telecom service providers, the content delivery giant said, adding that he 4G push over the last one year by all telcos helped in increasing last-mile connectivity.
The company feels that India is becoming mobile-first in Internet adoption and 81% people accessed Internet on mobile devices last year alone. It feels that by 2020, more than 50% of retail transactions would be done on mobile phones.
The government, citing industry findings, expects Internet subscribers in India to reach 730 million by 2020, from the 391.50 million as of December 31, 2016, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) data.
The faces of telecom industry and all you need to know about them
Tags : Industry, Akamai, Akamai Technologies, Sidharth Malik, Digital India, cyberattacks, TRAI, National Informatics Centre, ministry of electronics, infrastructure, ICT, fmcg, Digital, Cybersecurity
Reliance Jio and Piramal Group may set up a joint venture for consumer lending, fintech business
Vodafone Idea ‘repays’ significant chunk of Rs 4,300 crore loans
BSNL engineers to Modi: Take measures to revive firm, reward performers
BSNL begins land monetisation, fair valuation at Rs 20,000 cr
MSMEs file 668 plaints against BSNL to recover dues
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio cheated the state government of Rs 4,500 crore: Congress
MNP: Reliance Jio challenges Delhi High Court order
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Fox Gives Series Orders To ’24: Legacy’ and Lee Daniel’s ‘Star’
Karen Veazey April 27th, 2016 - 10:20 PM
Fox is sticking with the tried-and-true formula in their first pickups for the fall season. Today the network announced series orders for 24: Legacy, a spinoff of the Jack Bauer drama that was once so successful for Fox, and Star, a new series about a girl singing trio from Empire co-creator Lee Daniels.
Legacy will utilize the same, single-day per season format, and will still be focused on terrorism but otherwise the show features a new cast that should give it a fresh feel. Corey Hawkins (Straight Outta’ Compton, The Walking Dead) stars as a military hero who finds that trouble has followed him back to the U.S. He turns to CTU for protection and help stopping a large-scale terror attack. Miranda Otto, Jimmy Smits, and Dan Bucatinsky will also star.
Here’s Hawkins in Straight Outta’ Compton:
Variety reports that although Keifer Sutherland is on board as an executive producer he will not appear in the show. He joins the rest of 24’s original producers, Evan Katz, Manny Coto, Howard Gordon, and Brian Grazer. Katz and Coto will act as showrunners.
Grazer is also a producer on Fox’s other pickup, Star, a drama set in Atlanta focused on three girls who form a band and navigate the music industry as they rise to the top. Where Empire has explored the business side of the music industry, Star will come from the artist’s point of view.
Three relatively new talents were cast as the leads after a nationwide search; Jude Demorest (Dallas), Ryan Destiny (A Girl Like Grace), and Brittany O’Grady (The Messengers) will star as the trio. Queen Latifah and Benjamin Bratt are series regulars and Lenny Kravitz has been announced as a guest star.
The three stars of ‘Star’ on set
Though the series hails from Lee Daniels, who co-created Empire, and is set in the music world it is not an Empire spinoff. But still, could Cookie show up on Star? There has been no mention yet about crossover potential for the series’, but the creative team has to be thinking about it. In fact, it could be helpful in sustaining two very similar shows, as proven by other networks. ABC managed to program two medical dramas back-to-back for six seasons with Grey’s Anatomy and Private Practice, and NBC is continuing to see success with the very similar Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago P.D. Those series’ make no effort to hide their connections or shy away from crossover stories when it makes sense.
As they scramble to fill the hole left by the departure of American Idol Fox seems to be banking on familiarity. They’ve had luck so far with their successful event series revival of The X-Files this winter, and their Prison Break continuation is scheduled for this fall.
Corey Hawkins
Karen Veazey
[READ FULL BIO]
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mxdwntelevision
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Home › Album Reviews › MFSB: Universal Love (Big Break Records)
MFSB: Universal Love (Big Break Records)
By Joseph Kyle • August 21, 2015
MFSB
Big Break Records/Cherry Red
MFSB was the name of Philadelphia International Records‘ house band, a loosely-defined collective of musicians who worked with the production team of Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff on some of the label’s most beloved and successful records. In 1973, MFSB’s second album Love Is The Message, housed what would become the band’s most successful single, “TSOP,” which would top the charts, earn the group a Grammy award (or Best R&B Instrumental Performance, and forever become better known as the theme to Soul Train. The album itself would go to the top of the Billboard Soul charts, and to #4 of the Album charts.
Universal Love rode that wave of success and continued the group’s enjoyable, groove-heavy instrumental R&B. Since the release of their last record, Disco had started its rise in popularity; in 1974, Billboard would include disco in its charts. Universal Love is an album that is very much of that era, as their dance rhythms would soon become commonplace in dance clubs and radio stations across the country. The first single, “Sexy,” would go straight to the top of the Disco charts, and it’s understandable why; the sinuous grooves made for perfect dance music, as would “T.L.C. (Tender Loving Care),” the album’s second single. But Universal Love held a number of great album tracks as well, such as the hard-to-resist “Let’s Go Disco,” the mellow funk of “Love Has No Time Or Place,” the easy listening “My Mood,” and, most notably, “K-Jee,” which would be included on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, and would be a successful single in 1978
MFSB would continue on, though around this time they lost several key players due to creative differences, who went on to form the equally wonderful instrumental group The Salsoul Orchestra. Universal Love is a delightful little record from four decades past, with sounds that have aged wonderfully.
Tagged as: 1975, Album Reviews, Big Break Records, Cherry Red, Disco, Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff, MFSB, Philadelphia International Records, Saturday Night Fever, Soul
« 3AM Eternal: Poco “Pickin’ Up The Pieces” (1969)
3AM Eternal: Deerhunter “Snakeskin” (2015) »
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Home › 1977
Patrick Moraz: Out In The Sun (Esoteric Recordings)
Swiss Progressive pianist Patrick Moraz’s second album was an escape to South America captured in sound, and remains a delightful and sunny listening experience.
Reelz Presents: Saturday Night Fever: The Ultimate Disco Movie
Reelz Channel presents an excellent two hour examination of a film that became one of the biggest films of the late 20th Century.
The Langley Schools Music Project: Innocence & Despair (Bar/None)
In the mid-1970s, Canadian Elementary school teacher Hans Fenge gathered up the students in his school District and recorded them singing contemporary pop songs. Rediscovered and reissued in 2001, this album has since become a cult classic, and has recently been given a well-deserved vinyl reissue.
Chris Hillman: The Asylum Years (Omnivore Recordings)
In the mid-1970s, former Byrds guitarist Chris Hillman recorded a pair of albums for Asylum Records, his first proper solo releases. Though they’ve always been low key in his vast discography of work over the past 50 years, this reissue shows that their obscurity is not for lack of quality material.
Song Of The Day: Trigal, “Temporal”
Taken from the Pharaway Sounds release, Baila Mi Rumba.
Song Of The Day: Willie Hutch, “I Can Sho’ Give You Love”
Taken from the SoulMusic Records release, Havin’ A House Party/Making A Game Out Of Love.
Song Of The Day: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, “Action In The Streets”
Taken from the Bruce Springsteen Live Archives release, Action In The Streets ’77.
Song Of The Day: Wreckless Eric, “Semaphore Signals”
Taken from the forthcoming Edsel Records release, Wreckless Eric.
Elvis Presley: Way Down In The Jungle Room (Legacy)
Elvis Presley’s final recording sessions took place at his legendary mansion, Graceland, in a last-ditch effort to get the bored King of Rock and Roll to record new material. Unsurprisingly, the results are mixed–with a few gems mixed in with the dreck.
Lalo Schifrin: Black Widow/Towering Toccata (Robinsongs)
This twofer collects prolific soundtrack composer Lalo Schifrin’s two solo albums from 1976 and 1977. Heavily indebted to disco, the two offer some interesting variations and arrangements.
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Report: Tana Delta Field Survey
by Sentinel Project | Jun 8, 2013 | Kenya, Situations of Concern, Team Announcements | 1 comment
This report summarizes the findings of a Sentinel Project field team which visited the Tana Delta region of Kenya in early 2013. The team conducted a survey related to a series of ethnic massacres which occurred between August 2012 and January 2013. Their report highlights the drivers of violence and potential preventive measures for decreasing the risk of escalation. Click here for a PDF of this report.
Technology Profile
Visit Methodology
Points for Improvement
Post-visit Developments
Drivers of Violence
Recommendations for Future Activities
Appendix – Timeline of Events
1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
During February and March 2013, the Sentinel Project deployed a team to Kenya to act as election observers for the general election which took place on March 4. This deployment included a field visit to the Tana River District (also referred to as the Tana Delta),[1] where a series of ethnic massacres took place between August 2012 and January 2013. Information gathered during this trip, combined with the peaceful outcome of the election, has led to a shift in the Sentinel Project’s focus from monitoring Kenya as a whole to a more targeted mandate focused on the Tana Delta.
The Sentinel Project started monitoring Kenya as a situation of concern (SOC) in May 2011, at which time the risk of mass atrocities in the country was assessed to be high in light of the 2007-2008 post-election violence. Despite some reforms in the country and international judicial proceedings against the accused organizers of the violence, many of the underlying drivers of violence remained salient – including economic inequality combined with ethnic rivalries that strongly influence political activities. For this reason, the Sentinel Project maintained a high risk rating when it released a revised risk assessment in November 2012.[2]
Fortunately, despite significant concerns regarding the risk of violence following the March 4 elections, the event was relatively peaceful, with the exception of some small-scale attacks in the Mombasa area. These attacks claimed the lives of several police officers and were blamed on elements of the separatist Mombasa Republican Council attempting to disrupt the election. Despite these isolated incidents, voter turnout was exceptionally high and Kenyans remained largely patient through a delayed and error-ridden voting and tallying process. Several observers have speculated about how the country avoided a repeat of the violence experienced during the last election. This was likely thanks to a combination of strong peacebuilding efforts by the Kenyan government and NGOs, international judicial proceedings, a concerted media effort to encourage peace and respect for the democratic process, and a heightened security posture by the Kenyan police and military. As a result, according to the Sentinel Project’s risk assessment framework, Kenya as a whole is no longer assessed to be at high risk of mass atrocities.
The Tana Delta, however, saw considerable violence between the Orma and Pokomo ethnic groups during the extended pre-election period, which was only stopped by the deployment of a strong security contingent to the area. Some of the violence appears to have been incited by local politicians, including Member of Parliament Dhadho Godhana.[3] This violence included the largest massacre in Kenya since the 2007-2008 post-election unrest and was only mitigated and eventually stopped by the presence of a large security force deployed by the national government (see “Appendix – Timeline of Events”). The violence has often been simplified in both the Kenyan and international media as being the result of longstanding land use disputes between the agriculturalist Pokomo and the pastoralist Orma. There is certainly truth to this interpretation but the violence is complicated by many additional factors (see “Drivers of Violence” section below). The Sentinel Project assesses that there is significant potential for the conflict to escalate into a mass atrocity situation, and lasting peace will only be achieved when preventive measures are implemented to address the drivers of violence. This report provides an overview and assessment of the situation in the Tana Delta along with a proposal for longer-term engagement by the Sentinel Project in the area.
2.0 GEOGRAPHY
View Tana Delta in a larger map
The Tana River District is located in eastern Kenya and comprises a part of Coast Province. The district administrative area covers 38,446 square kilometres[4] and is divided into the constituencies of Bura, Galole, and Garsen.[5] It takes its name from the Tana River, which is the dominant landmark in the area and Kenya’s longest river. The Tana River supplies a large portion of Kenya’s electricity needs and ultimately drains into the Indian Ocean.[6] The landscape is predominantly lowland, with few major changes in elevation, but is ecologically diverse, including semi-arid bush, grasslands, wetlands, and forests.[7] It is also predominantly rural, with little infrastructure aside from a few paved main roads. There are few urban centres with most of the population living in small rural settlements. The climate is very hot and levels of vegetation vary significantly throughout the year depending on the seasons, which generally cause two periods of flooding. The majority of the population subsists on either farming or cattle herding, therefore factors such as flooding and drought can significantly impact both the local economy and inter-ethnic relations, especially when disputes arise over land use and access to water.
The Tana Delta has a low level of development and although work is being done to improve some infrastructure, only major roads are paved.
3.0 DEMOGRAPHICS
The population of the Tana River District stood at slightly more than 240,000 people as of the 2009 census.[8] The large majority of these people live in rural areas and make their livelihoods directly from agriculture or cattle herding, with only 15 per cent of the district’s population living in urban centres – a rate which is less than half the Kenyan average.[9] On average, five people live in each household, a rate which is consistent across all three constituencies. The population is also extremely youthful, with approximately 75 per cent being under the age of 30 and a large cohort – 60 per cent of the total population – under the age of 20. Combined with high rates of poverty and unemployment and low rates of education, such a youthful population presents a significant challenge to those working for peace and stability since youths have been implicated in much of the violence to date.
This total population of the Tana River District is subject to several ethnic and religious divisions. The two main ethnic groups are the Pokomo, with 95,000 members,[10] and the Orma, with 66,000 members,[11] according to 2009 census data. In terms of religion, the Pokomo are predominantly (though not exclusively) Christian and the Orma are Muslim. Other main groups in the area are ethnic Somalis and the Warday, who share an ethnic affinity with the Orma.
The Tana River is not only a major landmark within the administrative district that bears its name but also a major dividing line between the Orma and Pokomo communities. It separates many Pokomos from their livelihoods because they live on one side of the river with their farms on the opposite (Orma-dominated) side and they are reluctant to make the crossing for safety reasons. Due to the lack of infrastructure in the area, dugout canoes serve as ferries and are the only way to cross the river for much of its length.
4.0 TECHNOLOGY PROFILE
It is worth noting the information and communications technology (ICT) profile for the Tana Delta for the sake of future activities in the area. Data for computer and smartphone ownership rates are not available for the Tana Delta. However, owing to its remote and impoverished nature, the region is assessed to have very low internet connectivity. Mobile phone usage was observed to be high, though the majority of the devices in use were basic models. The Tana Delta is expected to be largely consistent with other parts of Kenya in this regard. According to the iHub Research report “Mobile Usage at the Base of the Pyramid in Kenya,” 60 per cent of all Kenyans living on less that USD 2.50 per day own mobile phones, with 53 per cent of these being basic models, 37 per cent being feature phones, and 9 per cent being smartphones.[12] Similar numbers may be expected in the Tana Delta, though the population could skew even more towards basic models due to the rural and impoverished nature of the area. Thus, short message service (SMS) is a common form of communication in the area. Considering all of these factors, any future ICT-based projects implemented in the area will necessarily have to rely on SMS communications.
Although infrastructure is limited in the Tana Delta, cell towers do provide widespread coverage and mobile phone ownership rates in the area are high.
5.0 VISIT METHODOLOGY
The Sentinel Project team visited the Tana Delta while travelling independently in their role as election observers accredited by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. They were based in the urban centre of Garsen and spent time during the visit meeting with the primary stakeholders in the area:
District commissioner (government-appointed civilian administrator)
Chief of security forces
Orma chief and presiding officer for the election
Pokomo elders
Community meetings with large groups of Pokomos and internally displaced persons (IDPs)
Additionally, the team was able to visit one of the attack sites (the Orma village of Kipao) and familiarize themselves with several of the surrounding villages. A Swahili interpreter accompanied the team – he was hired from outside the Tana River District in order to avoid local bias.
Meetings took place in a variety of formats ranging from private discussions with community elders and the authorities to large open-air meetings with more than a hundred community members at a time. The latter comprised a large portion of the survey activities and provided the clearest window onto the nature of the conflict and, most importantly, how individual community members perceive it. Government officials are assessed to have been truthful in their dealings but also guarded. Community elders were honest but often seemed to be portraying their own ethnic groups in the most favorable light, which was expected. Community meetings, on the other hand, provided Tana Delta residents an opportunity to speak freely, which was often a revealing and insightful situation, especially since team members could observe reactions from other community members.
Discussions were structured when talking to officials and the team asked prepared questions. However, discussions were generally free-form when engaging with the elders and community members in group settings. This was done in order to encourage individuals to share the details and impacts of the conflict which they saw as being the most relevant, while the team members could still ask questions to expand on certain points and guide the conversation. The goal was less about establishing the hard facts of the situation – which had largely been learned from other sources – and more about understanding it from the perspectives of Tana Delta residents.
5.1 POINTS FOR IMPROVEMENT
There were two main disadvantages to the methods used. Firstly, the majority of people with whom the field team interacted were from the Pokomo ethnic group, both in terms of elders and community members. This was largely a result of the fact that the Kenyan NGO which assisted the Sentinel Project in making arrangements for this trip had more connections with members of the Pokomo community through the clergy network. Second, the large-group format of the community meetings was insightful because of the way that it allowed the team to observe group reactions to the contributions of individual members but it also dissuaded many community members from speaking and so the elders sometimes dominated the conversation. In other cases, when individuals did speak, they were sometimes influenced by the watching crowd, even if they were elders. For example, in one case, a Pokomo elder began to reveal information about a particular attack in which Pokomo youth had participated but he was promptly interrupted by hostile reactions from the audience, approximately a quarter of whom then walked away from the meeting.
In the future, the Sentinel Project work will seek to address the weaknesses mentioned above. This will be more easily done during longer visits involving a larger team. Specifically, the following will be done:
More meetings will be held with larger numbers of community members from both the Orma and Pokomo groups in order to gain a balanced perspective
Meetings will be held in a variety of formats including both large-group community gatherings and private interviews where individuals can speak more freely
Standardized questionnaires will be prepared in order to gather more quantitative data, which will be a possibility when engaging larger samples
Assign at least one member of the team to act as a dedicated documentarian during interactions with Tana Delta residents
Improve Swahili language capabilities within the field team, even at a basic level, which will enable them to build stronger rapport and identify interpretation gaps
6.0 POST-VISIT DEVELOPMENTS
The Sentinel Project team left the Tana Delta and returned to Nairobi shortly before the general election. They established several contacts during their visits and have maintained ongoing communication with these individuals since returning to North America. Fortunately, the situation has remained mostly peaceful and no killings have taken place between Orma and Pokomo stakeholders since then. However, tensions and distrust between the Orma and the Pokomo remain high. There have been several small-scale violent incidents either between individuals or small groups of people, though in some cases it is difficult to determine whether these are ethnically-motivated or not. Additionally, there seems to be a significant amount of misinformation flowing through the area, which has a detrimental effect both on inter-ethnic relations and on the accuracy of reporting (see “Drivers of Violence” section below). Recent incidents and examples of misinformation include:
Theft of cattle
Theft of vehicle from boda-boda (motorcycle taxi) driver
Shootings using illegal firearms
Violation of land rights for grazing animals
Attacks on people trying to cross the river to access their farms
Allegations of poisoning of both food supplies and medications
Allegations of Mombasa Republican Council involvement
Aside from these small-scale incidents, the outcome of the general election is also significant for the Tana River District. For several years prior to 4 March 2013, the Pokomo had generally been the politically dominant ethnic group in the area. However, in the March 2013 election, Orma candidates swept all local positions and effectively shut the Pokomo out of any political representation within the district for the first time in ten years. Some have alleged that this shift in the balance of power is due to the number of Pokomos who were displaced by the recent violence and were consequently unable to vote. Together with a pre-existing sense of victimhood, this deprivation of political power may intensify Pokomo grievances, especially if community members continue to be frustrated by attempts to access their land.
7.0 DRIVERS OF VIOLENCE
In addition to ongoing disputes over land use and water access between the agriculturalist Pokomo and pastoralist Orma, several other factors further complicated the situation in the Tana Delta. The Sentinel Project visit to the area raised additional issues and questions to explore with regards to the drivers of the conflict. This is a positive development since each of these questions provides an opportunity to learn more about how Tana Delta residents view the conflict and its root causes. It is difficult to measure the veracity or impact of many of the factors listed below – which were identified during the visit – but they do appear to be the most salient issues for residents, even in the case of allegations which are believed but may have no basis in fact.
Misinformation – Misinformation in the Tana Delta comes in the form of both “naturally occurring” rumors as well as deliberate disinformation intended to incite tensions and violence. Members of both the Orma and Pokomo communities hold several beliefs about the opposing group. It is difficult to verify the truth behind these beliefs but it is important to explore them since they are used as a justification for violence in cases where the opposing group is portrayed as a threat which must be attacked pre-emptively. Examples include:
(1) Some Pokomos mentioned a rumor that an unspecified external actor has supplied the Orma community with a large number of small arms (specifically, 3,000 AK-47s) for the purpose of destroying the Pokomo and driving them off the land.
(2) Recently, our contacts reported allegations that a government health worker of Pokomo ethnicity replaced vaccines with poison and attempted to inject it into Orma children before being apprehended.
Lack of title deeds for land – This was particularly salient for the Pokomo, one of whom claimed that their ethnic group is the “only one in all of Kenya that has not been granted title deeds” for the land that they have farmed for generations. Such a claim seems unlikely but is powerful if people believe it. For example, Orma violations of Pokomo farmland have been a frequent trigger of violence and the Pokomo feel that they have no legal recourse in such situations and are being treated unfairly by the government.
Perceptions of government favoritism – Some Pokomo individuals feel strongly that their community is treated unfairly by the Kenyan government at all levels, with one person even claiming that then President Mwai Kibaki was opposed to them. Such accusations were also made against local civilian administrators, police, and military personnel. The Orma do not seem to see themselves as being favored and have their own reasons for viewing the Pokomo as the favored group, including longstanding political dominance of the Pokomo and their perceived greater access to education and other government services.
Perceptions of inequality – Members of both the Orma and Pokomo groups expressed feelings of being disadvantaged relative to members of the opposite community. In the Pokomo case, a recurring theme was the perceived greater wealth of the Orma, who are also thought to be able to pay off the government. Local definitions of wealth may differ since many of the Pokomo live in brick houses in permanent settlements, wear Western-style clothing, and some even own cars. The Orma, on the other hand, live a semi-nomadic lifestyle, dwelling in grass huts with very few modern amenities or access to infrastructure such as paved roads or electricity. Perceptions of prosperity seem to be tied to livelihoods, with the Orma ownership of cattle conferring a greater sense of wealth in the eyes of Pokomo farmers who have been separated from their land. The Orma, for their part, do not see themselves as being affluent and complained of their historical lack of political representations and lack of access to educational resources since the majority of teachers in the area are Pokomos who now refuse to report for work due to security concerns.
The majority of the Orma community lives in traditional homes, partially due to their semi-nomadic lifestyle. Homes destroyed during the attack on 21 December 2012 can be identified by the metal roofs built with reconstruction materials provided by the Kenyan Red Cross.
Mutual sense of victimization – Members of both ethnic groups view themselves as the sole victims of the conflict, even in situations where members of their own group have been killed while engaging in attacks that they themselves initiated against the opposing community. For example, a major point of contention amongst the Pokomo community was the Orma refusal to return the bodies of eight men from the village of Ngao who were killed in the process of attacking the village of Kipao, where 31 residents were killed during a massacre on 21 December 2012. In discussions with Pokomo community members, only the eight men were mentioned, but not the reason why they were in Kipao or the Orma victims.
The Orma community refused to return the bodies of eight Pokomo men killed while attacking the village of Kipao on 21 December 2012. Instead, the bodies were disposed of by burning, which remains a major point of contention for the Pokomo community.
Mutual distrust and suspicion of duplicity – Neither the Orma nor the Pokomo seem to have enough trust in the opposite community to engage wholeheartedly in a peace process, since both sides expect the betrayal of any agreement that is made. The leaders of both communities indicated their desire for peace but this may have been part of an effort to make statements that would be well-received by outside observers while still remaining distrustful. For example, the Orma chief in Kipao expressed confusion about how Pokomo elders had visited his home for a feast in December 2012 only to have his village attacked and several people killed within a few days. Such recent memories are very powerful and are a major obstacle to peacebuilding initiatives.
Members of the survey team pay their respects at the mass grave holding victims of the 21 December 2012 Kipao massacre along with local community members and security forces.
Outside influence – Several commenters cited the meddling of outside actors as being influential in facilitating the violence. In some cases, such as claims about foreign corporations and governments acquiring – or attempting to acquire – large tracts of land in the Tana Delta, this involvement is seen largely a precipitating factor which makes land scarce and places the communities at odds rather than providing direct support to any of the belligerents. For example, the Canadian firm Bedford Biofuels has leased a large tract of land in the area for its operations, thus causing environmental damage and depriving Tana Delta residents of its use for agriculture.[13] Other outside influences are seen as being more malevolent, such as accusations that wealthy and powerful Kenyans as well as foreigners have armed either ethnic group and set them to driving the other off the land so that it can be freed up for commercial exploitation. This is a potential case of misinformation, as is the allegation that the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) is providing support to the Pokomo community in the form of weapons and armed men. The Sentinel Project team did not see any evidence of this but there have been reports from the Orma community on two different occasions that MRC identity cards and identifying items of clothing were discovered either on men fighting alongside Pokomo attackers or left behind following an attack. This physical evidence could not be produced since it had allegedly been turned over to the authorities, so these claims remain unsubstantiated.
Lamu port development – Amongst the external economic factors influencing the Tana Delta violence, the development of the nearby city of Lamu into a major port arose several times. It is unclear whether this has an actual influence but some local observers commented that it will raise the value of all surrounding land, which the Tana Delta is a part of, and therefore increase the incentive for rivals to fight over it. The level to which such considerations have influenced the violence or motivated external parties supporting it is unclear. This may be a form of misinformation.
8.0 ASSESSMENT
The Tana Delta remains at a moderate level of risk for mass atrocities. There are several underlying issues present in the Tana Delta which have contributed to the recent killings and show the potential to do so again under the right circumstances (see “Drivers of Violence” section above), especially if conditions in the area change such that disputes over resources worsen. Fortunately, the relatively peaceful passage of the general election on 4 March 2013 seems to have removed much of the political influence from the situation since local politicians no longer have incentives to incite violence in the hope of gaining votes. However, now that Orma candidates have gained political control of the area and the Pokomo – who already feel that they are treated unfairly by the government – are effectively disenfranchised, grievances have the potential to spark violence if it is seen as the only remaining form of recourse against injustices or perceived threats.
The continued police and military presence in the area has served as a mitigating factor, especially since both of the belligerents are non-state actors, but this is not a lasting solution and without robust peacebuilding efforts, any future withdrawal of security forces will allow for an easy recurrence of violence. One serious factor which must be addressed is the prevalence of misinformation in the Tana Delta. If efforts are not made to recognize and counter the ongoing dissemination of incorrect information – whether deliberate or unintentional – then Tana Delta residents may find themselves acting on poorly-formed perceptions of their situation which cast violence as a reasonable option to address problems, especially for youths.
9.0 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE ACTIVITIES
Considering the significant role of misinformation in the Tana Delta, the Sentinel Project has the potential to play an important role in reducing the risk of violence by taking an innovative approach to mapping reports of violence, the appearance of new pieces of harmful misinformation, and countering the spread of public perceptions which contribute to further violence. While the other factors in the area such as environmental and economic stresses are beyond the capabilities of the Sentinel Project to address, countering misinformation falls clearly within the organization’s area of expertise since there is a role for ICT to play here. A project plan is being developed for a system which would crowdsource reports of misinformation, largely through SMS-based reporting, map its origins and flow, and then test measures to counter it. The Tana Delta is a relatively small area in terms of geographical size and it also has a relatively small population, which makes it a feasible place for the Sentinel Project to operate in an impactful way. If implemented, this work will play a preventive role by reducing the risk of further violence and possibly even mass atrocities.
10.0 APPENDIX – TIMELINE OF EVENTS
Pokomo attack on Reketa (Orma village); 52 killed, including women, children, and unarmed men; many were hacked to death with machetes or burned to death; 200 Orma cattle captured; thought to be in retaliation for Orma invasion of Pokomo farms.[14]
Orma attack on Chamwanamuma (Pokomo village); 12 killed, several homes burned down.[15]
Pokomo attack on Kilelengwani (Orma village); 38 killed (31 civilians, 9 police officers).[16]
Orma attacks on Semikaro, Laini, Nduru, and Shirikisho villages; 3 Pokomos killed.[17]
Security forces deployed to the Tana Delta by the Kenyan government.
Attack on Ozi by unknown attackers; 67 homes burned down; local MP claims this was a heavy-handed response by government security forces.[18]
Pokomo attack on Kipao (Orma village); 39 killed (8 attackers, 31 Kipao residents), including women, children, and unarmed men.[19]
Pokomo attack on Nduru (Orma village); 11 killed (6 Ormas, 5 attacked).
Orma attack on Kibusu (Pokomo village); 11 killed (all Pokomo), including women, children, and unarmed men.
[1] The terms “Tana River District” and “Tana Delta” are used to refer to different political and geographical entities as appropriate. The Tana River District signifies the administrative area with boundaries mandated by the Kenyan government while the Tana Delta refers specifically to the geographical area associated with the river where most of the violence-affected population lives.
[2] http://thesentinelproject.org/kenya-annual-report-update-high-risk-rating-remains-in-effect/
[3] http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Minister-Godhana-arrested-over-Tana-clashes/-/1056/1505024/-/f6cfvs/-/index.html
[4] http://www.statoids.com/yke.html
[5] https://opendata.go.ke/facet/counties/Tana+River
[6] http://cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/casestudy06tana.pdf
[7] http://www.tanariverdelta.org/tana/about.html
[8] https://opendata.go.ke/Population/Census-2009-Vol-1-A-Table-1-Constituency-Density/z45h-h6r9
[9] https://opendata.go.ke/facet/counties/Tana+River?tags=population&utf8=%E2%9C%93
[10] http://www.ethnologue.com/language/pkb
[11] http://www.ethnologue.com/language/orc
[12] https://blogs.worldbank.org/ic4d/files/ic4d/mobile_phone_usage_kenyan_base_pyramid.pdf
[13] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/02/biofuels-land-grab-kenya-delta
[14] http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hzSpZM7qFm-m_-mrfmfBQMPQwPXQ?docId=CNG.ed92e7cadcec523087cb581bce526b2e.321
[15] http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/13/kenya-investigate-all-politicians-tana-river-violence
[16] http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/?articleID=2000065858&story_title=Police-officers-among-38–killed-in-Tana-River-
[17] http://www.nation.co.ke/News/Three+killed+in+fresh+Tana+violence/-/1056/1503584/-/mjxsh2z/-/index.html
[18] http://www.nation.co.ke/News/politics/MP+claims+GSU+officers+razed+village+in+Tana/-/1064/1511160/-/xka8t5/-/index.html
[19] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20807736
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Biosphere & Jon Wozencroft - Substrata 2.1
Touch # TD01 [A3 archival print + 320kbps MP3]
A3 archival print edition + exclusive digital download (320kbps MP3)
Image printed on 225gsm Somerset Photo Satin - this has the feel of watercolour paper, but captures the colour and detail extremely well. Hand numbered and signed (by Jon Wozencroft), limited to 100 copies.
NB: free Registered Postage worldwide on this item.
A3 archival print | Jon Wozencroft "The Planet is Blue"
The picture was taken from a vantage point in Taormina, Sicily, in April 2001. 1000s of people must have taken a photograph from this spot, so it surprises me that many people single this out as one of their favourite Touch covers and I don't disagree - how can one take heed of the other versions that will never be seen?
There were no postcards on sale. So instead of playing on the idea of "the photographic moment", possibly this is a place that conjures up "the photographic universal".
Giardini Naxos, a railway hub beneath Mount Etna, as seen from Taormina which has amazing food, a Roman amphitheatre and a film festival. I liked the idea of people swimming next to a railway station.
I was overjoyed to get the chance to do a cover for "Substrata". It is one of my favourite recordings of its time (the progressive year, 1997) and I'd observed how it had such a climatic effect... I'd listened to it, amazed, on holiday in Crete that summer, it became a hot record for me, whilst supposedly being from a cold environment.
Maybe Biosphere was the answer to dub reggae, especially the music of Augustus Pablo. One of the best compliments I was ever paid, came from a friend when she said the Newcastle concert on the 2001 tour was mixed like a Pablo version... Now I'm glad that these versions bear this out, vividly. King Tubby Meets the Rockers in a Coldhouse?
Instinctively, I shot this on 35mm tungsten film which gives it a blue cast, which was an attempt to get a "Day for Night" ambience, (referring to the film by Truffaut). What I didn't realise was how difficult this would be to print. We scanned it as RGB to get the detail and colour saturation, then we had to work out how to satisfy the CMYK format. There was hardly anything in the black channel.
Taormina features a lot in the film "Le Grand Bleu" (The Big Blue) by Luc Besson. It's about deep sea diving. It seemed to me an interesting counterpoint to Geir's love of the mountains, to think of the equivalent below the waterline. [Jon Wozencroft, May 2010]
Audio | Biosphere "Substrata 2.1"
1. Double Exposure 6:38
2. Infinium 7:07
3. The Things I Tell You (Version) 8:06
Track Notes:
File saved: 16.May 2000, 14:08, Lunheim, Tromsdalen
A rebuild of an old track with none of the original elements left.
File saved: 8. June 1995, 18:17, Varden, Tromsø
A track that later split into "Hyperborea" and a remix for James.
The Things I Tell You v.4
File saved: 13. September 1995, 21:04, Alarmveien, Tromsdalen
Almost there. Version 5 ended up on the Substrata album.
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Bubonic Plague In Los Angeles? Is California On The Verge Of Becoming A Third-World State?
@mvespa1
Source: Jeff Lewis/AP Images for AIDS Healthcare Foundation
A lot has happened. We’re still dealing with the border crisis, the Democratic debates are about to begin, and Iran is rattling the war sabers. The city of Los Angeles should be thankful there are so many distractions. The Democrat-run urban center has become a total disgrace. And that’s very common among the Left coast.
Tucker Carlson had historian Victor Davis Hanson on last week, where the latter said that California is on the verge of becoming the nation’s first Third World state. From trash being illegally dumped to city hall becoming a rat-infested den in the city of LA, it all points to the decay suffered when Democrats run things. Even police stations in the city are loaded with rats; one was fined $5,000 over its conditions that left one officer stricken with typhoid fever. It’s to the point where there is a possibility that bubonic plague—yes, the black death—may be present in the city. This isn’t new. Typhus outbreaks were being reported in February (via NBC Los Angeles):
The full scope of the flea and rodent problem inside City Hall is still unclear amid a downtown outbreak of flea-borne typhus…
Staff from the General Services Department, the Personnel Department and others gave updates to the council on actions taken … when the council approved a motion seeking options on combating the problem of rodents and fleas in the building, which may include removing all of the carpets.
Department representatives told the council a vendor is still in the process of inspecting every floor of City Hall and City Hall East as it prepares a full report to identify where the flea and rodent problems are. Staff also said cleanup efforts around the exterior of the building have increased and work is being done to identify rodent entry points and have them sealed.
Typhus is not transmitted person-to-person, and flea-borne typhus can spread to people from infected fleas and their feces. Typhus infection can be prevented through flea control measures on pets, using insect repellent to avoid flea bites, and clearing areas that can attract wild or stray animals like cats, rats and opossums, according to the Department of Public Health.
Symptoms of typhus include high fever, chills, headache, muscle aches and rash and can be treated with antibiotics.
Health officials in October announced there was a typhus outbreak in Los Angeles County, including in the downtown area of Skid Row, where an estimated 2,000 homeless people sleep.
And it goes without saying; these burgeoning homeless camps are not oases of hygiene. Dr. Drew Pinsky said this month that there has been a total and complete breakdown of services in the city that has placed the population at risk of infection and other health-related issues. The mayor’s office has sought to shift blame away from the homeless, citing the illegal dumping of trash, which only adds to the narrative that deep blue California and LA are just Democratic cesspools. I mean, how does this sound any better?
‘It’s not the homeless, it’s just all the trash that’s everywhere.’ You cannot make this up (via CBS News):
The city of Los Angeles is grappling with deteriorating sanitation problems, as an increase in homeless camps and illegally dumped trash have created conditions for rats and other vermin to infest L.A. City Hall. … the Los Angeles Times reported an assessment from a private pest control company placed the blame for the rodents in City Hall squarely on the city's homeless population living in the nearby Civic Center.
The Los Angeles Times obtained the assessment last month through a public records request. Los Angeles' City Hall building has been plagued by a rodent problem for most of the year. The Los Angeles Times reports there were pest complaints — rats, mice or fleas — made in 20 different locations within City Hall for a five-month period through February.
According to the newspaper, Elena Stern, spokeswoman for the city's Bureau of Sanitation, said cleanups of homeless camps currently take place every weekend in the Civic Center and include the disposal of hazardous materials, the removal and storage of items owned by homeless people, and the power washing of sidewalks.
The rodent and homeless problems affecting City Hall and the Civic Center are part of a larger problem of trash and sanitation in the streets of the city, which has been profiled by an LA Times photographer. Last month, multiple LAPD police officers contracted typhoid fever, and others contracted hepatitis A and staph infections, while working at a police station in an area filled with hundreds of homeless encampments.
Oh, yeah, and bubonic plague could be roaming the streets (via Daily Wire):
“We have a complete breakdown of the basic needs of civilization in Los Angeles right now,” Pinsky told Fox New host Laura Ingraham. “We have the three prongs of airborne disease, tuberculosis is exploding, rodent-borne. We are one of the only cities in the country that doesn’t have a rodent control program, and sanitation has broken down.”
Pinsky said bubonic plague — also known as the “Black Death,” a pandemic that killed off millions in the 14th century — is “likely” already present in Los Angeles. The plague is spread by infected fleas and exposure to bodily fluids from a dead plague-infected animal, with the bacteria entering through the skin and traveling to lymph nodes.
“This is unbelievable. I can’t believe I live in a city where this is not Third World. This is medieval,” Pinsky said, according to Fox News. “Third World countries are insulted if they are accused of being like this. No city on Earth tolerates this. The entire population is at risk.”
Fox News’ Tucker Carlson noted how California was once a gem, an example of the American dream in action and how it has now become hollowed out with decay thanks to liberal policies. It’s a state that’s loaded with illegal aliens, has a population where 40 percent live in poverty, and apparently has its cities falling into a terrible state of disrepair. California is blue state trash. Period. So, could, or rather should, we classify the Golden State as a third-world state?
BONUS: Don't forget to check out the latest episode of Triggered.
CNN's Jim Acosta says 'video does not lie,' which is why he should correct his earlier tweet
Colorado's Magazine Ban Is The Latest Gun Control Failure
Omar: Now that I've filed my boycott-Israel motion, I'll go to ... Israel
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TSD Q&A: David Farber, Author of "Everybody Ought to be Rich: The Life and Times of John J. Raskob, Capitalist"
Ask most Delawareans about the financier John Jakob Raskob, and many would probably associate him with Archmere Academy, the Catholic high school that sits on his former Claymont estate. It’s likely, however, that far fewer First Staters are aware of the extraordinary scope of Raskob’s influence across business, finance and politics the early part of the 20th century. Now, for the first time, Raskob’s inimitable, only-in-America-story is finally being told in book form.
Temple University professor David Farber, a distinguished historian and biographer, put more than eight years of research into his landmark, Everybody Ought to be Rich: The Life and Times of John J. Raskob, Capitalist. The book is available on pre-order and Farber will be doing his first public talk and signing on May 5, at, appropriately, and not surprisingly, Archmere Academy. TSD was fortunate to connect with Farber for a special pre-book launch interview.
Town Square Delaware: John Raskob has got to be one of the most influential, yet un-heralded men of his era. Creator, in effect of the modern 20th century American Corporation, engineer of the DuPont Company acquisition of General Motors, builder of the Empire State Building, chairman of Al Smith’s Presidential campaign, etc. Why is it that Raskob seems to have escaped history’s notice?
David Farber: Raskob was well known in his own time—the business press called him America’s “organizing genius.” But I think the Crash of 1929—after Raskob had very publicly extolled the virtues of stock market investments—as well as his outspoken opposition to Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal placed him on the “wrong side” of history. In the 1940s and 1950s he was blasted by popular writers as one of “the last of the Old Order.” With more historical distance, I think we can now look at Raskob’s record at DuPont, General Motors, the Empire State Building and in advocating for mass investment in the stock market and see him as one of the great architects of modern American capitalism.
TSD: Among Raskob’s many accomplishments, which do you find the most significant?
DF: Raskob accomplished so much but I think it was his advocacy for mass credit—he established GMAC, the credit arm of General Motors—and mass investment in the stock market that speaks to his real legacy. He was infamous in the Great Depression of the 1930s for exclaiming that, “everybody ought to be rich” by investing in stocks and bonds. His timing was terrible but his vision of shared prosperity through credit and good investments was prescient.
TSD: What accomplishment is least known or understood?
DF: Among other things, Raskob was a devout Catholic and I think one of the most interesting aspects of his life was his attempts to create greater oversight and management of the Church by talented and capable lay people. Here, too, he was prescient. Raskob largely failed in getting the Church to accept greater lay involvement in what he called the “temporal” aspect of Church management, but he did establish the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities which continues to play an important role in global Catholic philanthropy.
TSD: What got you interested in Raskob and inspired to write this biography?
DF: A few years back I wrote a biography of the great General Motors CEO, Alfred P. Sloan. I enjoyed writing the book, but Sloan was in his own words, “a very narrow man.” All the while I was working on that book I kept running into his very able vice president for finance, John Raskob, who was just a delightful character—full of life and so obviously NOT a narrow man. Though not as well known today as Sloan, I really believed that Raskob’s big and adventurous life would make for a great biography. I hope readers agree.
TSD: Researching such a complex life must have been an extraordinary challenge. How did you tackle that and how long did it take?
DF: It took me about eight years to write Raskob’s biography. I could not have done it without the cooperation of the Raskob family, the Raskob Foundation for Catholic Activities, and the incredible archivists at the Hagley Library. Raskob is a rare capitalist in that he saved almost every scrap of paper he collected over his long life. Those hundreds of thousands of letters, business documents, newspaper clippings, receipts and assorted miscellany, brilliantly organized and archived at the Hagley, allowed me to capture not just Raskob’s business adventures but his character, as well. I was also lucky enough to talk with Raskob’s descendents and several other people who knew him.
TSD: How much time was spent here in Delaware on the project?
DF: While my search for records of Raskob’s life took me all over the country, from New Mexico to Hyde Park, New York, the bulk of Raskob’s records are located at the Hagley Library, right outside Wilmington. I am pleasantly surprised by just how many people in Delaware still feel a connection to Raskob and I am thrilled to be doing my first book signing on May 5 at the Archmere Academy, which was the Raskob family home from 1916 to 1931.
David Farber is a professor of history at Temple University. He is the author or editor of fourteen books on recent American history, including the “Age of Great Dreams: America in the 1960s,” “Sloan Rules: Alfred Sloan and the Triumph of General Motors” and “Taken Hostage: America’s First Encounter with Radical Islam.” His most recent book is, “Everybody Ought to be Rich: The Life and Times of John J. Raskob, Capitalist.” He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and fellow historian, Beth Bailey.
TSD: Delaware’s best take on events, community and local life
Joe Melloy, Sr. says:
Thanks to Michael Fleming for featuring this story about one of my life’s heroes, John Raskob.
The book-signing event will be on Sunday afternoon, May 5th at 4:30pm in the Raskob Patio mansion. The author will speak and refreshments will be served after the event.
The event is FREE. Books can be purchased after the author’s presentation.Refreshments will be served after the event.
Joe Melloy, Sr.
Friends of the Raskob Patio
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Tanzania Travel: Mount Kilimanjaro, Lake Victoria, the Serengeti, Zanzibar
Tanzania travel will take you to a country that is located in the far east of the African continent south of Kenya. The country borders Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the west. Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique adjoin Tanzania in the south.
Many Eastern Africa countries have been working hard to attract tourists, and there are now many interesting places to travel to in the Sub Saharan region. Tanzania covers a very large part of Eastern Africa and features impressive national parks, lakes, plateaus and mountains that will make your visit an outstanding experience.
Sunset in the Serengeti (image by tshantz)
The weather in Tanzania is characterized by year-round summer-like conditions. With such reliably hot weather during most months of the year and some great beaches, Tanzania has also become a popular winter destination.
Popular Places to Visit While Travelling in Tanzania
To start with, the country is home to the tallest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, which is often shrouded in mysterious clouds. Over the years, this mountain has become a metaphor for the compelling beauty of Africa. It has been given a number of names, including the Beauty of the Motherland, the Summit of Africa, the Overseer of the Continent, among many others. A climb or hike of Mount Kilimanjaro will definitely be a thrilling experience, with its gorgeous vistas that are set against the backdrop of its snowy volcanic peak.
Mount Kilimanjaro (image by mattk1979)
Your next stop could be at the largest lake of Africa: Lake Victoria is shared between three East African countries: Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. This beautiful lake was named after the British Queen Victoria and is the largest tropical lake in the whole world. A visit to the shores of Lake Victoria will let you experience small fishing villages and serene quiet islands.
Lake Victoria (image by Marc Veraart)
One of Tanzania’s main attractions is the Serengeti National Park, considered one of the world’s “10 natural travel wonders”. This renowned nature area is home to countless wild animals, including lions, leopards, cheetahs, hyenas, zebras, gazelles and buffalos, among many others. The big attraction here are safaris in the Serengeti, particularly during the annual great migration of the wildebeests when more than 2 million animals start their migration from the Tanzanian grasslands of the Serengeti to the more fertile pastures of the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
Wildebeest migration (image by schinker)
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is another important tourist attraction in Tanzania, and has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also home to the very rare black rhinoceros and the hippopotamus as well as to lions, leopards and elephants.
Zebras (image by angela7dreams)
Zanzibar is actually an archipelago of about 50 islands off the coast of Tanzania and offers many opportunities for water sports, including diving and snorkelling among coral reefs. Among the popular activities in Zanzibar are spice tours which educate visitors about the spice trade, an important part of the islands’ history. For centuries, spices were among the most important export products of Zanzibar.
Zanzibar (image by On The Go Tours)
In recent years, Tanzania travel opportunities have joined the most dynamic tourism destinations in Africa. The combination of its rich culture, informative museums, thrilling high mountain peaks, picturesque beaches, and a rather well developed tourism infrastructure make Tanzania one of the most desirable tourist destinations in Africa.
Africa Travel: The Wonders of Victoria Falls
Cape Verde Travel: An Exotic Holiday off the Coast of Africa
Kenya Travel: Safaris, Nairobi, Mombasa, Mount Kenya and Much More
Cape Town Travel: Things to Do in Cape Town
Cape Town Travel: Table Mountain, Robben Island, the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront, the Cape of Good Hope and Much More
Egypt travel: Cairo, the Pyramids of Giza, Alexandria, Luxor, Abu Simbel, Sharm el-Sheikh and Much More
Morocco Travel: A Map of Morocco & Things to Do in Morocco
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Trustly Direct Debit
Increased efficiency with Trustly recurring payments solution frees up significant amounts per month for aid organizations
Help to Help previously lost the equivalent of a full-time education for an East African nurse due to the monthly administrative costs of expired or lost cards and card details. Help to Help is now making its aid assistance more effective with help from Trustly
Stockholm, Sweden, 5 March 2019 – Trustly, whose online bank payments are growing in popularity across Europe, has launched a partnership with the Help to Help Foundation to make the administration of monthly payments more effective with Trustly Direct Debit. The service digitizes recurring payments and simplifies the management of donations from monthly donors, which saves both time and money — money that instead can go to those in need.
Help to Help works to finance higher education and makes aid assistance more transparent and personal through crowdfunding. Through education, more young people in East Africa can begin to work and can create long-term change for themselves, their families and communities. Until recently, it had received most of its monthly donors' contributions via card payments. However, due to lost or expired payment cards, Help to Help was forced to spend large resources on administration and as much as 70 percent of donations were impossible to collect in the beginning of 2018, according to Help to Help’s own calculations.
“We regularly lost about 2 to 3 percent of the donors each month, during a three-year period, due to problems regarding card information. When we started, payment cards were the only reasonable option, and we felt that the conventional system for digital automatic payments was far too complicated for the users — until we found Trustly,” says Malin Cronqvist, Founder and Manager of Help to Help.
Help to Help can now offer their monthly donors the option to pay using Trustly's recurring payments solution. As a result, the organization has been able to save thousands of Swedish kronor per month.
“Anyone who works with, or contributes to, aid organizations wants as much of the assistance as possible to benefit the recipient. Our direct bank payments are created for the digital world and are very fast, simple and secure method for online payments. When administration is minimized, more money ends up where it should. It feels very good that Trustly can contribute to make a difference in their important work,” says Sara Berg, Chief Operating Officer at Trustly.
Since the launch of the partnership, 91 percent of the monthly donors have already chosen to use Trustly for their monthly donations. This suggests a high potential for digitizing and automating payments, which can be an easy way for aid organizations to streamline their administration and ensure that an even larger part of the contributions go to actual help.
“If we had continued to only use payment cards for monthly donors, we would have failed to collect an income corresponding to at least one person's college education in East Africa, every month. Now we make sure that come to use instead,” says Cronqvist.
For more information:Kristin Andersson, Head of Communications
kristin.andersson@trustly.com+4670 585 78 18
Kristofer Persson, Communications Officer
kristofer@helptohelp.se+4670 282 00 14
About Trustly
Founded in 2008, Trustly Group AB is a Swedish FinTech company that makes online banking e-payments fast, simple and secure. The company offers cross-border payments to and from consumer bank accounts at over 3,300 banks in 29 European markets and connects businesses and consumers within e-commerce, travel, gaming and financial services. In 2017 and 2018, the Financial Times ranked Trustly as one of the fastest growing companies in Europe on the FT1000 list and the London Stock Exchange recognized Trustly as one of Europe’s most inspiring, fast-growing companies.
Trustly has 280 employees and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, with regional offices in Finland, Spain, Malta, Germany and the UK. Trustly is a licensed Payment Institution under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, with a license to provide payment services within the EU/EEA since 2010 which subsequently was reauthorized under 2018 under PSD2. Trustly is a licensed Payment Institution in accordance with the second payment services directive (PSD2) and is entitled to provide among others payment initiation services. Trustly is under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority. Read more at www.trustly.com
About Help to Help
The Help to Help fundraising foundation mainly works with providing scholarships for college education to young people in East Africa through crowdfunding and with connecting students to the local business community. In this way, more young people join working life and get an opportunity to create a long-term change. The Help to Help fundraising foundation has a 90-account. Read more at www.helptohelp.se
Kristin Andersson
Head of Communications
Corporate Communications & PR
kristin.andersson@trustly.com
General Terms and Conditions Trustly
Life At Trustly
The Quiet Evolution of the Bank Account
Trustly Group AB (corporate identity number 556754-8655) is an authorized Swedish payment institution under the supervision of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finansinspektionen). The company conducts payment services in accordance with the Payment Services Act (2010:751) and can provide cross-border payment services within the EU/EEA.
Trustly.com uses cookies. Cookies that are needed for the website to work as intended have been saved to your computer. Continue to accept cookies.
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She had a successful career in industry but Helga Ellul says she will make a hopeless politician. She speaks to Kurt Sansone after retiring as CEO of Playmobil.
You’ve had quite an illustrious career with Brandstatter and your retirement did catch some people by surprise. Does this mean that you are not a busy woman anymore?
I would like to see more women involved on boards. But to have this imposed is degrading for women
I always made it very clear that at a certain age I would stop and in typical German fashion it was planned. I had the designate CEO with me for the last three years. He was the chief operating officer already and it should be a smooth handover with no major changes. I hope I will still keep busy. I don’t want to be involved in management but more on boards, in an advisory role. I have set up a small consultancy company and I am already on a number of company boards.
You might find some difficulty there with most companies being family owned, with little input from outside and definitely not with a German way of planning succession.
Succession is one of the major problems with Maltese companies. But many firms have now seen the benefit of getting non-executive directors from outside the family on their boards. In many Maltese companies family members occupy the different roles of shareholder, director and manager. It is very similar to Germany. This is not very easy for them and like all families emotion also comes into play. Being an outsider helps them focus on the business strategy.
What legacy do you leave behind at Playmobil?
I do hope I leave behind a highly motivated and skilled workforce. I always believed, and still do, in the strength of our workforce. Playmobil would not be the success it is today without the people that worked there.
You have been involved in Maltese industry since 1974. How does this country treat investors?
When Brandstatter came here in 1971 it was a time when Malta was trying to attract foreign investors. There were quite a number of German medium-sized companies that found Malta very attractive. The attractiveness was based on a whole package including tax incentives, Malta’s closeness to Europe, the English language, a good education system and a disciplined workforce.
You think of Malta as a Mediterranean country the likes of Greece, Italy and Spain but here we found very much an Anglo-Saxon behaviour that included gentleman’s agreements and timeliness.
Today, I don’t think things have changed that much. One of the biggest advantages for an investor is the people and their yearning to learn. Another advantage is the relatively fast decision-making process as a result of easy access to the top people. This is an aspect where the country’s smallness works as an advantage.
Some industrialists complain about not being able to find enough workers with the right set of skills. How has the educational sector responded to industry’s needs?
It is always very difficult and this has always been an issue. If you ask industry what skills they will need in the next five years they won’t be able to tell you that much a ahead because things change so fast. On the other hand, in education you need to plan ahead. What Malta did and does is keep a certain level of flexibility.
What has helped tremendously, and I am proud to be part of it, is the Malta College for Arts, Science and Technology.
It was something industry had long been crying out for. Since 2000 when MCAST was set up it has filled the gap that we had. We need a pyramid in education: the university graduates, the researchers but you also need the technicians who can apply the knowledge.
Last year you were among three top CEOs who complained of high government-induced costs that threatened industry’s competitiveness. The high cost of energy was one of the issues. How serious a concern was this?
It was a very serious concern. As business people we understood the Government’s argument, including the difficulties of Malta’s dependence on oil. But we were unhappy with the overnight approach that was adopted. As businesses we have to plan one to two years ahead and all of a sudden we were faced with a steep rise in energy costs.
We could have identified ways to save on energy costs and design the right support measures. This was done later with schemes to encourage use of alternative energy sources and it helped smoothen out the steep rise but the shock treatment was unnecessary.
You have often harped on the importance of maintaining Malta’s competitiveness. It is a heavy word that is often linked to wages. People on the ground feel their wage does not take them far and yet industrialists keep warning against raising wages. How can the two conflicting messages be reconciled?
They are not conflicting. Industrialists are not clamouring for low wages. Wages are not low but what has to be done is link increases to more productivity. You cannot pay for something unless you get something more in return such as working faster, smarter or better skills. To get an increase in income you have to be ready to adopt new practices. This is what we have always told unions: do not be inflexible. It has to be a win-win situation for both sides. People sometimes do not realise what a good standard of living we have.
There will always be a part of the population on social needs and one has to help them. But we have to make a difference between those who need help and those who can help themselves and have to work. They have to work smarter not harder, be on time and do it properly and then we can both do well – companies and employees.
The Government has signed a collective agreement for civil servants. It will add €12 million more every year to the Government wage bill. How will this impact the private sector?
It will obviously come out of taxpayer money. With the civil service it should work like a large company. We had a big change when we joined the EU and a brilliant job was done in the civil service. There was a need for more training and better technology. It is not just about paying more but about what new efficiencies can be acquired for the extra remuneration.
The summer half days, an issue with businesses, have not been touched.
In some cases they have already been touched. In certain cases you can go later. It is unfortunate because it is so rigidly set. I know of places where they work in the afternoon in summer but it will not be open to the public. And the public will not go on a summer afternoon. There has to be flexibility because we might need more time in winter instead.
How would you describe the role of unions in Malta’s industrial relations landscape? Do they play a constructive role?
They do. We always had good relations. Unions have to attract members but they know that businesses need flexibility and it is not easy transmitting this down to their membership. Unions are our partners and stakeholders. A strong union is not the one that waves placards but one that gets a good deal for you.
The EU Commission wants mandatory women quotas for boards of listed companies. Is this a necessary evil?
I am not very much in favour. I would like to see more women involved on boards. But to have this imposed is degrading for women. Some say if nothing is done it will not happen so fast. I think one needs to understand why women would not go for it or why women are not represented.
More women than men graduate from university. Where is the problem?
After university comes family planning and most want to shift to part-time or flexible hours. This is not easily available, although this is changing and employers are seeing the benefits of allowing more flexibility and teleworking. But we only think of women of a certain age bracket.
Maybe we should also look at women at an age when their children are at O or A level stage. We have to encourage them to go back by providing training to make them confident again. At this stage they will have time and they can return to work, politics, boardrooms, wherever they belong. We cannot expect them to do this in their late 20s and 30s when they are raising a young family because they cannot do everything or else they need a husband who is willing to share responsibilities.
There is a culture issue on how a family manages its internal dynamics but there is also a question of how much support is available out there in the form of childcare facilities and their affordability.
More needs to be done. Childcare centres have to be encouraged and we have to look at the fee structure but for professional women that is not the issue.
It is more a question of time and we need to support them by looking at school closing times. We need schools to be open for longer, possibly day schools or boarding schools where children live and return to their family over the weekend. We need to look at different possibilities. For low-wage earners we need childcare facilities that are affordable and with opening times that are aligned with their parents’ working times.
Coalitions would encourage parties to look at the overall picture and adjust accordingly
But you are against the idea of quotas.
Yes, I am against quotas. I never had a problem.
All my life I have been on boards with men.
The only problem I feel is women need to understand what it means to get onto a board.
Men also have to have those skills?
Men have the network and they all help each other. There has to be a bit of training and knowledge even for young men. I have often found on boards there is little knowledge of what it means to be a board member.
If I were to ask you to look at your circle of friends and compile a list of board-ready women, would it be a long one?
It will be a short list. Women may not be interested – they may have a family, the children, a lifestyle they enjoy.
Not everybody wants to be a board member. I never stopped working but I had a husband who supported me and we structured our whole family life around two working parents. Not everybody is ready for that and there isn’t a culture for that.
Youngsters will change. My two children who are both married would not dream of not having both parents work. They grew up in this environment and for them it is very natural. It will take time. But what I don’t understand is why young professional women do not open up their own businesses. They can make their own flexible work arrangements.
It is quite a tall order to achieve and some would argue that quotas could help bridge the gap in a shorter time span.
A lot of women argue that quotas will help stimulate a drive to having more women on boards. They see this as a faster route.
If there are quotas in place they should be linked to their profile. The worst part for women is if they are on boards and give women a bad name.
There are men on boards who give their ilk a bad name.
But that is the old establishment. With more capable women on boards that will change. Until now this issue never cropped up because it was such a male network. In the future, professionalism, irrespective of gender will become more necessary not by choice.
Have you been approached by any political party to be a candidate for the general election or the European Parliament election?
I don’t think I would be a very good politician.
Does politics appeal to you?
Only from the outside: It is not something that is in me.
Why wouldn’t you be a good politician?
I would be too straightforward, not diplomatic enough. I am very outspoken and to a certain extent think it would be a problem for me to depend always on doing what is seen as the right thing and not what I think is the right thing.
Are you trying to be diplomatic here.
I’m trying but as you see I am not very good. I have my strategy, my vision, I know that it is right and would like to go for it and that might not always be possible in politics.
How did the uncertainty on the election and the slim majority in Parliament impact business?
The problem is that in Malta with just two political parties it is always a close run and this makes it very difficult for whoever wins to govern.
Whereas in other countries we have more parties and coalition governments and different constellations, in Malta it is so close knit that if it is not a clear majority than it will be very difficult to govern.
The perception is that coalition governments will bring more instability.
In Germany we do have that (instability) but it is not all negative because a party has to come out with a proper programme and then change according to the coalition, which may not be the worst of it. Coalitions would encourage parties to look at the overall picture and adjust accordingly.
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Thomas A. Hamway, DDS, MS
Dr. Hamway began treating patients in the Brighton area in 1993. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Biology from Northern Michigan University in 1982 and then a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Lawrence Technological University in 1985. After working as an electrical engineer for two years, Dr. Hamway continued his education at the University of Detroit School of Dentistry. At the University of Detroit, he earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree in 1991 and then continued on to achieve a Master of Science degree and a certificate in the specialty of Orthodontics with honors in 1993.
Memberships in several professional organizations provide Dr. Hamway with the means to influence developments in his field as well as a wider forum to improve patient care. He is a member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the Great Lakes Association of Orthodontics, the Michigan Association of Orthodontics and the American Dental Association. He is also a member of the Michigan Dental Association, the Washtenaw District Dental Society, the Livingston District Dental Society and Psi Omega National Dental Fraternity.
Aside from his dedication to premium patient care and attending regular continuing education courses, Dr. Hamway has also demonstrated his expertise in an article published in the Oakland County Dental Review, titled “Naso-Respiratory Function and Craniofacial Growth,” and in the International Journal of Adult Orthodontic Orthognathic Surgery, titled “Surgical Correction of Skeletal Class II Malocclusions Using Cranial Base Length (Corrected and Uncorrected) as a Reference.” Dr. Hamway also has lectured at the University of Detroit Dental School and hosts in-office presentations for local area dentists, physicians and their staff.
Dr. Hamway lives in the Brighton area with his wife, Mary, and their two daughters. Outside the office, Dr. Hamway enjoys basketball, golf and traveling.
Timothy G. Stroster, DDS, MS
Dr. Stroster earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry in 1988. Upon graduation, Dr. Stroster entered a general practice residency at Sinai Hospital of Detroit in 1989. He practiced general dentistry for three years and then returned to the University of Detroit Mercy School of Dentistry to earn his Master of Science degree and certificate in the specialty of orthodontics with honors in 1993. He was awarded the OKU Dr. William S. Kramer Award of Excellence, the S.G. Applegate Prosthodontics Award, the American Association of Orthodontists’ Orthodontics Award, the American Academy of Pathology’s Oral Pathology Award and the Detroit Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery’s Award for Outstanding Proficiency in Oral Surgery.
In addition to working in private practices, Dr. Stroster continually takes courses so that he can keep up-to-date on the latest technological advances in orthodontics. He is a former Attending Staff/Teaching Staff Member for the Department of Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Sinai Hospital of Detroit.
Memberships in many professional organizations provide Dr. Stroster with the means to influence developments in his field as well as a wider forum to improve patient care. He is a member of the Omicron Kappa Upsilon Dental Honor Society, American Association of Orthodontists, the Great Lakes Association of Orthodontics, the Michigan Association of Orthodontics and the American Dental Association. He also is a member of the Michigan Dental Society and the Livingston District Dental Society, in which he served as its president from 2006-2007.
Aside from his dedication to premium patient care, Dr. Stroster has also demonstrated his expertise in many dental publications including “Naso-Respiratory Function and Craniofacial Growth”, “Assessment of Condylar Position Following Bilateral Sagittal Split Ramis Osteotomy with Wire Fixation and Rigid Fixation” and “Effective Barrier Protection for Infection Control Using Disposable Handpiece, Hose and Cable Drapes.” Dr. Stroster also hosts in-office presentations for other dentists and their staff.
Dr. Stroster is committed to helping those in need. In October 2007, he participated in a medical-dental mission to Guatemala. During the week of the mission, Dr. Stroster extracted hundreds of teeth! His group also provided new supplies and education for proper dental hygiene to those people without access to dental care.
Dr. Stroster has been married for 24 years and has three children. He enjoys the culinary arts, golfing, and traveling.
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David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef
The team behind the triple-Emmy Award-winning series "David Attenborough's First Life" return with another wildlife spectacular hosted by the nature veteran. The focus of the series is the Great Barrier Reef, which Attenborough became enthralled with after filming there back in 1957. Revisiting the area once again with the latest camera technology allows the filming crew to capture even the smallest life-forms. Through the use of satellite scanning, the expanse of the world's largest living organism is viewed in all its glory.
Sir David Attenborough explores what is being done by researchers and scientists to save the Great Barrier Reef.
David discovers the incredible animals that visit the reef every year.
Sir David Attenborough descends at night in the state-of-the-art Triton submersible, the first of its kind, to visit the reef; he meets some of the tiny coral animals that built the reef and helped to turn it into an underwater wonderland.
Behind the scenes of David Attenborough's landmark series in which he visited the Great Barrier Reef. See how Sir David utilized the latest technology to explore the reef.
Similar on YouTube TV
Various networks
One of the natural wonders of the world and the largest living structure on our planet.
Planet Earth 2
From the frozen tundra in the north to the dry forests of the equator, Sir David Attenborough narrates a compelling view of the planet. "Planet Earth" was the first natural history documentary to be filmed in high definition, and now a decade later improved technology has made it possible to capture further details, from elusive animal behaviors to previously inaccessible remote landscapes. In addition to exploring the wilderness, the series examines urban dwellings, focusing on animals that have adapted to city life.
David Attenborough's Conquest of the Skies
David Attenborough investigates the evolution of nature's flight in this documentary series. Using 3D macroscopic and high-speed filming techniques, the show captures flying mammals, reptiles and insects, as well as birds from all over the world. Attenborough travels from Scotland to Borneo to find the extraordinary species gracing the skies. Created by the award-winning team behind "Natural History Museum Alive" and "Flying Monsters," this series utilizes the latest technology to delve deeper into the animal kingdom to present the natural world's engineering and aeronautics in action.
The Blue Planet
The planet is teeming with myriad life forms, both plant and animal, all interlocked in a struggle for survival. As time goes on, some living things are forced to adapt and change to survive. This series chronicles some of the most unusual, if not downright bizarre, behaviors that living organisms have devised to keep their species alive. The 11-episode series was four years in the making, taking camera crews to every continent and habitat.
Planet Earth: Dynasties
"Dynasties" is a documentary by Sir David Attenborough as he goes on a journey behind some of the most celebrated and endangered animals on the planet. Follow the stories of penguins, chimpanzees, lions, painted wolves, and tigers. Each of these animals is locked in a heroic struggle against the forces of nature and their rivals -- they face harsh environmental conditions, dangerous predators, and even the greatest threat: humans. They actively seek to fight for their survival and the survival of their families -- their dynasties.
David Attenborough embarks on a 500 million year journey to unravel the incredible rise of animals.
David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef on YouTube TV.
Sign up to watch David Attenborough's Great Barrier Reef
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2017, Architecture, blog, Collaborations, Design Installation, Heart Pine, Madeinusa, Oak Flooring, Reclaimed Wood, Reclaimed Flooring, Residential Installation, scandinaviandesign, White Oak
Installation In Focus: Sunnyfield Farm
A Classic Home 8 Years In The Making
Overlooking the rolling hills of the Hudson Valley is the idyllic Sunnyfield Farm, a horse farm and traditional Georgian-style home in Millbrook, New York.
The Hudson Company was honored to play a role in the development, design, and construction of the home — a project spanning more than eight years, including a research trip to the Swedish countryside for inspiration and materials. This passion project required not only a very close client-designer relationship but also an ongoing dialogue with The Hudson Company. The result of these close partnerships is a residential installation project that features some of our most ambitious flooring details to date, including 10" Reclaimed Heart Pine flooring sourced from historic New York City townhouses; custom-milled, extra-long White Oak floor planks; and Reclaimed Redwood specially milled for Sunnyfield’s trim work.
Throughout the process, lead architect Cynthia Filkoff of Di Biase Filkoff Architects was attuned to her client’s high standard of quality and beauty. “We were initially asked to transform the preexisting modernist house into a traditional Tudor,” Filkoff explains, “but after living in the original house for a year, the client decided that the quality of the construction was inadequate. It made more sense to tear it down and build a new home.”
In time, the team at Di Biase Filkoff came up with a solution that would meet the client’s exacting criteria: a proper brick Georgian home with Swedish-inspired interiors connected to the magnificent land and views. In order to find the right balance of craftsmanship and aesthetic, Filkoff traveled to the client’s summer home in Fiskebäckskil, Sweden. “In Sweden, I was able to study the wood-centric, old-world architecture that the client admired so much. What I found there was an aesthetic that was rich in handcrafted details. It was inventive and playful, both inside and out. Ultimately, these were the kind of details that we worked to incorporate at Sunnyfield.”
Along with a detailed list of high-quality, sustainable material specifications, the choice of wood flooring was critical to the aesthetic and design of the home. “When it came to flooring,” Cynthia recalls, “the client was committed to creating a wood floor that reflected the antique floors of classic Swedish homes. The details had to be authentic.” From here, Di Biase Filkoff turned to The Hudson Company, who encouraged the designers to incorporate two complementary flooring types: Reclaimed Heart Pine and White Oak.
The Reclaimed Heart Pine milled for the Sunnyfield project was sourced from a row of historic townhouses on New York City’s Upper East Side and then milled to a width of 10” to reflect the flooring Filkoff had researched in Scandinavia. The White Oak flooring planks, installed in the home’s ground floor, were sourced from purpose-cut trees, hand selected from private timber stands. The trees were air-dried, kiln-dried, and custom milled to meet the architect’s designs. Along with an intricate wagon wheel pattern for Sunnyfield’s dining room, Filkoff also designated that much of the White Oak would be milled into extra-long planks that could span from the home’s front entrance all the way to the back door. At 10” wide and ranging from 10’ to 24’ in length, these extraordinarily long oak planks create a striking and unique aesthetic for the home’s ground floor. In addition, Reclaimed Redwood, sourced from decommissioned New York City rooftop water tanks, was used to outfit the home’s custom door and window frames and interior trim.
In the end, what made the Sunnyfield project such a glowing success was the sustained and passionate attention to detail by everyone involved: the client, the designers, and a wide array of talented craftspeople. Looking back, Filkoff remembers the project collaboration with special fondness. “Working with The Hudson Company exceeded our expectations on every level: from their knowledgeable insight and expertise, to their creative ideas, to their ability to source and deliver materials on time and on budget,” she says. “Throughout the project, the collaboration was exceptional. The Hudson Company enhanced the entire process. You know, I could go on and on about this project. Sunnyfield was such a labor of love.”
This installation profile originally appeared in The Hudson Company Journal, Volume 2 - click to learn more about our new print journal and catalogue.
Tagged: Upstate, New York, Country Home, Swedish, Reclaimed Wood, White Oak, Oak, Oakfloors
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The Law Reviews
Business-focused legal analysis and insight in the most significant jurisdictions worldwide
The Mergers & Acquisitions Review - Edition 12
Published: September 2018
Bredin Prat
I OVERVIEW OF M&A ACTIVITY
Against all odds, the presidential election that took place in the first half of 2017 did not affect the pace of investments. Although the aggregate value did not equal the historical record reached in 2014, M&A activity in 2017 nonetheless recorded its second-highest annual value during the past decade.
Even though the presidential election did not have any direct detrimental impact on deals during the first half of 2017, there was less activity in the second half of the year, which may indicate that investors were awaiting the new government's reforms. Indeed, the government intends both to vigorously reform and to simplify certain corporate duties of French companies, but in the meantime it may strengthen other regimes, including the regime applicable to investments made by foreigners in French companies, which will be a key issue in 2018.
In 2017, M&A activity followed the same expansion trend observed in the past two years. Even though the total number of transactions has decreased since 2016, their aggregate value reached €92.8 billion, an increase of nearly 20 per cent.
M&A activity was driven by several large cap deals, including the €12.1 billion acquisition of a 25.9 per cent stake in Christian Dior SA by private investor Bernard Arnault, which was carried out to simplify the structure of the LVMH Group. Simultaneously, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis-Vuitton SE achieved the total absorption of Christian Dior Couture SA for a value of €6.5 billion. Other significant deals were announced, such as the €8.3 billion tender offer initiated by Safran on Zodiac Aerospace's share capital (see Section V) and the acquisition by the government of a 50 per cent stake in the French company Areva SA.
Cross-border M&A transactions targeting France decreased in 2017, as in the previous year, reaching €31.6 billion, which represents a fall of nearly 13 per cent. Conversely, cross-border outbound deals skyrocketed in 2017, with an aggregate value that was worth more than twice the amount registered in 2016 (€99.6 billion in 2017 versus €44 billion in 2016). The main targets for French companies in 2017 were European companies, being subject to 294 deals valued at €61 billion, which differs from 2016, when the United States was the main centre of interest.
Private equity transactions – both buyouts and exits – confirmed the attractiveness of the French market: 352 deals were recorded for a total aggregate value of €31.5 billion, making the year under review one of the best transaction years (apart from 2014) since 2007.
Notable private equity transactions announced in 2017 include the takeover by Gecina SA of Eurosic SA for €5.8 billion and the sale by Engie SA of a 70 per cent stake in Engie E&P International SA to Neptune Oil & Gas Limited for €4.6 billion.
II GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR M&A
The French Commercial Code and the French Civil Code – in respect of which the provisions relating to contract law were reshaped in October 2016 – provide the statutory framework and form the legal basis for the purchase and sale of legal entities. Additionally, the French Monetary and Financial Code and the General Regulations of the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) provide the regulations relating to takeovers. As a general rule, French takeover rules apply if the target is a French or EU public company whose securities are listed in France and, in some instances, if the company is dual-listed.
Rules relating to the financial services industry, to the listing and public offering of securities, and to the prevention of market abuse are set out in the French Monetary and Financial Code and in the General Regulations of the AMF.
French merger control rules are mainly contained in the Commercial Code. These rules apply to cross-border mergers having effects on the French market (as currently defined through worldwide and France-wide turnover thresholds) but with no 'EU dimension'. Mergers with an 'EU dimension' (i.e., involving companies whose turnovers exceed the thresholds set by the EU Merger Regulation) are instead subject to the review of the European Commission.
Within the framework of the applicable laws and the General Regulations of the AMF, NYSE Euronext operates the three French regulated markets and some organised markets.
III DEVELOPMENTS IN CORPORATE AND TAKEOVER LAW
AND THEIR IMPACT
i Use of blockchain technology in corporate law
France has adopted an ordinance dated 8 December 2017 that enables companies to use blockchain technology to record and transfer certain securities. This new option will apply to securities issued in France and governed by French law that are not listed on a regulated market or on a multilateral trading facility.
In practical terms, non-listed French companies such as a société anonyme (SA) or a société par actions simplifiée (SAS) (the most widespread French business structures) will be able to decide to register their securities on a shared electronic recording device (i.e., a blockchain) instead of the current book entry. Similarly, the transfer of securities will be possible through this blockchain and, therefore, will not require a transfer from one account to another. Finally, a pledge over the securities registered on the blockchain will be possible. An implementing decree was expected in the first half of 2018 but is now unlikely to occur before the autumn.
ii Law regarding the duty of vigilance of parent companies
On 27 March 2017, France adopted a law on parent companies' duty of vigilance. It applies to large French companies with a head count of either 5,000 or more employees working for the company and its direct or indirect subsidiaries registered in France, or 10,000 or more employees working for the company and its direct or indirect worldwide subsidiaries.
Such companies are required to draw up and implement a 'vigilance plan'. Vigilance plans should provide 'reasonable measures' pertaining to identifying risks and preventing serious violations with respect to human rights, fundamental freedoms, the health and safety of people and the environment arising from the activities of the company, the affiliates under its control or their subcontractors or suppliers with whom there is an 'established business relationship'. Failure to draw up and implement a vigilance plan could result in the company being subject to civil liability and to a court order to comply with the parent companies' duty of vigilance.
iii Rationalisation of various corporate duties
The year 2017 was characterised by a strong determination to reform the corporate law in order to simplify, clarify and ease the day-to-day business of French firms.
An ordinance dated 4 May 2017 has amended certain companies' general meeting processes and their decision-making procedures. As an example, the articles of association of a non-listed French SA may provide that general meetings will only be held by videoconference or other means of telecommunications enabling the identification of shareholders. Likewise, the adoption or amendment of a share transfer approval clause in a French SAS no longer requires unanimity.
Following this trend, several ordinances and decrees were published in July and August 2017 simplifying both the corporate social responsibility reporting and annual reporting of companies. These measures have the benefit of clarifying the annual reporting duties of listed and non-listed companies. The government has also announced various measures to maintain the attractiveness of French corporate law (see Section X).
iv Modernisation of Euronext
The trend observed in tender offers (see Section V.iii) follows on from the modernisation of the stock market Euronext. Along with the simplification of the markets (Alternext became Euronext Growth and Marché Libre became Euronext Access) and various improvements, a new market for start-ups and SMEs was created: Euronext Access+. This may make the French stock market more attractive to companies and support the trend concerning public offers.
v Declaration of beneficial owners
As of 1 April 2018, all French companies (apart from listed companies) and all foreign companies with an establishment registered in France shall report their ultimate beneficial owners to the French Trade and Commerce Registry (and keep this information up to date) subject to criminal sanctions. Beneficial owners are deemed to be either individuals who own, directly or indirectly, more than 25 per cent of the share capital or voting rights in the reporting company, or who exercise control over the reporting company within the meaning of Paragraphs 3° and 4° of Article L 233-3 I of the French Commercial Code. According to these statutory provisions, a person is deemed to control a company when he or she actually determines the decisions of the shareholders' meeting of such company by the voting rights he or she holds; or he or she has the power as a shareholder to appoint or remove the majority of the members of the executive, administrative or management bodies of such company. The purpose of this new duty is to enhance the transparency of companies' ownership for anti-money laundering purposes, but its implementation may be burdensome.
IV FOREIGN INVOLVEMENT IN M&A TRANSACTIONS
In 2017, French companies (as bidders or target companies) were involved in seven of the top 20 announced European deals, with France being a major regional player.
i Cross-border inbound deals
For the second consecutive year, cross-border M&A transactions targeting France decreased, with a significant drop seen during the second half of 2017. The trend observed over the previous years of the United States being the leading investor in France continued, reaching an aggregate value of €11 billion for 55 transactions.
The interest of Chinese investors in the French market remains significant, with the aggregate amount of transactions realised in 2017 equalling 2016 (circa €2 billion).
Notable domestic M&A transactions included:
the €12.1 billion acquisition by private investor Bernard Arnault of a 25.9 per cent stake in Christian Dior SA;
the €6.9 billion acquisition by the government of a 50 per cent stake in French company Areva SA; and
the €6.5 billion takeover of Christian Dior Couture SA by French-listed luxury company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.
ii Cross-border outbound deals
In 2017, the aggregate value of outbound M&A deals soared substantially, €61 billion of which was invested in European companies, representing a threefold increase as compared with 2016.
While the United States remained a prime target, the Asia-Pacific region was also attractive.
In this context, notable outbound M&A transactions that were announced in 2017 included:
the €24 billion merger between the French-listed ophthalmic lenses manufacturer Essilor International and the Italian-listed eyewear Luxottica Group;
a €20.9 billion takeover of Westfield Corporation, an Australian shopping centre company, by French-listed property investments company Unibail-Rodamco; and
a €6.3 billion takeover of Maersk Olie Og Gas AS, a Dutch oil and gas company, by the French-listed integrated oil and gas company Total SA, a transaction that was completed in the first quarter of 2018.
V SIGNIFICANT TRANSACTIONS, KEY TRENDS AND HOT INDUSTRIES
i Strong activity in 2017; many opportunities in 2018
For the second consecutive year, the overall value of M&A increased (by 18 per cent as compared with 2016, while the number of M&A transactions remained stable:
869 in 2016, 861 in 2017). France stands out in the top 20 announced deals in 2017, with seven French companies initiating and four French companies being targeted by such deals.
The first and second quarters of 2017 were particularly active, representing a global value of nearly €75 billion, which is surprising given the fact that the political context was uncertain due to the presidential election. However, the two last quarters of 2017 did not follow the same path, with the aggregate value of the deals announced during this period being worth €19.2 billion.
The intense activity of the first half of the year may be explained by the 'jumbo deals' entered into, such as the acquisition by Bernard Arnault of a 25.9 per cent stake in Christian Dior SA (see Sections I and IV) and the tender offer initiated by Safran on Zodiac Aerospace's share capital. Between its announcement in January 2017 and the signing of a business combination agreement in May 2017, this transaction was significantly reshaped into a tender offer, which was made in the form of a cash offer on a principal basis targeting 100 per cent of Zodiac Aerospace's share capital, complemented by a subsidiary exchange offer targeting a maximum of 30.4 per cent of Zodiac Aerospace's share capital. The tender offer was launched at the end of December 2017 and was successfully completed, and in March 2018, Safran owned more than 95 per cent of Zodiac Aerospace's share capital.
This trend appears to be continuing in 2018, with many situations ongoing (including several privatisation projects) although they have as yet not led to formal processes. As a matter of fact, the state has expressed its wish to privatise three major companies during 2018: the airport company ADP, the gambling company FDJ, and the energy producer and distributor Engie.
ii Most active sectors in 2017
In 2017, consumer, energy, mining and utilities, and defence were the most targeted sectors. The pharma, medical and biotech sector has experienced a significant decrease since 2016 due to the significant acquisition of Merial by Boehringer Ingelhein, a €11.4 billion mega deal that was completed in 2016. Indeed, the most targeted sectors do not appear to reflect investors' appetite, as these sectors change from year to year because of certain 'mega deals'. The fact that the consumer sector was the most active sector in 2017 is easily explained by the two deals that targeted Christian Dior SA and Christian Dior Couture SA together for an aggregate value of €18.6 billion (see Sections I and IV).
Energy, mining and utilities formed the second most active sector in 2017 due to the €6.9 billion acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Areva SA by the government.
Surprisingly, defence was the third-most active sector in 2017, mainly due to the €8.3 billion tender offer initiated by Safran on Zodiac Aerospace's share capital.
iii Tender offers in 2017
In 2017,5 the number of tender offers increased for the second consecutive year, reaching 40 deals. The total value of the target companies was €106 billion. This number was treble the number registered in 2016. However, this spectacular leap has to be linked with the operations related to Christian Dior SA (described in Sections I and IV), which represent 44 per cent of the aggregate value. All the operations launched in 2017 were friendly, half being initiated by companies themselves (as part of share buyback programmes) or by their historical shareholders.
iv Development of private equity activity
In 2017, the private equity trend was upwards in terms of both value and deal counts. Buyout and exit deals reached an aggregate value of €31.5 billion, which is close to the pre-crisis levels. The most attractive sector, by deal value, was the pharma, medical and biotech sector.
In this respect, buyouts rose from €11.2 billion in 2016 to €18 billion in 2017. The most valuable buyout transaction registered in 2017 was the buyout by Neptune Oil & Gas Limited, a British company, of Engie E&P International SA. Together with Carlyle, CVC Capital Partners and China Investment Corporation, Neptune acquired the company from Engie SA, which is thus divesting from its hydrocarbon exploration and production branch. In addition to this specific buyout, the buyout of Sagem Sécurité by Advent International Corporation and Bpifrance SA for €2.4 billion was also a notable transaction.
Similarly, exit deal value in 2017 increased by more than 30 per cent, reaching €21.1 billion. The main exit was the €5.8 billion friendly tender offer by Gecina SA, a French listed real estate investment trust, on Eurosic SA, another French listed real estate investment trust. Other notable exits announced in 2017 included the sale by HBM BioVentures AG and Seventure Partners SA of Advance Accelerator Applications SA for €2.9 billion.
VI FINANCING OF M&A: MAIN SOURCES AND DEVELOPMENTS
i Overview on financing sources
The increase of M&A transactions did not benefit all financing segments equally. Indeed, 2017 is noticeable for a rise in bond issues, with 140 issues (all currencies) conducted by French non-financial companies for a total amount of €75 billion, compared to €65 billion in 2016. This performance was enhanced by the ECB's expanded quantitative easing, pursuant to which the ECB acquired about €80 billion of securities (including bonds) per month from January to March 2017, and about €60 billion per month from April to December 2017, making the secondary bond market substantially less volatile and encouraging investors to take a position on the debt of non-financial companies. This general observation must nevertheless be nuanced by the decrease in convertible bond issues, which fell by 43 per cent (in value) in 2017.
Regarding the syndicated loan market, activity on the French market for 2016 had fallen significantly before seeing a slight improvement in 2017. Indeed, amounts borrowed by companies represented €75 billion in 2017 compared to €120 billion in 2015. Thus, the largest acquisition financing put in place in 2017 did not exceed €9 billion, despite historically low borrowing costs.
We also noted the come-back of substantial transactions on the IPO market in 2017 as well as an increase in the amounts issued in the context of capital increases, which rose from €6.9 billion in 2016 to €11.2 billion in December 2017, two-thirds having been used to finance acquisitions.
According to commentators, the number of M&A transactions should globally increase again from 2018 to 2020, with a peak this year in France, where M&A activity should increase by 40 per cent. In the same way, financing conditions should remain favourable in 2018: ample liquidity, low interest rates, a high level of liquidity remaining to be invested by private equity buyers and recent legal reforms.
ii Recent legal reforms
In 2017, France demonstrated its willingness to modernise the legal framework applicable to securities and bonds issues with a view to competing with the mechanisms already existing in Anglo-Saxon countries.
Modernisation of the law on security interests
After the reform of the law of contracts in 2016, France continued the modernisation of the law relating to security interests with the adoption of a new status for the security agent role.
Governmental Order No. 2017-748 dated 4 May 2017 came into force on 1 October 2017, and has given new powers to security agents. Previously, security agents had a simple representative role, and their prerogatives were quite limited. Further to such reform, a security agent can be the direct holder of both security interests and personal guarantees granted by the debtor. He or she can act in his or her own name for the benefit of the creditors of the secured obligations. Consequently, a security agent benefits from the same powers as a fiduciary. Moreover, security agents are now able to take legal action to defend the interests of creditors. In practice, the security interests are directly transferred to and managed by the security agent. The latter then becomes the new owner of the security interests, but must keep them separate from his or her own estate. Therefore, a change of one or several beneficiaries is now possible without any consequences for the security agent or additional formalities.
Simplification of the law on bond issues
Governmental Order No. 2017-970 dated 10 May 2017, completed by Decree No. 2017-1165 dated 12 July 2017, significantly simplifies the legal framework for bond issues. First, the Order simplifies the formalities required to issue bonds, particularly regarding the corporate steps that an issuer needs to take. It also introduces a new regime for wholesale bond issues pursuant to which the relationship between the bondholders and the issuer can be contractually agreed between the parties where the bonds are issued with a nominal value equal to at least €100,000. It must be noted that bonds issued by the state, convertible bonds and bonds with warrants are expressly excluded from this new regime. The Order also provides for the possibility for the issuer to amend unilaterally the terms and conditions of the bonds in cases of material error. Furthermore, it clarifies the rules governing the appointment of the representative of the bondholders and the conditions under which he or she can delegate some of his or her powers. It also simplifies the convening and holding of general meetings of bondholders and introduces a new procedure for the written decisions of bondholders. Finally, the Order provides for a simplification of the rules applying to the grant and release of security interests to bondholders.
VII EMPLOYMENT LAW
i The Macron Labour Law Reform
On 22 September 2017, the government enacted several executive orders,6 which were ratified by the Parliament on 29 March 2018: the Macron Labour Law Reform has brought significant changes to French labour law with a view to simplifying the existing rules and regulations under the French labour code and granting more flexibility for employers in respect of employee management, thus attempting to make France more attractive to foreign investors. The Macron Labour Law Reform includes provisions that may have an effect on M&A transactions; the main ones are as outlined below.
The Macron Labour Law Reform has created a unique representative body in lieu of the existing staff delegates, works council and health and safety committee: the social and economic committee (SEC). An SEC will have to be implemented in companies with 11 or more employees by 31 December 2019 at the latest. SECs will replace the works councils as from such date, and will exercise similar functions to those of the works councils. As is the case for works councils, relevant compulsory consultations with SECs must be carried out within certain time limits (see Section VII.iv).
Introduction of greater flexibility around employment restructuring
Rules governing collective redundancies for economic reasons
Under French law, in order to implement collective redundancies for economic reasons employers must provide valid economic grounds justifying the redundancies. Since the Macron Labour Law Reform, these grounds must now be assessed at the level of the French territory only (i.e., at the level of the French employer company only, or at the level of the French company and any other entities of the group located in France if those entities belong to the same business sector as the French company). Before the Macron Labour Law Reform, such grounds were assessed at the level of the group as whole in France and abroad.
These amendments further progressed on the simplification of the redundancy rules that had been initiated under Law No. 2016-1088, which entered into force on 8 August 2016 (El Khomri Act). The El Khomri Act introduced two main changes to the redundancy rules: the codification of two grounds of dismissal previously only recognised by case law (restructuring aimed at safeguarding a company's competitiveness and the closure of a company); and the addition of economic indicators defining the concept of 'economic difficulties'.
Since the El Khomri Act was enacted, economic difficulties are now mainly appreciated on the basis of a significant decrease in the number of orders or the turnover of a company, appreciated by reference to a number of quarters and the number of employees within a company (e.g., in companies with less than 11 employees, a decrease of the turnover during one quarter is considered as a sufficient ground for an economic redundancy). These indicators do not constitute an exhaustive list, and any other element justifying the existence of economic difficulties can be used to justify 'economic difficulties'. Therefore, despite these modifications, French case law will continue to be of key relevance when establishing whether a company is facing economic difficulties.
Collective mutual termination procedure
To facilitate job reorganisations and head count adjustments other than for economic reasons, the 2017 Macron Labour Law Reform has introduced an ad hoc voluntary termination procedure called the collective mutual termination procedure. Under the procedure, employees apply for a voluntary departure plan, which must be validated by the French Labour Administration. Companies will not have to demonstrate economic difficulties before implementing such an agreement. Under the supervision of the French Labour Administration, the voluntary departure plan must contain specific provisions, and in particular the maximum number of job terminations contemplated and the modalities of information for SECs (no consultation with an SEC is required). The collective mutual termination procedure does not prevent an employer from hiring new employees either for a new position or a position occupied by an employee who agreed to the mutual termination of his or her employment contract.
ii Employees' right to make an offer to buy shares or assets in small and medium-sized companies
Pursuant to the Hamon Act of 2014, as modified by the Macron Act of 2015, companies with fewer than 50 employees, or companies with between 50 and 250 employees that fall into the category of small and medium-sized companies (i.e., companies with a turnover below €50 million or a balance sheet total below €43 million), must inform their employees of any proposal to sell 50 per cent or more of the shares of the company or the sale of the company's business as a going concern with a view to allowing them to make an offer to purchase the shares or the business.7 The Hamon Act does not grant any priority or pre-emption rights to the employees; however, the procedure does impact the timetable for the proposed transaction, and can also have an impact on the confidentiality of the transaction.
Regarding companies with fewer than 50 employees, such employees must be informed of a proposed sale no later than two months prior to the signing of the transaction. In addition, the transaction cannot take place before the expiry of this two-month period unless all employees have informed the company that they do not wish to make an offer.
In companies with between 50 and 250 employees, the employees must be informed of a proposed sale at the latest when the works council or the SEC of the company is informed and consulted on the transaction in question. Unlike in the case of companies with fewer than 50 employees, the law does not set any specific deadline prior to which the transaction cannot take place (except that the works council or SEC consultation process will have to be completed before any binding documentation with respect to the transaction is signed, in compliance with generally applicable French employment law rules).
The law provides that employees are subject to an obligation of discretion with respect to the information that they receive by virtue of the new law. For the moment, it is not clear what information regarding a company and its activities must be given to its employees in connection with the specific procedure. According to a strict interpretation of the law, when a company informs its employees of their right to make an offer to buy the company or the business, it is not required to give information on any other potential bidders or any documents relating to the company or its strategy.8 However, should one or more employees ultimately decide to make an offer to buy the company or the business, the Hamon Act (and its implementing Decree of 28 October 2014) is silent as to the level of information that the company must provide.
Failing to comply with the obligation to inform employees that they can make an offer to purchase the shares or assets of a company exposes the seller to a monetary fine that cannot exceed 2 per cent of the value of the underlying transaction.
Following an information procedure under the Hamon Act, the contemplated sale must take place within two years of the date on which the employees are informed of the transaction; otherwise, the company must complete the information process again.
iii Reinforced role of the works council or the SEC of the target of a takeover bid
Pursuant to Law No. 2014-384, which entered into force on 29 March 2014 (the Florange Act), in a public company takeover context, the works council or the SEC of the target company must be formally consulted and issue an opinion (either positive or negative) on the takeover bid (whether friendly or hostile).
The consultation of the target company's works council or the SEC must be completed (i.e., a positive or negative opinion must be issued) within one month of an offer being filed. If the works council or the SEC has not issued an opinion within this time frame, it will be deemed to have been consulted, except in certain exceptional circumstances where the works council or the SEC can justify in court that it did not receive sufficient information about the transaction.
In any case, the board of directors or the supervisory board of the target company cannot make a decision with respect to the takeover bid (including whether to recommend the bid) until the consultation process with the target company's works council or the SEC has been completed. Note that in a situation in which the bidder has entered into a prior agreement with the target (generally called a tender offer agreement) specifying the main terms and conditions of the offer and providing for a break-up fee based on the recommendation of the target's board, it should be carefully assessed whether such agreement triggers the obligation to consult the works council or the SEC prior to its signature.
During the consultation process, the target company's works council or the SEC may ask the offeror questions about its industrial and strategic plans for the company. It may also choose to be assisted by a third-party expert (whose fees will be paid by the target company, and who will issue a report that will assess the offeror's industrial and strategic plans and their impact on the target company and its employees). The third-party expert has three weeks from the filing of the offer to issue its report.
iv Defined time limits for works councils or SECs to issue their opinion in compulsory consultation situations
A decree dated 27 December 2013 establishes the relevant time limit for works councils to issue their opinion in the event that their consultation is compulsory. Unless an agreement is reached between the employer and the trade union representatives (or, failing that, the works council) that provides for a specific time frame for their consultation, the members of the works council must issue their opinion within the following time limits (the starting point being the date on which the employer discloses the information):
one month generally;
two months if the works council is assisted by an expert;
three months if one or more health and safety committees (CHSCT) are involved in the project; and
four months if a temporary coordination committee of the CHSCT is created.
If the works council has not issued an opinion within the relevant time limits, it will be deemed to have been consulted and to have issued a negative opinion.
As indicated in Section VII.i, the SEC will replace the works council on 31 December 2019 at the latest. The defined time limits within which the SEC will have to render its opinion in compulsory consultations (and that will apply as from the setting up of the SEC) are as follows: one month generally; two months if the SEC is assisted by an expert; and three months in very specific situations where the consultation is carried out in a company that has one or more local SECs involved in the consultation process being assisted by at least one expert.9 As is the case with the works council, these time limits apply in the absence of an agreement entered into between the employer and the trade union representatives (or, failing that, the SEC) providing for a specific time frame for the consultation of the SEC.
v Obligations to look for a buyer in the event of the closure of a business division
Among its provisions, the Florange Act has introduced an obligation for an owner seeking to close a business to attempt to find a buyer for the business. This obligation applies to an intention to close any business division with more than 1,000 employees when such closure would result in planned collective redundancies (i.e., more than 10 employees). This obligation provides for specific information obligations toward the works council and the employees of the target business, as well as an obligation on the company or the group to consider all offers to acquire the business and to justify any decision taken in respect of such offers to the works council.
vi Obligations of employers in the fight against corruption and the protection of whistle-blowers
The Sapin II Law on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernisation of the economy created two new obligations for employers aimed at fighting corruption and protecting whistle-blowers.
Since 1 January 2018, employers with more than 50 employees must implement an internal process allowing employees to report, confidentially, any crime or criminal offence, a serious and obvious violation of an international treaty ratified or approved by France, or a threat or serious damage caused to the general interest, that they have had knowledge of personally during their employment.
Employers with more than 500 employees must also implement:
a code of conduct that must give a definition as well as examples of what could constitute an act of corruption, and also include disciplinary sanctions to be taken in cases of its violation;
a process allowing employees to report, confidentially, any violations of the company's code of conduct; and
a training programme for the executives and staff most exposed to potential risks of corruption.
Any employee who submits, in good faith, a report of a violation will be considered as a whistle-blower and will benefit from a specific protective status against dismissal. Reports of violations must also be followed by an internal investigation that must verify the truthfulness of the report. Therefore, when implementing such processes, employers must ensure their compliance with the French labour regulations, in particular with regard to the protection of employees' rights to privacy as well as mandatory information and the consultation of employee representatives, particularly when implementing monitoring devices.
vii Risk of requalification of equity instruments granted to managers (management packages) as remuneration subject to social security charges
The Paris Court of Appeal ruled in July 2017 that gains realised by managers upon the sale of equity instruments (warrants in the case at hand) in the context of an LBO exit, when such instruments were granted to the managers (because of their status) and kept by the latter to the extent that they remained within the company, should be considered as a salary for social contributions purposes (i.e., the gain would be subject to social contributions at a rate of around 40 to 50 per cent on an employer's part, and around 20 to 30 per cent on an employee's part).10 Indeed, it was held that the conditions under which such warrants were granted (to employees only) and may be kept (for as long as the beneficiaries remain within the company) establish a strong link with the employment agreement or corporate office (e.g., directorship) of the relevant beneficiary. The case is pending before the Supreme Court and, should it be confirmed, it cannot be ruled out that this principle would apply to any kind of equity instrument awarded in the same circumstances as the ones at stake. The outcome of this litigation will need to be monitored closely, considering its potential significant impact on the cost of management packages.
VIII TAX LAW
i Repeal of the additional 3 per cent tax on distributed dividends
Article 235 ter ZCA of the French tax code (FTC), introduced in 2012, originally stated that distributions made by entities subject to French corporate income tax, irrespective of the tax residence of the beneficiary, were subject to a 3 per cent tax at the level of the distributing company (subject to certain exceptions such as SMEs).
On 30 September 2016, the French Constitutional Council ruled such 3 per cent tax unconstitutional as it failed to observe the constitutional principles of equality before the law and before charges levied by the state.11 Indeed, the aforementioned Article provided for an exemption for distributions occurring within a French tax consolidated group; however, this exemption did not apply to distributions made to companies that fulfilled the conditions to be part of a French tax consolidated group, but that had not elected such tax regime; or were not able to elect such tax regime as they were located in another EU Member State. Following such decision, such exemption was extended by law,12 and distributions made to qualifying companies meeting the criteria to be part of a French tax consolidated group had they been located in France are, in principle, exempt from the 3 per cent tax (in particular, a qualifying company was required to hold at least 95 per cent of the distributing company).
Furthermore, on 27 June 2016, the French Administrative Supreme Court referred the two following questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) for a preliminary ruling:13
Does Article 4 of the Parent Subsidiary Directive (PSD) preclude a levy such as the 3 per cent tax, which is payable on the distribution of profits by parent companies that are liable to corporation tax in France and which is assessed on the basis of the sums distributed?
Is a levy such as the 3 per cent tax to be regarded as a 'withholding tax' from which, pursuant to Article 5 of the PSD, profits distributed by a subsidiary must be exempt?
In the procedure before the CJEU regarding the Belgian fairness tax, the Advocate General considered it to be contrary to the PSD, and mentioned in his opinion the similarities with the French 3 per cent tax on distributed dividends, paving the way for similar decisions to the extent that, for the French case, the Advocate General dispensed with an opinion and no hearing was held. On 17 May 2017, the CJEU ruled both the Belgian fairness tax and the French 3 per cent tax to be contrary to the PSD.14 Regarding France, the CJEU first underlined that profits received from subsidiaries and redistributed by a parent company to its shareholders fall within the scope of Article 4 of the PSD. Consequently, it judged that Article 4 of the PSD precluded a levy on the distributions, by a parent company, of profits consisting of dividends received from a subsidiary. Such preliminary ruling echoed the action for failure the European Commission initiated against France in February 2015.
Following this CJEU decision, the French Administrative Supreme Court referred on 7 July 2017 a priority preliminary ruling to the French Constitutional Council on whether the 3 per cent tax was contrary to the constitutional principles of equality before the law and before charges levied by the state on the grounds that there was a difference in treatment between15 dividends redistributed by parent companies, depending on whether they originate from French subsidiaries, subsidiaries located in non-EU countries or EU subsidiaries; and distributions by a company originating from its own operating profits and distributions originating from dividends received from subsidiaries.
In its decision dated 6 October 2017, the French Constitutional Council welcomed the argument and ruled that the 3 per cent tax was contrary to the above constitutional principle of equality.16 This declaration of unconstitutionality had immediate effect as from the date of the publication of the decision (i.e., 8 October 2017) and applied to all cases for which a final judgment was not rendered at this date. For past distributions, taxpayers are also entitled to claim a refund of the 3 per cent tax unduly paid, subject to applicable statutes of limitation.
Following these various negative decisions, the law was subsequently amended, with the 3 per cent tax being repealed for distributions paid by French companies as from 1 January 2018.17 To finance the refunds of the 3 per cent tax without affecting the public budget, two additional surtaxes to French corporate income tax were introduced for large companies for the fiscal year 2017 only.
ii Modification of the rules regarding the rollover tax regime for partial asset contributions in a cross-border situation
The French prior ruling procedure for cross-border mergers was held contrary to the EU Merger Directive and the freedom of establishment by the CJEU.
Article 210 C of the FTC provided that when transfers were made to foreign legal persons by a French company, the applicability of the French rollover tax regime was subject to a prior ruling.
The ruling was granted if the taxpayer evidenced that:
the operation was justified for commercial reasons;
it did not have as its principal objective, or as one of its principal objectives, tax evasion or avoidance; and
the manner in which the operation was carried out made it possible for the capital gains deferred for tax purposes to be taxed in the future.
This ruling was not required for mere domestic transfers. In Euro Park,18 the French Tax Administration denied the benefit of the rollover tax regime because the taxpayer did not seek this ruling and, in any case, it would not have obtained it under point (b). In response, Euro Park challenged the ruling procedure based on EU law.
The CJEU decision showed that the rules of the French ruling procedure were not sufficiently precise, clear and foreseeable. While it is only by way of exception and in specific cases that Member States may, pursuant to Article 11(1)(a) of the Merger Directive, refuse to apply or withdraw the benefit of all or any part of the provisions of that Directive, French law had recourse to a general presumption of tax evasion or tax avoidance, according to the CJEU. Furthermore, the CJEU noted that:
French law treated cross-border mergers and domestic mergers differently; and
that if such difference may be justified by the overriding public interest motive linked to preventing tax evasion or tax avoidance, in the present case, the prior ruling procedure introduced a general presumption of tax evasion or tax avoidance that goes beyond what is necessary to achieve that objective and could not, therefore, justify an obstacle to the freedom of establishment.
The CJEU therefore ruled that the prior ruling required to benefit from the rollover tax regime for cross-border mergers that was required by French law was contrary to Article 11 of the Merger Directive and the freedom of establishment. Consequently, the second Amended Finance Bill for 2017 has modified the provisions of French domestic tax law accordingly: the French legislator repealed the advance tax ruling required prior to any partial contribution of assets implemented to the benefit of a foreign beneficiary company (thus, a tax ruling will only be required in the context of a transaction that does not involve a qualifying 'complete and autonomous business'). For a transaction to benefit from the favourable merger tax regime, the contributed assets shall be allocated to a French permanent establishment of the foreign beneficiary company (unless such assets are qualifying shareholdings).
Finally, if the transaction benefits from the favourable merger regime, the French contributing entity will be required to file a specific return in order for the French Tax Administration to understand the purpose of the transaction as well as its consequences. Failure to file such specific return will trigger a €10,000 fine per transaction.
Ix COMPETITION LAW
The French Competition Authority has had responsibility for merger control since 2009 (this function was previously carried out by the Minister for the Economy), and has increasingly adopted a more efficient approach to the application of its rules. In 2017, 236 concentrations were reviewed and cleared by the Authority, eight of which were cleared conditionally (that is, with remedies). In one of the cases notified in 2017, the Authority opened in-depth investigations (second phase).19
It is also important to note that the Competition Authority is breaking new ground in the way it deals with cases. In an unprecedented move, it has closed a litigation procedure against La Poste, and on the same day cleared a merger between the latter and Suez involving the same activity.20 In both cases, the identified concerns involved, on the one hand, a risk of using competitive advantages that could not be reproduced by competitors, linked to the universal postal service, and on the other, price setting by La Poste of offers or services for the collection of non-hazardous office waste at prices below costs. The Competition Authority accepted two series of similar commitments made by the parties in each case.
Recently, and for the first time, the Competition Authority had to issue a decision on a merger involving two online platforms.21 To do so, it had to take into account network cross-effects and address multi-homing practices, and take an interest in the importance of data in this transaction. In this regard, the Competition Authority opened an in-depth investigation to evaluate the capacity of current and potential competitors to stimulate competition in the face of the merger of two of the main operators in the French online real estate advertising market, Concept Multimedia (Logic-immo.com) and Axel Springer Group (SeLoger.com). It conducted an online questionnaire on more than 30,000 real estate agencies, and eventually gave an unconditional clearance.
i Application of the new merger control guidelines of 10 July 2013
On 10 July 2013, new guidelines on merger control were adopted by the Competition Authority, revising the previous guidelines of December 2009 and taking into account the Authority's experience since.
The guidelines on merger control set out measures aimed at facilitating the pre-notification process, specifying the criteria for the simplified notification procedure, the conceptual framework of the analysis of relevant markets and the role of this analysis, and proposing standard models for transfers of assets and trustee mandates. The guidelines also place greater emphasis on economic and econometric analysis, especially quantitative tests, when the data and methodology used are reliable and verifiable. In particular, the new guidelines introduce a reference to the upward pricing pressure, illustrative price rise and gross upward pricing pressure index (GUPPI) tests, used to measure the impact of a merger on prices without having to define the relevant market.
The GUPPI test was last used by the Competition Authority in its decision of 27 July 2016 authorising the acquisition of the Darty company by the Fnac group.22 In this decision, the Authority, for the first time in France and Europe, considered the market for the retail distribution of certain domestic electronic products to include both online and in-store sales. The Authority then based its analysis of horizontal effects on the GUPPI test to conclude that a post-merger price increase by the new entity was likely. The Authority also noted that the transaction would lead to a risk of the stores not being incentivised to propose price discounts or punctual promotions that would likely enhance local competition. To meet the identified concerns, the Fnac group has committed to divest six stores to one or more retailers of electronic products. Consequently, the Authority cleared the acquisition, considering that this divestiture will guarantee sufficient competition in the market of retail distribution of electronic products in Paris and its suburbs.
ii Substantial penalties can be imposed for gun-jumping
When French thresholds are met, a pre-merger filing is mandatory. This applies to all concentrations, including foreign-to-foreign transactions, even in the absence of an overlap between parties' activities.
Individuals and companies acquiring control of all or part of an undertaking are responsible for notifying. In the case of a merger, this obligation is incumbent upon the merging entities. In the case of a joint venture, parent companies must file a joint notification.
Sanctions for not filing or for closing before clearance are as follows: corporate entities – up to 5 per cent of the turnover in France during the previous financial year (plus, where applicable, that of the acquired part generated in France); and individuals – up to €1.5 million.
An example of sanction for the first type of gun-jumping (i.e., for failing to notify) can be found in Case No. 13-D-22.23 On 26 December 2013, the Competition Authority imposed a fine of €4 million on Castel Frères, a company active in the wine sector, for failing to notify its acquisition of six companies before closing the transaction on 6 May 2011. It was only in September 2011, in the context of the examination of another acquisition, that this merger was reported to the Authority by a third party. On appeal, the fine was reduced to €3 million on the grounds that the transaction was notified shortly after the Authority's request and that Castel Frères did not intend to bypass the competition rules.24
Regarding the second type of sanction for premature implementation, the Competition Authority imposed a fine for a breach of the standstill obligation for the first time in 2016. In 2014, Altice, active in the French telecom market through its subsidiary Numericable, notified the planned acquisition of SFR and OTL, which was authorised by the Authority in October 2014. In April 2015, the Authority conducted a dawn raid on the premises of Numericable, SFR and OTL, and found evidence that Altice was involved in SFR's business and strategy prior to the clearance, notably in approving the participation of SFR in a public tender, assisting SFR in renegotiating a network sharing agreement with Bouygues Telecom, determining the prices of SFR internet retail offers and coordinating with SFR in the context of OTL's acquisition. As a result, on 8 November 2016, the Competition Authority imposed a fine of €80 million on the Altice Group for implementing two transactions prior to obtaining merger control clearance.25 This is one of the highest fines worldwide ever enforced for such a practice.
Finally, the parties may be required, subject to a periodic penalty for non-compliance, either to file the concentration or to demerge. Transactions that have been completed without clearance are illegal and not enforceable. There are no criminal sanctions for not filing.
iii Diversification of remedies that can be imposed by the Competition Authority
Regarding commitments and injunctions, in its new merger control guidelines, the Competition Authority provides several examples of its decision-making practice, which is characterised by a preference for structural remedies (e.g., divestment of minority shareholdings). However, in the case of complex transactions, the Competition Authority pragmatically accepts behavioural remedies, of which it provides several examples. Merger review over the past few years tends to confirm such trend. For instance, in 2016, in five cases out of six, the Authority conditioned its approval only on behavioural remedies. However, 2017 was a more balanced year, as in half of its cases, the Authority cleared the transaction subject to structural and behavioural remedies,26 and conditioned its approval only on behavioural remedies for the other half.27
An illustration of such behavioural remedies can be found in the Authority decision dated 13 November 2017 relating to the absorption of Coopérative agricole des Agriculteurs de la Mayenne (CAM) by Terrena.28 In the markets of agricultural supplies, and especially in the market of conventional and non-organic seed distribution, the Competition Authority identified several possible anticompetitive effects in one geographic area. In view of a high market share and of the supply obligations provided by the terms of the cooperative (i.e., Terrena affiliates had to purchase 100 per cent of their supplies from the cooperative, whereas CAM affiliates were not subject to any similar quantified targets), the new entity could have used its market power to increase its prices. Another anticompetitive risk was identified in the market for the collection of cereals, protein and oilseed crops in the same area, insofar as the affiliates would have had to sell their entire production to the new entity. To address those competition concerns, Terrena committed to modify its terms to reduce the contribution obligation of the new entity's affiliates and the obligation to get supplies from the new entity to a minimum of 55 per cent. Consequently, the Authority cleared the acquisition subject to the enforcement of these commitments.
It is important to note that the Competition Authority carefully monitors the implementation of remedies, and may withdraw an authorisation in cases of non-compliance. In such a case, the parties will then have to either restore the situation to what it was before the transaction (i.e., 'unwind' the operation) or re-notify the transaction to the Competition Authority within a month. Compliance with commitments by companies is central to the process of French merger control. The power of the Authority to withdraw merger approvals was validated in 2012 by a decision of the French Constitutional Court in the context of the appeal by Canal Plus and Vivendi against an order to re-notify the purchase of its former rival TPS.29 The Authority withdrew its approval on the ground that Canal Plus Group did not fulfil several commitments that were attached to the authorisation decision.
If such non-compliance with remedies is confirmed, the Competition Authority is also able to impose financial penalties on the notifying parties of up to 5 per cent of their net turnover achieved in France. In this regard, in 2017, the Competition Authority fined the Altice and SFR Group €40 million for its non-compliance with commitments made when SFR was taken over by Numericable.30
As a final observation, the recent Macron Act empowers the Authority with the right to impose, subject to fines, injunctions or prescriptions as a substitute for commitments the parties did not comply with. Such a right enables the replacing of a commitment that has become outdated without withdrawing the clearance decision.
iv Contemplated changes in the French merger control regime
The Competition Authority launched an initiative on 20 October 2017 to modernise and simplify the merger law. Three topics have been proposed for consideration:
the simplification of merger procedures (especially the current 'simplified procedure');
the need to define new criteria triggering control in order to enable the Competition Authority to review operations that could lead to competition problems and that are not currently covered by merger control procedures, in particular through the introduction of limited ex post control by the Competition Authority or the reintroduction of a market share threshold; and
the role of trustees in merger control.
At least 20 contributions have been received from stakeholders. Following this first informal consultation, the Competition Authority officially launched a public consultation on 7 June 2018, for which stakeholders' responses are expected by 28 September 2018.
X outlook
i Strengthening of the Foreign Investment Regulation
During the course of 2017, the French Foreign Investment Regulation was subject to certain technical amendments, and the European Commission has presented a proposal to establish a framework to examine foreign direct investments into the European Union. At the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, an inquiry commission was created by the National Assembly to examine the state's decisions relating to industrial policy matters, as well as measures that are likely to protect France's national industrial leaders. The commission most notably looked into three major transactions, namely the acquisition by General Electric of Alstom's power division, Alcatel's acquisition and merger with Nokia, and the acquisition of STX France by Fincantieri. Moreover, the commission criticised the loss of sovereignty in companies deemed strategic for France's national interests, and pointed out the political context in which these transactions were authorised by the former government. The government has announced its intention to strengthen the applicable regulation. If, for the time being, they are only proposals, such reform would have an impact on foreign investments as follows:
the sectors in which foreign investments require a prior authorisation would be extended to include new strategic sectors such as the artificial intelligence, robotics, spatial, financial infrastructures and data storage sectors;
monitoring tools would be created to verify whether foreign investors comply with their commitments;
a new penalty system would be implemented, providing for more progressive sanctions, including injunctions, remedy measures orders, and financial penalties of €5 million or 10 per cent of the target's turnover;
'golden shares', which would consist of shares with specific rights to the benefit of the state, allowing the state to block any transfer of assets, intellectual property or delocalisation in companies deemed strategic, would be introduced; and
a defence and national security council would be established to quickly react to takeovers of strategic assets.
ii Promoting the growth and transformation of companies
A draft law relating to an action plan for corporate growth and transformation will be discussed before the end of 2018. The aims of this reform are, among others:
enhancing the creation of new companies by reducing administrative procedures costs, creating a single register for the publication of information on companies or even creating more flexible duties for entrepreneurs;
supporting the financing of companies, in particular by making stock markets more accessible to SMEs (see Section III.iv) and directing French people's savings towards companies;
fostering investment in French companies by protecting inventions and expanding R&D;
involving employees in companies' results, and developing employees savings and employee ownership;
facilitating exportation through the establishment of a single exportation counter; and
simplifying takeovers of companies by their employees.
iii General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 takes effect
Two years after its adoption, the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) finally became applicable across the Europe Union on 25 May 2018. GDPR, which replaces EU Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, is meant to facilitate the flow of personal data within Europe by harmonising the rules that govern how the data can be collected and used. The new law introduces a number of changes to the previous data protection regime, including:
increased transparency and accountability obligations imposed on entities that process personal data;
extraterritorial application of the law to parties outside the EU that offer services or target EU consumers;
a one-stop shop mechanism for enforcement; and
significantly increased sanctions for breaches.
Given the financial and reputational consequences for non-compliance with the GDPR, it is anticipated that data privacy and security issues will become increasingly prominent issues in M&A transactions.
1 Didier Martin is a partner at Bredin Prat.
2 Financial data extracted from Mergermarket, 'Trend Reports Q1–Q4 2016 and 2017 (France)'.
3 Financial data extracted from Mergermarket, 'Trend Report Q1–Q4 2017 (France)' and 'Deal Drivers EMEA FY 2017'.
5 Financial data extracted from the Observatoire des offres publiques 2018 report and the Ledouble Analyse des offres publiques 2017 report.
6 Orders No. 2017-1385 to No. 2017-1389 dated 22 September 2017; Order No. 2017-1718 dated 20 December 2017.
7 These provisions of the Hamon Act do not apply to companies that are subject to insolvency proceedings.
8 The guidelines that have been published by the French Ministry of Labour for the implementation of the Hamon Act confirm this approach.
9 Decree No. 2017-1819 dated 29 December 2017, Article 1.
10 Paris Court of Appeal, 6 July 2017, No. 14/02741.
11 Constitutional Council, 30 September 2016, No. 2016-571 QPC, Sté Layher SAS.
12 Law No. 2016-1918 of 29 December 2016.
13 Council of State, 8th and 3rd chambers, 27 June 2016, No. 399024, Association française des entreprises privées (AFEP) et al.
14 CJEU, 17 May 2017, Case C68/15, X v. Belgium and CJEU, 17 May 2017, Case C365/16, AFEP et al v. France.
15 Council of State, 8th and 3rd chambers, 7 July 2017, No. 399757, Société de participations financière.
16 Constitutional Council, 6 October 2017, No. 2017-660 QPC, Société de participations financière.
17 Law No. 2017-1837 of 30 December 2017, Article 37.
18 CJEU, 8 March 2017,C-14/16, Euro Park Service.
19 Case No. 18-DCC-18.
20 Case No. 17-D-26 and Case No. 17-DCC-209.
22 Case No. 16-DCC-111.
23 Situation of the Castel Group in light of Article 430-8 of the Commercial Code, decision dated 20 December 2013, Case No. 13-D-22.
24 Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court dated 15 April 2016, Appeal No. 375658.
25 Situation of the Altice group with regard to Section II of Article L 430-8, decision dated 8 November 2016, Case No. 16-D-24.
26 Acquisition of Anios by Ecolab, decision dated 31 January 2017, Case No. 17-DCC-12; acquisition of MédiPôle-Partenaires by Elsan, decision dated 23 June 2017, Case No. 17-DCC-95; acquisition of the Bricorama group by ITM Equipement de la Maison, decision dated 18 December 2017, Case No.17-DCC-215; acquisition of stores owned by the Tati group (Tati, Fabio Lucci, Giga Store) by Gifi (GPG group), decision dated 18 December 2017, Case No. 17-DCC-216.
27 Merger by absorption of Ecofolio by Eco-emballages, decision dated 3 April 2017, Case No. 17-DCC-42; acquisition of Totalgaz SAS by UGI Bordeaux Holding SAS, decision dated 3 July 217, Case No. 17-DCC-103; merger by absorption of Coopérative agricole des Agriculteurs de la Mayenne by Terrena, decision dated 14 December 2017, Case No. 17-DCC-210; creation of a full-function joint venture between La Poste and Suez, decision dated 21 December 2017, Case No. 17-DCC-209.
29 Case No. 2012-280 further to a request for a preliminary ruling on a question of constitutionality.
30 Case No. 17-D-04.
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Review: Outside In
Posted on June 19, 2018 June 19, 2018 by Hannah Gersen
Outside In opens with the camera looking down on an ex-con, Chris, heading home for the first time in twenty years. Chris (Jay Duplass) sits in the back of a rain-spattered car window, eating a french fry with a dreamy look in his eyes. It’s probably the best thing he’s eaten in a long time. He will soon be delivered to a room filled with people awaiting his return. But there’s only one person he really wants to see: Carol, his old high school teacher, the person who fought hardest for his early release.
Carol is played by Edie Falco, and from the moment we first see her, she radiates goodness, intelligence, longing, and confusion. She’s in as much of a transitional period as Chris. She’s devoted years of her life to disputing Chris’s conviction, and in doing so, has discovered new reserves of intellectual and spiritual energy. She’s also become very close to her former student. She might be in love with him; he’s definitely in love with her. But she’s married, with a teenage daughter. And she’s still teaching at the high school where she first met Chris as an 18-year-old boy. So things are complicated.
Director Lynn Shelton is good with these kinds of emotionally dense scenarios. Her previous films, Hump Day, Your Sister’s Sister, and Laggies, mine the unusual circumstances of her characters for comedy. Outside In is more purely dramatic. There’s heartbreak in the air, from the start, but it’s not clear who will be hurt. Both Carol and Chris quickly realize that they have to redefine their relationship now that Chris is out of prison. Ironically, things between them were easier when Chris was behind bars because their boundaries were defined by the terms of Chris’s incarceration. They also had a shared goal: freeing Chris. But once Chris is out in the world, what brings them together? Are they actually compatible? Should Carol stay in her clearly unhappy marriage? Is this movie actually a bizarro romantic comedy, where instead of the lovers having to overcome obstacles, they have to accept not having obstacles?
Underlying all of this is the sensational fact that Chris has been in prison for twenty years for a murder he didn’t commit. A more conventional film would spend a lot of time excavating the details of the killing and explaining how Chris was convicted and how he got free, but Shelton, who co-wrote the script with Duplass, doesn’t get into these details. There are no flashbacks, although Chris does visit the scene of the crime, and we get a sense of how this haunts him. A few vague conversations offer excuses like “Wrong place, wrong time.” Chris’s brother was also involved in some way, but got off—another situation only generally explained.
I liked that the movie didn’t get bogged down by the weight of Chris’s past, but I would appreciated some hint as to how Chris got mixed up in such a dangerous situation. What was Chris like when he was eighteen years old? Why was Carol so certain that he was innocent? I didn’t have a good sense of the kind of young man he had been and how prison had shaped his personality. Some of this had to do with weaknesses in the script, but there is also the fact that Jay Duplass is not the kind of actor who brings a lot of extra information to a scene. He’s always believable and vulnerable, but his face is not particularly expressive and he’s hard to read. When you compare him to someone like Falco, who makes every line resonate with the choices and compromises that brought her character to a particular point in time, he can’t help but seem flimsy. It feels a little unfair to compare them, since Duplass is relatively new to acting, while Falco is one of the best character actors working in film and TV, but they’re in so many scenes together that comparison is inevitable. Duplass has a lost, ungrounded quality that works well in ensemble roles; I love him as part of the Pfefferman family in Transparent, and he was perfectly cast as a superficial lawyer in Beatriz at Dinner. But I don’t think he can carry a whole movie.
There were parts of Outside In that dragged and wasn’t sure how much that had to do with Duplass’s limitations, the script’s deficiencies, or Shelton’s realistic aesthetic, which sometimes tamps down conflict and doesn’t allow for any flourishes in dialogue or with the camera. The locations and costumes were also boringly (if appropriately) true to life, with Chris wearing the world’s ugliest cargo pants and returning each evening to a yellowed-linoleum kitchen that would generously be described as dingy. But these ugly interiors contrasted with the natural beauty of Snowhomish County, Washington. There are placid gray-blue views of rivers and moss-covered rocks, quiet country roads and fields, peaceful playgrounds shiny with dew, and faded barns at the end of gravel roads.
Carol’s daughter, Hildy (Kaitlyn Dever), an observant teenage girl, has a secret art project that she shows to Chris: she decorates the interior of an abandoned house with lines of construction tape. Her site-specific sculptures bring playfulness to a downtrodden place and also gesture to Hildy’s ambitions, kept mostly under wraps. You get the feeling that she’s not going to stick around Snowhomish County. Chris, though, must stay within county lines according to the terms of his parole. By the end of Outside In, you feel you understand what this means to Chris, and how he’s made his peace with both his freedom and the limits of it.
Posted in reviewsTagged Edie Falco, female directors, film, film review, independent film, Jay Duplass, lynn shelton, outside in
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Intense fighting in northwest Syria as army tries to advance
BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army has made a small advance into the rebels’ last major stronghold in Syria, a pro-government newspaper and a war monitor reported on Tuesday, after massive bombardments that began late last month.
Al-Watan daily said the army had captured the villages of al-Janabara and Tel Othman, where rebels said on Monday they had repulsed government assaults. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government troops had seized Tel Othman.
Northwest Syria is the only significant territory still in rebel hands. The area being targeted in the latest bombardment was the subject of a Russian-Turkish agreement last September to hold off a government offensive.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based organisation that monitors the war, said 69 civilians had been killed by bombardments since April 30. At least 41 insurgents had been killed by air strikes and fighting, it said.
The dominant rebel force in the northwest said on Monday it would meet any government attempt to advance with “iron and fire”. The group, Tahrir al-Sham, includes al Qaeda’s former affiliate the Nusra Front.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has recaptured most of the country from rebels since Russia joined the war on his side in 2015, deploying its air power in support of the army and allied Iran-backed militias.
The United Nations has said the northwestern Idlib region is home to 3 million people, half of whom have already fled their homes at least once during the conflict, and that a big battle there risks causing a new humanitarian disaster.
Bombardments since April 28 have displaced more than 158,000 people, the U.S.-based Union of Medical Care and Relief Organizations (UOSSM) said on Monday.
A media spokesman for the Civil Defence organisation, which conducts rescue operations in opposition-held areas of Syria, said the bombardment was non-stop.
“There is a first wave of barrel bombs dropped by helicopters. A few minutes later a jet will drop another wave of weapons hitting first responders. Then it’s followed by a wave of artillery,” the spokesman said.
The Observatory said nine civilians were killed after midnight by bombardment and reported helicopters dropping barrel bombs - improvised munitions filled with explosives.
U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres is following the hostilities with great concern, his spokesman, and urged parties to recommit to the ceasefire that was agreed last year.
France's Macron concerned by Syrian strikes in Idlib
Part of the rebels’ northwestern enclave is held by Turkish-backed groups aided by the Turkish army. The rest, including the southern flank where fighting has focussed this week, is dominated by Tahrir al-Sham group.
(This story has been add missing word ‘concern’ in penultimate paragraph)
Reporting by Angus McDowall; Editing by Angus MacSwan
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Read Next: 'SpongeBob SquarePants' Team Honors Stephen Hillenburg at Comic-Con
CNN Gives New Roles to Clarissa Ward, Brianna Keilar, Julia Chatterley
By Brian Steinberg
Brian Steinberg
Senior TV Editor @https://twitter.com/bristei FOLLOW
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CREDIT: Erik S. Lesser/Epa/REX/Shutterst
Clarissa Ward, Julia Chatterley and Brianna Keilar were elevated to new roles at CNN Wednesday, as the AT&T-owned cable-news outlet unveiled a short series of important talent changes.
Ward, a veteran of CBS News and ABC News, was named CNN’s chief international correspondent, succeeding Christiane Amanpour in the role. Amanpour in recent months has devoted more time to a flagship interview program on CNN International and was recently named to anchor a program on PBS that took the place of Charlie Rose’s long-running show. Ward joined CNN in 2015.
Keilar, a senior political correspondent and anchor based in Washington, D.C., will take over as anchor of CNN’s 1 p.m. hour starting in the fall. Wolf Blitzer, who has been anchored the hour, currently called “Wolf,” will continue to anchor CNN’s early-evening broadcast “The Situation Room,” between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Keilar has served as a White House and congressional reporter for CNN, which she joined in 2006 after working for CBS News. CNN said the name of her new program and other details will be released at some point in the future.
Chatterley who joins CNN from Bloomberg TV, will host a new hour on CNN International starting in the fall. She hosted the daily “Bloomberg Markets” and “What’d You Miss?” programs. CNN said details about her new program would also be released later in the year.
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Sudan army rulers, protesters agree on 3-year transition period
Update: May, 15/2019 - 10:48
Tires are pictured ablaze during a demonstration in the capital Khartoum on Monday. — AFP/VNA Photo
KHARTOUM — Sudanese army rulers and protest leaders on Wednesday agreed on a three-year transition period for transferring power to a full civilian administration, even as negotiations over a new sovereign ruling body remain unfinished.
The protest movement is demanding a civilian-led transition following 30 years of iron-fisted rule by now deposed president Omar al-Bashir, but the generals who toppled him have been holding onto a leadership role.
Talks between the two sides resumed earlier in the week but were marred by violence when an army major and five protesters were killed by unidentified gunmen at a long-running sit-in outside military headquarters in Khartoum.
The two sides announced early on Wednesday after nearly 12 hours of negotiations that they had reached an agreement on the transition period.
"We agreed on a transitional period of three years," Lieutenant General Yasser al-Atta, a member of the military council told reporters.
Atta said a final agreement on the sharing of power, including the forming of the next ruling body -- the sovereign council -- will be signed with the protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, within a day.
"We vow to our people that the agreement will be completed fully within 24 hours in a way that it meets the people's aspirations," Atta said.
He said of the transition period, the first six months will be allocated to signing peace accords with rebels in the country's war zones like Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan.
Protester Mohamed Abdullah said that he was happy the way the negotiations had turned out so far.
"We will wait for tomorrow's talks, but my only question is 'Who will guarantee this agreement with the military council?'," he said as thousands of demonstrators gathered for another sit-in overnight.
US blames army rulers
The army generals had initially insisted on a two-year transition period, while the protest leaders wanted four years.
Key negotiations however remain on the composition of the sovereign council, which will replace the existing ruling body made up solely of generals.
The generals say this should be military led while protest leaders want it to be majority civilian.
After the forming of the sovereign council, a new transitional civilian government will be formed to run the country's day-to-day affairs and would work towards having the first post-Bashir elections after the end of the transition period.
Atta said that during the transition period parliament will be composed of 300 members, of which 67 per cent will be from the Alliance for Freedom and Change and the rest will be from other political groups.
The Alliance for Freedom and Change meanwhile said the shootings on Monday were an attempt to "disturb the breakthrough" in talks.
On Tuesday, the US blamed the army itself for the deaths.
They "were clearly the result of the Transitional Military Council trying to impose its will on the protesters by attempting to remove roadblocks", the US embassy said on its Facebook page.
"The decision for security forces to escalate the use of force, including the unnecessary use of tear gas, led directly to the unacceptable violence later in the day that the TMC was unable to control," it said.
‘Protect your homeland’
Protest leaders, who on Monday had blamed the remnants of Bashir's regime and allied militias, changed their stand on Tuesday.
"We put the whole responsibility on the military council for what happened yesterday because it's their direct responsibility to guard and protect the citizens," Mohamed Naji al-Assam, a prominent figure in the movement, told reporters.
The latest round of talks which opened on Monday come after a break in negotiations that saw protest leaders threaten "escalatory measures" to secure their central demand of civilian rule.
The issue has kept thousands of protesters camped outside army headquarters around the clock ever since Bashir's overthrow.
The sit-in has become the focal point for the protest movement, overtaking the near daily protests that had been held across Sudan while the veteran president remained in power.
But on Tuesday protesters in the capital's twin city Omdurman also vented their anger on the streets.
Protesters gathered in the Abbassiya and Al-Arbaa districts, just across the Nile from the capital, with many chanting slogans against the military council, witnesses said. — AFP
Gulf tensions rise as US shoots down Iranian drone (July, 19 2019)
End Syria hospital attacks, Russia told at UN (July, 19 2019)
Turkey launches air strike on Iraqi Kurdistan after diplomat killed (July, 19 2019)
Israel battles wildfires after record heatwave (July, 19 2019)
Japan in shock after suspected arson kills 33 (July, 19 2019)
Canada is EU's 'closest transatlantic partner,' says Tusk (July, 18 2019)
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Report on Michoacan-Guanajuato (Mexico) — May 1988
Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, vol. 13, no. 5 (May 1988)
Managing Editor: Lindsay McClelland.
Michoacan-Guanajuato (Mexico) Fumarole temperatures decline
Global Volcanism Program, 1988. Report on Michoacan-Guanajuato (Mexico). In: McClelland, L. (ed.), Scientific Event Alert Network Bulletin, 13:5. Smithsonian Institution. https://doi.org/10.5479/si.GVP.SEAN198805-341060.
Volcano Profile | Complete Bulletin
Michoacan-Guanajuato
19.85°N, 101.75°W; summit elev. 3860 m
Geologists mapped fumaroles and measured temperatures on 8 and 16 May. As in previous years, fumaroles were hottest at Ahuan vent (figure 1) but had cooled to 336°C, from 473° in November 1985 and 375° in November 1986. The area seemed morphologically unchanged since April 1983. Fumaroles at Sapichu vent ranged from 186° to 275°C, an increase of as much as 120° since they were last measured in April 1983. Sulfur continued to be deposited around the Sapichu fumaroles. All other fumaroles at Parícutin had temperatures of <200°C, most <100°. Fumaroles on the crater rim and along major flow levees ranged from 60° to 80°C, essentially unchanged since April 1983.
Figure 1. Distribution of fumaroles at Parícutin, May 1988. Fumaroles were found in the shaded areas (stipple pattern, <100°C, solid pattern, >100°C). Three vents are labeled: Ahuan (A), the main crater (P), and Sapichu (S). The W and SW margins of lava flows surrounding the cone are indicated by the stippled border.
Geologic Background. The widespread Michoacán-Guanajuato volcanic field contains over 1400 vents, including the historically active cinder cones of Parícutin and Jorullo, covering a 200 x 250 km wide area of Michoacán and Guanajuato states in west-central México. Cinder cones are the predominant volcanic form, but small shield volcanoes, lava domes, maars and tuff rings (many in the Valle de Santiago area), and coneless lava flows are also present. The shield volcanoes are mostly Pleistocene in age, and have morphologies similar to small Icelandic-type shield volcanoes, although the Michoacán-Guanajuato shields have higher slope angles and smaller basal diameters. Jorullo, which was constructed in the 18th century, and Parícutin, which grew above a former cornfield during 1943-52, are the two best known of the roughly 1000 small volcanic centers scattered throughout the volcanic field.
Information Contacts: C. Connor, James Diaz, and Jorge Corrales, FIU, Miami; Ana Lillian Martin-Del Pozzo, Instituto de Geofísica, UNAM, México.
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Star Wars: Clone Wars Volume 1 (2003)
Like Unshaved Mouse? Please consider supporting my Patreon.
Okay, let’s get this out of the way. The prequels aren’t bad.
Okay, fine, scratch that.
The prequels are bad.
But they aren’t only bad.
I like to think of it this way; If the Star Wars prequel trilogy was just three bad movies, no more, no less, I wouldn’t know who Kit Fisto is.
It’s this guy.
Much digital ink has been spilt about how George Lucas, once he got the chance to make the prequel trilogy and had the clout to do it without having to listen to a single solitary other human being, revealed himself to be a talentless hack who was lucky enough to have some really talented people to collaborate with the first time around.
Sorry, scratch that.
That’s not entirely true.
The prequel trilogy sees Lucas’ worst faults as a film-maker on display; a love of cringe-inducing, borderline offensive comic relief, little to no inclination or ability to get believable performances out of his actors and the little matter of being one of the worst dialogists on the Hollywood A List.
But he does have skills, not least a knack for world building and for crafting character arcs that tap into deep, universal themes.
One of the great misconceptions about The Phantom Menace is that it’s boring because it’s about politics, which is like saying that Westerns are boring because they feature gunfights. Politics is one of the most inherently thrilling subjects that fiction can tackle, particularly in times of unrest (Christ, have you looked at the news at any time in the last ten years and thought it was a snoozefest?). The movies themselves may be largely terrible, but the world they conjure, an ancient and increasingly corrupt democracy slowly sliding into fascism against the backdrop of an impossibly vast conflict spanning the galaxy, is incredibly fertile and (if I’m honest) a good bit more interesting than the war between the squeaky clean rebels and the boo-hissable Empire.
The subject of today’s review is an odd beast. Released in 2003 when Attack of the Clones was still steaming on the sidewalk and Revenge of the Sith was just a relatively watchable glint in Lucas’ eye, Star Wars: Clone Wars was a series of shorts released online filling in the adventures of Obi-Wan and Anakin set between episodes 2 and 3. The series was overseen by Genndy Tartatovsky, creator of Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack and master of having characters do something very, very slowly while a violin chord plays and I’ve looked everywhere for the name of that thing but it doesn’t seem to have a name so whaddyagonnado?
These cartoons were a huge hit, winning awards and critical acclaim and with fans the world over joyously proclaiming them to be the one good thing to come out of the prequels. And then George Lucas came along and said “Nope, none of this is canon. I’m doing a new Clone Wars series. All in CGI. And do you know who’s going to have whole episodes devoted to him? Jar Jar Fuckin’ Binks, that’s who. You’re welcome.”
And the fans were all: “…………………………………………………why do you keep doing this?”
Star Wars: Clone Wars (CW) has a weird relationship with its sister show, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TCW), launched in 2008 under the supervision of Dave Filoni. TCW had a really rough roll out, with Lucas making the truly baffling decision to release the two-hour pilot as a stand-alone movie meaning it would draw inevitable comparisons with the original trilogy. Season 1 rarely rose above the level of competent kiddie fair and the fandom wailed for poor, wronged Genndy. But then, something odd happened. TCW started getting better, and kept at it, expanding on existing characters, introducing new ones and telling some of the best and most compelling stories ever told in this universe. If you saw Solo and were confused as to why Darth Maul seemed in rather rude good health it’s because TCW realised what a waste it was to have killed him off in Phantom Menace and brought him back. After initially meeting only scorn, TCW’s prestige in the fanbase is such that it was actually genuinely difficult for me to research this review because Google kept assuming I was looking for information on the later show.
So CW has gone from critical and fandom darling to almost forgotten afterthought. Which is more deserved? Which show is better? Will I ever find a better way to end an introduction than asking rhetorical questions?
Posted in (2000s), 20th Century Fox, Cartoon, Comedy, Humour, Long Reads, star wars and tagged animated, animation, Cartoon Network, clone wars, comedy, genndy tartatovsky, humor, humour, review, reviews, star wars, unshaved mouse on February 28, 2019 by unshavedmouse. 40 Comments
Like his father before him…
Posted in star wars and tagged anakin skywalker, fan theory, palpatine, star wars on December 21, 2016 by unshavedmouse. 15 Comments
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Kurt Sutter On ‘Mayans M.C.’ And The Making Of The Most Twisted ‘Sons Of Anarchy’ Scene Ever
Kimberly Ricci
Film/TV Editor
09.04.18 3 Comments
Getty Image / FX
As Kurt Sutter makes his return to FX with Mayans M.C. (on Tuesday, Sept. 4), the newest chapter in his biker-drama universe, he does so with ten years of perspective from his Sons of Anarchy showrunner debut. Prior to those seven seasons of success, Sutter moved up from staff writer to executive producer of The Shield, and after pulling the plug following one season of The Bastard Executioner, he hopes to extend his most beloved mythology in a post-Jax Teller world. Expectations and pressure are both running high as hell, but the notoriously filterless storyteller is keeping it all in perspective.
Sutter was gracious enough to speak at length with Uproxx about his hopes for Mayans, which (from the looks of the first part of the season) is a worthy followup and, in many ways, a more advanced chapter of the saga. During the discussion, he tells us why he’d never erase his past mistakes, why there can be no Gemma in Mayans, and the surreal experience of making one of the most bonkers and depraved scenes in Sons of Anarchy history.
What advice would season 1 of Mayans M.C. Kurt give to season 1 of Sons of Anarchy Kurt?
Let’s see. You know I had the experience of The Shield going into Sons, but I never ran a show before then, so I was driven by a lot more fear, and a sense of feeling like a lot was out of my control. And obviously, I stumbled and made mistakes and set fires and blew shit up, but the reality of it is — and not to sound esoteric — but all that shit shaped the show. It shaped my growth within the process, so I would be afraid to give myself any advice for fear that I would undermine any ugly and sort of clumsy process I may have had.
What I learned from Sons in hindsight is that when you’re beginning a project, and you don’t know what it is, and how it’s going to be perceived, you’re only driven by the sense of needing to tell a story. And in hindsight, you can look back and say, “Oh, the show was successful because of X.” Strong female characters, dark sense of humor, whatever, right? All that shit is a result of not having those parameters and those boxes where you think you need to check off to be successful. And coming into Mayans, which is a similar world, a similar process, it’s difficult to not look at the things that worked in Sons and go, “Oh, I should do that.” And I learned in that process that it’s a continuing sense of education in that, “Wait a minute, I didn’t know any of that shit” going into Sons. And because I didn’t know any of that shit, that shit happened.
So I really have to create that environment for myself in Mayans, and not necessarily think in terms of what I had to do to make it work. I had to put myself in that same sort of naive mindset, creatively, so I didn’t think in terms of what I needed to achieve. Like I could just tell the stories I needed to tell, and then trust that at some point, I could step back and say, “Oh, that worked.”
TOPICS#FX#UPROXX Interviews#Sons Of Anarchy
TAGSFXKURT SUTTERMAYANS MCSONS OF ANARCHYuproxx interviews
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Urania Trust Divining the Mystery
Sacred Topics
Celebrated Astrologers
Astrological Terms
Astrology as Divination
Astrology's Ancient Roots
Astronomy of Houses
Carter Memorial Lecture
Charting the Soul
Financial Astrology
Gauquelin 'Plus Zones'
How Astrology Works?
Saint Peter's Basillica
Shakespeare, Part 1
Thinking in New Categories
Principles of Astrology
Platonic Philosophy: Introduction
Platonic Philosophy, Part 2: Metaphysics
Platonic Philosophy, Part 3: Psychology
Platonic Philosophy, Part 4: Ethics
Platonic Philosophy, Part 5: Summary
Introduction to Sacred Geometry
Divine Proportion in Web Design
Ancient Ohio
Neolithic Ireland
Barbault André
Carter Charles
Cunningham Donna
Dobyns Zipporah
Elwell Dennis
Ficino Marsilio
Galileo Galileo
Greene Liz
Huber Bruno & Louise
Hypatia of Alexandria
Jayne Charles
Johndro Edward
Kepler Johannes
Lilly William
March Marrion
Michelsen Neil
Newton Sir Isaac
Rodden Lois
Rudhyar Dane
The Astronomy of Houses
Graham Bates
There is general agreement amongst astrologers about the signs and what they signify, and how to define in which sign a planet is located, except possibly for the dispute between using tropical or sidereal signs. Houses are much more controversial. There are many different ways to define the location of the house cusps, and so to determine in which house a planet is located.
The houses of a chart serve two functions. On the one hand, they denote areas of life, and on the other, they determine the strength of a planet (planets in angular houses: 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th, are stronger than those in succedent or cadent houses). Our understanding of the area of life corresponding to each house has changed over time, so the traditional descriptions found in Lilly [1], or Houlding's recent book [2] differ in some respects from descriptions based on 20th century ideas [3, 4, 5]. However, this article is not concerned with house meanings, but with how we define which house a planet occupies: how we calculate the house cusps.
Planets in signs and houses operate on very different timescales. The sign a planet occupies depends on the date, with planets passing through all the signs in anything from 28 days (the Moon), to over 240 years (Pluto). The house a planet occupies depends on the time of day and location, with each planet passing through all twelve houses each day. As we will see, these very different timescales imply a very different basis for calculating a planet's sign and for calculating its house position.
Over time, many different methods of house division, or house systems, have been suggested, and a significant number of them are currently in use. Astrologers seem to have found it very difficult to decide which house system works best. Writers have pointed out the advantages of one and the deficiencies of another, but no consensus has emerged. This article will not be adding fuel to that debate! My aim is to suggest some reasons for different systems having been proposed in the past, and to make clear just how each system is constructed. If readers can understand how a particular system works in practice, how it relates to what is happening in the sky and the astronomy behind the house cusp calculations, they will be able to make a more reasoned choice of system for themselves. I should point out at the start that some astrologers have suggested that different house systems are appropriate for different purposes: one system for natal work, another for mundane, another for horary, etc. I will not be discussing this further but recommend the idea as worth further investigation.
In explaining how the houses are constructed, I will be using some simple diagrams, but if you are not familiar with the celestial sphere and the relationship between the ecliptic, celestial equator and horizon, before continuing with this article you may wish to read another of my articles on this website: Charts are not flat. For those interested in more detail on house construction and some of the history I recommend the excellent book by R. W. Holden [6].
House Systems
No single classification of house systems adequately covers all the many possibilities; however, following Holden's approach, we can distinguish three broad classes of house system:
Ecliptic Systems: These divide the ecliptic itself. Some of the earliest house systems, such as Porphyry, are of this type.
Space Systems: These divide the volume of the celestial sphere and then determine how the resulting house cusps relate to the ecliptic. Regiomontanus and Campanus houses are of this type.
Time Systems: These divide the daily (24 hour) rotation of the Earth, and the resulting house cusps are then related to ecliptic positions. Placidus houses are of this type.
Most house systems, such as Porphyry, Campanus or Placidus, produce houses of unequal size, when measured on the ecliptic.
Figure 2. Sample chart showing a quadrant house system
Another way to classify house systems is to distinguish quadrant and non-quadrant house systems. Quadrant systems divide the quarters ('quadrants') of the sky between the Ascendant, MC, Descendant and IC, treating these as the cusps of the First, Tenth, Seventh, and Fourth houses, respectively. They differ in where they place the intermediate house cusps. These quadrant systems give Angular, Succedent and Cadent houses. A planet in an Angular house, such as the first, tenth, etc. is considered stronger than one in a Succedent house, such as the second, fifth, etc., and a planet is weakest in its effects when in a Cadent house, such as the third, twelfth, sixth.
Ecliptic Systems
Whole Sign Houses
Probably the oldest house system is the Whole Sign system (not to be confused with the similar Equal House system, discussed below). This is a non-quadrant ecliptic system. James Holden, who researched early systems of house division, particularly the early Greek systems, points out [7] that the system used in the Hellenistic tradition was whole sign houses, or what he called the "sign-house" system. Robert Hand in his booklet [6] is also of the opinion that Whole Sign houses are probably the earliest system. In this system, the first house is the whole of the sign that is rising; the second house is the next sign to rise, and so on. In figure 1 (which is shown with Placidus houses), the first house is from 0 Pisces to 30 Pisces, the second house the whole of Aries and so on. If we look at Uranus, by Placidus it is in the first house, by Whole Sign, it is in the second; similarly, Jupiter is in the first by Placidus, but in the third by Whole Sign.
However, even with the Whole Sign system things are not quite that simple. Vettius Valens was a 2nd-century Hellenistic astrologer, and younger contemporary of Ptolemy. In his booklet, Hand [8] suggests that Valens used Whole Signs for determining the area of life a planet would affect, but used a quadrant system (probably Porphyry) to determine the strength of the planet. In most modern house systems, the same set of houses fulfils both functions: area of life and planetary strength.
A problem with Whole Sign houses is that the house cusps cannot easily be used for timing events. As houses correspond to signs, a transiting planet conjunct the cusp of the first house is also sextile the cusp of the third, square the cusp of the fourth, trine the fifth, etc. In addition, when a transiting planet moves from one house to the next it is, at the same time, changing sign.
Porphyry Houses
The oldest and simplest of the quadrant systems is Porphyry. The four quadrants (the areas between the angles) are each divided into three equal parts to get the cusps of the intermediate houses. So, in figure 1 above, the distance from the ascendant to the IC is 4PI54 to 20GE02, which is 90 degrees (three signs) plus 15 degrees 8 minutes, which gives 105 degrees 8 minutes. This distance is divided by three and added to the ascendant to give the second cusp: 105 degrees 8 Minutes divided by three gives 35 degrees 3 minutes (less a third of a degree, which we will ignore). Thus, the second cusp is at 4PI54 plus 35 degrees 3 minutes, which gives 9AR57. Similarly, by adding another 35 degrees 3 minutes we get 15TA00, the third house cusp. This puts Uranus in the second and Jupiter in the third.
Equal House
Like Whole Sign Houses, this is a non-quadrant ecliptic system. In both systems, each house is 30 degrees long; however, in Equal House the ascendant is the cusp of the first house. Therefore, in figure 1, the second house starts at 4AR54, the third at 4TA54, and so on. One issue with this system is that, because all the cusps are at the same degree position in each sign, transits to house cusps are in fact aspects to the Ascendant: the third cusp is sextile the ascendant, the fourth cusp square the ascendant, and so on.
The MC in Whole Sign and Equal House
Porphyry is a quadrant system, and so the tenth house cusp is the MC, but Whole Sign and Equal houses do not have the MC as the tenth cusp. Depending on the latitude, the MC can fall in the 8th, 9th, 10th, or 11th house. This is often seen as a significant problem with these non-quadrant systems. This takes us back to Valens; do we use the houses as indicators of planetary strength (as well as the area of life affected), or is strength determined by a planet's placement in relation to the angles?
Ecliptic, Equator, or Space Systems?
There are only three common ecliptic based house systems: Whole Sign, Equal House and Porphyry. It can be argued that the ecliptic is the wrong thing to use in deciding the house of a planet. The sign a planet occupies determines how the principle represented by the planet will function, while the house it occupies determines in which area of life a planet will manifest its action. To use the signs or any other ecliptic based division to determine the area of manifestation seems inconsistent. It is often argued that the signs divide the Earth's orbital plane into 12 equal segments and so by analogy, the houses should divide the Earth's rotational plane (the equator, or time), or the celestial sphere, into 12 equal segments. We will consider this later.
House Cusps
Before considering non-ecliptic based systems, I need to say something about the idea of a house cusp. The cusps have two functions. Firstly, they determine the sign ruling the house and so the house's ruling planet. Secondly, they determine the division between houses, but not necessarily the start of a house. What does that mean? In Christian Astrology [1], pages 33 and 151, Lilly refers to a 5-degree orb of influence that precedes the cusp of a house. Suppose the second house cusp is at 15 Taurus, and a planet at 11 Taurus. Lilly, and other early authors would view the planet as being in the second house, not the first. Thus, the start of a house is about 5 degrees before the cusp. The cusps determine the house divisions, but do not mark the start of each house, which is 5 degrees earlier.
This traditional view of house cusps derives from considering the cusp as the most powerful point of a house's influence.
There is a further point to consider if we allow this 5-degree orb. If we use transits (or progressions) to house cusps for timing of events, which point should we use? Is it the transit to the cusp, or the entry of the planet into the 'orb of influence' that marks the transit? This is something that would benefit from further work.
The Celestial Sphere
In order to explain the different systems of house division and how they are constructed, I will need to use diagrams of the celestial sphere and show the various great circles, such as the equator, ecliptic, horizon, etc. A diagram with them all shown, along with the construction of the houses, can be very confusing, so first I will show some simple diagrams, and then add extra information as needed.
Figure 2. North Pole and Equator
We start with the earth, showing the equator and the North Pole (Figure 2), this is then projected outwards onto the sky to form the celestial sphere. Note that the North Pole is at 90 degrees to the equator. In what follows, the point that at 90 degrees to any of the great circles will be called the pole of that circle. Just as the pole of the equator is at 90 degrees to all points on the equator, there is a pole of the ecliptic at 90 degrees to all points on the ecliptic, a pole of the horizon, and so on. This is shown in Figure 3.
Clearly, there are two poles, one above and one below the great circle, but it does not make any difference which we use in the construction of the houses. We will often use the pole of a great circle to 'project' points, usually onto the ecliptic. We want the position of the house cusps on the ecliptic.
Figure 3. North Pole of Equator versus North Pole of Ecliptic
If the cusps are generated by dividing the equator into 12 sections (as will happen in the first system we look at below), we need to take lines from one pole to the opposite pole, crossing the great circle of the equator at right angles, and note where these lines cross the ecliptic. Think of the lines of longitude on the earth, going from the north pole, across the equator and on to the south pole.
It is easy to get confused by this. Dividing a great circle, such as the celestial equator or the ecliptic and then taking lines from the pole of the circle being divided to cross it at right angles is like dividing the earth's equator and taking lines from the geographic North (or South) pole to give lines of geographic longitude. However, geographic longitude is measured on the earth's equator, whereas astronomical/astrological longitude is measured on the ecliptic.
Finally, note that often we will project from the poles of the circle being divided to get the ecliptic positions, but sometimes we will use another pole. More of that when we come to it.
Meridian House System
Perhaps the simplest of the space systems, the Meridian system (also known as the Axial Rotation system or the Zariel system) is based on the equal division of the celestial equator. The system was introduced in the early 20th century but has never achieved widespread popularity.
Figure 4 shows the construction of the Meridian house cusps. The diagram contains two extra great circles. The horizon is simply the local horizon projected onto the celestial sphere. Its only purpose in this diagram is to define the Ascendant, which is where the horizon intersects the ecliptic. The other is the celestial meridian which is the great circle passing through the north and south poles of the celestial equator and through the zenith at the location of the observer (directly overhead). The meridian is perpendicular to the celestial equator and the horizon. The point where the meridian crosses the ecliptic is the Mid Heaven (MC).
Figure 4. Meridian house cusps
To create the meridian house cusps, we start where the meridian crosses the celestial equator and divide the equator into twelve 30-degree segments. These points on the celestial equator are then projected onto the ecliptic from the pole of the equator. Note, the first house cusp does not, in general, equal the ascendant, although the tenth cusp is the MC.
The Meridian house cusps do not depend on birth latitude and so there is no problem in extreme latitudes.
Meridian houses have never become generally popular; however, the system has been used by the Uranian School. Perhaps the main justification for its use is theoretical. As the signs are derived from the movement of the earth around the sun, it is argued that the houses should be based on the daily rotation of the earth on its axis, and that this is best seen in the movement of a planet in relation to the celestial equator. As the Meridian system is constructed by division of the equator and projected from the pole of the equator, it has some claim to theoretical justification. In terms of our earlier classification, this is a non-quadrant system that can be described as both space- and time-based.
Morinus House System
The Morinus system, devised by Jean Baptist Morin in the 17th century, is very similar to the Meridian system.
As with the Meridian system, we start with the local meridian where it crosses the celestial equator, and then divide the equator into twelve 30-degree sections. However, instead of projecting these celestial equator points onto the ecliptic from the pole of the equator as we did in the meridian system, we project them from the pole of the ecliptic.
This is a non-quadrant system as the tenth Morinus cusp is not the MC, and the first Morinus cusp is not the Ascendant. Note that, as with Meridian cusps, the Morinus cusps do not depend on the birth location's latitude. In addition, as we are projecting positions onto the ecliptic from the pole of the ecliptic, planetary latitude, the distance north or south of the ecliptic, has no effect. The house position of a planet depends only on its ecliptic longitude.
Regiomontanus House System
This is the first of the non-ecliptic systems we will consider that has become reasonably popular. It was introduced by Regiomontanus (Johannes Muller) in the 15th century as a modification of the Campanus system (considered next).
Figure 5. Prime Vertical circle and poles, and Zenith
To understand its construction, we need to introduce another great circle: the prime vertical, which passes through the point on the celestial sphere directly above the observer (the zenith) and the points on the horizon due east and west of the observer (see figure 5). The poles of the prime vertical are the points on the horizon due north and south of the observer and are at 90 degrees to all the points on the prime vertical.
Figure 6. Regiomontanus uses the Prime Vertical poles
To construct the Regiomontanus house cusps we do not need the prime vertical itself, just its poles. In addition, we will once again use the Meridian and the celestial equator, as shown in figure 6.
As with the previous two house systems, we start with the equal (30 degree) division of the celestial equator (starting at the meridian) as shown in figure 7. We now project these points onto the ecliptic from the pole of the prime vertical.
Figure 7. Regiomontanus house cusps
In the Meridian system we projected from the pole of the equator, in the Morinus system we projected the same points from the pole of the ecliptic, and in the Regiomontanus we project the same points from the pole of the prime vertical.
Because the meridian and the horizon are at right angles to each other, and the pole of the prime vertical is on the horizon, projecting from the pole of the prime vertical makes the MC the 10th house cusp and the ascendant the 1st house cusp. This is a great advantage over the previous two systems.
Campanus House System
The Campanus house system was introduced in the 13th century and, like Regiomontanus, has been popular at various times. It still has a significant following and Dane Rudhyar recommended the use of Campanus houses in his book The Astrology of Personality [9].
John Addey, a founder of the Urania Trust, also favoured the use of Campanus houses. To predict the winner of a horse race, he used the start of race chart and used the next planet the Campanus 5th cusp would aspect as indicating the name of the winning house [10]. This is still a popular method used by sports astrologers.
We start from figure 5 above. We again take the meridian as our starting point, and now divide the prime vertical into equal 30-degree sections. These divisions are projected from the pole of the prime vertical onto the ecliptic, as shown in figure 8.
Figure 8. Campanus house cusps
A practical advantage of Campanus houses, like Regiomontanus, is that the MC is the 10th cusp and the Ascendant the 1st cusp. Because we are equally dividing the prime vertical, and then projecting from its pole, each house contains the same volume of the celestial sphere.
There is a potential issue when constructing Campanus cusps for locations at high latitudes. As we move away from the geographic equator, the angle between the prime vertical and the ecliptic becomes larger. Within the Arctic and Antarctic circles, they can be at right angles to each other making the construction of cusps impossible. Even in less extreme latitudes, there can be a large angle between the prime vertical and the ecliptic causing very distorted houses, with their sizes on the ecliptic varying greatly.
Zenith or Horizontal House System
The final space system I will consider was introduced in the early 20th century but never achieved widespread popularity, although it is used by some North American astrologers. It has some advantages at high latitudes.
In this system, it is the horizon that is divided into equal 30-degree sections (starting at the meridian) by great circles passing through the Zenith (giving the system its name), cutting the horizon at 90 degrees and continuing to the Nadir. The house cusps are where these great circles cross the ecliptic.
Figure 9. Zenith house cusps
Note that, although the MC is the tenth house cusp, the cusp of the first house is not the ascendant. Where the prime vertical intersects the ecliptic is sometimes called the 'Electric Ascendant', and the ecliptic point opposite it (in the West) is called the Vertex. The Vertex is sometimes used in charts that use a different house system than the Zenith system.
There is a certain naturalness about this system. If we go outside and look at the sky, the Zenith houses are equal volumes of space around us. Each house starts at the point above our head, takes in an equal sized section of the horizon, and continues to a point directly beneath our feet. In addition, whereas the Campanus system produces distorted houses at high latitudes, the Zenith system is the reverse. The ecliptic is low down, near the horizon in high latitudes, so a system that divides the horizon does not distort the house sizes on the ecliptic. On the other hand, near the equator, the ecliptic will be nearly at right angles to the horizon, and so the Zenith houses will have very distorted house sizes.
Space Systems in Summary
Before finishing our consideration of space systems of house division we should note that only a few of the systems that are theoretically possible have ever been proposed as practical house systems, and fewer still have become popular.
To calculate the house cusps using space systems we could equally divide any of the great circles on the celestial sphere and then project these points onto the ecliptic from the pole of any of the circles. The four great circles we could divide are equator, meridian, prime vertical and horizon. (Dividing the ecliptic gives Ecliptic System houses.) These could be projected from the poles of the ecliptic, horizon, equator, prime vertical and meridian). Hence, 20 variants are possible. Because projection from the pole of the meridian produces very distorted cusps, only 16 are practical possibilities, and we have considered five. We should note that of these, three involve equal division of the equator.
Time Systems
Time systems calculate house cusps on a different basis to the space systems we have looked at above. I will discuss three systems: Alcabitius, Placidus and Koch. They all use the concept of "trisecting a semiarc". The meaning of trisecting is simple enough: dividing something into three equal parts. A semiarc is the apparent movement of a specific point between the angles. Diurnal semiarcs are the ascendant to the MC, and the MC to the descendant. The nocturnal semiarcs are the descendant to the IC, and the IC to the ascendant. Time systems take the length of time for some specific point (which depends on the particular house system) to move between two angles: through a semiarc, and then divides this time into three equal parts to give two intermediate times. These two times are used to calculate the intermediate house cusps. The explanation may seem a little complicated, but specific examples, for each house system, should make the ideas clear.
Alcabitius House System
This is the earliest of the time systems of house division, named after the 10th century Arabic astrologer Alcabitius who wrote about the system (although the method was known from the fifth century and possible earlier). Alcabitius houses were popular in Europe until the introduction of the Regiomontanus system in the late 15th century. It is conceptually straightforward and the cusps are easy to calculate.
Consider the point on the ecliptic that is the natal ascendant. As the earth rotates this point will rise until it is the MC. This time is the semiarc of the ascendant: the time for the cusp of the first house to become the MC, the cusp of the tenth house. This time can be trisected: divided into three equal parts. Technically, this is described as trisecting the semiarc of the ascendant.
At the end of the first third of the semiarc time, a particular point in the natal chart will have moved to become the MC. This point is the Alcabitius natal eleventh cusp. Similarly, at the end of two thirds of the period, a different point in the natal chart will have moved to become the MC. This point is the Alcabitius natal twelfth cusp. Finally, in the whole period, a point in the natal chart will have become the MC; this is the Alcabitius first cusp: the ascendant.
Alcabitius Example
Consider the chart shown as figure 10 set for 1 December 2013 at 13:00:00 in London (51N30, 0W10) with Alcabitius cusps.
Figure 10. Chart using Alcabitius houses
The ascendant is 19PI00 at 13:00:00 and this position will be the MC at 18:37:07.
The time for the ascendant to become the MC is 5h 37m 7s.
Dividing 5h 37m 7s by three gives 1h 52m 22s, so the intermediate times are 13h 0m 0s + 1h 52m 22s = 14h 52m 22s and 13h 0m + 1h 52m 22s + 1h 52m 22s = 16h 44m 44s.
Finally, calculating the MC for 14:52:22 and 16:44:44 gives 21CP47 and 19AQ18, which are the twelfth and eleventh Alcabitius cusps shown in figure 10.
The second and third cusps are found in the same way but using the IC to Ascendant semiarc. We look back rather than forward and find when the natal ascendant position (19PI00) was the IC. This was at 6:39:04, which was 6h 21m ago (approximately). Dividing this by three gives 2h 7m, so we have 13h 00m – 2h 7m = 10h 53m and 13h 00m – 4h 14m = 8h 46m as the two times of interest. We now find the position of the IC (not the MC as we are using the nocturnal semiarc) at these times and get 25TA52 for the third cusp and 23AR28 for the second cusp, as shown in figure 10.
One advantage of Alcabitius houses is that there is little distortion in the relative sizes of the houses. Although some houses are greater than 30 degrees wide and some less, there are no very wide or very narrow houses, something that happens in some other house systems. Using Campanus houses for example, a chart can have some houses 80 degrees wide and others 10 degrees wide, even at the latitude of London. The modern neglect of the Alcabitius system is somewhat surprising. Perhaps it is time for some research into the usefulness of Alcabitius houses, particularly into transits to the house cusps and their accuracy in timing life events.
Placidus House System
The Placidus system is undoubtedly the most widely used house system in modern practice; however, it can be rather difficult to grasp at first. It is named after the 17th century mathematician Placidus de Tito but seems to have been known in the early 14th century, and possibly earlier. Its popularity may be due to the inclusion of Placidus tables in Raphael's Ephemeris, the standard reference for generations of astrologers in the 19th and 20th centuries. Other house tables were quite uncommon. Placidus claimed that this system matches Ptolemy's rather obscure explanation of houses in the Tetrabiblos.
The calculation of the cusps starts in the same way as Alcabitius: the time for a given position on the ecliptic to move from being the ascendant to being the MC is noted and this time trisected. The calculation then differs from Alcabitius. These intermediate times are the times at which the given ecliptic position will become the eleventh and twelfth house cusps. Note the important difference; we do not calculate the position of the cusps for the time of the natal chart. We calculate the time of a chart in which the given position will be the relevant cusp.
To calculate the position of these intermediate cusps in the natal chart, we need to find the time of an earlier chart whose ascendant position will become the relevant cusp at the time of the natal chart. If this sounds complicated, an example should help.
Placidus Example
Figure 11 is the same chart we used for Alcabitius, but shown with Placidus cusps. We know from the Alcabitius calculations above that the times from the trisection of the ascendant-MC semiarc are 14h 52m 22s and 16h 44m 44s. So, at 14:52:22 the Placidus twelfth cusp will be 19PI00 (the ascendant in figure 11). Similarly, the eleventh Placidus cusp at 16:44:44 will be 19PI00.
Figure 11. Chart using Placidus houses
As is probably becoming clear, the calculation of Placidus cusps for a natal chart is not straightforward. To find the twelfth cusp, for example, we have to find the time of an earlier chart such that the ascendant of that earlier chart will be the twelfth cusp of the natal chart at the time of the natal chart. The only way to do this is by iteration: trial and error. For the earlier chart, we find the ascendant-MC semiarc time and calculate one third of this. We add that to the time of this earlier chart, and see if the time is equal to the natal time. If it is equal, then the ascendant of the earlier chart becomes the natal twelfth cusp. If the time of the earlier chart plus the trisected semiarc time is after the natal chart time, we need to move the earlier chart back in time and try again; and if the time of the earlier chart plus the trisected semiarc time is before the natal chart time, we need to move the earlier chart forward in time and try again.
Fortunately, tables of houses and computer software do all this for us, but the idea is not simple.
The calculation of the other cusps (second and third) is similar to the Alcabitius calculation: instead of the ascendant-MC semiarc, we use the IC-ascendant semiarc.
There is another way we can think about Placidus cusps that helps understand the idea behind the system. We start by thinking about the time a specific point on the ecliptic takes to get from its rising as the ascendant to its culmination as the MC. This time can be divided into three. For the first third of the time from ascendant to MC, the point is in the twelfth house. For the second third of the time, it is in the eleventh house, and in the last third of the time, it is passing through the tenth house.
Obviously if a planet is not exactly on the ecliptic: if it has celestial latitude, it will rise north or south of the ecliptic's rising position. The time it takes from rising to culmination will be less (north) or more (south) than that of the ecliptic. This will change the house cusp positions. I will consider this latitude problem later.
Koch House System
This is sometimes called the Birthplace house system and is a very recent development. Tables of Koch houses were not published until 1971.
The Koch system is a variant of Alcabitius. To calculate the Alcabitius cusps we used the semiarc of the ascendant (how long it would take for the chart ascendant to become the MC). For Koch we start with the semiarc of the MC: working back from the chart's time to an earlier time when the chart's MC was the ascendant. We trisect this in the usual way and take the ascendants for these times as the house cusps. The easiest way to understand this is by an example of the calculation, which is very simple.
Figure 12. Chart using Koch houses
In figure 12, the MC is 25SG45 at 13:00:00. We find the semiarc time by noting that 25SG45 was the ascendant at 09:12:11, so the MC semiarc is 13h 0m 00s – 9h 12m 11s = 3h 47m 49s. We divide this by three to give 1h 15m 56s.
At 9h 12m 11s + 1h 15m 56s = 10h 28m 07s, the ascendant is 14CP25 this is equal to the eleventh cusp shown below.
At 10h 28m 07s + 1h 15m 56s = 11h 44m 03s the ascendant is 10AQ18, equal to the twelfth cusp shown below.
It is worth noting that the difference between the positions of the Koch and Placidus cusps is often not very great, particularly when compared to some space systems, such as Campanus, that can produce very unequal house sizes on the ecliptic.
In many ways, the Koch system is the simplest to calculate, although it does fail in polar latitudes as there can be points on the ecliptic that never rise/set, and so cannot be the ascendant.
Topocentric House System
This is the final system I will consider. It is another recent development, first published in 1961 by Wendel Polich and Nelson Page and is a refinement of the Placidus system. The Topocentric house cusps are usually within a degree or two (depending on geographic latitude) of the Placidus cusps. Polich and Page claim that Topocentric house cusps provide more accurate predictions for the timing of events, using primary directions, than other house systems.
Figure 13. Topocentric axis
To get a feel for what the Topocentric house system is about, consider the Earth, turning on its axis as shown in Figure 13. To an observer everything in the sky appears to turn about an axis passing through the observer and parallel to the Earth's axis. This axis is called the Topocentric axis. Topocentric means relative to (or centred on) a point on the surface of the Earth.
The Geocentric Horizon passes through the centre of the Earth, and is the horizon normally used in astrology. If we rotate the geocentric horizon about the Topocentric axis, we get a cone of rotation, as shown in figure 14. It is this cone that is used to construct the Topocentric house cusps.
Figure 14. Geocentric Horizon and the cone of rotation
The final stage is to take the circular top of this cone and mark-off lines from the centre to the edge at every 30 degrees of rotation. Figure 15 shows this, but only for half the circle to make the diagram manageable and less cluttered. We then trisect these radius lines: the first at the outer edge of the cone, the next one third of the way in, the next two thirds in, and the fourth at the centre of the cone's base. We then move out again. Figure 15 shows the position of these divisions (the length of the arrowed lines is not relevant).
Figure 15. Measuring Topocentric house cusps
Having found the positions on the radius lines that trisect the cone's radius, we draw lines at right angles to the radius lines, as shown by the arrowed lines. Where these lines intersect the ecliptic are the house cusps (as indicated).
The mathematical calculations of the cusp positions is more complicated than for the other system I have considered in this article, and a full explanation would involve more mathematics than is appropriate here. For a detailed explanation, see Section 4 in Chapter 4 of Holden [6], or the 1964 article in Spica [11] by the developers of the system.
To summarise, the main things to note about the Topocentric House system are that the cusps are very close to the Placidus cusps, the method of construction is based on the horizon as seen from the surface of the earth rather that the geocentric horizon, and that the cusps are claimed to give better timing of events (using primary directions) than other house systems.
A Problem with House Division
There is a potential problem with methods of house division that needs to be considered: planetary latitude. It is only occasionally that a body (apart from the Sun) is exactly on the ecliptic, usually planets have celestial latitude. For Ecliptic house systems: Whole Sign, Equal House and Porphyry, planetary latitude presents no problem as the houses are defined by division of the ecliptic and a planet's ecliptic position is all that matters. However, if the houses are defined not by division of the ecliptic, but by division of some other great circle, then a planet's bodily position may be in a different house to its ecliptic position. This is shown in figure 16 where the planet itself is on the twelfth house side of a house cusp line but its ecliptic longitude is on the eleventh house side. For this illustration I have used a house system that projects from the pole of the equator.
Figure 16. Planetary latitude
If a house system divides some great circle (such as the equator) and projects these divisions onto the ecliptic from the pole of a circle other than the ecliptic, then the dividing lines between the houses will not intersect the ecliptic at right angles. As in figure 16 the projection is from the pole of the equator, the house dividing lines are at right angles to the equator, but the planet's body is on one side of the line and its ecliptic position is on the other side. This problem is particularly likely to occur when the planet's ecliptic longitude is close to a house cusp. Of the space systems I have discussed, only Morinus projects from the pole of the ecliptic, and so this is the only space system that does not have this latitude problem.
As the conceptual basis of the space systems is to equally divide the space of the celestial sphere, whatever falls within the space of a particular house should be considered as being in that house. The problem of planetary latitude cannot be avoided with these systems. However, this assumes that it is the planet's bodily position that matters. A significant number of astrologers argue that it is not the physical position of a planet that matters but rather its ecliptic position, and so planetary latitude is not relevant. In other words, our astrology is based on ecliptic positions, so a planet's house should also be determined by ecliptic position.
For further discussion of planetary latitude, refer to my article on the Urania Trust website: Charts are not flat
The Time systems of house division also have a latitude problem. When discussing the Alcabitus and Placidus systems, I have talked about the semiarc of a point on the ecliptic. If a planet is not on the ecliptic then its bodily rising will be earlier or later than that of its ecliptic position, and so its semiarc will be longer of shorter. The house cusps will be in different positions on the ecliptic for different planetary latitudes. Note, this is different to the problem with space systems where the ecliptic position of the cusp is the same for all latitudes, but the planet's body may be in a different house: on the other side of a house boundary to its ecliptic position.
The Koch system also has a planetary latitude problem. First, we calculate the MC semiarc, but the time at which a planet's ecliptic longitude was the ascendant and the time the body itself was rising are different. In addition, given the two times from dividing the MC semiarc, we then calculate the ecliptic position rising for these times. The usual problem occurs: the planet does not rise when its ecliptic position rises if the planet has latitude.
In summary, if a planet has latitude then all the space systems except Morinus, and all the time systems have a problem defining a planet's house position as it is not exactly on the ecliptic.
There is still no agreement on the 'correct' system of house division. Even if we accept the suggestion that different systems might be appropriate for different purposes, there is still no agreement on what they are. Many astrologers use either the method of house division they were first taught, or the default method of their computer software, without thinking too hard about the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various systems. I hope this description of the main methods that have been used to construct the houses will help astrologers make considered decisions about which method to use.
Notes and Bibliography
[1] Lilly, Christian Astrology, various modern editions such as Astrology Classics 2005.
[2] Houlding, D (2006), The Houses: Temples of the Sky, Wessex Astrologer Ltd.
[3] Hone, M, (2010), Modern Text-Book of Astrology, Astrology Classics.
[4] Sasportas, H, (2007), The Twelve Houses, (revised edition), Flare Publications/London School of Astrology.
[5] Pelletier, R. (1981) Planets in Houses, Whitford Press, USA
[6] Holden, Ralph William (1977), The Elements of House Division, L. N. Fowler, Romford. Reprinted by The Faculty of Astrological Studies.
[7] Holden, James (1982), Ancient House Division, The American Federation of Astrologers Journal of Research Vol. 1, Tempe, AZ, August 1982, pp. 19-29.
[8] Hand, Robert (1999), Whole Sign Houses: The Oldest House System. (ARHAT Publications).
[9] Rudhyar, Dane (1991), The Astrology of Personality, Aurora Press.
[10] Addey, John (1960), Astrological Journal Vol 2, no 2, pp 16-18.
[11] Polich W. and Nelson Page (1964), The Topocentric System of Houses, SPICA Vol 3, no 3, pp 3-10.
© Graham Bates, December 2013 and March 2014.
Author: Graham Bates
Graham Bates is co-author of Money and the Markets: An Astrological Guide, along with Jane Chrzanowska Bowles.
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12 USC 1710: Payment of insurance Text contains those laws in effect on July 18, 2019
From Title 12-BANKS AND BANKINGCHAPTER 13-NATIONAL HOUSINGSUBCHAPTER II-MORTGAGE INSURANCE
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§1710. Payment of insurance
(1) Authorized claims procedures
The Secretary may, in accordance with this subsection and terms and conditions prescribed by the Secretary, pay insurance benefits to a mortgagee for any mortgage insured under section 1709 of this title through any of the following methods:
(A) Assignment of mortgage
The Secretary may pay insurance benefits whenever a mortgage has been in a monetary default for not less than 3 full monthly installments or whenever the mortgagee is entitled to foreclosure for a nonmonetary default. Insurance benefits shall be paid pursuant to this subparagraph only upon the assignment, transfer, and delivery to the Secretary of-
(i) all rights and interests arising under the mortgage;
(ii) all claims of the mortgagee against the mortgagor or others arising out of the mortgage transaction;
(iii) title evidence satisfactory to the Secretary; and
(iv) such records relating to the mortgage transaction as the Secretary may require.
(B) Conveyance of title to property
The Secretary may pay insurance benefits if the mortgagee has acquired title to the mortgaged property through foreclosure or has otherwise acquired such property from the mortgagor after a default upon-
(i) the prompt conveyance to the Secretary of title to the property which meets the standards of the Secretary in force at the time the mortgage was insured and which is evidenced in the manner provided by such standards; and
(ii) the assignment to the Secretary of all claims of the mortgagee against the mortgagor or others, arising out of mortgage transaction or foreclosure proceedings, except such claims as may have been released with the consent of the Secretary.
The Secretary may permit the mortgagee to tender to the Secretary a satisfactory conveyance of title and transfer of possession directly from the mortgagor or other appropriate grantor, and may pay to the mortgagee the insurance benefits to which it would otherwise be entitled if such conveyance had been made to the mortgagee and from the mortgagee to the Secretary.
(C) Claim without conveyance of title
The Secretary may pay insurance benefits upon sale of the mortgaged property at foreclosure where such sale is for at least the fair market value of the property (with appropriate adjustments), as determined by the Secretary, and upon assignment to the Secretary of all claims referred to in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B).
(D) Preforeclosure sale
The Secretary may pay insurance benefits upon the sale of the mortgaged property by the mortgagor after default and the assignment to the Secretary of all claims referred to in clause (ii) of subparagraph (B), if-
(i) the sale of the mortgaged property has been approved by the Secretary;
(ii) the mortgagee receives an amount at least equal to the fair market value of the property (with appropriate adjustments), as determined by the Secretary; and
(iii) the mortgagor has received an appropriate disclosure, as determined by the Secretary.
(2) Payment for loss mitigation
The Secretary may pay insurance benefits to the mortgagee to recompense the mortgagee for all or part of any costs of the mortgagee for taking loss mitigation actions that provide an alternative to foreclosure of a mortgage that is in default or faces imminent default, as defined by the Secretary (including but not limited to actions such as special forbearance, loan modification, support for borrower housing counseling, partial claims, borrower incentives, preforeclosure sale, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure, but not including assignment of mortgages to the Secretary under section subsection 1 (a)(1)(A) or section 1715u(c) of this title). No actions taken under this paragraph, nor any failure to act under this paragraph, by the Secretary or by a mortgagee shall be subject to judicial review.
(3) Determination of claims procedure
The Secretary shall publish guidelines for determining which of the procedures for payment of insurance under paragraph (1) are available to a mortgagee when it claims insurance benefits. At least one of the procedures for payment of insurance benefits specified in paragraph (1)(A) or (1)(B) shall be available to a mortgagee with respect to a mortgage, but the same procedure shall not be required to be available for all of the mortgages held by a mortgagee.
(4) Servicing of assigned mortgages
If a mortgage is assigned to the Secretary under paragraph (1)(A), the Secretary may permit the assigning mortgagee or its servicer to continue to service the mortgage for reasonable compensation and on terms and conditions determined by the Secretary. Neither the Secretary nor any servicer of the mortgage shall be required to forbear from collection of amounts due under the mortgage or otherwise pursue loss mitigation measures.
(5) Calculation of insurance benefits
Insurance benefits shall be paid in accordance with section 1735d of this title and shall be equal to the original principal obligation of the mortgage (with such additions and deductions as the Secretary determines are appropriate) which was unpaid upon the date of-
(A) assignment of the mortgage to the Secretary;
(B) the institution of foreclosure proceedings;
(C) the acquisition of the property after default other than by foreclosure; or
(D) sale of the mortgaged property by the mortgagor.
(6) Forbearance and recasting after default
The mortgagee may, upon such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe-
(A) extend the time for the curing of the default and the time for commencing foreclosure proceedings or for otherwise acquiring title to the mortgaged property, to such time as the mortgagee determines is necessary and desirable to enable the mortgagor to complete the mortgage payments, including an extension of time beyond the stated maturity of the mortgage, and in the event of a subsequent foreclosure or acquisition of the property by other means the Secretary may include in the amount of insurance benefits an amount equal to any unpaid mortgage interest; or
(B) provide for a modification of the terms of the mortgage for the purpose of recasting, over the remaining term of the mortgage or over such longer period pursuant to guidelines as may be prescribed by the Secretary, the total unpaid amount then due, with the modification to become effective currently or to become effective upon the termination of an agreed-upon extension of the period for curing the default; and the principal amount of the mortgage, as modified, shall be considered the "original principal obligation of the mortgage" for purposes of paragraph (5).
(7) Termination of premium obligation
The obligation of the mortgagee to pay the premium charges for insurance shall cease upon fulfillment of the appropriate requirements under which the Secretary may pay insurance benefits, as described in paragraph (1). The Secretary may also terminate the mortgagee's obligation to pay mortgage insurance premiums upon receipt of an application filed by the mortgagee for insurance benefits under paragraph (1), or in the event the contract of insurance is terminated pursuant to section 1715t of this title.
(8) Effect on payment of insurance benefits under section 1715u
Nothing in this section shall limit the authority of the Secretary to pay insurance benefits under section 1715u of this title.
(9) Treatment of mortgage assignment program
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, or the Amended Stipulation entered as a consent decree on November 8, 1979, in Ferrell v. Cuomo, No. 73 C 334 (N.D. Ill.), or any other order intended to require the Secretary to operate the program of mortgage assignment and forbearance that was operated by the Secretary pursuant to the Amended Stipulation and under the authority of section 1715u of this title, prior to its amendment by section 407(b) of The Balanced Budget Downpayment Act, I (Public Law 104–99; 110 Stat. 45), no mortgage assigned under this section may be included in any mortgage foreclosure avoidance program that is the same or substantially equivalent to such a program of mortgage assignment and forbearance.
(b) Consent to release of mortgagor or property
The Secretary may at any time, under such terms and conditions as he may prescribe, consent to the release of the mortgagor from his liability under the mortgage or the credit instrument secured thereby, or consent to the release of parts of the mortgaged property from the lien of the mortgage.
(c) Debentures; form and amounts
Debentures issued under this section-
(1) shall be in such form and amounts;
(2) shall be subject to such terms and conditions;
(3) shall include such provisions for redemption, if any, as may be prescribed by the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury; and
(4) may be in book entry or certificated registered form, or such other form as the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may prescribe in regulations.
(d) Debentures; issuance; negotiability; terms; tax exemptions
The debentures issued under this section to any mortagee 2 with respect to mortgages insured under section 1709 of this title shall be issued in the name of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund as obligor and shall be negotiable, and, if in book entry form, transferable, in the manner described by the Secretary in regulations. All such debentures shall be dated as of the date foreclosure proceedings were instituted, or the property was otherwise acquired by the mortgagee after default: Provided, That debentures issued pursuant to claims for insurance filed on or after September 2, 1964 shall be dated as of the date of default or as of such later date as the Secretary, in his discretion, may establish by regulation. The debentures shall bear interest from such date at a rate established by the Secretary pursuant to section 1715o of this title, payable semiannually on the 1st day of January and the 1st day of July of each year, and shall mature twenty years after the date thereof. Such debentures as are issued in exchange for property covered by mortgages insured under section 1709 or section 1713 of this title prior to February 3, 1938 shall be subject only to such Federal, State, and local taxes as the mortgages in exchange for which they are issued would be subject to in the hands of the holder of the debentures and shall be a liability of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, but such debentures shall be fully and unconditionally guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States; but any mortgagee entitled to receive any such debentures may elect to receive in lieu thereof a cash adjustment and debentures issued as hereinafter provided and bearing the current rate of interest. Such debentures as are issued in exchange for property covered by the mortgages insured after February 3, 1938, shall be exempt, both as to principal and interest, from all taxation (except surtaxes, estate, inheritance, and gift taxes) now or hereafter imposed by the United States, by any Territory, dependency, or possession thereof, or by any State, county, municipality, or local taxing authority; and such debentures shall be paid out of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, which shall be primarily liable therefor, and they shall be fully and unconditionally guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States, and, in the case of debentures issued in certificated registered form, such guaranty shall be expressed on the face of the debentures. In the event that the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund fails to pay upon demand, when due, the principal of or interest on any debentures issued under this section, the Secretary of the Treasury shall pay to the holders the amount thereof which is authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, and thereupon to the extent of the amount so paid the Secretary of the Treasury shall succeed to all the rights of the holders of such debentures.
(e) Certificate of claim
(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the certificate of claim issued by the Secretary to any mortgagee shall be for an amount which the Secretary determines to be sufficient, when added to the face value of the debentures issued and the cash adjustment paid to the mortgagee, to equal the amount which the mortgagee would have received if, at the time of the conveyance to the Secretary of the property covered by the mortgage, the mortgagor had redeemed the property and paid in full all obligations under the mortgage and a reasonable amount for necessary expenses incurred by the mortgagee in connection with the foreclosure proceedings, or the acquisition of the mortgaged property otherwise, and the conveyance thereof to the Secretary. Each such certificate of claim shall provide that there shall accrue to the holder of such certificate with respect to the face amount of such certificate, an increment at the rate of 3 per centum per annum which shall not be compounded. The amount to which the holder of any such certificate shall be entitled shall be determined as provided in subsection (f).
(2) A certificate of claim shall not be issued and the provisions of paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not be applicable in the case of a mortgage accepted for insurance pursuant to a commitment issued on or after September 2, 1964.
(f) Division of excess proceeds; settlement of certificates of claims and refunds to mortgagors
(1) If, after deducting (in such manner and amount as the Secretary shall determine to be equitable and in accordance with sound accounting practice) the expenses incurred by the Secretary, the net amount realized from any property conveyed to the Secretary under this section and the claims assigned therewith exceed the face value of the debentures issued and the cash paid in exchange for such property plus all interest paid on such debentures, such excess shall be divided as follows:
(i) If such excess is greater than the total amount payable under the certificate of claim issued in connection with such property, the Secretary shall pay to the holder of such certificate the full amount so payable, and any excess remaining thereafter shall be paid to the mortgagor of such property if the mortgage was insured under section 1709 of this title: Provided, That on and after September 2, 1964, any excess remaining after payment to the holder of the full amount of the certificate of claim, together with the accrued interest increment thereon, shall be retained by the Secretary and credited to the applicable insurance fund; and
(ii) If such excess is equal to or less than the total amount payable under such certificate of claim, the Secretary shall pay to the holder of such certificate the full amount of such excess.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, the Secretary is authorized, with respect to mortgages insured pursuant to commitments for insurance issued after August 11, 1955, and, with the consent of the mortgagee or mortgagor, as the case may be, with respect to mortgages insured pursuant to commitments issued prior to such date, to effect the settlement of certificates of claim and refunds to mortgagors at any time after the sale or transfer of title to the property conveyed to the Secretary under this section and without awaiting the final liquidation of such property for the purpose of determining the net amount to be realized therefrom: Provided, That the settlement authority created by the Housing Amendments of 1955 shall be terminated with respect to any certificates of claim outstanding as of September 2, 1964.
(3) With the consent of the holder thereof, the Secretary is authorized, without awaiting the final liquidation of the Secretary's interest in the property, to settle any certificate of claim issued pursuant to subsection (e), with respect to which settlement had not been effected prior to September 2, 1964, by making payment in cash to the holder thereof of such amount not exceeding the face amount of the certificate of claim, together with the accrued interest thereon, as the Secretary may consider appropriate: Provided, That in any case where the certificate of claim is settled in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph, any amounts realized after September 2, 1964, in the liquidation of the Secretary's interest in the property, shall be retained by the Secretary and credited to the applicable insurance fund.
(g) Handling and disposal of property; settlement of claims
Notwithstanding any other provision of law relating to the acquisition, handling, or disposal of real property by the United States, the Secretary shall have power to deal with, complete, rent, renovate, modernize, insure, or sell for cash or credit, in his discretion, any properties conveyed to him in exchange for debentures and certificates of claim as provided in this section; and notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary shall also have power to pursue to final collection, by way of compromise or otherwise, all claims against mortgagors assigned by mortgagees to the Secretary as provided in this section: Provided, That section 6101 of title 41 shall not be construed to apply to any contract for hazard insurance, or to any purchase or contract for services or supplies on account of such property if the amount thereof does not exceed $1,000. The Secretary shall, by regulation, carry out a program of sales of such properties and shall develop and implement appropriate credit terms and standards to be used in carrying out the program. The power to convey and to execute in the name of the Secretary deeds of conveyance, deeds of release, assignments and satisfactions of mortgages, and any other written instrument relating to real or personal property or any interest therein heretofore or hereafter acquired by the Secretary pursuant to the provisions of this chapter, may be exercised by an officer appointed by him, without the execution of any express delegation of power or power of attorney: Provided, That nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the Secretary from delegating such power by order or by power of attorney, in his discretion, to any officer, agent, or employee he may appoint: And provided further, That a conveyance or transfer of title to real or personal property or an interest therein to the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, his successors and assigns, without identifying the Secretary therein, shall be deemed a proper conveyance or transfer to the same extent and of like effect as if the Secretary were personally named in such conveyance or transfer. The Secretary may sell real and personal property acquired by the Secretary pursuant to the provisions of this chapter on such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe.
(h) Disposition of assets in revitalization areas
(1) In general
The purpose of this subsection is to require the Secretary to carry out a program under which eligible assets (as such term is defined in paragraph (2)) shall be made available for sale in a manner that promotes the revitalization, through expanded homeownership opportunities, of revitalization areas. Notwithstanding the authority under the last sentence of subsection (g), the Secretary shall dispose of all eligible assets under the program and shall establish the program in accordance with the requirements under this subsection.
(2) Eligible assets
For purposes of this subsection, the term "eligible asset" means any of the following categories of assets of the Secretary, unless the Secretary determines at any time that the asset property is economically or otherwise infeasible to rehabilitate or that the best use of the asset property is as open space (including park land):
(A) Properties
Any property that-
(i) is designed as a dwelling for occupancy by 1 to 4 families;
(ii) is located in a revitalization area;
(iii) was previously subject to a mortgage insured under the provisions of this chapter; and
(iv) is owned by the Secretary pursuant to the payment of insurance benefits under this chapter.
(B) Mortgages
Any mortgage that-
(i) is an interest in a property that meets the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph (A);
(ii) was previously insured under the provisions of this chapter except for mortgages insured under or made pursuant to sections 1715z, 1715z–12, or 1715z–20 of this title; and
(iii) is held by the Secretary pursuant to the payment of insurance benefits under this chapter.
For purposes of this subsection, an asset under this subparagraph shall be considered to be located in a revitalization area, or in the asset control area of a preferred purchaser, if the property described in clause (i) is located in such area.
(3) Revitalization areas
The Secretary shall designate areas as revitalization areas for purposes of this subsection. Before designation of an area as a revitalization area, the Secretary shall consult with affected units of general local government, States, and Indian tribes and interested nonprofit organizations. The Secretary may designate as revitalization areas only areas that meet one of the following requirements:
(A) Very-low income area
The median household income for the area is less than 60 percent of the median household income for-
(i) in the case of any area located within a metropolitan area, such metropolitan area; or
(ii) in the case of any area not located within a metropolitan area, the State in which the area is located.
(B) High concentration of eligible assets
A high rate of default or foreclosure for single family mortgages insured under this chapter has resulted, or may result, in the area-
(i) having a disproportionately high concentration of eligible assets, in comparison with the concentration of such assets in surrounding areas; or
(ii) being detrimentally impacted by eligible assets in the vicinity of the area.
(C) Low home ownership rate
The rate for home ownership of single family homes in the area is substantially below the rate for homeownership in the metropolitan area.
(4) Preference for sale to preferred purchasers
The Secretary shall provide a preference, among prospective purchasers of eligible assets, for sale of such assets to any purchaser who-
(A) is-
(i) the unit of general local government, State, or Indian tribe having jurisdiction with respect to the area in which are located the eligible assets to be sold; or
(ii) a nonprofit organization;
(B) in making a purchase under the program under this subsection-
(i) establishes an asset control area, which shall be an area that consists of part or all of a revitalization area; and
(ii) purchases all assets of the Secretary in the category or categories of eligible assets set forth in the sale agreement required under paragraph (7) that, at any time during the period which shall be set forth in the sale agreement-
(I) are or become eligible for purchase under this subsection; and
(II) are located in the asset control area of the purchaser; and
(C) has the capacity to carry out the purchase of the category or categories of eligible assets set forth in the sale agreement under the program under this subsection and under the provisions of this paragraph.
(5) Agreements required for purchase
(A) Preferred purchasers
Under the program under this subsection, the Secretary may sell an eligible asset as provided in paragraph (4) to a preferred purchaser only pursuant to a binding agreement by the preferred purchaser that the eligible asset will be used in conjunction with a home ownership plan that provides as follows:
(i) The plan has as its primary purpose the expansion of home ownership in, and the revitalization of, the asset control area, established pursuant to paragraph (4)(B)(i) by the purchaser, in which the eligible asset is located.
(ii) Under the plan, the preferred purchaser has established, and agreed to meet, specific performance goals for increasing the rate of home ownership for eligible assets in the asset control area that are under the purchaser's control. The plan shall provide that the Secretary may waive or modify such goals or deadlines only upon a determination by the Secretary that a good faith effort has been made in complying with the goals through the homeownership plan and that exceptional neighborhood conditions prevented attainment of the goal.
(iii) Under the plan, the preferred purchaser has established rehabilitation standards that meet or exceed the standards for housing quality established under subparagraph (B)(iii) by the Secretary, and has agreed that each asset property for an eligible asset purchased will be rehabilitated in accordance with such standards.
(B) Non-preferred purchasers
Under the program under this subsection, the Secretary may sell an eligible asset to a purchaser who is not a preferred purchaser only pursuant to a binding agreement by the purchaser that complies with the following requirements:
(i) The purchaser has agreed to meet specific performance goals established by the Secretary for home ownership of the asset properties for the eligible assets purchased by the purchaser, except that the Secretary may, by including a provision in the sale agreement required under paragraph (7), provide for a lower rate of home ownership in sales involving exceptional circumstances.
(ii) The purchaser has agreed that each asset property for an eligible asset purchased will be rehabilitated to comply with minimum standards for housing quality established by the Secretary for purposes of the program under this subsection.
(6) Discount for preferred purchasers
For the purpose of providing a public purpose discount for the bulk sales of eligible assets made under the program under this subsection by preferred purchasers, each eligible asset sold through the program under this subsection to a preferred purchaser shall be sold at a price that is discounted from the value of the asset, as based on the appraised value of the asset property (as such term is defined in paragraph (8)).
(B) Appraisals
The Secretary shall require that each appraisal of an eligible asset under this paragraph is based upon-
(i) the market value of the asset property in its "as is" physical condition, which shall take into consideration age and condition of major mechanical and structural systems; and
(ii) the value of the property appraised for home ownership.
(C) Discounts
The Secretary, in the sole discretion of the Secretary, shall establish the discount under this paragraph for an eligible asset. In determining the discount, the Secretary may consider the condition of the asset property, the extent of resources available to the preferred purchaser, the comprehensive revitalization plan undertaken by such purchaser, the financial safety and soundness of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, and any other circumstances the Secretary considers appropriate 3
(7) Sale agreement
The Secretary may sell an eligible asset under this subsection only pursuant to a sale agreement entered into under this paragraph with the purchaser, which shall include the following provisions:
(A) Assets
The sale agreement shall identify the category or categories of eligible assets to be purchased and, based on the purchaser's capacity to manage and dispose of assets, the maximum number of assets owned by the Secretary at the time the sale agreement is executed that shall be sold to the purchaser.
(B) Revitalization area and asset control area
The sale agreement shall identify-
(i) the boundaries of the specific revitalization areas (or portions thereof) in which are located the eligible assets that are covered by the agreement; and
(ii) in the case of a preferred purchaser, the asset control area established pursuant to paragraph (4)(B)(i) that is covered by the agreement.
(C) Financing
The sale agreement shall identify the sources of financing for the purchase of the eligible assets.
(D) Binding agreements
The sale agreement shall contain binding agreements by the purchaser sufficient to comply with-
(i) in the case of a preferred purchaser, the requirements under paragraph (5)(A), which agreements shall provide that the eligible assets purchased will be used in conjunction with a home ownership plan meeting the requirements of such paragraph, and shall set forth the terms of the homeownership plan, including-
(I) the goals of the plan for the eligible assets purchased and for the asset control area subject to the plan;
(II) the revitalization areas (or portions thereof) in which the homeownership plan is operating or will operate;
(III) the specific use or disposition of the eligible assets under the plan; and
(IV) any activities to be conducted and services to be provided under the plan; or
(ii) in the case of a purchaser who is not a preferred purchaser, the requirements under paragraph (5)(B).
(E) Purchase price and discount
The sale agreement shall establish the purchase price of the eligible assets, which in the case of a preferred purchaser shall provide for a discount in accordance with paragraph (6).
(F) Housing quality
The sale agreement shall provide for compliance of the eligible assets purchased with the rehabilitation standards established under paragraph (5)(A)(iii) or the minimum standards for housing quality established under paragraph (5)(B)(ii), as applicable, and shall specify such standards.
(G) Performance goals and sanctions
The sale agreement shall set forth the specific performance goals applicable to the purchaser, in accordance with paragraph (5), shall set forth any sanctions for failure to meet such goals and deadlines, and shall require the purchaser to certify compliance with such goals.
(H) Period covered
The sale agreement shall establish-
(i) in the case of a preferred purchaser, the time period referred to in paragraph (4)(B)(ii); and
(ii) in the case of a purchaser who is not a preferred purchaser, the time period for purchase of eligible assets that may be covered by the purchase.
(I) Other terms
The agreement shall contain such other terms and conditions as may be necessary to require that eligible assets purchased under the agreement are used in accordance with the program under this subsection.
(8) Definitions
For purposes of this subsection, the following definitions shall apply:
(A) Asset control area
The term "asset control area" means the area established by a preferred purchaser pursuant to paragraph (4)(B)(i).
(B) Asset property
The term "asset property" means-
(i) with respect to an eligible asset that is a property, such property; and
(ii) with respect to an eligible asset that is a mortgage, the property that is subject to the mortgage.
(C) Eligible asset
The term "eligible asset" means an asset described in paragraph (2).
(D) Nonprofit organization
The term "nonprofit organization" means a private organization that-
(i) is organized under State or local laws;
(ii) has no part of its net earnings inuring to the benefit of any member, shareholder, founder, contributor, or individual; and
(iii) complies with standards of financial responsibility that the Secretary may require.
(E) Preferred purchaser
The term "preferred purchaser" means a purchaser described in paragraph (4).
(F) Unit of general local government
The term "unit of general local government" means any city, town, township, county, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State, and any agency or instrumentality thereof that is established pursuant to legislation and designated by the chief executive officer to act on behalf of the jurisdiction with regard to the provisions of this subsection.
(G) State
The term "State" means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, or any agency or instrumentality thereof that is established pursuant to legislation and designated by the chief executive officer to act on behalf of the State with regard to provisions of this subjection.4
(H) Indian tribe
The term "Indian tribe" has the same meaning as in section 1715z–13(i)(I) 5 of this title.
(9) Secretary's discretion
The Secretary shall have the authority to implement and administer the program under this subsection in such manner as the Secretary may determine. The Secretary may, in the sole discretion of the Secretary, enter into contracts to provide for the proper administration of the program with such public or nonprofit entities as the Secretary determines are qualified.
(10) Regulations
The Secretary shall issue regulations to implement the program under this subsection through rulemaking in accordance with the procedures established under section 553 of title 5 regarding substantive rules. Such regulations shall take effect not later than the expiration of the 2-year period beginning on October 21, 1998.
(i) Mortgagor's or mortgagee's interest in property or claim conveyed
No mortgagee or mortgagor shall have, and no certificate of claim shall be construed to give to any mortgagee or mortgagor, any right or interest in any property conveyed to the Secretary or in any claim assigned to him; nor shall the Secretary owe any duty to any mortgagee or mortgagor with respect to the handling or disposal of any such property or the collection of any such claim.
(j) Foreclosure; payment and cessation of obligation
In the event that any mortgagee under a mortgage insured under section 1709 of this title (other than a mortgagee receiving insurance benefits under clause (1)(A) of the second sentence of subsection (a)) forecloses on the mortgaged property but does not convey such property to the Secretary in accordance with this section, and the Secretary is given written notice thereof, or in the event that the mortgagor pays the obligation under the mortgage in full prior to the maturity thereof, and the mortgagee pays any adjusted premium charge required under the provisions of section 1709(c) of this title, and the Secretary is given written notice by the mortgagee of the payment of such obligation, the obligation to pay any subsequent premium charge for insurance shall cease, and all rights of the mortgagee and the mortgagor under this section shall terminate as of the date of such notice.
(k) Repealed. Pub. L. 105–276, title VI, §601(c), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2673
(l) Nullification of right of redemption of single family mortgagors
(1) Whenever the Secretary or a contract mortgagee (pursuant to its contract with the Secretary) forecloses on a Secretary-held single family mortgage in any Federal or State court or pursuant to a power of sale in a mortgage, the purchaser at the foreclosure sale shall be entitled to receive a conveyance of title to, and possession of, the property, subject to the interests senior to the interests of the Secretary or the contract mortgagee, as the case may be. Notwithstanding any State law to the contrary, there shall be no right of redemption (including in all instances any right to possession based upon any right of redemption) in the mortgagor or any other person subsequent to the foreclosure sale in connection with a Secretary-held single family mortgage. The appropriate State official or the trustee, as the case may be, shall execute and deliver a deed or other appropriate instrument conveying title to the purchaser at the foreclosure sale, consistent with applicable procedures in the jurisdiction and without regard to any such right of redemption.
(2) The following actions shall be taken in order to verify title in the purchaser at the foreclosure sale:
(A) In the case of a judicial foreclosure in any Federal or State court, there shall be included in the petition and in the judgment of foreclosure a statement that the foreclosure is in accordance with this subsection and that there is no right of redemption in the mortgagor or any other person.
(B) In the case of a foreclosure pursuant to a power of sale provision in the mortgage, the statement required in subparagraph (A) shall be included in the advertisement of the sale and either in the recitals of the deed or other appropriate instrument conveying title to the purchaser at the foreclosure sale or in an affidavit or addendum to the deed.
(3) For purposes of this subsection:
(A) The term "contract mortgagee" means a person or entity under a contract with the Secretary that provides for the assignment of a single-family mortgage from the Secretary to the person or entity for the purpose of pursuing foreclosure.
(B) the 6 term "mortgage" means a deed of trust, mortgage, deed to secure debt, security agreement, or any other form of instrument under which any interest in property, real, personal, or mixed, or any interest in property, including leaseholds, life estates, reversionary interests, and any other estates under applicable State law, is conveyed in trust, mortgaged, encumbered, pledged, or otherwise rendered subject to a lien, for the purpose of securing the payment of money or the performance of an obligation.
(C) The term "Secretary-held single family mortgage" means a single-family mortgage held by the Secretary or by a contract mortgagee at the time of initiation of foreclosure that-
(i) was formerly insured by the Secretary under any section of this subchapter; or
(ii) was taken by the Secretary as a purchase money mortgage in connection with the sale or other transfer of Secretary-owned property under any section of this subchapter.
(D) the term "single-family mortgage" means a mortgage that covers property on which is located a 1-to-4 family residence.
(June 27, 1934, ch. 847, title II, §204, 48 Stat. 1249 ; May 28, 1935, ch. 150, §29(c), 49 Stat. 300 ; Feb. 19, 1937, ch. 12, 50 Stat. 20 ; Feb. 3, 1938, ch. 13, §3, 52 Stat. 12 ; June 3, 1939, ch. 175, §§9, 10, 53 Stat. 806 ; June 28, 1941, ch. 261, §9, 55 Stat. 365 ; Oct. 14, 1943, ch. 258, §1, 57 Stat. 570 ; Aug. 10, 1948, ch. 832, title I, §101(l), (q), 62 Stat. 1273 , 1274; Apr. 20, 1950, ch. 94, title I, §§105, 122, 64 Stat. 52 , 59; Sept. 1, 1951, ch. 378, title VI, §604(a), 65 Stat. 314 ; Aug. 2, 1954, ch. 649, title I, §§111, 112(a), 113, 68 Stat. 593 , 594; Aug. 11, 1955, ch. 783, title I, §102(a), 69 Stat. 635 ; Pub. L. 85–104, title I, §§107, 108(a), July 12, 1957, 71 Stat. 297 ; Pub. L. 86–372, title I, §§114(b), 117, Sept. 23, 1959, 73 Stat. 662 , 664; Pub. L. 87–70, title VI, §612(b), (c), June 30, 1961, 75 Stat. 180 ; Pub. L. 88–560, title I, §§104(a), 105(a), Sept. 2, 1964, 78 Stat. 769 , 770; Pub. L. 89–117, title XI, §1108(d), Aug. 10, 1965, 79 Stat. 504 ; Pub. L. 90–19, §1(a)(2), (3), (4), (d), May 25, 1967, 81 Stat. 17 , 18; Pub. L. 98–181, title I [title IV, §426], Nov. 30, 1983, 97 Stat. 1218 ; Pub. L. 100–242, title V, §569, Feb. 5, 1988, 101 Stat. 1948 ; Pub. L. 100–628, title X, §1064(a), (b), Nov. 7, 1988, 102 Stat. 3275 ; Pub. L. 101–235, title I, §136, Dec. 15, 1989, 103 Stat. 2028 ; Pub. L. 102–550, title V, §516(a), Oct. 28, 1992, 106 Stat. 3790 ; Pub. L. 104–99, title IV, §407(a), Jan. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 45 ; Pub. L. 104–134, title I, §101(e) [title II, §221(a)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–257 , 1321-290; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, §1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327 ; Pub. L. 105–276, title VI, §§601(a), (c), (d), 602, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2670 , 2673, 2674; Pub. L. 108–447, div. I, title II, §221, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3320 ; Pub. L. 111–22, div. A, title II, §203(c), May 20, 2009, 123 Stat. 1644 .)
The Housing Amendments of 1955, referred to in subsec. (f)(2), is act Aug. 11, 1955, ch. 783, 69 Stat. 635 , as amended. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Short Title of 1955 Amendments note set out under section 1701 of this title and Tables.
This chapter, referred to in subsecs. (g) and (h), was in the original "this Act", meaning act June 27, 1934, ch. 847, 48 Stat. 1246 , which is classified principally to this chapter (§1701 et seq.). For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see Tables.
In subsec. (g), "section 6101 of title 41" substituted for "section 3709 of the Revised Statutes" on authority of Pub. L. 111–350, §6(c), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3854 , which Act enacted Title 41, Public Contracts.
2009-Subsec. (a)(2). Pub. L. 111–22, §203(c)(3), substituted "subsection (a)(1)(A) or section 1715u(c) of this title" for "paragraph (1)(A)".
Pub. L. 111–22, §203(c)(1), (2), inserted "or faces imminent default, as defined by the Secretary" after "default" and "support for borrower housing counseling, partial claims, borrower incentives, preforeclosure sale," after "loan modification,".
2004-Subsec. (h)(2). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(1)(A), substituted "following categories of assets of the Secretary, unless the Secretary determines at any time that the asset property is economically or otherwise infeasible to rehabilitate or that the best use of the asset property is as open space (including park land)" for "following assets of the Secretary" in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (h)(2)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(1)(B), inserted "except for mortgages insured under or made pursuant to sections 1715z, 1715z–12, or 1715z–20 of this title" after "chapter".
Subsec. (h)(2)(C). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(1)(C), struck out heading and text of subpar. (C). Text read as follows: "Any contingent future interest of the Secretary in an asset described in subparagraph (A) or (B)."
Subsec. (h)(3). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(2), inserted ", States, and Indian tribes" after "government" in second sentence.
Subsec. (h)(4)(A)(i). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(3)(A), inserted ", State, or Indian tribe" after "government".
Subsec. (h)(4)(B)(ii). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(3)(B), amended cl. (ii) generally. Prior to amendment, cl. (ii) read as follows: "purchases all interests of the Secretary in all assets of the Secretary that, at any time during the period which shall be set forth in the sale agreement required under paragraph (7)-
"(I) are or become eligible assets; and
"(II) are located in the asset control area of the purchaser; and".
Subsec. (h)(4)(C). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(3)(C), substituted "purchase of the category or categories of eligible assets set forth in the sale agreement under" for "purchase of eligible assets under".
Subsec. (h)(6)(C). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(4)(A), amended heading and text of subpar. (C) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (C) set out discount classes, including standard, deep, and minimal discounts.
Subsec. (h)(6)(D). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(4)(B), struck out heading and text of subpar. (D). Text read as follows: "The Secretary shall, in the sole discretion of the Secretary, establish a method for determining which discount under clause (i) or (ii) subparagraph (C) shall be provided for an eligible asset that is described in such clause (i) and sold to a preferred purchaser. The method may result in the assignment of discounts on any basis consistent with subparagraph (C) that the Secretary considers appropriate to carry out the purposes of this subsection."
Subsec. (h)(7)(A). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(5), substituted "category or categories of eligible assets to be purchased and, based on the purchaser's capacity to manage and dispose of assets, the maximum number of assets owned by the Secretary at the time the sale agreement is executed that shall be sold to the purchaser" for "eligible assets to be purchased and the interests sold".
Subsec. (h)(8)(F). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(6)(A), inserted ", and any agency or instrumentality thereof that is established pursuant to legislation and designated by the chief executive officer to act on behalf of the jurisdiction with regard to the provisions of this subsection" after "State".
Subsec. (h)(8)(G), (H). Pub. L. 108–447, §221(6)(B), added subpars. (G) and (H).
1998-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 105–276, §601(a), inserted heading and amended text generally, substituting present provisions for provisions which authorized mortgagee of foreclosed property to receive insurance benefit upon conveyance to Secretary of title and assignment of claims, or upon foreclosure sale or approved sale after default where at least fair market value was received, set maintenance of property as condition of receipt of benefit, provided that obligation to pay premium would cease upon conveyance and assignment and debentures would issue having par value equal to value of mortgage, and set forth provisions detailing amounts to be included in debentures or cash payment and provisions authorizing extension or modification of mortgage where default was due to circumstances beyond control of mortgagor.
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 105–276, §601(d), inserted at end "The Secretary may sell real and personal property acquired by the Secretary pursuant to the provisions of this chapter on such terms and conditions as the Secretary may prescribe."
Subsecs. (h), (i). Pub. L. 105–276, §602, added subsec. (h) and redesignated former subsec. (h) as (i).
Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 105–276, §601(c), struck out subsec. (k) which read as follows: "Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or of section 1739 or 1750c of this title and with respect to any debentures issued in exchange for properties conveyed to and accepted by the Secretary after September 23, 1959 in accordance with such sections, the Secretary may (1) include in debentures reasonable payments made by the mortgagee with the approval of the Secretary for the purpose of protecting, operating, or preserving the property, and taxes imposed upon any deed or any other instrument by which the property was acquired by the mortgagee and transferred or conveyed to the Secretary; (2) include in debentures as a portion of foreclosure costs (to the extent that foreclosure costs may be included in such debentures by any other provision of this chapter) payments made by the mortgagee for the cost of acquiring the property and conveying and evidencing title to the property to the Secretary; and (3) terminate the mortgagee's obligation to pay mortgage insurance premiums upon receipt of an application for debentures filed by the mortgagee, or in the event the contract of insurance is terminated pursuant to section 1715t of this title."
1996-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 104–134, in penultimate proviso of last sentence, substituted "special forebearance" for "special foreclosure".
Pub. L. 104–99 inserted ": And provided further, That the Secretary may pay insurance benefits to the mortgagee to recompense the mortgagee for its actions to provide an alternative to the foreclosure of a mortgage that is in default, which actions may include special foreclosure, loan modification, and deeds in lieu of foreclosure, all upon terms and conditions as the mortgagee shall determine in the mortgagee's sole discretion, within guidelines provided by the Secretary, but which may not include assignment of a mortgage to the Secretary: And provided further, That for purposes of the preceding proviso, no action authorized by the Secretary and no action taken, nor any failure to act, by the Secretary or the mortgagee shall be subject to judicial review." before period at end of last sentence.
1992-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–550, §516(a)(1), in fifth sentence, substituted "issue to the mortgagee debentures having a par value" for ", subject to the cash adjustment hereinafter provided, issue to the mortgagee debentures having a total face value".
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 102–550, §516(a)(2), added subsec. (c) and struck out former subsec. (c) which read as follows: "Debentures issued under this section shall be in such form and denominations in multiples of $50, shall be subject to such terms and conditions, and shall include such provisions for redemption, if any, as may be prescribed by the Secretary with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, and may be in coupon or registered form. Any difference between the value of the mortgage determined as herein provided and the aggregate face value of the debentures issued, not to exceed $350, shall be adjusted by the payment of cash by the Secretary to the mortgagee from the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund."
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 102–550, §516(a)(3), (4), in first sentence, substituted "issued in the name of" for "executed in the name of" and "and shall be negotiable, and, if in book entry form, transferable, in the manner described by the Secretary in regulations" for ", shall be signed by the Secretary by either his written or engraved signature, and shall be negotiable" and in fifth sentence, substituted "and, in the case of debentures issued in certificated registered form, such guaranty" for "and such guaranty".
1989-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 101–235, §136(a), inserted after third sentence "As a condition of the receipt of such benefits, the mortgagee shall maintain or assure the maintenance of the mortgaged property (in such manner as the Secretary shall by regulation provide) during the period beginning on the taking of the possession or other acquisition of the mortgaged property by the mortgagee and ending on conveyance to the Secretary or other disposition of the mortgaged property in accordance with this section, and funds expended by the mortgagee in meeting such obligation shall be included, to the extent provided in this subsection or in subsection (k) of this section, in debentures or other insurance payment pursuant to this section."
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 101–235, §136(b), inserted after first sentence "The Secretary shall, by regulation, carry out a program of sales of such properties and shall develop and implement appropriate credit terms and standards to be used in carrying out the program."
1988-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 100–628, §1064(a)(1), (2), in second sentence, substituted "(1)(A) upon sale" for "(1) upon sale", inserted cl. (B), and substituted "; and (2)" for ", and (2)".
Pub. L. 100–628, §1064(b)(1), in third sentence, substituted "November 30, 1983 (on or after November 7, 1988, with respect to the payment of benefits under clause (1)(B) of the preceding sentence)," for "the effective date of this sentence".
Pub. L. 100–628, §1064(b)(2)(A), in fifth sentence, struck out "foreclosure" before "sale of the property: Provided".
Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 100–628, §1064(b)(2)(B), inserted "clause (1)(A) of" before "the second sentence".
Subsec. (l). Pub. L. 100–242 added subsec. (l).
1983-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 98–181, §426(a), inserted provision authorizing the Secretary to make the benefit of the insurance available to the mortgagee upon sale of the insured property at foreclosure and assignment of all claims to the Secretary and provision relating to payment of benefits pursuant to a commitment to insure issued on or after the effective date of this sentence [Nov. 30, 1983], and substituted "any amount received as rent or other income from the property, less reasonable expenses incurred in handling the property, after either of such dates, and, in the case of insurance benefits paid in accordance with the second sentence of this section, any amount received upon the foreclosure sale of the property" for "and any amount received as rent or other income from the property, less reasonable expenses incurred in handling the property, after either of such dates".
Subsec. (j). Pub. L. 98–181, §426(b), inserted "(other than a mortgagee receiving insurance benefits under the second sentence of subsection (a))" after "section 1709 of this title".
1967-Pub. L. 90–19, §1(a)(2), substituted "Secretary of Housing and Urban Development" for "Federal Housing Commissioner" in subsec. (g).
Pub. L. 90–19, §1(a)(3), substituted "Secretary" for "Commissioner" wherever appearing in subsecs. (a) to (d), (e)(1), (f)(1), (f)(1)(i), (ii), (f)(2), (3), (g), (h), (j), and (k).
Subsec. (f)(3). Pub. L. 90–19, §1(a)(4), substituted "Secretary's" for "Commissioner's" wherever appearing.
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 90–19, §1(d), substituted "an officer" for "the Commissioner or by any Assistant Commissioner".
1965-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 89–117, §1108(d)(1), struck out reference to section 1715a of this title after reference to section 1709 of this title in first sentence.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 89–117, §1108(d)(2), substituted "Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund" for "Fund as to mortgages insured under section 1709 of this title and from the Housing Fund as to mortgages insured under section 1715a of this title".
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 89–117, §1108(d)(3)–(6), removed all references to debentures issued with respect to mortgages insured under section 1715a of this title and to the Housing Insurance Fund and substituted Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund for Fund wherever appearing.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 89–117, §1108(d)(7), struck out provision of subpar. (1)(i) calling for retention of excess by Commissioner and credit to the Housing Insurance Fund in the case of mortgages insured under section 1713 of this title.
1964-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 88–560, §§104(a), 105(a)(1)–(3), (6)(B), amended provisions as follows; section 104(a), in proviso reading "And provided further, That with respect to any mortgage covering a one-, two-, three-, or four-family residence", struck out "and it is probable that the mortgage will be restored to good standing within a reasonable period of time" after "control of the mortgagor", substituted "upon such terms and conditions" for "under such regulations and conditions", incorporated authority of Commissioner to "extend the time for curing default and enter into an agreement with the mortgage providing that if the mortgage is subsequently foreclosed, any interest accruing after the date of the agreement which is not paid by the mortgagor may be included in the debentures" in cl. (1), and provided for remainder of cl. (1), cl. (2) and consideration of the principal amount of the mortgage, as modified, as the "original principal obligation of the mortgage" for purpose of computing total face value of debentures to be issued or cash payment to be made by Commissioner to a mortgagee; section 105(a)(1) substituted in third sentence "charges for the administration, operation, maintenance and repair of community-owned property or the maintenance and repair of the mortgaged property, the obligation for which arises out of a covenant filed for record and approved by the Commissioner prior to the insurance of the mortgage, insurance on the mortgaged property, and any mortgage insurance premiums" for "insurance on the mortgaged property, and any mortgage insurance premiums paid after either of such dates"; section 105(a)(2) inserted provisos reading "And provided further, That with respect to a mortgage accepted for insurance pursuant to a commitment issued on or after September 2, 1964, the Commissioner may include in debentures or in the cash payment on amount not to exceed the foreclosure, acquisition, and conveyance costs actually paid by the mortgagee and approved by the Commissioner" and "And provided further, That with respect to a mortgage accepted for insurance pursuant to a commitment issued prior to September 2, 1964, the Commissioner may, with the consent of the mortgagee (in lieu of issuing a certificate of claim as provided in subsection (e)), included in debentures or in the cash payment, in addition to amounts otherwise allowed for such costs, an amount not to exceed one-third of the total foreclosure, acquisition, and conveyance costs actually paid by the mortgagee and approved by the Commissioner, but in no event may the total allowance for such costs exceed the amount actually paid by the mortgagee:"; section 105(a)(3) struck out from proviso reading "And provided further, That with respect to mortgages to which the provisions of sections 532 and 536 of Appendix To Title 50 apply" the words "and the payment of insurance premiums" after "on account of interest on debentures" and inserted after such proviso "And provided further, That where the claim is paid in cash there shall be included in the cash payment an amount equivalent to the compensation for loss of debenture interest that would be included in computing debentures if such claim were being paid in debentures"; and section 105(a)(6)(B) substituted "and (subject to subsection (e)(2) of this section) a certificate of claim" for "and a certificate of claim" in second sentence.
Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 88–560, §105(a)(4), increased limitation on the difference between the value of the mortgage and the aggregate face value of the debentures issued from $50 to $350.
Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 88–560, §105(a)(5), substituted ": Provided, That debentures issued pursuant to claims for insurance filed on or after September 2, 1964 shall be dated as of the date of default or as of such later date as the Commissioner, in his discretion, may establish by regulation. The debentures" for ", except that debentures issued pursuant to the provisions of section 1715k(f), 1715l(g), and 1715x of this title may be dated as of the date the mortgage is assigned (or the property is conveyed) to the Commissioner, and" in second sentence.
Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 88–560, §105(a)(6)(A), designated existing provisions as par. (1), substituted "Subject to paragraph (2), the certificate" for "The certificate", and added par. (2).
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 88–560, §105(a)(7)–(11), designated introductory par. as par. (1) and substituted "If, after deducting (in such manner and amount as the Commissioner shall determine to be equitable and in accordance with sound accounting practice) the expenses incurred by the Commissioner, the net amount realized from any property conveyed to the Commissioner under this section and the claims assigned therewith exceed the face value" for "If the net amount realized from any property conveyed to the Commissioner under this section and the claims assigned therewith, after deducting all expenses incurred by the Commissioner in handling, dealing with, and disposing of such property and in collecting such claims, exceeds the face value"; redesignated former par. (1) as (i) and inserted proviso; redesignated former par. (2) as (ii); designated concluding par. as par. (2) and inserted proviso; and added par. (3), respectively.
1961-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 87–70, §612(b), permitted debentures issued pursuant to provisions of section 1715k(f), 1715l(g), and 1715x of this title to be dated as of the date the mortgage is assigned (or the property is conveyed) to the Commissioner.
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 87–70, §612(c), included instruments relating to personal property, and inserted proviso requiring that a conveyance or transfer of title to real or personal property or an interest therein to the Federal Housing Commissioner, his successors and assigns, without identifying the Commissioner therein, shall be deemed a proper conveyance or transfer.
1959-Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 86–372, §114(b), authorized the Commissioner, with respect to any mortgage covering a one-, two-, three-, or four-family residence insured under this chapter, if he finds after notice of default, that the default was due to circumstances beyond the control of the mortgagor and it is probable that the mortgage will be restored to good standing within a reasonable period of time, to extend the time for curing default and to enter into an agreement with the mortgagee providing that if the mortgage is subsequently foreclosed, any interest accruing after the date of the agreement which is not paid by the mortgagor may be included in the debentures.
Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 86–372, §117, substituted "and with respect to any debentures issued in exchange for properties conveyed to and accepted by the Commissioner after September 23, 1959 in accordance with such section" for "with respect to any debentures issued pursuant to this section or section 1739 or 1750c of this title", and inserted provisions authorizing inclusion as a portion of the foreclosure costs payments made by the mortgagee for the cost of acquiring the property and conveying the evidencing title to the property to the Commissioner, and permitting the termination of the mortgagee's obligation to pay mortgage insurance premiums in the event the contract of insurance is terminated pursuant to section 1715t of this title.
1957-Subsec. (d). Pub. L. 85–104, §108(a), substituted "established by the Commissioner pursuant to section 1715o of this title" for "determined by the Commissioner, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, at the time the mortgage was offered for insurance, but not to exceed 3 per centum per annum" in second sentence.
Subsec. (k). Pub. L. 85–104, §107, added subsec. (k).
1955-Subsec. (f). Act Aug. 11, 1955, authorized the Commissioner to effect the settlement of certificates of claim and refunds to mortgagors.
1954-Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 2, 1954, §111(l), permitted a mortgagee to receive in debentures amounts paid by it for Federal taxes imposed on a deed to it and on a deed to the Commissioner; (2) substituted, in second proviso, "or under section 1715e of this title, or with respect to any mortgage accepted for insurance under section 1709 of this title on or after August 2, 1954," for "or under section 1715e of this title"; and (3) inserted proviso permitting direct conveyances to the Commissioner.
Subsec. (d). Act Aug. 2, 1954, §112(a), substituted provision for a straight 20-year maturity on debentures for former provision that the debentures should mature "three years after the 1st day of July following the maturity date of the mortgage on the property in exchange for which the debentures were issued, except that debentures issued with respect to mortgages insured under section 1715e of this title shall mature twenty years after the date of such debentures" in second sentence.
Subsec. (j). Act Aug. 2, 1954, §113, added subsec. (j).
1951-Subsec. (d). Sept. 1, 1951, inserted in second sentence the provision that debentures issued with respect to mortgages insured under section 1715e of this title shall mature twenty years after the date of such debentures.
1950-Act Apr. 20, 1950, §122, substituted "Commissioner" for "Administrator" wherever appearing.
Subsec. (a). Act Apr. 20, 1950, §105, inserted "or under section 1715e of this title" in second proviso.
1948-Subsec. (a). Act Aug. 10, 1948, §101(l)(1), (2), struck out "prior to July 1, 1944" in first proviso and inserted second proviso.
Subsec. (f). Act Aug. 10, 1948, §101(q), inserted "if the mortgage was insured under section 1709 of this title and shall be retained by the Administrator and credited to the Housing Insurance Fund if the mortgage was insured under section 1713 of this title" before the colon in par. (1).
1943-Subsec. (a). Act Oct. 14, 1943, inserted proviso.
1941-Subsec. (a). Act June 28, 1941, substituted "July 1, 1944" for "July 1, 1941" in last sentence.
1939-Subsec. (a). Act June 3, 1939, §9, amended last sentence generally.
Subsec. (g). Act June 3, 1939, §10, inserted last sentence.
1938-Subsecs. (a) to (f). Act Feb. 3, 1938, amended provisions generally.
Subsecs. (g), (h). Act Feb. 3, 1938, added subsecs. (g) and (h).
1937-Subsec. (b). Act Joint Res. Feb. 19, 1937, substituted "July 1, 1939" for "July 1, 1937".
1935-Subsec. (a). Act May 28, 1935, amended last sentence generally.
Pub. L. 105–276, title VI, §601(b), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2673 , provided that: "The Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Register stating the effective date of the terms and conditions prescribed by the Secretary under section 204(a)(1) of the National Housing Act [12 U.S.C. 1710(a)(1)], as amended by subsection (a) of this section. Subsections (a) and (k) of section 204 of the National Housing Act [12 U.S.C. 1710(a), (k)], as in effect immediately before such effective date, shall continue to apply to any mortgage insured under section 203 of the National Housing Act [12 U.S.C. 1709] before such effective date, except that the Secretary may, at the request of the mortgagee, pay insurance benefits as provided in subparagraphs (A) and (D) of section 204(a)(1) of such Act [12 U.S.C. 1710(a)(1)(A), (D)] to calculate insurance benefits in accordance with section 204(a)(5) of such Act [12 U.S.C. 1710(a)(5)]."
Pub. L. 104–99, title IV, §407(c), Jan. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 46 , as amended by Pub. L. 104–134, title I, §101(e) [title II, §221(d)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–257 , 1321-291; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, §1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327 ; Pub. L. 104–204, title II, §203, Sept. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 2894 ; Pub. L. 105–33, title II, §2002(1), Aug. 5, 1997, 111 Stat. 257 , provided that: "Except as provided in subsection (e) [110 Stat. 46, repealed by Pub. L. 105–33, §2002(2)], the amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) [amending this section and section 1715u of this title] shall apply with respect to mortgages insured under the National Housing Act [12 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.] that are executed before, on, or after October 1, 1997."
Act Aug. 2, 1954, ch. 649, title I, §112(e), 68 Stat. 593 , provided that: "This section [amending this section and sections 1713, 1748b, and 1750c of this title] shall not apply in any case where the mortgage involved was insured or the commitment for such insurance was issued prior to the effective date of the Housing Act of 1954 [Aug. 2, 1954]."
Pub. L. 104–134, title I, §101(e) [title II, §221(c)(1)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–291 , provided that: "Not later than 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act [Apr. 26, 1996], the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall issue interim regulations to implement section 407 of the Balanced Budget Downpayment Act, I [Pub. L. 104–99, amending this section and section 1715u of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note above], and the amendments to the National Housing Act made by that section."
Pub. L. 104–99, title IV, §407(d), Jan. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 46 , which directed the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to issue interim regulations to implement section 407 of Pub. L. 104–99 and amendments made by that section (amending this section and section 1715u of this title and enacting provisions set out as a note above) not later than 60 days after Jan. 26, 1996, was repealed by Pub. L. 104–134, title I, §101(e) [title II, §221(c)(2)], Apr. 26, 1996, 110 Stat. 1321–257 , 1321-291; renumbered title I, Pub. L. 104–140, §1(a), May 2, 1996, 110 Stat. 1327 .
Pub. L. 100–628, title X, §1064(c), Nov. 7, 1988, 102 Stat. 3275 , provided that: "In developing regulations to carry out the amendments made by this section [amending this section], the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may delegate to mortgagees the authority to make determinations on behalf of the Secretary, and the Secretary shall rely on certifications and post audit reviews to the greatest extent possible."
Homeownership Preservation
Pub. L. 110–289, div. B, title I, §2125, July 30, 2008, 122 Stat. 2840 , provided that: "The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration, in consultation with industry, the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation, and other entities involved in foreclosure prevention activities, shall-
"(1) develop and implement a plan to improve the Federal Housing Administration's loss mitigation process; and
"(2) report such plan to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives."
Asset Control Area Demonstration Program Agreements, Contracts, and Regulations
Pub. L. 107–206, title I, §1303, Aug. 2, 2002, 116 Stat. 897 , provided that: "The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall begin to enter into new agreements and contracts pursuant to the Asset Control Area Demonstration Program as provided in section 602 of Public Law 105–276 [amending this section] not later than September 15, 2002: Provided, That any agreement or contract entered into pursuant to such program shall be consistent with the requirements of such section 602: Provided further, That the Department shall develop proposed regulations for this program not later than September 15, 2002."
Transfer of HUD Assets in Revitalization Areas
Pub. L. 106–554, §1(a)(7) [title I, §142], Dec. 21, 2000, 114 Stat. 2763 , 2763A-618, provided that: "In carrying out the program under section 204(h) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1710(h)), upon the request of the chief executive officer of a county or the government of appropriate jurisdiction and not later than 60 days after such request is made, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall designate as a revitalization area all portions of such county that meet the criteria for such designation under paragraph (3) of such section."
Settlement Costs in the Financing of Federal Housing Administration and Veterans' Administration Assisted Housing; Study and Recommendations to Congress on Reduction and Standardization of Costs
Pub. L. 91–351, title VII, §701, July 24, 1970, 84 Stat. 461 , provided that:
"(a) With respect to housing built, rehabilitated, or sold with assistance provided under the National Housing Act [this chapter] or under chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs are respectively authorized and directed to prescribe standards governing the amounts of settlement costs allowable in connection with the financing of such housing in any such area. Such standards shall-
"(1) be established after consultation between the Secretary and the Administrator;
"(2) be consistent in any area for housing assisted under the National Housing Act and housing assisted under chapter 37 of title 38, United States Code; and
"(3) be based on the Secretary's and the Administrator's estimates of the reasonable charge for necessary services involved in settlements for particular classes of mortgages and loans.
"(b) The Secretary and the Administrator shall undertake a joint study and make recommendations to the Congress not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act [July 24, 1970] with respect to legislative and administrative actions which should be taken to reduce mortgage settlement costs and to standardize these costs for all geographic areas."
1 So in original.
2 So in original. Probably should be "mortgagee".
3 So in original. There probably should be a period.
4 So in original. Probably should be "subsection."
5 So in original. Probably should be section "1715z–13(i)(1)".
6 So in original. Probably should be capitalized.
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Region Middle East & North Africa
Managing Assets 40
Can a woman travel outside her home in the same way as a man? No 0 Personal Status Law as Amended by Law No. 100 of 1985, Art. 1
Does the law mandate nondiscrimination in employment based on gender? Yes 1 Labor Law No. 12 of 2003, Art. 88
Is there legislation on sexual harassment in employment? Yes 1 Law No. 50 of 2014 Amending Criminal Law, Arts. 1(306a) and 2(306b)
Are there criminal penalties or civil remedies for sexual harassment in employment? Yes 1 Law No. 50 of 2014 Amending Criminal Law, Arts. 1(306a) and 2(306b)
Can women work in jobs deemed hazardous, arduous or morally inappropriate in the same way as men? No 0 Labor Law No. 12 of 2003, Art. 90
Are women able to work in the same industries as men? No 0 Labor Law No. 12 of 2003, Art. 90
Decree of Minister of Manpower and Immigration No. 155 of 2003, Art. 1
Is a married woman not legally required to obey her husband? No 0 Personal Status Law as Amended by Law No. 100 of 1985, Art. 11
Can a woman obtain a judgment of divorce in the same way as a man? No 0 Law on Personal Status, Arts. 5 and 20
Law No. 1 on Personal Status Procedures, Arts. 20 and 21
Do women have the same rights to remarry as men? No 0 Law on Personal Status, Arts. 16-17
Law No. 1 on Personal Status Procedures, Art. 22
Is there paid leave of at least 14 weeks available to women? No 0 Labor Law No. 12 of 2003, Art. 91
Does the government pay 100% of maternity leave benefits, or parental leave benefits (where maternity leave is unavailable)? No 0 Child Law No. 12/1996, Arts. 70-72
Social Insurance Law, Art. 79
Is dismissal of pregnant workers prohibited? Yes 1 Labor Law No. 12 of 2003, Art. 120
Do men and women have equal ownership rights to immovable property? Yes 1 Civil Code No. 131 of 1948, Art. 44
Do sons and daughters have equal rights to inherit assets from their parents? No 0 Inheritance Law No. 77 of 1943, Art. 19
Do female and male surviving spouses have equal rights to inherit assets? No 0 Inheritance Law No. 77 of 1943, Art. 11
Does the law grant spouses equal administrative authority over assets during marriage? Yes 1 Law No. 1 of 2000 on Personal Status Procedures, Art. 3
Does the law provide for valuation of nonmonetary contributions? No 0 No applicable provisions could be located
Are the ages at which men and women can retire with full pension benefits equal? Yes 1 Labor Law No. 12 of 2003, Art. 125
Social Insurance Law No. 79 of 1975, Art. 18
Is the mandatory retirement age for men and women equal? Yes 1 Labor Law No. 12 of 2003, Art. 125
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A Campaign for Neurology & Neurosurgery
You now have the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people living with epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological problems.
We have never needed you more than we do right now. Neurological ailments now account for more hospitalizations than heart disease, cancer or any other disease group.
About 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease.
5.1 million have epilepsy or a seizure disorder.
More than 1 million have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
More than 795,000 have a stroke each year.
About 6,000 are diagnosed with ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, each year.
Because these challenges are so serious and the stakes are so high, the Medical University of South Carolina is inviting you to help us change what’s possible for people living with these and other neurological disorders.
The financial costs associated with neurological disorders already are staggering – nearly $780 million a year. The more important emotional and psychological costs are both immeasurable and heartbreaking.
That’s reason enough to support this campaign.
But consider this: Many of these problems become more common as we age. And South Carolina’s 65+ population is expected to double by 2030, to 1.1 million people.
That means these costs will continue to grow and strike closer to home – unless we act, right now.
Our goal: $15 million
The Medical University has launched an ambitious campaign to raise at least $15 million for continued innovations in neurology and neurosurgery. Specifically, we aim to raise at least:
$4.5 million for patient clinics and innovative clinical experiences
$2 million for community education and fellowships
$8.5 million for research and recruitment
Our top 10 program goals
Training: To continue training the next generation of neuroscientists.
Pediatric neurosurgery: To create a single center where children can be diagnosed and treated.
Spine health: To refine the ways we diagnose tumors, back and neck pain, traumatic injuries, spinal deformities and other spinal conditions.
Brain cancer: To bring together patient care and patient education in a way that creates the best possible experience for those faced with tumors and surgeries.
Neuropsychology: To explore, evaluate and treat the cognitive and emotional ramifications of neurological disorders.
Stroke and cerebrovascular ailments: To grow our capacity and build upon our national reputation for education, patient care, and research, forming industry partnerships to accelerate innovation in patient care.
Alzheimer’s disease & memory disorders: To become one of only 34 National Institutes of Health funded Alzheimer’s research centers in the country.
Epilepsy: To grow our program and build upon our reputation as the most accredited comprehensive epilepsy center in the nation.
Movement disorders: To become the first Parkinson’s Center for Excellence in South Carolina.
ALS, multiple sclerosis and general neurology: To expand our clinical enterprise to treat the growing number of patients in these critical areas.
By making a gift you can help us...
Recruit and support the best physicians, researchers and educators
Build new research and patient-care capacity
Offer our patients the most advanced clinical trials.
Empower our team to fast-track innovations in patient care.
Raise the standard of care for every neuroscience patient.
Giving to MUSC
Wanda gives for her daughter
I give so they can keep on going and I hope others will too
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Howard Barnstone’s portfolio on display
Brainstorming Howard Barnstone, a small exhibit at the Architecture and Art Library, makes a persuasive case for the reexamination of Barnstone’s career, which spanned from the 1950s to the 1980s. Barnstone taught at the University of Houston where he influenced generations of students. The exhibition features original portfolios from the firm Barnstone and Partners that are permanently housed in the library’s Kenneth Franzheim Rare Books Room, as well as books he published: including The Galveston that Was (1966) and The Architecture of John Staub (1979), the first book documenting a Houston architect, copies of which are available in the Architecture and Art Library. The Galveston That Was, illustrated by Henri Cartier-Bresson, helped spur restoration of residential and commercial buildings on the island. The exhibit was designed by Library Assistant Chelby King.
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When Houston Was Small
February 18th, 2016 | Dr. Stephen James
Architecture & Planning, Favorite Things, Houston & Texas History
Whether it’s a rare book printing found at long last or piece of ephemera found in an archival collection by chance, those who visit the University of Houston Special Collections almost always find something they cannot wait to share with others. Here we celebrate what makes the University of Houston Special Collections so special–our Favorite Things.
USGS satellite view of Houston area.
The satellite view is spectacular and confirms what we already know—Houston is big. At last count, Houston’s incorporated area covers about 667 square miles. We know this because the City of Houston Planning & Development Department has created an informative slide show that illustrates the city’s ever-changing boundaries. “Annexations in Houston or How we grew to 667 square miles in 175 years” can be found online.
If you want to research urban planning in Houston the old-fashioned way—using text and images printed on paper—try the Special Collections Department at UH Libraries. I recommend the old-fashioned way because, while it is not as convenient as surfing the web, it is way more fun.
Discoveries abound in Special Collections. Every folder holds a surprise. My most recent discovery was a set of maps from the Paddock Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Council Records. As the name suggests, this collection contains records collected by Marianita Paddock from her years with the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Council. But it also includes maps of cities and counties in Texas from the mid-twentieth century. Some of the maps are common but others are unusual, such as a 1948 Ashburn’s Map of Houston in a special edition issued for Forest Park cemetery on Lawndale.
The most significant is the City of Houston’s Zoning District Map, December 15, 1947. Houston was small once, and I don’t mean when the Allen Brothers founded it in 1836. As late as the 1940s, it was a compact city of 75 square miles. This map reminds us that in 1947 the city’s boundaries extended no farther than Kirby Drive on the west, Brays Bayou on the southwest, and Sims Bayou on the southeast. The Heights, Rice Institute, and the new Texas Medical Center were on the edge of town.
City of Houston, Zoning District Map, December 15, 1947, Paddock Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Council Records
The map is a historical footnote to the larger question of urban planning in Houston. Most people know that Houston is the largest city in the country without land use zoning. So why was the city publishing a zoning map? The answer is that it was done to educate citizens about the issues in the upcoming special election in January 1948 when they would be asked to approve a new law authorizing zoning. It’s no spoiler to say that voters rejected the law. Progressives in Houston are gluttons for punishment and tried again in 1962 and 1993. Voters were unmoved and we still have no zoning.
More importantly, the map is a detailed snapshot of the city’s boundaries, street system, and land uses on the eve of its great suburbanization. On December 31, 1948, only a year after the map was published, the city council approved an ordinance annexing a large swath of territory that more than doubled the city’s land area to 189 square miles. Houston was small no more. This was the first of many annexations, done to preserve the city’s tax base and its ability to grow.
The Houston Chronicle, December 31, 1948. © Houston Chronicle. Used by permission.
City council waited until New Year’s Eve to drop this bombshell. The Houston Chronicle responded with a banner headline. Pasadena and other neighboring cities were not thrilled by the news. Their New Year’s hangover was beginning early and would continue for decades more.
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Well | The Dreaded Turning-50 Test
The Dreaded Turning-50 Test
By Denise Grady
March 24, 2014 3:05 pm March 24, 2014 3:05 pm
A colonoscopy monitor in use. The percentage of Americans tested increased from 2000 to 2010.Credit Matthew Ryan Williams for The New York Times
One of the joys of turning 50 is that your doctor will start recommending a colonoscopy. Many people dread the test, which involves having a tube inserted into the rectum to look for cancers and precancers.
Even so, acceptance has grown tremendously. In 2010, 55 percent of Americans ages 50 to 65 had been tested, nearly three times the rate in 2000, and the figure was even higher, 64 percent, in people over 65.
All that screening seems to be paying off: The incidence of colon cancer in people over 50 has dropped 30 percent in the last 10 years, and deaths have also declined, according to a report published last week by the American Cancer Society.
Good news, but not good enough, experts say. Too many people are still dying: 50,310 expected this year, along with 136,830 new cases. Incidence and death rates are significantly higher in blacks than in whites, for reasons that are not fully understood. More poverty among blacks appears to account for some of the difference, but not all.
This is a disease that can often be cured if it is found early. It is also one of the few types of cancer that can be prevented, by using colonoscopy to find and remove abnormal growths, called adenomatous polyps, which can turn cancerous. Experts can detect about 95 percent of cancers and large polyps with a colonoscopy, but smaller polyps are more easily missed.
Many of the deaths occur in patients who were not tested, according to the cancer society, which estimates that about 23 million people ages 50 to 75 are not up to date on screening.
One problem: A colonoscopy is expensive, costing hundreds or thousands of dollars, depending on whether polyps are removed and in what part of the country it is done. Medicare and some other insurers pay in full for the exam, but not for polyp removal. Patients sometimes receive an unexpected bill for hundreds of dollars or more.
A colonoscopy also requires time off from work and a regimen of strong laxatives, and the procedure poses small but real risks of bleeding or injury to the intestine.
For all of its perceived drawbacks, a colonoscopy at least does not have to be done very often — once every 10 years for most people if no polyps are found. Those with polyps or other risk factors are usually advised to have the test done more often.
There are other screening tests, which look for blood in the stool or examine the lower part of the intestine. But many people dislike them because they require handling stool samples or having instruments poked into the rectum. And the stool tests must be done once a year, a schedule that many people fail to follow.
But doctors keep hoping that if more methods become available, more people will find a screening test they can tolerate.
Last week, a study of a new type of stool test was published in The New England Journal of Medicine. The test, Cologuard, checks DNA from intestinal cells that have been shed into the stool and looks for alterations that may signal cancer. If abnormalities are found, the patient is told to have a colonoscopy.
The goal of the study was to compare the DNA method with an existing test for blood in the stool, called the fecal immunochemical test, or FIT. Nearly 10,000 people at average risk for colon cancer had the two tests, and then underwent a colonoscopy. Then the two stool tests were measured against colonoscopy.
Colonoscopy found 65 cancers, and the DNA test detected 92 percent of the 65. The DNA test also detected 42 percent of the 757 potentially precancerous polyps that colonoscopy found. The older stool test, FIT, did not perform as well, detecting 74 percent of the cancers and 24 percent of the polyps.
But the DNA test had more false-positive results than the other stool test: 13 percent, compared with 5 percent for the FIT, meaning that 13 percent of healthy patients would get a false alarm and be urged to have colonoscopy.
Unlike the current stool test, which uses a brush to collect a tiny bit of stool from the toilet, the DNA test requires that patients send an entire bowel movement (but no more than 300 grams, or two-thirds of a pound) to a laboratory. The test kit includes a quart-size container with a bracket that holds it just below the opening in a toilet seat.
“You can’t miss,” said Kevin Conroy, the president of Exact Sciences, which makes Cologuard.
The test is not available yet, but an advisory panel of the Food and Drug Administration is expected to review it this week and vote on whether to recommend approving it. The panel will also consider a blood test that can detect about 70 percent of colon cancers. A final decision from the federal agency will come later.
Dr. Robert A. Smith, senior director for cancer control at the American Cancer Society, said the group thinks a DNA stool test is a good idea because people need all the options they can get. The cancer society and other health groups announced a campaign last week to increase the screening rate in people over 50 to 80 percent by 2018, and Dr. Smith said he thought a new type of test could help.
But Dr. David A. Rothenberger, chairman of the department of surgery at the University of Minnesota, had concerns about the DNA test finding only 42 percent of polyps. The great advantage of colonoscopy, he said, was its ability to prevent cancer entirely by finding these growths so that they could be removed.
Sometimes a test’s overall detection rate can be increased if it is done often — say, once a year, which is recommended for the standard stool tests. But the optimal test interval for Cologuard is not clear. Its price has not been set, either, but could be about $500, Mr. Conroy said. The standard FIT costs about $25.
Even if the new test is approved, it will not replace colonoscopy or even the existing stool test, which people may prefer because it is cheaper and requires a much smaller sample.
Anyone with a positive finding on the DNA test will still be urged to have a colonoscopy. And a colonoscopy will still be recommended for people at high risk because of family history or their own history of polyps or other problems, Dr. Smith said.
A version of this article appears in print on 03/25/2014, on page D6 of the NewYork edition with the headline: The Dreaded Turning-50 Test.
“Caffeinated,” a History of Our Favorite Stimulant
Exercising for Healthier Eyes
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Science Jobs Related to Mountains & Volcanoes
by Clayton Browne
Scientists who study volcanoes are called volcanologists.
Ablestock.com/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
1 Careers That Come From Quartz Mining
2 Science Jobs That Require Lots of Travel
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Geology is literally the study of the earth, and includes the composition of the earth, its structure and the geological processes that create, rivers, oceans valleys and mountains. Geologists study all areas of the earth's surface, from the ocean floor to mountain peaks to barren deserts. But the complex geology of mountains and volcanoes has led to teams of specialized scientists from different disciplines working together to study these unique geological features.
Modern geology is divided into almost a dozen sub-disciplines, and many of them touch on mountains or volcanoes in some way. Structural geologists are the experts on mountains and volcanoes. Their research involves studying the deformation, fracturing and folding of the earth's crust, including the processes underlying how mountains and volcanoes are formed. Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions are often related, and structural geologists study both phenomena.
Volcanologists
Scientists whose research focuses on volcanoes are not surprisingly called volcanologists. Volcanologists come from a variety of disciplines. Although many have an educational background in geology, some volcanologists come from geochemistry or geophysics and even petroleum engineering and computer science. Some volcanologists are employed by the U.S. Geological Survey and other state and federal agencies to help monitor and predict volcanic eruptions, but the large majority work in academia.
Geochemists
In general, geochemists apply the techniques of physical and inorganic chemistry to investigate the nature and distribution of elements in groundwater, rocks and soil. They also use organic chemistry to study the composition of fossil fuel deposits and volcanic gases. Fossil fuel deposits obviously have commercial implications, and analysis of the gases emitted by volcanoes can give valuable information regarding the potential for eruption. A significant number of geochemists are employed in private industry as well as at academic institutions.
Alpine Botanists
Alpine botanists study the plants that grow in mountainous regions, including the plants found on the slopes of active and inactive volcanoes. Some plants are only found in very limited high-altitude environments, and botanists have identified a number of species that are only found near or in active volcanic calderas. Besides identifying plants, alpine botanists apply knowledge of biogeography, biosystematics, evolutionary biology, ecophysiology and the functional ecology of plants to explain the interactions of plants with other plants, animals or microorganisms.
2016 Salary Information for Geoscientists
Geoscientists earned a median annual salary of $89,780 in 2016, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. On the low end, geoscientists earned a 25th percentile salary of $62,830, meaning 75 percent earned more than this amount. The 75th percentile salary is $127,620, meaning 25 percent earn more. In 2016, 32,000 people were employed in the U.S. as geoscientists.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: OOH -- Geoscientists
United States Geological Service: What Does it Take to Become a Volcanologist?
Oregon State University: Do You Want to Become a Volcanologist?
American Geological Institute: Careers in the Geosciences
Springer: Alpine Botany
Oregon State University: Volcano World -- Are There Different Kinds of Volcanologists?
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Outlook Handbook: Geoscientists
Career Trend: Geoscientists
American Institute of Professional Geologists
Clayton Browne has been writing professionally since 1994. He has written and edited everything from science fiction to semiconductor patents to dissertations in linguistics, having worked for Holt, Rinehart & Winston, Steck-Vaughn and The Psychological Corp. Browne has a Master of Science in linguistic anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Browne, Clayton. "Science Jobs Related to Mountains & Volcanoes." Work - Chron.com, http://work.chron.com/science-jobs-related-mountains-volcanoes-18875.html. Accessed 18 July 2019.
Browne, Clayton. (n.d.). Science Jobs Related to Mountains & Volcanoes. Work - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://work.chron.com/science-jobs-related-mountains-volcanoes-18875.html
Browne, Clayton. "Science Jobs Related to Mountains & Volcanoes" accessed July 18, 2019. http://work.chron.com/science-jobs-related-mountains-volcanoes-18875.html
Volcanology Job Description
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Geology Careers With a Bachelor's Degree
Jobs With a Physics Degree
Travel, History and Science Jobs That Involve Work Outside
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What Are the Duties of a Paleontologist?
Job Description for a Planetary Geologist
Are There Any Good Geology Jobs That Don't Deal With Oil?
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Troops Have Installed Miles Of Concertina Wire At The U.S./Mexico Border, And More May Be Coming
By editor • May 3, 2019
Concertina wire installed by U.S. Marines remains on the beach near the U.S.-Mexico border fence in San Diego.
Steve Walsh / American Homefront
Originally published on July 10, 2019 4:17 pm
President Trump is considering sending a new round of troops to the southern border. The military withdrew some service members from the border in December, after they laid miles of concertina wire – large steel coils with razor-sharp teeth.
Steve Walsh reports on the status of concertina wire at the southern U.S. border.
In November, President Trump tweeted a photo of the border wall near the Pacific Ocean wrapped in concertina wire. The president's tweet said "No climbers."
Shortly afterward, then-Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visited the same spot in a San Diego park, using the wire as a backdrop for a speech.
"This is a border wall with row upon row of concertina wire," Nielsen said. "We are very serious. You will not get into our country illegally."
Officials said that laying the wire was among the primary reasons why troops were deployed to the southern border late last year. About 1,800 troops assigned to the border have now left, according to U.S. Army North, which is in charge of the Army's border operation. But most of the wire remains in place.
At Friendship Park, where the U.S. border fence with Mexico meets the Pacific Ocean, the concertina wire is starting to sag in spots. Debris is caught in the barbs at the top of one section. At the base of the fence, some of the wire is tangled. At some points, the concertina wire stops. A smaller section of wire that was set up on the beach is now a tangle of wire.
It is up to the Department of Homeland Security to maintain the wire, said Army Col. Catherine Wilkinson, a spokesperson for U.S. Army North.
Meanwhile, leaders of some border communities are raising questions about why the wire was placed in certain areas, while other nearby parts of the border have no wire.
"If you go east and west of our city, about two and a half miles, there is no wall, there is no fence, there is nothing," said Nogales, Ariz. Mayor Arturo Garino. "So why put it in downtown Nogales in our business area, in our tourist area?"
The Nogales City Council has demanded that the federal government take down the rows of wire strung along the border fence through the city's downtown. City leaders say they're worried about children getting hurt. The small U.S. city also depends on people coming from Mexico to shop, and leaders are concerned the wire sends the wrong message.
Originally, the troops strung two rows of wire, the mayor said. The city was upset when troops came back to cover the entire border wall from top to bottom downtown.
The Pentagon has said troops put the wire wherever the Border Patrol and Homeland Security asked them to place it.
In Arizona, the local Border Patrol agent in charge, Sabri Dinkman, told Arizona Public Media that several factors went into the decision about where to install the wire.
"We looked at places where we need to have impedence. We need to have time for our agents to react to attempted illegal entries," Dinkman said.
Dinkman said the extra wire downtown is necessary.
"They were cutting it, crossing," he said, "and so the extra layers of concertina wire provided a deterrent. Since we've had the extra layers of concertina wires on the fence in Nogales, we've only had one attempted breach of those areas."
Other communities along the border have questioned leaving the wire in place. The city of McAllen, Tex., took down wire strung around some municipal buildings at the border. In Laredo, Tex., some wire was quietly removed in December after residents objected.
The Border Patrol in San Diego said in a statement that it wanted the wire in high-traffic areas, including around ports of entry.
The Pentagon says a total of 180 miles of wire was laid along the border beginning in October, including 46 miles in California, 64 miles in Arizona, and 70 miles in Texas.
Some U.S. troops remain along the border, and President Trump has said he plans to send more, so communities could see a new round of concertina wire in the coming months.
This story was produced by the American Homefront Project, a public media collaboration that reports on American military life and veterans. Funding comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Copyright 2019 North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC. To see more, visit North Carolina Public Radio – WUNC.
Florida Lawmakers Debate Sanctuary Bills
By editor • Apr 21, 2019
A pair of bills are inching their way closer to the Florida House and Senate Chambers. Senate Bill 168 and House Bill 527 would prohibit local governments from sanctuary policies.
Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross Says South Florida Immigrants Shouldn't Fear Census Citizenship Question
By Sam Turken • Apr 20, 2019
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross says immigrants and non-citizens in South Florida should not fear a citizenship question on the 2020 census.
During a visit to Miami Thursday to meet with local business leaders, Ross—who oversees the census—emphasized that Census Bureau workers cannot share people’s responses with other government authorities. The comment came in response to continuing concerns that immigrants will sit out the census for fear their answers could be released to federal immigration authorities.
The VA Is Again Expanding Its Private Healthcare Options, But Many Veterans Remain Skeptical
The VA Mission Act hopes to improve upon the Choice program, which ran over budget and didn't do much to reduce wait times for many veterans.
Some Troops Rushed To See Doctors Before The Military's New Transgender Policy Took Effect
The policy bans transgender recruits and prevents current troops from transitioning to another sex unless they were diagnosed with gender dysphoria before April 12.
They Were Recruited Into the Military, But Non-Citizen Troops Now Face An Uncertain Future
By Carson Frame • Apr 12, 2019
From 2009 to 2016, the Defense Department recruited more than 10,000 non-citizens into the armed forces. Now some say they're being discharged without explanation.
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Archive for month: June, 2017
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer Review
Quota Films Ltd, June 25, 2017 June 25, 2017 , Announcements, Film Reviews, Uncategorized, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Harris Yulin, Michael Sheen, NORMAN-THE MODERATE RISE AND TRAGIC FALL OF A NEW YORK FIXER, Richard Gere, Steve Buscemi, 0
NORMAN-THE MODERATE RISE AND TRAGIC FALL OF A NEW YORK FIXER is played by Richard Gere. A four act story with a supporting cast of Michael Sheen, Steve Buscemi, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Harris Yulin. Norman is a likeable but sad Woody Allen type character desperate to bridge deals between...
Mack (Sam Worthington) comes from a disturbing family background. His father was an alcoholic and a physical abuser. Raised in the farmlands of USA’s mid west, Mack’s coping mechanism in such strife comes in the form of religion, and in adulthood he finds an equally passionate Christian called Nan...
Quota Films Ltd, June 14, 2017 June 20, 2017 , Announcements, Film Reviews, Uncategorized, Daphne Du Maurier, film, Holliday Grainger, Iain Glen, My Cousin Rachel, Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, 0
Based on Daphne Du Maurier’s ( The Birds, Rebecca, Don’t Look now ) 1951 novel, My Cousin Rachel stars Rachel Weisz, Sam Claflin, Holliday Grainger and Iain Glen in this period thriller set in the 19th Century. Phillip Ashley (Claflin) is an orphaned child raised by his lookalike cousin...
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DANNY COLLINS
Quota Films Ltd, June 21, 2016 December 21, 2016 , Film Reviews, Uncategorized, 0
When I first saw the posters plastered over the buses of the West Midlands advertising a worn leather faced Al Pacino in DANNY COLLINS, my first thought was:
“Is this going to be another JACK AND JILL“?
I was apprehensive about this new movie. BATMAN movies are known as DC Comic films, THE AVENGERS franchise are known as Marvel films, and the next installment of the STAR WARS saga will be Disney films. But most films starring someone of the pedigree of a genuine actor like Al Pacino are regarded as Al Pacino films. Alongside him in the cast were Christopher Plummer, Jennifer Garner, Annette Bening and Bobby Cannavale. I was too tempted and as it turned out, the answer to my question is an emphatic no! DANNY COLLINS is loosely based on UK folk singer Steve Tilson. If England had a film industry we could have made this film with an all British cast and crew and set it in the UK.
Liverpool, Leicestershire and other regions of the UK could have been illuminated to the World. But America’s DANNY COLLINS at least has the music of John Lennon:
“A working class hero is something to be“.
A sentiment so lost today.
The film is about an old talented singer songwriter who becomes commercialised very early on in his career and performs other peoples’ songs for mass consumption. But a moment of awakening in the elderly musician leads him to seek redemption for four decades of wavering soul and lost love. He beckons to New Jersey in the hope of meeting and being a part of his lost son’s life having abandoned him and his mother to continue a transient self abusive, addictive and perhaps unstoppable lifestyle of showbiz. 20 minutes into the film, I was convinced I knew the ending, but to the film’s credit, I was wrong. In fact new director Dan Fogelman’s handling of the all star cast and their interplay are well acted out with good dialogue and timing. The plot is inspired by a letter written by John Lennon to the singer stating:
“Being rich doesn’t change your experience in the way you think”.
Lennon’s lyrics such as: “Living is easy with eyes closed“, still resonate today when you consider the failure of the mass media during the illegal invasion of Iraq. DANNY COLLINS is therefore a metaphor for real life. You can either be true to yourselves and follow your passion or do what most people do in the West, and chase the money! Decent movie.
Vinod Mahindru
GIFTED FILM REVIEW
Quota Films Ltd, July 1, 2017 July 2, 2017 , Announcements, Film Reviews, Uncategorized, Chris Evans, Gifted, Gifted film review, Marc Webb, Octavia Spencer, 0
GIFTED stars CAPTAIN AMERICA’S Chris Evans, Octavia Spencer and with child actress McKenna Grace who is beautifully directed by...
If you would like to attend this free BECTU event at The Cinema Museum, Kennington London on the 17th...
The Book of Henry – Film Review
Quota Films Ltd, July 16, 2017 October 10, 2017 , Announcements, Film Reviews, Uncategorized, Colin Trevorrow, Dean Norris, film review, Gregg Hurwitz, Naomi Watts, The Book of Henry, The Book of Henry - Film Review, 0
An emotive and original piece of writing (Gregg Hurwitz) following a recent trend of very strong child performances with...
Quota Films Ltd, July 27, 2016 December 21, 2016 , Announcements, Film Reviews, Uncategorized, 0
THE PROGRAM is a fast paced account of the recent life and crimes of the professional cyclist Lance Armstrong....
Quota Films Ltd, July 7, 2016 October 16, 2017 , Announcements, Film Reviews, Uncategorized, 0
When writing and thinking about GASCOIGNE the documentary the following sub heading came to mind: “CHILD AND VICTIM- THE...
Mack (Sam Worthington) comes from a disturbing family background. His father was an alcoholic and a physical abuser. Raised...
Quota Films Ltd, March 21, 2018 March 21, 2018 , Announcements, Film Reviews, Press Link, british films, henry riley, raw radio, warwick university, Who Killed British Cinema, 0
Henry Riley managed to catch up with Robin Dutta and Vinod Mahindru who Produced and Directed the film ‘Who...
Hampstead – Film Review
Quota Films Ltd, July 13, 2017 July 11, 2017 , Announcements, Film Reviews, Uncategorized, Brendan Gleeson, Diane Keaton, film review, Hampstead, Hampstead - Film Review, Harry Hallowes, Joel Hopkins, Simon Callow, 0
American legend Diane Keaton stars alongside Brendan Gleeson and Simon Callow in this British story loosely based on the...
Midlands Movies - Review - Who Killed British Cinema?GASCOIGNE
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51st Annual Grammy Awards
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Staples Center, Los Angeles
Most awards
Alison Krauss, Robert Plant (5)
Most nominations
Lil Wayne (8)
Television/radio coverage
← 50th
52nd →
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, winning five awards including Album of the Year for their critically acclaimed album Raising Sand . Krauss became the sixth female solo artist to have won 5 awards in one night joining Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Beyoncé Knowles, and Amy Winehouse. [1] Lil Wayne received the most nominations with eight.
Staples Center, officially stylized as STAPLES Center, is a multi-purpose arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999.
Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the most populous city in California, the second most populous city in the United States, after New York City, and the third most populous city in North America. With an estimated population of nearly four million, Los Angeles is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. The city is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, Hollywood and the entertainment industry, and its sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles is the largest city on the West Coast of North America.
Robert Anthony Plant is an English singer, songwriter, and musician, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the rock band Led Zeppelin. Plant is regarded as one of the greatest vocalists in the history of rock music.
Special merit awards
Musical show
Film, television and other visual media
Composing and arranging
Production, surround sound
Cancelled performances
Artists with multiple nominations and awards
The awards broadcast won a 2009 Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety or Music Series or Special.
Performer(s)
Song(s) Performed
U2 "Get on Your Boots"
Boyz II Men "Let's Stay Together"
Jay-Z "Lost+"
"Viva La Vida"
Carrie Underwood "Last Name"
Kid Rock "Amen"
"All Summer Long"
"Rock 'n' Roll Jesus"
Miley Cyrus "Fifteen"
Jennifer Hudson "You Pulled Me Through"
Stevie Wonder "Burnin' Up"
"Superstition"
Katy Perry "I Kissed a Girl"
Kanye West "American Boy"
Kenny Chesney "Better as a Memory"
M.I.A. "Swagga Like Us"
M.I.A. "Paper Planes"
Dave Grohl "I Saw Her Standing There"
Sugarland "Stay"
Jennifer Nettles "Chasing Pavements"
Spirit of Troy "15 Step"
Justin Timberlake "Dead and Gone"
Duke Fair
Smokey Robinson A Four Tops Medley
Neil Diamond "Sweet Caroline"
Keith Urban "Bo Diddley"
Terence Blanchard
Allen Toussaint "Tie My Hands"
Alison Krauss "Rich Woman"
"Gone, Gone, Gone (Done Moved On)"
Stevie Wonder "All About the Love Again"
Simon Baker [2]
James Todd Smith, known professionally as LL Cool J, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, author and entrepreneur from Queens, New York. With the breakthrough success of his hit single "I Need a Beat" and the Radio LP, LL Cool J became one of the first hip-hop acts to achieve mainstream success along with Kurtis Blow and Run-D.M.C..
Aimee Anne Duffy is a Welsh singer, songwriter and actress. Born in Bangor, Wales, she was introduced to Jeannette Lee of Rough Trade Records, which led to her signing a recording contract with A&M Records in 2007.
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was an American singer and actress. She was cited as the most awarded female artist of all time by Guinness World Records and remains one of the best-selling music artists of all time with 200 million records sold worldwide. She released seven studio albums and two soundtrack albums, all of which have been certified diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Houston's crossover appeal on the popular music charts—as well as her prominence on MTV, starting with her video for "How Will I Know"—influenced several African-American women artists who followed in her footsteps.
MusiCares Person of the Year
Lifetime Achievement Award winners
The Blind Boys of Alabama
Tom Paxton
Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician and rodeo performer who gained fame as a singing cowboy in a crooning style on radio, in films, and on television for more than three decades beginning in the early 1930s. Autry was the owner of a television station, several radio stations in Southern California, and the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim Angels Major League Baseball team from 1961 to 1997.
The Blind Boys of Alabama is an American five-time Grammy Award-winning gospel group who first sang together in 1939. The Blind Boys have toured for seven decades and created an extensive discography. In 2016 the on-stage configuration of the group consisted of eight people: four blind singers—Jimmy Carter, Ben Moore, Eric "Ricky" McKinnie, Paul Beasley - guitarist and musical director Joey Williams, and a keyboardist, a bass guitarist, and a drummer.
Henry Jones Jr., best known as Hank Jones, was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored him with the NEA Jazz Masters Award. He was also honored in 2003 with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Jazz Living Legend Award. In 2008, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. On April 13, 2009, the University of Hartford presented Jones with an honorary Doctorate of Music for his musical accomplishments.
Trustees Award winners
George Avakian
Elliott Carter
Technical Grammy Award winners
Clarence "Leo" Fender
President's Merit Award
For all of these there are both nominees and winners, the winners are in bold.
Record of the Year
"Please Read the Letter" – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
T Bone Burnett, producer; Mike Piersante, engineer/mixer
Mike Piersante is a recording engineer and mixer.
"Chasing Pavements" – Adele
Eg White, producer; Tom Elmhirst & Steve Price, engineer/mixers
"Viva la Vida" – Coldplay
Markus Dravs, Brian Eno & Rik Simpson, producers; Michael Brauer & Rik Simpson, engineers/mixers
"Bleeding Love" – Leona Lewis
Simon Cowell, Clive Davis & Ryan "Alias" Tedder, producers; Craig Durrance, Phil Tan & Ryan "Alias" Tedder, engineers/mixers
"Paper Planes" – M.I.A.
Diplo, producer; Switch, engineer/mixer
"Please Read the Letter" is a song originally recorded by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page for the 1998 album Walking into Clarksdale.
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of 10 and recording for the first time at 14. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987. She was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss and Union Station, and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989.
Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III is an American record producer, musician, and songwriter. Burnett rose to fame as a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. He has received multiple Grammy awards for his work in film music, including for O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) Cold Mountain (2004), Walk the Line (2006), Crazy Heart (2010); and won another Grammy for producing the studio album Raising Sand (2007), in which he united the contemporary bluegrass of Alison Krauss with the blues rock of Robert Plant.
Album of the Year
Raising Sand – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
T Bone Burnett, producer; Mike Piersante, engineer/mixer; Gavin Lurssen, mastering engineer
Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends – Coldplay
Markus Dravs, Brian Eno & Rik Simpson, producers; Michael H. Brauer, Markus Dravs, John O'Mahoney, Rik Simpson & Andy Wallace, engineers/mixers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer
Tha Carter III – Lil Wayne
Babyface, Brisco, Fabolous, Jay-Z, Kidd Kidd, Busta Rhymes, Juelz Santana, D. Smith, Static Major, T-Pain & Bobby Valentino, featured artists; Alchemist, David Banner, Vaushaun "Maestro" Brooks, Cool & Dre, Andrews "Drew" Correa, Shondrae "Mr. Bangladesh" Crawford, Darius "Deezle" Harrison, Jim Jonsin, Mousa, Pro Jay, Rodnae, Skillz & Play, D. Smith, Swizz Beatz, Robin Thicke, T-Pain & Kanye West, producers; Angel Aponte, Joshua Berkman, Andrew Dawson, Joe G, Darius "Deezle" Harrison, Fabian Marasciullo, Miguel Scott, Robin Thicke, Julian Vasquez & Gina Victoria, engineers/mixers; Vlado Meller, mastering engineer
Year of the Gentleman – Ne-Yo
Chuck Harmony, Ne-Yo, Polow Da Don, StarGate, Stereotypes, Syience, Shea Taylor & Shomari "Sho" Wilson, producers; Kirven Arrington, Jeff Chestek, Kevin "KD" Davis, Mikkel Eriksen, Jaymz Hardy Martin, III, Geno Regist, Phil Tan & Tony Terrebonne, engineers/mixers; Herb Powers, Jr., mastering engineer
In Rainbows – Radiohead
Nigel Godrich, producer; Nigel Godrich, Dan Grech-Marguerat, Hugo Nicolson & Richard Woodcraft, engineers/mixers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer
Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland, Will Champion & Chris Martin, songwriters (Coldplay)
"American Boy"
William Adams, Keith Harris, Josh Lopez, Caleb Speir, John Stephens, Estelle Swaray & Kanye West, songwriters (Estelle featuring Kanye West)
"Chasing Pavements"
Adele Adkins & Eg White, songwriters (Adele)
"I'm Yours"
Jason Mraz, songwriter (Jason Mraz)
"Love Song"
Sara Bareilles, songwriter (Sara Bareilles)
Jazmine Sullivan
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
"Love Song" - Sara Bareilles
"Mercy" - Duffy
"Bleeding Love" - Leona Lewis
"I Kissed a Girl - Katy Perry
"So What" - Pink
Best Male Pop Vocal Performance
"All Summer Long" - Kid Rock
"Say" – John Mayer
"That Was Me" - Paul McCartney
"I'm Yours" - Jason Mraz
"Closer" - Ne-Yo
"Wichita Lineman" - James Taylor
Grammy Award for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals
"Waiting in the Weeds" - Eagles
"Going On" - Gnarls Barkley
"Won't Go Home Without You" - Maroon 5
"Apologize" - OneRepublic
Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals
"Lesson Learned" - Alicia Keys & John Mayer
"4 Minutes" - Madonna, Justin Timberlake & Timbaland
"Rich Woman" – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
"If I Never See Your Face Again" - Maroon 5 & Rihanna
"No Air" - Jordin Sparks & Chris Brown
Best Pop Instrumental Performance
"Love Appetite" - Steve Cropper & Felix Cavaliere
"I Dreamed There Was No War" – Eagles
"Fortune Teller"- Fourplay
"Steppin' Out" - Stanley Jordan
"Blast!" - Marcus Miller
Best Pop Instrumental Album
Sax for Stax - Gerald Albright
Greatest Hits Rerecorded Volume One - Larry Carlton
Jingle All the Way – Béla Fleck and the Flecktones
The Spice of Life - Earl Klugh
A Night Before Christmas" - Spyro Gyra
Best Pop Vocal Album
Detours - Sheryl Crow
Rockferry – Duffy
Long Road Out of Eden - Eagles
Spirit - Leona Lewis
Covers - James Taylor
Best Dance Recording
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)" – Daft Punk
"Ready for the Floor" - Hot Chip
"Just Dance" - Lady Gaga & Colby O' Donis
"Give It 2 Me" - Madonna
"Disturbia" - Rihanna
"Black & Gold" - Sam Sparro
Best Electronic/Dance Album
New York City - Brazilian Girls
Alive 2007 – Daft Punk
Bring Ya to the Brink - Cyndi Lauper
X - Kylie Minogue
Last Night - Moby
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Still Unforgettable – Natalie Cole
The Sinatra Project - Michael Feinstein
Noël - Josh Groban
In the Swing of Christmas - Barry Manilow
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall - Rufus Wainwright
Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance
"Gravity" – John Mayer
"I Saw Her Standing There" - Paul McCartney
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" Bruce Springsteen
"Rise" - Eddie Vedder
"No Hidden Path" - Neil Young
Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
"Sex on Fire" – Kings of Leon
"Rock N' Roll Train" - AC/DC
"Violet Hill" - Coldplay
"Long Road Out of Eden" - Eagles
"House of Cards" - Radiohead
Best Hard Rock Performance
"Inside the Fire" - Disturbed
"Visions" - Judas Priest
"Wax Simulacra" – The Mars Volta "
"Saints of Los Angeles" - Mötley Crüe
"Lords of Salem" - Rob Zombie
Best Metal Performance
"Heroes of Our Time" - DragonForce
"Nostradamus" - Judas Priest
"My Apocalypse" – Metallica
"Under My Thumb" - Ministry
"Psychosocial" - Slipknot
Best Rock Instrumental Performance
"Castellorizon" - David Gilmour
"Suicide & Redemption" - Metallica
"34 Ghosts I-IV" - Nine Inch Nails
"Hope (Live For The Art Of Peace)" - Rush
"Peaches En Regalia" – Zappa Plays Zappa featuring Steve Vai & Napoleon Murphy Brock
Best Rock Song
"Girls in Their Summer Clothes" – Bruce Springsteen
"House of Cards - Radiohead
"I Will Possess Your Heart" - Death Cab for Cutie
"Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon
Best Rock Album
Rock N Roll Jesus - Kid Rock
Only By The Night - Kings of Leon
Death Magnetic - Metallica
Consolers of the Lonely - The Raconteurs
Best Alternative Music Album
Modern Guilt - Beck
Narrow Stairs - Death Cab for Cutie
The Odd Couple - Gnarls Barkley
Evil Urges - My Morning Jacket
In Rainbows - Radiohead
Best Female R&B Vocal Performance
"Me, Myself and I "- Beyoncé
"Heaven Sent" - Keyshia Cole
"Spotlight" - Jennifer Hudson
"Superwoman" – Alicia Keys
"Need U Bad" - Jazmine Sullivan
Best Male R&B Vocal Performance
"You're the Only One" - Eric Benét
"Take You Down" - Chris Brown
"Miss Independent" – Ne-Yo
"Can't Help But Wait" - Trey Songz
"Here I Stand" - Usher
Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
"Ribbon in the Sky" - Boyz II Men
"Words" - Anthony David & India.Arie
"Stay with Me (By the Sea)" – Al Green & John Legend
"I'm His Only Woman" - Jennifer Hudson & Fantasia
"Never Give You Up" - Raphael Saadiq feat. Stevie Wonder & CJ Hilton
Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance
"A Change is Gonna Come" - Wayne Brady
"You've Got the Love I Need" – Al Green & Anthony Hamilton
"Baby I Know" - Linda Jones with Helen Bruner & Terry Jones
"Love That Girl" - Raphael Saadiq
"In Love With Another Man" - Jazmine Sullivan
Best Urban/Alternative Performance
"Say Goodbye to Love" - Kenna
"Wanna Be" - Maiysha
"Be OK" – Chrisette Michele & will.i.am
"Many Moons" - Janelle Monáe
"Lovin You (Music)" - Wayna & Kokayi
Best R&B Song
"Bust Your Windows" - Jazmine Sullivan
"Customer" - Raheem DeVaughn
"Spotlight - Jennifer Hudson
Best R&B Album
Love & Life - Eric Benét
Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA - Boyz II Men
Lay It Down - Al Green
Jennifer Hudson – Jennifer Hudson
The Way I See It - Raphael Saadiq
Best Contemporary R&B Album
Growing Pains – Mary J. Blige
Back of My Lac' - J. Holiday
First Love - Karina
Year of the Gentleman - Ne-Yo
Fearless - Jazmine Sullivan
Best Rap Solo Performance
"A Milli" – Lil Wayne
"Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)..." – Jay-Z
"Paris, Tokyo" – Lupe Fiasco
"N.I.*.*.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)" – Nas
"Sexual Eruption" – Snoop Dogg
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
"Swagga Like Us" – Jay-Z & T.I. featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne
"Royal Flush (song) – Big Boi featuring Raekwon & Andre 3000
"Mr. Carter – Lil Wayne featuring Jay-Z
"Wish You Would" – Ludacris featuring T.I.
"Put On" – Young Jeezy featuring Kanye West
Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
"American Boy" – Estelle featuring Kanye West
"Low" – Flo Rida featuring T-Pain
"Green Light" – John Legend & Andre 3000
"Got Money" – Lil Wayne featuring T-Pain
"Superstar" – Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos
Best Rap Song
"Lollipop"
D. Carter, S. Garrett, D. Harrison, J. Scheffer & R. Zamor, songwriters (Lil Wayne featuring Static Major)
"Low"
T. Dillard, M. Humphrey & T-Pain, songwriters (Flo Rida featuring T-Pain)
"Sexual Eruption" - Snoop Dogg
Calvin Broadus, S. Lovejoy & D. Stewart, songwriters (Snoop Dogg)
"Superstar"
Lupe Fiasco & Soundtrakk, songwriters (Lupe Fiasco featuring Matthew Santos)
"Swagga Like Us"
D. Carter, S. Carter, Clifford Harris & Kanye West, songwriters (M. Arulpragasam, N. Headon, M. Jones, J. Mellor, T. Pentz & P. Simonon, songwriters) (Jay-Z & T.I. featuring Kanye West & Lil Wayne)
American Gangster – Jay-Z
The Cool – Lupe Fiasco
Nas – Nas
Paper Trail – T.I.
Best Female Country Vocal Performance
"For These Times" - Martina McBride
"What I Cannot Change" - LeAnn Rimes
"Last Name" – Carrie Underwood
"Last Call" - Lee Ann Womack
"This Is Me You're Talking To" - Trisha Yearwood
Best Male Country Vocal Performance
"You're Gonna Miss This" - Trace Adkins
"In Color" - Jamey Johnson
"Just Got Started Lovin' You" - James Otto
"Letter to Me" – Brad Paisley
"Troubadour" - George Strait
Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal
"God Must Be Busy" - Brooks & Dunn
"Love Don't Live Here" - Lady Antebellum
"Every Day" - Rascal Flatts
"Blue Side of the Mountain" - The Steel Drivers
"Stay" – Sugarland
Best Country Collaboration with Vocals
"Shiftwork" - Kenny Chesney & George Strait
"Killing the Blues" – Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
"House of Cash" - George Strait & Patty Loveless
"Life in a Northern Town" - Sugarland, featuring Jake Owen & Little Big Town
"Let the Wind Chase You" - Trisha Yearwood & Keith Urban
Best Country Instrumental Performance
"Sumatra" - Cherryholmes
"Two Small Cars In Rome" - Jerry Douglas & Lloyd Green
"Sleigh Ride" - Béla Fleck & The Flecktones
"Is This America? (Katrina 2005)" - Charlie Haden, Pat Metheny, Jerry Douglas & Bruce Hornsby
"Cluster Pluck" – Brad Paisley, James Burton, Vince Gill, John Jorgenson, Albert Lee, Brent Mason, Redd Volkaert & Steve Wariner
Best Country Song
"Dig Two Graves" - Randy Travis
"I Saw God Today" - George Strait
Best Country Album
That Lonesome Song - Jamey Johnson
Sleepless Nights - Patty Loveless
Troubadour – George Strait
Around the Bend - Randy Travis
Heaven, Heartache and the Power of Love - Trisha Yearwood
Best Bluegrass Album
Cherryholmes III: Don't Believe - Cherryholmes
Del McCoury Band — Live At The 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - Del McCoury Band
The Ultimate Collection / Live At The Ryman - Earl Scruggs
Honoring the Fathers of Bluegrass: Tribute to 1946 and 1947 – Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder
Wheels - Dan Tyminski
Best New Age Album
Meditations - William Ackerman
Pathfinder - Will Clipman
Peace Time – Jack DeJohnette
Ambrosia - Peter Kater
The Scent of Light - Ottmar Liebert & Luna Negra
Best Contemporary Jazz Album
Randy in Brasil – Randy Brecker
Floating Point – John McLaughlin
Cannon Re–Loaded: All–Star Celebration of Cannonball Adderley – Various Artists
Miles from India – Various Artists
Lifecycle – Yellowjackets featuring Mike Stern
Best Jazz Vocal Album
Imagina: Songs of Brasil – Karrin Allyson
Breakfast on the Morning Tram – Stacey Kent
If Less Is More...Nothing Is Everything – Kate McGarry
Loverly – Cassandra Wilson
Distances – Norma Winstone
Best Jazz Instrumental Solo
"Be–Bop" – Terence Blanchard
"Seven Steps to Heaven" – Till Brönner
"Waltz for Debby" – Gary Burton & Chick Corea
"Son of Thirteen" – Pat Metheny
"Be–Bop" – James Moody
Best Jazz Instrumental Album, Individual or Group
The New Crystal Silence – Chick Corea & Gary Burton
History, Mystery – Bill Frisell
Brad Mehldau Trio Live – Brad Mehldau Trio
Day Trip – Pat Metheny featuring Christian McBride & Antonio Sánchez
Standards – Alan Pasqua, Dave Carpenter & Peter Erskine
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Monday Night Live at the Village Vanguard – Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
Best Latin Jazz Album
Song for Chico – Arturo O'Farrill and The Afro–Latin Jazz Orchestra
Best Gospel Performance
"Get Up" – Mary Mary
"East to West" - Casting Crowns
"I Understand" - Kim Burrell, Rance Allen, BeBe Winans, Mariah Carey, & Hezekiah Walker's LFC
"Shall We Gather at the River" - Take 6
"Waging War" - CeCe Winans
Best Gospel Song
"Help Me Believe" – Kirk Franklin
Kirk Franklin, songwriter
"Cover Me" - 21:03 with Fred Hammond, Smokie Norful, & J Moss
James L. Moss, songwriter
"Get Up" - Mary Mary
Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell, Warryn Campbell, & Eric Dawkins, songwriters
"Give Me Your Eyes" - Brandon Heath
Brandon Heath & Jason Ingram, songwriters
"You Reign" - MercyMe
Jim Bryson, Steven Curtis Chapman, Nathan Cochran, Barry Graul, Bart Millard, Mike Scheuchzer, & Robby Shaffer, songwriters
Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album
Alive and Transported – tobyMac
Hello - After Edmund
Our World: Redeemed - Flame
We Need Each Other - Sanctus Real
Rock What You Got - Superchick
Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album
Thy Kingdom Come – CeCe Winans
This Moment - Steven Curtis Chapman
What If We - Brandon Heath
Opposite Way - Leeland
Hello Love - Chris Tomlin
Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album
Lovin' Life – Gaither Vocal Band
Room For More - Booth Brothers
Steps to Heaven - Charlie Louvin
Hymned Again - Bart Millard
Ephesians One - Karen Peck and New River
Best Traditional Gospel Album
Down in New Orleans – The Blind Boys of Alabama
I'll Say Yes - Carol Cymbala & The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
Take It Back - Dorinda Clark-Cole
Voices in Unity: Together In Worship - Deitrick Haddon
No Limit - Bishop Charles E. Blake presents the West Angeles Church of God in Christ Choir
Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album
The Fight of My Life – Kirk Franklin
Reflections - Jason Champion
The Sound - Mary Mary
Donald Lawrence Introduces: Family Prayer - The Murrills
Stand Out - Tye Tribbett & G.A.
Best Latin Pop Album
La Vida... Es Un Ratico – Juanes
Best Latin Rock or Alternative Album
45 – Jaguares
Best Latin Urban Album
Los Extraterrestres – Wisin & Yandel
Best Tropical Latin Album
Señor Bachata – José Feliciano
Best Regional Mexican Album
Amor, Dolor y Lágrimas: Música Ranchera – Mariachi los Camperos de Nati Cano
Canciones de Amor – Mariachi Divas
Best Tejano Album
Viva La Revolucion – Ruben Ramos & The Mexican Revolution
Best Norteño Album
Raíces – Los Tigres del Norte
Best Banda Album
No Es De Madera – Joan Sebastian
Best Traditional Blues Album
"The Blues Rolls On"-Elvin Bishop
"Skin Deep"-Buddy Guy
"All Odds Against Me"-John Lee Hooker, Jr.
"One Kind Favor"– B.B. King
"Pinetop Perkins and Friends"-Pinetop Perkins and Friends
Best Contemporary Blues Album
"Peace Love & BBQ"-Marcia Ball
"Like a Fire"-Solomon Burke
"City That Care Forgot" – Dr. John And The Lower 911
"Maesteo"-Taj Mahal
"Simply Grand"-Irma Thomas
Best Traditional Folk Album
"Coal"-Kathy Mattea
"Comedians & Angels"-Tom Paxton
"Bring Me Home"-Peggy Seeger
"At 89" – Pete Seeger
"Strangers In Another Country"-Rosalie Sorrels
Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album
"Day After Tomorrow"- Joan Baez
"I, Flathead"- Ry Cooder
"Sex & Gasoline"- Rodney Crowell
"All I Intended to Be"- Emmylou Harris
"Raising Sand"- Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Best Native American Music Album
Come to Me Great Mystery: Native American Healing Songs – Various artists (Tom Wasinger, producer)
Best Hawaiian Music Album
"Ikena – Tia Carrere & Daniel Ho
Best Zydeco or Cajun Music Album;
Live at the 2008 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival – BeauSoleil & Michael Doucet
Best Reggae Album
Jah Is Real – Burning Spear
Let's Get Physical - Elephant Man
Vibes - Heavy D
Repentance - Lee "Scratch" Perry
Intoxication - Shaggy
Amazing - Sly and Robbie
Best Traditional World Music Album
Ilembe: Honoring Shaka Zulu – Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Best Contemporary World Music Album
Global Drum Project – Mickey Hart, Zakir Hussain, Sikiru Adepoju & Giovanni Hidalgo
nominee Angels & Almas – David Maldonado
Best Polka Album
Let the Whole World Sing – Jimmy Sturr and His Orchestra
Best Musical Album For Children
"Here Come the 123s"–They Might Be Giants
Best Spoken Word Album for Children
"Yes To Running! Bill Harley Live"–Bill Harley
Best Spoken Word Album
An Inconvenient Truth – Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon & Blair Underwood
Best Comedy Album
It's Bad for Ya – George Carlin
Anticipation - Lewis Black
Flight of the Conchords - Flight of the Conchords
For Your Consideration - Kathy Griffin
Songs of the Bushmen - Harry Shearer
Best Musical Show Album
In the Heights – Original Broadway Cast with Lin-Manuel Miranda & Others
Kurt Deutsch, Alex Lacamoire, Andrés Levin, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Joel Moss & Bill Sherman, producers; Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer/lyricist
Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
August Rush
Sweeney Todd — The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
The Dark Knight - James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - John Williams
Iron Man - Ramin Djawadi
There Will Be Blood - Johnny Greenwood
WALL-E - Thomas Newman
Best Song Written for Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
"Down to Earth" (from WALL-E ) – Peter Gabriel
"Ever Ever After" (from Enchanted) - Carrie Underwood
"Say" - (from The Bucket List) - John Mayer
"That's How You Know" (from Enchanted) - Amy Adams
"Walk Hard" (from Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story) - John C. Reilly
Best Instrumental Composition
"The Adventures of Mutt" (from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ) – John Williams
John Williams, composer
Best Instrumental Arrangement
"Define Dancing" (from WALL-E ) – Thomas Newman
Peter Gabriel & Thomas Newman, arrangers
Best Pop Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)
"Captain Of Her Heart" – [Project Grand Slam & Judie Tzuke]
Ron Thaler, Haim Cotton, arrangers
Best Recording Package
' Death Magnetic – Bruce Duckworth, Sarah Moffatt & David Turner, art directors (Metallica)
Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
' In Rainbows – Stanley Donwood, Mel Maxwell & Xian Munro, art directors (Radiohead)
Best Album Notes
Kind Of Blue: 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition – Francis Davis, album notes writer (Miles Davis)
Best Historical Album
Art Of Field Recording Volume I: Fifty Years Of Traditional American Music – Documented By Art Rosenbaum Steven; Lance Ledbetter & Art Rosenbaum, compilation producers; Michael Graves, mastering engineer (Various Artists)
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Consolers of the Lonely – The Raconteurs
Joe Chiccarelli, Vance Powell & Jack White III, engineers
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Death Magnetic (Metallica)
Home Before Dark (Neil Diamond)
Mercy (Dancing for the Death of an Imaginary Enemy) (Ours)
Seeing Things (Jakob Dylan)
Weezer (Red Album) (Weezer)
Ron Thaler
In The Margins (Kelly Saint Patrick) (A)
No One (song), As I Am - The Super Edition (Alicia Keys) (A)
Captain Of Her Heart (Project Grand Slam) (A)
Everything Changed (Greg Merritt & Heavy Road) (A)
Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical
"Electric Feel" (Justice Remix)
(MGMT), remixers Justice
Best Surround Sound Album
Mussorgsky: Pictures at an Exhibition ; Night on Bald Mountain ; Prelude to Khovanshchina – Paavo Järvi & Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra – Michael Bishop & Robert Woods
David Frost, Tom Lazarus & Christopher Willis – Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago – Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Alan Gilbert, Silk Road Ensemble, Wu Man, Yo-Yo Ma & Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Producer of the Year, Classical
Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique – Gustavo Dudamel & Los Angeles Philharmonic
Right Through The Bone—Julius Röntgen Chamber Music
Schubert: Sonata in D major; Liszt: Don Juan Fantasy – Min Kwon
Traditions And Transformations: Sounds Of Silk Road Chicago – Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Alan Gilbert, Yo-Yo Ma, Silk Road Ensemble, Wu Man & Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Best Classical Album
Kurt Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny – James Conlon, conductor
Bernard Haitink, conductor (Chicago Symphony Orchestra) – Shostakovich: Symphony No. 4
Best Opera Recording
Weill: Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny – James Conlon, conductor; Fred Vogler, producer; Anthony Dean Griffey, Patti LuPone & Audra McDonald – Donnie Ray Albert, John Easterlin, Steven Humes, Mel Ulrich & Robert Wörle Los Angeles Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Symphony of Psalms – Sir Simon Rattle, conductor; Simon Halsey, chorus master – Berlin Philharmonic; Rundfunkchor Berlin
Best Instrumental Soloist(s) Performance (With Orchestra)
Esa-Pekka Salonen, conductor; Hilary Hahn (Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra) – Schoenberg/Sibelius: Violin Concertos
Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (Without Orchestra)
Gloria Cheng – Piano music of Salonen, Stucky, and Lutosławski
Best Chamber Music Performance
Pacifica Quartet – Elliott Carter: String Quartets Nos. 1 and 5
Best Small Ensemble Performance
Charles Bruffy, conductor; Phoenix Chorale – Spotless Rose: Hymns To The Virgin Mary
Best Classical Vocal Performance
Hila Plitmann – Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan – JoAnn Falletta (Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra)
Best Classical Contemporary Composition
Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan – John Corigliano (JoAnn Falletta)
Classical Crossover Album
Simple Gifts – King's Singers
Best Short Form Music Video
"Pork and Beans" – Weezer
Mathew Cullen, video director; Bernard Rahill, video producer
Best Long Form Music Video
Runnin' Down a Dream – Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Peter Bogdanovich, video director; Skot Bright, video producer
Rihanna's 51st Grammy Awards performance was cancelled due to treatment caused by domestic violence by her then-boyfriend, Chris Brown.
Chris Brown had been arrested the same day as the event took place due to the assault on his then-girlfriend Rihanna.
Alison Krauss became the sixth female solo artist to have won five Grammys in one evening. The artists who won five before her are Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Beyoncé Knowles, and Amy Winehouse. [1] However, at the ceremony (2010 Grammy Awards) next year, Beyoncé surpassed the record by gaining six such awards.
George Carlin, Jerry Wexler, Jerry Reed, Mike Smith, Rick Wright, Eartha Kitt, Buddy Miles, Mitch Mitchell, Earl Palmer, Buddy Harman, Freddie Hubbard, David "Fathead" Newman, Johnny Griffin, Jimmy McGriff, Mike Berniker, Teo Macero, Eddy Arnold, Nick Reynolds, Miriam Makeba, Odetta, Pervis Jackson, Cachao López, Norman Smith, Neil Aspinall, William Claxton, Neal Hefti, Jo Stafford, Levi Stubbs, Jheryl Busby, Norman Whitfield, Claude Jeter, Ira Tucker, Dottie Rambo, Larry Norman, Merl Saunders, F.M. Scott III, Delaney Bramlett, Alton Ellis, Shakir Stewart, Static Major, Leonard Pennario, Norman Dello Joio, Alexander Slobodyanik, Henry Z. Steinway, Earle Hagen, Isaac Hayes, Danny Federici and Bo Diddley.
The four Grammys Lil Wayne won were the first ever Grammy Award wins in his Career.
George Strait also won his first ever Grammy Award.
After a four-year hiatus, pop-punk band Blink-182 announced their reunion before giving the award for rock album of the year to alternative rock band Coldplay.
The following artists received multiple nominations:
Eight: Lil Wayne
Seven: Coldplay
Six: Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West
Five: Alison Krauss, John Mayer, Robert Plant, Radiohead and Jazmine Sullivan
Four: Adele, Danger Mouse, Eagles, Lupe Fiasco, George Strait, and Stargate, T.I..
The following artists received multiple awards:
Five: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant
Four: Lil Wayne
Three: Coldplay
Two: Adele, John Mayer, Ne-Yo, Daft Punk
The 44th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 27, 2002 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The main recipient was Alicia Keys, winning five Grammys, including Best New Artist and Song of the Year for "Fallin'". U2 won four awards including Record of the Year and Best Rock Album. while opening the show with a performance of "Walk On".
The 45th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2003 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Musicians accomplishments from the previous year were recognized. Norah Jones and her song "Don't Know Why" were the main recipients of the night, garnering six Grammys, including four major awards: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist, plus Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album.Songwriter Jesse Harris received the Song of the Year award for his work on "Don't Know Why." Simon and Garfunkel reunited to open the show performing "The Sound of Silence".
The 37th Annual Grammy Awards were presented on March 1, 1995, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Bruce Springsteen was the night's biggest winner with 4 awards, including Song of the Year while opening the show with his Grammy nominated hit.
The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss, and R. Kelly were the main recipients with three awards each.
The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Several artists earned three awards on the night: Steely Dan's haul included Album of the Year for Two Against Nature; U2 took home the Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Beautiful Day"; Dr. Dre won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical and Best Rap Album for Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP; Eminem himself also received three awards, out of four nominations; Faith Hill took home Best Country Album for the album Breathe, Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the song's title track and for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals with Tim McGraw for "Let's Make Love". Madonna opened the show with "Music".
The 41st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill was the main recipient, winning a total of 5 awards including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. Her album was the first Hip Hop act ever to win the coveted award. The ceremony was known as the "Grammy Year of Women", because every artist nominated for Album of the Year was female. Madonna won four awards and opened the show with her performance of "Nothing Really Matters" while musicians the Dixie Chicks, Vince Gill, Alanis Morissette & Shania Twain won two apiece. Celine Dion also received two awards both for "My Heart Will Go On", which received a total of four awards. It is widely remembered for Ricky Martin's performance of "La Copa De La Vida"/ "The Cup of Life".
The 38th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1996, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The awards recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Alanis Morissette was the main recipient, being awarded four trophies, including Album of the Year. Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men opened the show with their Record of the Year nominated "One Sweet Day".
The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2000 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1999. Santana was the main recipient with eight Grammys, tying Michael Jackson's record for most awards won in a single night. Santana's album Supernatural was awarded a total of nine awards. American teen singers Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera were both nominated for Best New Artist, ultimately won by Aguilera.
The 35th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1993 and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The nominations were announced on January 7, 1993. The evening's host was the American stand-up comedian Garry Shandling, who hosted the ceremony for the third time. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
The 30th Annual Grammy Awards were held March 2, 1988, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year.
The 46th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The big winner was Beyoncé, who won five awards & Outkast, who won three Awards including Album of the Year. Tied for the most nominations, with six each, were Knowles, Outkast, and Jay-Z.
The 47th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2005 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were hosted by Queen Latifah, and televised in the United States by CBS. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Ray Charles, whom the event was dedicated in memory of, posthumously won five Grammy Awards while his album, Genius Loves Company, won a total of eight. Kanye West received the most nominations with ten, winning three. Usher received eight nominations and won three including Best Contemporary R&B Album for his diamond selling album Confessions. Britney Spears received her first Grammy of Best Dance Recording for her 2004 smash hit "Toxic".
The 48th Annual Grammy Awards took place on February 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Irish rock band U2 were the main recipients with five awards including Album of the Year. Mariah Carey, John Legend, and Kanye West were each nominated for eight awards and won three; Alison Krauss & Union Station also won three awards; and Kelly Clarkson won two. Green Day were amongst the big winners, winning the Grammy Award for Record of the Year.
The 50th Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 10, 2008. It honored musical achievement of 2007 in which albums were released between October 1, 2006 through September 30, 2007. The primary ceremonies were televised in the US on CBS; however, as has become the custom, most of the awards were handed out during a pre-telecast portion of the show held at the Los Angeles Convention Center and broadcast on XM Satellite Radio. Two nights prior to the show Aretha Franklin was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year.
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29, two days prior to the Grammy telecast. Nominations announced on December 2, 2009. The show was moved to January to avoid competing against the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Only ten of the 109 awards were received during the broadcast. The remaining awards were given during the un-televised portion of the ceremony which preceded the broadcast.
The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were announced on December 1, 2010 and a total of 109 awards were presented. Most of the awards were presented during the pre-telecast, which took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center next to the Staples Center, where the main telecast took place. The eligibility period was September 1, 2009 to September 30, 2010.
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS. LL Cool J hosted the show. It was the first time in seven years that the event had an official host. Nominations were announced on November 30, 2011 on prime-time television as part of "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night", a one-hour special broadcast live on CBS from Nokia Theatre at L.A. Live. Kanye West received the most nominations with seven. Adele, Foo Fighters, and Bruno Mars each received six nominations. Lil Wayne, Skrillex, and Radiohead all earned five nominations. The nominations were criticised by many music journalists as Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy missed out on a nomination for Album of the Year despite being highly critically acclaimed and topping many end of year charts. West's album went on to win Best Rap Album.
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the second time by LL Cool J. The "Pre-Telecast Ceremony" was streamed live from LA's Nokia Theater at the official Grammy website. Nominations were announced on December 5, 2012 on prime-time television as part of "The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Live! – Countdown to Music's Biggest Night", a one-hour special co-hosted by LL Cool J & Taylor Swift and broadcast live on CBS from the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee. Fun, Frank Ocean, Mumford & Sons, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Dan Auerbach received the most nominations with six each.
The 57th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2015, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The show was broadcast live by CBS at 5:00 p.m. PST (UTC−8). Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time.
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, which runs from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.
1 2 "Plant/Krauss, Lil Wayne Win Big At 51st Grammys". Billboard.com. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
NARAS
CBS GRAMMY Site
Grammy Nominees
Trustees Award
Special Merit/Technical Grammy Award
Ceremony year
Grammy Museum
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4776번 - Apply a Cold Compress
Many techniques for compressing digital graphics focus on identifying and describing regions of a single uniform character. Here is a simple technique for compressing black-and-white images (which could be easily extended to color). The basic idea is to repeatedly split the original picture in half, either vertically or horizontally, until each of the resulting sub-pictures contains only a single color.
A rectangular digital graphic is described by a “compression-expression,” defined as follows: Each compression-expression begins with a two-bit tag, which may be followed by additional compression-expressions depending upon the tag value. The tag values are interpreted as follows:
00 A square region that consists entirely of black pixels. This region may be a single pixel, a 2x2 square, a 3x3 square, etc., depending upon context.
11 A square region that consists entirely of white pixels. This region may be a single pixel, a 2x2 square, a 3x3 square, etc., depending upon context.
10 A horizontal split. This is followed by two compression expressions. The picture produced by a split is formed by taking the pictures denoted by each of those two expressions and placing them along-side one another, the first picture to the left and the second to the right.
Horizontal splits are only possible between two pictures of the same height.
01 A vertical split. This is followed by two compression expressions. The picture produced by a split is formed by taking the pictures denoted by each of those two expressions and placing them along-size one another, the first picture on the top and the second underneath it.
Vertical splits are only possible between two pictures of the same width.
When interpreting splits, it may be necessary to change the scale of the components to make them compatible. For example, given a 2:6 picture A (i.e., 2 pixels wide, 6 pixels high) and a 3:4 picture B:
A vertical split involving these two is possible only if we scale A by a factor of 3, making it 6:18, and scale B by a factor of 2, making it 6:8. The resulting combined picture would have size 6:26.
A horizontal split involving these two is possible only if we scale A by a factor of 2, making it 4:12, and scale B by a factor of 3, making it 9:12. The resulting combined picture would have size 13:12.
For example, using Xs and ‘ ’s to denote black and white pixels, respectively, the expression “00” denotes the picture
and the expression “1000010011” denotes
|XXX|
|XX |
Examination of this format will show that for any given compression-expression, there is some smallest picture that can be denoted by that expression, but the same expression can also denote pictures twice the size of the smallest one, three times the size, etc.
Each line of the input will contain a compression-expression, presented as a single line containing an arbitrary number of 0’s and 1’s. The input ends following the line with the final compression- expression.
All input sets used in this problem will be valid compression-expressions.
For each line of input, your should print the smallest black-and-white picture denoted by that expression, drawn in Xs (black) and ‘ ’s (white), as above, and framed in - and | characters as shown in the examples. There should be no characters or whitespace outside your frame except for the newlines terminating each line.
There should be no blank lines in your output.
|XXXX XXX |
|XXXX XX |
ACM-ICPC > Regionals > North America > Mid-Atlantic Regional > 2002 Mid-Atlantic Regional Programming Contest D번
PKU Judge Online
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Air China Moves Network and Desktop Communications to SITA as Passenger Numbers Rise 45%
SITA has announced that China’s largest international carrier and the world’s most profitable airline, Air China, has selected SITA, the air transport communications specialist, to be the main service provider of its global network and desktop communications.
This comes at a time when the airline is experiencing 45% growth in its passenger numbers.
In this multi-million dollar, three-year deal, SITA will provide the sixty-million passenger airline with a global IP VPN enterprise network. This includes an end-to-end managed solution to provide high-service level standards and infrastructure to support Air China’s business application rollout. The agreement covers 83 nodes for the airline’s Beijing headquarters and offices in Europe, America and Asia Pacific.
Li Qiang, general manager, IT, Air China, said: "Air China’s selection of SITA means that we have the air transport industry’s communications specialist supporting our global operations."
"In addition, by moving from our current, legacy network to SITA’s advanced systems we will immediately save 30-40% of our running costs while also becoming capable to take advantage of the latest technologies like cloud computing and also full integration of data, voice and video."
SITA will reduce Air China’s unit costs by up to 40% with a service supporting both business-critical and non-critical applications. This resilient network will ensure business continuity and the highest service level standard as the airline continues to expand. The platform is also ready for the rollout of future business applications and multimedia integration by Air China.
David Fu, SITA country director, China, said: "This agreement is the first of its kind in mainland China. SITA is providing a total end-to-end solution including network and desktop for the airline’s overseas operations.
"Our unique position in the global air transport industry means that we can support Air China as it grows and expands in airports around the world. Also, with this network upgrade we will enable Air China to implement the latest applications and maintain its operational efficiency."
Air China is the flag carrier of the People’s Republic of China, based in Beijing. The airline is the world’s most profitable, reporting a net profit of CNY12bn (US$1.83 billion) in 2010. It carried 60 million passengers to 138 destinations in 2010, up 45% from the previous year.
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Dr Ross Burns | Special Lecture Series | The Aga Khan University
AKU at a Glance
Deans & Officers
Aga Khan Development Network
Faculty of Arts & Sciences
Centre for Innovation in Medical Education
Centre for Regenerative Medicine & Stem Cell Research
Centre of Excellence in Women & Child Health
School of Nursing & Midwifery
Institute for Educational Development
Graduate School of Media & Communications
East Africa Institute
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
Key Admission Dates
University Research Council
Ethics Review Board & Committees
Clinical Trials Unit
Where to Give
Special Lecture Series
Dr Ross Burns
Aleppo: A city and its architecture | October 25, 2017
Dr Ross Burns has written extensively on the archaeology of Syria, after working in the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for 37 years including as Australian Ambassador to Syria from 1984 to 1987.
Dr Burns is also the author of several books on the history and archaeology of Syria including Damascus, A History (2004), Monuments of Syria (3rd edition, 2009), Aleppo, A History (2016) and the Origins of the Colonnaded Streets in the Cities of the Roman East (2017). He is currently Adjunct Professor in the Ancient History Department at Macquarie University in Sydney.
In The Media
‘Aleppo’s architecture can be brought back to life’
Aleppo's ancient roots explored in talk by former Australian ambassador to Syria
Henry Kim
Dr Asma Ibrahim
View all
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Steven Odendaal Profile and Biography
Lorenzo Baldassarri Profile and Biography
Francesco Bagnaia Profile and Biography
Alvaro Bautista Profile and Biography
Andrea Dovizioso Profile and Biography
Adournet.com
Steven Odendaal was born on March 2, 1993. He was a Grand Prix Motorcycle racer from South Africa. In 2016...
Lorenzo Baldassarri is a Moto2 racer who was born on November 6, 1996 at San Severino Marche, Italy. He is...
Francesco Bagnaia, familiarly called Pecco, is a SKY VR46 team racer at the Moto2 racing level. So it's not in...
Spanish rider who is now entering the 8th season of his career in the MotoGP class. Eight years is indeed...
The Italian national rider began his career at the Grand Prix since 2001. Four seasons in the 125cc class, Dovizoso...
Cal Crutchlow Profile, Biography, Biodata and Career
Cal Crutchlow Profile and Biography Cal Crutchlow (born in Coventry, England, October 29, 1985) is one of the British MotoGP...
Adournet.com is a website contain about profile and biography of famous people.
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The Atlantic Adds 5
A new senior editor, plus two from the National Journal.
By Corinne Grinapol
The Atlantic has added five new members to its teams, announced Atlantic.com editor J.J. Gould this morning.
Krishnadev Calamur has been hired as a senior editor for the news team. Calamur comes to the Atlantic from NPR, where he was an editor and blogger for NPR Parallels.
Marina Koren has been hired as a senior associate editor with the news team, working with Calamur. She was previously at the soon-to-be-magazine-less National Journal, where she was a news editor for NationalJournal.com.
Ed Yong, a freelance journalist who is based out of London, has been hired as a staff writer for the science beat.
Priscilla Alvarez, a National Journal fellow, will be an assistant editor.
Caitlin Frazier has been named social media editor. She comes to The Atlantic from ThinkProgress, where she has been the social media editor there.
In addition to the new hires, Matt Ford, currently the politics section associate editor, will become a news blogger for the site.
http://adweek.it/1Mn6Hox
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NON-FJ EVENTS
Borlaug’s Grandaughter Tells Farmers to Talk Straight About GMOs
by Jeanne Bernick
15:01PM Feb 25, 2014
Next month, Norman Borlaug would have been 100 years old. The Nobel Peace Prize winner’s biotech legacy lives on in his granddaughter Julie Borlaug, associate director for external relations, Norman Borlaug Institute. She is taking a personal path in advocating ag technology to help feed the world.
"My grandfather had a lifelong passion for feeding the hungry and miserable ... and he never faltered," Borlaug said today at the Bayer CropScience Ag Issues Forum, ahead of the 2014 Commodity Classic in San Antonio, Texas. "First and foremost he was a scientist. He was known for being bold and quick to act. He was fierce on innovation. And he was a supporter of biotechnology, just as I am.
"However, he was not the best communicator," Borlaug notes. "Scientists like my grandfather are better at doing science than talking about it." Borlaug gives the example of her grandfather explaining what a genetically modified organism (GMO) is, and how he once stated: GMOs are not witchcraft.
"Why would you start a statement with a negative?" Borlaug asks. "We used to think we could win the day with science alone and scientists doing the talking, but the reality is we need to change the way we talk about technology in agriculture."
More emotion. In the past, the ag industry’s arguments to the general public about biotechnology have been defensive instead of engaging. "The public feels we are adopting biotech for the benefit of big ag. They believe food is grown in the grocery store and they have never seen a shortage in their lifetime. We can’t be defensive about their lack of knowledge," she says.
She suggests farmers take a more emotional approach. Talk about the personal side of agriculture, how biotechnology helps with disease and reduces costs and provides for a better product, Borlaug says. Talk about struggling with drought and how new technology saves water and helps produce a crop that may not be grown without it.
"I like to give the story of golden rice in Asia, and how this rice with vitamin A in it prevents millions of children from going blind each year," Borlaug say. "Do GMO opponents really want to see children go blind?"
She also tells people in personal conversations what GMOs are not—they are not processed food, they do not cause obesity. "I tell them there is no such thing as certified organic," Borlaug says. "They are shocked."
In essence, Borlaug continues her grandfather's work to reduce hunger and poverty by challenging the conversation on technology in agriculture and by having those tough conversations with anti-biotech consumers. She wants farmers to use emotion and tell it to the public straight.
"It is time to change the paradigm," Borlaug adds. "Scientists in ag and the media need to be clear about GMOs. We must remember we are talking to those outside of agriculture who have never been on a farm. We are talking to moms who believe everything on Facebook. We are talking to consumers who are anti-corporate...except when it comes to their apple iPhones."
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The World's Greatest Sinner (1962)
I think it was Stanley Kubrick's The Killing when I noticed Timothy Carey. I think everyone who explores cinema notices him at some point or another and that just happened to be my point. You'll have seen him before: he's the actor you looked at in black and white films and said, 'Hey, that guy looks just like Nicolas Cage!' Well he has a lot more talent than Nicolas Cage and he's a lot more interesting. He was notable in both The Killing and Paths of Glory for Kubrick, but then I started seeing him in odd stuff: beach movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello; the Monkees' movie, Head; part of Lee Marvin's gang in The Wild One; John Cassavetes indies like The Killing of a Chinese Bookie. He certainly got around.
But at the end of the day, this is the most Timothy Carey film there is, because he isn't just an actor in it: he's the lead actor, the writer, the producer, the director, the distributor and probably every other function to boot, all the way down to financing the thing with whatever money he could raise (it cost him $100,000 in the end). It's completely his vision, and given that he was notoriousy eccentric, it's hardly surprising to find that it's a mightily eccentric vision.
Carey plays an insurance salesman called Clarence Hilliard but he comes to the realisation that he's bored and disheartened by the whole thing and wants something more. He wants to make something of himself and he wants to put something back into life. All understandable thus far, but how to do it? 'Why can't I be a God?' he asks himself so he goes about it by founding a political party/religion called the Eternal Man's party, renaming himself God Hilliard and telling everyone that he can make them superhuman beings who can live forever. And then he runs for president.
It's a bold film, make no mistake about it, focused on nothing smaller than the relationship between man and God, without holding back in any way. Blasphemous, sacrilegious and blatant, the approach and the intent reminds of films like What Is It?, Crispin Glover's attempt to shock us into thought. Yet even while Glover had to overcome many obstacles to make his film, he had it easy compared to Carey, whose film is fundamentally hindered by aims much higher than the budget could allow. He is at least imaginative about how to add in stock footage and other tricks to make it appear more expensive than it was. However there are other hindrances beyond money and the inevitability of it being rough around the edges.
Most of the actors (read: what seems like everyone except Carey) appear to be amateurs and many are very amateur indeed. The editing is terrible with lots of abruptness between scenes or even during them. There obviously weren't many opportunities for retakes: you can tell that by the number of scenes that have flies landing inconveniently on people's foreheads. Most of all, the film took four years to shoot, with filming taking place sporadically between 1958 and 1961 whenever funds were available. This leaves actors, not least Carey himself, varying in appearance as time goes on. At points he appears to be stoned out of his brain with his eyeballs unable even to focus. The fact that he even finished the film is impressive. Then again, how he plays his character is up for debate. I think his intent was to be deliberately ridiculous as God Hilliard but in situations that aren't, so that we would look at similar situations in real life and see the ridiculous in people trying very hard not to be.
And it does stand out as a statement. Totally independent at a time when it wasn't easy to to make an independent film and never released commercially, its reputation hasn't faded in over forty years. People paid attention to it, to the degree that Elvis even asked Carey for a copy which he naturally declined, being the awkward so and so that he was. This film is ambitious and powerful and it prompts us to ask a lot of questions, and for those reasons it's a success. As a technical piece, it's a dismal failure. As a piece of art, it's fascinating, but it sure isn't for everyone. It screams independent, cult, fringe, whatever description you want to tag it with to put a brave face on the fact that most people wouldn't even be able to make it through the film.
One Missed Call 2 (2005)
Clay Pigeons (1998)
Buddy Boy (1999)
Jack Smith and the Destruction of Atlantis (2006)
Blood Freak (1972)
Return from Witch Mountain (1978)
Reunion in France (1942)
The Law vs Billy the Kid (1954)
The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again (1979)
The Red Shoes (2005)
Tower of Evil (1972)
Swiss Family Robinson (1960)
Treasure Island (1950)
The Maid (2005)
Gentleman's Fate (1931)
Dead of Night (1945)
The Front Page (1974)
It Happened in Hollywood (1937)
Storm Center (1956)
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Newman: Tom Izzo offers endorsement, perspective after Michigan State beats Rutgers
After Michigan State beat Rutgers on Friday night, Tom Izzo offered an endorsement for Rutgers and Steve Pikiell, but also some perspective.
Newman: Tom Izzo offers endorsement, perspective after Michigan State beats Rutgers After Michigan State beat Rutgers on Friday night, Tom Izzo offered an endorsement for Rutgers and Steve Pikiell, but also some perspective. Check out this story on app.com: https://www.app.com/story/sports/college/rutgers/2018/11/30/rutgers-michigan-state-tom-izzo/2128290002/
Josh Newman, Asbury Park Press Published 6:00 a.m. ET Nov. 30, 2018 | Updated 6:38 a.m. ET Dec. 1, 2018
Michigan State holds off Rutgers, 78-67 Josh Newman, @Joshua_Newman
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, right, talks to forward Kenny Goins (25) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Rutgers, Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, in Piscataway, N.J. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)(Photo: Julio Cortez, AP)
PISCATAWAY - Tom Izzo is not only the Dean of Big Ten basketball coaches, he is among the deans of the group nationally.
That is important to keep in mind after Michigan State's 78-67 win over Rutgers on Friday night at the RAC. The Naismith Hall of Famer sat down in the building's media center postgame, and immediately dove into his thoughts on the state of the Scarlet Knights, not to mention their head coach, Steve Pikiell.
Rutgers hoops falls to earth vs. Michigan State
Again, remember, there aren't even five more influential voices in this man's profession.
"I don't want to be cheerleading for him, but I really appreciate where this program is coming," Izzo said, his team having just completed its fourth game in eight days, all of them away. "It's good for the Big Ten, it's good for us, the fans tonight were awesome.
Rutgers hoops: Statement win vs. Miami
"He's building something here. I hope all the fans, I hope all the media don't take light of it because it's a competitive team."
Some of that is surely pandering to the New Jersey media, some of it is the honest truth because, yes, Rutgers has been very competitive this season. St. John's got away from it a couple of weeks back, but that loss continues to look better with each passing Red Storm win. Rutgers was coming off a seismic win at Miami on Wednesday evening, and a record of 8-4 before New Year's seems more than reasonable.
Nov 27, 2018; Louisville, KY, USA; Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo talks with guard Foster Loyer (3) during overtime against the Louisville Cardinals at KFC Yum! Center. Louisville defeated Michigan State 82-78. Mandatory Credit: Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports (Photo: Jamie Rhodes, Jamie Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports)
To say Rutgers is on the cusp of a breakthrough to Big Ten respectability is still extreme, but this current roster plays hard for Pikiell, and no one is going to be surprised if it catches more than the three Big Ten wins it did last season. To this end, Izzo was asked what it would mean for the Big Ten if Rutgers becomes good, and even becomes a factor in the league, which is perennially sending roughly half its teams to the NCAA Tournament.
Izzo joked that he would like see Rutgers get good in four or five years, after the 63-year-old is retired, but then he got serious. He got to the big-picture point Rutgers faces right now.
Rutgers basketball: Trip to Miami tips off ludicrous week, courtesy of the Big Ten
The Scarlet Knights have not been through the wars yet. Forget Michigan State being more talented and deeper. Sure that helps, but many of these Spartans return from last season's squad, which won 30 games, but absorbed disappointing early exits in the Big Ten and NCAA Tournaments.
Michigan State has been through some stuff. So have Michigan, Iowa, Nebraska and any other Big Ten contender you care to name. Rutgers, for the most part, has not.
"I watched them play Miami, I watched them on tape, they're a team that has to learn how to win," Izzo said. "They won one big game, and it's hard to come back. Talk about tough travel, I don't know what time they got back, but that's tough, and it's tougher for a young team that hasn't done the things.
"They probably came back to school and everyone told them how great they are. That's part of the process to be great, but this guy is a hell of a coach if you ask me, and a class person."
The hell-of-a-coach part is what everyone around these parts is banking on. There have been flashes of such a notion, the Miami game earlier this week standing as the strongest piece of evidence to date. A host of competitive showings against Big Ten contenders, and a small handful of near misses, indicate two things. Rutgers is on the right path under Pikiell, and Rutgers basketball might actually happen some time in the not-too-distant future.
Izzo thinks as much, and given his credentials, that is certainly a start.
Staff Writer Josh Newman: jnewman@app.com; @Joshua_Newman
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Forums > Discussion > Remember Outdoors >
Name all the computer centric movies you can think of....
Aaron Teeling
A younger friend and I were talking about movies the other day and I realized there really hasn't been any 'good' computer movies produced in the last 10 years. What's worst, I'm beginning to forget what computer movies have been produced in the last 20. I ask all of you for help. If there is useless computer trivia to be found, it can be found on Applefritter.:)
I thought of the following:
1. Pirates of Silicon Valley (one of my favorites)
2. Wargames,
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey
5. Colossus
6. Tron
Are we sticking to good movie
Are we sticking to good movies only?
macsane
Computer Movies
Don't forget Demon Seed. A movie about A. I. that wanted to be let out of this box. It had the voice of Robert Vaughn as I remember but it has been a very long time since I have seen it, At least 15yrs
Electric Dreams was a pretty mediocre movie, but had a decent film score/soundtrack by Jeff Lynne of ELO.
The Short Circuit movies (I and II) were mainly focused on androids, but I think they'd be pretty close to counting. As would AI, the Stepford Wives, and I Sing the Body Electric.
Smiththers
Joined: Jan 19 2005 - 23:30
i know its almost all fake, b
i know its almost all fake, but i loved the movie hackers, they atleast praised the apple laptops in that movie! imagine if they made the same movie with technology of the now!
You've Got Mail -- a cheezy romantic comedy with Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks, almost as bad as Sleepless In Seattle (I can't think of any movie as awful as that one without having a dog or a car in the starring role).
astro_rob
"Speechless"
While not truly computer-centric, the main characters use their computers (PowerBooks, by the way) quite a bit. There's also a very funny sequence involving Michael Keaton's character changing a speech heading to a teleprompter.
Also, "Independence Day", also known as "A PowerBook 5300 Saves The Earth"...
They used a 5300 in that movi
They used a 5300 in that movie??? why didnt i know that....
macintoshme
Last seen: 4 years 1 week ago
Or was it a 190?
December 30, 2005 - 12:01am
Terminator (I/II/III/vs.Predator) was at least based on computers and technology ... not sure if these really count though.
Re: The Terminator
cwsmith wrote:
If those are valid, then First Contact is in there too.
December 30, 2005 - 1:32am
mutant_pie
Last seen: 1 day 11 hours ago
Keep the list growing. . .
-West World
-Future World
-The Questor Files
-BattleStar Galactica (the theatrical release: in SensoRound!)
-Cyborgs of 2149 (I think that's the correct year)(which Terminator is a rip-off of)
-The Matrix (series, though I'd say only the first one was "good".)
-The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (the Earth, and Deepthought were two computers that drove the plotline.)
BTW for completeness
First Contact = StarTrekTheNextGeneration:First Contact
I didn't know that they had made a "Terminator vs. Predator" film yet. Apparently Dark Horse has run down every comic book iteration, but a film was made???
Terminator Vs Predator??
Thats a New one. When did it come out?? as I have not seen it or do you mean Alien Vs Predator. Don't forget Lawnmower man one and two although one was better than two
Reverend Darkness
Whoa....
The great mind-eff grandaddy of all computer movies?
The Matrix.
... or, more accurately, the Matrix Trilogy.
Would that be Matrices?
And don't forget Johnny Mnemonic.
Ooooo, and War Games.
Ooooo, and The Net.
coius
"not quite human"
and "still not quite human"
although it was a disney movie
Also, Bicentennial Man.
there was a movie called "Sneakers" I have yet to see it, but my friend suggested adding it to the list
You're right
My bad. Easy enough to get my Ahnold films mixed around. Sorry!
Good but.....
.... I was thinking more on the lines of 70's & 80's 'computer' movies. (or older). Terminator does start to strech the subject a bit, but good suggestion. Wasn't there a movie that Katherine Hepburn played in as a computer programmer? Or was it Luceal Ball?
I have never seen Colossus completely through but I remember someone metioning it once in the control room so I added it to my list. Can remember Electric Dreams...When was it produced?
To push the subject in another direction... what about computer centric television shows?
jman
Joined: Nov 30 2005 - 10:12
jerrassic park
they use apple quatras with pc mouses (how dumb)
that ticked me off but the screens were apple for
sure looked like system 7.I like to look for computers
in movies and drive everyone in the room nuts.
Office Space!
gobabushka
Last seen: 10 months 3 weeks ago
Joined: Apr 26 2004 - 16:30
Triumph of the Nerds and Independence Day
Not sure of Triumph of the Nerds would count, but Independence Day had a Powerbook 5300c in it.
catmistake
Everyone's named all the movies I'd put near the top of the list... but...
Resident Evil should be here somewhere... and Blade Runner... but certainly not in the same post.... and also The Final Cut, arguably, but not D.A.R.Y.L., Strange Days, perhaps, and Swordfish, I guess, or how about Weird Science... Jumping Jack Flash...
oh, this is kind of a funny list
iantm
Joined: Apr 2 2005 - 14:01
Re: Good but.....
Aaron Teeling wrote:
You're thinking of Desk Set with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey. (1957 IIRC). A classic, and actually one of my favorite movies.
Last seen: 8 years 1 month ago
What is almost as fun as look
What is almost as fun as looking at the Mac in J.P. is looking at the SGIs. (drool)
dead_elvis
Last seen: 3 years 11 months ago
Good call on Westworld. Prob
Good call on Westworld. Probably more influential than people think, if only because for the entire decade of the 80s it played every weekend on Saturday afternoon TV. All the obvious ones have been mentioned, I'll also offer up:
The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes This was my favorite movie when I was 4. I'm scared to see it now for fear it will ruin my childhood memories.
This link is interesting for this topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_computers#Film
nightrider
did they have a nightrider movie? If no, then I toss in as a Series
starwars, star-trek,
also, men in black has a pretty advanced computer system for main area. and dare I say the horrible movie? "Stealth" Also, there was Flight of the Navigator (disney I believe) among others
A lot of twenty somethings in this forum....
.....or perhaps it is a product of my rural upbringing. Series... Hmm, Knight Rider would have to be up on the list but not before the Bionic Man or Bionic Woman. It does tend to the Terminator side of the spectrum but it was probably on of the few show that featured computers in the plot line (typically someone trying to steal one). Of course there was an 80's TV show that featured a computer whiz kid that solved crimes, but I can think of the name (believe it was and ABC show).
Desk Set.. I will have to look for a copy of that movie.... If we are going to add Desk Set, what about Fail Safe?
Re: A lot of twenty somethings in this forum....
...Of course there was an 80's TV show that featured a computer whiz kid that solved crimes, but I can think of the name...
You wouldn't be thinking of "Whiz Kids", would you?
And what about "Automan"?
Whiz Kids...Automan...
I was wondering if that was the name.. I remember someone had a few issues of a teen computer magazine 'k-power' and it was a feature article. Automan....wow.. I almost forgot. I remember one or two episodes and they were horrible. The 'automan' character.. was he the same actor that played the lead in Manimal?
There was an episode of Magnu
There was an episode of Magnum P.I. that featured somebody trying to break into a security computer that Magnum kept playing an early RPG on, IIRC.
Maybe even Gattaca
aladds
Re: Keep the list growing. . .
mutant_pie wrote:
Deep thought also has an apple logo on it! In the newest (2005) film (as opposed to the TV series, which is technically a film) there is a shot where there is a closeup of the "eye" of deep thought and you can see just above it to the right (iirc) there is a small apple logo, just thought you might like to know that
January 1, 2006 - 10:58pm
Re: Whiz Kids...Automan...
The 'automan' character.. was he the same actor that played the lead in Manimal?
No... Chuck Wagner was "Automan"... Simon MacCorkindale was "Manimal"... damn, I used to love that show...
A gem I stumbled across
In the midst of late night channel surfing, my fiancee and I came across the absurdly cheesy (and delightfully fun in this respect) Ghost in the Machine. It's almost as ridiculous as Hackers (I consider this to be a more realistic presentation of technology), but it's one of the most uninentionally funny movies ever. (www.stomptokyo.com has reviews of some great films along these lines) The early to mid '90's were awesome - since the cold war was over, the studios were looking for the next source of creative cinema - the technothriller, which today is incredibly amusing. (Timecop is another gem from this era - I wish there were a 10th anniversary DVD release in 2004)
Ghost in the machine... can't
Ghost in the machine... can't quite remember that one. That's not the one with Dezel Washington is it?
Timecop... yeah, bad....
How about Runaway?
Re: Ghost in the machine... can't
Nope... The one with Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe is "Virtuosity"...
Y'know, the more we think about these, the more we keep coming up with...
Gadgetman
The Last Starfighter?Not
The Last Starfighter?
Not only does part of the movie centre around an arkade game, but all the spaceship scenes were computer-generated. (The first movie where that was done, and is therefore an important item in any computer-collector's inventory)
Yes, it was a crappy movie...
Does the TV-series Red Dwarf count? One of the characters is a computer AI, and another is a hologram based on the memories of a dead crewmember.
OK, it makes fun of Star Trek and a lot of other series, but if baldy(you know which Star Trek captain that is) is a fan...
Johnny Mnemonic was mentioned.
What about The Lawnmover man? I think there were two of them, even...
In Anime, there's Chobits(now there's some hardware I'd like to lay my hands on), 'I Dream of Mimi'(I don't have this series, yet, but it's on the to buy list), which seems to have a similar theme, 'Ah! My Goddess!', and yes, it's definitely about computers, something anyone will realise if they stop staring at Belldandy and study the intro...
(5episode OVA, 1 movie and a TV series)
In the 'Lost Universe' series, one of the main characters is a hologram created by the main computer of a starship. (Also, all the spacecraft are drawn with the DOGA software package)
Does 'Videogirl Ai' count?
Yes, I know she came out of a TV Screen, not a computermonitor, but she IS cute.
Edit: Forgot 'Dark Star', or did I repress the memory?
(Search it out, I don't want to remember enough of it. Just don't start discussing existentialism with a 'smart bomb'... )
GitM was an anime. As for TL
GitM was an anime. As for TLSF, it sure was done on a computer. It was rendered on Crays, and they had to cut back on what was going ot be rendered bacause they didn't have the production time to do it all. The technology had been demonstrated to Lucas and others for use in SW, but he didn't think it was the way to go, at the time of course. The model master saw the demo and was thoroughly impressed by the way they could do the movements he couldn't achive with models.
Ghost in the Machine among others
The Ghost in the Machine (1993) that I was referring to is the live action cheese fest found here . I've heard of the anime of the same name, but never seen it (not too keen on anime myself). Red Dwarf was an awesome series, and I'd say that it'd count (a movie has supposedly been in the works since 1998). My computer is named Ace Rimmer in honor of the series. Though, in my father's home network, the central linux server is named Holly. Good times.
Virtuosity - man that's a gem I'd almost forgotten about. Sad thing is that I didn't even know that was Russel Crowe. (despite my fiancee's best wishes, that's going into the netflix queue!)
Doctor Who is another gem, with the great quote from the Tom Baker years "The trouble with computers, of course, is that they're very sophisticated idiots." - one of my favorite quotes of all time.
Edited to remove page-streching URL. ~BDub
D'oh! The one I was thinking
D'oh! The one I was thinking of was Ghost in the Shell.
January 19, 2006 - 12:31pm
Inkwolf
Re: Ghost in the Machine among others
iantm wrote:
Oh, my, that's sweet.
I can't believe nobody has mentioned Jurassic Park.
1. The disaster was set off by a disgruntled programmer.
2. The day was saved by a kid hacker using a Mac supposedly running Unix, but the monitor showed an entirely different operating system. (Hey, it's no dumber than Jeff Goldblum managing an infrared connection to upload a Powerbook virus to an alien invasion fleet!)
3. The first large-scale CGI critters on the wide screen! That may not be part of the plot, but still...
And just to mention a couple of anime series, .HACK//sign and Serial Experiment Lain.
Not sure if it's in the movie
Not sure if it's in the movie, but in "The Lost World" (sequel novel), they escape from a bunch of dinosaurs trying to eat them by going through a wiring tunnel. They're trying to pull up a schematic of the park to find an escape but nobody's trained to use it. The kid figures out that for that good of a GUI (at the time the book was written) it had to be a terminal connected to a larger machine elsewhere that they were using, and therefore there'd be some sort of service conduit.
http://www.applefritter.com/node/9989#comment-30273
Jurassic Park was mentioned, just misspelled.
Oh, whoops!
Oh, whoops! I tend not to look at titles, and my search didn't work on the misspelling. I see now that Jon also mentions 'J.P.'
Welll, all the others I could think of were already mentioned. I still love Sneakers, even though the super-high-tech feel of it has degraded over time.
Hey, how about Small Soldiers? It revolves around the computer chips.
dorey_s
Joined: Jun 27 2013 - 11:27
Re: Name all the computer centric movies you can think of....
I am not sure if it is accurate but recently I watched "The Internship" it is bran new but it is good movie regarding computers.
Grampa Socks
Joined: Jun 4 2014 - 12:29
Matrix, Total Recall ...
o and also 'Wreckin' Ralph' !
tolderlund
Joined: Aug 4 2015 - 14:30
I can think of these:
I, Robot (2004) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/
Stealth (2005) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382992/
Real Steel (2011) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0433035/
The Imitation Game (2014) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2084970/
Robot Overlords (2014) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2145829/
Ex Machina (2015) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/
Chappie (2015) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1823672/
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Bangkok SWIM SCHOOL
Serving Bangkok, Thaweewattana, Salaya, Salaya, Sai4, Buddhamonthon, and Sai3
Aqua-Tots Swim SchoolsLocationsSoutheast AsiaBangkok, Thailand
No.2 Soi Thaweewattana 22 Salathummasop Thaweewattana, Bangkok 10170
tawee22info@aqua-tots.com
Mon: 10:00–19:00
Tue: 10:00–19:00
Wed: 10:00–19:00
Thurs: 10:00–19:00
Fri: 10:00–19:00
Sat & Sun: 09:00–18:00
1 lesson/week 2800 Baht per month
2 lessons/week 5250 Baht per month
9:30AM - 10:00AM, Sun Jul 14
Instructed By
Mai Ratikorn Varavudhi
3:30PM - 4:00PM, Sun Jul 14
Class full - Please call for next available opening.
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3:00PM - 3:30PM, Wed Jul 17
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Eak ณัฐวัชร ดอกคำ
3:30PM - 4:00PM, Fri Jul 19
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2:00PM - 2:30PM, Sat Jul 20
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11:30AM - 12:00PM, Tue Jul 16
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3:00PM - 3:30PM, Mon Jul 15
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Younger Leapfrogs
9:00AM - 9:30AM, Sun Jul 14
Bell Nuttapong Makcharoen
11:30AM - 12:00PM, Sun Jul 14
Aunzchi เตือนวีระเดช
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Swimming Lessons Bangkok
Aqua-Tots Swim Schools in the Mulino Learning Center provides swimming lessons for families throughout Thaweewattana, Salaya, Buddhamonthon sai2 sai3 sai4 sai5 and beyond. We are conveniently located 5 minutes from Mahidol University located near Anya’s Place and opposite Baan Ong Restaurant.
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Saving The City
RSHP highlight the need for a revolution in housing supply with well-designed, factory-produced, fast-build, high-performance, affordable homes.
PLACE / Ladywell, Lewisham by RSHP. Image © Morley von Sternberg
24 Jan - 8 Apr 2018
PLEASE NOTE: The gallery will be closed on Good Friday (30 March), Easter Sunday (1 April) and Bank Holiday Monday (2 April).
One in four people across the world are homeless, or live in slums or other substandard housing. The housing crisis, not only in the UK, but in Europe and around the world, is threatening to destroy the mix and viability of our cities. Decent housing should be seen as a human right, like food and healthcare, and as an essential element of the compact city.
By 2050 two thirds of the global population will live in cities. Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners were invited to the 15th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia curated by Alejandro Aravena. Their installation, called ‘Saving the City’, is now represented at the Architecture Centre in Bristol and presents thirty years of factory built housing designed by the practice and highlights the need for a revolution in housing supply, with well-designed, factory-produced, fast-build, high-performance, affordable homes.
The exhibition features a number of projects across the practice’s history from The ZipUp House, designed for a 1969 competition for the ‘House of Today’ which was the first of the practice’s schemes for prefabricated housing, to current schemes Y:Cube and PLACE/Ladywell which provide move on accommodation for those in emergency housing in London.
Tree House is the latest volumetric housing project developed by RSHP, to provide low-cost homes that can be rapidly assembled and deployed. Designed in response to the theme of the 2016 Venice Biennale ‘Reporting from the Front’ Tree House proposes a concept for flexible housing that can be manufactured from a simple kit of parts using uncomplicated tools and adapted to suit varied sites or circumstances as housing need demands.
This exhibition is accompanied by a small foyer exhibition presenting a snapshot of housing delivery in Bristol, Mapping New Homes in Bristol, as well as a programme of events on the theme of housing, including a keynote talk with Ivan Harbour, RSHP on Home Building.
“If Britain does build a million homes, let's not make a million more people lonely.” Pragya Agarwal
With thanks to Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners.
Home Building: Ivan Harbour
Hear RSHP's approach to tackling the housing crisis.
Mapping New Homes in Bristol
A snapshot of what, where and how many new houses are affordable in Bristol.
Building Better Homes
Can housing make us healthier and happier?
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Set in the Hyperion galaxy, Star Sailors imagines a universe where Victorian steampunkers were successful in space and time travel. Many years later, among four stars and multiple planets, our story begins...
Ex-con Jimmy Kendrick goes to work for a fleet of space cruise ships, trying to escape his wretched life. When his freedom is threatened, he'll be forced to change his ways...or end up back in prison.
It's the maiden voyage of the flagship Corona. But the expected arrival of the ship's entertainment leads to an unexpected mystery that could threaten the entire galaxy!
Skyjackers are the lowlife, pirate scum of the galaxy...and Jameson Kendrick will do everything he can to keep them away from his fleet. Until he discovers someone close to him is one...
When a young girl stows away on his star liner, Jameson Kendrick ends up with a surprise that will change his life.
The long-awaited coronation of the galaxy's queen is at hand! Jameson Kendrick and his crew are honored to be invited...until it turns deadly.
© 2019 Ashley Bazer
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Celebrating Diversity at ASTC and Throughout the Field
February 9, 2017 2016, Dimensions, From the CEO Emily Schuster
By Anthony (Bud) Rock
In a special edition of Dimensions magazine, we are exploring the many aspects of diversity in the activities of our science centers and museums worldwide. We refer, in particular, to the importance of “cultural competence,” defined as “a process of lifelong learning [that] results in knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes that allow us to work effectively with others from differ-ent cultural backgrounds, increases the ability of organizations to maximize the benefits of diversity within their workforces, and improves the services [offered to] various stakeholders.”
As a global association serving a diverse membership, ASTC is particularly proud of its leadership role in the Cultural Competence Learning Institute (CCLI), in partnership with Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, California; the Association of Children’s Museums; and Garibay Group. CCLI is a process and set of resources designed to help museums increase their organizational capacities around diversity, inclusion, and culture. CCLI encourages institutions to build from their strengths to maximize the benefits of a diverse workforce and improve services offered to increasingly diverse communities. More than ever before, the work of CCLI is globally relevant. I want to thank all of our ASTC-member centers and museums that have participated in CCLI training programs and encourage more to do the same.
We in the ASTC staff have also been guided by the CCLI message, and I have initiated a new cultural competence program for our team in Washington, D.C. Beginning in February, this facilitated program will involve a bimonthly series of activities addressing widely ranging aspects of cultural competence. The program will include not just education and self-reflection, but also real-world experiences that will further inspire an ASTC staff that is already both diverse and deeply committed to inclusive practices in our mission and our work. ASTC has led, and will continue to lead, by example. We are proud of our highly successful Diversity and Leadership Development Fellows Program, with 164 graduates to date, many of whom now occupy positions of considerable responsibility and respect in our field. We place new priority on addressing the changing demographics in communities through-out the world in our conference programming, our publications, our communities of practice, and our messages of outreach and advocacy.
One might be tempted to use this editorial opportunity to speak more about the uncertain and unsettling challenges and stresses facing our plan-et and our population today. Instead, I would prefer only to reaffirm here that we serve our communities best when we are recognized (and utilized) as objective centers for knowledge, inspiration, and healthy discourse among every diverse segment of society that we can conceivably reach.
And how hard is the task? Maybe simpler than it might seem. Once, during a visit to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, I stood before the Giant Heart exhibit next to a young boy from the local community who was visiting the museum for the first time. He marveled as the giant heart beat to the pace of his pulse. He turned and asked me if his heart really worked like that.
I said, “Yes,” and he then asked, “Is your heart the same?”
“Indeed it is,” I replied. And so it is for us all.
Anthony (Bud) Rock is ASTC’s president and CEO.
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IAAF releases details of “extensive” anti-doping programme in Beijing
Posted by Athletics Weekly | Sep 2, 2015 | 0
The sport’s world governing body says a total of 1405 doping controls were carried out at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has published details on what the sport’s world governing body describes as an “extensive” anti-doping programme in Beijing.
A total of 1405 doping controls are said to have been carried out at the IAAF World Championships in the Chinese capital, including:
– 662 blood tests for screening purposes in the context of the Athlete Biological Passport
– 161 blood tests for the detection of Human Growth Hormone and Erythropoiesis stimulating agents
– 54 urine tests conducted out-of-competition
– 528 urine tests conducted at the stadium, 239 of which will be specifically analysed for EPO and related substances
“The doping control programme implemented by the IAAF in Beijing was the largest implemented in a single sporting event BY ANY SPORT since the IAAF World Championships in Moscow two years ago,” read an IAAF statement in part.
“As forecast by the IAAF prior to the championships, the programme was highly targeted in nature,” the statement continued. “Thousands of samples were collected out-of-competition in the lead-up to the event, and the IAAF then implemented an intelligence-led programme in Beijing which will see the samples frozen and stored for future re-analysis as science and technology progresses.”
So far, two athletes are reported by the IAAF to have recorded positive tests. The provisional suspension of the two Kenyan athletes, Joyce Zakary and Koki Manunga, was announced on August 26.
“Should any of the remaining samples be reported as positive, the IAAF will make a public announcement when the rules allow,” read the statement.
Tags: Beijing, IAAF, Photograph by Mark Shearman
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Best age to buy long-term care insurance?
Robert DiGiacomo
October 21, 2011 in Insurance
For many people younger than 50, long-term care insurance seems like something to defer to the future.
“Most people won’t ask about long-term care insurance at 45 — it won’t be on their radar,” says Rich Arzaga, a CFP, founder and CEO of Cornerstone Wealth Management in San Ramon, Calif. “They’ll ask about (long-term care) at the age of 55 or 60 when their parents are going through these issues. They don’t have the fear of reality until they’re over 55.”
Who’s buying?
Industry statistics back up this trend: The 45-to-54 demographic accounts for just more than 1 in 5 long-term care policies, while those 55 to 64 make up more than half of those buying the coverage, according to a 2010 report from the American Association for Long-Term Care Insurance.
Similar to a term life insurance policy, the earlier you lock in a long-term policy, the less it will cost over the long haul, says Wendy Boglioli, a spokeswoman for Genworth Financial, a major provider of long-term care policies.
“It’s not about me being 80 or 90 — at that point, I know I’m going to need help,” Boglioli says.
Buy now, save later
Cost projections from Cornerstone Wealth Management show the value of adding long-term care to your portfolio at a younger age.
A married couple at age 45, for example, would now each pay $2,444 annually for a policy with a $200-per-day benefit ($6,000 per month) that kicks in right away for home care and after 90 days at a facility from Genworth. By age 80, each person would have paid $85,540, according to Cornerstone’s math.
If the couple chose to take the $2,444 and invest it at 5 percent, they would have $14,180 saved by the time they turn 50 in 2016, Cornerstone calculated.
However, if at 50 they chose to buy a similar policy as the one they opted not to get five years earlier, the annual premium would be $3,797 each, and the net cost at age 80 would increase to $99,722, including applying the $14,180 in invested funds.
At 55, the annual premium would rise to $5,579 each, and the net cost at 80 would total $107,189, including applying $32,277 in invested funds, Cornerstone found.
By 60, the premium would zoom up to $8,197 each, and the net cost at 80 would be $108,563, offset by $55,375 in invested funds.
Waiting until 60 or later also increases your risk because you won’t have the coverage in place before you might need the care, Arzaga says.
The advantages of youth
Another incentive to start young with long-term care is the greater likelihood you’ll qualify.
Fewer than 1 in 10 of those younger than 50 is turned down for long-term care coverage, compared to nearly 25 percent of those 60 to 69 who are rejected and 45 percent of those ages 70 to 79, according to the American Association of Long-Term Care Insurance.
“The requirements get much more stringent when you get older,” says Edward Graves, associate professor of insurance at The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa. “Any time after 60, (insurers) start tightening the window. The longer you procrastinate, the harder it is to get the coverage.”
For qualifying purposes, family history doesn’t matter, only your own health. But if you have a chronic condition, such as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease, you will be rejected, Boglioli says.
Stretching your insurance dollars
If you’re feeling tapped out from paying a mortgage, home, auto and life insurance, college tuition and other midlife expenses, you can purchase a so-called linked policy that combines long-term and life insurance.
The way these policies typically work, Graves says, is that if you have $500,000 in coverage and you use $100,000 for long-term care, your death benefit would drop to $400,000.
You also can save money now by locking in a lower amount of care at a more affordable rate and “stacking” an additional policy when you’re older.
“You can always add another policy down the road if you want to increase benefits, but you will have to go through underwriting again,” Boglioli says.
Other factors that impact cost are whether you opt for an automatic inflation clause, the policy’s start date for care and the amount of your monthly benefit.
“Every single person has a different plan,” Boglioli says. “What some people want is going to be different from what I want.”
If it’s not cost holding you back from adding long-term care coverage, remember that such protection is a “big void” for people of all ages in that it’s not part of most health insurance policies, says Graves.
Yet, 4 in 10 of those getting long-term care insurance are 18 to 64, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Clearinghouse for Long-Term Care Information.
“All of our health care coverage is aimed at acute care, and nothing is aimed at chronic care,” Graves says. “Anybody who has ‘Cadillac coverage’ under the current situation, if they end up with a lifelong limitation, their health coverage is not going to give them any help.”
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Gould Hummingbirds, Pl. 291, White-throat
https://www.audubonart.com/shop/product/gou-291-gould-hummingbirds-pl-291-white-throat-13732
Hand-colored lithograph with gold leaf, 1849-1861
Hand-colored lithograph with gold leaf
Monograph of the Trochilidae or Family of Humming Birds
Considered John Gould’s masterpiece in both breadth and beauty, Monograph of the Trochilidae or Family of Humming Birds comprises 418 plates. It was originally published in London in five volumes in 25 parts (1849—61), plus volume six, a five-part supplement, (1880—87). Depicted and lithographed on stone by artists John Gould, Henry Constantine Richter and William Matthew Hart, each plate exquisitely portrays these delicate, evocatively colored birds with the flowers indigenous to their area. Strong botanical elements add a dimension not found in other bird folios. Family of Humming Birds also displays a tour de force of the hand-colored lithograph as a medium. Gold leaf, transparent oil colors, watercolors, lacquers and gum arabic are combined to capture the iridescent quality of these most colorful of birds.
John Gould (1804—1881) was a prolific publisher of ornithological subjects. In 19th-century Europe, his name was as well known as John James Audubon’s was in North America. Unlike John James Audubon, whose life’s work focused on one region, Gould traveled widely and employed other artists to help create his lavish, hand-colored lithographic folios. John Gould’s love of natural history was fostered in the gardens of King George III where his father was chief gardener at Windsor Castle. Although trained as a gardener, John Gould’s interests quickly evolved, and at the age of 20, he was appointed taxidermist to the Zoological Society of London. After three years, he progressed to the position of curator of birds and chief taxidermist. In 1830, newly married, Gould and his artist wife, Elizabeth Gould (née Coxen, 1804—1841), began their publishing career. During a career spanning over half a century, John Gould oversaw the publication of more than a dozen folios on birds of the world.
Among John Gould’s best known folios are the monumental Birds of Europe, originally published in 22 parts from 1832 to 1837, A Monograph of the Ramphastidae or Family of Toucans, 1834 and 1854, The Birds of New Guinea and the Adjacent Papuan Islands, Including Many New Species Recently Discovered in Australia, published in London and issued in 25 parts from 1875 to 1888. Works from these Gould folios may also be found on our website.
Click here for more Gould prints from the Family of Humming Birds
Specifications for Gould Hummingbirds, Pl. 291, White-throat
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George F. Loomis, O.S.A.
1881 – 1935 (June 30)
George Francis Loomis, son of Frederick Loomis and Mary Vaughan, was born in Lansingburg, New York, on September 23, 1881, and was baptized in Saint Augustine Church there on October 2, 1881. He entered the novitiate at Villanova, PA in 1904, and was ordained to the priesthood by Bishop Prendergast in the Philadelphia Cathedral on May 14, 1910.
After ordination, Father Loomis was stationed as an assistant at Saint Mary's in Lawrence, MA until 1922, when he was appointed Master of Novices at Villanova. When the novitiate, which was founded largely through his efforts, was opened at New Hamburg, NY, he became its first Master. From 1926 to 1932, he was prior at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church on Staten Island, N.Y. Later he was prior of the community at Saint Laurence O’Toole Parish in Lawrence, MA.
Father Loomis died at Saint Laurence's on June 30, 1935 at the age of 54. He is buried in Saint Mary's Cemetery in Lawrence.
Newer Post Lorenzo Lozano
Older PostDominic Longo, O.S.A.
Return to Necrology
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Art From the Streets
|In Uncategorized
|By Irene Henry
We’re so fortunate to partner with local artists for our International Series, and for our Season Finale with the Kupiński Duo on Saturday, April 27th, we’re especially delighted to have the work of Art From the Streets on display in the lobby. We recently had an opportunity to speak with the Board President, Samuel Pate, a longtime supporter of the arts and social service organizations in Austin. He’s served as President for the past five years, and he shared some insight into why he’s so passionate about Art From the Streets.
Mission: “To provide a safe and encouraging environment in which the positive spirit and creativity of homeless and at-risk people are nurtured through their own artistic expression. These artistic endeavors form a pathway to self- determination by means of the sense of achievement, the social connections, and the income generated through the pursuit of their art.”
Art From the Streets is a local non-profit dedicated to providing Austinites experiencing homelessness the space and materials to create art. Through selling their work, the participants gain both financial support and self-esteem. It was founded in the early 1990s by Bill Jeffers, a poet and sculptor, and Heloise Gold, a performing artist, dancer, and T’ai Chi instructor.
Every year, 40-50 artists create original works of art in the AFTS studio. Stocked with paper, paints, brushes, and plenty of volunteers to help, the studio is a safe space to explore creative outlets. The Trinity Center at downtown St. David’s Episcopal Church has kindly opened their doors to AFTS as a studio and storage space. It’s intentionally located just a block away from ARCH – Austin Resource Center for the Homeless. Most people hear of Art From the Streets via word of mouth, and three days out of the week, anywhere from 6-20 people stop in to use the materials for their creations.
“Many of our artists have been fortunate, through the sale of their artwork, to afford a place to live partially throughout the year … as some respite from being on the streets.”
There are many gallery events throughout the year for patrons to purchase the original artwork and to engage with the artists. In addition to events at Violet Crown, St. David’s, Trinity Church, and other churches around town, they participate in EAST and WEST, and also sell prints of the work online. 95% of the revenue sourced from sales goes directly to the artists, with only 5% held for production of the shows.
However, the intrinsic value of participation in these free studio opportunities is not the monetary gain.
“The greatest benefits I see are the sense of optimism, the confidence built, and the social connections. It’s the achievement, it’s doing something. I think we spend more time, energy, and resources creating this program than the artists make by the end of the year. If we just took that money and distributed it, it wouldn’t have the same effect.”
Art From the Streets is in the midst of running a Capitol Campaign with the goal of affording a new space of their own. That would offer them the possibility to have open doors five days of the week instead of only three, and the studio would ideally have art storage and a space for gallery events. They would also like to increase their paid staff in the future; currently, Art From the Streets has only one paid staff member.
“Three” by Bernardo ‘Nayo’ Martinez
On the cover of our program for Saturday night is the artwork of “Nayo” Martinez, an AFTS participant who passed away late last year. According to Samuel, “He was a great artist. He was extremely talented, very accessible, and now his paintings are being grabbed up as fast as they can.”
Kelley Worden, the AFTS Executive Director, said they recently found out that Nayo worked in the circus for many years – perhaps explaining the faces he frequently depicted in his work.
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/fr/florence/galeriedelacademie
/de/florenz/galleriadellaccademia
A View On Cities > Florence > Florence Attractions > Galleria dell'Accademia Loading...
Palazzo Vecchio
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Boboli Garden
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Loggia dei Lanzi
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> Galleria dell'Accademia
Palazzo Medici Riccardi
Orsanmichele
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Piazzale Michelangelo
San Miniato al Monte
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Bardini Garden
Mercato Centrale
Galleria dell'Accademia
Location/Map
Nearby sights
> Buy your tickets here
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/9347/tours/Florence/Skip-the-Line-Florence-Accademia-Gallery-and-Michelangelo-s-David-Ticket/d519-14982P30
The Galleria dell'Accademia is one of the most popular museums in Florence, mostly thanks to Michelangelo's David statue. The museum also houses other artwork, including statues, religious paintings and musical instruments.
Cosimo I de' Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, founded Europe's first art academy in 1563. Michelangelo Buonarroti was one of the first teachers in the academy, which was called Accademia delle Arti del Disegno. In 1784 it became part of a new institution, the Accademia di Belle Arti (Academy of Fine Arts), founded by the then grand duke of Tuscany, Peter Leopold. Leopold also founded the Galleria dell'Accademia, a museum located adjacent to the academy. The purpose of the museum was to provide the students with examples of historic artwork as study material.
The David
David Statue
The most important masterpiece in the Galleria dell'Accademia is Michelangelo's statue of David, possibly the world's most famous statue. The statue, 5m 17cm tall (about 17ft), was commissioned by the Florentine republic, who saw the biblical hero slaying the giant Goliath as a symbol for the creation of the nascent republic.
The statue was installed in front of the Palazzo Vecchio but in 1873 it was replaced by a replica and moved to the Galleria dell'Accademia to protect it from the elements. Another replica can be found at the center of the Piazzale Michelangelo.
The statue, which was created by Michelangelo in 1501-1504 from a single block of marble, was instantly admired for its proportions and attention to detail. Michelangelo chose to depict David as an adolescent instead of a young boy, as was customary. The statue brought instant fame to the twenty-nine year-old Michelangelo.
Another famous work by Michelangelo in the Galleria is the group of four unfinished marble statues of slaves. They were created between 1521 and 1523 as part of a monumental tomb for pope Julius II which was later scaled down in size. The statues seem to try and extricate themselves from the marble block. In 1585 the statues were placed in the Grotta Grande in the Boboli Garden, now replaced by replicas.
Surrounding the David are a number of statues by other artists and a nearby room, the Salone del Ottocento, is crammed with statuary. The museum has more than just statues; on the second floor is an impressive collection of religious paintings from the thirteenth through the sixteenth centuries. And the museum also houses a collection of musical instruments, owned by the adjacent Conservatory of Music, formerly part of the Academy.
Next: Palazzo Medici Riccardi
ACCADEMIA GALLERY TOUR
Duration: 1 hour 9 minutes
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/9347/tours/Florence/ACCADEMIA-GALLERY-TOUR/d519-89820P7
Florence Highlights Through Food Walking Tour With Wine And Accademia
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/9347/tours/Florence/Florence-Highlights-Through-Food-Walking-Tour-With-Wine-And-Accademia/d519-21469P112
Accademia Gallery and David, Small group semi private tour ( max 10 peoples )
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/9347/tours/Florence/Accademia-Gallery-and-David-Small-group-semi-private-tour-max-10-peoples/d519-117437P9
Statue of David & Accademia afternoon tour small group and fast track
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/9347/tours/Florence/Statue-of-David-and-Accademia-afternoon-tour-small-group-and-fast-track/d519-70308P9
The David from Michelangelo.
http://www.partner.viator.com/en/9347/tours/Florence/The-David-from-Michelangelo/d519-105535P3
> More Tickets & Tours
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by Danny M. CohenDanny M. Cohen
Over ten days in 1943 Berlin, six teenagers witness and try to escape the Nazi round-ups.
This young adult thriller is based on real events and inspired by hidden stories of Nazi genocide.
Giving voice to the unheard victims of Nazism - the Roma, the disabled, intermarried Jews, homosexuals, political enemies of the regime - this thriller will change how we think about Holocaust history.
Suitable for age 13 and up, TRAIN is an edge-of-your-seat page-turner that will inspire and surprise students and adults alike.
"A stunning achievement... From the start, TRAIN's historically grounded depiction of Hitler's young victims creates unrelenting compassion and suspense."
- Dr. Phyllis Lassner, Holocaust scholar
"TRAIN not only fills a gap in Holocaust literature; it is also powerful, moving, and hard to put down."
- Alexis Storch, The Center for Holocaust and Humanity Education
"TRAIN will change the way we think about Holocaust history."
- Ellen Rago, Social Studies Teacher
"TRAIN is an essential read for Holocaust and Genocide educators, students, and anyone who believes in the profound power of brilliant storytelling, the resilience of the human spirit, and the need to shed light on and bring a voice to the often shadowed narratives of the Holocaust."
- Kelley Szany, Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center
"It's a fascinating book. I couldn't put it down. I read it in two afternoons."
- Tony Sarabia, The Morning Shift, WBEZ 91.5 Chicago
Marko screwed up. But he's good at swallowing his fear.
By now, the 17-year-old 'Gypsy' should be far from Nazi Germany. By now, he should be with Alex. That's how they planned it. But while Marko has managed to escape the Gestapo, Alex has been arrested in the final round-ups of Berlin's Jews. Even worse, Marko's little cousin Kizzy is missing. And Marko knows he's to blame.
Yet the tides of war are turning. With hundreds of Christian women gathered in the streets to protest the round-ups, the Nazis have suspended the trains to the camps. But for how long? Marko must act now. Against time, and with British warplanes bombing Berlin, Marko hatches a dangerous plan to rescue Alex and find Kizzy.
There are three people who can help: Marko's sister with her connections to the Resistance, Alex's Catholic stepsister, and a mysterious Nazi girl with a deadly secret.
But will Marko own up to how Kizzy disappeared? And then there's the truth about Alex - they just wouldn't understand.
CreateSpace Publishing
Danny M. Cohen is an author of human rights fiction for young adults, including the historical thriller, TRAIN, the short stories DEAD ENDS and THE 19TH WINDOW, and the forthcoming contemporary thriller HIDE OR SPEAK. A professor at Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy and The Crown Family Center for Jewish and Israel Studies, Danny teaches about the design of Holocaust education, Holocaust fiction, and marginalized narratives of human rights. He is an appointed member of the Illinois Holocaust and Genocide Commission and sits on the editorial advisory board of the journal The Holocaust in History and Memory. He was a faculty fellow of the Auschwitz Jewish Center and is a global justice fellow of the American Jewish World Service. Danny designed the pedagogical track of the inaugural docent training program of the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. Originally from London, Danny lives in Chicago with his husband and their daughter.
administrative assistant the training
mask of sanity
book by peter randolph keim
book by mr rudy seamayer
book by stephen bly
book by danny harwell
And The Bells Rang Out For
Born in 1938 in Barnsbury NW1, Danny grew up in Camden town, then at 10 ...
Born in 1938 in Barnsbury NW1, Danny grew up in Camden town, then at 10 moved to London's East End. In his first and second books, A True Londoner and the Legacy of the Limehouse Link, you can read that ...
Beatnik Femme Fatale
BEATNIK FEMME FATALEThe debut publication of the poetic works of C.R. Cohen, Beatnik Femme Fatale ...
BEATNIK FEMME FATALEThe debut publication of the poetic works of C.R. Cohen, Beatnik Femme Fatale explores what it means to be a hot-blooded soul in a luke warm society.It delves into who we are, the light and the dark, the ...
Eternal Day
If there is a way, it begins here...Erich Dale was once a poet, an artist, ...
If there is a way, it begins here...Erich Dale was once a poet, an artist, and in love with the night. Now, he's an immortali, an elder vampire cursed into insanity by the icrathari warlord, Tera. Trapped in the fragments ...
First Train Leaving
Carrie Rose Nelson grew up in a small village in Missouri. She had big plans ...
Carrie Rose Nelson grew up in a small village in Missouri. She had big plans for her future, and talent to make her dreams come true. She was thrilled when the San Francisco Highline built a railroad through her town. ...
Gulf War Air Power Survey: Volume IV Weapons,
This report brings together analyses of three crucial determinants of an armed force's overall capability:- ...
This report brings together analyses of three crucial determinants of an armed force's overall capability:- weapons-the tools used by the soldier, sailor, and airman.- tactics-the way in which the tools are used to produce desired effects.- training-the way in which ...
He's single, in his early thirties. He has a menial job as a cook in ...
He's single, in his early thirties. He has a menial job as a cook in a local bar and leads a relatively uneventful (some may say boring) life, but he compensates for that by smoking a lot of grass and ...
Shark Fable
Written by, Azjsah Cohen, a 12 year old aspiring author, motivational speaker, and actress/director, Shark ...
Written by, Azjsah Cohen, a 12 year old aspiring author, motivational speaker, and actress/director, Shark Fable is a book about a shark named Sam who is looking for friends because he feels lonely. The only problem is, he can't keep ...
Mount Vernon, Washington, is a small rural town where life runs at a slower, quieter ...
Mount Vernon, Washington, is a small rural town where life runs at a slower, quieter pace. A long history of farming and fishing. Generations have raised their families with few complaints.Consistent weather. Good schools.The ocean west, snow-capped mountains east.When six-year-old ...
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Henry Winkler’s Hank Zipzer premieres on BBC iPlayer
We’re thrilled to premiere CBBC’s brand-new comedy drama series Hank Zipzer on BBC iPlayer. This builds on the success of premiering our first Children’s series, 4 O’Clock Club, on iPlayer back in December - the first episode we premiered received close to half a million requests in 7 days.” Victoria Jaye, Head of TV Content, BBC iPlayer
Date: 16.01.2014 Last updated: 18.03.2014 at 18.00
Category: CBBC
BBC has today announced that Henry ‘The Fonz’ Winkler’s brand-new comedy drama series, Hank Zipzer - which is coming to CBBC on 28 January - will first premiere on BBC iPlayer.
Audiences will be able to watch the show a week before it’s aired on CBBC, starting with the first episode being available on 21 January and continuing on a weekly basis throughout the series.
This is a part of the BBC Trust’s approved BBC iPlayer trial to premiere up to 40 hours of programmes across the service, exploring the role of online premiering across a range of genres and channels.
The 13x30-minute series - which is inspired by the book series Hank Zipzer: The World’s Greatest Underachiever – is based on Henry Winkler’s own experiences as a young boy growing up with dyslexia. Fast-paced and funny, the series follows the everyday life of 12-year-old Hank Zipzer, a young man with a unique perspective on the world.
Victoria Jaye, Head of TV Content for BBC iPlayer, says: “We’re thrilled to premiere CBBC’s brand-new comedy drama series Hank Zipzer on BBC iPlayer. This builds on the success of premiering our first Children’s series, 4 O’Clock Club, on iPlayer back in December - the first episode we premiered received close to half a million requests in seven days. We want to draw on BBC iPlayer’s popularity to help grow new hits for the BBC, so we’re excited to see how far premiering Hank Zipzer can drive more viewers to this exciting new show.”
Cheryl Taylor, Controller of CBBC, says: “We’re proud to continue to deliver high-quality programmes in a way that suits our audience. I am certain that CBBC viewers and their parents will love the Hank Zipzer TV series. Hank’s adventures illuminate the ups and downs of a child navigating through life with dyslexia and do so with great warmth, insight and humour. The fact that Henry Winkler also appears in the show is just a huge cherry on an already delicious comedy cake.”
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Henry Winkler’s Hank Zipzer launches on CBBC
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Surrey selected
Stranglers back Guildford music venue after noise complaint
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-44291716
Image copyright Peter Smith
Image caption The Star Inn has been part of the music scene in Guildford for more than 60 years
The Stranglers have pledged their support for the music venue where they played their first gig after fears a noise complaint could put it out of business.
The Star Inn, on Quarry Street, in Guildford, Surrey, has hosted thousands of music acts since the 1950s.
The council is investigating the pub after the developer of a neighbouring block of flats complained about noise.
Its manager said if a noise abatement notice is issued it could close down.
More than 17,300 people have signed a petition calling on the council to "see sense".
Manager Georgina Baker said the venue, which also hosts comedy acts, is "part of the historic fabric of Guildford".
Punk band The Stranglers, who were originally called the Guildford Stranglers, are most renowned for their hits Golden Brown, No More Heroes, and Peaches.
In a post on Twitter last week, they tweeted: "Save The Star!"
Folk singer-songwriter Frank Turner, who played at the venue when he was a vocalist in the band Million Dead, has also urged fans to save the site.
Ms Baker said small live music venues were "the lifeblood of the music industry" and could not be "just swept aside for luxury apartments".
"This is where huge numbers of bands get their break," she said.
"When the planning application went in five years ago we pointed out that it was ludicrous to put flats next to a live music venue overlooking a pub courtyard, but they wouldn't listen.
"Now sure enough the developer has complained and the council has finally realised that it might be a bit noisy in the flats."
Councillor Paul Spooner, the leader of Guildford Borough Council, said he intended to resolve the issue with council officers this week.
He added that he fully supported the "fantastic venue" and there was "no risk" to it under his tenure.
Guildford Borough Council
Around the BBC
The Stranglers - BBC Music
Frank Turner - BBC Music
Surrey live reporting
Live BBC Live: South East
Full article BBC Live: South East
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Magazine Article - American Interest
What 'Chimerica' Hath Wrought
| January/February 2010
The U.S. financial system has been as much a part of American power over the past thirty years as the Sixth Fleet. Yet Wall Street's illustrious investment banks have been either bankrupted, swallowed up or transformed into regular banks in the space of less than a year. So close did the U.S. financial system come to complete meltdown in September that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was driven to request emergency powers worthy of wartime: carte blanche to spend around $700 billion on the mother of all bailouts. This is in fact less than half the sum the Federal Reserve has already spent through its various "facilities" to banks.
"Why should the rest of the world ever again take seriously the American free market model after this debacle?" a leading British journalist recently asked me. This crisis, he argued, is to economics what the Iraq war has been to foreign policy: a fatal blow to the credibility of U.S. claims to global primacy. "One thing seems probable to me", declared Peer Steinbrück, German Finance Minister. "The United States will lose its status as the superpower of the global financial system." The news magazine Der Spiegel called it "The End of Hubris." To the London Guardian it was "A Shattering Moment in America's Fall From Power."
Certainly, if the unipolar moment that followed the collapse of the Soviet empire was a very American form of hubris, then the credit crunch has been a very American nemesis. Ten years ago, a strange competition formed in the United States to see who could be more arrogant. Neoconservatives argued that the rest of the world should hurry up and embrace the American political way, or prepare to be bombed into the democratic age. But equally smug were the neo-liberal economists-liberal in the sense of Adam Smith, that is-who argued that the rest of the world should hurry up and embrace the "Washington Consensus", or prepare to be sold short. One lot derided the political failure of the Muslim world; the other lot heaped scorn on Asian "crony capitalism", supposedly the root cause of the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.
The neocons got their comeuppance in Iraq, where American forces were not, after all, greeted as liberators with sweets and flowers. The neolibs got theirs in September, as a Republican Treasury, headed by the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, nationalized first the country's biggest mortgage lenders and then its biggest insurance company, only to let the investment bank Lehman Brothers fail. One of the few things Barack Obama and John McCain could agree on in the final phase of the presidential campaign was that something was rotten on Wall Street. The stage seemed set for the demise of what has been called "market fundamentalism" by George Soros (paradoxically one of its biggest beneficiaries), meaning the belief in the self-regulating nature of what has turned out not to be self-regulating at all.
That economic policy paradigms are shifting is clear. But is the same really true of the global balance of power as well? To answer that question we need to reflect more deeply on the true nature of this crisis.
We are living through a challenge to a phenomenon Moritz Schularick and I have christened "Chimerica."1 In this view, the most important thing to understand about the world economy over the past decade has been the relationship between China and America. If you think of it as one economy called Chimerica, that relationship accounts for around 13 percent of the world's land surface, a quarter of its population, about a third of its gross domestic product, and somewhere over half of the global economic growth of the past six years.
For a time, it was a symbiotic relationship that seemed like a marriage made in heaven. Put simply, one half did the saving, the other half the spending. Comparing net national savings as a proportion of Gross National Income, American savings declined from above 5 percent in the mid 1990s to virtually zero by 2005, while Chinese savings surged from below 30 percent to nearly 45 percent. This divergence in saving patterns allowed a tremendous explosion of debt in the United States, for one effect of the Asian "savings glut" was to make it much cheaper for households to borrow money than would otherwise have been the case. Meanwhile, low-cost Chinese labor helped hold down inflation.
The crucial mechanism that bound the two halves of Chimerica together was currency intervention. To keep the renminbi (and hence Chinese exports) competitive, authorities in Beijing consistently intervened to halt the appreciation of their own currency against the dollar. The result was a vast accumulation of dollar-denominated securities in the reserves of the People's Bank of China, which became one of the world's biggest holders of U.S. Treasuries as well as bonds issued by the government-sponsored (now government-owned) agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Had it not been for the Chinese willingness to fund America's borrowing habit this way, interest rates in the United States would have been substantially higher. It was Chimerica that kept the Age of Leverage going in its final phase, as total public and private debt as a percentage of GDP surged from 250 to 350 percent.
It was not, of course, just the United States that was borrowing, and not just China that was lending. All over the English-speaking world, as well as in countries like Spain, household indebtedness increased and conventional forms of saving gave way to leveraged plays on real estate markets. Meanwhile, other Asian economies joined China in adopting currency pegs and accumulating international reserves, thereby financing Western current account deficits. Middle Eastern and other energy exporters also found themselves running surpluses and recycling petrodollars to the Anglosphere and its satellites. But Chimerica above all others was the real engine of the world economy.
As this tremendous expansion in borrowing proceeded, some economists tried to rationalize what was going on. One school argued that this was "Bretton Woods II", a system of international exchange rate management akin to the one that linked Western Europe to the United States after World War II. Others called it a "stable disequilibrium", something that could be counted on to continue for some considerable time. But then a wave of defaults in the U.S. sub-prime mortgage market revealed just how unstable Chimerica was.
In essence, the rest of the world's savings had helped inflate a real estate bubble in the United States. As is nearly always the case in asset bubbles, easy money was accompanied by lax lending standards and outright fraud. Euphoria eventually gave way to distress and then, in a familiar sequence, to panic. It began in the sub-prime market because it was there that defaults were most likely to happen, but it soon became clear that the entire U.S. property market would be affected. Not since the Great Depression have we seen average house prices declining at annual rates above 10 percent.
What made the property collapse so lethal was that an entire inverted pyramid of novel financial assets had been erected upon the flimsy base of American mortgages. Banks had bundled together the original loans, sliced and diced them and resold them to investors all around the world as "Collateralized Debt Obligations" and the like. In a quintessential act of financial alchemy, the ratings agencies had pronounced the top tier of these instruments to be AAA-rated. When the supposed gold turned back into lead and then into toxic waste, the consequences were devastating. According to the Bank of England, total losses on the various kinds of securities affected could amount to as much as $2.8 trillion.
So far only around $550 billion of write-downs have been acknowledged by banks around the world. Substantial amounts of new capital have been raised from private investors and governments, but there is still a hole-and it is a hole that threatens to get bigger. Dwindling capital at a time when formerly off-balance-sheet liabilities are coming home to roost means exploding leverage: For Bank of America total leverage (on- and off-book assets divided by tangible equity) is now as high as 134:1; for Citigroup the ratio is 88:1.
This failure among financial firms has had three distinct consequences. First, it has exposed the weaker banks-particularly the investment banks, which could not fall back on the cushion of savers' federally insured deposits-to savage and self-perpetuating share price declines (as the underlying equity declines in value, the degree of leverage rises and illiquidity soon morphs into insolvency, killing bondholders as well as shareholders). Second, it has triggered a further crisis in the market for derivatives. Credit default swaps (CDS) were supposed to be a wonderfully clever form of insurance for bondholders. But it is unclear how the far from transparent derivatives market can cope with defaults on this scale when the notional amount of CDS is $58 trillion.
But third and most importantly, the efforts of banks to stabilize their balance sheets by reducing credit has driven the U.S. economy into a recession-possibly the most severe economic downturn since the early 1980s, if not the early 1930s. Consumers cut spending by an annualized rate of 3.1 percent in the third quarter of 2008, the biggest drop since 1980. Regional surveys are pointing to an annual contraction in production of about 5 percent. What's more, as unemployment rises, consumption is bound to fall further. So will house prices.
The Fed has cut its effective federal-funds rate to very close to zero. The Federal deficit has already exploded, with the increase in public debt in the past year around $1.5 trillion. But neither monetarist nor Keynesian measures seem able to avert a Big Recession, though they may have staved off a second Great Depression.
What are the geopolitical implications of all this? One possibility is that it will speed up the "great reconvergence" between East and West. If you go back to the very first "BRICs" report that Jim O'Neill and his colleagues at Goldman Sachs produced about the prospects for Brazil, Russia, India and China, China was projected to overtake the United States in terms of gross domestic product in 2040. But in more recent reports, that has been brought forward to 2027. Maybe it will be even sooner than that, for one inevitable consequence of the credit crunch is that the United States will not only suffer negative growth for at least two quarters (and perhaps a whole year), but will also grow quite slowly for the foreseeable future. By contrast, China's semi-planned economy can probably maintain growth of above 6 percent a year, propelled forward by half a trillion dollars of new state spending on infrastructure and social services. Because, according to the "decoupling" thesis, net exports are no longer the key driver of China's growth, an American sneeze need not necessarily cause an Asian cold.
A second possible implication of the current crisis is that the days when the dollar was the sole international reserve currency may be coming to an end. Reserve currencies do not last forever, as the case of the British pound makes clear. Once upon a time, sterling was the world's number one currency, the unit of account in which most financial transactions were done. It died a slow, lingering death, sliding from $4.86 in 1930 to very near parity with the dollar at the nadir in the early 1980s. The principal reason for that was debt: the huge debts that Britain had run up to fight the world wars. The second reason was lower growth: Britain's economy was the underperformer of the developed world in the postwar decades, right down to the early 1980s.
If, as seems inevitable, the main fiscal consequence of the credit crunch is a huge increase in the liabilities of the Federal government-already substantially increased by the nationalization of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and AIG even before the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program-the United States could find itself in a similar situation. With debt spiraling upwards, the dollar could follow the pound into the category of former reserve currencies. If so, the United States would lose that convenient facility, which it has exploited since the 1960s, of being able to borrow from foreigners at low interest rates in its own currency.
With China decoupled from America-relying less on exports to the U.S. market, caring less about its currency's peg to the dollar-the end of Chimerica would have arrived, and with it the balance of global power would be bound to shift. No longer so committed to the Sino-American friendship established back in 1972, China would be free to explore other spheres of global influence, from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, of which Russia is also a member, to its own informal nascent empire in commodity-rich Africa.
Yet commentators should hesitate before prophesying the decline and fall of the United States. It has come through disastrous financial crises before-not just the Great Depression, but also the Great Stagflation of the 1970s-and emerged with its geopolitical position enhanced. That happened in the 1940s and again in the 1980s.
Part of the reason it happened is that the United States has long offered the world's most benign environment for technological innovation and entrepreneurship. The Depression saw a 30 percent contraction in economic output and 25 percent unemployment. But throughout the 1930s American companies continued to pioneer new ways of making and doing things: think of DuPont (nylon), Proctor & Gamble (soap powder), Revlon (cosmetics), RCA (radio) and IBM (accounting machines). In the same way, the double-digit inflation of the 1970s didn't deter Bill Gates from founding Microsoft in 1975, or Steve Jobs from founding Apple a year later.
Moreover, the American political system has repeatedly proved itself capable of producing leadership in a crisis-leadership not just for itself but for the world. Both Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan came to power focused on solving America's economic problems. But by the end of their presidencies they dominated the world stage, FDR as the architect of victory in World War II, Reagan performing a similar role in the Cold War. It remains to be seen whether Barack Obama will be a game-changing president in the same mold. But Americans voted for him in the hope that he is. Would Obama have won without the credit crunch, which destroyed what little remained of the Republican reputation for economic competence?
But the most important reason why the United States bounces back from even the worst financial crises is that these crises, bad as they seem at home, always have worse effects on America's rivals. Think of the Great Depression. Though its macroeconomic effects were roughly equal in the United States and Germany, the political consequence in the United States was the New Deal; in Germany it was the Third Reich. Germany ended up starting the world's worst war; the United States ended up winning it. The American credit crunch is already having much worse economic effects abroad than at home. It will be no surprise if it is also more politically disruptive to America's rivals.
Among the other developed economies, both the Eurozone and Japan are already officially in recession, ahead of the United States. The European situation is especially precarious because, contrary to popular belief, European banks are in worse shape than their American counterparts. Average bank leverage in the United States is around 12:1. In Germany the figure is 52:1. Short-term bank liabilities are equivalent to 15 percent of U.S. GDP; the British figure is 156 percent. Indeed, the United Kingdom runs a real risk of being Greater Iceland-an economy crushed by a super-sized financial sector.
Moreover, unlike the United States, there is no single European Treasury that can implement multibillion-dollar fiscal stimulus. Monetary policy may be uniform throughout the Eurozone, but fiscal policy is still a case of every man for himself.
Emerging markets, too, have been hammered harder by the crisis than the "decoupling" thesis promised. In the year to the end of October 2008, the U.S. stock market declined by 34 percent. But Brazil's was down 54 percent, China's 58 percent, India's 64 percent and Russia's 66 percent. When Goldman Sachs christened these four countries the BRICs, they little realized that their equity markets would one day be dropping like bricks. These figures are scarcely good advertisements for the more regulated, state-led economic models favored in Beijing and Moscow.
The financial crisis is especially bad news for energy exporters: not only belligerent Russia, whose leaders yearn for a reconstituted Soviet empire, but also those other thorns in the side of the United States, Iran and Venezuela. Any oil price below $94 a barrel is bad news for Venezuela's fragile finances; any price below $55 spells trouble for Iran.
In any case, is even the fastest growing of America's rivals really a credible alternative to the United States? Rapidly though it is growing, China is bedeviled by three serious ailments: demographic imbalance, environmental degradation and political corruption. China's military is not remotely ready to mount a serious challenge to American dominance in the Pacific. And, crucially, it is far from clear that China is ready to wean its manufacturing sector completely off the U.S. export market. After three years of very mild renminbi appreciation, the People's Bank of China seems to be contemplating renewed intervention to keep the currency weak relative to the dollar. That means China will continue to sell renminbi for dollars, further enlarging its already large portfolio of U.S. bonds.
There is a paradox at the heart of this crisis. In many ways it is a crisis that has "Made in America" stamped all over it. Yet in the very worst moments of panic this fall, investors made it clear that they continue to regard U.S. government debt as a "safe haven" in uncertain times; hence the recent dollar rally. Huge though the costs of the current crisis may prove to be, there is a way of presenting them that may yet suffice to reassure the rest of the world that America can afford it. After all, the Federal debt in public hands remains equivalent to below 40 percent of U.S. GDP, a significantly lower figure than in many European economies or Japan. (The vastly larger unfunded liabilities of the Medicare and Social Security systems remain, fortunately, off balance sheet.)
Of course, this crisis could yet prove to be the safe haven's last gasp, especially if Congress runs amok with supplementary bailouts and stimulus packages, and the international bond market finally writes the United States off as just another Latin American economy. There seemed very little awareness at the mid-November G-20 summit in Washington that uncoordinated interest rate cuts and stimulus packages could unleash a fresh bout of volatility in international currency and bond markets. The possibility remains, too, that the coming explosion of U.S. Federal debt could finally trigger the dreaded dollar rout, especially if the Chinese decide that the export game is up and their only hope is a policy of "market socialism in one country." Yet this still seems a less likely scenario than a continuation of Chimerica.
True, the financial hubris of recent years has been followed by a terrible nemesis. The age of leverage has ended not with a whimper but a deafening bang. Nonetheless, it is much too early to conclude that in geopolitical terms the American century is over, or that China solo is about to take over from Chimerica. Power is always relative, and a crisis that hits the periphery of the global economy harder than the core must logically increase the power of the core. Nemesis, too, can be exported.
1. “‘Chimerica’ and the Global Asset Market Boom”, International Finance (December 2007).
For Academic Citation: Ferguson, Niall. “What 'Chimerica' Hath Wrought.” American Interest, January/February 2010.
Member of the Board, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Senior Faculty Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais
Trump vs. Darroch: Whose Government Is 'Inept' and 'Dysfunctional?'
| Jul 12, 2019
Former US Diplomat Nicholas Burns on Darroch: ‘This Is the Kind of Treatment We Reserve for the Iranians or North Koreans’
U.S. primacy
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Revelation 2:23 (King James Version)
<< Revelation 2:22 Revelation 2:24 >>
Christ says that, by what happens to her, "all the churches shall know" He is the Judge and Head of the church. Every church must exist concurrently with her to observe her calamity—especially those that had supposedly preceded her!
The Seven Churches
Related Topics: Revelation, Seven Churches of | Seven Churches of Revelation | Seven Churches of Revelation Existing Concurrently | Thyatira
Revelation is written for the time just preceding and including the return of Christ, the Day of the Lord. Unless Thyatira repents, all the churches will see the fruit of her lack of repentance, thus they all must exist at the end to witness Christ's judgment. The message to Thyatira, then, may apply to the historical church, but only in type.
The Seven Churches: Thyatira
Related Topics: Church at Thyatira | Revelation, Seven Churches of | Seven Churches of Revelation | Seven Churches of Revelation Existing Concurrently | Thyatira | Thyatira, Church of
Revelation 2:21-23
God mercifully provides time and opportunity for repentance from idolatry and spiritual fornication with this world (II Peter 3:9). If He does not receive a proper response, He promises great tribulation and martyrdom—not necessarily as punishment, but as an inducement to repent.
Related Topics: Great Tribulation as Inducement to Repentance | Idolatry | Martyrdom as Inducement to Repentance | Opportunity to Repent | Repentance | Repentance, Motivation For | Repentance, Opportunity for | Spiritual Fornication
The church at Thyatira is guilty of fornication. Spiritually fornication is one of God's terms for being "mixed up with the world." Fornication is something that one should never do, let alone when one is supposed to be in a relationship with another. Fornication represents idolatry'faithlessness to a relationship.
What Is the Work of God Now? (Part 4)
Related Topics: Faithlessness | Fornication | Fornication, Spiritual | Friendship with the World | Idolatry as Spiritual Fornication | Israel's Faithlessness | Seventh Commandment | Spiritual Fornication | Syncretism | Syncretistic Religion | The Seventh Commandment
If anything is certain about the future, there is a judgment according to works for all who live and die. How can anyone who says he believes the Bible claim that works are not required of the Christian when God emphatically declares that they are required of us, even though they do not justify us before Him?
The truth is plain. If a Christian does not work, there will be nothing for God to judge and thus no evidence the person is prepared for His Kingdom. God will not give him salvation because there will be nothing to verify that he belongs there. The lack of evidence proves that he does not belong there! Such a one is not a son of God. A faith that does not work is dead (James 2:17, 20, 26). God is the God of the living, and according to James 2:22, faith is perfected, brought to completion, by works. Sanctification is necessary as a witness to the Christian's character as he passes before the judgment seat of Christ.
Do we not all desire to be in the Kingdom of God? Certainly, we must if we are at all impressed with the glory to which God has called us. However, have we considered deeply whether we would enjoy being there, should we be given that privilege? God's Kingdom will be a holy place inhabited by holy people. Is it not apparent that those in God's Kingdom will have spent a great deal of time being prepared, trained, and formed and shaped for living there?
The concept of deathbed repentance and absolution is a lie palmed off by Satan. Likewise false is the belief in a purgatory following death, in which a person prepares for living in paradise. These are nowhere found in Scripture, nor is the idea that one needs only to be justified through Christ's blood. If these things were so, Romans 5:9-10 would not declare:
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
The false concepts above do not take into consideration that God's purpose includes more than just atoning for our sins through Christ's blood. God's purpose includes the work of Jesus Christ as our High Priest, perfecting our character by means of living in us through His Spirit (John 14:18-23). It is our High Priest, Jesus, who intercedes in our behalf (Romans 8:26-27). As Head of the church, He inspires and corrects us, and He gives us gifts to fulfill our responsibilities (Ephesians 4:7). He labors to create in us a clean heart, purified and in the character image of the Father (II Corinthians 3:17-18).
We need to be sanctified as well as justified. Sanctification requires the works of submission to and cooperation with Almighty God to bring to completion His purpose for us. King David writes in Psalm 16:11, "You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures evermore" - a brief snapshot of what life will be like in the Kingdom of God. No one can be happy where he is not in his element. An unsanctified person would not find God's Kingdom congenial to his tastes and character. Being there would be a condemnation rather than a blessing.
Is the Christian Required To Do Works? (Part Four)
Revelation 2:1-29
Consider that this is Christ's message to His church just before the end, and this is what is most important for His people as we approach the end. Doctrine is mentioned seven times. Is that interesting in light of the times in which we live? We are seeing a major part of the church going haywire on doctrine! Is there something in the letter to Thyatira that mentions things that are happening in that group?
The letters contain at least eleven warnings to these seven churches but also at least twelve promises. Christ mentions faith, patience, conduct, and doctrine. But the two greatest, related concerns for His church at the end are works (Revelation 2:2,9,13,19; 3:1,8, 15) and overcoming (Revelation 2:7,11,17,26; 3:5,12,21).
Today, an awful lot of people are interested in church government at this time. It is not even mentioned by Christ! There are people who are interested in rituals, sacraments, and ceremonies, of which would be things like baptism or the Passover. But nothing in the seven letters alludes to these things. Nor is there anything in them about preaching the gospel around the world. These things have their place, but what we see is Christ's concern with doctrine, conduct, warnings to repent, and promises of reward.
Now these things that are not mentioned are less important than faith, repentance, and holiness, all of which directly impact on doctrine, conduct, and receiving the promises. All of these are bracketed between His statements about works and overcoming.
Revelation 2-3 and Works
Related Topics: Conduct | Doctrine | Doctrine, Importance of | Doctrines, Basic | Promises of Reward | Repentance | Repentance, Motivation For | Reward, Promises of | Seven Churches of Revelation
Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Revelation 2:23:
Zephaniah 2:1-3
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Randal K Quarles: Progress on the transition to risk-free rates
Speech by Mr Randal K Quarles, Vice Chairman for Supervision of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, at the Financial Stability Board Roundtable on Reforming Major Interest Rate Benchmarks, Washington DC, 10 April 2019.
by Randal K Quarles
I am pleased that we have this opportunity to meet with many of the institutions active in helping to achieve a transition from LIBOR to the risk-free rates identified by working groups in each of our jurisdictions. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has coordinated the international effort to reform interest rate benchmarks at the direction of the G-20. This is an important effort across the globe, but nowhere is it of more importance than in the jurisdictions relying on LIBOR.
Let's review the reasons that we are here. By the time of the financial crisis, much of the global financial system had come to rely on LIBOR. And yet LIBOR was a very poorly structured rate; contributing banks were asked to submit quotes without any requirement of evidence of transactions or other facts to back them up, which made them susceptible to manipulation. Thanks to subsequent reforms, contributors now provide this type of evidence where possible, but LIBOR is based on an underlying market with so few transactions that there is relatively little direct evidence they can provide. Many submitting banks are uncomfortable with this situation, and some sought to stop their participation. As a result, the official sector has had to step in to support LIBOR by securing a voluntary agreement with the remaining banks to continue submitting through 2021. At the same time, the official sector has convened national working groups to help develop alternative risk-free rates and navigate a very complicated transition.
Many people have used reference rates with little thought. The experience with LIBOR should teach us that this has to change and that we cannot risk making this kind of mistake again. Banks should conduct at least as much due diligence on the reference rates that they use as they conduct on the creditworthiness of their borrowers. The national working groups convened by many of the FSB member authorities have performed that type of diligence with the Secured Overnight Funding Rate, or SOFR, and the risk-free rates identified in other jurisdictions. That effort has been a clear and positive example of public-private sector cooperation. These alternative risk-free rates have been created or substantially reformed to ensure that robust, transaction-based rates that accurately represent well-defined underlying markets and are consistent with internationally-recognized standards are available.
I want to thank the many institutions here today, and the many more that have played equally constructive roles, for their efforts in this process. This month marks the one-year anniversary of SOFR and is close to the one-year anniversary of the other new risk-free rates. Over that year, we have seen the establishment of new futures markets, cleared swap markets, and debt markets based on these new rates. SOFR futures, which did not exist a year ago, have seen more than $7 trillion in cumulative notional volumes. This has been a crucial development for market liquidity and is helping to spur the growth of SOFR swaps and other derivative markets. And SOFR is being used in cash products, with $81 billion in SOFR-linked debt issued over the past year.
New markets do not arise overnight-in normal circumstances they can often take decades to develop. What has been accomplished over the past year is remarkable. At the same time, we have only a little over two and a half years until the point at which LIBOR could end, and the transition needs to continue to accelerate. The private sector needs to take on this responsibility, and we expect you to do so. The Federal Reserve's supervisory teams are including the transition away from LIBOR in their monitoring discussions with large firms. The Federal Reserve will expect to see an appropriate level of preparedness at the banks it supervises. As the Alternative Rate Reference Committee (ARRC) continues to make progress on industry-led approaches to the transition, the transition paths away from LIBOR will become clearer for banks of all sizes.
While we expect you to take on this responsibility, we in the public sector must also recognize our need to help. The FSB has supported this transition globally, and, in the United States, the Financial Stability Oversight Council has supported the ARRC's work. It is important that we continue to do so, and I want to thank you all today for the thoughts you have shared with us on this transition and what is needed to make it succeed.
Randal K Quarles
More speeches from "Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System"
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Lead Poisoning, Segregation,
Charters are a Waste of Money,
Fearing Small Children, Testing,
Telling ADHD Kids to Try Harder,
Is it Achievement or Ability?
IT COSTS A LOT TO POISON OUR CHILDREN
American children are regularly exposed to lead at higher than safe levels, which, according to the Centers for Disease Control is ZERO [emphasis added]!
...There are approximately half a million U.S. children ages 1-5 with blood lead levels above 5 micrograms per deciliter (µg/dL), the reference level at which CDC recommends public health actions be initiated. No safe blood lead level in children has been identified.
In some places, the exposure is long term due to governmental neglect.
7 years later, new study shows East Chicago kids exposed to more lead because of flawed government report
Kids living in two of the contaminated neighborhoods actually were nearly three times more likely to suffer lead poisoning during the past decade than if they lived in other parts of the heavily industrialized northwest Indiana city, according to a report unveiled last week by an arm of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Written in dry, bureaucratic language, the mea culpa is the latest acknowledgement that federal and state officials repeatedly failed to protect residents in the low-income, predominantly Hispanic and African-American city, despite more than three decades of warnings about toxic pollution left by the USS Lead smelter and other abandoned factories.
New evidence that lead exposure increases crime
The point of all this? By not spending the time and money to clean up lead contamination in our cities and neighborhoods we're losing money. We're losing money in increased crime and decreased academic productivity. What are we waiting for?
Three recent papers consider the effects of lead exposure on juvenile delinquency and crime rates, using three very different empirical approaches and social contexts. All have plausible (but very different) control groups, and all point to the same conclusion: lead exposure leads to big increases in criminal behavior.
STILL SEGREGATED AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
Trump judicial nominees decline to endorse Brown v. Board under Senate questioning
Candidates nominated by the current administration for Federal Judicial posts -- and this administration is nominating judges at a fast pace -- don't seem to endorse the 1954 school desegregation decision in Brown vs. Board of Education.
Schools are more segregated today then they have been at any time since the 1960s. We have yet to fulfill the promise of Brown v. Board of Education. Segregated schools mean segregated opportunities. There is a $23 billion racial funding gap between schools serving students of color and school districts serving predominantly white students.
But the Federal judges now being appointed by the current administration decline to endorse Brown v. Board of Education. In fact, most of the entire country apparently disagrees with Brown...given the segregation present in our public schools.
The matter was especially pronounced in the nomination of Wendy Vitter, who was confirmed Thursday as a federal district judge in Louisiana without the vote of a single Democratic senator. “I don’t mean to be coy, but I think I get into a difficult, difficult area when I start commenting on Supreme Court decisions — which are correctly decided and which I may disagree with,” Vitter said during her confirmation hearing. “If I start commenting on, ‘I agree with this case,’ or ‘don’t agree with this case,’ I think we get into a slippery slope.” “I was stunned by her answer,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who posed the question, said this week on the Senate floor. “Brown is woven into the fabric of our nation. How could anyone suggest disagreeing with Brown, as she did?”
Rucker C. Johnson is a professor of Public Policy at UC-Berkeley. His new book, Children of the Dream, explains how the school integration efforts of the 1970s and 1980s were not a "social experiment doomed from the start". Instead, the integration of public schools in the 70s and 80s was overwhelmingly successful...until the advent of Reagan Conservatism which reversed the process.
A scholar revives the argument for racial integration in schools
The main argument of Johnson’s book is much bigger than racial integration. He says three things are essential for schools to give poor kids a chance to break out of poverty: money, preschool and desegregation. Johnson finds that black children make much larger academic gains when integration is accompanied by more funding for low-income schools. Similarly, the benefits of early child education endure when they’re followed by well-resourced schools. All three — money, preschool and desegregation — are a powerful combination in which the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. “Synergy has the power to take two policies that in isolation seem flat and transform them into one package of policies with profound promise,” Johnson wrote in his book.
Children Of The Dream: Why School Integration Works
An acclaimed economist reveals that school integration efforts in the 1970s and 1980s were overwhelmingly successful — and argues that we must renew our commitment to integration for the sake of all Americans
We are frequently told that school integration was a social experiment doomed from the start. But as Rucker C. Johnson demonstrates in Children of the Dream, it was, in fact, a spectacular achievement. Drawing on longitudinal studies going back to the 1960s, he shows that students who attended integrated and well-funded schools were more successful in life than those who did not — and this held true for children of all races.
Yet as a society we have given up on integration. Since the high point of integration in 1988, we have regressed and segregation again prevails. Contending that integrated, well-funded schools are the primary engine of social mobility, Children of the Dream offers a radical new take on social policy. It is essential reading in our divided times.
CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE A WASTE OF MONEY
Charter Schools Will Always Waste Money Because They Duplicate Services
We live in a throw-away civilization. When something doesn't work, we throw it away and get a new one. That throw-away attitude has found its way to the issue of the public schools. When public schools aren't working, we abandon them and get new schools in the form of charters and vouchers. Instead of spending money to improve the schools we have, our money goes to privatized schools which don't do any better than public schools.
Steven Singer also reminds us that most charter schools aren't really needed...they're not opened because public schools can't handle the number of students in a district. They're not opened because schools are overcrowded. They're opened because someone decided to use public education as a money-making venture.
When a district's public schools aren't performing well, instead of abandoning them and opening charter schools, we need to spend the time and effort it would take to improve.
You can’t save money buying more of what you already have.
Constructing two fire departments serving the same community will never be as cheap as having one.
Empowering two police departments to patrol the same neighborhoods will never be as economical as one.
Building two roads parallel to each other that go to exactly the same places will never be as cost effective as one.
This isn’t exactly rocket science. In fact, it’s an axiom of efficiency and sound financial planning. It’s more practical and productive to create one robust service instead of two redundant ones.
However, when it comes to education, a lot of so-called fiscal conservatives will try to convince us that we should erect two separate school systems – a public one and a privatized one.
The duplicate may be a voucher system where we use public tax dollars to fund private and parochial schools. It may be charter schools where public money is used to finance systems run by private organizations. Or it may be some combination of the two.
But no matter what they’re suggesting, it’s a duplication of services.
And it’s a huge waste of money.
THE ONLY THING WE HAVE TO FEAR...ARE SMALL CHILDREN?
Feds: No more education, legal services for immigrant kids
We have become a nation of cowardly, selfish, small-minded, ignorant, fools.
“By eliminating English classes and legal aid that are critical to ensuring children successfully navigate the asylum process, the Trump Administration is essentially condemning children to prison and throwing away the key until their imminent deportation,” Grijalva, who represents a district on the border, said in a statement.
TESTING: DOING IT WRONG SINCE 2001
Why The Big Standardized Test Is Useless For Teachers
I began teaching long enough ago to remember when the Big Standardized Test wasn't so big. In the school system I worked in, we tested students in grades 3, 6, 8, and 10 instead of all of them. Back in 1976, I taught third grade. Our students' scores were compared with other students around the country. Not only that, as the classroom teacher, I received a complete analysis of how each student did...and I got it a week or two after the test was taken. Yet, like tests today, the ones I gave didn't really tell me anything that I didn't already know. John couldn't read but could add and subtract. Annie had to count on her fingers but was reading at a 9th-grade level. Michelle was an excellent all-around student. Paul and Stan probably needed special education services. The important information was not how each individual student scored. It was my understanding that the tests were used to help us determine if our curriculum was adequate. Were we teaching our kids things they needed to know? How did we compare to other schools around the country?
One big difference...we were told, specifically, not to teach to the test. In fact, as I recall, "teaching to the test" was a serious breach of testing etiquette. Our school district had developed a well-rounded curriculum and we wanted to see if teaching our curriculum yielded good scores. My classrooms of middle-class white kids generally did average to above average...just like today's middle-class white kids.
It was interesting to see my students' scores each year. But it was interesting because it reinforced what I already knew. Rarely did I see anything that surprised me. You could have ranked the report cards I made out for my class...and their standardized tests...and the rankings would have had a nearly perfect correlation.
One important difference compared to today's tests; The tests didn't determine student grade placement, school "grades," teacher cash bonuses, or teacher evaluations. Standardized achievement tests -- then and now -- weren't made to do those things. The tests were designed to test certain aspects of student achievement and nothing more. Misusing tests by using them to measure things they weren't designed to measure invalidates the test. You wouldn't use a teaspoon to measure the temperature. You shouldn't use a student achievement test to measure teacher competence.
Imagine that you are a basketball coach, tasked with training your team for great things. Imagine that when game day comes, you are not allowed to be in the gym with your team to see them play, and that they are forbidden to tell you anything about how the game went. You aren’t even allowed to know about the opposing team. All you are allowed to know is how many points your team scored. And yet, somehow, you are to make efficient use of practice time to strengthen their weaknesses. You can practice the kinds of skills that you imagine probably factor in a game, but you have no way of knowing how they use those skills in a game situation, or what specifically you should try to fix.
That’s the situation with the standardized test. (Well, actually, it's worse. To really get the analogy right, we'd also have to imagine that as soon as the ball left the players' hands, a blindfold slammed down over their eyes, so they don't really know how they're doing, either.)
TRY DIFFERENT
10 Things People Need to Stop Saying About Children with ADHD
I grew up hearing this. No matter how hard I tried my efforts were rarely recognized. I was always "lazy" and "unmotivated."
After struggling through four years of high school my senior English teacher told me "You have so much potential if only you'd put forth some effort." She obviously cared about my success, but couldn't see the effort that I was already putting forth.
One of my professors in college suggested that I stick to retail, at which I was very successful, by the way. After I graduated (before I went back for my teaching credentials), I made a mark in the retail business I worked at. Each month, it seemed I was given more and more responsibility. The difference was that the work was hands-on, and didn't take the same kind of mental concentration that school work (K-12 or college) took. By the time I left my first job after two years, I had been given the responsibility of an entire sales department.
If you have a child or student who you suspect of having ADHD, saying, "just try harder" doesn't help. Instead, help them "try different."
3) “He just needs to try harder.” If you’ve ever worked one-on-one with a child who suffers from ADHD and who is trying to complete a homework task that they find challenging or tedious, you will see just how hard these kids try. It is a heartbreaking thing to witness.
ACHIEVEMENT OR ABILITY?
Why Streaming Kids According to Ability Is a Terrible Idea (Oscar Hedstrom)
Streaming is what we used to call tracking...grouping kids by their class achievement. Years and years of research has shown that, while it's more convenient for teachers, it doesn't really help students achieve higher...and the author acknowledges that in the second paragraph below.
In the first paragraph, the author quoted British PM David Cameron who said, "Parents know it works. Teachers know it works." I'm not sure about parents, but teachers know it's easier. What teacher wouldn't like a fourth-grade class, for example, where the range of reading levels is grade 4 through 6, instead of a class with reading levels from first-grade through ninth-grade. Planning would be easier, teaching would be easier. But, as already mentioned, the evidence doesn't support doing that.
My main focus for this article is the tendency of education writers and teachers to conflate ability with achievement. Once in a while, the difference is understood, such as this explanation from the NWEA Map Test,
MAP Growth tests measure a student's academic achievement, not his or her ability.
But in the article below, and in so many more discussions among educators, the difference is either not understood or just plain ignored and the words are used interchangeably. In the first paragraph below the author refers to mixed-ability classes, while in the third paragraph he refers to the meta-analysis of student achievement.
Here is what we need to remember. Ability refers to one's potential, whereas achievement reflects what one actually does.
Mixed-ability classes bore students, frustrate parents, and burn out teachers. The brightest will never summit Everest, and the laggers won’t enjoy the lovely stroll in the park they are perhaps more suited to. Individuals suffer at the demands of the collective, mediocrity prevails. In 2014, the UK Education Secretary called for streaming to be made compulsory. And as the former British prime minister David Cameron said in 2006: ‘I want to see it in every single school. Parents know it works. Teachers know it works.’ According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 98 percent of Australian schools use some form of streaming.
Despite all this, there is limited empirical evidence to suggest that streaming results in better outcomes for students. Professor John Hattie, director of the Melbourne Education Research Institute, notes that ‘tracking has minimal effects on learning outcomes and profound negative equity effects’. Streaming significantly – and negatively – affects those students placed in the bottom sets. These students tend to have much higher representation of low socioeconomic backgrounds. Less significant is the small benefit for those lucky clever students in the higher sets. The overall result is relative inequality. The smart stay smart, and the dumb get dumber, further entrenching social disadvantage.
In the latest update of Hattie’s influential meta-analysis of factors influencing student achievement, one of the most significant factors – far more than reducing class size (effect: 0.21) or even providing feedback on student work (0.7) – is the teachers’ estimate of achievement (1.57). Streaming students by diagnosed achievement automatically restricts teacher expectations. Meanwhile, in a mixed environment, teacher expectations have to be more diverse and flexible.
🚌📖⛪️
Posted by Stu at 9:47 AM
Labels: Achievement, ADHD, Article Medleys, Charters, Gadflyonthewall, Immigrants, Lead, Segregation, Testing
Father's Day 2019: A Reminder to Read Aloud to You...
MemeWise - Thinking About Science
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Advanced Energy Materials
Condensed Matter Theory
Electron Microscopy and Nanostructure
Exploratory Materials Synthesis and Characterization
Oxide Molecular Beam Epitaxy
Spectroscopic Imaging Group
Our Research Mission
Scientists in Brookhaven's Condensed Matter Physics & Materials Science Department study basic, theoretical and applied aspects of materials, their utilization, and their electronic, physical, mechanical, and chemical properties in relation to their structure.
The field of Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science integrates the knowledge and tools of chemistry and physics with the principles of engineering to understand and optimize the behavior of materials, as well as to create new and improved materials to help fulfill the missions of the Department of Energy.
Materials Science News
The Best is Yet to Come: The 2019 NSLS-II/CFN Users' Meeting
Condensed-Matter Physics & Materials Science Seminar
"Electron beam effects on organic ices"
Presented by Marco Beleggia, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
11 am, ISB Bldg. 734 Conf. Rm. 201 (upstairs)
Hosted by: Yimei Zhu
While beam damage is often considered detrimental to our quantitative imaging capabilities, the energy and charge injected into the sample as a result of inelastic scattering can be exploited beneficially. This is especially true in radiation-chemistry-type experimental setups in the electron microscope where the beam promotes local wanted chemical reactions. We have observed that by exposing to the electron beam a layer of small volatile organic molecules condensed over a cold substrate results in the formation of a solid product. Evidence suggests that the exposure mechanism driving the formation of a solid product is partial dehydrogenation of the molecules, removal of H2, and progressive increase of the average molecular weight. Contrary to focused electron beam induced deposition, that relies on surface absorption followed by aggregation of mobile species, at cryogenic temperature organic ice molecules are largely immobilized, and act as targets for the incoming electrons throughout the entire thickness of the layer. Therefore, the exposure occurs throughout the volume of the frozen precursor, and the features are essentially determined by the electron distribution, with diffusion/transport parameters bearing little or no relevance. Since larger molecules are less volatile, if the molecular weight increases sufficiently, upon raising the temperature the unexposed areas leave the sample, while the exposed molecules assemble into a solid product in the form of hydrogenated amorphous carbon.
Conducts basic research over a wide swath of theoretical physics, ranging from strongly correlated electrons to first principle electronic structure theory.
Studies the role of antiferromagnetism in high-temperature superconductors. The interaction of charge carriers with magnetic moments is of critical importance but remains a challenge to understand. .
Carries out basic studies of the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of condensed matter systems using synchrotron-based x-ray scattering techniques. .
The Center for Computational Material Spectroscopy and Design develops, advances, and shares a powerful and user-friendly software suite called Comsuite to accelerate the discovery, analysis, and design of functional strongly correlated materials—the basis for next generation technologies.
Utilizes advanced electron microscopy techniques to study nanoscale structure and defects that determine the utility of functional materials, such as superconductors, multiferroics, and other energy related systems including thermoelectrics, photovoltaics, and batteries.
Addresses key open questions in HTS physics such as the dimensionality of the HTS phenomenon, the spin and charge of free carriers, the nature of the superconducting transition, the role of charge stripes (if any) in the HTS state, the nature of the overdoped metallic state, and more.
Spectroscopic Imaging
Span a wide range of quantum matter systems, including superconductors, superfluids, supersolids, electronic liquid crystals, topological insulators superconductors & superfluids, heavy fermions, and spin liquids. Throughout, the focus is on development of innovative techniques and approaches to each problem.
Studies both the microscopic and macroscopic properties of complex and nano-structured materials with a view to understanding and developing their application in different energy related technologies
Explores the electronic structure and electrodynamics of topological insulators and strongly correlated electron systems, with particular attention to emergent phenomena, such as superconductivity and magnetism, using angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) and optical spectroscopy.
The Condensed Matter Physics and Materials Science Department is part of Brookhaven National Laboratory's Energy Sciences Directorate.
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Survey Shows the Impact of Student Loan Debt on Americans’ Major Life Choices and the Future of the Economy
82% say student loans have caused difficulties in their lives; Nearly half are looking to employers for help
WATERTOWN, Mass., May 16, 2016 — A new survey released today shows that student loan debt is affecting people’s lives in unexpected ways – and the entire economy as a result. From newly- minted grads to Baby Boomers nearing retirement, 72 percent of people with student debt say it impacts their life every day, and 77 percent say it’s made it more difficult to “live my life the way I want.” With 35 percent of job openings expected to require at least a bachelor’s degree by 2020 1, this new data suggests a troubling outlook for current and future generations of borrowers and their employers.
The survey, which was commissioned by EdAssist®, a division of Bright Horizons Family Solutions®, and conducted by Kelton Global, shows that while student loan debt is certainly costing people financially, there is a lot more than money at stake.
As a result of student loan debt, the survey found, employees are passing up their dream jobs and giving up on future education:
Nearly half (49 percent) said they're so stressed, they'd prefer help with school debt over budgeting (30 percent), credit card debt (28 percent), and even retirement (42 percent). And 47 percent are looking for help from employers when searching for a new job.
85 percent would like to earn additional degrees, but more than three in five (64 percent) say their current debt would prevent them from doing so.
While 37 percent have been forced to give up their dream jobs completely, more than half (58 percent) say debt would force them into jobs just for higher pay, and 33 percent said they would take any job they could get just to pay off their loans.
“Rather than opening up pathways to success, in some cases, these big education bills are having the reverse effect,” says Chris Duchesne, Vice President at EdAssist. “The amount of student debt people are carrying is costing them in dreams and ambition, and potentially costing employers in creativity, innovation, and the next big idea.”
The EdAssist survey uncovered a multitude of additional ways student loan debt is upending the lives and careers of Americans across all generations. Eighty-two percent of people with student loans admit it’s caused difficulties in their lives and is holding them back from achieving significant life milestones, like buying a car (56 percent), house (50 percent) or opening a credit card (41 percent). Forty-nine percent would delay engagement or marriage due to debt, and 21 percent are struggling to start a family. Seventy-eight percent of people with student loan debt say it has limited their ability to save for retirement.
Additional key findings show:
77 percent of people have had a personal relationship negatively affected by student loan debt.
73 percent of Gen Xers with student debt say it impacts their life every day.
79 percent of Millennials with debt say it has made it more difficult to “live my life the way I want.”
78 percent of Baby Boomers carrying their own debt say it's affected their ability to save for retirement.
54 percent of men feel debt has limited their career choices, versus 47 percent of women.
“Many people see student loan debt as a millennial problem, but disturbingly, it isn’t,” said John Eshleman, Manager of Benefits, Memorial Hermann Health System in Houston, Texas, which offers student loan repayment benefits to employees. “Between taking on debt for dependents and the high demand for graduate degrees in today’s workforce, people of all ages are carrying student loan debt. As an employer, we want to see our employees lead happy and fruitful lives. With the amount of debt degree-holding individuals are facing today, we feel it is right from a recruitment and retention perspective to help ease this burden for our employees.”
For more detail and analysis of the survey findings, see the EdAssist report “Student Loan Debt: Who’s Paying the Price?”
About the EdAssist “Student Loan Debt: Who’s Paying the Price?” Study
The survey was fielded by independent research company Kelton Global in April 2016. The responses were generated from a survey of 1,024 Americans 18+ with student loan debt. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.
About EdAssist
EdAssist®, a division of Bright Horizons Family Solutions®, is a leading provider of tuition assistance and student loan repayment services for large employers. By aligning education programs with talent goals, EdAssist helps drive measurable improvements to recruitment, retention, and employee engagement. The company’s unique approach to program management includes a software platform for streamlining program administration, expert advisors who guide employees to the best educational and financial decisions, and discounts from more than 200 accredited educational institutions.
About Kelton Global
Kelton Global is a research consultancy that transforms rich insights into actionable strategic plans. Kelton integrates market research, cultural insights, branding, communications, and design to move brands confidently into the future. With offices in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and London, Kelton is proud to work with more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies and thousands of other well-loved brands. For more information, please visit www.keltonglobal.com.
1 Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements through 2020, June 26, 2013
EdAssist Solutions News
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David L. DeAngelis Jr.
David Louis DeAngelis, Jr. of Ashaway, RI, beloved husband of Aurelia (Scarpelli) DeAngelis for 34 years, passed away Friday June 14 at the age of 61 surrounded by family.
David was born in Providence, RI the oldest son of David Sr. & Barbara (Polselli) DeAngelis. He married the love of his life and best friend known to him as Gigi on April 20, 1985.
David leaves behind his wife, as well as their two children David Joseph and Antonella Marie. David also leaves behind his siblings; Lisa (Steve) Capracotta, Paul, Michael, and Alan. He was predeceased by his father David Sr. David also leaves behind many nieces, nephews and other extended or honorary family members.
After earning his Bachelors at Rhode Island College and his Masters at New York University, David worked as a Music and Theater teacher for Westerly Public Schools for 33 years until his retirement in 2014. While there, he was awarded Teacher of the Year for the 2002-2003 school year. During his tenure, he ran numerous music ensembles, and founded Westerly High School Theatre Scrapbook Company, where he proudly produced the yearly spring musical beloved throughout the community. He was a member of numerous professional music educator associations, and a strong supporter of various charities.
David was a long time member of the Boy Scout Troop 76 at St. Augustine Catholic Church, and achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. He took great pride being the music director for Our Lady of Victory Church in Ashaway from 1993-2014.
David was a longtime Broadway fan and enjoyed attending many productions, as well as traveling to NYC. He loved spending time with his wife and children traveling throughout the years. He was very proud of his children and always supported them in all that they did.
Known to many as ‘Mr. D?’, he will be fondly remembered for his angelic singing voice and encouraging others to “always keep a song in your heart, and keep on singing!”
The DeAngelis family will greet relatives and friends on Sunday June 30, 2019 from 4-7 PM at the Buckler-Johnston Funeral Home, 121 Main St. Westerly, RI. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Monday July 1, 2019 at 11:00AM at St. Pius X. Church, 44 Elm St. Westerly, RI. “The DeAngelis family encourages everyone to wear blue in memory of David"
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Opinion: To beat Donald Trump, Democrats must practice a politics of modesty
By George F. WillThe Washington Post
"It is a great advantage to a president," said the 30th of them, "and a major source of safety to the country, for him to know he is not a great man." Or, Calvin Coolidge would say today, a great woman.
While today's incumbent advertises himself as an "extremely stable genius" and those who would replace him promise national transformation, attention should be paid to the granular details of presidential politics, which suggest that a politics of modesty might produce voting changes where they matter, and at least 270 electoral votes for a Democrat.
If the near future resembles the immediate past, which it often does, the Democratic nominee in 2020 will be, as the Republican nominee was in 2016, the person favored by the party faction for whom government is more a practical than an ideological concern. For Republicans in 2016, the faction — non-college whites — felt itself a casualty of an economic dynamism that has most benefited people who admire this faction least.
In 2020, the decisive Democratic faction in the nomination contest is apt to be, as it was in 2016, African Americans, whose appraisal of government is particularly practical: What will it do regarding health care, employment, schools? For them, packing the Supreme Court, impeaching the president, abolishing the Electoral College and other gesture-promises probably are distractions.
African Americans were at least 20% of the vote in 15 of the 2016 primaries, and in all the primaries combined they gave 76% of their votes to Hillary Clinton. This is why Trump did not get a chance to defeat Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who narrowly defeated Clinton among white voters in the primaries.
These numbers are from the National Journal's Josh Kraushaar, who referred to a 2016 Pew survey that found just 27% of African-American Democrats identify as liberal, and a plurality describe themselves as moderate.
Some of that plurality surely resent the idea of reparations for slavery as a badge of an irremediable damage. And the importance of ensuring robust African American turnout for Democrats is illustrated by this fact: If in 2004 John Kerry had received as many black votes in Ohio as Barack Obama was to receive in 2008, Kerry would have been the 44th president.
Furthermore, in the 110-day sprint between the end of the Democratic nominating convention in Milwaukee and Election Day, the earliest voting — this is subject to change — begins Sept. 18 in Minnesota and at least one fifth of 2020 voters will probably cast their ballots before Election Day. The decisive voters might be those who crave not transformation but restoration — the recovery of national governance that is neither embarrassing nor exhausting.
So, the Democratic Party, the world's oldest party, which for the first time in its history has won the popular vote in six of seven presidential elections, should be keenly focused on how to subtract states from Donald Trump's 2016 roster, and to do so by carrying more than the 487 counties (out of 3,142) that Clinton carried. Democrats might try to decipher the almost 41-point swing in northeast Iowa's inscrutable Howard County, the only U.S. county that voted in a landslide for Obama over Mitt Romney (by 20.9 points) in 2012 and four years later in a landslide for Trump over Clinton (by 20.1 points).
Democrats must make amends with the 402 other counties that voted for Trump after voting for Obama at least once. This will require the Democrats' progressive lions to lie down with the Democrats' moderate lambs, a spectacle as biblical as it is inimical to progressives' pride about their wokeness.
They might, however, be encouraged to be more politically ecumenical by remembering this: In 2016, Clinton won cumulatively a million more votes than Obama did in 2012 in New York, Massachusetts and California, but won a million fewer than he received everywhere else.
Everything, however, depends on Democrats jettisoning, before they allow it to influence their selection of a candidate, their self-flattering explanation of 2016. As William Voegeli, senior editor of the Claremont Review of Books, has written: "Ascribing the 2016 election to your opponents' bigotry makes clear that the problem was not that Democrats didn't do enough to deserve people's votes, but that the people weren't good enough to deserve Democrats' governance. ... One imagines that, sooner rather than later, even Democrats will come to suspect that denigrating people until they vote for you lacks a certain strategic plausibility."
Sooner than the Milwaukee convention?
George F. Will writes a twice-weekly column on politics and domestic and foreign affairs for The Washington Post. His latest book, "The Conservative Sensibility," was released in June.
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Tillerson is now calling ISIS slaughter of Iraqi religious minorities 'genocide'
Susan Crabtree,
The Washington Free Beacon
Secretary of State Tillerson at the opening ceremony of the 22nd World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul.
Human rights activists are applauding Secretary of State Tillerson for using the term genocide for the first time to describe the Islamic State's mass slaughter of Christians, Yazidis and other religious minorities in Iraq.
The activists and attorneys who have lobbied hard on the issue say Tillerson is now using the term after months of equivocation and after Obama-appointed State Department lawyers had removed or prevented the use of the word genocide in official speeches and other documents.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on Thursday told reporters that Tillerson "firmly believes" that ISIS is responsible for genocide against Christians, Yazidis and other ethnic minorities in Iraq.
"When we look at Iraq and when we look at what happened to some of the Yazidis, some of the Christians, the secretary believes, and he firmly believes, that that was genocide."
A separate spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon "that it is the Secretary of State's judgment that ISIS is responsible for genocide against groups in areas it controlled, including Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims."
Both spokesmen also said reports that State Department officials are removing references to genocide are inaccurate but declined to respond when asked whether those attorneys prevented the word from being used in speeches or other documents and reports.
An annual Religious Freedom Report that the State Department will release next month will provide a better explanation, the spokesman said.
"I can only reiterate that as a general matter we don't comment on internal processes. However, I can let you know that the International Religious Freedom Report will be released next month and will more definitely answer your questions," he said. "We cannot preview that report."
Multiple sources said that report is likely to come out next week on the third anniversary of the ISIS massacre of Yezidis on Mount Sinjar.
ISIS militants stand behind what are said to be Ethiopian Christians along a beach in Wilayat Barqa, in this still image from an undated video made available on a social-media website on April 19, 2015.
Activists and attorneys deeply involved in the issue dispute the State Department's contention that it isn't removing the word "genocide," saying the explanation is overly legalistic and demands an explanation of their definition of "removal."
A group of six GOP senators, led by Sen. March Rubio, (R., Fla.), sent a letter to Tillerson Thursday seeking answers on reports that the State Department's Office of Legal Adviser was removing the word "genocide" from speeches and documents.
The same activists and attorneys were encouraged by the State Department spokesmen's statements that Tillerson is now willing to use the word genocide to describe the mass slaughter of minority communities in Iraq.
"It sounds like to me this is an enormous breakthrough … it is something I applaud, and I think this will make an enormous difference to the victims and survivors and those who are still in refugee camps," said Nina Shea, an international human rights lawyer who directs the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom.
Shea served as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) from 1999 to 2012. USCIRF is an independent, bipartisan U.S. federal government organization created by Congress to make policy recommendations to the president, the secretary of State and Congress on religious freedom violations around the world.
Another attorney involved in the issue who requested anonymity to continue working behind the scenes said, "it's great that we won" but questioned whether Tillerson's use of the word genocide will impact any policies or the ability to get U.S. aid to the persecuted communities in Iraq who are on the verge of extinction.
"Does [Nauert] mean it's the agency's judgment or Tillerson's personal opinion [that ISIS committed genocide]?" the attorney asked.
The attorney said he is concerned because Kerry had used similar language to indicate that his much-heralded genocide designation in March of 2016 was his personal opinion.
Then-Secretary of State John Kerry testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee about the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six nations on Capitol Hill July 29, 2015.
Kerry's designation was one of the few times in history that the United States designated ongoing mass murders against ethnic or religious minorities as meeting the legal definition of genocide laid out in a 1948 treaty. The agreement requires signatories, including the United States, to take steps to "prevent and punish" genocide.
However, Kerry's designation dashed many activists' hopes by not carrying any real weight in terms of changing the U.S. policy to step in and more effectively direct millions of dollars in relief funds to Christian, Yazidi and other persecuted religious minorities in Iraq.
ISIS murders and kidnappings have radically reduced the Christian population in Iraq, which numbered between 800,000 and 1.4 million in 2002 and is below 250,000 now. Without action, activists and charities say, Christians could disappear completely from Iraq in the near future.
After meeting with Pope Francis in May, President Trump vowed to do everything in his power to defend and protect the "historic Christian communities of the Middle East."
Activists and Catholic leaders are now calling on Trump to turn the rhetoric into action on the ground and help get U.S. aid to these persecuted communities trying to rebuild their homes and their lives in Iraq.
They activists and groups are encouraged by Trump's selection of former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, who also served in the House and Senate, for the post of the U.S. ambassador at large for international religious freedom. The ambassador heads the State Department's Office of International Religious Freedom, which is charged with promoting religious freedom as a key objective to U.S. foreign policy, according to its website.
"I've worked closely with Sen. Brownback when he was a senator on Sudan issues—on Darfur—and he's a very dedicated, committed, smart and a leader on human rights issues," Shea said. "So I hope that he can be quickly confirmed. We need him—and the minorities that survived ISIS need his voice right now."
Former Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.
Charlie Riedel/AP
Rubio said Brownback brings "years of experience and stature at a critical time when religious freedom is under assault" with "ancient religious communities such as Christians and Yazidis on the verge of extinction in Iraq and Syria after the Islamic State's campaign of genocide."
Maureen Ferguson, a senior policy adviser with the Catholic Association, said Trump could not have nominated a better person for the job than Brownback at such a critical time.
"As a U.S. Senator, Brownback was a passionate defender of the rights of all people to worship freely, and courageously confronted offenses against human dignity in trouble spots such as North Korea, Iraq, China, Sudan, Vietnam, and Egypt," she said. "At a time when there is an ongoing genocide of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East, we hope and pray the Senate will act with urgency in a bipartisan fashion and immediately confirm Gov. Brownback."
Jordan Sekulow, of the conservative American Center for Law and Justice, also said he is encouraged by Brownback's selection, saying he would be very effective in that role as a former senator and governor who has demonstrated a deep commitment to human rights issues around the globe. Sekulow is the son of Jay Sekulow, an attorney for Trump.
Sekulow's group is preparing new Freedom of Information Act requests aimed at finding out who was responsible for the removal or prevention of the State Department's use of the word "genocide" during the first months of the Trump administration.
Read the original article on The Washington Free Beacon. Copyright 2019. Follow The Washington Free Beacon on Twitter.
SEE ALSO: A boy captured by ISIS in Mosul asks to be reunited with his mom in Canada
NOW WATCH: This is the inside account of the secret battle US Marines have been fighting against ISIS
More: The Washington Free Beacon Iraq Isis Genocide
Yazidis
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Home Finance RANKED: The 2...
RANKED: The 25 most valuable soccer players in Europe, all worth over €100 million
Alan Dawson, Business Insider US
Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.
A prominent research group in Switzerland has put together a list of “estimated transfer values” for the most expensive soccer players in Europe.
The ranking makes for interesting reading as Cristiano Ronaldo, a five-time Champions League winner, barely makes the list (down from 11th last year) and Neymar, who smashed the world transfer fee record when he left FC Barcelona for Paris Saint-Germain in a $260 million deal last summer, fails to make top spot.
Football think tank CIES Football Observatory researched data from 5,000 paid transfers over a seven year period and used those figures to assess “fair” transfer values for active soccer players in the top five European leagues – the Premier League (England), La Liga (Spain), Bundesliga (Germany), Serie A (Italy), and Ligue 1 (France).
Factors like talent level, contract duration, and the age of each specific soccer player come into effect in this ranking, as does the status of the recruiting club.
CIES discovered, through speaking with market actors (club executives operating in elite soccer), that “the status of the recruiting club has a major influence in determining the transfer price.”
Here are the 25 most valuable soccer players competing in Europe right now, ranked in ascending order:
25: Marc-André ter Stegen, FC Barcelona goalkeeper — €100.5 million ($117.7 million).
24: Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid striker — €103.4 million ($121.1 million).
23: Lorenzo Insigne, Napoli attacker — €104.2 million ($122 million).
22: Gonzalo Higuaín, Juventus striker — €104.5 million ($122.4 million).
21: Ederson Moraes, Manchester City goalkeeper — €104.6 million ($122.5 million).
20: Christian Eriksen, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder — €106.2 million ($124.4 million).
19: Samuel Umtiti, FC Barcelona defender — €111.5 million ($130.6 million).
18: Luis Suárez, FC Barcelona striker — €120.4 million ($141 million).
17: Eden Hazard, Chelsea attacker — €124.7 million ($146 million).
16: Gabriel Jesus, Manchester City striker — €140.3 million ($164.3 million).
15: Roberto Firmino, Liverpool FC striker — €142.6 million ($167 million).
14: Paul Pogba, Manchester United midfielder — €144.9 million ($169.7 million).
13: Leroy Sané, Manchester City forward — €152.2 million ($178.3 million).
12: Philippe Coutinho, FC Barcelona forward — €154.6 million ($181 million).
11: Raheem Sterling, Manchester City forward — €155.1 million ($181.7 million).
10: Romelu Lukaku, Manchester United striker — €163.4 million ($191.4 million).
9: Paulo Dybala, Juventus forward — €164.2 million ($192.3 million).
8: Antoine Griezmann, Atletico Madrid forward — €164.5 million ($192.7 million).
7: Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City midfielder — €167.2 million ($196 million).
6: Dele Alli, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder — €171 million ($200.4 million).
5: Mohamed Salah, Liverpool FC forward — €171.3 million ($200.7 million).
4: Lionel Messi, FC Barcelona forward — €184.2 million ($215.9 million).
3: Kylian Mbappé, Paris Saint-Germain forward — €186.5 million ($218.6 million).
2: Neymar, Paris Saint-Germain forward — €195.7 million ($229.4 million).
1: Harry Kane, Tottenham Hotspur striker — €201.2 million ($235.8 million).
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As Silicon Valley Spoke Up On The Immigration Ban, Corporate America Stayed Quiet
The tech community debated whether its leaders should say more, but most corporate giants just said nothing at all.
By Tom Gara
Tom Gara BuzzFeed News Business Editor
Posted on January 29, 2017, at 10:42 p.m. ET
NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP / Getty Images
President Donald Trump meets with business leaders in the White House.
As most of corporate America stayed quiet this weekend on the issue of President Trump's immigration order, one industry stood out in the silent crowd. And ironically, it was the same one that's often maligned for not going far enough in speaking up for its self-proclaimed values.
"Will tech leaders come out strongly and publicly against Trump's Muslim ban?" tweeted Recode's Kara Swisher, addressing the industry elite who follow her. "I'm taking names."
Throughout the weekend, they spoke. It was mostly cautious, often to the point of meaningless — "I hope we find the courage and compassion to bring people together and make this world a better place for everyone," concluded Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
But it was something, which is more than can be said for the rest of corporate America, whose leaders have largely remained behind a wall of silence since Friday's announcement, even as plenty of their employees and customers at home and around the world were facing the prospect of being banned from entering the United States.
Take Wall Street, where big banks spend tens of millions every year pressuring Washington on the things they consider important. Representatives of Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all declined to comment or did not reply yesterday when contacted by reporters.
JPMorgan, the country's largest bank, passed along a note that was sent to staff. "We are grateful for the hard work and sacrifices made to keep our country safe," it said. "At the same time, we understand that our country, economy and wellbeing are strengthened by the rich diversity of the world around us." And that's what the outspoken side of Wall Street had to say.
The gap between Silicon Valley and pretty much everyone else in corporate America has often been a rhetorical one
McDonald's, a major employer of immigrants, has said nothing, and neither has Walmart, the country's largest private-sector employer.
When the Huffington Post looked at the US companies whose CEOs signed up as advisors to President Trump — more than a dozen big-name businesses including Disney, General Motors and Blackstone — just two had something to say on Saturday: Tesla and Uber.
(General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt, a member of the group, has since sent a note to employees saying the company will work with the Trump administration to "strive to find the balance between the need for security and the movement of law-abiding people.)
The gap between Silicon Valley and pretty much everyone else in corporate America has often been a rhetorical one: the reason most see Uber as a tech company, but not Ford, is mostly about how these companies talk about themselves, and how we listen to them.
But in the case of this weekend's madness, it has been illuminating. When it comes to taking a stand, people simply expect more from internet companies than they do from everyone else — in large part because of the we're-the-good-guys posture of the tech industry.
When a serious line is crossed in Washington, there's an assumption that Mark Zuckerberg should say something about it; nobody is holding their breath for the CEO of Bank of America. Google's co-founder — one of the world's richest men — showing up at San Francisco's international airport on Saturday night to join the protests was warmly received but not shocking; the concept of Lloyd Blankfein joining the crowd at JFK is imaginable only in surrealist parody.
The gap between Silicon Valley and most other businesses is also a function of what we mean when we say "Silicon Valley" now — there has been little pressure on the leaders of enormous-but-boring Bay Area Fortune 500 companies like Salesforce or Oracle to speak up. What people are really talking when they talk about Silicon Valley is companies like Google, Twitter and Facebook, all of which depend on their giant communities of users.
Those companies have benefited hugely from convincing the public that they are, in the broadest strokes, the good guys. Google's don't-be-evil motto set the tone for many companies that followed, each of whom spoke of their mission to connect the world and give people a voice in painfully earnest terms.
With a level of good faith established, each built massive businesses based on the fundamentally creepy premise of hyper-targeted online advertising, turning baby photos and searches about that weird rash on your leg into a gush of advertising dollars.
It's very nice work if you can get it, and it's hard not to connect the dots between Silicon Valley's aspirational selling points and the statements coming from it's leaders this weekend. It may feel good to speak out, but it's also an important part of the recipe that has made it rain gold in parts of Northern California for the last decade.
In the rest of corporate America, where most businesses were built without the pretense of righteousness, speaking out seems like an unnecessary risk, or a distraction from their true purpose. For the nice guys of the tech industry, it has become a cost of doing business.
Tom Gara is the opinion editor for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York.
Contact Tom Gara at tom.gara@buzzfeed.com.
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Hurricane Hub
Man tried for a second time in Brandywine Court killing
Jacob Nunez's first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors couldn't decide whether Nunez is innocent or guilty of the fatal shooting.
Man tried for a second time in Brandywine Court killing Jacob Nunez's first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors couldn't decide whether Nunez is innocent or guilty of the fatal shooting. Check out this story on caller.com: https://www.caller.com/story/news/crime/2019/02/25/man-tried-second-time-brandywine-court-killing/2979150002/
Eleanor Dearman, Corpus Christi Caller Times Published 4:18 p.m. CT Feb. 25, 2019 | Updated 5:43 p.m. CT Feb. 25, 2019
Anyone with information about these men should call Crime Stoppers at 361-888-8477. Alexandria Rodriguez, Corpus Christi Caller-Times
A man is being tried for the second time in the killing of 52-year-old Mike Ramos, Sr., who was found in July 2017 on Brandywine Court.
Jacob Nunez's first trial in June resulted in a mistrial after jurors couldn't reach a unanimous decision on whether Nunez is innocent or guilty of the fatal shooting.
The Nueces County jury deliberated for about two days before deciding they couldn't come to a consensus. Jurors were split 9-3, with most favoring a not guilty verdict.
Nunez, 37, will go before a new jury and attorneys will present their cases. Jury selection began Monday before 347th District Judge Missy Medary. It finished late Monday afternoon. Opening statements are expected Tuesday morning.
Jacob Nunez appears in court on Aug. 9 for an examining trial. (Photo: Eleanor Dearman/Caller-Times)
On July 27, 2017, Ramos was found shot, lying in a pool of blood by the front door in the 3700 block of Brandywine Court, according to police. He later died at a hospital. According to medical examiners, his cause of death was a shotgun wound to his chest.
Officers initially went to the area of Painter and Rojo after being contacted by a caller who described hearing gunshots and seeing someone running, according to police.
More: Sign up to have news emailed to you daily
Nunez was arrested in the 2200 block of Guadalupe Street after officers obtained a warrant.
Following his first trial, a juror said the nine jurors in favor of a "not guilty" expressed a need for more evidence that Nunez was at the Brandywine address at the time of the crime.
Nunez, who is charged with murder, a first degree felony, faces up to 99 years or life in prison if convicted.
More: Jacob Nunez's Brandywine Court murder trial ends in mistrial
More: Case against Corpus Christi murder suspect Jacob Nunez in hands of jury
Read or Share this story: https://www.caller.com/story/news/crime/2019/02/25/man-tried-second-time-brandywine-court-killing/2979150002/
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Faced with Job Complaints, Law Schools Accepting Fewer Students
By Jason Song/Los Angeles Times (MCT)
Law grads have joined class actions alleging that law schools them in with misleading reports
(Credit: Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times/MCT)
LOS ANGELES — Loyola Law School administrators once justified accepting extra students or raising tuition because the market virtually guaranteed prospective attorneys a high-paying job after graduation.
But faced with growing alumni complaints that they can’t find employment, Dean Victor Gold and other administrators decided this year to do something they had never done before: They accepted fewer students.
Loyola, southwest of downtown Los Angeles, took 20 fewer applicants than last year, about an 5 percent drop — and a loss of about $1 million. The incoming 360 students are about 15 percent fewer than the school has averaged over the last decade, Gold said.
Loyola is one of a growing number of law schools, including the University of California Hastings College of Law, Northwestern University and George Washington University, that are trimming class sizes. A 2012 survey conducted by Kaplan Test Prep found that 51 percent of law schools have reduced their incoming classes.
The move comes amid a number of factors affecting law schools and students, including an overall reduction in applicants, a dearth of available jobs and students who don’t want to be saddled with huge debt from high tuition.
In addition, some administrators are trying to accept fewer students with low entrance exam scores and grade-point averages who could drag down schools’ important rankings in U.S. News & World Report.
The trend toward lower numbers of students began a few years ago. In 2011, fewer than 50,000 students started their first year in a juris doctor program, 7 percent less than the year before, according to the Law School Admission Council.
In the 2011-12 academic year, about 130,000 LSATs were given — the lowest number in more than a decade.
In California, which has about 21 accredited law schools, the first-year class at USC’s Gould School of Law shrank by 11 students last year, while UCLA’s is about 15 students smaller this year compared to last.
“It’s common sense,” said Brian Z. Tamanaha, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis who has written extensively about the business of law schools. “People know that a lot of graduates are not doing well and that (law school) is a huge expense, so they question if it’s really worth it.”
Loyola administrators made the move to cut class sizes soon after the school fell 17 places — from 51st to 68th — in the most recent U.S. News & World Report’s rankings.
Much of Loyola’s drop is due to California’s soft job market, which meant graduates couldn’t find work, Gold said.
“Reality has caught up to higher education,” said Gold, who has served as dean since 2009. “The job market is still very slow, and we have a moral obligation not to just take tuition dollars and then turn a blind eye when our graduates can’t find jobs.”
Prospective students look closely at national rankings to decide where to apply, and schools typically use them for publicity and to attract donors. These listings take into account schools’ selectivity, job placement and bar exam passage rates, among other things.
“Schools are in a tough financial position. Rankings should not drive students away or toward schools, but they do,” said Paul L. Caron, a law professor at Pepperdine University. “So small moves can have very significant consequences.”
Gold acknowledged that Loyola’s move was partly to protect the school’s image — “I wouldn’t be honest if I said rankings don’t matter,” he said — but added that it wasn’t his main motivation to drop class size.
Universities that fall below the top 20 in law school rankings are more likely to see enrollment declines, while schools at the bottom of the list “will continue to take as many as they can enroll,” Tamanaha said. Others say the top-tier schools are not as adversely affected.
“It’s the schools in the middle that have to compete more by either giving more scholarships or dropping their class sizes,” Tamanaha said. “There are a bunch of schools that are doing both and are still seeing reductions in their” incoming class test scores.
At Hastings, which placed 48th in the latest rankings, 20 spots ahead of Loyola, administrators cut their class by nearly a fifth last year. The first-year class of nearly 320 students was the lowest in school history.
The San Francisco school also cut 10 staff members and offered buyouts but did not lay off professors, said Frank H. Wu, the dean and chancellor.
“We didn’t touch the core,” Wu said.
Wu said Hastings and other law schools need to “reboot the system” in the face of declining enrollment.
“I’m not a visionary. I’m just looking at the numbers, and you’d be an idiot not to see what these numbers mean,” he said. “We have produced a glut.”
At Loyola, about 80 percent of the class of 2011 found work, nearly 15 percent fewer than the class of 2010. The number of graduates who worked in a position that required them to have passed the California bar had fallen by almost a fifth over the same time.
Unemployment, Gold said, “is the No. 1 complaint. It’s also the No. 2 complaint.”
Though this is the first year Loyola administrators decreased class size, the campus had already been attracting fewer students, dropping from 418 six years ago to 380 last year.
One of Loyola’s best-known critics is known online as “Loyola 2L,” who said he was a student there. He posted anonymous comments on many websites in 2006 and 2007 saying that he had trouble even getting job interviews because he did not rank in the top 10 percent of his class.
“Now I’m in massive debt and have been taught a hard lesson. … Students from tier 2 schools aren’t allowed to have good jobs, despite all the money and work we put into the education,” he wrote in one online posting.
Gold said he was following Hastings’ example. “It seemed to me that, if we could pull it off, we should do it as well — as long as we could protect the academics,” Gold said.
Cutting students has affected Loyola’s bottom line. Tuition for the school’s full-time day program is $45,410, although most students receive some financial aid, administrators said.
Key programs such as the school’s moot court and those that train students for careers in public interest or sports law will not be affected, Gold said. He added that he hopes to save money through staff attrition and other programs designed to reduce expenses, including solar panels at the Frank Gehry-designed campus that should make energy costs cheaper.
But Gold said he can’t be sure what other steps Loyola will have to take to trim its budget. “Talk to me in three years,” he said, after all the larger classes now enrolled are replaced with smaller ones.
Meanwhile, the state’s newest law school — at the University of California, Irvine — has been steadily growing but maintaining, on purpose, its small size. This fall, Irvine will have 129 incoming students.
UC Irvine Law School administrators have always planned to have between 180 and 200 people per class, said Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, who said keeping the student body small gives students more access to professors while also allowing the school to break even financially.
Chemerinsky said all recent graduates have been able either to find legal jobs or continue their studies.
Gold said he hopes that smaller classes will lead to better employment prospects for Loyola graduates.
“It kills me,” he said, “when our graduates pay what they pay and can’t find a job.”
©2013 Los Angeles Times
Visit the Los Angeles Times at www.latimes.com
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Popular Tourist Spots In Dublin
Dublin lies on the eastern coast of Ireland on the shores of Dublin Bay. The River Liffey bisects the city with many of the most popular tourist spots in Dublin located south of the river. The city is a centre for art and literature and is home to the world famous Guinness Brewery.
Dublin Castle features original Norman buildings dating back to the early 13th century. The Record Tower is the largest of these structures built under the rule of King John. Visitors are welcome to take a 45-minute guided tour of the castle. A bistro and patisserie are located in the Castle Vaults for guests who want to grab a bite to eat before or after the tour. Access to the castle is available through the Cork Hill Gate located west of City Hall.
St Patrick’s Cathedral is the largest church in Dublin and is included on many historic tours. Literature enthusiasts can visit Jonathan Swift’s tomb. Swift wrote the novel Gulliver’s Travels and was the cathedral’s dean at one time. A park north of the cathedral features a series of statues honoring famous writers of Irish descent.
Trinity College is a favorite destination for students of literature. The Book of Kells display is a popular attraction for college visitors. The manuscript is among the oldest books on Earth and dates back to around 800 AD.
For many travelers, a visit to the Guinness Brewery on St James Street is mandatory. The brewery has been in operation since 1759 and has a lease on approximately 60 acres of property that lasts 9,000 years. The property does not offer tours of the working brewery but guests are free to explore the Storehouse, a museum housed in a six-story building built around a huge atrium shaped like a beer glass. The museum contains antique equipment and an exhibition highlighting the manufacturing process of their products and the history of the brewery and its founders. Do yourself a favor and hire a car at Dublin Airport. Its a convenient and cheap way to see all the sights.
The city of Dublin offers comfortable hotels with easy access to shopping, dining and a vibrant nightlife. Streets lined with specialty food shops, boutiques and art galleries offer the ideal place to window shop. Visitors will find the Irish pubs every bit as lively and welcoming as they would expect them to be. With so much to offer, it is easy to see why Dublin is such a popular vacation destination for visitors to the Emerald Isle.
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Newham charity champion carries Olympic flame
With just a few days to go until the Games kick off, today the Olympic flame travelled through the London Borough of Bromley, carried by the Director of a Newham homelessness charity.
Keith Fernett, Director of Anchor House in Canning Town, took part in the latest leg of the UK torch relay.
There are just five days to go before it arrives at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London on Friday for the opening Games ceremony.
The 59-year-old was nominated by a colleague at Anchor House, for his championing of the voluntary sector and provision of homelessness services in the London borough of Newham. He was one of 8,000 inspirational people to carry the Olympic Flame as it journeys across the UK.
Keith joined Anchor House in 2004 and over the last eight years his energy, boldness and absolute commitment to the plight of homeless people has made Anchor House a byword for best practice in the third sector, and an example of how the modern charity should operate.
Today, some 187 torchbearers carried the flame as it visited the boroughs of Lewisham, Bromley, Croydon, Sutton, Merton and Wandsworth on its third day in London and 66th overall.
Keith passed the flame onto 4x100m Athens Olympic gold medallist Marlon Devonish, who took a lap of Crystal Palace stadium with the flame.
Keith said “The torch has brought peace and unity to East London. It instils a fantastic sense of community and it was a privilege to be part of the Olympic games.”
Jazmine Sandison
Anchor House 81 Barking Road, London E16 4HB
Email: communications@anchorhouseuk.org
Website: www.anchorhouseuk.org
Anchor House (registered charity name The London Inter-Diocesan Apostleship of the Sea; charity number 253669) is an award-winning residential and life skills centre based in Canning Town, situated in the London Borough of Newham, the third most deprived borough in the country. Anchor House supports up to 220 people a year by providing them with a stable and safe environment, helping them to develop aspirations, confidence and self-esteem and enabling them to move towards leading independent, self-fulfilling lives.
Residents sign an out of homelessness contract and the root causes of homelessness are addressed through training, education and personal rehabilitation. The £9.3m Home and Hope Appeal has been launched to ensure the charity’s lasting legacy continues and by 2013, Anchor House will provide top quality accommodation, training and personal development to give its residents the best chance to find a job and a home. Anchor House’s patrons include Barry McGuigan MBE, Jeremy Paxman, The Most Revd Vincent Nicholls, Archbishop of Westminster, The Rt Hon Anne Widdecombe PC and Barbara Windsor MBE.
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Home Elections 2017 Premier McLaughlin’s term limited by constitution
Premier McLaughlin’s term limited by constitution
Brent Fuller
In serving his second term as the Cayman Islands government’s leader, Premier Alden McLaughlin – if he finishes the four-year stint – will be forced to leave the post.
The Cayman Islands Constitution Order (2009) sets a two-term limit on the office of premier.
According to the governing document in section 49[4]: “The governor shall not appoint as premier a person who has held office as premier during two consecutive parliamentary terms unless at least one parliamentary term has expired since he or she last held that office ….”
According to the law, Mr. McLaughlin – if he continued as an elected member of the Legislative Assembly – would have to step down from the leadership role for at least one four-year term before seeking it again.
However, the premier has said on numerous occasions that he has no such ambition.
In a statement before the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce in November, the premier said he would embark on a different career path if his Progressives, or a new coalition government, controlled the political scene between 2017 and 2021.
“I will retire to my farm in the bush in East End, worn out, but contented,” Mr. McLaughlin told the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Legislative Luncheon at The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman.
Mr. McLaughlin said before the election that he felt the work of his Progressives-led coalition government could not all be completed in the then-current term of the legislature, which ended in late March ahead of the May 2017 general election.
“I acknowledge full well that there is more work to be done,” he said. “We will fight hard for the opportunity to return to office and build on the work of another term.”
On Wednesday, in a speech outside the Legislative Assembly building, Mr. McLaughlin said his Progressives-led coalition would now work on forming a governance plan that could be supported by all 13 members of the new government. He said this plan could be released as early as July but could take longer to formulate.
Cayman’s new budget process, adopted last year, gives the new government more breathing room in drawing up priorities for the next term. In the past, a new government would have been pressure to propose an interim budget for the fiscal year that started July 1 – roughly five weeks after the election.
Now, lawmakers have to plan a two-year budget, but the new fiscal year will not start until Jan. 1, 2018. It is likely the budget review process will begin in the assembly sometime during October or November.
Mr. McLaughlin acknowledged it would not all be “smooth sailing” in the next four years since there are genuine government policy differences among members of the Progressives and CDP coalition as to how to grow the economy and provide opportunities for Caymanians.
“The [debate] process, I believe, will lead to better policy positions,” Mr. McLaughlin said.
Alden McLaughlin
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Premier: Criticisms of overreach directed at Parliament, not UK government
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Forever furniture
EnviroWalk to be held next month
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Mitt Romney to caucus for Ted Cruz in Utah
By Rebecca Shabad
Updated on: March 18, 2016 / 4:50 PM / CBS News
Mitt Romney announced Friday that he'll caucus for Ted Cruz in Utah on Tuesday.
"This week, in the Utah nominating caucus, I will vote for Senator Ted Cruz," the 2012 GOP presidential nominee said in a post on Facebook.
The "only path" to block Donald Trump from receiving the Republican nomination is a contested convention, Romney concluded.
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"At this stage, the only way we can reach an open convention is for Senator Cruz to be successful in as many of the remaining nominating elections as possible," said Romney, who campaigned alongside Ohio Gov. John Kasich earlier this week.
Romney said he would have voted for Kasich in Ohio, but said "a vote for Governor Kasich in future contests makes it extremely likely that Trumpism would prevail."
Kasich, who is campaigning in Utah, was asked about Romney's decision.
"This is his view and you know, he's entitled to it and frankly, I don't think anybody's gonna have enough delegates to get to the convention," Kasich said. "And this is really about who we want to have run the country. This is not a parlor game and so, I'm the only one who can beat Hillary Clinton. That's what the polls show so maybe they oughta knock it off and get behind me....[I]t's ok, it's fine. We'll just move beyond it and we're gonna keep doing our thing."
The 2012 GOP nominee has been actively campaigning against Trump, who remains the Republican frontrunner. According to CBS News' latest count, Trump has 671 delegates while Cruz has 401. Kasich has picked up 138. A candidate needs to win 1,237 delegates in order to win the nomination.'
Romney, who also served as governor of Massachusetts, was previously registered there, but has been a registered Utah voter since he moved there a few years ago.
"Today, there is a contest between Trumpism and Republicanism," he said in his statement Friday. "Through the calculated statements of its leader, Trumpism has become associated with racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, vulgarity and, most recently, threats and violence. I am repulsed by each and every one of these."
CBS News' Erica Brown contributed to this report.
First published on March 18, 2016 / 4:46 PM
Rebecca Shabad
Rebecca Shabad is a video reporter for CBS News Digital.
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» Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Completes Investment in PharMEDium Healthcare Corporation
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Completes Investment in PharMEDium Healthcare Corporation
NEW YORK, PRNewswire
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R”) today announced the close of an investment in PharMEDium Healthcare Corporation (“PharMEDium” or the “Company”), the leading national provider of hospital pharmacy-outsourced sterile compounding services. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
PharMEDium’s outsourced sterile compounding services are used by hospitals primarily to facilitate ready-to-use intravenous drug therapy to patients; it is one of the first companies to voluntarily register with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) as an Outsourcing Facility and to comply with guidelines under the newly created section 503B of the Drug Quality and Security Act. Using only FDA-approved drugs, diluents and containers, the Company creates compounded sterile preparations (“CSPs”), which are not otherwise commercially available in the marketplace. PharMEDium provides CSPs in ready-to-use presentation with enhanced safety, labeling, sterility and shelf life, typically exceeding what hospital pharmacies can produce themselves. The Company’s CSPs are primarily used in: (i) intravenous pain management and anesthesia associated with surgical procedures and post-operative care, (ii) the intensive care unit (CSPs including analgesics, antibiotics, anticoagulants and electrolytes), and (iii) labor and delivery (epidurals and oxytocin).
Based in Lake Forest, Illinois, PharMEDium serves more than 2,600 acute-care hospitals, including integrated delivery systems, academic medical centers, hospital groups, and standalone urban, suburban and rural hospitals.
At the time of CD&R’s exit, PharMEDium was the national leader in hospital pharmacy-...
AmerisourceBergen to Acquire PharMEDium Healthcare Holdings, Inc.
AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC) today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to...
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice to Invest in PharMEDium, Nation’s Leading Provider of Sterile Compounding Services to Hospital Pharmacies
PharMEDium, the leading national provider of hospital pharmacy-outsourced sterile compounding...
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Barbara Gaines
Barbara Gaines, Artistic Director
Carl and Marilynn Thoma Chair
BARBARA GAINES has directed nearly sixty productions at Chicago Shakespeare since founding the Theater in 1986, including thirty of Shakespeare’s plays. Honors include the 2008 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the prestigious Honorary OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in recognition of her contributions strengthening British-American cultural relations, as well as multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Production and for Best Director. Ms. Gaines has directed at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-on-Avon, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and The Old Globe in San Diego.
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Subscribe To Mira Sorvino Claims She Was Gagged With A Condom During An Audition When She Was 16 Updates
Mira Sorvino Claims She Was Gagged With A Condom During An Audition When She Was 16
Corey Chichizola
The past year has been a harrowing and eye opening time for the entertainment world. A variety of powerful Hollywood men have been accused of sexual misconduct, ranging from harassment to assault. And while this wave has ruined the careers of many and started an important dialogue, it started with the Harvey Weinstein scandal. The formerly acclaimed producer has been accused of sexual misconduct by a variety of women, one of the most vocal being Oscar winning actress Mira Sorvino. Sorvino's reports about Weinstein's harassment were in the breaking story, but it appears she's been suffering from incidents like this at an even earlier age in the business. The Romy and Michelle icon recently revealed a time she was reportedly mistreated in an audition as a teenage actress, saying:
In order to scare me for this horror movie scene, he tied me to a chair, he bruised my arm, and I was 16 years old, and then he gagged me, and I was all game because I'm trying to be scared for the scene. And at the end he takes the gag out of my mouth and he said, 'Sorry for the prophylactic,' so he had gagged me with a condom. It was so inappropriate, and what the heck was a casting director doing with a condom in his pocket in an audition?
Well, this is disturbing. Coaching child actors is no doubt a challenge, but a casting director going so far and being physical with a 16 year old actress is certainly on another level. While Mira Sorvino didn't name any names in regards to the individual or movie, this harrowing story illustrates the systematic problem that seems to exist within the entertainment world.
Mira Sorvino's comments come from her recent appearance on the The HFPA in Conversation podcast. When talking about her career, Sorvino opened up about the types of sexual harassment she'd been subjected to from her decades in the business. And while her accusations against Harvey Weinstein are perhaps more high profile, this recent story shows that Sorvino has been dealing with inappropriate treatment for a long time.
Following the myriad accusations made against Harvey Weinstein, he was eventually arrested in May on rape charges, and posted a $1 million bail. Aside from the criminal proceedings currently happening against Weinstein, his downfall also proved as a catalyst for a ton of other similar accusations. Actor Kevin Spacey was notably fired from House of Cards after actor Anthony Rapp alleged he was sexually harassed by the actor as a teenager. And when crew members also came out with stories about Spacey, Frank Underwood was written out of the show for its final season. Other figures who have been accused of sexual misconduct include Louis C.K., Brett Ratner, and Danny Masterson.
While Harvey Weinstein allegedly tried to blacklist Mira Sorvino, she's got a few projects coming up, with eight projects currently filming, in the can, or in pre-production on her IMDB page. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
The Upside Has Made A Surprising Amount Of Money
Watch Steven Seagal Walk Out Of Interview Over Sexual Assault Question
Katy Perry Reveals She Wasn't Raped By Dr. Luke In Deposition
DC Universe's Titans Crew Member Killed Rehearsing Stunt For Season 2
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Alice in Chains’ Mike Starr’s Memorial To Be Held At Space Needle
BY Robyn Good on March 20, 2011 | Comments: Leave Comments
Related : Mike Starr
Alice in Chains bassist Mike Starr, 44, who appreared on Dr. Drew’s Celebrity Rehab in 2009 passed away in early March 8th, 2011 from mixing methadone and anxiety medication in a desperate attempt to stay sober. There will be a memorial for Mike held today at Seattle’s Space Needle where family and friends plan a water fountain tribute show.
TMZ has the scoop:
Mike’s sister, Melinda Starr, tells us everyone is gathering around International Fountain — next to the Space Needle — where a water show is usually set to classical music … but for the memorial it’ll be rocking to Alice in Chains tunes. Melinda says officials at Seattle Center offered to change the music for the memorial — and adds Seattle Police are providing security, free of charge. Melinda says some of Mike’s old Alice in Chains mates will also be at the tribute — which is open to the public and begins at 4:00 PM.
Sadly Mike was reportedly determined to get clean and start a new life. The official cause of death has not been determined yet.
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All CA ANZ members have the opportunity to have a say in how their professional body serves them through getting involved in our governance network
At the core of CA ANZ’s governance network are committees and councils made up of members
They represent members’ interests for our governing bodies
CA ANZ President Jane Stanton FCA
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand is committed to being a member- focused organisation. To make this a reality, we have a number of committees and regional councils that represent the members interests.
President of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand Jane Stanton FCA, sees our members as both shareholders and customers of this organisation. As such, she encourages members to get involved and have their voices heard.
Stanton’s experience in committees and councils began when she was approached to sit on the National CAs In Business panel. “I used my CA designation every day of my working life, so I really wanted to make sure that the value of the brand was maintained,” she says of her decision to get involved.
“I think if you're passionate about being a Chartered Accountant, it's a wonderful way to be able to shape what that actually means.”
Watch our interview with CA ANZ President Jane Stanton FCA
Steering the course of our organisation
Members who serve on our committees and regional councils play a vital role: they ensure that the Council is aware of issues affecting members, so they can in turn inform the Board.
The Council gets input from the following committees and councils, made up entirely of members:
Regional Councils representing members in every Australian state and territory, and New Zealand.
Segment Advisory Committees representing members who work in: public practice; the corporate sector; and charities and not-for-profits.
Local Leadership Teams located around New Zealand.
Rural Advisory Committees that link regional councils, local member groups and CA ANZ management.
Overseas Committees representing members in the UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.
The personal and professional rewards
Those who sit on our councils and committees find they not only get to help shape the future of our organisation and our profession, they enjoy career benefits as well.
As Stanton points out, sitting on a CA ANZ council or committee is a great learning experience that can help prepare members to take on greater responsibilities: “A lot of CAs end up working in the strategy space; [they] end up working a lot advising boards and advising CEOs.”
For Stanton, like many other members, getting involved has also been personally rewarding. “[CA ANZ is] an organisation that's given me so much, so it was a really good way for me to be able to give back to the organisation,” she says.
Learn how you can play a role in CA ANZ’s future by joining a committee or council
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Tweaked policies wreaking havoc on the H-1B application process
Julian Alexander
Organizations have long relied on the H-1B system to grant access to highly technical foreign talent — more than two-thirds of which work in computer-related fields — but the attitude toward immigration in the U.S. has changed and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services' (USCIS) policies have made the application process more challenging.
The lottery opens on April 2 and already organizations are scrambling to ensure applications are properly completed.
Here are four policies that could drastically impact the adjudication process:
The Department of Homeland Security is looking to make changes to the H-4 visa, which allows spouses of H-1B holders to work in the U.S.
DHS also plans to "revise the definition of specialty occupation."
USCIS will increase the scrutiny of H-1B visa holders who are contractors and take third-party assignments.
USCIS suspended premium processing for the 2018 filing season, but does not apply to extensions, amendments and cap-exempt cases.
While seemingly small changes to H-1B processing can cause headaches for petitioners, it has a chilling effect in the ongoing debate about U.S. immigration policies.
"There is a general notion within the broader stakeholder community, even at the international student level, that these polices do convey messages of the United States being a little less welcoming," said Rebecca Peters, director of government affairs at the Council for Global Immigration.
Particularly in the STEM fields, which attracts significant numbers of H-1B petitioners, other countries are hiring.
"Eventually, if Congress won't address these issues, the market will," Peters said.
A lot has changed, but it has nothing to do with the law
Immigration officials, lawyers and visa applicants were sent scurrying last year when USCIS rolled out policy memos just weeks — and in some cases days — before the cap opened.
In particular, program changes have focused on the tech sector, IT consulting companies and the types of employers that hire H-1B workers to place at third-party sites, according to Jennifer Minear, immigration lawyer from Richmond, VA.
The impact of increased scrutiny is felt by all H-1B applicants, not just tech workers or third-party contractors.
"Eventually, if Congress won't address these issues, the market will."
Rebecca Peters
Director of government affairs at the Council for Global Immigration
Through many of its memorandums, USCIS is seeking additional evidence. With recently issued third-party worksites memorandum, for example, the agency is essentially requesting itineraries and contracts which show the employer-employee relationship in detail, according to Peters.
But the specificity of the information requested will spark additional requests for evidence (RFEs) and, in turn, visa petition denials.
Whether an individual employer or the end client, the H-1B petition process can take between six and 10 months to prepare, Peters said. With the memo issued just weeks before the start of the cap season, many petitions will likely need amendment.
While USCIS is limited in what it can do, it's reinterpreting laws in a much more constricted fashion.
"I think [this] will result in fewer approvals and many more requests for evidence before approvals are issued," Minear said. "We saw that last season. I think we'll see it again this year."
RFEs
The H-1B petition process already demands close attention to detail and patience on the part of both companies and petitioners. But the series of memorandums sent out by USCIS add nuance to the application process, and in some cases further slows the process.
It takes between six and eight months from the filing date for applicants to receive approval, denial or RFE, Minear said. "The concern is that, in many cases, you file in April and the [visa] effective date is going to be Oct. 1, the first date of the fiscal year."
"I think [the amendment] will result in fewer approvals and many more requests for evidence before approvals are issued. We saw that last season. I think we'll see it again this year."
Jennifer Minear
In many cases, it can be close to effective date and applications are still not adjudicated and RFEs delay the process further.
"The government seems to require more and more explanation and justification through the years," said Morris Deutsch, partner at immigration law firm Deutsch, Killea and Eapen in Washington. "I personally don't have a problem with that if they're just trying to have people make it very clear that if you're applying for an H-1B visa, then it's an appropriate visa given the particular employees' job."
With the government adding new requirements, Deutsch said his firm is applying it to all cases. "That's just the nature of immigration law," he said.
Over the last 14 months of the Trump administration, "we know that RFEs in general are up over 50% compared to last year," Peters said.
The approval — and renewal — process
Every time petitioners are given an RFE, they have 84 days to respond. But gathering requested documentation takes time. And once it's provided to the government, the agency could still take months to provide a final answer.
Renewals, too, are becoming more difficult.
"The government seems to require more and more explanation and justification through the years. I personally don't have a problem with that if they're just trying to have people make it very clear that if you're applying for an H-1B visa, then it's an appropriate visa given the particular employees' job."
Morris Deutsch
Partner at immigration law firm Deutsch, Killea and Eapen
Normally routine renewals face challenges because of a policy eliminating deference. In the past, if an H-1B visa holder wanted to renew an application, USCIS would defer to its prior decision.
Today, an approved visa holder will not automatically requalify.
"The level of uncertainty for the regulated community is higher probably than it's ever been with regard to H-1Bs, and that of course just makes people skittish about filing at all," Minear said.
Up against the cap
In 2017, for the fifth consecutive year, the cap was reached in five days, and USCIS received 199,000 petitions — more than double the cap.
From FY 2001-2003, the program allowed for the disbursement of 195,000 visa but was lowered to the current numbers — 65,000 visas with an additional 20,000 visas for graduate degree holders from U.S. universities.
"The main problems have been the shortage of quota," Deutsch said. Before the quota was lowered, there was never a backlog and individuals could receive H-1B visas throughout the year without difficulty.
"This year with the better performing economy, I am concerned that there might be a lot more than the 250,000 applications," Deutsch said. "So the odds of getting in the quota will be even tougher."
Though the economy has performed well, Minear believes that the attitude around immigration and the administrative file challenges will deter some applicants.
"I do think they will still fill the quota, for sure," Minear said. "It will be interesting to see whether the total number of petitions decreases this year or not because of the negative press around immigration generally."
USCIS is working to improve the petition process and is scheduled to consider at a future date a notice of proposed rule making to install an electronic process to allow employers to file basic information in advance of the cap, though a potential system is a a long way out, according to Peters.
"If it's done appropriately, this would allow employers to really wait to file the actual petitions until after the lottery has been conducted," she said. "So it would actually save government and employer resources if it's done correctly."
Filed Under: Leadership & Careers
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Azərbaycanca български English Eesti français русский español українська
Compass: Manual for Human Rights Education with Young people
Breadcrumb You are here:
publi.coe.int/
Compass/
Human Rights Themes/
Environment/
Youth Portal
Table of Contents �
Introduction to the 2012 edition of Compass
Chapter 1 �
Introducing human rights education
Approaches to human rights education in Compass
Using Compass for human rights education
Synoptic table of activities
Human Rights Calendar
Activities for Reviewing
HRE and activism
Simple actions for human rights
Devising a plan of action
The evolution of human rights
Legal protection of human rights
Human Rights Activism and the Role of NGOs
Questions and answers about Human Rights
Citizenship and Participation
Disability and Disablism
Discrimination and Intolerance
Peace and Violence
War and Terrorism
Appendices �
Status of ratification of major international human rights instruments
List of activities �
Activities from A to E
Activities from F to P
Activities from R to W
Human Rights Themes �
Other languages �
Translating Compass
Resources �
Compasito
EDC / HRE Charter
Education Pack All Different All Equal
No Hate Speech Movement
Pestalozzi Programme
Youth resources for HRE
Human Rights and the Environment
The salvation of the world lies in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and in human responsibility. We are still under the sway of the destructive and vain belief that man is the pinnacle of creation and not just a part of it… We still don't know how to put morality ahead of politics, science and economics. We are still incapable of understanding that the only genuine backbone of all our actions – if they are to be moral – is responsibility. Responsibility is something higher than my family, my country, my firm, my success.
Vaclav Havel
When asked to talk about "the environment", what do you think of first? Eurobarometer reported answers that included climate change, pollution in towns and cities, protecting nature, disasters caused by humans such as oil spills, industrial accidents, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters, and using up natural resources. It is no surprise that the issue of most concern varied between countries, for instance water pollution in the Baltic Sea for citizens of the Baltic states, while in Malta and Bulgaria it was air pollution.
Dioxin, a persistent bioaccumulative toxin (PBT) created in the production of PVC and vinyl, does not breakdown rapidly and travels around the globe, accumulating in fatty tissue and concentrating as it goes up the food chain. Dioxins are even found in hazardous concentrations in the tissues of polar bears and in Inuit mother's breast milk.1
This widespread concern for the state of the environment is very recent. In different cultures and throughout history there have been numerous religious and philosophical traditions regarding the relationship between human beings and the rest of nature. In the so-called "developed" world the general attitude has, until recently, been one of domination and exploitation. The wider public began to take serious notice of the extent of our destruction of the natural environment only in the early 1960s.
People realise that we cannot dump our wastes and expect them to disappear. It is obvious that what happens in one place impacts on another and that whatever we do – mine, log, build or farm – our actions have consequences both locally and globally, now and in the future. Thus our concerns about the environment cannot be separated from concerns about humanity and must be grounded in principles of equity, rights and responsibility. Here follow a few examples of how impacts on the environment are related to human rights:
The air we breathe can be contaminated, for example, by particle emissions from motor vehicles and industry as well as from household fuels and tobacco smoke. Other pollutants include low-level ozone and micro-organisms associated with damp. In the WHO European Region2, exposure to particulate matter decreases the life expectancy of every person by an average of almost 1 year. Decreased air quality violates of the right to life and to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.
The world's resources of fresh water are being depleted to meet the demands of the growing population not only for drinking and sanitation but also for increased food production, industrial processes and recreational activities.3
In 2011, 1.1 billion people – one in seven of the population – did not have access to a safe and adequate water supply, an obvious violation of the human right to life and to health. According to the WHO, 1.8 million people – mostly children under 5 living in developing countries – die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by unsafe water.
As water becomes scarce, issues of human security arise. Disputes can be internal to a country, for instance as happened in 2010 in New Delhi, India, where erratic water supply, and an eventual complete cut-off of water, led to violent protests and several injuries. Disputes may also be between countries that release or withhold water from a downstream neighbour as a political tool, acts of aggression or terrorism.4
Nearly one-third of the world's land surface is now in use for agriculture, and millions of acres of natural ecosystems are converted each year.6
The FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment 2010 estimated that the net loss of the world's forests is 7.3 million hectares (18 million acres) per year. Many agricultural practices are highly polluting and unsustainable. Modern farming methods need less labour, and people are forced to migrate to cities to find work. In 2007, for the first time in history, more than half the human population lived in urban areas7. Land is also taken for mining and other industries, while transport systems fragment the landscape with consequences for the movement of wildlife. In relation to human rights, all these changes may lead to violations of rights to own property, to have desirable work, rights to food and to participate in cultural life, to name but a few.
Question: In what ways are the air, water and land polluted in the environment where you live?
The world is not ours, the earth is not ours. It's a treasure we hold in trust for future generations.
African proverb
We live on a finite globe where everything is connected to everything else, for example through food chains and the water and rock cycles. There is some natural resilience, but serious disruption of these cycles, for example by pollution, unsuitable farming practices, irrigation projects or over-fishing, destabilises the natural balance. The nuclear disasters of Chernobyl and Fukushima, the death of the trees in the Black Forest in Germany from acid rain, desertification in southern Spain, the drying up of the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan, and the Ilisu dam project in Turkey are all examples of how humans in the process of development are damaging the environmental base for all economic activity and life itself.
For examples of human rights violations related to the environment, visit:
www.righttoenvironment.org
"The declining environmental quality of planet Earth and the apparent increase in strength and frequency of natural hazards such as cyclones, floods and droughts, are intensifying peoples' vulnerability to food insecurity, ill health and unsustainable livelihoods."
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
According to the Fourth Assessment Report8 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), "In the last few years, scientific research and knowledge on climate change have progressed substantially, confirming that the current warming of the Earth's climate is very likely to be due to human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels. The Earth's warming is already having measurable consequences and future impacts are expected to be wide-ranging and costly". The report puts the level of likeliness at 90%.
In the Danube River Basin District, all countries have been working on national management plans and co-operating at the international level through the International Council for the Protection of the Danube River, with the aim of meeting the environmental objectives of the EU Water Framework Directive by 2015.5
Burning fossil fuels is the main human activity that contributes to climate change. As fuels burn they release carbon dioxide, water vapour, methane and nitrous oxide into the Earth's atmosphere where these gases trap the energy from the sun and cause global warming. The process is sometimes called the "greenhouse effect". Carbon dioxide is the most important greenhouse gas because it stays in the atmosphere for a long time. Current atmospheric levels far exceed the natural range for carbon dioxide over the past 650,000 years. The effect is serious; 11 of the 12 years from 1995 to 2006 were among the 12 warmest years of global surface temperatures on record since 1850 (the onset of industrialisation).9 Some of the current and expected consequences of global warming include:
Changing sea levels. Rising sea levels will swamp some small, low-lying island states and put millions of people in all low-lying areas at risk of flooding. Salt-water intrusion will affect low-lying farmland. The impact is already being felt in various regions of the world, especially in the South East Pacific islands and Southeast Asia.
Extreme weather. Floods, droughts and storms will become more frequent and more violent.
Extinctions. If global temperatures rise by two degrees Celsius, it is estimated that 30% of all land-living species will be threatened by an increased risk of extinction.10
Food shortages. As temperatures increase and rainfall patterns change, crop yields will drop significantly in Africa, the Middle East and India.
Water shortages. Changing rainfall patterns will result in droughts or flooding. Less water will be available.
Disease. With rising temperatures, diseases such as malaria, West Nile disease, dengue fever and river blindness will shift to different areas.
Destruction of vulnerable areas. Damaged areas, such as overgrazed rangeland, deforested mountainsides, and denuded agricultural soils, will be more vulnerable than previously to changes in climate.11
Environmental refugees. Climate change, together with other environmental problems, is contributing to high increases in the numbers of people forced to migrate or seek refuge from changes in their environment.
Question: Can you identify any consequences of climate change that have already affected your country?
The equity issue
Beginning from the stroke of New Year, as they sit down to their evening meal on 2 January, a US family will already have used, per person, the equivalent in fossil fuels that a family in Tanzania will depend on for the whole year.
Andrew Simms
The effects of climate change are being felt unevenly throughout the world. According to the IPCC the world's poorest people are likely to suffer the most. The developing nations, because of their geographical location, low incomes, weak institutions, and greater reliance on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture, do not have the resources to adapt (for instance by growing different crops that are more suited to wetter or drier conditions).
The other aspect of the equity issue is how to share the costs of mitigation, for example paying for switching to modern technologies that burn fuels more efficiently, or to renewables such as wind, water or solar power. How to divide the responsibilities was the main stumbling block at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Durban, 2011, and it remains a challenge for negotiators.
The issues about equity are bound up with concepts of justice, and many people talk about a concept of climate justice meaning a "vision to dissolve and alleviate the unequal burdens created by climate change. Climate justice is the fair treatment of all people and freedom from discrimination with the creation of policies and projects that address climate change and the systems that create climate change and perpetuate discrimination".12
Climate change is a real threat to international peace and security.
Climate change may be the greatest threat to long-term human well-being, and undoubtedly needs to be addressed urgently. However, the focus on climate change can have unfortunate consequences: either other environmental problems such as pollution, over-fishing or urban development are not given sufficient attention, or the impacts of these pressures are attributed to climate change when in fact there are other causes that should be addressed. Threats to coral reefs are a good example. Warmer sea temperatures, rising sea levels and the acidification of the oceans due to climate change are certainly a potential threat to coral reefs and thus to the rights of those people who gain their livelihoods or enjoy leisure activities on them. However, the immediate threats of pollution, sedimentation due to excess run-off as a result of changes in agricultural practices, over fishing of reef fish for food, the collection of fish, snails and coral itself for hobby aquarists, and mining the coral for making cement and road-fill are a few of the immediate dangers that may destroy the reefs long before the effects of climate change take effect in 70 years.13
Climate change should not mutate from an inconvenient truth into a convenient scapegoat for other human pressures.
Keith Brander and others14
In 1804, there were 1 billion people in the world; in 1927, 2 billion; in 1959, three billion; in 1974, four billion; 1987, five billion; six billion in 1998; seven billion in 2011. The rapid increase is due to a combination of positive changes, for instance improved sanitation, nutrition and health care, which enable people to live longer and to produce more children who survive to adulthood. However, we live on a finite globe and the increasing population is putting extreme pressure on the environment to provide even the basics of shelter, food and water.
If we cannot stabilize climate and we cannot stabilize population, there is not an ecosystem on Earth that we can save.
Worldwatch Institute
When considering pressure on the environment, not only sheer numbers but also lifestyles and patterns of consumption have to be put into the equation. Wealthy nations, like most in Europe, constitute only 20% of the world's population, yet their high standards of living mean they use more than 70% of its resources. Thus population is also an equity issue.
Question: China reduced its birth rate by enforcing a one-child policy. Do you think the Chinese government was justified in doing this? Have you heard of other methods to reduce birth rates?
Addressing the problems
Humans aren't the only species on Earth, they just act like it.
Since all human activity affects the environment, the question is how we should best protect the environment that sustains us.
One approach is through international agreements about specific issues. The UN has agreed a number of treaties and declarations on protecting the environment, for instance on air pollution, biodiversity, biosafety, desertification, endangered species, ship pollution, tropical timber, wetlands, and whaling.15
The international action to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-depleting chemicals has been swift and very effective. The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer entered into force in 1989; as a result, the ozone layer should eventually recover.16
Perhaps the single most successful international agreement to date has been the Montreal Protocol.
Another example is the Kyoto Protocol (adopted in 1997, entered into force in 2005 and due to end in 2012), under which countries made specific commitments to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gasses. The Kyoto protocol is significant because it is based on principles of justice and equality and the premise of "common but differentiated responsibilities". In other words, the industrialised countries should pay more because their per-capita emissions are typically as much as 10 times the average of those in developing countries.
Expiring in 2012, the protocol needs a new international framework - negotiated and ratified - that can deliver continuity and eventually improvement in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions. For that, a renewed political commitment is needed from both signatory and non-signatory parties of the protocol.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
IPCC is the leading international body for the assessment of climate change. It was established by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) to provide the world with a clear scientific view on the current state of knowledge on climate change and its potential environmental and socio-economic impacts.
The IPCC is an intergovernmental and scientific body. Currently 194 UN and WMO countries are members of the IPCC, which reviews and assesses the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change. Because of its scientific and intergovernmental nature, the IPCC embodies a unique opportunity to provide rigorous and balanced scientific information to decision makers. The work of the organisation is therefore policy-relevant and yet policy-neutral, never policy-prescriptive.
The IPCC does not conduct any research, nor does it monitor climate related data or parameters. Thousands of scientists from all over the world contribute to the work of the IPCC on a voluntary basis.
The 1972 Stockholm Declaration on the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment17 can be seen as the starting point of a rights-based approach to environmental protection. It formulated the principle that "Man [should] have the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations".
Is it possible for everyone in the world to live a life with dignity and in adequate conditions of life without devastating consequences for the environment? If yes, how? Environmental damage can be as much the result of underdevelopment as it is of development. For example, underdevelopment and consequent poverty leads to deforestation as the affected population forages for firewood to be used for cooking and warmth. Given the lack of pastures, overgrazing at the periphery of agricultural land leads to desertification. Inadequate sewage treatment and garbage collection results in a lack of potable water. Inadequate education cripples the national pursuit of a cleaner environment. Development, on the other hand, attacks the environment in another way. Economic gains motivate the destruction of forests and the displacement of tribal communities, and the maximal exploitation of natural resources. Industrialisation pollutes the air, water and atmosphere through toxic and chemical discharges during production and consumption, all in the name of development.18
The major distinction between the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol is that while the Convention encouraged industrialised countries to stabilise greenhouse gas emissions, the Protocol commits them to do so.
In 1989, the Brundtland Report sought to dissolve the inherent contradictions between environment and development through the principle of sustainable development, which it defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". The report was the background for the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (also known as the Earth Summit), which produced the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. The declaration (also called Agenda 21) was a plan of action to be taken on globally, nationally and locally by governments, organisations and individuals in every area in which human beings impact on the environment. Another outcome of the Rio meeting was the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The UNFCCC provides an overall framework for intergovernmental efforts to tackle the challenges of climate change.
The Århus Convention
The Århus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was agreed by the UN Economic Commission for Europe in 1998. The convention has been ratified by 40 countries and also by the European Union. It is the first international treaty to recognise "the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and being". It also recognises the right to public information on environmental issues, to participation on environmental decision making and access to independent courts in relation to environmental decisions. Despite having been ratified mostly by European and Central Asian countries only and having a very weak monitoring mechanism, the convention is of global relevance by its combination of environmental and human rights.19
The environmental movement can only survive if it becomes a justice movement. As a pure environmental movement, it will either die or it will survive as a corporate "greenwash". Anyone who's a sincere environmentalist can't stand that role. But it has limitless possibilities as both an ecological and justice-based movement.
The human rights approach based on equity and justice, rights and responsibilities is seen by many as the way forward to protecting the environment. However, for many years activists and others in the environmental movement have argued that this premise is not enough. Their point is that if human life and health are the aims of environmental protection, then the environment will only be protected as a consequence of, and to the extent needed to protect, human well-being. In 2009 at the end of the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia, the Universal Declaration of Mother Earth (2010) was sent to the UN for consideration. Article 2 states that "Mother Earth has the right to exist, to persist and to continue the vital cycles, structures, functions and processes that sustain all beings".
The crime of ecocide
Environmental disasters such as Seveso in 1976, Bhopal in 1984, Chernobyl in 1986, Spanish waste-water spill in 1998, and Deep Water Horizon in 2010 do result in extensive litigation. However, neither the future generations nor the environment per se are ever represented in court cases.
A compelling case can also be made to put businesses that cause extensive ecological damage on trial. The term "ecocide", which refers to any large-scale destruction of the natural environment, was coined after the herbicide disaster in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. In April 2010, UK Lawyer, Polly Higgins proposed to the United Nations that ecocide be recognised as an international Crime Against Peace alongside Genocide, Crimes of Humanity, War Crimes and Crimes of Aggression, to be brought before the International Criminal Court.
[T]he creation of [the crime of] ecocide is necessary, as homicide exists for those who take a person's life, it must exist also against those who kill nature.
Jaime David Fernandez Mirabal, Environment Minister, Dominican Republic
It took Britain half the resources of this planet to achieve its prosperity. How many planets will India require for development?
Mahatma Ghandi
The role of the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe puts sustainable development at the top of its agenda. Its policy is that economic progress must not compromise the key assets of humanity: the quality of the environment and landscapes, human rights and social equity, cultural diversity and democracy. The Council of Europe views climate change as the most serious environmental problem that the world faces today, recognises the implications for human rights and is active on two fronts: preserving natural resources and biodiversity, but also protecting the diversity and vitality of the world's many cultures. The cultural pillar of sustainable development therefore requires parallel efforts to develop a culture of sustainability and to protect cultural diversity.
By its actions, the Council of Europe has helped to shape an adequate legal environment in Europe in favour of biodiversity, spatial planning and landscape management, and sustainable territorial development based on the integrated use of cultural and natural resources. The Council of Europe environment programme launched in 1961 has produced the European Landscape Convention, Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, and the Framework Convention on the value of Cultural Heritage for Society. The Council of Europe also runs The European Diploma of Protected Areas. Created in 1965, it is awarded to protected areas because of their outstanding scientific, cultural or aesthetic qualities; they must also be the subject of a suitable conservation scheme which may be combined with a sustainable development programme.
The Council of Europe Manual on Human Rights and the Environment provides information about the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and on the impact of the European Social Charter in relation to environmental protection.
There have been several efforts to add the right to a healthy environment to the European Convention on Human Rights, through an additional protocol but they have not succeeded. The counter-view was that the European Court of Human Rights can deal with the most gross environmental violations under Article 8 (private and family life) of the ECHR.
Question: Should the right to a healthy environment be added to the European Convention on Human Rights?
Several individuals have successfully brought environment-related cases to the Court on the grounds that adverse environmental factors were the cause of breaches of one of their human rights protected by the European Convention of Human Rights. The case-law of the Court includes interferences in the right to life, the right to respect for private and family life as well as the home, the right to a fair trial and to have access to a court, the right to receive and impart information and ideas, the right to an effective remedy and the right to the peaceful enjoyment of one's possessions.
Hamer v. Belgium
Judgment by the European Court of Human Rights of 27 November, 2007
The applicant owned a house built by her parents on forest land where building was not permitted. Proceedings were brought against her for having a house built in breach of the relevant forest legislation and the courts found she had to restitute the land to its previous state. The house was forcefully demolished. The applicant complained that her right to private life had been breached.
The Court held for the first time that, while not explicitly protected in the Convention, the environment is of value in itself in which both society and the public authorities take keen interest. Economic considerations, and even the right to property, should not have priority in the face of environmental concerns, in particular when the State has legislated in the field. Public authorities had therefore a responsibility to act in order to protect the environment.20
Participation by young people
Because youth have a stronger awareness of the issues and a greater stake in long-term sustainability, the environment is one area in which they ought to take the lead.
World Youth Report 200321
In Chapter 1 we described the "about, through and for" dimensions of human rights education and stated that the knowledge, skills and attitudes to defend human rights can only be learned through experience. "Start from where young people are" is the youth worker's mantra, and what better place to start than by getting involved in action for the environment? For example the starting point may be concerns that a local group of young people have about a local road or building development that will deprive them of a playing field, or they may want to find out how they can reduce their carbon footprint or make their homes, schools and colleges or youth clubs more environmentally-friendly. At the regional and national level, they can influence public discussion and political debate by, for example, writing letters, presenting plays and demonstrating.
Environmental protection and awareness is an important concern for many youth organisations across Europe, even if not all of them rate it as their first priority. There are several European youth organisations and movements which base their work on environment and human rights protection reflecting also the awareness that environmental education and action know no borders. In the programme of the European Youth Centres, related activities cover matters as far apart – yet very closely inter-linked – as food security, environmental justice, sustainable development and climate change.
Opportunities also exist at international level. The UNFCCC recognises the importance of youth participation and has extended the provisional constituency status to young people. This extended status allows young people to receive official information, to participate in meetings and to request speaking slots. The 16th such meeting, held in Cancun, Mexico was attended by around 500 youth delegates, youth activists and representatives of youth organisations from all over the world.
Caring for the future? Caring for the forest!
It was an initiative of Youth and Environment Europe (YEE) that ran in 2011 involving young people from Albania, the Czech Republic, Finland, Portugal, Russia and the United Kingdom who organised a campaign to encourage young people to mobilise to protect forests worldwide. The campaign aimed to raise awareness of threats to forests worldwide, to encourage young people to take action, to help them to discover their local forests and to empower them to care for their local forests. http://www.yeenet.eu
Useful organisations and links
Just over half (53%) of EU citizens say they took some kind of action to combat climate change over the last six months; separating and recycling waste is the most common action undertaken, buying fewer disposable items and purchasing local and seasonal produce come next.22
The Earth Charter is a declaration of fundamental ethical principles for building a just, sustainable and peaceful global society in the 21st century: www.earthcharterinaction.org
Worldwatch, research on global environment issues: www.worldwatch.org
UNite to Combat Climate Change is a UN campaign to encourage communities around the world to unite and act now to combat climate change: www.unep.org/unite/
Real time world statistics: www.worldometers.info
Calculate your carbon footprint. The online tools in several languages are free and easy to use: www.carbonfootprint.com
Climate justice: A network of organisations and movements from across the globe committed to the fight for social, ecological and gender justice: www.climate-justice-now.org
A massive central data source and a handy way to compare national statistics: www.nationmaster.com
The relation between youth and climate change is very well elaborated in the United Nations' World Youth Report of 2010.
Friends of the Earth International is one of the world's largest grassroots environmental network. They campaign on today's most urgent environmental and social issues: www.foei.org
350.org is a global grassroots movement working to solve the climate crisis: www.350.org
Wikipedia has a list of the more notable environmental organizations by organisation type (intergovernmental, governmental or non-governmental) and further subdivided by country: www.wikipedia.org
1 www.healthybuilding.net/pvc/facts.html
2 The WHO European region comprises 53 member states. For a complete list, consult page 8 of the WHO/Europe brochure: www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/122912/who_office_brochure-UK-www.pdf
3 www.unwater.org
4 For details see www.worldwater.org
5 www.icpdr.org/icpdr-pages/river_basin_management.htm
6 "World Land Use Seen As Top Environmental Issue", Science Daily, www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/08/050808065021.htm
7 www.unfpa.org
8 www.greenfacts.org/en/climate-change-ar4
9 IPCC, "Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide", IPCC Fourth Assessment Report: Climate Change 2007, www.ipcc.ch/publications_and_data/ar4/wg1/en/ch2s2-3.html#2-3-1
10 www.direct.gov.uk
11 www.righttoenvironment.org
12 www.climate-justice-now.org
13 L.M. Brander, et al, "The Economic Impact of Ocean Acidification on Coral Reefs", Economic and Social Research Institute, working paper no. 282, February 2009.
14 K. Brander, et al, "The value of attribution", Nature Climate Change, Vol. 1, May 2011, p 70.
15 For more information see: www.unescobkk.org/rushsap/resources/shs-resources/environmental-ethics-resources/environmental-treaties
16 http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/26may_ozone/
17 www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?documentid=97&articleid=1503
18 www.unescap.org/drpad/publication/integra/volume2/malaysia/2my04a.htm
19 www.coastalwiki.org; www.unece.org
20 www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/0C818E19-C40B-412E-9856-44126D49BDE6/0/FICHES_Environnement_EN.pdf
21 www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/documents/ch05.pdf
22 http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_372_en.pdf
Manual for Human Rights Education
with Young People
Beware we are watching
Fingers and thumbs
Makah whaling
Tale of two cities
Web of life
Key Date
22 MarchWorld Day for Water
23 MarchWorld Meteorological Day
21 MayWorld Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
22 MayInternational Day for Biological Diversity
5 JuneWorld Environment Day
17 JuneWorld Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
11 JulyWorld Population Day
Second Wednesday in OctoberInternational Day for Natural Disaster Reduction
16 OctoberWorld Food Day
6 NovemberInternational Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
Human Rights Themes
Council of Europe, Avenue de l'Europe F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex - Tel. +33 (0)3 88 41 20 00 - Fax. +33 (0)3 88 41 20 00
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Home > Declaration Implementation Grants (DIGS) > DIGS Instagram Stories
Stories are Important
New Worlds For Gwen
It is always a challenge to translate formal principles into the kind of daily activities that are able to shift cultural perceptions. What seems obvious to people who support and agree with the principles outlined in The Rights of People with Cognitive Disabilities to Technology and Information Access (i.e. the declaration) is not inherently clear to people who question the need for these principles.
By sharing stories about the impact that technology can and does have on the lives of people with cognitive disabilities, their families, and their communities, we hope to help pave the way for acceptance and access.
Instagram is one of the fastest growing social media apps. Its ability to effectively tell and share a story thru pictures and simple language makes it a natural choice to showcase the stories that our DIGS recipients are excited to share. Check out our first Instagram Story below and see if it doesn’t help you see the world thru a different set of eyes.
Recently I visited The Arc of the Capital’s Digital Media Lab in Austin, TX, where I heard a story that reminded me of why the declaration (The Rights of People with Cognitive Disabilities to Technology and Information Access) is so important.
When I noticed this self-portrait on display in the lab, I asked Amber Nelson, the lab’s Program Manager about it. She replied that while the staff was proud of all the art created in the lab, this particular self-portrait inspired her daily. She continued that this particular artist, Gwen, had wanted to learn how to create digital art, but she had never used a computer. The reason she had never used a computer was that she did not know how to read. In becoming an artist and learning how to use the programs that allowed her to create her art, she also learned how to read. Gwen used technology to create art and possibilities for her world that had never existed before.
There are almost 30 million people in the United States with cognitive disabilities, how could their world expand with access to technology and information?
2018 Declaration Implementation Grants (DIGS)
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Home > Team > declaration commentaries > Ann Cameron Williams
Include Us All in the Shiny Wired Fabric of the Cloud
By Ann Cameron Williams, Ph.D.
The disruptive role of technology as a global “cloud” platform is changing our lives. I think of it as an electronic shiny wired fabric, a new virtual terrain of human activity. Because of this renaissance age of cloud technology, our lives and how we conduct them is changing radically from fifty years ago and will continue to change even more radically in the future.
How do people needing help with relationships, skill and knowledge acquisition, e-commerce and communication not only survive but thrive in this new renaissance age of technology? The question is relevant to you who are reading this and to every person on this planet as we are not a “one-size-fits-all” population. We change, over time.
The Declaration on The Rights of People to Access Information and Technology is a Thomas Jeffersonian document that declares people with cognitive disabilities have the right to be included in information access and technology. Not as an afterthought. Not as an option. It must be standard operating procedure. Technology companies and the developers of software and apps must consider the diverse span of communication needs in their products and work – and design them into their work as a foundational access option in order to keep all of us engaged as full members of society for the duration and circumstance of our lives. Otherwise, our global society risks losing a significant piece of human engagement in the areas of commerce, communication, and involvement in the cloud. As the infrastructure continues to be built, it is imperative that it builds in diversity in communication and interaction options now, otherwise this small window of time to include it within the structural foundations of the cloud will be closed. So we must act now.
The Arc of the United States, the largest federation of nonprofits serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD), endorsed the Declaration because it stands for the full inclusion of people with diverse functional needs in information access and technology. But the aim of the Declaration serves us all. The Declaration trumpets an urgent message for the technology powers not to forget those of us who need larger words, simpler language, picture language, and more time to interface with and use the cloud.
This is why the Declaration is important to all of us. This is why the Declaration is important to you.
The Declaration needs to be understood and endorsed by all of us; activated in everyday thinking, technology design, application and adoption by society. So if you haven’t endorsed it, do so now. It takes only a few minutes. Then pass it on to your network. Let’s all stand behind the Declaration and push it forward to full realization. Our commitment to this now will ensure that all of us – yes, including you – will be fully included in the shiny wired fabric of our cloud-based global society.
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← What is Craniosacral Acupuncture?
The Inner Dynamics and Energetics of Acupuncture →
by John G. Connor, M.Ac., L.Ac. edited by Barbara Connor, M.Ac., L.Ac.
Traditional Chinese Medical Model
Western Scientific Research
The Morphogenetic Singularity Theory on the Origin of Acupuncture Points and Meridians
The Balancing Effect of Acupuncture
The Dynamics Between Patient and Practitioner
Chinese Medicine is based on a functional system comprised of the theories of Yin and Yang, Five Elements, Zang Fu, Meridians, Spirit, Qi, Blood, Body Fluids, Five Emotions, Six Exogenous Pathogenic Factors, etc. The five Zang organs are the lung, heart, spleen, liver and kidney; and the six Fu organs are the large intestine, small intestine, stomach, gallbladder, urinary bladder and triple burner. The acupuncturist characterizes the functional disturbances of the Zang-Fu organs with the help of eight diagnostic criteria, namely: Yin and Yang, Interior and Exterior, Deficiency and Excess, Cold and Heat.
How does acupuncture work? When a needle is inserted into an acupuncture point you will usually feel a sensation of warmth, slight numbness, heaviness or mild achiness at the point of insertion. This is known as obtaining the Qi. According to Chinese medicine Qi is the vital energy which flows through a system of channels called meridians and regulates the bodily functions. All the vital activities of the human body are explained by changes and movement of Qi. The activities of the Zang Fu organs, maintaining the normal temperature and defensive systems of the body all depend on the promoting and stimulating effect of Qi.
The meridians are the transmission lines among the various parts of the body, making the organism a unified whole. The meridians and their tributaries provide Qi and Blood and thus warmth and nourishment for the whole body and also serve as lines of communication among the organs and the body. They adjust the ebb and flow of Qi in the body and help maintain a balance of yin and yang, blood and Qi and defense and construction.
What happens in disease? In disease, exogenous pathogens, such as wind, cold, dampness, heat, dryness or fire, invade the body through the exterior and penetrate into the interior via the meridians in turn, affecting the organs. Organ pathologies, such as Liver Wind, may spread to other parts of the body through the channels. Through channel transference, disease in the organs may also be reflected in areas of palpatory tenderness, swellings, indentations, nodules and red areas on the skin.
There can be many disharmonies involving Qi. We speak of deficient Qi, stagnant Qi, collapse of Qi and rebellious Qi. The following metaphor is very helpful in understanding how acupuncture can affect Qi flowing through the meridians. Imagine the flow of Qi to be like water flowing in a stream. Just as the flow of water can be affected by an obstruction in the stream so can the flow of Qi be obstructed in the meridians. Qi in meridians can be blocked by becoming stagnant, by being obstructed by dampness, phlegm, cold, etc. When a stream is blocked by debris it floods upstream from the debris and becomes dry downstream from it. If one clears the debris away the water in the stream can resume its normal and natural flow. In a like manner, if the Qi in a meridian is blocked the body suffers disharmony. And if the blockage from the flow of Qi within a meridian is removed, the natural flow is restored and the part of the body affected by the blockage regains its natural harmony and state of balance.
How can this flow be restored by acupuncture? Imagine making a small hole in the pile of debris which is blocking the stream. It will often clear the entire stream path, because the force of the water gushing through the hole will widen continuously until eventually all the debris is washed away and the normal course of the stream is restored. Similarly by inserting a needle into an acupoint of the blocked meridian it will have a similar effect. And just as a stream may have certain points more easily accessed or more easily blocked, the meridians have certain points which, when needled, will have a significant impact on the flow pattern. In this way by needling acupuncture points it is possible to exert a direct therapeutic effect on the channels and organs, and thus in turn on bodily functions. (2)
It is theorized that the meridian system lies in the superficial fascia of the connective tissue just a few millimeters below the surface of the skin, and the Qi circulating within these channels is in fact the bioelectric energies associated with the connective tissue structures of the fascia. When a needle is inserted into a point it creates electrical potential changes. The generation of these small electrical currents from needle insertion results from the interaction of the needle with the interstitial fluids that bathe and nourish the connective tissue fibers. The fluids which surround the fibers contain a vast array of chemicals, ionically charged particles, molecules and atoms. (5)
Research has shown that acupuncture increases the microcirculation and vasomotion throughout the body which in turn increases oxygenation of the tissues which will help flush toxins, waste products, and other accumulated particles and chemicals from the tissues improving their overall function. Therefore, the small electrical currents generated by the insertion of a needle into the fascia or connective tissues can indeed have beneficial effects. And because of the nature of the connective tissues, it is quite plausible that these effects could occur both locally at the site of needle insertion or at a distance from the acupoint. (8)
According to one scientific study on pain relief induced by acupuncture it was concluded that acupuncture works by stimulating nerve fibers in the muscles, which send impulses to the spinal cord, midbrain and hypothalamus-pituitary. These centers in turn release endorphins and monamines which block the pain impulses. (8)
While it cannot be said that an exact mechanism, or a precise Western description of acupuncture function has been discovered, it can be said that many phenomena that could play a part in such a definitive description have been demonstrated. Western science is beginning to accept that needling of a specific point does direct a stimulus to certain responsive parts of the nervous system setting off a biochemical cascade which enhances healing. Many of the ideas in the classical Chinese texts may be justified by Western theories and methods.
Bruce Pomeranz at the University of Toronto has written a very nice summary of current research on how acupuncture analgesia works in an article entitled “Acupuncture Analgesia – Basic Research” (9). He says that acupuncture stimulates nerve fibers in the muscle which send impulses to the spinal cord and activate the spinal cord, midbrain and hypothalamus/pituitary to cause analgesia. The spinal site uses enkephalin and dynorphin to block incoming messages. The midbrain uses enkephalin to activate the raphe descending system which inhibits spinal cord pain transmission. And at the hypothalamus/pituitary center the pituitary releases β-endorphin into the blood and cerebrospinal fluid to cause analgesia at a distance.
Pomeranz found that when needles are placed close to the site of pain or in the tender (trigger or Ah Shi) points, they are maximizing the segmental circuits operating within the spinal cord (cell 7) while also bringing in other cells in the other two centers (cells 11 and 14). Whereas he observed that when needles are placed far away from the site of pain they only activate cells 11 and 14. Cells 11 and 14 produce analgesia throughout the body, while cell 7 produces analgesia only locally.
According to Pomeranz, Melzack et al have found that 71% of acupuncture points coincide with trigger points. This suggests that needles activate the sensory nerves which arise in muscles. When sites are tender they are known as Ah Shi points in TCM, and needling them is recommended. Trigger points can often be found outside muscle bellies, in skin, scars, tendons, joint capsules, ligaments and periosteum. Travell stresses the importance of precise needling of trigger points, as missing the tense knotted muscle fiber could aggravate the problem by causing spasms.
How does acupuncture compare with conventional Western medicine in the treatment of pain? Acupuncture has been shown to be very effective in treating chronic pain, helping in 55% to 85% of the cases. This compares favorably with the effects of morphine which helps in 70% of the cases. However, acupuncture has the distinct advantage of having very few side effects in comparison with drugs.
For more information on the results of scientific studies on the health benefits of acupuncture please read our article entitled Research on the Health Benefits of Acupuncture.
There is a very interesting theory proposed by Charles Shang of the Emory University School of Medicine on the relationship between the meridian system and embryogenesis. (7, 9) He states that the “gap junction embryonic epithelial signal transduction model” in the mid-1980s proposed that the meridian system contains relatively under differentiated epithelial cells connected by gap junctions which transduce signals and play a central role in mediating acupuncture effects.
Shang explains that the morphogenetic singularity theory published in the late 1980s applied the singularity theory of mathematics to explain the origin, distribution and nonspecific activation phenomena of the meridian system. In development, the fate of a larger region is frequently controlled by a small group of cells which is termed an organizing center. Organizing centers are the high electric conductance points on the body surface. The high conductance phenomenon is further supported by the finding of high density of gap junctions at the sites of organizing centers. Both acupuncture points and organizing centers have high electric conductance, current density, high density of gap junction, and can be activated by nonspecific stimuli. Acupuncture points, which also have high electrical conductance and high density of gap junctions originate from organizing centers.
Shang concludes that based on the morphogenetic singularity theory, the meridian system originates from a network of organizing centers and the evolutionary origin of the meridian system is likely to have preceded all the other physiological systems, including the nervous, circulatory, and immune systems. Its genetic blueprint might have served as a template from which the newer systems evolved. Consequently it overlaps and interacts with other systems but is not simply part of them.
A study done by Alavi et al (1996) and reviewed by Z. H Cho et al (9) in their article entitled “Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain in the Investigation of Acupuncture” four of the five patients in the study had a marked left/right asymmetry in blood flow in the thalamus prior to acupuncture treatment. (The thalamus is, a major site in the neural integration of pain sensation.) Following the acupuncture treatment in which all five of the patients reported pain relief, it was observed that the left/right asymmetry was greatly reduced. (Control subjects showed no blood flow asymmetries either before or after acupuncture.)
Hammerschlag and Lao (9) review two separate studies by Nishijo et al (1997) and Tayama (1984) in an article entitled “Future Directions for Research on the Physiology of Acupuncture”. They observe that when one looks at these trials from the point of view of the individual it becomes apparent that those individuals whose pretreatment heart rates were in the lowest third of the normal test group had their rates increased by acupuncture, whereas those with initial values in the highest third experienced a decrease.
They go on to note that indications of the normalizing or balancing effect of acupoint stimulation have also been detected in immune system responses. They cite the case in which the levels of IgA (the main class of salivary immunoglobulins) increased after 30 minutes of acupuncture and at 24 hours post-treatment in healthy individuals whose initial levels were low and decreased in those whose initial levels were high.
Ultimately we may find that acupuncture acts as an elegant bridge between the various physical sciences and energetic medicine. As Hammerschlag and Lao so eloquently state: “It may also become clearer that acupuncture triggers homeostatic regulation by acting on an integrative system that is separate from but interfaces with the known autonomic and humoral systems.”
The processes whereby the acupuncturist arrives at the information on which he bases his diagnosis consists of visual observation (including looking at the tongue), listening and smelling, palpation (including pulse and abdomen) and questioning. The most crucial part of the treatment is to make the correct diagnosis. Palpation of areas of the body, of the meridians, and of the acupoints is useful because it provides clues to the patient’s condition including the condition of the meridians and organs.
In contrast to obtaining the Qi, which is felt by the patient, the arrival of Qi is something that the practitioner feels. So even if the patient feels no needle sensation, as long as the practitioner feels it, the treatment will be effective. The arrival of Qi is felt as a pulsation or sensation of warmth in the thumb or fingers of the practitioner. The feeling of the arrival of Qi is similar to what might be felt if you are holding a fishing pole at the moment when a fish starts pulling the fishing line away from you. You feel a sort of grabbing or pulling sensation in your fingers. But if the Qi has not yet arrived, the needle will move freely back and forth as if it were in a piece of tofu, and you will not feel any pull or grabbing sensation in your fingers. (1)
Acupuncture is also a very useful form of preventive care. For example, by employing the palpatory technique of eliciting pressure pain in one’s diagnostic protocol one can treat problems before they develop into diseases or syndromes. Both Western and Eastern concepts of disease imply a certain pathology with measurable or definable parameters, e.g., the disease of pneumonia or the syndrome of Lung Qi Deficiency. However, because pressure pain elicited by palpation does not always reflect any obvious known disease or syndrome it can serve as a useful sign that there is an underlying imbalance that, although not revealing any symptoms yet, if treated will prevent the condition from progressing further. Disorder, imbalance or disease can be present in a person for some time before becoming obvious, and Western medicine has yet to reach that point whereby it can identify and treat such disorders at an early stage.
Part of being a good acupuncturist is to be able to see the bigger picture. And many times diseases result from a lack of awareness of the primacy of the needs of one’s higher self over the lower self. Many times disease is an indicator helping us to took at an underlying emotion or thought pattern and encouraging us to progress into a more positive or higher intuition of ourselves. Once we recognize this and begin working towards our positive reality the problem begins to resolve itself and real healing takes place. The practitioner acts as a facilitator towards the recognition of the higher self. So this dis-ease in which we find ourselves becomes a real ally in our journey towards our own reality.
The dynamics between the practitioner and the patient, the practitioner’s recognition of energetic flows in each body, as well as his or her intention, palpatory and needling skills are ail important factors that determine the success or failure of an acupuncture treatment. There are as many styles of acupuncture treatments as there are practitioners.
It is one’s innate healing potential that cures disease. Acupuncture is simply a means to assist the body in activating one’s own innate healing potential. We talk about being centered or staying focused from the center of our being. In Oriental thought not being centered is the same as being out of balance, and being centered is the same as being in a state of balance or wellness which is the natural function of the body and goal of acupuncture treatment. Health is not simply a composite of quantifiable entities such as chemical levels in the blood and urine. It is ultimately a state of perfect balance – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.
Denmai, Shudo, Japanese Classical Acupuncture, Introduction to Meridian Therapy, Seattle: Eastland Press 1990
Dharmananda, Subhuti, Ph.D., “An Introduction to Acupuncture and how it Works”, Portland, OR: Institute for Traditional Medicine, 1996
Kaptchuk, Ted J., O.M.D., The Web That Has No Weaver, Chicago: Congdon and Weed 1983
Matsumoto, Kiiko and Stephen Birch, Hara Diagnosis: Reflections on the Sea, Brookline, MA: Paradigm Publications 1988
Shang, C., “Electrophysiology of growth control and acupuncture” Life Sci. 2001 Feb 9;68(12):1333-42,
Stux, Gabriel, Richard Hammerschlag (Eds.), Clinical Acupuncture, Scientific Basis, Berlin: Springer-Verlag 2001
This entry was posted in acupuncture, energetics, Traditional Chinese Medicine and tagged acupuncture, Energetics, Five Elements, Meridians, pathogenic factors, TCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine, yin and yang, zang fu. Bookmark the permalink.
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AHC Inc.
New Key’s Pointe Residences Open in Baltimore, Part of O’Donnell Heights Revitalization
At the start of the month, the city of Baltimore celebrated the opening of the newly constructed Key's Pointe Residences, the first phase of the O'Donnell Heights Revitalization project. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake was present at the ribbon-cutting ceremony together with Paul T. Graziano, Executive Director of the Housing Authority of Baltimore City, The Michaels Development Company, AHC-Greater Baltimore, Inc., and other elected officials and members of the community.
Baltimore 13 June 2014 19:49
ICP Buys Former Sears Distribution Center in Metro Columbus
Citing substantial demand, the Ohio-based developer plans to subdivide the 570,000-square-foot property, which is fully equipped with conveyors and racking.
New Jersey Office Report – Winter 2019
The metro added just shy of 100,000 new jobs in the 12 months ending in November, and the state’s unemployment rate dropped to a historic low of 4.0 percent.
BLT Enterprises Acquires CA Manufacturing Facility for $31M
The 221,660-square-foot industrial property is the only facility larger than 200,000 square feet in the North San Diego submarket.
Savills Studley Makes 2 Promotions in Chicago
Lisa Davidson and Eric Feinberg, who have been with the company for more than 17 years, were named vice chairmen.
Woodside Health Sells Mixed-Use Florida MOB
Tidegate Capital purchased the roughly 23,600-square-foot Indian River Medical Building & Apartments in Vero Beach, which includes medical office space and 14 residential units.
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Sarolta Anna Takacs, Eric H. Cline
July 17, 2015 by Routledge
6 Month Rental - $207.50
12 Month Rental - $249.00
Designed to meet the curriculum needs of students from grades 7-12, this five-volume encyclopedia explores the history and civilizations of the ancient world from prehistory to approximately 1000 CE. Organized alphabetically within geographical volumes on Africa, Europe, the Americas, Southwest Asia, and Asia and the Pacific, entries cover the social, political, scientific and technological, economic, and cultural events and developments that shaped the ancient world in all areas of the globe. Each volume explores significant civilizations, personalities, cultural and social developments, and scientific achievements in its geographical area. Boxed features include Link in Time, Link in Place, Ancient Weapons, Turning Points, and Great Lives. Each volume also includes maps, timelines and illustrations; and a glossary, bibliography and indexes complete the set.
A critical review of recent U.S. trade policies that have failed to enforce sufficient reciprocity and overall trade balance, with suggestions for policies that foster a more balanced and realistic pattern of world trade growth.
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